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Oh to be in England now that winter’s here. This image from the Mortons Archive Collection is simply captioned: “Upward, ever upward along the highest road in Britain. This shot was taken near the 2000ft contour.” Research suggests that the road in question starts at Knock, Cumbria, and continues to the summit of Great Dun Fell, finishing just short of 2800ft – but does any reader think otherwise? Photo: www.mortonsarchive.com
2 NEWS
January 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
T
here are two reasons to reflect this month, as I devote this month’s ‘Prattle’ to two of my Old Bike Mart predecessors. One of them was my great friend and work colleague Malcolm Wheeler, who was given a rousing send-off at his retirement do at our Horncastle
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01507 524004 Marketing manager Charlotte Park Circulation manager Steve O’Hara Publisher Tim Hartley Publishing director Dan Savage Commercial director Nigel Hole Associate director Malcolm Wheeler 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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offices on Wednesday, December 14. Always happy to pause for a chat as he put each issue of Classic Racer together, Malc was such a familiar figure about the place that it’s going to feel strangely empty without him. He became OBM’s second editor after its founder, Ken Hallworth, decided to sell the title to Mortons. Sadly we learned as we went to press for this edition that Ken had died, and we’ll pay tribute to this lovely, modest man next month. Malcolm was chosen to take over from Ken because of his enthusiasm for motorcycling, his friendly, outgoing manner and his deep knowledge of our hobby. With his strategy of going out to events, rallies and autojumbles all over the country, talking to potential customers and taking subscriptions ‘in the field’, his impact was quickly felt – not only by OBM, but also by Mortons’ rapidly-expanding portfolio of motorcycle titles.
Malcolm was a passionate supporter of the TT Riders’ Association, and it was my privilege to join him at committee meetings during my tenure as secretary of the Friends of that great organisation. It’s amazing how many Isle of Man TT heroes started their racing careers on Malc’s local circuit, the narrow, undulating and challenging Cadwell Park, and he was no exception – in fact on one occasion he missed a TT production race victory by the margin of a single second! In recent years, he’s been an impressive rider in parade laps around the mountain circuit. It was an honour to put together several articles for Classic Racer for him, including my memories of former North East road racing ace Ken Redfern; and what it was like to cover the TT for Motor Cycling in the 1960s. I also told of ‘Lincoln Imp’ Steve Machin, one of the alltime Cadwell greats, who lost his life on that circuit while testing a
Visitor numbers up at Motorcycle Live Representing a 2.4% increase over last year’s figure, 113,172 motorcycling fans visited the nine-day Motorcycle Live 2016 exhibition at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre in November. No fewer than 43 of the world’s leading motorcycle manufacturers displayed their new models, and stars from Moto GP, World and British Superbikes, the Isle of Man TT, motocross and speedway took
part in chat shows, quiz games and autograph-signing sessions with the fans. Among the highly-satisfied manufacturers were Triumph and BMW Motorrad. “Our stand was incredibly busy all week,” said Paul Lilley, Triumph’s general manager in the UK. “Customer reaction to the 2017 model line-up has been extremely positive. Many customers have taken the opportunity to register interest
in our new models, and we’re looking forward to a strong season ahead.” Scott Grimsdall, marketing manager of BMW Motorrad, said: “We’ve had the best quantity of leads in recent years, the level of engagement has been fantastic, and we’ve booked the highest-ever number of test rides at a show.” Motorcycle Live 2017 will take place at the NEC from November 18-26.
racing machine for a customer. I’ll treasure every chat I had with Malc, whether at his Mortons’ desk, behind the TT grandstand or at those TTRA dinners that we so enjoyed at the National Motorcycle Museum, and I’m sure everyy OBM reader will join mee in wishing him and his wife Julie a long and happy retirement.
Carole Nash sponsoring Irish bike show
Motorcycle insurance brokers Carole Nash are to sponsor the 10th Irish Motorbike & Scooter Show at the RDS Dublin from March 3-5, which is expected to attract over 27,000 motorcycle enthusiasts. More than 120 exhibitors have booked to attend, and there will be plenty of highoctane entertainment including stunt riding and demonstration races. Adult tickets will cost 15 Euros, with under 12s admitted free.
8 NEWS
January 2017
Granite City welcome for Niall and Taylor Mackenzie More than 150 motorcycle enthusiasts gathered at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen on the last Tuesday in November, for the second in a series of yearly events aimed at bringing motorcycling legends to the north-east of Scotland, writes Gorgeous Biker Chick. Organiser Andy Freeman fell into arranging the events by accident. “I got to know Niall Mackenzie, John McGuinness and Dennis Hobbs by doing a lot of track days,” he said. “I then organised a private track day at Knockhill through my work with the three of them as instructors, and afterwards suggested a charity night in Aberdeen – and they all agreed.” In 2015 John McGuinness was the star guest, interviewed on stage by author and TT record-holder Mat Oxley, and more than £13,000 was raised for local charity The Archie Foundation, which provides funding for 170,000 children and families. The foundation supplies money for emergency and long-term grants, hospital improvements, staff training and research. For the 2016 event, supported by Ecosse Motorcycles in Aberdeen,the special guest was multiple British
Superbike Champion Niall Mackenzie, and The Bike Bus, (www. bookthebikebus.co.uk)an Aberdeenbased specialist motorcycle transport company, was tasked with ensuring that Niall’s 1991 factory Yamaha YZR500 was safely delivered to the ballroom. Tony, of the Bike Bus, said: “It was several months in the planning while Andy tied all the arrangements together, and it was all kept hushhush as we take customers’ privacy very seriously. We were really excited to be involved, but couldn’t tell anyone until afterwards. “While we were at the collection point, we were told of another Mackenzie race bike at the same location, and after a quick call to Andy we got the go-ahead to bring both bikes north for the talk. It was a real bonus find, as it turned out to be his 1996 championship-winning Cadbury’s Boost Yamaha YZF750, complete with a few battle scars.” Triple champ Niall was joined on stage by son Taylor, the current British Superstock 1000 Champion, and Dennis Hobbs, the 2014 Ducati Tri-Options Champion, while Mat Oxley posed the questions once more.
