KEMPTON MOTORCYCLE JUMBLE 7 Saturday, September 16, 201 5AQ Kempton Park Racecourse TW16 m) OPENS 9.30am (early bird 7.45a £10 Adult £6, Child/OAP £5, early bird kemptonparkautojumble.co.uk
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Wallet at the ready, a rider keeps a close eye on the meter as he watches the petrol pump attendant filling the underseat petrol tank of his Ariel Leader. The ‘4/4’ (four shillings and fourpence) on the side of the ‘Aero Petrol’ pump indicates that you could get well over four gallons from a pound note when this picture was taken in the early 1960s. Photo: Mortons Archive www.mortonsarchive.com
2 NEWS
September 2017
Pete’s Prattle
www.oldbikemart.co.uk email: info@oldbikemart.co.uk
Editor Pete Kelly OBMEditor@mortons.co.uk Designer Charlotte Fairman Production editor Pauline Hawkins Picture Desk Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield Divisional Advertising Manager Billy Manning Advertising Matt Hansom mhansom@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. Periodical Postage is paid at Bancroft, WI and additional entries. Postmaster: Send address changes to OLD BIKE MART, c/o Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 City Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. 715-572-4595 chris@classicbikebooks.com PUBLISHED BY
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ightmare bike journeys: we’ve shuddered to a halt. I had no option other than rest it against a hedge all had ’em, and we all love and thumb a lift, and there it lay all hearing about them from fellow night. It was still there next morning riders, so what are you waiting for? (miraculously), when the problem I’ll never forget riding my dustbinturned out to be nothing more than a faired 1000cc Moto Guzzi Le Mans simple detached wire! from Alan Woods Motorcycles in After an enjoyable TT week on that Abergele back home to Peterborough same bike a few years later, the clutch one late afternoon in the early 1990s. cable snapped as I boarded a night After darkness fell, I switched on ferry from Douglas. Disembarking the headlight only to discover, as in Liverpool after midnight, I had to the miles went by, that the beam ride it to Peterborough clutchless, was becoming dimmer and dimmer. but thankfully most of the journey On the last leg, along the A47 from was on motorways and the A1, the Leicester, the output dropped to that scariest part being the innumerable of a glow-worm and I was becoming sets of traffic lights in Liverpool itself! blinded by the beams of oncoming While working at Motor Cycling in vehicles. Almost within sight of home, 1966, I had to cover the Dragon Rally after crossing the A1, the V-twin on my Velocette Venom Special staff ran out of sparks completely and
Grass track legends at ‘90 years’ celebration Grass track legends Alf Hagon and Gerry Wheeler, who’s still competing at the tender age of 86, will be guests of honour at a prestigious charity event celebrating 90 years of grass track racing at the National Motorcycle Museum on Saturday, October 18. There will be displays of historic solo and sidecar machines, along with other memorabilia and a buffet lunch, and tickets at £25 will soon be available. Anyone interested is asked to contact the organiser, Rob Lidgate, at rob.lidgate@btconnect.com.
bike, and was just about to leave for the ride back to our offices at around 2.30pm when I heard that a stranded Dragonist desperately needed a lift back to London, so naturally I offered him a pillion ride. Darkness fell quickly, and the weather deteriorated to the point where we were soon very cold, wet, and hungry. The journey seemed endless, and by the time we reached the M1 I was riding in a trance, and judging by the dead weight of my passenger, he was feeling much the same. After finally dropping him off, I wearily reached the Fleet Street office at around 8.30pm, but still had to get behind my typewriter, write up the ‘Dragon’ report and caption up all the photos!
I wonder whether my pillion passenger from 51 years ago is still alive and kicking – and perhaps even reading OBM?
OBM brings old friends together Earlier this year, a letter to OBM from Brian Laitt was read by David Dearle, who hadn’t seen his old friend since the early 1960s. After we arranged for them to get in touch with each other, David made the trip from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, to Brian’s home in Somerset last month, and they were reunited after more than 50 years. The old friends are seen shaking hands with Brian’s beautiful Ariel Huntmaster in the foreground.
