Old Bike Mart October 2016 preview

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ISSUE

376

OLD BIKE MART ’

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Advance Tickets On Sale Now

October 15-16, 2016 Staffordshire County Showground Adult: £12 Senior: £11 Child: £3 BUY TICKETS 01507 529529 classicbikeshows.com

As our thoughts turn to this autumn’s Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show, here’s an image taken 50 years ago at Cyclex 66, at Earls Court. Motor Cycle described the November show as “bigger and better than last time”, and this early morning view of the main hall shows the eager crowds filtering through.

Photo: Mortons Archive – www.mortonsarchive.com

2 NEWS

October 2016

Pete’s Prattle

www.oldbikemart.co.uk email: info@oldbikemart.co.uk

Editor Pete Kelly OBMEditor@mortons.co.uk Designers Charlotte Fairman, Tracey Barton Production editors Sarah Palmer, Sarah Wilkinson Picture Desk Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield 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 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.

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D

oes your bike have a name?

I don’t mean like Triumph, Norton, BSA or Royal Enfield, or even Trident, Commando, Gold Star or Bullet, but a personal name, one you have given it yourself?

There are plenty such names in this issue, such as the legendary Vincent Series B Rapide that had been breathed on by George Brown and christened Gunga Din after Motor Cycling staffman, Charles Markham, got his hands on it for a memorable weekend in 1947. You can read all about in on pages 20-22.

How about Voodoo, the name given to a 1961 dustbin-faired preunit Triumph T120 Bonneville with E3134 cams, tuned upswept pipes and 9:1 pistons that once tore up

the A20 past Johnson’s Café during the ‘ton-up’ days. Recalled first in last month’s readers’ letters by OBM reader Graham Wilson, the story is completed by Tony Page on page 12.

Phillip Tooth’s report about the George Brown Memorial Sprint at East Kirkby Airfield in Lincolnshire reminds us of the names of several legendary sprint machines, such as Brown’s Vincents Nero and Super Nero that was on loan from the National Motorcycle Museum, the ex-Roy Daniels' 1000cc double-engined Triumph Icarus and, of course, John Hobbs’ supercharged double-engined Weslake The Hobbit.

And who could forget the fabled Triumph works 750cc production racing triple Slippery

Animal shelter show raises £3400 After a day of teeming rain that wiped out events all over the country, Sunday, September 11 dawned bright and sunny, and more than 190 motorcyclists from all over the region turned up for the RSPCA Motorbike Show at the Hull & East Riding Animal Rescue Centre in Clough Road, Hull, bringing with them plenty of food for the animals in the centre’s care.

More than 900 visitors enjoyed the day, and one of the bike judges said he hadn’t seen such an array of interesting, well-kept and wonderful bikes at the show before.

One of these was a BMW that Ewan McGregor rode for the last 90 miles of the Long Way Down, and has Charley Boorman’s signature on the front mudguard.

Other machines included a 1966 BSA trials sidecar outfit, a BMW K100, a Beardman Precision, Egli Vincent, 250cc Benelli, Laverda Montjuic, Moto Guzzi Lario, 1966 Honda CB 72, Aprilia Mille RSV and 1962 175cc Motobi works racer to name but a few.

Best in show winner was an MV Agusta GP500 Agostini Replica whose owner, John Huzzard, received the Frank Palmer Memorial Trophy.

Everyone’s support, from the food and equipment sponsors to the Yorkshire motorcycle dealerships who donated raffle prizes and the volunteers who manned the stalls, not to mention all the motorcyclists without whom there wouldn’t have been a show, helped raise more than £3413, which beat the total raised the year before.

Sam, the only machine in TT history to have won five TT races in five consecutive years? During my term as Motor Cycle editor in the 1970s, and after one of the bike’s quintet of victories, staffman Graham Forsdyke came up with the brilliant front page TT issue heading ‘Play it Again, Sam’ – alleged by many to have been uttered by Humphrey Bogart in the famous wartime film Casablanca, although sadly, close study of the film reveals that this exact sequence of words was never actually spoken!

For many years now, my own Moto Guzzi Le Mans has boasted a small brass plate bearing the name Enchantress on the glass-fibre shelf beneath the tightly-curved screen of its race-style fairing, and I’m sure

that hundreds of you must have bestowed names on your favourite machines at one time or another.

