Old Bike Mart March 2017 PREVIEW

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Young Motor Cycle staffman Mike Evans eases a road-test 80cc Yamaha across a slippery-looking accommodation railway crossing in 1965 – but at least it doesn’t look like the main line to Crewe! Photo: www.mortonsarchive.com

2 NEWS

March 2017

Pete’s Prattle www.oldbikemart.co.uk email: info@oldbikemart.co.uk

Editor Pete Kelly OBMEditor@mortons.co.uk Designers Charlotte Fairman Production editors Sarah Palmer, Sarah Wilkinson Picture Desk Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield Divisional Advertising Manager Sue Keily Advertising Tania Shaw tshaw@mortons.co.uk Alan Green agreen@mortons.co.uk

01507 524004 Marketing manager Charlotte Park Circulation manager Steve O’Hara Publisher Tim Hartley Publishing director Dan Savage Commercial director Nigel Hole General Queries Customer Service Number: 01507 529529 Telephone lines are open: Monday-Friday 8.30am-7pm, Saturday 8.30am-12.30pm and 24hr ansaphone Archive Enquiries Jane Skayman jskayman@mortons.co.uk 01507 529423 Founder Ken Hallworth OLD BIKE MART (ISSN:1756-9494) is published monthly by Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ UK. USA subscriptions are $48 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 City Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921.

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With its huge sprawling factories and heavy industries, Britain was once rightly known as ‘the workshop of the world’, and while many of us lament the passing of so much of our proud manufacturing history, particularly in the field of motorcycling, the skills that made our country the envy of the world remain alive and well in modern industrial units, old farm buildings and small premises the length and breadth of Britain.

As you leaf through the advertisements in Old Bike Mart, or take a really close look at the staggering number of trade stands at a Stafford show, for instance, you’ll find everything the classic motorcycle enthusiast could possibly need, from spare parts and engine tuning to electrical components, chroming,

magneto and distributor services, seat renovation, tank repairs and anything else you could imagine.

Like the proverbial acorn, some of these entrepreneurs start small, with just their families to get their businesses established, but through dedication, commitment and service, grow into large and successful firms.

Others are content to remain as one-man cottage industries, making a living from the services they provide to satisfied customers who return time and time again.

One of the finest wheel-builders in Lincolnshire, for instance, works from a shed at the back of his home, but his skills are so sought-after that he rarely gets the chance to relax, especially during the racing season.

Long may such businesses thrive,

and keep the pastime we love alive and kicking for many years to come.

Along with the many bouquets for dealers and service providers that we receive from our readers however, are the brickbats that come in from others, and as someone who’s always believed that motorcyclists are the salt of the earth, the latter can leave quite a distressing taste in the mouth.

Yes, we all make mistakes, but the way forward is to learn from them rather than compound them. The most important business interest of all is ethical behaviour towards customers. *** How ironic it is that the minute we publish a story on the Royal Corps of Signals’ White Helmets motorcycle display team’s forthcoming 90th

Great news for 50cc road racing fans

Members of the Classic 50 Racing Club will be able to compete in the national 50cc road racing championship this year, because it has been reinstated by the Auto-Cycle Union.

The series will be open to any 50cc road race machine conforming to either the Classic

50 Racing Club’s rules or the Freetech group rules, which means the championship will have two victors according to which rules are followed – but competitors won’t have to be a member of either group.

The championship will be held over six rounds at Tonfanau,

Mallory Park, Darley Moor, Aberdare Park, Lydden Hill and Cadwell Park.

For more details, visit the Classic 50 Racing Club’s website at www.classic50racingclub.co.uk or the ACU 50cc Championship Facebook page at www.facebook. com/acu50ccchampionship.

Who’ll be next for the Hall of Fame?

Twelve of the greatest names in motorcycle history have been shortlisted for this year’s Motor Sport Hall of Fame Awards, and the winners will be announced at the Royal Automobile Club, Woodcote Park, Surrey, on June 7.

The nominees for 2017 are Soichiro Honda, Casey Stoner, Barry Sheene, Wayne Rainey, Mike Hailwood, Geoff Duke, Kevin Schwanz, Freddie Spencer, Kenny Roberts, Joey Dunlop, Eddie Lawson and Mick Doohan, and it’s up to motorcycle fans

wherever they are to vote for who’ll be the next to join legends such as John Surtees, Giacomo Agostini, John McGuinness and Valentino Rossi.

To cast your vote, visit www. motorsportmagazine.com/hallof-fame .

anniversary reunion, complete with fond memories of my own day out training with them in 1971, the news comes through that the team is to be disbanded at the end of this year.

The full story is on our news pages.

Following the Lansdowne rules Entering its 19th season, the sixmeeting, 20-race Lansdowne Classic Series of road racing events will start at Pembrey over the Easter weekend of April 15/16, followed by events at Donington Park (May 6/7), Cadwell Park (June 3/4), Castle Combe (July 8/9), Donington Park (for the August 4-6 CRMC Festival) and Brands Hatch (for the CRMC Race of the Year on October 7/8).

The series has retained its four important sponsors of The National Motorcycle Museum, Bonhams Auctioneers, Avon Tyres and The Classic MotorCycle magazine.

6 NEWS

March 2017

Ariel Leader and Arrow hoard goes under H&H hammer Just before this issue of Old Bike Mart went to press, H&H Classics started to auction a collection of no fewer than 30 unrestored Ariel Leader, Arrow and Arrow Sports motorcycles, plus a range of parts, at Donington Park.

The two-stroke twins, which have been collected

by Clive Pearson, 68, of Leicester over the past three decades, will be sold at H&H Classics auctions throughout the year, from February 22, and Clive is selling them to fund his other passion of German machines from the Second World War. Having restored a tracked German NSU Kettenkrad in the past (road-legal because they have rubber treads in the metal tracks) he’s on the lookout for another.

Clive’s passion for the Ariel two-stroke twins started when, against his parents’ wishes, he bought one for £10 because he was so taken by its “futuristic looks”. His ambition was always to own a ‘Golden Arrow’, but his parents would never lend him the money to buy one.