NEWS 3
September 2017
Will Triumph/Bajaj partnership deliver a new Tiger Cub? Triumph has teamed up with the world’s third largest motorcycle manufacturer, Bajaj Auto Limited of India, to develop a range of mid-capacity motorcycles both for home consumption and high-volume emerging markets across the world. Under the partnership, Bajaj will gain access to the Triumph brand and its current motorcycles, allowing it to offer a wider range of machines for its own domestic market and others. But if you’re expecting little more than Bajaj motorcycles with a Triumph badge on the tank, think again, because Old Bike Mart has been assured that the only motorcycles to carry Triumph branding will be those developed jointly within the partnership, and that they will be fully recognisable as Triumphs. No specific information about the planned models has yet been disclosed, but the obvious hope is that among them will be a new Tiger Cub.
Triumph has manufacturing facilities in Hinckley and Thailand, along with CKD operations in Brazil and India, and a world-wide market including, as well as the UK, America, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Benelux, Brazil, India and Thailand. Its models range from the 2.3-litre Rocket III to the Speed Triple, Daytona 200 and TT-winning SuperSports Daytona 675R, the Tiger 800, transcontinental Tiger Explorer and, of course, the expanding Bonneville family. Founded in 1926, Bajaj, whose registered office is in Mumbai, is India’s second largest manufacturer of motorcycles and the largest manufacturer of three-wheelers in the world, achieving its highest-ever sales of 4.35 million two- and three-wheelers during the 2011-12 financial year. Its founder, the late Shri Jamnalal Bajaj, was a close confidante and disciple of the Mahatma Gandhi.
During the 2016-17 financial year, despite adverse global and domestic economic situations, it still sold more than 3.66 million vehicles, recording a turnover of £2.84 billion. It has an in-house, governmentrecognised research and development centre, and its Pulsar, Discover and Boxer motorcycles are top-selling brands in many countries, clocking more than eight million Pulsar and almost nine million Discover machines so far. Boxer is a leading motorcycle brand in Africa, and Avenger, Platina and CT100 are iconic brands in India and several other overseas countries. Its patented technology brand DTS-I (digital twin-spark ignition) has already achieved sales of more than 20 million units, and Bajaj, the most profitable auto company in India, recently launched new brands such as V and Dominar motorcycles.
Time stands still on Shropshire’s Long Mynd Seems like only yesterday…and it was! Snapped at Minton, on the edge of the Long Mynd, and sent to OBM by a reader who prefers to go by the name Hammertight, the accompanying illustration shows how the act of simply changing a photo from colour to black and white can make it look as if it were taken decades earlier. Our correspondent writes: “Handy telephone box, excellent trials sections and lanes with ‘grass in’t middle’ hidden in the far Shropshire countryside, and a choice of British wheels… what more could anyone ask on a bright August morning? Choice of motorcycles? Unfortunately, a whirring noise from the Grimeca front hub on the square-frame Theobald Dot signalled the break-up of the speedometer drive. That’ll teach me!”
T This timeless Long Mynd photo could have been framed 50 years ago…but was actually taken last month. a
Nimbus book now available in English For those interested in the history of Denmark’s pioneering in-line fourcylinder Nimbus motorcycles and their successors, Knud Jorgensen’s Nimbus – Technical Development 1934-1959 (ISBN 978-87-7188-651-1) has now been published in English by BoD (Books on Demand GmbH, Gutenbergring 53, 22848 Norderstedt, Norderstedt, Germany (+49 (0)40/5 34 33 50). Richard at Veetopia, Dunkenswell, Devon EX14
Last-ever White Helmets display The last-ever display by the Royal Corps of Signals’ White Helmets motorcycle display team will take place at Blandford on Saturday, September 30. John Dunstan, who kindly sent us this report, recently returned from the reunion where he met more than 200 current and former team members, and a good time was had as the memories were dug up about the many people who had spent time with the team. The team will be parading through Blandford Forum for the townsfolk on the Wednesday before the final, sad farewell, so it will be pretty noisy there on that day, too!
4RD, has been helping with its translation for the past year or so, and we thank him for alerting us to this news. The prototype shaft-drive Nimbus had a 746cc fourcylinder in-line engine, and was capable of more than 50mph with a sidecar. Suspension front and rear also helped the machine stand out from the crowd, and full-scale production began when Fisker & Nielsen of Copenhagen became a limited company in 1920.