Members of the audience were encouraged to check out the bikes after the talk – a popular move and much appreciated by many.
Niall Mackenzie signs a canvas racing picture at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen. Photos: Flat Out Motorsport Photography.
The conversation was casual, and the subject matter varied from the good old days, when the likes of Wayne Gardner and Eddie Lawson were sliding their 500cc two-strokes around the Grand Prix circuits, and Niall Mac’s memories of it all, to modern-day Moto GP heroes such as Rossi, Marquez, Lorenzo and Vinales, the latter tipped by all as the one to watch for this coming season. Although the final figure from the event isn’t yet known, the raffle alone raised more than £800, and it’s all going to the foundation. Signed copies of Stealing Speed and An Age of Superheroes were snapped up, and the raffle prizes included a gift voucher from Ecosse Motorcycles, tickets for the superbike round at Knockhill, a Mal Maison restaurant voucher and an autographed canvas of Mackenzie Senior. The next round of Racing Stars is already booked for August 2017, and will feature double World Superbike Champion Colin Edwards, the ‘Texas Tornado’, and The Bike Bus is on standby to deliver the bikes that will be on show. Keep an eye on the www. motorcyclelegendevents.com website as tickets are guaranteed to sell quickly!
Andy Freeman’s right-hand man, Kenny, assisted with the set-up, and looked like the cat with the cream!
From left are Taylor Mackenzie, Niall Mackenzie, Tony Robotham (Bike Bus), Mat Oxley and Dennis Hobbs.
An autograph session is pictured in full swing at the Beach Ballroom.
Yummy – the famous Cadbury’s Boost bike.
14 NEWS
January 2017
Images: Mortons Archive www.mortonsarchive.com
The life and times of
‘TORRENS’ Although the memories of Arthur Bourne, the legendary ‘Torrens’ of The Motor Cycle fame from 1928 until 1951, were written more than 40 years ago, only now have they finally been published – but it’s certainly been worth the wait, writes Pete Kelly.
By the time this early 1929 issue of The Motor Cycle was published, Arthur Bourne had become its editor while still in his mid-twenties.
Wartime brought severe paper rationing, reducing the pagination of The Motor Cycle to just 24 pages per issue, 18 of them editorial.
Arthur had been the editor of The Motor Cycle for just a year when this photo was taken in January 1930.
With the world at his feet, Arthur sits astride a Norton circa 1929.
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in 1951, Arthur was at the epicentre he one and only thing that of British motorcycling for 28 truly Arthur Bourne and I had in vintage years – and we are fortunate common was that we each indeed that he completed the memoir found ourselves editing The Motor on which the newly-published book Cycle (abbreviated to Motor Cycle is based less than two years before his during Harry Louis’ reign) while we were still in our twenties – but there all death in 1977 at the age of 75. similarities end! Thrown in at the deep end as a Out of touch 25-year-old acting assistant editor, As an example of how out-of-touch Arthur was promoted to editor at the some publishers really are, Arthur and end of 1928, and soon the hallowed his sons, Richard and Robert, tried to weekly magazine was at the peak of interest commercial publishers in the its influence and prestige, boasting a typescript soon after it was written, but heady circulation of 168,000. all to no avail. The notes were safely By the time I took up the challenge stored until, with recent publicity 45 years later, our home-spun surrounding the prestigious Torrens motorcycle industry was breathing Trophy, the brothers tried again – this its last, lots of colourful new bike time with success. magazines had appeared on the In his introduction, Richard writes: market, and the circulation had “For my father, who rode a motorbike halved. The old ‘Blue Un’ had not to St Paul’s School from his home in only merged with Motor Cycling, its Chiswick at the age of 14, landing a rival of more than 70 years, but had job at the Auto-Cycle Union, when also changed to newspaper format so many other young engineers were in a desperate attempt to match the unemployed in the early 1920s, was a burgeoning success of Motor Cycle huge piece of good fortune. His hobby News, which had been launched in was his work. 1955 with an emphasis on motorcycle “The ACU was the governing body racing in all its different forms. for motorcycling, and its engineer handled hundreds of queries from the members of affiliated clubs, and was a Sleepless nights cause of anxiety for manufacturers. Other things that Arthur and I must “He was like a boy in a sweet shop, undoubtedly have shared were and some of the photos of him endless sleepless nights wondering accompanying Hugh Gibson in the where the title was going, and observer’s sidecar in the 1924 Raleigh occasional confrontations with ‘Round the Coast’ test ride give off management when our ideas a sense of pure joy. But there were conflicted. also responsibilities – in standing I was elated when I first heard about up to older men, to tell them that the publication of Behind the Scenes their ‘standard’ bikes were actually in the Vintage Years, Torrens (Arthur specially built and had to be ruled out Bourne), whose memories, written of competitions, and in dismissing more than 40 years ago have been so Brooklands riders whose exhausts skilfully edited by his son Richard. failed to meet the regulations.” Suffice to say that when a copy of Arthur moved to The Motor Cycle the small paperback finally landed on in 1926, but when he became editor it my desk, I was far from disappointed, was a far from easy transition, for firms for as fellow journo Mat Oxley rightly still saw him as one of the mandarins observed in a pre-publication review, of the ACU in Pall Mall. He even grew it was just like climbing into a time a moustache in an attempt to disguise capsule and reaching a far-distant his youth. land where everything is so different. “He threw himself into the job with From the time he became engineer to the Auto-Cycle Union in 1923, when gusto,” writes Richard, “writing up to a he was just 21, to his final handingover of the reins of The Motor Cycle
Certainly between 1948 and 1951 (when Arthur became an Iliffe director and handed the reins of The Motor Cycle to Harry Louis) he used this Ariel Square Four, HPG 601, quite a lot. It’s seen with a sidecar in 1948, and as a solo in 1951.
third of a million words a year himself and using five different pseudonyms – though Torrens, from the Latin for ‘A Bourne’ (a burn, or stream) was his favourite – and handling ethical issues with a moral touch.” Arthur has crammed so much into his memoir that the only realistic way to review it is to bring a series of glimpses into his extraordinary life.
