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Out comes the back wheel of an Ariel Huntmaster/Astral Busmar double-adult combination as a puncture is attended to during a summer holiday in Devon in 1963. Note the old-fashioned caravans in the background on this evocative Mortons Archive photo.
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NEWS 3
August 2015
Second Big Bike Sunday an outstanding success The Girder Fork & Classic Motorcycle Club’s second Big Bike Sunday event at Skipton Auction Mart on June 28 was an outstanding success, easily eclipsing last year’s run with 850 visitors and an even bigger display of bikes, writes Brian Sanderson. The machines ranged from belt-drive, pre-First World War icons to a Brough Superior, Vincent Comet, Velocette MAC, Triumph Thunderbird, girder-fork 350cc AJS and Matchless G2, and 76-year-old Bill Taylor rode his 1936 girder fork/rigid Norton International all the way from Whitby to the event, setting off home again at about 4pm. A 200cc Ariel Arrow, modern Harley-Davidson softail, Suzuki GS1000, Pembleton Guzzi three-wheeler and a Scott Squire added to the immense variety, along with a number of scooters, a rigid 790 Triumph special and several sidecar outfits. Gary Parker’s stunning Suzuki RG500 special won the best two-stroke award an d was also declared best in show. Along with Gordon Pickles (Vincent Comet), Keith Laverton was joint winner of the classic single class with his 350cc Royal Enfield Bulsader (get it?) racer, and R Keith won the shield for the best vintage machine with his 350cc pre-war girder-fork AJS. Darren Archer’s sprung-hub Triumph Thunderbird won the classic multi award, and the modern class winner was J Wrighton with his Suzuki GS1000. Dave Huxall’s Lambretta won the scooter award, a Mr Watson the custom class with his 790 Triumph and the three-wheeler award went to Alan Watkinson’s Guzzi three-wheeler. Master of ceremonies Roger Henderson handed cheques of £750 to each of the club’s charities, Manorlands Hospice and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, from last year’s event and raffles.
Crowds flock to the Girder Fork & Classic Motorcycle Club’s Big Bike Sunday on June 28.
TO ADVERTISE YOUR EVENT GIVE RICKY A CALL ON 01507 529465
This gorgeous Velocette MSS was one of many fine singles at the Skipton Auction Mart.
An Association of Pioneer Motor Cyclists badge adorns R Keith’s gleaming 350cc AJS which took the best vintage award.
Sandwiched between two gleaming Velos is the 1936 Norton International that Bill Taylor rode from Whitby to Skipton and back.
All set for the Brighton Speed Trials This year’s Brighton Speed Trials will take place along Madeira Drive on Saturday September 5, with the timed runs due to start at 11.30am after the practise runs. Organised by the Brighton and Hove Motor Club and first run in 1905, the Speed Trials are said to be the longest-running motorsport event in the world. By invitation of that club, the motorcycle entries (covering machines from the early 1900s to the present day) are being managed by the Sprint section of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club at www.vmccsprint.co.uk
Brough Superior Rally date The Brough Superior Club’s Annual Rally will take place at Middle Aston Leadership Centre, OX25 5PT, on Sunday, August 23. The cavalcade will start around 2pm, entry is free and everyone is welcome. The venue is off the A4260 between Oxford and Banbury.
Chris Illman’s V-twin JAP is ready to blast off the line.
Dave Glover’s fearsome Ducati gets off the line along Brighton’s famous Madeira Drive.
Getting down to it, Andy Forward has a cracking start on his 500cc ‘Morado’ Triumph.
Love animals – love the Hull RSPCA bike show
All you need take along to enter a great little RSPCA bike show in Hull on Sunday, September 13 is a tin or packet of cat or dog food – and even the public admission from noon onwards is cheap at £1 adults and 50p children (...and you can take some pet food as well if you like!) The event will take place at the RSPCA site on Clough Road in the
city (HU6 7PE), with motorcycle entry and registration between 11am and midday. This is the 11th show, and it grows bigger every year. Bike entries will be judged in six categories, with a best in show trophy for the overall winner. The classes are: British bikes to 1980, British bikes from 1981, European bikes, Japanese bikes,
American bikes and custom bikes and trikes. Visitors will also enjoy trade stands, burgers and other refreshments, a motorcycle owners’ raffle with prizes donated from many bike shops in Yorkshire, and there will be RSPCA fundraising stalls. For more information call 01482 341331.
1 year obm subscriptions from £16. See page 55 for details
4 NEWS
August 2015
Five days in Provence as riders enjoy top road trip
Mountain roads like these, also used during the Tour de France, make all the difference.
The word is out, thanks to Old Bike Mart and The Classic MotorCycle, that events organised by Le Moto Club Senas Durance in Provence, France, are top notch and combine superb riding with classic French hospitality, writes Ian Kerr MBE. Following on from the earlier British-only event reported in OBM earlier this year, the much longer annual Tour de Provence fiveday event had a large British entry. Led by ex-pat Neil Thomas, the usual suspects riding under the Classic Bike Esprit banner were joined by a team from the Men of Kent Vintage Motor Cycle Club section as well as a few other sundry Brits like ex-pat regulars Adrian and Angela Samways soaking up the scorching June sun. Now in its 24th year, the tour started as an event primarily for the older pre-war machines, with riders from all over Europe taking part. Despite the machine age restriction, it was always fully booked year on year, and three years ago the club decided to run an earlier event using all the same routes and accommodation, but for later machines manufactured between 1945 and 1975. Despite a slow start, this is becoming booked just as quickly, with regulars returning every year, and the entry now runs at over 50 machines plus passengers. Thanks to a great deal from the bike-friendly Brittany Ferries, we took our own bikes down in the van and, as it happened, missed all the Calais problems by going overnight into Le Havre. After a leisurely drive down, we started from the club house in Senas, where breakfast was served while the usual T-shirts and plaques for each bike were issued along with the route,
A bright yellow Norton Commando and a huge field of sunflowers make a stunning picture during this year’s Tour de Provence.