The Type C, introduced in 1934, became known as the ‘bumblebee’ because of its distinctive exhaust sound. After the war, sales were helped by the Danish military, postal and police authorities, and the production span lasted from 1919 until 1960. The English edition of Knud Jorgensen’s Nimbus – Technical Development 1934-1959 is available in hardback from its German publishers.
VMCC Somerset Section launches Veteran Only Run Starting from the Haynes International Motor Museum at Sparkford, the inaugural Veteran Only Run, a new venture for the Somerset Section of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club, took place in glorious weather on Sunday, August 13. Although a modest eight entrants arrived for this specialist event over a flattish 46-mile route, broken by a coffee stop at the Kelways Garden Centre at Langport, now that the run has been established, the section will be repeating it next year and looks forward to a much bigger entry when the word gets around. There was just one minor breakdown before everyone arrived back at the start for the prize giving, when the award for the best machine overall went to Sue Harris with her delightful 1914 V-twin Royal
Enfield, and the 1914 V-twin Bradbury ridden by Duncan Fish took the award for the most original machine. The three-wheeler award was not required on this occasion, but hopefully someone will receive it next year.
We are grateful to Rod Hann for this report. Great oaks from little acorns grow… these are some of the machines that took part in the inaugural Veteran Only Run in Somerset.
4 NEWS
September 2017
VMCC Taverners put on another great Founder’s Day event The Taverners section of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club managed another spectacular Founder’s Day event at Stanford Hall on July 23 – and this year’s theme, American motorcycles, resulted in some super examples of the Indian marque from the earliest days of the company right up to today’s modern motorcycles that are even giving Harley Davidson a run for its money, writes Ian Kerr. The show was packed with the diversity we’ve come to expect, and a detailed look at some of the many owners’ club stands revealed some very interesting home-built specials as well as the more unusual and interesting machines that are not usually seen at other shows.
In the main arena, action from the section’s trials riding members, who run regular monthly events, demonstrated how slow action can be just as interesting as racing from a spectator’s point of view. The autojumble seems to get bigger each year, and with more grass-roots enthusiasts clearing out their garages, the result is more hard-to-find parts appearing on the market. The rain that had blighted the UK the previous week managed just a brief sprinkle, but nothing like enough to dampen spirits of the thousands of visitors.
This 1928 overhead-camshaft AJS three-fifty was well worth a second look. The ‘American bikes’ theme at this year’s Founder’s Day event brought out some highly interesting machines like this Indian special V-twin.
Another ‘cammy’ Ajay – this time ready to race.
This single-cylinder Indian had all the aura of its larger stablemates – and just look at those bars!
Colin Seeley is top guest at Borders Classic Bike Show Colin Seeley will be the special guest at the 30th Borders Classic Bike Show at the Lacon Childe School, Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, on September 9/10. A sidecar racer, dealer, manufacturer and top-line team manager, Colin will have plenty to tell from a life full of bikes when he’s interviewed on stage on both days. The organisers welcome entries from all Seeley owners, whether they have race bikes, road models or even the Honda-powered trials
machines that have now become such coveted collectors’ items. The show will feature two halls of bikes, including club stands, and there will be a bike jumble in the playground, and on the Sunday, a firing-up of the noisier road bikes and racers will vie for the megaphone exhausts SWATS (She Would Appreciate That Sound) award which is presented in memory of Valerie Reynolds, who was the smiling presence at the cash desk for the first 25 shows. Home-made catering produced
Greeves riders’ warm welcome Monthly meetings of the Greeves Riders’ Association’s Cambridge Section take place at 7.30pm on the third Thursday of each month at the Lord Byron, Church Street, Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 9LA. All Greeves owners, together with members of the British Two-Stroke Club which also meets at the same venue, will be made welcome, and John Wakefield on 01223 843802 has more details.
Man and dog on a mission OBM editor Pete will be taking along his dog Elsa when he helps judge the entries at the RSPCA’s annual Motorbike Show at the Hull & East Riding Animal Rescue Centre in Clough Road, Hull HU6 7PE on Sunday, September 10. Those wishing to exhibit their machines will be allowed on site at 11am, and the gates will be opened to the public at noon. There will be classes for British bikes up to 1980, British bikes 1981-2017, European bikes, Japanese bikes, American bikes and custom bikes and trikes, along with lots of stalls, refreshments and other attractions.
by pupils’ parents or in the school kitchen by staff and members of the parent teacher association is one of the best features of the event. The doors open at 9am on both days, and close at 5pm on the Saturday or around 4pm on the Sunday. All proceeds go to the Lacon Childe School funds to benefit the pupils, and entry costs £5. More information is available from Jim Reynolds on 01299 270642.
