quite an explosion ,” Mr McInnes said .
Back in the salad days of his youth , his best mate had been Billybo Bagwind . The pair both rode old single cylinder motorcycles which could best be described as ‘ bangers .’
But they were bangers built with their own honest sweat and modest engineering skills .
The same could not be said for the stunning machine which Sidney Sorceron cruised main street on .
A gleaming piece of ironware imported from the distant lands of Amerikana . Everyone in town knew Sid ’ s apprentice wages could not have procured such a motorcycle ... but no one dared confront him about it .
” The thing about Sid was that he was a brilliant mechanic ,” Mr McInnes said .
“ He could turn his hand to anything . As far as I know he trained himself . He used to pull up sometimes and we ’ d talk ... not all that friendly but we ’ d still talk . He ’ d always go on about how one day he ’ d be the king of motorcycling .”
Sidney Sorceron went to live in Amerikana in the mid-60s , and every now and then word would trickle back that he was creating something ‘ special .’ “ That ’ s when all this started ,” Mr McInnes said . “ When Billybo went to Amerikana and ... I can ’ t say anymore .”
ON TOP OF THE WORLD These days Gandar McInnes is on top of the world . He no longer repairs tired lawnmowers and bikes several light years past their use-by date .
Today he is ‘ Colonel ’ Gandar McInnes ... entrepreneur-manager of The King , Elvis .
He prickled at the suggestion that there was an ulterior motive to the quest ... that it was all an adventurous ruse to uncover Elvis and board the gravy train he offered .
“ No one knew how this was going to play out ,” he snapped . “ I knew Sorceron was up to something , but I certainly did not know Elvis was still in the picture .” Not even a suspicion ? “ I ’ d seen the stories about him being spotted here and there from time to time but I didn ’ t read too much into it ... I ’ m not saying any more than that .”
Sidney Sorceron is presently serving a seven-year sentence in Nevada ’ s Sandwell maximum-security prison for extortion , threatening behaviour , assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and a string of sexual offences .
In a rare interview granted to KR , Sorceron ( or prison facility client number 666 ) said , ‘ you don ’ t know the half of it !’
Spyda ’ s Guide to New Zealand Motorcycle Road Racing Circuits from past to present
Covering over 400km ’ s on an incredible 157 Circuits . Same info , two different styles available . Both 230mm x 160mm Wire bound Touring edition designed to fit in your tankbag ( left ) $ 59 ; Softcover version $ 54 ( right ) Freight NZ wide $ 8 for your copy please contact nzmccircuitguide @ gmail . com