and the luggage was taken in the back-up van. From then on it was just five days of riding on roads that produced stunning scenery and took us up and down some fabulous roads criss-crossing the various cols, or mountain passes, as well as taking us through some historic places. Some of the route was the same as that of the Tour de France, including an ascent and descent of Mt Ventoux, which was once used for motorcycle races as well! This year’s accommodation was at a holiday camp complete with chalets and swimming pool. Aperitifs and the four-course evening meals are all part of the deal with the club, as is the lunch which comes from a refrigerated van that turns up at the midway point to
provide three courses at the side of the road – something you don’t get at your average VMCC event in the UK! The total cost, excluding cheap petrol, works out at around £50 per day depending upon exchange rates. The event ended, as ever, back at Senas, with a large meal in their restaurant with many emails being exchanged among a very happy contingent, especially those of us from the UK. If you want amazing roads, and the chance to really exercise your bike in like-minded company for over 150 miles per day, then Le Moto Club Senas Durance really does have the answer – and the weather!
Standing ovation for road race hero Peter Williams Former John Player Norton team leader Peter Williams was given a standing ovation at an ‘Evening with Peter Williams’ in the small Shropshire town of Cleobury Mortimer on Friday, July 3. With a special Peter Williams Beer, bottled by the local award-winning Hobson’s Brewery, to slake their thirst, the 100-strong audience thoroughly enjoyed Peter’s talk about his impressive racing career
which included contesting the British 500cc championships, taking a Formula 750 TT win and famously, on a spotless and superb Arter Matchless G50, beating MV Agusta-mounted Giacomo Agostini at a Brands Hatch event. Sadly for the whole sport, his racing career was cut short through serious injuries sustained in a crash at Oulton Park in 1974. The organising Parent
Teacher Association at Lacon Childe School was amazed to see visitors from California and Australia in the audience. Chas MacDonald was over on holiday from Brisbane, and was thrilled to meet and chat to one of his heroes, and John England flew over especially from San Hose both to meet Peter and visit the works where replicas of the 1973 750cc John Player Norton are being built (see
OBM July). He left for home having ordered one of the bikes, planning to sell a Laverda to help finance the deal. Both visitors also received autographed photos of Peter racing, and of the replica monocoque machine. The evening raised almost £500 for the work of Lacon Childe School, and the next such fund-raiser there will be the Borders Classic Bike Show on September 12-13.
14 From our archives
August 2015
the story With the help of Colin Sparrow’s outstanding book Greeves, The Complete Story, Pete Kelly looks at the life and times of one of Britain’s best-loved manufacturers of lightweight road machines and fine competition machinery.
D
uring its brief 25-years as a motorcycle manufacturer, Greeves produced some of the finest lightweights in Britain, quickly finding competition success in trials, scrambling and road racing as well as producing a range of roadsters that gained a well-deserved reputation for sturdy construction and brilliant handling. The two key players in the story were the company’s founder and managing director, Oscar Bertram (‘Bert’) Greeves and his severely disabled cousin Derek (‘Derry’) Preston Cobb, who became the firm’s secretary and sales director. A keen motorcyclist, skilled engineer and talented businessman, Bert Greeves had always been close to his never-say-die cousin, and it was this that first inspired him to attach a lawnmower engine to Derry’s wheelchair back in the 1930s. This simple act of kindness sowed the seeds for the formation of Invacar Ltd in 1946, but Greeves enthusiasts have the National Health Service to thank for their motorcycles, for in 1949 Invacar successfully tendered for a contract to provide 1000 three-wheel motorised invalid carriages to the Ministry of Health, with more contracts to follow. This enabled the firm to move from its original Westcliff-on-Sea premises into a much larger factory in Church Road, Thundersley, Essex – an address
that would become familiar to a generation of motorcyclists. With the enthusiastic encouragement of Derry, by the time Invacar gained yet another huge contract for invalid carriages from the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance in 1952, Bert had already built a number of prototype two-stroke motorcycles – and the first production machines made their debut at the Earls Court Cycle and Motorcycle Show in November 1953. By then the hallmarks of the Greeves design – an alloy front beam and rubber-bushed and damped leading link front fork – had been established in off-road competition. At first, the rear suspension also followed the friction-damped rubber suspension theme, but this would soon be replaced by normal hydraulic damper units. The show also marked the introduction of the stylised Bert Greeves signature tank badge that replaced the prototypes’ original logo that is seen in an accompanying picture. The long-standing link between Invacar and the Wolverhampton concern of Villiers meant that four of the newcomers – two roadsters, a scrambler and a trials bike – were
The potent 364cc Greeves on which Alec Wright entered the 1967 Welsh ThreeDay Trial had strengthened forks, a Silverstone two-leading-shoe front hub and a motocross engine.
