He was a fascinating character.Well worth reading a biography or two.The anecdotes etc. are amazing.He was such a unique individual,and a great human being apart from an incredible rider.
I could wax lyrical for hours about the stories Ive heard about Joey,some of them from peope who were there and witnessed them.
One which springs to mind is my mates wife was a young WPC in the Ballymoney area in the 70,s.She lost count of the number of times she caught him testing his race bikes on public roads.He always explained that he had just rebuilt the engine and couldn't resist the temptation to try it out before the races the following weekend.He was always apologetic and promised he would try his best not to give in to temptation again,but sure enough a few weeks later they would hear the sound of a screaming 2 stroke engine coming down the road and it was Joey.
He had charm and charisma though,so although he got bollocked and warned every time,he never got a summons.
He just lived life by his own rules,without ever doing harm to anyone else,and actually went to great lengths to help other people whenever he could.
There will never be another man or rider like him.
I just wish he had stopped after that 200O TT.