Why not tell us about them, with photoss if possible, so that we can share them with our readers?

Boxing Day spectacular in Romsey town centre While Christmas might still seem a long way off, the Romsey Boxing Day Classic Car & Bike Meet is a free, non-profit-making event that has raised more than £22,000 for various charities over the last 14 years, and more than £18,000 for Prostate Cancer UK, for which it will again be collecting this year.

Once again the meet is being sponsored by Adrian Flux Specialist Car Insurers, which has supported the event for some years now, and as always, the aim is to be simply a great fun gettogether for classic car and bike enthusiasts and others.

A brilliant participation of more than 600 motor vehicles and 250 motorcycles means that the organisers now adhere strictly to pre1976 Euro classic cars, bikes and trucks and pre-1996 American cars, hot rods and bikes, and anything outside these boundaries has to be politely turned away.

The event will take place in Romsey town centre in the Aldi, Crosfield Hall and Broadwater Road car parks, and the action will start at around 9am and fold at around 1pm.

For more information, visit www. romsey-classiccarandbikemeet.co.uk

10 NEWS

October 2016

Chinese-built AJS Cadwell divides opinion ‘partners’, the bike was designed Rarely has a motorcycle divided in collaboration between the AJS opinion as much as when I took headquarters in Andover and a Chinese-made AJS Cadwell the other team in China. The to the circuit it is named after, Cadwell taps into the current Cadwell Park, for the Morini cafe racer vogue and has some Owners’ Club track day, writes pleasing touches such as the James Robinson. quality-made seat, stainless All I had to do was keep my exhaust system and four-pot ears open near where it stood in caliper front brake that performs the paddock to learn that some people loved the little newcomer better than any four-leadingshoe front brake ever did. while others loathed it.

While the overall specification, What is undeniable, however, particularly the suspension, is is that the 125cc four-stroke quite basic, it has to be realised single, launched by Nick Brown that the Cadwell is listed brand and his team at AJS motorcycles new at £1898 all in! in Andover, has certainly got Although a diminutive people talking! machine whose seat height is an The name Nick Brown may unthreatening 740mm/29in, it well be familiar to some, for doesn’t feel particularly cramped. he’s the son of Fluff Brown, Footrests are a bit far forward, who passed away in 2013 and rather low for the dropped but effectively saved the AJS handlebars, but rear-sets are brand by purchasing the among the items on the options manufacturing rights for the list. In reality the riding position is AJS Stormer from NVT in 1974, ‘sensible’ rather than cafe racer. and concentrating on building The engine is willing and primarily off-road machines gives its best, even if it does powered by Villiers Starmaker gasp a little bit higher up the rev engines. range. Although only a 125, it Nick joined the business in 1989 and began seeking ways to diversify. was capable of cracking 70mph (heading for 75) on the back The first AJS-badged Chinese straight at Cadwell when I took machine was made in 1998, thus it out for a couple of laps. 60mph starting the road that’s led to the Cadwell, powered by a 125cc two- certainly won’t be a problem on the road, although after initial valve single-overhead-camshaft strong acceleration the last few four-stroke based on a Yamaha. mph take a little longer coming.

It breathes through an oldSo what’s the verdict? The fashioned carburettor, but from next year it will be fuel-injected, AJS provokes debate, and it’s thoroughly capable. It’s small, and drives through a five-speed gearbox – standard Chinese fare low, light and looks nice as well as being keenly priced. What’s so far, but it’s the styling that not to like? sets the AJS apart.

As for the future, AJS is looking As the manufacturers are AJS’s

There’s no doubting the traditional black and gold styling of the new Chinese-built 125cc AJS Cadwell.

at larger-capacity engines, so there might well be a ‘trail’ version of the 125cc model (surely to be called the Stormer?) before too long as well.

Although it does split opinion, the AJS and Matchless Owners’ Club hasn’t ignored or snubbed it, and has even decided to offer one as a prize in its next raffle. www.ajsmotorcycles.co.uk or 01264 365103.

The AJS Cadwell makes an assault on the Mountain.