The 25DD essex Twin Mk 2 had the smart villiers 4T two-stroke twin at its heart. It had a two-tone blue finish, and the tank, mudguards and fork spats were made from glass-fibre material.
powered by the well-proven 197cc Villiers 8E engine, but at the heart of a fifth machine, the 25D Fleetwing, was a 250cc rotary inlet-valve British Anzani two-stroke twin that had originally been intended for boat use. The 20R was a basic three-speed roadster finished in black, while the 20D de-luxe, featuring a four-speed gearbox and Quaker Blue paintwork, was aimed a little higher in the market. The name of the blue paint, incidentally, was later changed to Moorland Blue. The 20S scrambler had a short, stubby and obviously very loud exhaust pipe, aluminium mudguards, deep-studded Avon tyres, heavy-duty hubs and, of course, a four-speed gearbox, while the lower-geared 20T trials had to satisfy the most basic road-legal requirements by incorporating a speedometer, silencer, bulb horn and stand into its design. These machines marked the beginning of a steady development programme under which the Greeves name would become synonymous with quality and performance, placing it firmly in the top-drawer category of the burgeoning British lightweight market. Although Greeves products were well received by the motorcycle press, and always had that ‘little bit different’ about them, the entire 25-year production ran to less than 30,000 machines – and being a brand new name in the market with no huge dealer network to call upon, Greeves got off to a very disappointing start, selling only 113 machines in 1954, 194 in 1955 and 119 in 1956. It would have been very tempting to just pack it in and give up – after all, there would always be the Invacar business to keep them going – but Bert and his cousin persevered with their dream, and the first signs of an upturn came after noted scrambles and trials development rider Brian Stonebridge joined Greeves from BSA at the start of 1957 to become their competitions manager and development engineer. He also achieved some spectacular results as a Greeves works rider. At Hawkstone Park that April, having doubled the power output from a Villiers 9E engine, he not only won the 350cc event on a Greeves scrambler, but also came second to John Draper
Greeves scored some of its earliest sporting victories in the Scottish Six Days Trial. This is the appropriately named 1959 Scottish Trials model.
one of the pioneering Greeves roadsters was the 250cc 25D Fleetwing, fitted with a twin-cylinder british Anzani engine.
Above: You’d certainly hear it coming! This was one of the first machines built by bert Greeves of Invacar, and shows the original tank badge that was used on the prototypes. Note the trailing link rubber suspended front fork. The arrangement was revised to leading link in time for the production models.
Fitted with villiers 2T and 3T engines, the 25DD essex Twin was one of the tidiest Greeves roadsters of 1963. Here a Motor Cycle staffman goes through the usual photographic routine as he gets a soaking near Waterloo Station.
(BSA) in the big 500cc race. To commemorate this important milestone, the name ‘Hawkstone’ was bestowed on the firm’s legendary scrambler. Greeves found continuing success in other fields, too, including Jack Simpson winning the 200cc Cup in the 1957 Scottish Six Days Trial to repeat Peter Hammond’s success of the previous year. Although their total bike sales for 1957 were still only 263, the modest upward trend confirmed the link between sporting achievements and marketplace success, and Greeves’ fortunes finally turned around in 1958, the year in which Brian Stonebridge led a three-man team to gold medal victory in the International Six Days
Cracking roadster – the 20Db sporting single, with its well-tried 197cc villiers 9e engine, was one of the smartest and best-handling lightweights of its day.
Trial in West Germany, and sales came in at no fewer than 739 bikes, all but around 100 of them being competition machines. The Thundersley concern suffered a major blow in October of the following year when Brian was killed in a headon collision along the A1 near Retford as he and Bert Greeves were returning from a visit to the Hepolite factory. Bert was at the wheel of the Austin Atlantic convertible, and in the days before seat belts were mandatory, Brian was thrown from the car and sustained fatal injuries. Record crowds turned up for the memorial meeting that took place at Hawkstone Park in the spring of 1960. Greeves went on to sign Dave Bickers, who rewarded them by
Greeves entered road racing with its purposeful Silverstone models. This is the 1964 version.
From our archives 15
August 2015
These Greeves Essex Twins were specially prepared for police duties in 1964, and their riders line up for an epic shot beside the Thames.
becoming a double 250cc motocross champion, and the competition story continued right to the end, a major development coming in 1964 when Greeves announced its own potent competition engine that would power both the 24MX1 Challenger scrambler and 24RBS Silverstone road racer. Many sporting successes followed, and Greeves remained in business until well into the l970s, but it would take a book to tell the story fully. For the purposes of Old Bike Mart, we’ll concentrate on the road bikes that Greeves continued to produce until 1966. Reflecting Greeves’ increasing sporting success, the 1960 road bikes were the attractive Villiers-powered 24DB Sports Single, 25DB Sports Twin and 325cc Sports Twin, all featuring a two-tone blue finish for the fuel tanks and alloy mudguards. The theme continued with small modifications for the following year, when the roadsters achieved a record sale of more than 750, but in 1962 the startling twin-cylinder 32DCX and 25DCX Sportsman models emerged, with a light blue, red and yellow colour scheme that hit you right in the face. If the idea was to get away from the somewhat conventional appearance of the previous Greeves roadsters they certainly did that, but the duo, which also sported full-width alloy hubs, dropped bars, a blue and yellow flyscreen fairing, a red leatherette seat and colourful glass-fibre covers for the bottom of the front suspension, proved a step too far, and didn’t bring the sales success that Greeves had hoped for. By 1963 the firm was at the top of its game, offering no fewer than seven roadsters and six competition machines. Although the Sportsman models were still available, along with the Sports Twins and 20DC Sports Single, the year also saw the introduction of the handsome
Villiers 2T and 3T-powered Essex Twins, wearing the more familiar Moorland Blue colour scheme now extending to the properly valanced mudguards and front fork covers. With the Japanese invasion in full flood, the 1964 range of road bikes was reduced to three models, the Mk 2 Essex Twin featuring the Villiers 4T engine and a beautiful-looking lighter Mountain Blue option, and the 25DC Villiers 2T-powered Sports Twin and 20DC 9E-powered Sports Single. Increasingly, and especially with the introduction of its own Challenger engine, Greeves saw its future in competition machinery, and with dwindling road bike sales, only the Mk 2 Essex Twin, 25DC Sports Twin (later rebranded the East Coaster in a nicelooking black and silver colour scheme) and 9E-engined 20DC Sports Single remained available in 1965. The production of road bikes finally ended in 1966, when the East Coaster and (remarkably) the good old 9Eengined 20DC Sports Single became the last such machines to be produced at Church Road. Those lucky enough to still own Greeves road bikes continue to enjoy the quality build and fine handling upon which their reputation was built, and details of the thriving Greeves Riders’ Association can be found in ‘Club Call’ on page 53. One of the best books about the Thundersley breed I have ever read, which has helped enormously in the compilation of this feature, is Colin Sparrow’s Greeves, The Complete Story
One of the most controversial models in the Greeves range was the bright light blue and yellow 25DCX Sportsman of 1962, complete with fly-screen, fork spats and bright red dual seat. The brash styling was too much for many potential riders – but today it’s a rare and very much sought-after model.