Years later his father, then aged 90, told Clive that, having said no all those years ago, he would relent and buy him one. That bike remains Clive’s pride and joy and is definitely not part of the sale.

A foundry pattern-maker by trade, Clive loved the Ariels’ outstanding cornering ability afforded by the sturdy leading link front forks. “I searched out bikes about to be broken up for scrap and rebuilt them,” he said. “My idea was to save them for posterity, but now the time has come to pass them on to others who love the marque.”

As for the Kettenkrads, he said: “In first gear they can pull down a house, and in top gear they can top 50mph.

Once I pulled a 13-ton beer truck out of the mud at a festival with one after a Land Rover made no headway.

We all ended up having free beer all weekend!”

In German ‘ketten’ means chain, or tracks, and ‘krad’ is an abbreviation for ‘kraftrad’, a military term for ‘motorcycle’.

It might have seen better days, but at least this is one Ariel Arrow that Clive Pearson has saved for posterity.

Why not join the fun as Rutland bike gatherings help local air ambulance?

The first Greetham Gathering of 2017 will take place on Thursday, May 18, with further dates planned for June 15, July 20, August 17 and September 21.

Held in the grounds of Greetham Community Centre, Great Lane, Greetham, Rutland LE15 7NG, the May event runs from 5pm until dusk.

The gatherings are informal meetings of owners and enthusiasts with an interest in classic and vintage motorcycles, and all are welcome to join in the camaraderie and enjoy refreshments – a licensed bar is also open.

All profits are donated to the local air ambulance service, with a raffle to further the cause, and last October the organisers were able to hand over £2000 to the charity.

LEFT: A sweet James Comet demonstrates that a machine doesn’t need to be big and brash to delight the eye.

Bike track days at Lydden Hill

This regularly-used Ivory Calthorpe was pictured at one of last year’s Greetham Gatherings.

Another machine to savour at one of last year’s gatherings was this beautifullyturned-out Matchless thumper.

There will be two days of Vintage Motor Cycle Club two-wheel action at the Lydden Hill race circuit at Wootton, near Canterbury, Kent, on August 19/20, and motorcycle track days will take place there on March 25, April 22, May 6 and October 21.

Cardiff show is 25 years young

The Silver Anniversary Classic and Modern Motorcycle Show organised by the South Wales Sunbeam Club will take place at Llanishen High School, Cardiff CF14 5YL, over the weekend of April 8/9.

For details of the event, including entering machines or reserving free autojumble plots, contact Dave on 01443 435125 or email dave.harrison47@yahoo.com.

12 IT'S OUR CLUB

March 2017

Flying the flag for British bikes

Revolving around those who love riding British motorcycles, the Exeter British Motorcycle Club organises several enjoyable outings each year, including the Exe Valley Run, and promises a warm atmosphere on club nights.

The aims of the Exeter British Motorcycle Club are to foster, encourage and maintain an interest in British motorcycles, provide technical assistance to its members, discuss motorcycling in a friendly atmosphere and establish and maintain a good relationship between motorcyclists and the general public.

The general business of the club is run by a committee, and full membership and activity details can be found on its www. exeterbritishmotorcycleclub. co.uk website. Started in March 1992, the EBMC was formed on the basis that members support British motorcycles, which means

that when they represent the club on runs and rallies, only British motorcycles will be accepted. The question of what is considered a suitable motorcycle for club members is a critical and sensitive issue, and the committee decides on what qualifies as a British motorcycle.

Club meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at the Exeter Brewery Taproom in Cowley Bridge Road, Exeter EX4 4NX (www.theexeterbrewery. co.uk) close to Exeter St David’s station, and potential members are welcome to go along and find out more about the club and its activities.

A highlight of the year is The Exe Valley Run, which often enjoys bright, sunny weather, and up to 100 British motorcycles usually take part. This year’s 25th anniversary event will take place on Sunday, July 2, and there is also a Boxing Day Run each December.

From April until October, designated runs are also prepared for each Tuesday evening and one (sometimes two) for Sundays.

Exeter British Motorcycle Club members enjoy a lunch stop at the Bridge Inn at Dulvert rton t during an Exe Valley Run.

This venerable steam roller formed the perfect background for a group shot when club members rode to The Robey Trust at Tavistock.

Dave Degens is star guest at South of England Classic Show Guest of honour at the South of England Classic Show & Bike Jumble on Sunday, April 2, will be Dave Degens of Dresda Triton fame.

He’ll be starting his rare 1958 Matchless G45 road race machine in the fire-up paddock at 11am and 1.30pm at the South of England Showground at Ardingly, west Sussex.

He’ll also be holding his popular bike clinic in the Queen’s Jubilee Show Hall, and will be on hand to answer questions on bikes of all makes and ages.

With five indoor halls for motorcycle displays, trade and bike jumble stands, there will be plenty to see, and a helmet park in aid of the Royal British Legion will be available in The Stockman’s Building.

A great range of catering facilities will also be available. Gates open at 10am, with last admissions at 1.30pm for 2.30pm finish, and entrance charges will be £6 adults, £5 senior citizens aged 65 and over and children under 16 admitted free. Well-behaved dogs on leads will be welcome.

Triton legend Dave Degens helps out an enthusiast at a previous Ardingly Bike Clinic.

Seen at Ardingly last year, this prizewinning 247cc BMW R26 belonging to Colin Murrells of Kent was originally brought to England in 1964 and reregistered by the original German owner, and was restored in the 1990s.

14 FROM OUR ARCHIVE

March 2017

Images: Mortons Archive www.mortonsarchive.com

Empire of the Sun

Sun’s first venture into motorcycle production was the Sun Precision, and this photograph was taken in 1912. The image was damaged around the front wheel area at some point during its storage of 105 years.

Sun motorcycles were manufactured from 1911 until 1961, but their roots go back to the Victorian Birmingham brass foundry of James Parkes & Son. We delved into our archive to show some of the motorcycles, autocycles and scooters that proudly carried the Sun name.

T

he ‘Sun’ brand name, which first appeared in 1885, was inspired by the incandescent lamps produced by the Parkes family’s original brass foundry.