An old Velocette makes an interesting comparison with the newcomer.

The little AJS is squirted around the Cadwell Park circuit after which it has been named.

North Pole ahoy as VMCC’s 70th anniversary baton reaches Skaw

The VMCC’s 70th anniversary baton is held aloft at Skaw, the furthest settlement north in the UK, on Sunday, August 14.

A group of enthusiasts led by Shetland Vintage Motor Cycle Club members Joe Gray and Frank Johnson took the VMCC’s 70th anniversary baton to the top of the UK in Unst, Shetland, on Sunday, August 14, writes Alastair Alexander.

The intrepid duo set off from Lerwick in the company of 10 fellow members of the Shetland Classic Motorcycle Club to take the baton to the end of the last public road in the UK, and the trip of about 69 miles involved hopping on and off the ferries

from the Shetland mainland to the islands of Yell and then Unst.

Once on Unst, it was a quick dash to the end of the road at Skaw (further north than Cape Farewell in Greenland) with nothing but sea and ice from there to the North Pole.

Filled with enthusiasm, the group decided, on their return to Lerwick, to take the baton to the southernmost point on Shetland, Sumburgh Lighthouse.

The round trip of 178 miles was enjoyed by everyone involved.

While returning to Lerwick, the group couldn’t resist taking the baton to the most southernmost point on the Shetlands, Sumburgh Lighthouse.

14 NEWS

October 2016

Delayed take-off at George Brown Sprint Phillip Tooth reports from the George Brown Memorial Sprint weekend at the East Kirkby Airfield in Lincolnshire.

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straightforward fun at the event were plain to see, and just a few records were broken – Sheelagh Neil’s 18.38 in the 250cc vintage pre-1946 class on her heavily modified Triumph; John Young’s 12.78 in the 500cc vintage pre-1946 class on his 1936 500cc Tri-JAP; Mark Taylor’s 10.01 in the classic Japanese over 500cc class on his Suzuki GSX 1100cc and Levi Baber’s 15.67 in the juniors class on his 77cc Genspeed.

If you’d like to have a go at sprinting on whatever you’ve got, check out www. straightlinersonline.co.uk or www. nationalsprintassociation.org

fter constant heavy rain prevented any runs taking place on the opening day of the George Brown Memorial Sprint weekend at East Kirkby Airfield in Lincolnshire on September 10-11, Sunday brought glorious sunshine and ideal sprint conditions as a feast of machinery including Nero, Super Nero, The Hobbit and Icarus burned up the strip upon which, once upon a time, Lancaster bombers had taken off on their raids over Germany.

Graham Sykes from the National Sprint Association – who drove the 4000cc V8 Syko three-wheeler at the

event – and Trevor Duckworth of Straightliners put in a tremendous amount of work to get the show on the track, and the happy paddock provided a day of non-stop action as, with clouds of burning rubber and a constantly changing cacophony of sound, the ‘pilots’ launched off the line.

Motorcycles, three-wheelers and scooters of all shapes and sizes took part in this glorious event, and the ex-George Brown Vincents Nero and Super Nero, and no fewer than five historic double-engined machines provided the icing on the cake.

The camaraderie and plain

The National Motorcycle Museum loaned Nero and Super Nero to Tony Brown, son of George, for him to demonstrate at the sprint. Tony’s 15-year-old grandsons Jordan (left) and Jamie were there to help.

Star of the show, hot and fast Super Nero, waits for the green light. Tony held national sprint records with this bike.

Tom Tuohy smokes his heavily modified Ariel Arrow Sports. He also piloted a 1000cc Kawasaki in the racing class.

Phil Wood took the fastest time of the day, and picked up the Dave Houghton Trophy, after his turbo Suzuki Hayabusa covered the quarter in 9.42 sec with a terminal speed of 164mph.

Built from bits and bobs collected from the York-based motorcycle breakers Genspeed, this Suzuki runs with nitrous oxide in the competition class, and Owen Cooke regularly runs into the nine seconds with it.

There’s no mistaking John Hobbs’ famous Hobbit. By 1979 this Weslake double-engined, supercharged missile was knocking on the door of the sevensecond barrier.

Ray Law and his 1000cc doubleengined super-charged Triumph seem to have been around for ever.