Fine example
One thing he certainly took with him to The Motor Cycle was his interest in engineering, recognising the talents of young motorcycle designers like Edward Turner and Phil Vincent, and even though the Iliffe publishing house, which also owned successful titles such as The Autocar and Flight, never paid big salaries, he built up a loyal staff and set a fine example to them with his own total dedication to the job. The second of three children, he records having his tonsils removed without an anaesthetic, and being nicknamed ‘the Wild Man from Borneo’ at his prep school.
16 READERS’ LETTERS
January 2017
✪ Muc-Off Star Letter Norrie Whyte – pride of Castle Douglas! While reading your latest ‘Prattle’ I was interested in the reference to your old mate Norrie Whyte. He came from my home area, Castle Douglas in south-west Scotland, and my late mother was great friends with Norrie’s mum – indeed she used to babysit him often and reckoned he was “a lovely wee boy”. My eldest sister was also in his class at school. I got to know Norrie quite well when I was about 14 and he was a rookie reporter with our local rag, the Galloway News. I was as mad keen on scrambling back then as I am today, and looked forward to reading Norrie’s reports on our local Galloway MCC events. Because we knew him, Norrie would quite regularly give me photos that had been taken by Mr Phin, the news photographer, at our scrambles and grass track events. Those glossy black and white images of my local heroes adorned my bedroom wall for years, and in fact I still have some of them somewhere. When the time came for me to think about a career path, the only two notions I had were to study journalism or art and design. In the end I chose art, and went off to study at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, which, being at the opposite end of Scotland, seemed a world away for a country boy. I quickly settled, but used to love returning home for Christmas and drinking with old school pals and local worthies in the public bar of the Crown Hotel in Castle Douglas. Of course somebody
else would be home for the festivities and propping up the bar in the Crown regaling us with tales of the TT, the GP circuits and even Daytona – you’re right, it was Norrie. We were utterly captivated by his stories, and could scarcely believe that he was on first-name terms with the likes of Ago, Mike Hailwood and Phil Read to name but three. Of course we were really proud that one of our own had done so well in his chosen profession and reached the dizzy heights that Norrie did. Three or four years ago, Mortons ran a Scottish Motorcycle Show in Edinburgh and had Agostini as guest of honour. I had the privilege of interviewing him on stage, which was a joy because he was so enthusiastic. Afterwards, a pal and I took him on a sightseeing tour of old Edinburgh and had a meal with him. It was great, and I would have loved to have been able to tell Norrie about it. I can’t now remember when I last saw him, but it was definitely at Christmas time and in the boozer.
John McCrink, Email
What great memories of a super guy, John. Although Norrie started his motorcycle journalism career by joining the team at Motor Cycling, it was with that title’s great rival Motor Cycle News that he really made his name. One miserable, wet night in 1966, when we both lived in Finsbury Park, Norrie
suggested that I go and get some fish and chips on my Velocette Venom Special. The roads were very greasy, and when I emerged from the chippie with the two wellwrapped portions beneath my riding jacket, the traffic lights were on red. A young driver with a souped-up Hillman Imp sporting wide skirts and a huge exhaust drew up alongside me, blipping the throttle loudly, and I thought to myself: “I’ll have you, you silly sod.” When the lights changed, I engaged first gear and snapped the Velo’s throttle wide open. The revs soared, but nothing happened. The rally car took off into the distance, and I was just wondering whether the chain had snapped when the back tyre finally gripped, causing the world to go round and round before the bike slewed sideways right into the gutter. The impact threw me awkwardly into the air and my jacket burst open, spilling the two bags of fish and chips into the road. One unwrapped itself immediately while the other remained intact. Cut and bleeding, and thinking only about Norrie’s fish supper, I crawled into the road to retrieve his portion, but at that very moment another car ran straight over it, squashing everything into a gooey mess! With badly bent handlebars, I sheepishly rode home to tell my Scottish friend what had happened, and as we were both almost skint by then, we ended up making do with a tin of vegetable soup! Ed.
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Badge engineering and stainless fixings It’s big news about Mahindra buying the BSA name, but I’m afraid we’ll just have the usual people jumping on the merrygo-round and declaring these badge-engineered, Frenchassembled motorcycles as resurrected BSA classics. As an ex-Indian conglomerate employee, I’m well aware of Indian manufacturing methods. Anyway, attached are a few photos of my Triumph TR6R. I’ve been down to my local stockist to buy a load of stainless fixings and taken to replacing all on my motorcycles. I’ve done the Shuttleworth, A65 and TR6R and will do the
rest. They’re metric but I’m not bothered. They fit and the dome nuts look good. Note the dome nut fixing I’ve made to replace the screw on the headlamp, where the screwdriver always slips when you remove the rim. I’ve made the pump and brackets myself. The stockist I use, M C Mills & Co in Barnsley, has been trading for many years, and supplied the mining and glass industries far and wide. Remember that four candles sketch in The Two Ronnies? It could have been based on the place!
Fred Austin, Barnsley
Even Fred’s well-travelled ‘Shuttleworth Snap’ has had the treatment!
Adding sparkle to a British classic – some of the stainless fixings and pump on Fred’s Triumph Trophy.
No more slipping screwdrivers – the stainless metric dome nut on the headlamp has replaced the original screw.