Like many other famous motorcycle manufacturers, the first diversification into two wheels was in bicycle manufacture, and arguably the bicycles, which began with the Sun Spider penny-farthing, became even more well known than their motorised counterparts.

In 1907, James Parkes’ son Joseph changed the firm’s name to The Sun Cycle and Fittings Company Limited of Aston Brook Street, Birmingham, a title that remained until virtually the end of motorcycle production, when Raleigh Industries acquired the Sun brand.

Sun’s first motorcycle, the Sun Precision of 1911, was powered by a 3½hp Precision engine, but in the following years engines of JAP, Blackburne and Villiers manufacture were also used.

Another chapter in Sun’s history was the acquisition of the Valveless Two-Stroke Company, whose impressive 269cc single-cylinder engines were fitted to Sun VT models during the First World War. In 1920, the ‘VTS’ appendage was cleverly changed to ‘Vitesse’.

Two machines powered by a rotary-valve sports version of this engine (nothing new under the Sun, eh?) competed in the 1921 Junior TT (there was no 250cc Lightweight race that year) and finished ninth and tenth, but the following year,

Using a 269cc VT two-stroke engine, the Sun Vitesse gave great performance for its day, and this photo was taken on November 27, 1919.

with the introduction of a separate 250cc class, fuel pipe fractures caused by vibration problems meant that Gus Kuhn and L J Lord could only finish 12th and 13th on their Sun machines.

The difficult years of recession following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 eventually led to a break in motorcycle production and the formation of a new public company of the same name in 1935, and it wasn’t until 1940 that the Sun name reemerged on 98cc Villiers-powered autocycles, one version of which lasted until 1949.

Sun started looking at proper motorcycles once again in 1951, and by 1957 a small range of Villiers-powered lightweights, topped by the 249cc Villiers 2T-engined Overlander, was being produced alongside a small scooter called the Geni.

After a takeover bid by Tube Investments which ultimately proved successful, attention turned to a larger 175cc Villiers-powered scooter called the Sunwasp (strangely written as a single word).

Although a decent machine, like many other British scooters it was no match for the Vespas and Lambrettas that swarmed on Britain’s roads, and when the smaller Geni scooter went out of production in 1960, followed by the Sunwasp a year later, the story of Sun motorcycles sadly came to an end.

Published in Motor Cycling in March 1953, this photo of a 197cc Villiers-powered Sun Challenger was used in a feature entitled ‘Modern British Motorcycles’. With telescopic front forks, single sprung saddle and rigid rear end, it was a typical affordable lightweight of its day.

‘Wasp’ was a favourite model name for Sun motorcycles, and with its leading-link Armstrong front forks, Villiers 2T two-stroke twin engine, wellvalanced mudguards, comfortable dual seat and high ground clearance, this 1956 model handled well and was capable of sustained 60mph cruising. It was let down by its weedy front brakes and far from incandescent lighting.

Its model name was soon changed to ‘Overlander’.

Sun’s first venture into scooters was the beautifully tidy Geni that certainly wouldn’t get normal clothing dirty. With 15in wheels and a 98cc Villiers engine, it was introduced in 1957 but production came to an end in 1960.

With a 346cc JAP engine at its heart, this capable 1932 Sun Tourist was a typical roadster of its day.

Talk about stripped to the bone! This undated Motor Cycling photo shows a 98cc Sun Wasp ride-to-work lightweight that was definitely built down to a price, but that bold incandescent ‘Sun’ tank badge makes up for it all!

The last throw of the dice was the 174cc Villiers-powered Sunwasp scooter, seen with The Motor Cycle’s smiling Bob Currie on board in 1960.

16 READERS’ LETTERS

March 2017

✪ Muc-Off Star Letter

The Norton that Ken bought I just thought I’d drop you a line regarding the tribute to Ken Hallworth in OBM (February), in particular the picture of him sitting on my Norton Dominator, which I took at the Navigation Inn at Buxworth during the run celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Manchester & High Peak Section of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club.

I think the date was Sunday, June 8, 2008, and the reason I took the photo was that the bike used to belong to Ken. He bought it from Warburton’s in Hazel Grove in 1962 when it

was a year old with 4000 miles on the clock. Ken ordered a set of Craven luggage, a carrier, fittings and Dolomite panniers, along with an Avonside dolphin fairing as he was going to use the bike for touring.

The first big outing for Ken and the Norton came in August 1962, when he toured Cornwall, and the following year he took the bike to Vienna and back, two-up, in the same fortnight’s summer holiday.

The Norton was also used as daily transport until early 1965, when he started to run a car. Ken then sold the Norton to a mutual

friend of ours, who in turn sold it to me in 1988.

I have attached a lovely period photograph of Ken (on the left) sitting on the same bike with two of his friends on Triumphs in 1962, when he was 19. His 20th birthday was in the November.

I had the pleasure of knowing Ken and Irene for many years since joining the VMCC in 1968. He was a lovely gent who will be sorely missed.

Ian Coburn Email

Those amazing Glasgow bike dealerships After reading Andy Hanlon’s letter about Glasgow motorcycle dealers (OBM February), I am attaching a 1960s’ flyer issued

by Ross Motors, who had a small motorcycle shop on Great Western Road and sold service parts downstairs.

Of more interest, a few hundred yards away in North Woodside Road, they had garage premises and also owned the adjacent four-storey tenement building. At one time they held dealerships for Wartburg and, I think, Mazda cars, as well as being involved in three-wheel cars.

On the first floor of the tenement was a motorcycle showroom selling British bikes – from memory BSA and Triumph – and on the next floor was their massive parts department. The flyer claimed that they had parts for all bikes, and indeed they probably had. Behind the scenes were shelves crammed with new and second-hand bits.

Just behind the long public counter were racks stacked high with Romac control cables, but unfortunately I found that getting the part you needed from Ross Motors depended more on who served you and whether they could be bothered to look, than if they had it in stock! Ross Motors also had branches in a couple more towns in Lanarkshire.

Cheap, simple and very enjoyable indeed I read the article about Andrew Powell’s MZ collection (OBM February) with great interest as I’m a fan of Eastern European two-strokes.