Chris Illman (Bayley-Cole 500cc Douglas) and Neil Baskerville (500cc Leigh Rudge) have a chat before burning rubber. Neil’s father, Ray, had an engineering company that used to supply two-speed gearboxes and slider clutches to the spring and drag racing boys in the 1960s and 70s.

Peter Boum is a regular at NSA meetings with his 225cc Lambretta GP. His best time was 16.26sec with a terminal speed of 78mph.

Kevin Fields piloted Icarus, the 1000cc double-engined Triumph, at the George Brown Memorial event. The ex-Roy Daniels record-breaking bike once held the British land speed title with 191mph.

Rebuilt and ridden by Colin Fallows, Black Cat is a 750cc blown Triumph that’s part of the Roy Webb collection.

Colin made his named with jet cars, and was a professional jet car pilot for Santa Pod. His car, Split Second, broke the British land speeds record.

Sheelagh Neal’s 250cc Triumph-engined sprinter started life in 1931, but then her father Ozzie breathed on it. “He machined all the fins off the cylinder,” says Sheelagh. “You don’t need them for cooling on a sprint of hill climb bike.” She upped the 250cc vintage pre-1946 record by a wide margin with her 18.38 sec-run.

You don’t have to spend a fortune to have fun. Long-time sprinter and good guy, John Brent, is seen on the Howard Smith Special.

Record-holder in the NSA unlimited vintage post-1946 class, Dick Craven’s Vincent Rapide produces 86bhp and covers the quarter in 10.68 sec. See it at the Craven Collection (www.cravencollection.co.uk).

20 FROM OUR ARCHIVE

October 2016

You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din One weekend in 1947, Motor Cycling road test rider Charles Markham got his hands on a Vincent Series B Rapide that had been specially tuned by George Brown – and was so impressed by the machine that proved to be the forerunner of the Black Shadow and Black Lightning that he christened it ‘Gunga Din’, after a famous character in a poem by Rudyard Kipling.

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hough I’ve belted you and flayed you By the livin’ Gawd that made you, You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

Photos: Mortons Archive www.mortonsarchive.com

Once upon a time, it wasn’t unusual to give your motorcycle a special name – and back in 1947, as India finally secured its independence from the British Empire, few people in Britain were unfamiliar with the works of Rudyard Kipling. He wrote the poem Gunga Din, about an Indian

water-bearer who saved the life of his military superior, in 1892 – and Charles Markham chose the name because it implied that the Vincent’s impressive capabilities were quite beyond his own.

Looking through the old bound volumes in our motorcycling archive at Mortons shows just how the art (if you can call it that!) of writing magazine articles has evolved over the years. Increasingly nowadays it’s all about quick ‘word bites’, because many people don’t seem to have the attention-span to read more than a few paragraphs at a time – but

The first Vincent Series B Rapide makes an appearance on April 4, 1946 with Phil Vincent looking on. It was a rejected example of this model that was passed to George Brown for experimental purposes.

back then it was a case of relaxing by the fire in your armchair after a hard day’s work and settling down to a nice long read about your favourite subject when your weekly magazine arrived.

Markham began his feature, put together in collaboration with Phil Heath, with the words: “And what – you may ask – has inspired this sudden flow of Kipling into the prosaic prose of a bicycle basher?

Principally, perhaps, a chat with a man whose business it is to bring distant horizons so much closer by aiding the production of Very Fast Motors Inc – none other than Phil Irving of the Vincent-HRD Co Ltd. I wouldn’t use the word ‘prosaic’ (which my dictionary defines as ‘unromantic’, ‘commonplace’ or ‘dull’) for Charles’ writings, a little old-fashioned for today’s tastes though they might seem.

“When Phil tactfully inquired if the

Look, no helmet! Motor Cycling staffman, Charles Markham, puts Gunga Din through its paces on the road in November 1947.

Markham blood pump was back to normal return-feed system following road test gallops of a standard Series ‘B’ Rapide,” wrote Charles, “he made mention of a slightly tuned version as a careless addition to our guarded conversation. That was over in

Phil Heath heels over the Vincent on a moorland road in 1947.

the Island, and the Lure of Speed was upon all men, which probably accounted for my casual request to be granted the opportunity of riding something faster than the standard plot – with its mere maximum over the fastest quarter resulting in a stop watch translation of 112mph!”