24 THE TIME OF OUR LIVES
January 2017
WITH THE FAIRIES! Ireland by sidecar outfit, 1979
Pete Kelly looks back fondly on an idyllic sidecar tour of Ireland with his late wife Liz, on a Kawasaki Z1000/Squire combination, when the Troubles were at their height 37 years ago.
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he first time I ever took Liz on the pillion of my Kawasaki Z650, I made the gross mistake of doing the ‘ton’. After that, she was always much happier in a sidecar – so a combo it was when we embarked on a grand tour of Eire in the late summer of 1979 on a borrowed Kawasaki Z1000/Squire outfit, XLR 178S. At that time, Ireland was in turmoil, and with atrocities occurring on a daily basis, not to mention a chronic shortage of petrol, there would have been plenty of good reasons to forget the idea – but that would hardly have been fair to the island’s vast majority of everwelcoming, warm and friendly inhabitants both north and south. At the time we were practically skint, having moved to Peterborough with a ready-made young family only a year or so earlier, and we’d kindly been loaned the outfit by Kawasaki’s Clive Stokes, who’d made a wonderful job of preparing it for the 1700-mile journey that followed.
We took a train to Oxford to collect it, then rode it home to Peterborough to prepare for our holiday. Next morning, with the combo fully loaded, we breezed northwards along the A1 to Darlington, where Liz’s parents lived, then continued to Warrington (where mine lived) before finally battling through the August bank holiday traffic to Holyhead to catch the Sealink ferry to Dun Laoghaire. North Wales was a nightmare of nose-totail bank holiday traffic, and after two hours of crawling along at a snail’s pace, using the clutch almost constantly, I feared that the Z1000 might start to overheat, and we ended up making a U-turn and doubling back through a wild and wet Snowdonia via Betws-y-Coed to Bangor. With the clock ticking ever closer to the ferry departure time, and holidaying motorists all over the place, I had to push the outfit really hard through the many twists and turns, and I found myself having to clear my visor every few seconds as I tried to judge each
overtaking opportunity. After another long hold-up at the Menai Bridge, gale-force winds tried to turn the outfit over as I raced all the way along the dreary A5 to the harbour. Thanks to the damper that Clive had fitted, one-hand steering at 70mph was a doddle, and even at 95mph, the most I dared to push it to with Liz in the chair, the outfit remained well under control. By a stroke of luck, the afternoon sailing had been delayed by the loading of commercial traffic, and we made it by the skin of our teeth, breathing sighs of relief as we rode aboard and made our way to the restaurant. No sooner had the coastline of Anglesey slipped away, revealing the misty Welsh mountains in their fastreceding glory, than the Wicklow Hills of Ireland, where some of my ancestors originated, came into sight. Despite our hair-raising sidecar burn-up, it was the start of an idyllic holiday that we both talked about for many years afterwards. The roads we covered varied from fast, smooth motorways to the bone-shaking secondary routes of the Irish Republic where, at one point around the Ring of Kerry, a ‘Road Up’ sign indicated precisely that – there was no road! Doggedly sticking to our chosen route, we were pressing on across what seemed little more than a deeplyrutted track when the only other outfit that we saw in a whole week in Ireland passed us from the opposite direction. The German rider’s Cossack was loaded to the point of collapse – and I have a dusty recollection
Where shall we go to next? Ballydehob, Skibbereen, Durrus, Bantry, Crookhaven, Mizen Head, Schull, Goleen and Toormore were all enticing possibilities during Pete and Liz Kelly’s magical sidecar our of Ireland in 1979.
30 BOOK REVIEW
January 2017
A truly Matchless apprenticeship Pete Kelly reviews Bill Cakebread’s newly-reprinted and wonderfully-evocative story of life in London during and just after the war, and his apprenticeship and early working life at AMC’s long-vanished Plumstead Road factory.
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very now and then, of the many motorcycling books that arrive at Old Bike Mart for review, a diamond-plated gem comes along; one written with such warmth and enthusiasm that no like-minded soul could possibly put it down until the back cover is reached; one with such sharplyfocused memories that the reader finds himself almost living the life being described. One such book is Veloce Publishing’s reprint, after a long absence, of Bill Cakebread’s story of his apprenticeship and working life at the late-lamented AMC factory in Plumstead Road, London SE18. “There are two reasons why this book has been written,” he says in his introduction. “The first is that wherever a group of like-minded motor or motorcycling enthusiasts are gathered around, stories of the past are often repeated. For many years on such occasions, friends and associates have been prompting me to record some of these experiences from an era that has now passed. “For longer than I can remember
I ignored their suggestions, but, at the Homecoming Rally in Woolwich in 1989, the reality dawned on me. Nothing was the same. The factory had gone, and so, sadly, had many of the past employees. Apprenticeship training as we had known it was also a thing of the past, and if it was not soon recorded, the recollections of that era would surely fade. “The second and more important reason is to provide a vehicle by which to convey my thanks and appreciation to every single person who took the time to teach me the skills that have helped me to survive throughout my working life, and the most significant and useful education was gained during my apprenticeship at Associated Motor Cycles Ltd.” Almost apologetically Bill, who later became one of the country’s leading experts on crane safety and managing director of his own company, writes: “I was probably not the best-equipped person to make such a record, and it would be of necessity a very personal account of life at that time, but I started to make notes for my own record only…” Bill’s first motorcycle, bought before he was old enough to ride legally, and funded (just about) by his paper rounds, was this 1947 250cc sidevalve BSA C11.