My first motorcycle was a DKW RT200VS that I bought from Pride & Clarke’s in 1960, and I passed my test on it that summer. I sold it six years later when I moved on to cars, marriage, career-building and so on.

I became interested in old bikes

Memories are made of this as the late and greatly-missed Ken Hallworth (left) sits on his Norton Dominator with two friends on Triumphs in 1962.

Keep your motorcycle in concours condition with the help of Muc-Off. Its fantastic range of bike-cleaning products will make short work of shifting all sorts of road dirt. Get that muck off with Muc-Off! Each month the star letter on OBM’s ‘Your View’ page will get a litre of Muc-Off Bike Cleaner for your clean start. Visit muc-off.com to see the full range or find Muc-Off on Facebook.

Cemetery appeal success On behalf of the Norton Owners’ Club, I’d like to thank you for printing my letter in your February issue. We had many replies but the one that brought a positive response – not contact with a family member, but an avenue to try – came from one of your readers, and I am pleased to say that we have now made contact with James Lansdowne Norton’s granddaughter.

OBM comes up trumps again!

Barry Owen, vice-chairman Norton Owners’ Club

sponse to audible Great res dible warning device query ‘Come on – we’re going to Ross Motors’. This colourful 1960s’ flyer also claimed that the firm could offer from stock new and second-hand spares for virtually anything on two wheels.

Your reader mentioned Victor Devine – now Honda dealers in Hyde Park Street. Another shop still trading is Mickey Oates Motorcycles. In the 1960s they had premises just off Great Western Road, but have now moved to the other side of Glasgow.

As a 16-year-old in the late 1960s, I frequently cruised around the Great Western Road on my 11-year-old and rather tatty Maico Mobil – a mammoth German scooter that had been supplied originally by the Bell Brothers dealership close to Great Western Road. I once called in at their showroom, parking the wreck outside, to see if they had any spares left, but by that time they sold only cars. again around the late 1970s and bought a non-running D7 BSA Bantam to refurbish. I never got round to completing the rebuild, but in the meantime got back into riding on a Matchless G2 that I bought in 1991. Trying to regain my youth, I was keen to find a DKW and eventually found my current model in 1997.

I have since delved into the marque history and found several connected makes of basic twostrokes, so I’ve built up a modest collection of six machines, all

Instead of sending me packing though, the two salesmen (probably the owners) came out to have a look at the Maico.

I was then taken downstairs to a large storeroom full of parts for all sorts of bikes. I was shown a box of mostly service parts for both the Mobil and Maicoletta, and ended up leaving with five control cables, two sets of points, three spare generic Mobil ignition/ light keys and a headlamp glass – and they charged me five shillings for the lot!

Great memories!

John McPhee Borve, Isle of Lewis

runners, and they arouse interest at any shows I take them to. I also enjoy rides out on the four roadlegal bikes with the VMCC South Lincs & Peterborough Section.

My collection comprises a 1936 Wanderer 1SP, 1959 DKW RT200VS, 1964 ZU DKW Hummel Super, 1972 MZ ES250/2, 1975 Jawa and CZ250 Sports Twin.

They might not be ‘classic’, but they’re all good fun.

Keep up the good work at OBM.

Bob Macdonald, Email

In response to Bill Stewart’s query abo outt an audible warnin ng device for winkerrs, BMW used to fitt one to their machin nes, and I picked on ne up at an autojum mble to try on my ow wn bike as I too was always forgetting to t cancel (n no doubt a reesult of learn ning to ride on a bike bik that had h no flashing indicators). ) I stopped using it ass I found nd it to be rather loud an nd it nnoyance became more of an an y than a help.

However I still have this unit, and Bill is welcome to it if he’d like to contact me.

John Blackburn Bicester

I have the contact details if Bill wishes to get in touch with John.

– Ed

I had trouble with leaving indicators flashing on my modern Triumph and Honda, and noticed many other bikes with indicators left on, so I bought a 12-volt pietzo buzzer from Maplins for, I think, about £3.

I mounted it on a thin stainless steel plate clamped out of the way under the handlebar clamps and wired it into the relay.

The buzzer is high-pitched and, mounted on the plate, resonates.

I did the same thing with my Honda Pan European with the buzzer screwed to a plastic panel.

David Kidd Westbury

Bob Macdonald’s line-up of two-strokes from the former West and East Germany and Czechoslovakia makes a varied and interesting display.

After having a couple of nearmisses through leaving my indicators on, I bought an audible warning device in 2014.

The company name is Azonic Solutions Ltd, 8A The Green, Upper Caldecote, Bedfordshire SG18 9BX (01767 319191, Fax 01757 319192, email a20nic@aol.com.

It’s a very good bit of kit, easy to fit and with an adjustable delay.

Barry Yeomans Ashbourne

This is the BMW audible warning device that John Blackburn still has.

I believe all bikes and o other vehicles should have effective tive audible a indicator have fitted one devices, and I hav from Azonic Solutions Ltd to my Motorhome and Subaru – just another beepy thing to hear. I trust this wonderful inventor still manufactures his device.

Brian Knibbs Email

In response to the letter from Bill Stewart regarding audible indicator devices (OBM February), I have happily been using an Audicator device for a number of years on my Ducati ST2. More details can be found at www.audicator.com

Ian Webb Email

Audicator is a brilliant British device that beeps in time with the indicator flashes and can be fully programmed to wait a desired number of flashes before starting to beep and then raise the beep volume until the indicator is cancelled.

It is also disabled by either brake so as not to bleep unnecessarily when waiting in traffic for a turn. It’s a real aid to safety and a snip at about £40.

I regularly follow a friend who has indicators flashing for miles, putting him in great danger of being T-boned from a vehicle exiting a road on the left – and this guy is a qualified instructor!

Pete Brocklehurst Email

Both Audicator and Azonic Solutions are still very much in business and manufacturing these devices. – Ed

22 MADE IN JAPAN

Suzuki’s little firecracker – the GT185

Following Suzuki’s sometimes puzzling marketing philosophy of the 1970s, Steve Cooper traces the birth and development of the GT185 two-stroke twin.