(ISBN 978-1-84797-741-0) published by The Crowood PressLtd, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 2HR (01672 520320; enquiries@crowood. com). At £29.95, the 224-page A4 hardback contains almost 300 photographs, with full specifications of every Greeves model made, including details of all the prototypes, and I would unhesitatingly recommend this ‘Greeves Bible’ to anyone with an interest in the marque.
Published in Motor Cycling, this photo shows Richard Wyler, of the Interpol TV series, and road racer Joe Dunphy loading their 324cc Greeves 32DB sports roadsters onto a plane on February 27, 1961 for a ride around Europe during which Wyler revisited the filming locations in Paris, Rome, Florence and Amsterdam.
20 BIT ON THE SIDE
August 2015
Over the hills and far away Mick Payne and partner Kate are sticking it out on their marathon ‘4 Corners 4 Alzheimer’s’ ride on a humble but doggedly reliable 350cc Jawa/Velorex outfit, having already conquered the infamous 2053ft Bealach na Ba in north-west Scotland. Here Mick brings the latest update.
W
hen he saw our Jawa outfit Jas, a Czech national now running the campsite at Applecross, in Scotland, told me in a heavily-accented voice: “I took my training on one of those.” His weren’t the first remarks either; so many people have owned CZ and Jawa (which I now know is pronounced more like ‘Hyava’) machines that it makes me wonder where they all are now. Believe me, they’d make a great and cheap everyday classic and no, sir, they don’t smoke horrifically either -- at least not on the synthetic Rock Oil I am using. I first realised that I was gelling with ‘Li’l Donkey’ when the left hand kick-start and combined gear lever stopped worrying me. Push the lever in with the heel and hook it back with the toe and it is a doddle to start. It takes about five kicks first thing, but will start with a gentle prod when hot. That other Jawa/CZ idiosyncrasy, the automatic clutch, is still a mixed blessing. It’s fine most of the time, but I find it all too easy to get stuck in third when changing down rapidly. If you approach a junction and make a quick decision to take a different road, it can leave you struggling to change gear. As I write, we have completed 1900 miles around Scotland, including the infamous Bealach na Ba – some road! -- that climbs to 2053ft. It had the little two-stroke working hard, fully loaded as we were, and I was glad of the linked sidecar and rear drum brakes on the descent. Take
Kate will give her verdict on the snug Velorex sidecar that has taken her over 2000 miles so far in the next issue.
It’s been raining (as usual) as the Jawa/Velorex outfit reaches the summit of Bealach na Ba in Wester Ross, Scottish Highlands – but Kate is still enjoying herself.
Looking down from the dizzy heights of Bealach na Ba – just imagine it in a winter blizzard!
It was wet on Skye too – thank goodness for those heavily beaded tyres!
note -- the pass starts and finishes at sea level! The standard slotted front disc works fine, and I believe this has been updated for the latest models. Much of our Scottish miles have been on single-track roads, so speeds have been generally low, rarely reaching 50mph, but the Jawa’s lack
of thirst is commendable, returning around 50-55 miles per gallon and merely sipping two-stroke oil from the tank mounted in the seat’s tail. A side-mounted tank, as on the new Retro, would be better suited, because with luggage on the seat the oil cannot be checked or filled. For the sort of daily mileage we are
doing, however, I know I can run for two days if necessary. We rode from John o’ Groats to Ullapool with an overnight in a youth hostel at Durness on one fill with plenty to spare. but normally I top it up for every leg. Assuming the bike continues to run as well as it has been, I’ll get Kate to give her opinion on the chair for our next update. I know she thinks well of it. That will be on our return to England, no doubt, from a very wet Isle of Skye, where Neist Point has
been our most westerly ride yet with Durness Point on the mainland being the most northerly. We have a Just Giving page at w w w. j u st g i v i ng . c o m / M ic h a e l Payne1 (please donate if you are able) and the trip can be followed on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/TeamKaty/337565223023474 If you are able, why not ride along with us for a while? The company will be appreciated. If you should wish to contact me, you can do it at sidecar4corners@gmail.com
21
August 2015
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Buying and selling since 1985 BSA A10 Golden Flash 650cc, 1955, MoT, exempt, exceptional finish, £4900. Also Triumph Thunderbird, 1961, MoT, metallic blue, superb, £6750. Both are classic investments must be seen to appreciate, reducing collection. Tel. 01424 774095. East Sussex.