I’m so glad he did, because those personal memories are what make this book sing, and Bill’s skilled writing comes through right from the first chapter, entitled ‘The seed is sown’. “It was a long walk. Although it had been a familiar daily routine, this time it was difficult. The last remnants from my desk; compasses, books and pencils had been placed in the cardboard box with the leaving cards. The last goodbyes had been said. I walked the length of the office, past the drawing boards and down the stone staircase at the back of the factory. Out past the rows of silent gear-cutting machines, with their familiar heavy scent of cutting oil, through the material loading bay and, ducking to pass through the small personal door in the roller shutter, out into the daylight. One nostalgic glance was made to the left to look at the end of the Race Shop, and then across the road to the car park. “It was hard to believe that my dream of a lifetime employment with AJS and Matchless was over. It was March 1966.”
War games
The place where Bill was born, in the war-torn London of 1941, just south of Surrey Docks, was consequently hit by many stray bombs that had missed the closelysurrounding targets. “After the war,” writes Bill, “there were many gaps where houses once stood, but our home and the family survived unscathed. These gaps in the houses later provided ‘playgrounds’ for our childish adventures. War games and cowboys and Indians would be enacted among the scrub and gorse bushes that reclaimed the rubble, as we hid with our wooden guns behind the giant timbers that shored up the sides of the adjoining houses.” Bill’s father spent the whole of his working life as a storeman at fire engine manufacturer Merryweather’s in Greenwich High Road, and paternal grandparents Alf and Rhoda Cakebread and their large family lived on the north side of Grenfell Street, Greenwich, just south of the Blackwall Tunnel. Looming over their house was a huge and ominous gasometer that overshadowed everything
and blocked out what little light managed to filter through the infamous London smogs. “I used to stare up at that gasometer and imagine what might have been the fate of my grandparents had it suffered a direct hit from a German bomb,” writes Bill, whose maternal grandfather, Alf Parsons, spent much of the war driving ammunition trains between London and Portsmouth. Even though such memories are far removed from motorcycling, I make no excuses for repeating some of Bill’s wonderfully descriptive writing about London at that time, because if he’d never started on this book, they would have been lost for ever.
Panther surprise
Apart from his father’s brief flirtation with a pressed steel-framed 150cc Coventry Eagle (JJ 9421) in the mid1930s, no one in the family had ever owned a motorcycle, but when Bill was just eight or nine years old, what turned out to be a 1929 600cc Panther arrived piece by piece in a number of dirty cardboard boxes. Patiently, his self-taught father built it up, and when it fired for the first time Bill was elated. His father built a sidecar of his own to go with it, and the family had motorised transport at last. Bill’s first motorcycle was a 1947 250cc side-valve BSA C10, bought from Comerfords for £17-10s with a 33% deposit (much of the funding coming from his paper rounds) while he was still at school and too young to ride legally. He soon learned to replace the small end bush, do a valve-grind and paint the bike smartly in time for his 16th birthday.
Intimidating
A trio of Matchless G50 race machines is prepared for road test outside the Race Shop, while a batch of Matchless twins awaits dispatch. From left are Jack Emmott, Derek Dixon and Tommy Mortimer.
With his paper round money barely enough to keep up the hirepurchase payments, Bill desperately needed a job, and after applying for an apprenticeship at AMC a letter arrived inviting him to what turned out to be a very intimidating interview in front of a selection panel. As a parent also had to attend, his father took him there in the sidecar outfit. “This interview was too important to fail,” writes Bill. “I like to think that I won the apprenticeship on my own
merit, but I can’t help thinking that there were several genuine motorcycle enthusiasts sitting on that selection board, and that they may have been influenced a little by my father, quietly sitting to one side in his trench coat and waders, with gauntlets and cap clasped neatly in his lap. The company was staffed by many enthusiasts, and we were surely a family of genuine motorcyclists. “Eventually the treasured letter arrived. The starting pay was a heady £1-19s-6d (£1.95) for a five-day week, 8am to 6pm. Some called it slave labour, but only one thing was important: I had a job…a start!” What follows is an incredibly painstaking description of Bill’s apprenticeship and all-too-brief career at AJS and Matchless, two of the most revered names in the history of motorcycling, before the British motorcycling industry we once knew and loved simply imploded upon itself. When his appointed starting date at Plumstead Road – September 1, 1958 – arrived, he realised that school holidays had gone forever, but he leaves no stone unturned as he describes his formal welcome in the personnel manager’s office, his introduction to the routines of tea and lunch breaks, the arrangements for him to attend day-release at the South East London Technical College, and his traumatic initiation in the drilling shop and the heat treatment department. As I’ve already given numerous examples of Bill’s brilliantly descriptive writing, I’ll leave that pleasure so far as the works are concerned until you hopefully go out and buy the book. But if you really want to know exactly what working at AMC felt like and smelled like, and the kind of characters who once worked there, you’ll feel you’re right there with Bill as you read his chapters including ‘College Work and Metallurgy’, ‘The Machine Shops’ (including the reproduction of a comprehensive 12-page feature about every machining aspect in the works), ‘Fire in the Assembly Shop’, ‘The Race Shop’, ‘The Tool Room’, ‘The Drawing Office’ and ‘Indentures & Real Work’.
January 2017
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unearthed GILLET For sale currently in Belgium is this 125cc Gillet dating from 1946. Not to be confused with the Rene Gillet made in France (although they too offered a 125cc two-stroke after the war), this is a GilletHerstal made in Belgium. A barn-find, off the road since the 1970s, it features a threespeed gearbox and has good compression, but is missing its rear light.
If you have unearthed something recently and would like to share the news, or think I could help, write to me Mike Worthington-Williams, The Old Schoolhouse, Cenarth, Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire SA38 9JL email worthycomments@btconnect.com
FOUR BIKES WITH CHAIRS Auctioneers H & H recently announced that they were including four motorcycle combinations in their November sale. All four had been discovered in a Gloucestershire barn, having been collected over many years by the same family. At one time they were scheduled for a museum, but this never happened, and the bikes remained in their original condition gathering dust. They comprise a 1924 AJS Model D, a rare 1925 Quadrant, a 1932 BSA G12 ex-Bath City Police and still bearing their name on the sidecar, and a 1930 BSA Sloper. All were offered at Donington Park with estimates ranging from £12,000 up to £18,000.