March 2017

B

ack in the day, the way in which Suzuki divvied up new models was somewhat haphazard to say the least. Some models enjoyed long life spans and often morphed into more modern machines, the transition from T250 to GT250 being a perfect example – if it ain’t broke don’t fix it etc.

Yet sometimes other commercially successful models were suddenly deleted from production lists for no apparent or obvious reasons, and to make matters even more intriguing, as often as not Suzuki had nothing new to fill the gaps.

Two notable incidences were the cessation of the sublime T125 Stinger and the hugely competent T200 Invader. In the case of the latter, it was dropped in 1968 and Suzuki didn’t fill the gap in its model range until the GT185 of 1973, which just so happens to be this month’s subject.

Pictures: Mortons Archive www.mortonsarchive.com

Wake-up call?

The Suzuki GT185’s styling was typical of its era, with lashings of chrome and that Ram-Air cylinder head, but its performance was something else.

Launched late that year for the 1974 model season, the bike was named The Adventure in the USA while the rest of the world knew the new arrival simply as the GT185K – and oddly enough, contrary to Suzuki’s standard policy of trying out fresh models on its home market, the bike was notable by its absence and wasn’t launched in Japan until a year or so later.

There’s a suspicion that Suzuki had suddenly woken up to the fact that Yamaha had been picking up substantial custom that Suzuki had inexplicably walked away from.

The Iwata-based brand had been cleaning up with the CS series 180200cc twins and with the all-new RD200 already grabbing attention, Suzuki went for the overseas markets to capture some much-needed sales in the sub-250 capacity group.

In designing the new machine, Suzuki again threw a curved ball into the arena, and at first glance there’s no obvious logic to the choice of a 185 motor. Given how successful the T200 Invader had been, it would have seemed obvious to build on that – but no. Instead of utilising the 50mm x 50mm bore and stroke

Suzuki unaccountably dropped both dimensions by a solitary millimetre which gave a capacity of 184.8cc. The only logical argument for the change is that it gave the bike a unique capacity and therefore an exclusive identity.

To all intents and purposes, the GT185 was a ground-up, totally new motorcycle with precious little in common with the hugely-popular T200. The new engine featured upright pots topped off with the company’s signature Ram-Air cylinder heads. The concept was that by running these covers with large front openings and smaller rear ones, air was forced and thereby accelerated over the tops of the heads for greater cooling.

Four decades on, the general feeling was that this was more about marketing than anything else, for Yamaha’s comparable RD200 certainly never suffered from topend overheating.

Elsewhere, the bottom end of Suzuki’s engine had been redesigned to run two centre main bearings, which ultimately made for a stronger crank assembly that was less inclined to flex and whip, although interestingly Yamaha had been using four-bearing cranks a decade before Suzuki apparently woke up to the benefits.

In place of the Invader’s twin-tube chassis the GT185 featured a single down tube, but for once Suzuki aced arch-rivals Yamaha, for instead of being an open-bottomed design that used the engine as a stressed member, the GT185 had a proper double-tube engine cradle which in turn gave a wider mount to both the engine and swinging arm.

A spot of learner luxury was the fitment of a self-starter on the lefthand end of the crank and taking the lead once more from Yamaha, it operated via a dynamo. For charging, current was taken away via one pair of carbon brushes, with a second pair fed via the battery to start the engine.

Riding a Suzuki GT185 is an unusual experience, and despite the apparent similarities between it and the Yamaha RD200, the two bikes

March 2017

MADE IN JAPAN 23

Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club

The Inside Line to Classic Japanese Iron, with Steve Cooper from the VJMC

K While the very first GT185s had a drum front brake and fork gaiters, this was quickly changed to an effective front disc brake and no gaiters as seen here.

are like chalk and cheese. The GT feels smaller, almost like a moped that’s been necking steroids as if they were going out of fashion. Suspension-wise, the 185 is bouncy, which can lead it to being ricocheted around the road a little (by comparison the Yamaha, although still over-sprung and under-damped, feels more composed), yet the real difference is when the taps are opened.

Although the two machines have similar performance, the Suzuki is more feral in nature and needs to be wound up to the point where its port timing takes over and it sears towards the redline like a firecracker.

Keep it on the boil and between the hedges, and it’s hugely rewarding, but let it drop out

of the sweet spot and you’ll be dancing on the gear pedal, which might not be such a bad thing, for those two tiny 49mm pistons work hard for their keep and facilitate a glorious soundtrack from the silencers, which are really thinly disguised and muted expansion chambers.

Once ridden, never forgotten would be a fair description of piloting a GT185.

Style-wise the 185 fitted in with the rest of the Suzuki family year on year and even aped the first-year-only drum front brake and fork gaiters of its bigger brothers.

For 1975, though, the bike received a decent front disc brake, the fork gaiters were dropped and a brighter colour scheme was used, along with

accented neutral graphics – and this was pretty much how the bike would stay for the next three production years until 1977, when the little chap got something of a makeover.

Dramatic facelift

Utilising the satin black side panels that had been introduced the previous year, the bike received a new saddle that blended into the new rectangular rear light and the tail piece new for that year. The overtly 1970s candy paint was quietly dropped for flat white, giving the revised B model a dramatic facelift.

Suzuki seemed to be aiming at the maximum return from the GT185 without changing anything fundamental, and

the T200’s long-awaited replacement had already been in production more than twice as long as its forbearer.

1978 saw the C model offered in different markets with different names. A GT185E appeared alongside the GT185 fitted with alloy wheels, and to add further confusion for the avid bike spotter, the Japanese home market machines were badged RG185 and RG185E! The C model in at least four guises was about as far as Suzuki could push the design, but this time they had a replacement in the wings. For 1979 an all new model called the GT200 aka the X5, was ready to take over – and that’s an interesting story for another issue of Old Bike Mart.

eeping a weather eye on the world of classic motorcycles, it’s easy to spot the market trend of everything going up in price as more and more folk chase an ever-decreasing pot of bikes and related spares.