NMM’s ‘Open Live’ event fast approaching There will be plenty of fireworks when some of the National Motorcycle Museum’s famous racing inventory, as well as ex-MotoGP bikes by courtesy of Phil Morris Racing and the Brackley Festival of Motorcycling, will be revved up in the special live start-up area during the NMM’s fourth free ‘Museum Live’ open day on Saturday, November 4. Steve Parrish will host two free hour-long ‘Stars on Stage’ presentations when he interviews multiple world champions Freddie Spencer and Carl Fogarty MBE at 11am and 2pm. Their partners will join in a fun ‘Riders’ Wives’ questions-andanswers session, too. Other motorcycling personalities in attendance will be Peter Hickman, Michael Rutter, Maria Costello, John Cooper and Peter Williams, and all will be signing visitors’ personal memorabilia. Superb catering will be available in the food court and bar area of the Ballacraine Suite, and a band will provide musical entertainment at lunchtime. During the afternoon, one of the guest celebrities will make the summer raffle draw, with the top prize being a 1960 BSA Gold Star worth more than £20,000. Tickets are still available online from www.thenmm.co.uk or by calling 01675 444123.
September 2017
5
6 NEWS
A Triumph GP with apehangers! There’s nothing new about Triumph-engined specials, of course, but take a closer look at the engine in this one, which many years ago Nigel Nash, of the Black Horse pub in Old Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire, fitted into a Norton ES2 frame. It’s a Triumph GP, of course – not exactly intended for ‘ape-hangers’ – and former motorcycle courier Nigel is currently in the middle of a nut-and-bolt restoration that will see it emerge in a very different form. The Black Horse is OBM editor Pete’s ‘local’, and on Thursday, November 9 all will be welcome as he gives a talk to local riders about Mortons’ superb motorcycle archive starting at 7.30 for 8pm.
September 2017
Brackley Festival of Motorcycling is still riding high Now in its ninth year, the Brackley Festival of Motorcycling has become one of the biggest motorcycle events in the UK, and is now spread out over 50 acres of the Northamptonshire town. Still run on a not-for-profit basis, the festival continues to put money into the local air ambulance (£100,000 to date) providing the local Blood Bikers’ group with a new machine and supporting local town charities, writes Ian Kerr. Its evolution, embracing every facet of motorcycling from custom bikes to off-roaders, racing machines and modern road bikes, ensures that people return each year and bring even more spectators with them, and virtually every modern manufacturer now takes show space. For many, the biggest draw is seeing race bikes circulating up and
down the main high street, their screaming exhaust notes bouncing off the windows of shops that are used to a much quieter existence. The centre of the main shopping area is turned into a race paddock, and this year’s theme, Classic Italian GP Race Bikes, featured many classic riders and machines including the evergreen Sammy Miller on his 500 Gilera. These days, though, Brackley isn’t just about classics, and a brace of more modern Ducati GP3s could be seen in action along with a few Japanese machines from various classes of modern racing. The 1962 Marsh MR4 racer was just part of a display organised by the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, which has long supported the Brackley event.
The dreams of youth – but you’d get a bit of drag along the Sulby straight with a set-up like this! Bet you can’t spot the odd-one-out in this delightful line-up!
Some of the off-road machines on display were totally unspoiled by progress – such as this wonderful AJS-engined mud-plugger.
At the top of the main trade field, a display of cafe racers organised by the Ace Cafe rubbed shoulders with some pretty extreme custom machines, both genres showing the superb engineering skills of their respective owners and builders.