On October 11, 1947, after coming second on the 998cc Vincent HRD development machine in the unlimited class at the Bemsee 100-Mile Grand Prix at Dunholme Lodge aerodrome, near Lincoln, George Brown simply refitted the silencer and numberplates and rode it back to Stevenage – no van or trailer for him. This performance duly impressed the Motor Cycling staffman, who was planning a trip to the British Experts’ Trial in Yorkshire on a dressy red and chrome Ariel Square Four that he’d christened The Duke when he received a

October 2016

ROYAL ENFIELD SPECIAL FEATURE 27

Developing tradition – the secret of Royal Enfield’s continuing success The oldest motorcycle brand in continuous production, Royal Enfield made its first motorcycle in the first decade of the 20th century, and under Eicher Motors Ltd in India it is enjoying a growing global market share.

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ith its new manufacturing base in Chennai, India, Royal Enfield is rapidly increasing its production against a surge in demand for these unique and distinctive modern classic machines.

With a more than 50% growth for each of the last five years, it is fast becoming a very important

player in the international mid-size motorcycle market, and is working towards reinventing this space with motorcycles that are evocative, engaging, and great fun to ride.

Royal Enfield’s product line-up in the UK includes the Bullet and the Classic in the 500cc displacement category along with the 535cc Continental GT café racer. The

With its single seat and beautifully-chromed fuel tank and other components, Royal Enfield’s 500cc Classic Chrome brings past and present together as never before.

company currently has four concept stores in the UK – TTT Motorcycles in Bethnal Green, Hartgate Motorcycles in Mitcham, Surrey, a recently-opened store in Watford and now the first UK store outside the London area in St Helens, Merseyside.

In India, Royal Enfield operates through 17 company-operated

stores and 500 dealers in all major towns and cities. It exports to more than 50 countries, including the USA, several European and Latin American countries, the Middle East and South East Asia.

Among the many motorcycle events that Royal Enfield organises and supports are ‘Rider Mania’, an annual gathering of RE riders from

The Bullet Black is another 500cc model that makes no excuses for harking back to the past.

all over the world to the lovely beaches of Goa; ‘The Himalayan Odyssey’, the most arduous motorcycle ride over some of the toughest roads and highest mountain passes in the Himalayas; and the popular ‘One Ride’ where people gather around the world on their motorcycles on the first Sunday of April.

32 NEWS

October 2016

Dene motorcycles – Newcastle’s forgotten gems Jon Hill outlines the history of the Tyneside-built Dene motorcycles that were recently displayed at Newcastle’s Discovery Museum, and the products of the Jesmond Cycle Co that preceded them.

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any Old Bike Mart readers from the North-East will remember the Dene Motor Co, Ltd. Generally referred to as ‘The Dene’, incorporating its shop and showroom in Newcastle-uponTyne’s Haymarket and a workshop in nearby Jesmond, the company was the mecca for local motorcyclists before and after the war until the business closed in 1970.

With its brown dust-coated staff being able to locate parts from floor to ceiling drawers behind the counter, often without recourse to a parts book, and cash transactions being expedited by a Lamson Cash Ball machine, the shop was indispensable for motorcyclists and a source of wonderment for

children, wives and girlfriends.

But how many people knew that the company made its own motorcycles? Founded by J R (Jimmy) Moore in 1903, the Dene was in fact preceded by the Jesmond Cycle Company Ltd in the 1890s.

As manufacturers of high-quality bicycles, Jesmond held several patents for innovations to its machines, but the advent of the early motor bicycle following the repeal of the Red Flag Act saw Jimmy Moore eager to produce motorised twowheelers in the North-East, and a range of Fafnir-engined motorcycles was manufactured until the demise of the concern in 1902.

Jimmy continued to produce machines under the ‘Dene’ name,

and by 1906 was producing an allchain-drive 3½hp model powered by a 3½hp Fafnir engine. By 1909 he had reverted to belt drive with the option of a three-speed hub gear.

Power was now provided by Baker Precision engines, with a flagship V-twin model.