In relative terms there’s still a fair number of classics out there, but not all concentrated in key spots like it used to be. There are now very few oldstyle dealers awaiting our urgent visits to buy the last ten spoke sets for some long-forgotten tedious moped, or that almost unmarked and virgin fuel tank that was dinged in transit from the importer and exchanged via warranty. Likewise the glut of pistons, rings and gudgeon pins that once blighted American West Coast dealers’ stores has been snapped up by enterprising traders, and obviously the same has happened on the East Coast, so you can park your expectations of a bargain-priced NOS seat for your late 1960s Yamaha. As the man said: “It simply ain’t happening!”

However, there’s still a lot of new old stock out there, as recently evidenced by a massive cache of Bridgestone goodies coming up on social media. A lifetime enthusiast was walking away from major bike fettling and selling most of what he had. The only bugbear was the fact that he lived in a remote town somewhere in the Mid-West not far from Hicksville, and as is the way of these things, some misanthrope has already commented that it would cost a substantial amount of money to view and transport the stock simply because of its isolated location.

Er, hello! Reality calling! We are talking about parts for motorcycles not made since 1972, and you’re peeved because they’re not on your doorstep? Like my old dad used to say: “The easy jobs were done years ago boy”. If stuff is harder to locate, transport and ship, then obviously it’s going to cost more. This, in turn, sets a baseline cost, and hence the rise in prices.

The real world is, apparently, a seriously confusing place for some people. Seemingly I am a lucky git, jammy, propitious or downright providential because I own a Suzuki Stinger.

A peripheral contact of this column has an unrealistic understanding of old Japanese bikes and the spares they inevitably demand. The greeneyed monster sitting on his shoulder tells him that because I’ve managed to locate the singularly vilest example of Suzuki’s iconic 125 twin, I am somehow either blessed by the gods or rich beyond the dreams of Croesus. And as for the NOS spares I’ve managed to obtain, supposedly I “must know people on the inside”.

The answers to these two questions are no and, er, no! The bike was purchased as a total wreck with a seized engine, corroded everything and missing all the rare stuff. And as for the parts… well, that’s a tale in itself. After a whole decade of ferreting at autojumbles, surfing the net, asking mates and badgering traders, I finally had enough to begin the bike’s rebuild. No magic, no smoke and mirrors, no mysterious friendly dealers in the know – just good old patience, detective work, persistence and the help of mates in the VJMC. Anyone who believes bikes and parts should cost less than they did when new is a sad and deluded fool. If the same individuals think that they’ll be almost gifted spares, they must live in cloud cuckoo land. Old bikes are a challenge and will be even more so as time rolls on. Do the legwork, join a bike club and dig in for the long term – then it might, just might, come right!

Tel. 01454 501310 M-T 1000-1600 vjmcmembershipuk@gmail.com

www.vjmc.com

28 BOOK REVIEWS

March 2017

The complete story of the Matchless Colliers Many TT fans will know that Charles R Collier, riding a Matchless, won the 1907 singlecylinder class over 10 laps of the original St John’s course, a distance of 158.125 miles, in 4hrs 8min 8sec on May 28, 1907, averaging a very respectable 38.21mph – but that’s where most people’s knowledge of the remarkable Collier family ends.

Although Charles’s brother Harry, on a similar machine, suffered an engine seizure on the second lap and had to retire seven laps later, the result put the name Matchless on the map for all time.

With the support of the descendants of the Matchless-founding family, it has taken Bill Cakebread many months of painstaking research to tell the complete story of The Matchless Colliers – but just like his first book, Motorcycle Apprentice – Matchless in Name and Reputation, which we reviewed in our January issue, it’s a superb piece of work with many previously-unknown insights into the lives of a father and his three sons who left such an indelible mark on the motorcycle industry. Indeed, it’s the story of a family first and foremost.

“They started at the very dawn of an era and created what was to become at one time the largest motorcycle manufacturing empire in the world,” Bill writes.

“Sadly, it was an empire that would begin its decline into oblivion soon after the last

member of that founding group had passed away, and my story is written as a mark of respect to these individuals and what they achieved.”

The Matchless story began in Birkenhead, on the banks of the River Mersey, when Henry Herbert Collier, the second of three brothers, was born to Benjamin Richard Collier (27) and his 19-year-old wife Alice in 1859. Two years later the family were living in Newtonle-Willows, Lancashire (then known as Newton-in-Makerfield), but by the time Henry had reached the age of 22, he was in Brighton working as a railway engineering fitter and improving his mechanical skills all the time.

Bill Cakebread’s record of the Collier family history is so complete that the space we have here is nowhere near enough to give it full justice, but after marrying Louise Isley at St Peter’s Church, Brighton, on August 6, 1882, Henry became a metal turner at a ‘gun factory’ (almost certainly the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich) and that area became his home for the rest of his working life.

Joint business ventures with one John Watson included a steam laundry and hiring bicycles to the young men of Plumstead for a penny a day, but Henry wanted to move into bicycle manufacture, and had used the word ‘Matchless’ for some of his experimental machines. After his partner reluctantly agreed, a patent search revealed that ‘Matchless’

had recently become available to use as a registered trademark, and permission to use it was granted in 1891.

Watson remained uncomfortable with this new diversification, and the partnership was dissolved in 1892.

The cycle business flourished, and Henry’s sons, Harry and Charlie, were soon winning prestigious races. After reading about experiments in fitting internal combustion engines to bicycles, however, they became fascinated by the idea and had soon built a home-made engine of their own.

A long learning curve followed, moving step-by-step towards the very first Matchless production motorcycle of 1902 that boasted a 326cc air-cooled De Dion-type engine (manufactured in England by the Motor Manufacturing Company that had made bicycles for the British Army during the Boer War), and which sold for £45.

It was the start of long and very successful story, and with the ensuing chapters on the Tourist Trophy Races, Record-Breaking, An Aeroplane (honestly!), The Intervention of the First World War, Peace and a Matchless Car, Father and Sons, Harry the Eldest Son, Charlie the Middle Son, Bert the Youngest Son, AJS, Another War, Postwar Expansion, More Racing, The Decline and The Legacy, The Matchless Colliers just gets better and better as you read on. PK

The Matchless Colliers, by Bill Cakebread.