Trade stands offered bargains to those requiring retail therapy, and many sun-kissed visitors were just happy to sit and watch Steve Colley, back for a third year in the main grass arena, defying gravity with his trials riding display. For this writer and many other classic bike fans, though, the static and moving display of classic offroad machines from the period when moto-cross was called scrambling was the highlight of the day. Many of the bikes, both restored and ‘as found’, came from the collection of former factory Matchless rider Dave Curtis, but most British makes were represented along with some slightly later machines from the 1970s and 80s, when the Japanese began to dominate. Although the Brackley event continues to grow and evolve, the classic bike fan remains well catered for, making the ride through the Northamptonshire lanes well worth the trip each year. Put it in your diary for 2018, for as well as having a great day out, you’ll be contributing to good causes – and who knows when any of us is going to need an air ambulance?
September 2017
7
8 NEWS
September 2017
International West Kent Run booked solid once again A firm fixture on the vintage France, The Netherlands, Germany, motorcycle enthusiasts’ calendar Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and is the International West Kent Run America joining the UK regulars, it’s primarily a riders’ event, with a weekend, and the 33rd such event serious helping of social interaction took place at The Friars, Aylesford, thrown in – and for the seasoned on August 5-6, writes Tony Page. campaigners the runs begin on the With a limited entry of 380, it’s actually a Thursday to Monday event, Thursday night. It kicks off with an evening with social runs being organised ‘drop off system’ run of 30 miles each day except Sunday, and by the around the back roads of west Kent, time I entered via the IWKR website followed by a similar but longer at 6am on New Year’s Day, I was already the 32nd entrant to do so! In 55-mile run on the Friday with a lunch stop at a rural pub. fact entry secretary Keith Gibbins The main West Kent Run of just told me the first entry had arrived at over 100 fully signposted miles a minute past midnight. Keen! takes place on the Saturday, with It gives a clue, though, as to just a coffee stop and a lunch stop how popular the event has become (there’s a shorter route for lowover the past three decades, and powered machines) and Sunday justly so. With participants from
The writer’s 1930 500cc BSA Sloper was among the large contingent of pre-war machines that took part in this year’s International West Kent Run.
Bill Mills’ 500cc BSA Gold Star competition machine was bought new. This lovely original 600cc Ariel Square Four caught the attention of many admirers.
hosts the popular gymkhana and bike show/autojumble day that is open to the public. For those who can stay, there’s a final Monday run of just over 60 miles. Ably organised by the VMCC’s West Kent Section, the IWKR is one of the biggest events in the VMCC calendar, and a brief scan of the programme shows the sheer diversity of the entry. The routes are eminently suitable for older machines, and the pre-war contingent numbered 65 this year. David Baldock’s 1897 Leon Bollee Voiturette three-wheeler was the earliest machine ever to have been entered, and he gamely (I thought) sat in the passenger seat up front as it was driven with aplomb by his daughter Kate. Entries ranged from immaculate restored masterpieces to good old honest workhorses that had rarely seen polish – a fabulous crosssection of motorcycling in action – and out on the mostly back road
With a Matchless G15CS, Suzuki twostroke twin and Sunbeam clustered closely together, this photo gives a good idea of the wide cross-section of machines to be seen during the run.
rural routes, one special moment for me was the sight of a Matchless Silver Hawk outfit being followed by a 1920 AJS Model B. The International West Kent Run is a truly excellent event in which a huge array of vintage and classic machinery can be seen being used in the way that was always intended.
Bulletproof engineering in the shape of Sam Phelps-Jennings’ 1956 NSU Max.
This BSA Catalina Gold Star was an unexpected bonus.
September 2017
9
10 TECH TALK
September 2017
Choosing the right wheel bearings for your bike When we’re involved in a motorcycle project and research the specifications for use of certain components, do we really understand what their code numbers mean? Take wheel bearings, for instance. Ronnie McLaren, who established Classic Bikes Scotland in 2015, and has been restoring British bikes since he was 15 years old, tells us that customers often ask about the meaning of the suffix ‘C3’ in some wheel bearing code numbers. Frequently there’s a perception that this means a higher standard, but that isn’t what it’s about. “To find out what this really means, we need to look at how bearings are designed, and how they perform under different conditions,” says Ronnie. Many motorcycles use ‘deep groove ball bearings’ which contain one or more rows of steel balls held between an inner ring and an outer ring. The whole bearing is held tightly in the hub by the outer ring, and the spindle fits through the inner ring. As the wheel turns, the balls allow the hub to spin while the inner ring is held firmly on the spindle. To ensure they spin smoothly, there needs to be a very small gap between the balls and the two rings. The clearance needs to be big enough to allow the lubricating grease to stay between the moving parts, but not big enough to allow any slack. If the clearance is too much, the bearing will vibrate or knock, but if it’s too tight there will be excessive pressure and a loss of lubrication on the internal surfaces. Either way, the balls and rings will quickly deteriorate, leading to premature failure. These essential gaps are extremely small, and are measured in thousandths of a millimetre. In some industrial equipment temperature can have a big effect on bearings. Metal expands when temperature rises, of course, but if there’s a big difference in temperature between the inner and outer bearing rings, this can cause problems. For instance it can be serious for some electric motors where the
Boxed bearings – standard versus C3.