-MACHINES FOR SALE001 Autojumbles: August 23, Normous Newark A/J, Newark Showground, NG24 2NY; See display ads. Tel. 01507 529430. (T).CL548596C
Aerial Huntmaster, 1955, older restoration, 12v lights, 1,500 miles, everything restored, good runner, ride away, £3500. Tel. 01494 7634147. Bucks. OB549380C
OB549246C
AJS Model M30 Twin, 600cc, 1956, excellent condition, new tyres, easy starter, owned for 40 years, 31k miles, original registration and matching numbers, easy starter, age dictates sale, £4500 ono. Tel. Rob Buxton 01298 79290. Buxton. OB549311C
ISSUE IS:
We no longer accept adverts for V5/logbooks wanted or for sale
Private classifieds only For trade advertising, call the team on 01507 524004
1959 BSA A10R Super Rocket, extensive restoration and rebuild from wheels to seat, not ridden since completing in May 2015, starts easy, original British tank, guards and 6V system. Tel. Jim 07854 580138. OB548992C
SEPTEMBER
AUGUST 20
BSA 1923 V-Twin motorcycle combination, older toned restoration period lighting speedometer etc, easy starter, £18300 ono. Tel. 01590 675743 for more information. Tel. 01590 675743 (evenings) OB549249C
Ariel 350cc 1954 Springer, maroon, good condition, original paintwork, orignal reg & V5, £3250. Tel 01275 854130. North Somerset. OB549193C
DEADLINE FOR
12 NOON on THURSDAY
Ariel NH350 Red Hunter, maroon, nice standard bike, separate headlamp model, very good condition, recent use, £2900. Tel. 01480 469554. St Ives, Cambs. OB549303C
AJS 1000 v twin model 40/2, 1940, one of the very last made, in beautiful condition. Owners club certificate, original fittings and brass tyre pump, good investment £24,995. 01270842206. (T). DA549533C For sale: 1957 AJS 650 Hybrid, smart appearance, completely overhauled, new rebore wiring, brakes, exhaust, levers, tyres etc. Tel. Chris on 01544 260140 for more details. Powys. OB549416C 1968 Suzuki 80cc model KIIP, 2500 miles, project, offers iro £300. Tel. 02476 543470. OB549510C
Ariel Huntmaster, 1958, rebuilt 2014, matching numbers, HCS engine rebuilt, new seat exhaust pipes, paint very good, great runner, £3950 ono. Tel. Dave 07624 423233. Isle of Man.
BMW K100LT, 1989, 69k miles, MoT 3/16, owned 8 years, MoTs to 1998, all receipts from my ownership includes original plus higher screen plus Clymer manual, £1000; bike too heavy now. Tel. Stuart 01673 860904. Lincs. OB549376C
BSA 1934 500cc O.H.V., smart bike, h/change, poss p/x post war British 250/350 or 2-stroke resto project, must be complete, £6750. Tel. 01708 450742. (After 3rd August please). OB549326C
BSA A7 1952, nice mellow bike in mostly original condition, rebored, mag rewound, good tyres, starts and runs well, currently on Sorn, owned ten years, £3450 ono. Tel. 01372 450682. OB548998C
OB549285C
Interesting twin wanted: BMW, Buell, Harley, Triumph, Moto Guzzi. Have you got an interesting modified one of these makes, anything considered. Details please to: Chris, The Value Bike Centre. 01953-857881. (T), www.valuebikecentre.net OB549458C
BMW outfit RS 1000 Hedingham sidecar, 1979, T reg, immaculate, 19,937 miles, red/ black, £5000. Tel. 01606 76205. Cheshire. OB549377C
BSA 650 Royal Star (A50R), complete log book history including buff log book and numerous receipts, has been well looked after as original not a rebuild or restoration. Tel. 01216 283791. OB548993C
BSA A7, 1960, complete rebuild, powder coated frame, stainless rim and spokes, new magneto, new carb, new mains, new big end etc, excellent condition, £3000 spent, will accept £3750. Tel. 07788 862878. Stoke-on-Trent. OB549280C
40 FROM OUR ARCHIVES
August 2015
Which boat are we going on? It was always ‘boat’ – never ‘ship’, ‘ferry’ or ‘steamer’ – when we planned our trips to the TT and Manx Grand Prix in the 1960s. Pete Kelly looks back over more than 50 years of motorcycling connections with the Isle of Man.
I
don’t know whether the surname Kelly has anything to do with it, but for more than five decades I’ve enjoyed a motorcycling love affair with the Isle of Man that’s brought some of the most cherished memories of my life – some indescribably happy, but others, sadly, quite tragic. The family connection with the Island started during the Second World War when my late father Jack was stationed at Jurby Airfield as an RAF morse code instructor, but I had no idea what a huge role the Isle of Man would be destined to play in my own life when I visited it for the first time, at the age of 15, in 1959. The occasion was the annual camp of the 3rd Warrington Company of the Boys’ Brigade, when our bell tents and marquee were set up in a field overlooking the scallop-shell strewn beach just north of Ramsey. My first sight of the hallowed TT circuit came later that week when we had a tour of the Island in an old Bedford Duple coach, and I clearly remember the driver telling us that, only two years previously, a rider called Bob McIntyre had lapped it at 100mph for the first time in history. My first
As the fly-blackened machine came round the Creg, a wave of sound hit us from the four black megaphones and I thought: “How can anything so small make so much noise?”
experience of the TT came by accident in 1962, when Rev Jack Hanson, a friend of the family who rode a DKR Defiant scooter, allowed a group of us to kip on the floor of Baldrine Methodist church hall, which had useful kitchen facilities, rather than pitch tents for that year’s ‘camp’. We only twigged that we were about to be caught up in the exciting atmosphere of TT practice week when we saw bike after bike being craned aboard the Manx steamer at Liverpool, and as we weren’t due to sail home until the Tuesday of race week, we even managed to see the opening sidecar and 250cc Lightweight events after hiking along a network of trails and farm tracks from Baldrine to Cregny-Baa.