Self-published by One Track Publishing, East Sussex (one-track@btinternet.com ) and available direct from Bill at W A Cakebread, The Paddock, High Street, Ninfield, Battle, East Sussex TN33 9JR. 118-page 235 x 158mm softback with 107 black and white illustrations. ISBN 978-0-9954510-0-1, £12 plus £2.50 p&p.

Bypass Cowboy: The Life & Legend of Bonneville Bob The fact that I read three-quarters of this 330page biography in a single evening speaks volumes for the grim and gritty story of Robert Taylor’s life around Ashton-under-Lyne in Lancashire, especially during the rocker era

that followed that of the original ton-up boys of the mid-to-late 1950s.

‘Up north’, life could indeed be grim, gritty and totally unvarnished in the 1960s (I should know – I come from there!), and the narrative is so raw that the book comes with a warning of the type you sometimes see at the start of TV films, such as “contains language, violence,” etc, because genteel it definitely isn’t.

Bob, who was born in 1947, is as real and raw as they come, and tells the story in language that might well offend some readers – but I rank honesty way above the kind of put-on refinement that so many people portray without giving any real clue as to the character beneath.

This devastatingly honest work reflects in no uncertain terms what life was like during the author’s chaotic and often violent upbringing in Lancashire during the immediate postwar years.

Far from being knocked down, however, he took life’s harsh injustices knock by knock, each one adding to the tough and steely character that he became.

Later in life, Bob made a determined effort to find out all about a Canadian boyfriend his mother had had during the war. His name was Robert Cavanagh (Bob wonders whether that was where his Christian name came from?) who’d been stationed at Ladysmith Barracks, Ashtonunder-Lyne. Bob’s mum always told her

son that her boyfriend had been killed in a boat, and Bob discovered that Able Seaman Cavanagh had lost his life in the landing craft he’d been piloting on the beach at Dieppe.

After learning this, Bob jumped on his bike and rode across to see the pebble beach that had turned into such a slaughterhouse, and it all ended up with a plaque being unveiled at what was left of the Ladysmith Barracks in memory of the gallant Canadians known as the Halifax 100 Soldiers of the Maple Leaf who had enlisted with The Manchester Regiment of their own free will.

Any broad-minded person who picks up this shockingly brilliant book, which even has its own Facebook page, will find it hard to put down – but if you don’t fall into that category, leave well alone.

Some words of wisdom by Robert McKee right at the start of the book read: “While it’s true that the unexamined life is not worth living, it’s also the case that the unlived life isn’t worth examining.”

PK Bypass Cowboy: The Life and Legend of Bonneville Bob. Available from 18 Padden Brook Mews, Padden Brook, Stockport SK6 3AL (cheques for £16.99 plus £4 p&p made payable to R Taylor) or from Thackeray’s Books, Denton M34 2XW or Relics ‘n’ Rust, 4 Commercial Brow, Hyde SK14 2JW. 329-page hardback with around 275 small illustrations.

McQueen’s Motorcycles, Racing and Riding with the King of Cool Although Steve McQueen died on November 7, 1980, he remains alive in many people’s hearts, and with a foreword by Dave Ekins, Matt Stone’s book gets right into McQueen’s character as it describes his all-consuming passion for motorcycles and cars, although his first true love was always motorcycles.

Steve was sitting aboard a bike when the evangelist Billy Graham once asked him what his religion was, and he replied: “It’s the desert, the grass, the sun in the sky – and my wheels.”

Another telling quote adorns the back cover of this beautifully-produced coffee table hardback: “Every time I start thinkin’ the world is all bad, then I start seeing some people out having a good time on motorcycles – it makes me take another look.”

McQueen’s Motorcycles, Racing and Riding with the King of Cool, concentrates on the bikes that Steve raced and collected, from the first Harley he bought when he was an acting student in New York to the Triumph ‘desert sleds’ and Husqvarnas he raced all over California, Mexico and Nevada.

He took part in top off-road races including

the Baja 1000, Mint 400 and Elsinore Grand Prix, and he was even a member of a 1964 International Six Days’ Trial team.

Later in life, as he backed away from Hollywood, his interest turned to old bikes and he accumulated an extensive collection that included Harley-Davidson, Indian, Triumph, Brough Superior, Cyclone, BSA and Ace. With chapters encompassing Early Days, and Biking in the Big Apple, The Great Escape (it was Bud Ekins who actually did that jump), The International Six Days’ Trial 1964, Desert Sledding and the 1960s and early 1970s, On Any Sunday, The Reluctant Collector and McQueen’s Motorcycles Today, you can see what kind of treats are in store.

McQueen’s Motorcycles, Racing and Riding with the King of Cool, by Matt Stone, foreword

by Dave Ekins. Published by Motorbooks, an imprint of the Quarto Group (visit QuartoKnows.com). 160-page large-format hardback with 164 illustrations in black and white and colour. ISBN 978-0-7603-5175-8, £24.99.

How to Restore Classic Off-road Motorcycles Classic off-road enthusiasts will be delighted with this large-format softback title by Ricky Burns, for with almost 500 photographs on high-quality glossy paper, it covers every aspect of dirt bike restoration in great detail and is relevant to post-1950 classics and more modern 1980s twinshocks alike.

While much of the work described in the book is carried out on a 1979 Montesa Cota 349 trials bike, it could just as easily be any trials, motocross or enduro machine from the same period.

How to Restore Classic Off-road Motorcycles skilfully brings advice on project choice and the preparation process, step-by-step guidance (with a photo to illustrate every move), dismantling, restoring and sourcing parts, and rebuilding.

Chapters on the engine, brakes and wheels, fuel and exhaust systems, spraying and decals, the seat and forks precede the final two about the rebuild and final preparation.

The book ends with two short chapters about entering the pre-65 and twinshock competition scene.

How to Restore Classic Off-road Motorcycles, by Ricky Burns. Published

by Veloce Publishing Ltd, Veloce House, Parkway Farm Business Park, Middle Farm Way, Poundbury, Dorchester DST1 3AR (01305 260068, fax 01305 250479, email sales@veloce.co.uk, website www. veloce.co.uk ). 270 x 207mm paperback, 160 pages with 488 colour illustrations.

ISBN 978-1-845849-50-4, £35.