Following the hostilities of the First World War, which saw the Dene Co involved with general machine work, production continued with the introduction of large-capacity V-twin motorcycles. Powered by JAP engines and with transmission provided by Sturmey Archer counter shaft gearboxes with fully enclosed chain drive, the range was aimed at providing a well-made machine for sidecar work.

Above: On the stone sett road surface outside the reconstructed Annfield Plain Industrial Co-operative Society store at the Beamish Museum in Co Durham, Jon Hill is seen astride the 1912 4¼hp Dene Precision at the time of its recommissioning in 2012.

Left: Enamel signs that often lasted longer than the products they advertised brightened up the walls of town and city buildings for many decades. Pictured alongside a couple of them is the magnificent late-model Dene, powered by a lusty JAP V-twin engine, that was on display at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle and is now back at Beamish.

Of a type once sold by Dene, this Mills & Fulford sidecar that graces the V-twin machine has been restored to perfection.

October 2016

37

Re-engineering a great prop stand solution Mick Hall Engineering of Otley, West Yorkshire, has based the principles of its new ‘Vintele’ prop stand on the ‘EsWay’ design of the 1920s.

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he first time Mick Hall saw an ‘EsWay’ prop stand, it was fitted to a Panther M100 belonging to a local owner. After deciding that he just had to have one, and having the skills to make it himself rather than scour autojumbles, he embarked on a bit of networking and soon found a fellow motorcyclist who kindly lent him a 1927 type of ‘EsWay’ that he wasn’t using at the time, giving Mick the chance to study it thoroughly.

The stand’s inventor was Godfrey Harter of London, but the only information Mick has found so far has come mainly from the internet and from Richard (reddevilmotors. blogspot.co.uk) who has an original stand on his Triumph N and kindly passed on a copy of the original ‘EsWay’ leaflet.

Research informed Mick that Harter had patented a stand that fitted to the footboard of a motorcycle in 1922. It consisted of a leg that could be lowered against a ratchet arrangement allowing it to be set at various heights to allow the motorcycle to be parked easily.

In 1927, the designer took out the patent for this telescopic type of prop stand, again incorporating a ratchet to allow it to be set to length.

With a foot, the rider extended the stand outwards until it locked to the required length. By touching the heel of a boot against a lever, an internal spring returned the stand to its ‘up’ position, where it was held in place by both the main spring and sprung locking lever.

The inventor’s next move was to bring out another version of this telescopic stand that was still extended in the same way, but this time the return mechanism was cable-connected to a lever that could be mounted on the handlebars.

After making a small batch of the 1927-type stands, Mick Hall sold them mainly to people he knew, and the feedback was that they were a delight to use. Older motorcyclists made the point that conventional stands had been putting them off riding because of the uncertainty of finding level ground, not to mention backbreaking work of pulling their machines onto the rear stands.

The ‘EsWay’ design enabled them to go out with confidence, knowing that they’d be able to park their bikes on just about any surface. As with any side stand though, don’t forget to set it to the up position before setting off!

With such a stand fitted, just moving bikes around the garage becomes much easier, although Mick takes pains to point out that it’s a light prop stand and not designed for holding the bike up while jumping on the kick-start pedal!

Mick has now made another batch of prop stands that he’s named the ‘Vintele’. These are for use on rigidframed motorcycles and include stainless fixings and a selection of brackets allowing them to be fitted to most makes of motorcycle, and this makes them an ideal gift.

These are available either unpainted or black powdercoated, and are supplied with full fittings and instructions, and comprehensive fitting instructions can also be found on the www.vintele.co.uk website.

The accompanying advertisement gives details of bargain prices available for October 2016 only.

The ‘Vintele’ prop stand arrangement is seen clearly in this picture.

These are the components of the new ‘Vintele’ stand.

October 2016

43

unearthed T

ogether with more than 36,000 other enthusiasts, I made my annual pilgrimage to this year’s 50th anniversary Beaulieu Autojumble. From small beginnings in 1967, the event boasted no fewer than 2,378 stalls and an Automart with many complete vehicles for sale, as well as those

offered on individual stands.

There were many superb restored flat-tankers as well as pre and postwar bikes on offer, and those that follow are just a small selection of what was available.