Close and loud
Watching the races from the embankment opposite the Keppel Hotel was a pivotal moment in my life. The bikes seemed incredibly close and loud as they flashed round the corner and accelerated hard towards Brandish, leaving the fruity smell of
In the late summer of 1966, I left Motor Cycling to concentrate on club racing, but I should never have sold these beautiful Frank Barker leathers.
Castrol R in their wake. I can still hear the loud, flat note of Rennsport engines as Max Deubel and Florian Camathias, with passengers Emil Hoerner and H Burkhardt respectively, battled for supremacy on their incredibly low and neat BMW outfits in the sidecar race – yet against all the odds both failed to finish and it was our own Chris Vincent and Eric Bliss who snatched victory on their BSA outfit, followed by Otto Kolle and K D Hess (BMW), and Colin Seeley and Wally Rawlings on their impeccable Matchless outfit. The most spine-chilling sound, however, came from the works Honda fours in the 250cc race. The scream of Bob McIntyre’s mount as it came down from Kate’s Cottage, revs soaring as it left the ground time and time again, left an indelible impression on my mind, and as the flyblackened machine came round the Creg, a wave of sound hit us from the four black megaphones and I thought: “How can anything so small make so much noise?”
In 1963/4 I did my news-gathering ‘rounds’ for the Newton & Golborne News on this 50cc Suzuki Sovereign Sports, complete with Avon fairing, and it even took me to Gwrych Castle and back for the 1964 Dragon Rally!
During the fabulous postwar golden era, visitors flock into Douglas after arriving on one of the Isle of Man Steam Packet’s smooth and fast steam turbine ferries.
After Bob retired with mechanical problems it was left to Derek Minter, riding a Honda four loaned by the UK importers, to win from works riders Jim Redman and Tom Phillis. Tragically, Tom was killed after coming off at Laurel Bank in the Junior race just two days later.
75-minute lap!
The following year our family enjoyed a blissful holiday spanning practice and race weeks, with mum and sister Joan in dad’s Matchless G9 outfit and myself and brother Geoff on my 150cc Excelsior Universal. One day Geoff suggested that I do a timed lap on the Excelsior, so I engaged first gear – out of a measly three in the box — made an authentic bump start and set off, flat on the tank, down the Glencrutchery Road. As I recall, the lap took about an hour and a quarter – but I did see 68mph on the speedometer between the Creg and Brandish! That was the year when Scuderia Duke brought the Gileras out of mothballs to challenge MV Agusta with a team comprising Derek Minter and John Hartle, but injuries put ‘The Mint’ out of action and it was still Mike Hailwood (MV) who won the Senior convincingly from Hartle and Read. In 1964 I wangled press passes for myself and a lifelong friend, Colin Wilkinson, on the basis that we were covering the TT from the perspective of local riders for the Warrington Guardian series, for which I was a junior reporter. We pitched our pup tent behind the grandstand only to discover that we were lying on a nest of ants, so after just one night under canvas we upped sticks and spent the rest of the week almost penniless after paying for board and lodgings at a local bed and breakfast –
I’ve done a bit of modelling now and again, but never this kind! The occasion was a catalogue shoot for TT Leathers of Barnard Castle in 1972, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it was the 600cc BMW bike I was testing at the time, which appeared in many of the shots that was the main attraction! On my journey home, both the Beemer and I were wrecked after being hit head-on by a car on the wrong side of the road.
fortunately there were lots and lots of them in those days! By the following year’s TT I’d become a staffman on Motor Cycling, and it was a fantastic experience to play a small part in the amazing organisation that was required to bring readers of the ‘Green ‘Un’ full reports and pictures of Monday’s opening sidecar and 250cc Lightweight events when the issue came out on the Wednesday. Up in the press box, the race reports had to be typed out live, lap by lap, as I ran up and down the stairs phoning over each page to a copy-taker at our printers in Colchester. After the races, with emails still decades in the future, photographers Harry Stanfield and Tommy Wood
had to ensure their films reached Ronaldsway Airport to catch a London-bound aircraft – and, of course, just as much organisation was required to put the specially dedicated TT pages together at the other end.
Lashing rain
I rode around the Island on a Velocette Venom Veeline Clubman gathering material for a ‘Kelly’s Eye’ column in each issue, and one memorable assignment was meeting up with Mike Hailwood at Ramsey Harbour to sail out to the rusting Radio Caroline pirate ship, where he gave an interview about his TT prospects with the MV Agusta team. He duly won the Senior that
41
August 2015
Overwhelmed and overjoyed Sidcup Bike Night becomes an annual event
One of the few pictures I have of my Cotton Telstar racer; this taken as I prepare to go out for a Wirral 100 Club 250cc heat at Oulton Park in 1966. I wonder who was riding No 23?
Bikes of every description are on show as visitors to the Sidcup & District Motor Cycle Club’s Bike Night at Canada Heights enjoy the warm summer’s evening.
Mike Hailwood is welcomed aboard the fishing vessel that took him from Ramsey to the Radio Caroline pirate ship to make a broadcast about his MV Agusta prospects during TT practice week in 1965. I was invited to tag along for the voyage.