32 AT YOUR SERVICE

March 2017

Keeping it in the family!

Old Bike Mart visits Classic Bike Shop in Redditch, where Mike Rogers, his wife Kerrie and son Archie are all part of the enthusiastic team continuing a long-established family tradition steeped in motorcycle dealing and bike jumbling – but in this internet age their business is sending quality-made spares for British motorcycles all over the world.

M

ike Rogers has been trading over the internet for about 15 years now, but until June 2016, when Classic Bike Shop moved to its present spacious new premises on an industrial estate in Redditch, the British motorcycle parts business was conducted from a barn tucked away in the countryside.

Mike’s father Curly and grandad Jack once both worked at the Royal Enfield factory that stood a stone’s throw from where they lived, and bikes have been in the family’s blood for decades.

A competitive performer on the Midlands circuits from the age of 18, mainly riding the BSA Gold Stars that his own father prepared for him, Curly left RE when he was just 25 to set up his own motorcycle business, M J Rogers Motorcycles in Clive Road, Redditch, selling second-hand bikes and new Royal Enfields.

Before long his dad joined him, and they traded at that location until 1976, by which time they were dealing with Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha while still keeping old British bikes on the road.

“People still tell me they bought their first bike off my dad,” said Mike, who well remembers the old premises from when he was just a young boy of about nine. When the Redditch New Town development came along, the shop was

Do any readers remember the long-gone premises of M J Rogers Motorcycles in Clive Road, Redditch? Mike’s father Curly started the business after both he and his father Jack had worked at the Royal Enfield factory, which was just a stone’s throw from where they lived.

compulsorily purchased and Curly moved to a shop in Headless Cross, Redditch, finally selling the business to Knotts Motorcycles in 1984.

As Mike grew up, there were always more bikes to jump on than many people get to ride in a lifetime – in fact he started at threeand-a-half years old! “Some of the first bikes I rode were an original Honda Monkey Bike (they’re worth a fortune now) and a Suzuki AP50, but dad never liked two-strokes,” he said.

No turning back

“I helped him in the shop when I was growing up, and worked for him after I left school, but when he finally decided to sell the business and semi-retire to concentrate on restorations and autojumbling, there was no turning back,” said Mike. “I always went with him to the jumbles at weekends, and we met a lot of great people there. He was always sending me to the post office to send off wheels and things like that to customers.”

These events included Ascot, Buxton, and some of the first autojumbles that were held at the VMCC Taverners Section’s Founder’s Day rallies at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire.

“These days many firms concentrate on parts for Triumph, BSA or Norton,” said Mike, “but Classic Bike Shop

Mike’s grandad Jack, who prepped the bikes for his son, is seen with a Velocette.

sells new parts (and just a few second-hand items) for all kinds of bikes, and we keep everything we advertise in stock. We can offer a next day, before 11am service for those who want their bits in a hurry.”

The premises are crammed with exhausts, silencers, handlebars, seats (locally made in Birmingham), wheel rims, tyres, gasket sets, cables, brake shoes and pads, fork stanchions, pistons, piston rings, wheel rims, tyres, mudguards, stays, specialist tools, coils, rotors, stators, speedometers and rev-counters – in fact everything you could imagine for a thorough restoration.

Visitors are warmly welcomed to the premises for a look around

Welcome to Classic Bike Shop! With a fine-looking BSA Rocket 3 in the foreground, one of the staff awaits the next customer.

Mike Rogers takes down one of the locally-made Triumph dual seats.

Get an earful of that! Bikes like the BSA Rocket 3 and Triumph Trident helped bring Britain into the 1970s Superbike age.

Gleaming wheel rings hang ready for dispatch.

Mike Rogers’ father Curly was always keen on motorcycle sport, and is pictured here in a 1950 scramble. Between the ages of 18 and 28, including during his National Service, he raced BSA Gold Stars particularly at the Midland circuits, where he became quite a force to reckon with.

As we chatted, we learned that he’s been in the bike trade since the end of 1959, when he started as an apprentice at Ariel, and that he and Mike’s dad were great friends.

Graham has carried out around 22 swinging arm conversions for Ariel Square Fours, and was also the man behind the ‘Bleader’ that was featured in OBM some time ago.

Online shop A BSA Bantam had seized because “We’re always looking for new products to add to our website www. the young motorcycling journalist who collected it from the factory classicbikeshop.co.uk,” said Mike, had no idea that it didn’t have an “but if you want to call in and buy ‘Autolube’-type system, and when something directly from us, look the time came to refuel on his there first to make sure we have journey from Birmingham, he filled the part you want. Business hours it with neat petrol and ran it until the are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, engine seized!

Saturdays 10am to 4pm – Mondays Noticing the damaged bike propped are always really busy.” against a wall, Graham duly bought A small number of skilfullyit from BSA and first simply fitted a restored bikes are dotted around replacement 175cc engine, but later the large industrial unit, including decided to fit a 250cc Ariel two-stroke a 1969 BSA Rocket 3 and a rare twin, making such a good job of it that Honda SL125 trail bike, and for the a rumour started to circulate that it sake of nostalgia several old British machines are stored on the first floor, was a factory prototype!

“I would have called it the Barrow, including a lovely Royal Enfield not the Bleader,” he said, “but that replica trials bike.

During the summer, Mike hopes to was the name that stuck.”

Old Bike Mart plans to visit encourage Saturday bike meets and Graham soon to find out all about ride-outs from the premises. his life with motorcycles. He should No sooner had he said: “You never have some interesting stories to tell! know who’s going to walk in next,” regular customer Graham Horne, Classic Bike Shop, Unit 3, Dunlop who lives about five miles away, Road, Hunt End Industrial Estate, walked through the door to buy Redditch, Worcs B97 5XP some Triumph tappet blocks and a www.classicbikeshop.co.uk set of points for a BSA. and a cuppa, and during OBM’s visit the place was a hive of activity, with Archie and Dave Montgomery carefully packing items to be dispatched all over the world, Kerrie answering the phone and dealing with administrative duties and Russ Heath working on IT and sales.

Up on the first floor, a lovely Royal Enfield replica trials machine reminds Mike and his staff of where it all began.