armature (the internal rotating shaft and coils) can become very hot while the outer casing remains much cooler. The inner ring heats up and expands, but at the same time the outer ring is much cooler and won’t expand so much. The result is that the clearances inside the bearings will be reduced, and could cause the bearing to become tight. The key point here is that it’s not high temperature itself that’s the issue. If the whole bearing becomes hot, the expansion is uniform, so there’s only a problem if there’s a significant temperature difference between the two rings.
Clearance codes
To suit different applications, bearings are manufactured with a range of clearances as shown by a suffix at the end of the code number. Standard bearings do not have any suffix for clearance, while those with larger or smaller clearances have suffixes ranging from C1 to C5. The most popular non-standard clearance is C3, and these are commonly used in, for example, electric motors. Temperature difference is not usually an issue for motorcycle bearings. When a wheel hub heats up with heavy braking, the
heat tends to dissipate across the whole assembly quite efficiently without large temperature differences building up. The heat is generated in the hub, so any temperature differences will tend to result in the outer bearing rings being hotter than the inner rings, i.e. the opposite of the electric motor situation. For modern bikes, and any older bikes used for high-speed racing, it’s best to stick to the standard clearance unless the manual or parts book explicitly states C3. For older motorcycles, however, especially those made up until the 1970s, it makes little difference in practice whether you use standard or C3 bearings. The original components probably weren’t manufactured to today’s very fine tolerances, so both versions are likely to meet or exceed the original specification. If for some reason you cannot get standard bearings, and it’s an old bike, then C3 will probably do a good job for you, but if you’ve got the choice, then go for the standard version every time. Classic Bikes Scotland supplies metric and Imperial wheel bearings for a wide range of bikes. To find out more, visit www. classicbikesscotland.co.uk or call 01290 800998.
Bearing code suffix
Internal clearance
Application
C1 C2 None (in theory ‘CN’) C3 C4 C5
Less than C2 Less than standard Standard Greater than standard Greater than C3 Greater than C4
Specialist use only Specialist use only Most applications (inc motorcycle wheel bearings) Inner temp higher than outer, (e.g. electric motors) Specialist use only Specialist use only
This SKF (UK) Ltd image shows the effect of different temperatures on a bearing.
Th his image of a deep groove ball bearing is by courtesy of SKF (UK) Ltd.
September 2017
11
12 NEWS
September 2017
55th annual Graham Walker Memorial Run Ninety-five pre-war motorcycles took part in the Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club’s 55th Graham Walker Memorial Run which started from the Beaulieu Motor Museum in Hampshire on Sunday, August 13, writes Tony Page. Promoted as ‘an informal gathering of motorcyclists in memory of the late Graham Walker, founder member and one-time president of the Sunbeam MCC’, the 50-mile run follows a flat but attractive route through many well-known places around the New Forest that’s ideal for those riding veteran machines or first having a go on a vintage or post-vintage mount. There is also a ‘short route’ of about half that distance. Chairman of the Sunbeam Club for many years before becoming its
president, Graham was a First World War dispatch rider and later a top Sunbeam and Rudge works rider, winning the 1928 Ulster Grand Prix and riding Sunbeams in the Isle of Man TT.
Appropriate
The run’s starting point is appropriate, because he was the Beaulieu Motor Museum’s first motorcycle curator, having taken up a directorship in 1954 after editing Motor Cycling magazine from 1938 until 1954. The awards were presented by Graham’s widow Elsie for more than 33 years, but are now presented either by his son, Murray Walker, or the club’s vice-president Lord Montagu himself, who did the honours this year.