TANDON
TWO VELOCETTES
The Tandon was built initially in London, and subsequently in Watford. Unusually the proprietors were Indian, and I remember a former colleague, the late Dennis Howard, telling me how it was when he worked there. In business from 1949 until 1957, they produced a range of Villiers and British Anzani two-strokes from 125cc up to 322cc. Neil Burroughs in Loughborough acquired the rather sad example shown here a while back. It was languishing in a barn in mid-Wales and bears the frame number A10025T and registration VAR 424 (Hertfordshire). He believes it originally had a British Anzani 250cc twin engine (missing). I’ve pointed him to the Hertfordshire registration records, but can anyone help with the engine?
Following a recent lament from one reader that I don’t show many Velocettes in ‘Unearthed’, I received emails from John Hoskins in Andover with images of a 1937 KSS Mk.II, bought last February, which he has been working on. It was originally a KTS but has been off the road for 32 years. The rear wheel is still a 19-inch, but 32 years ago he understands that 20-inch tyres were a problem. Fortunately he has the original buff logbook, and the numbers (including the registration) are all matching. Here you see the bike during and following restoration.
Almost immediately after the first E-mail, John sent me a second, illustrating a 1956 Venom he has bought which has been off the road since 1972. No V5 came with it, but he has the old buff logbook for the registration UAC 355 and bearing frame number RS8310 and engine number VM1213. I’ve directed him to the Velocette Owners’ Club, who should be able to recover both registrations through the V765 scheme when restoration is complete. Most of the bike was in a tea chest, so there’s some work to do first.
REVIVING A TIGER Alan Pacey sends me these photographs of the 1953 Triumph Tiger 100 he unearthed in 2013, and which he’s been restoring for the last two or three years. It’s a sprung hub model and had lain in a shed since 1960 with its last October 1960 tax disc still in situ. The frame, engine and gearbox all have matching numbers to the accompanying documents. The Triumph Owners’ Club should be able to help recover the original registration number under the V765 scheme.
FALCON Tony Hawkins in Stroud sends me this photograph of the 1956 Francis-Barnett Falcon he has purchased locally. It’s complete with all original documents and seems to be running well. The only things that seem to be missing are the spring and the L-shaped rod for the centre stand. If anyone can help Tony find these parts, he would be most grateful.
ABC Kurt Linden writes from Germany to report that a friend has started restoring a 1919/20 ABC 400cc flat twin which was dismantled by the former owner with the intention of restoration. Sadly he died before starting the work, and his widow would like to see restoration completed so that the bike can be ridden in his memory. The bike has had an accident at some time in its history, and the frame and front fork are bent and the top fork bridge is missing. Kurt seeks help with the restoration and any technical information which can be provided. He confirms any costs will be refunded. The frame, engine and gearbox all bear the number 3010. I’ve put Kurt in touch with the ABC Owners’ Club in Hereford.
JAMES CADET
KEEP THEM COMING
David Gillespie writes from Walsgrave, Coventry, about the recently-purchased 150cc James Cadet you see here, dismantled in three boxes. Sadly the frame number seems to be missing from the headstock and he wonders where else he should be looking for it. The engine number is 1227 and it’s an AMC 15T model. The original supplier was Kings of Worksop (their supplier’s plate is still on the bike). The James marque specialist for the VMCC is P Morley in Argyll, tel 01369 820287, or email at pauldawnmorley@ talktalk.net. Maybe he can help.
Although the popularity of ‘Unearthed’ means I’ve been able to keep it going despite no longer being able to liaise directly with the DVLA about registration queries, I do urge readers to keep their correspondence coming. This will enable me to continue pointing readers in the right direction, and such letters are always of immense interest to OBM’s readership as a whole. If you have unearthed something recently and would like to share the news, or think I could help, write to me, Mike Worthington-Williams, The Old Schoolhouse, Cenarth, Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire SA38 9JL or email worthycomments@btconnect.com
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January 2017
feedback Dennis Shepherd, whose mum’s Levis was featured in June 2015 and whose grandfather’s combination was illustrated the following month, tells me that he has since done some research with Lincoln City Archives, disclosing that the Levis was a 211cc model, and the combination was a 1921 Campion, sadly scrapped by Gray’s of Sleaford in June 1937. He offers to research any bike registered in the Lincoln/Lindsey/ Grimsby areas, having become addicted to research. Letters can be forwarded. George Moore sends me this photograph [Pic.1] of the Coventry Victor K3 engine numbered 1013, manufactured under Weaver’s patents. He wondered if it was from a Coventry Victory threewheeler, but I don’t think so. The firm continued in business until well after the Second World War making marine and auxiliary generating sets. I’ve referred him to Coventry Motor Museum. Allan Sorbie up in Tighnabruaich, Argyll & Bute has a couple of James Cadets for which he lacks a V5. Both date from the 1950s, one being registered LCF 29 and the other 34 BPP. The first will probably be a non-starter because the West Suffolk registration records are preserved only up to 1948. The second is more hopeful because it’s a Buckinghamshire series, and their records are not only preserved but sometimes show the frame number, which the DVLA now insist on. Bill Prescott in Preston has been restoring a c1954 BSA B33 bearing frame number CB31 1920, and wishes to ascertain the original registration number. I’ve referred him to the BSA Owners’ Club, who hold the dispatch records. These should indicate the dealer to whom the bike was delivered initially, and that in turn gives a good chance of identifying the area in which it was registered. If those records survive and show the frame number as well as the registration number, then the number can be recovered. Wesley Perriman sends me this photograph [Pic.2] of a bike
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If you’d like to share an old picture or two with Old Bike Mart readers, or can add anything to recent ‘Unearthed’ topics, write to me Mike Worthington-Williams, The Old Schoolhouse, Cenarth, Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire SA38 9JL email worthycomments@btconnect.com