In 1967 I moved to Darlington to work on the regional daily, The Northern Echo, but after writing a feature about them I soon found myself ‘training’ with The White Helmets motorcycle display team at nearby Catterick. Never did quite get the hang of their motorised penny-farthing, though!
year — but it was no easy victory, for in lashing rain and strong, blustery winds – conditions that would prevent any TT race taking place today — both he and his MV Agusta team-mate Giacomo Agostini came off on consecutive laps on the treacherously slippery uphill stretch at Sarah’s Cottage. Ago was the first to go down and retired, but when the same fate befell Mike a lap later, smashing the screen, twisting the handlebars and flattening the megaphones on the left side of the fourcylinder MV, he managed to restart the bike and get back into the race. With ripped leathers and a bleeding face, he continued to the pits on what had become a very offkey-sounding three-cylinder machine to refuel and get the bars knocked back into shape. The following lap he pitted again, this time to have a throttle slide and part of a carburettor removed and to change a spark plug, before battling on to win the race by two minutes from Joe Dunphy (Norton) at an average speed of just 91.69mph. That was the only TT I ever attended with Motor Cycling, because a seamen’s strike prevented the event from taking place as planned in 1966, and it had to be postponed until just before the September Manx Grand Prix. After thoroughly enjoying my first taste of London, and motorcycling journalism, I’d started to feel homesick for my
friends in Lancashire. Coupled with this, I’d traded in my old Ariel Arrow, along with the £200 compensation I’d unexpectedly received after a U-turning car had wiped out Bruce Main-Smith’s Triumph Saint and smashed my left kneecap to pieces, to buy a Cotton Telstar racer from H Dugdale Motors in Alvanley, Cheshire. I also bought a made-tomeasure one-piece leather riding suit from Frank Barker in St Helens. It was superb – and I should never, ever, have sold it. Wanting to enter as many weekend club racing events as possible didn’t fit in with the hectic Sunday evenings putting Motor Cycling’s sports pages together, and the occasional weekend assignments meant remaining in London didn’t help either, so reluctantly I handed in my notice that August. The club racing career was short and uneventful, but as far as the Isle of Man was concerned, it was just the beginning.
Head-on
After joining The Northern Echo in Darlington as a subeditor in 1967, I soon found myself writing motorcycle road tests for the esteemed regional daily, sometimes using the bikes to get to the TT. In 1972, when I’d been loaned a gold-coloured 600cc BMW with chrome tank panels, I received a phone call from Lennie Thwaites, of TT
Just a few days later, both Mike and his team-mate Giacomo Agostini came off their Senior MV Agustas in the pouring rain at Sarah’s Cottage. Ago, who was the first to go down, had to retire, but Mike restarted his battered four-cylinder machine and struggled on to a historic win from Joe Dunphy (Norton) at a lowly 91.69mph.
Leathers in Barnard Castle, inviting me to join two professional male models for a catalogue photoshoot on Roseberry Topping, a wellknown Teesside landmark. For a good couple of hours we swapped Rufrydas outfits for quartered leather caps and other items of motorcycle clothing, and the session was nearly over by the time I twigged it was probably the glamorous Beemer that Len wanted in the pictures rather than me! It didn’t stay glamorous for long, however, for on the way home I was hit head-on by a car being driven around a bend on the wrong side of the road and the BMW was utterly destroyed; the force of the impact bending its right-hand cylinder completely backwards. I was fortunate to escape with my life, suffering nothing more than a severely gashed right leg and a broken wrist – but I did catch a glimpse of the repair work on my kneecap from six years previously. From this, amazingly, I was invited to join BMW’s 1973 Isle of Man Maudes Trophy
team which rode two BMW R75/5s around the TT course for seven days and seven nights, mostly in the pouring rain. Little could I have guessed it at the time, but less than a year later I’d find myself at the helm of Motor Cycle organising the entire TT week coverage with a very capable team including Mick Woollett, Vic Willoughby, Bob Currie and John Ebbrell — all sadly no longer with us. Also John Nutting, Martin Christie, Dave Wilcock (who came to us from Motor Cycle News, but five years later embarked on a lifetime’s work writing about steam railways) and others. I was still just 29, and taking on MCN was challenging to say the least. It was the start of the most gruelling yet satisfying three years of my life, and I’d love to share the story of these further Manx connections, including the Maudes Trophy and a 24-hour road test with the Motor Cycle Mechanics team in 1979 — when we actually encountered blizzards in May! — in the next issue.
FuELLED by the success of last year’s Bike Night at the Canada Heights international motocross course, the Sidcup & District Motor Cycle Club put a copious effort into making this year’s event even better – and the hard work paid off when almost 300 machines and their riders turned up on Friday, July 17, 100 more than last time. Such was the evening’s success that the club committee has now decided to make it an annual event despite a very full competition calendar, writes Brian Edwards. The grassy tree-lined area set aside for the event was packed to capacity with machines of all sizes, shapes and makes, giving the stewards a bit of a headache in lining them up in their appropriate places. The judges had no mean task either, walking up and down the rows scratching their heads and deliberating over who the lucky winners would be. The cafe proved very popular, with the ladies of the club rushed off their feet serving the hungry visitors with food and drink. Because of the lovely warm weather, many visitors had probably donned their helmets as soon as they got home from work and set off for the evening’s fun, arriving ravenous as the smell of burgers and hot dogs wafted through the balmy air. The array and variety of motorcycles was amazing, from the little machines dad went to work on to lusty beasts of 1000cc or more alongside motocrossers, trials irons, grass track and speedway bikes. Classics from the era when Britain ruled the world were well represented, and some of the Japanese machines had
With its dazzling paintwork, this Honda CBX special drew plenty of stares.
fabulous paintwork. Triumph was probably the most popular make in evidence, from Speed Twins and Thunderbirds to two beautiful Trophies, one of which had been ridden by the legendary John Giles in the International Six Days Trial. There were also many vintage machines, most of which had been ridden to the event, and adding to the flavour were matt-black ‘rat’ trikes housing a wide variety of engines. It took the judges the best part of the evening and much soul-searching to finally decide which machines were the worthy class winners, and when the various awards were announced, the lucky recipients went up to collect them and return to their mates with grins a mile wide. Local traders who took space at the growing event included Bates of Dartford, with a fine display of its Enfield India motorcycles in keeping with the classic theme, and Freestyle, which catered for the trials and enduro brigade by showing both modern and classic bikes.