Today’s Sunbeam Club president and event organiser Ian McGill encourages participants to arrive early for the run, which starts at 1pm, and present their machines for Beaulieu visitors to admire. The event’s £10 entry fee includes admission to the museum, but even my own 10am arrival didn’t allow sufficient time to peruse the impressive museum adequately, especially with 93 other bikes to inspect! The Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club caters for all makes of machine from the veteran era (pre-1915) to vintage (1915-1930), post-vintage (1931-1939) and sporting trials (pre-1965), and also organises the Pioneer Run in March along with other well-attended mainstream events such as the Rose of the Shires Run in Northamptonshire each June and the ever-popular Greybeards Trial in late August. A very active club with an excellent bi-monthly magazine, the Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club was founded in 1924 and remains one of the oldest clubs in the country. Although starting as a one-make club, in 1925 it opened its doors to members with any make of machine, and that still remains the position.
This year’s Graham Walker Memorial Run was notable for the number of younger and lady riders taking part, and here Jane Anderson looks well at home on this immaculate Newcastle-built NUT.
AWARDS
Encouraging
Before the ‘off’, entries in the Graham Walker Memorial Run are lined up in order for Beaulieu visitors to feast their eyes upon them. David Dickerson’s immaculate 1903 Phoenix three-wheeler in the foreground was a worthy winner of the award for the best veteran three-wheeler.
The award for the best two-stroke was taken by this 1916 Alldays Allon entered by Gordon Puzey.
Interest in older machines shows no sign of abating, and particularly notable at this year’s event was the number of younger people riding these fabulous motorcycles. We’ve all taken part in hand-wringing discussions about ‘the future of the classic and vintage movement’ and watched the sad demise of oncerespected clubs and organisations along with the corresponding stratospheric rise in the asking price for the staple of our fun, the bikes themselves, but to see so many younger riders was gratifying, as was a look through the entry list to see some lady riders too. The run itself was a delight. Riding around The New Forest is always a pleasure as the roads are quiet and there isn’t much chance of being overtaken as there’s a blanket maximum speed limit of 40mph. The many New Forest ponies and cattle seemed unfazed by the motorcycling history lesson backfiring its way past.
Before setting off on the run, Andy Brown makes some pre-start checks on his 1902 Clement Garrard, which duly gained the award for the best veteran solo machine.
Oldest first
With bikes setting off in order of the oldest first, those of us on later relatively high-powered machines had the chance of reeling in the more sedate motorcycles. The route was marked with arrows, and also benefited from enthusiastic marshalling by members of the Southampton and District Motor Cycle Club. This was a great help, as
Best veteran solo, Andy Brown (1902 Clement Garrard); best veteran three-wheeler, David Dickerson (1903 Phoenix); best vintage solo, John Tindle (1927 AJS); best post-vintage threewheeler, Alan Webber (1934 AJS R10); greatest combined age of rider and machine, Peter Pan Trophy, Colin Chambers (1904 Humber); most technically interesting machine, Petri Hitches (1928 Douglas); best overall runner-up, Glen Williams (1914 New Hudson); best two-stroke, Gordon Puzey (1916 Alldays Allon); riders’ choice of best machine, Rob Pond (1914 Triumph TT); best machine in original condition, Chris Habgood (1914 Douglas); best lady rider, Shulah Tindle (1926 Sunbeam); best postvintage machine, Gordon Delamere (1938 Moto Guzzi). most of the bikes sported handchange gearboxes which sometimes made the negotiation of junctions somewhat character-building, and to be spotted by a marshal upon approach and be waved at with the route clearly pointed out was actually a godsend. As it said in the programme, this is an event ideal for a first timer – me! http://www.sunbeam-mcc.co.uk/
Colin Chambers and his 1904 Humber Olympia forecar duly took the Peter Pan award for the greatest combined age of rider and machine. Looking as purposeful as the day it was built, this is Colette Flintan’s 1937 Rudge ‘Special’.
This lovely Zenith combo looks as if it’s meant to be ridden regularly.
Shulah Tindle, who rode this 1926 Sunbeam, was judged the best lady rider this year.
Chris Cook Jnr forges ahead on a well-turned-out 1907 Quadrant.