1 frame he picked up some years ago. It had been found down an embankment in a hedge alongside the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. Judging by the surrounding detritus, it had been dredged out of the canal and dumped, hence the damage to the rear. He cannot find a frame number or other marking to identify it, but is reluctant to scrap it in case it’s a rare and early gem deserving of restoration. Can anyone help? Dick Hannis in Rugby sends me four photographs [Pics.3-6] for our amusement. Pic. 3 shows his wife Elaine (nee Fletcher) aged ten on holiday in Great Yarmouth in 1955, on a scooter combination. It was parked at the roadside as the family walked past, and they decided to take a photo opportunity! Pic. 4 shows Dick’s wife’s father aged 19 in 1929 on his bike. Is it a Rudge, he asks? Pic. 5 shows Dick’s cousin Stan Starkey in Germany in 1945 on his WD machine. Dick says he was much older than him and more like an uncle. Finally, Pic 6. Stan again, this time in peacetime on his motorised tandem – the only mode of transport for him and his wife at the time. Gareth Davies refers back to the cylinder barrel (photograph 10 in the February issue) sent in by John Wakefield. He says it’s from a Homelite engine made in the
2 USA and previously probably used in a boat. One theory is that the Homelite – a domestic brand in the USA – was actually one half of an auxiliary generating set from a Sherman tank or could have been used in a similar capacity in a Flying Fortress. Chris Allen in Felixstowe sends me this photograph [Pic.7] taken in 1947. It shows members of Portsmouth City Police, and the chap third from the right is Chris’s dad, Robert Peter Allen, who later transferred to Suffolk Police. Checking the registration numbers, it seems that only one bike is still registered – to a retired police inspector. Maybe there are seven people out there with the same photograph? John Wakefield thinks the mystery frame (‘Unidentified Lightweight’ in November’s ‘Unearthed’ ) is a Norman similar to the one displayed on the same page. Norman Andrews was interested in Tony Gutteridge’s Norman in the November issue and would like to buy it. The two are now in touch. John Burkmar in Littlehampton tells me that a relative was recently sorting through the belongings of his wife’s late mother and found the following photographs [Pics.8-10]. The first would appear to show a Rudge Special with the 1939 London
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registration FYL 121. The second one shows someone in RAF uniform on a 1931 Blackburn-registered two-stroke with an outside flywheel, and the third shows someone working on a bike with pressed steel forks. Can anyone identify the two latter bikes?
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Brian Ling in Bromley, who recently wrote that Velocette don’t feature often in my pages, will be happy this month. Referring to the Douglas in photograph 4 of the November issue, he says it looks very similar to the 1929 Speedway model in Peter Carrit’s book – a model which was apparently unbeatable in the early days of speedway. In his early years Brian lived near the Douglas dealer Ernie Withers’ shop in West Norwood (my own family’s stomping ground), and spotted one or two ‘80 plus’ Duggies minus one pot leaning on the sand bins outside. Chris Hemstock sends me this photograph [Pic.11] of a lad on an early Tiger Cub. It was found in a pack of family photographs left by mistake years ago by a visitor to his old plaster works at Carlton on Trent. He would like to reunite the photograph with its owner. He thinks the family hailed from the Newcastle area. The bike bears a 1954/5 Blackburn registration.
54 AND FINALLY...
January 2017
There may be troubles ahead… Nigel Darken describes the mixed fortunes his 1966 Norton 650SS encountered after he was invited along on the 2016 Colombres Rally in Spain.
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n September’s Old Bike Mart, I recounted the ‘Tour de Lard’ in which my 1966 Norton 650SS suffered the indignity of having a box sidecar attached for a charity fund-raising adventure, and on that occasion all went well – mechanically at least! After re-establishing the machine’s solo status, and light use this summer, thanks to other bikes and things, a friend called to invite me to join him and a few others to do the Colombres Rally for classic bikes in northern Spain. I’d always wanted to do the event, so with only a short notice to the ‘off’, and minimal preparation in the light of the Norton’s previous good behaviour, I fixed that lighting short (or so I thought), slapped on a new rear tyre and was ready to go. I didn’t mention that the friend, who happens to be quite a well
known ex-racer, was guest of honour at the rally, so the hotels and ferry had already been arranged, and after a wet ride to his place for an overnight stay we set off in the van, collecting Geoff on the way, for a brisk ride to the ferry (once a racer, always a racer!). Anyone who’s done the Colombres Rally will know what kind of treat was in store. We set off on the first day’s ride in the company of about 300 others, but as retired racers aren’t well suited to plodding along behind old bikes, a certain amount of overtaking ensued. After that, I decided to plot all the following days’ routes on satnav, which gave me the dubious honour of leading our little group of five British 650s and one screaming 250/4 Honda – and guess who was riding that? By only the second day, however,
the horn had fallen off, the revcounter had packed up and oil was making a bid for freedom as never before as a fork seal had blown. What’s more the lighting short had woken up again. What was going on? We galloped to the lunch stop atop a ski resort along a mixture of endless bends through valleys, followed by smooth, wide and perfectly-surfaced roads with sweeping bends – motorcycling heaven – but as you might recall from my ‘Tour de Lard’ article, I’m not good with heights, and the live horn wire was shorting on the way down the mountain, accompanied by a misfire – well, that was my excuse as said racer came by me at the speed of sound looking for some sport. Although the Dommie handled like a dream, there was no way, with those drops, that I was going to try to keep up!
Mountains stretch invitingly into the distance as the Norton poses for another photo.
Up in the sweet mountain air, Nigel’s Norton 650SS takes a rest at a wellpaved viewing spot.
Bright warm sunshine, shade and the company of hundreds of like-minded people make the Colombres Rally one of the best in the calendar.