Triumphs were in abundance, and this gorgeous sprung-hub Thunderbird attracted lots of interest.
Considering the Sidcup club’s proud competition record, upswept pipes were only to be expected, as this worthy British trio demonstrates.
50 67th BanBury run
August 2015
On top of the world yet again! Following our page of photos last month, Pete Kelly brings the full report and results from this year’s Vintage Motor Cycle Club Banbury Run.
T
he largest gathering of veteran and vintage motorcycles in the world, the Banbury Run enjoys the impeccable organisation of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club, whose experience gained over 67 years can be seen in every aspect of the event, from the exemplary programme to the complex starting procedure and a checkpoint system that is second to none. Comprehensive results, listing every award winner and the overall performance of every single participant — whether brilliant or, shall we say, challenging — are posted on the VMCC website in record time, and this year’s event, which started from the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire, on Sunday, June 21 lived up to every expectation. Covering such a special event is made even more pleasurable thanks to a programme that lists every entrant with his or her full first name(s), where they come from, full details of each and every machine, individual starting times, and even the riders’ often wry and amusing comments:“At Kop Hill Climb in 2013 the vicious tricycle wheelied at the start line, threw me off the back and jumped on top of me causing numerous injuries, but luckily only £4.20 worth of damage to the trike” – Henry Brooks from Henley-on-Thames, 1899 2 34⁄ hp De Dion Bouton motor tricycle. “Taking my wife as my navigator. Her new knee joint means she can get into the sidecar once again. Hope she can get out afterwards!” – Barry Care from Northants, 1922 600cc Four Point Five New Hudson. “I won a silver last year, the first time I didn’t take the dog in the chair. I always thought he was a lousy navigator!” – Boris John Faulconbridge from Suffolk, 1930 490cc Sunbeam Model 6. “The quest for more power is
unending. See if you can spot the supercharger I have fitted.” – Neil Read from Rothersthorpe, 1922 234⁄ hp Raleigh Popular. “Last year we broke down, seized up and caught fire. Let’s hope this second outing goes better.” – Jacqueline Bickerstaff from Daventry, 1898 4hp Leon Bollee tandem tricycle. “This year I aim to be back before dark” – Keith Hodgenia from Neston, 1926 147cc Francis-Barnett No 4. “If you think this bike looks tatty, take a look at the rider!” – Charles Dixon from Attlebrough, 1928 498cc Raleigh. “The old AJS still runs well. I don’t run any more!” – George Gibbs from Deddington, 1924 800cc AJS Model D. “The bike is dirty, oily and messy – and the rider’s even worse!” – Bob Ashley from Stoke-on-Trent, 1930 348cc BSA L31-4. “Found in a garden – been there for over 50 years” – David Jones from Swansea, 1929 499cc Ariel Model F. “Any sensible woman would be in the garden” – Jane Anderson from West Sussex, 1913 770cc NUT V-twin. “I’m hoping to get further than in my last Banbury Run. This should be achievable since my clutch disintegrated before I’d even left the museum site!” – Paul Collins from Birmingham, 1922 2 34⁄ hp Raleigh Lightweight Model 5.
Fred Evans gets a push start for his clutchless 1913 269cc Royal Ruby.
“We have now got gas lights in case we are late finishing” — Terry Spencer from Wellingborough, 1921 269cc Endurance Two-Speed. “The Calthorpe has the interesting Enfield two-speed system which I think must be slow and stop!” – Alan Dignan from Worthen, 1917 250cc Calthorpe JAP. “Powerful enough to rip the skin off rice pudding, but not to climb Sunrising two-up!” – David Hubbard from Basingstoke, 1930 247cc Villiersengined Panther.
“The patina on both machine and rider is original!” — Brian Devey from the Wirral, 1925 500cc Sunbeam Light Solo.
“Often described as powerful, sophisticated and handsome. The bike’s not bad either!” – Brian Smith from Darlington, 1913 550cc Triumph C.
“Bike and rider have received mechanical improvements so should be able to tackle Sunrising this time” – Gordon McClure from Haverfordwest, 1930 350cc Cotton/Blackburn.
Such quotes make better reading than anything I could write, but more importantly demonstrate the irrepressible spirit of this great event. All I can say is: “Roll on 2016!”
John Dodimead (1930 500cc Sunbeam) leads Ivan Rhodes (1928 348cc AJS K6) away from Gaydon’s Heritage Motor Centre at the start of this year’s Banbury Run.
Before the ‘off’ Martin Squires concentrates on his sketch of Sammy Miller’s spotless 1925 Grindlay Peerless ST1 with its 1000cc sleeve-valve Barr & Stroud V-twin engine.
Last year, Andy Whitman’s 1930 175cc Terrot LSO was stuck in France, so could not take part in the Banbury Run. It was all ready to go this time, though.
Stuart Franklin’s 1929 600cc Scott Flying Squirrel, Andy Dean’s 1922 300cc New Imperial Model 3 and Mike Davis’s 1915 293cc New Imperial Light Tourist bask in the sun in the assembly area.
John Barrett came up from Essex to ride his 1923 350cc BSA L23 outfit. Following him is Russell Jenkins from Bristol (1924 350cc AJS B3).
Local rider Geoff Wheeler sets off on his 1903 3hp Quadrant tricycle.
This 1924 175cc Motobecane MB1 was ridden by Alex Taylor from Abingdon.