We twigged that if we got away before the official 10am start each day, we’d have clear roads. This mainly avoided the overtaking, but of course our lunch stops seemed to be longer than most, so the sight of the West Wilts Velo boys plodding along in their pink tabards became a real tortoise-and-hare situation, and I felt a bit of a hooligan as yet again we overtook them on our fire-breathing 1960s 650s. Sorry, lads. The bar and meeting point central to the hotels following each day’s ride was to be looked forward to – sitting in the sun with a cold beer and watching as the old bikes of every shape and size arrived; meeting with old friends and making new ones. I’ve always believed that motorcyclists are the nicest people, and feel lucky to have spent virtually all my life involved with bikes both professionally and personally. We socialised several times with one of the directors of Brittany Ferries, who happened to be a keen motorcyclist and had arranged the discounted fares to Santander, so we forgave (and envied) him for doing the rally on a modern Aprilia Tuono. Everything was going swimmingly except for the oil leaks, and actually it was quite exciting to see what the next day’s leak was going to be, but on the last day the sweet-running Norton had a sulk as we arrived at the lunch stop by going onto one cylinder. No problem, I thought. I’ll soon fix that. Out came the tools, and within a short time it became apparent that one of the coils had decided to take early retirement.
Away from the bustle of the big cities, sweeping mountain roads like this welcome classic bike enthusiasts from all over Europe.
As a spare was unavailable, a ride back in the rescue van was interesting, as the fluent-in-English young van driver held forth on the shortcomings of the EU and the envy they had for our withdrawal. Mind you, I had to envy their roads, built with EU money! During the van ride, it became apparent that Spain has many more police about – something we could do with here to catch texting motorists. The Colombres Rally is not to be confused with the Moto-Piston club event that’s also based in Santander. Many do both, but the traffic in Santander means a delay in getting to the good roads whereas Colombres itself is right there. The Indianos Club provides excellent organisation, great hospitality and routes in this wonderful part of Spain. As I write, the bike is on the ramp with the previously-mentioned faults sorted, but did I mention the gearbox? Well, that’s in bits too. The winter repair schedule seems to have expanded somewhat!
Continued from page 12
Buzz bombs Italiano!
Images: Mortons Archive www.mortonsarchive.com
As the downdraught Dell’orto carburettor flooded easily, it was important to turn off the fuel tap if the machine were to be left standing for more than a minute or two. “Once buzzing,” Stewart wrote, “the little engine goes very well and seems almost virtually unburstable. It doesn’t object to full-throttle cruising (although, as would be expected, the speed drops appreciably when hills or a headwind are encountered) and 40 to 45 miles can be packed into an hour.” With four gears in the foot-change box, the best speed obtained by the 11-stone rider at the end of a standing quarter mile was 46mph, although 48mph was possible in normal conditions and over 50mph with a light tailwind. Fuel consumption was 95mpg at 30mph, and 80mpg at 40mph. Excellent brakes and handling were reported, although with just 2in section tyres, the little Garelli could feel skittish at times, and could easily be blown about by side winds. Cost of the Monza Special in 1967 was £132-0s-1d (I wonder how many
dealers said magnanimously: “I’ll forget the penny”?) and its weight without fuel was 128lb. We found two pint-pot Ducatis in our archives – the three-speed Sport 48 tested by Motorcycle Mechanics in October 1963 and the later four-speed 50SL tested by Motor Cycle in 1967. It was MCM editor Charles Deane who tried out the 46mph, 105mpg Sport 48, reporting a top speed of 46mph and an overall fuel consumption of 105mpg. “Similar to many fifties, one’s first impression is of instability,” he wrote. “The steering seems exceptionally light and one tends to wander off course when caught by an unexpected side wind. Bumps in the road also give a similar sensation. However, once one becomes accustomed to the lightness of the machine, it is possible to run rings around the larger-capacity models in traffic and on corners. “As the name implies, the Ducati Sport 48 is an out-and-out sports bike. It has clip-on handlebars, a racing-type seat and
Stewart rt Boroughs found the 49cc Garelli Monza Special a bit temperamental in starting.
downdraught, bellmouth sports carburettor, but riding comfort isn’t one of the machine’s finer points as the saddle, similar to most Italian makes, is rather narrow and hard.” Although the twist grip gearchange operated quite smoothly, it was all too easy to slip between the gears into false neutrals if care wasn’t taken in selection. Costing just £8919s-6d, the Sport 48 weighed 119lb, and in true Ducati style was a delight to the eye. Finally, we come to the four-speed Ducati SL which was tested by Stewart Boroughs in the August 23, 1967 issue of Motor Cycle – and what a looker it was. “A sporty appearance is always a good selling point,” he wrote, “and certainly if looks were the sole criterion, the Ducati would be a best-seller.” At the time, it seemed that sixteeners might soon be limited to 50cc models, and Stewart observed: “If so, the Ducati and its kith should enjoy a boon”, although nothing was said about pedals at the time! Impressed by the little Ducati’s suitability for commuting work, the reporter pointed out that his daily 19-mile journey to the office took only two or three minutes longer than if he’d used a 650. As with the Garelli, sometimes as many as half-a-dozen prods – or even a bump-start – were required to get the 50SL running, but once on the move, the four-
Motorcycle Mechanics editor Charles Deane tries out the Ducati Sport 48 for size.
The 50cc Ducati 50SL made a great-looking commuter machine, taking only two or three minutes longer than a 650 to get to work in London’s traffic.
speed gearbox, operated by a heeland-toe pedal, provided just the right ratios for maximum performance. Claimed maximum power output of 4.2bhp was produced at 8600rpm, and peaking the engine in each gear had the bike flat-out at 47mph
after covering the standing quartermile in 27.7 seconds – “an excellent performance for a fifty”. The Ducati 50SL cost £119-10s, weighed 128lb without fuel, and its overall fuel consumption was 115mpg.