Add to these a cornucopia of engines, gearboxes and other spare parts, together with literature and other

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 bike-associated items, and it can be seen why Beaulieu has become so popular over the years.

At this truly international event, with traders and buyers from Germany, France, Holland and virtually every continental country as well as the USA, the variety on offer could not be bettered.

A little rain didn’t dampen spirits, and when the sun came out it was really warm.

Bikes on offer ranged from a little 1920s 250cc BSA round-tank requiring full restoration to a fully-restored Coventry-Eagle V-twin Flying 8, and from a French La Francaise-Diamant missing front wheel and forks to an immaculate Terrot.

We spotted a nicely restored New Imperial flattank side-valve and a very tidy 1937 BSA B20 side-valve, and oddities included an unrestored Rex three-wheeler, one of only 350 built by Aktiebolaget Maskinfabriken Rex of Halmstad, Sweden.

The firm doesn’t appear in any of my car or commercial vehicle encyclopaedias, but it is included in Tragatsch as a motorcycle producer in business from 1908 to 1957.

MONOS

EXCELSIOR

Another three-wheeler not often encountered appeared for sale on the PreWarCar site recently. Designed by Fritz Gorke, and powered by a 600cc JAP engine, the 1929 Monos Ks/650 features a goods-carrying box at the front and tandem seating for two at the rear. Made in Berlin, this model was introduced at the Leipzig Motor Show in 1929 and was used as a delivery van for a wine merchant in Vienna.

The Excelsior name graced bikes made in Germany, England and the USA, but the example shown here and featured in Joris Bergma’s PreWarCar.com site is a 1911 example made by Excelsior Mfg and Supply Co of Chicago, USA. It’s in unrestored but running order, and is a 500cc model with belt drive, Schebler carburettor and Eclypse disc clutch. It’s said to be running perfectly.

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

KROBOTH A scooter from a different era is represented by this Kroboth Truxa from the 1950s. The photograph, taken in a German museum, was sent by Simon Duerden. This machine, manufactured by Fahrzeug & Maschinenbau Gustav Kroboth of Seestall-Lech, Germany between 1949 and 1952, used Sachs engines of 98cc, 150cc and 175cc. Its maker was a former Czech dealer and racing motorcyclist who started his business in Germany soon after the war.

KENILWORTH The first proliferation of motor scooters came in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, many of them made by aircraft companies that had lost their war contracts. The Kenilworth, however, was designed by Captain G Smith-Clarke of Alvis, and was made initially by Kenilworth Utility Motors of Much Park Street, Coventry and later by Booth Bros of the same address. It was supplied with a 143cc ohv Norman engine, 269cc Villiers or 292cc JAP. This example has the Norman unit and is now owned by John Dove, who describes himself as “a Kenilworth boy”. He has drawings of the missing petrol tank, but would welcome help and information and any other missing components. When restoration is complete, the National Autocycle & Cyclemotor Club should be able to assist with dating and registration with an age-related number.

PEUGEOT David Baddeley in Crewe sends me this photograph of a Peugeot recently purchased in France by his cousin. As can be seen, it is missing its engine and various ancillary parts, but he’d be interested in learning anything about the model’s history and finding the parts necessary to restore it. Failing this, he might be interested in selling it on. The maker’s plate indicates that it’s a Type 53CL with frame number 374423, and the supplier’s plate gives the name Gorse Gilbert of Limoges. It features a three-speed hand gearchange. Can anyone help?

HONDA CB72 Jim Keene in Beverley, East Yorkshire has acquired this c1966 Honda CB72 for restoration. It came with the wrong tank and seat, having had the café racer treatment at some time in its life. It also had the wrong engine, but Jim has a correct CB72 engine that he will fit. The bike carries frame number CB72-102896, and was originally registered GNG 711D. It was last taxed in Norfolk in 1978, and an old tax disc survives.

Jim needs the procedure for registering it when restoration is complete. Well, the old records are said to survive in the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich NR2 1NJ, and if they show the frame number, the registration should be recoverable. The tax disc on its own would not be accepted as proof by the DVLA. The Honda Owners’ Club is DVLA-approved under the V765 number recovery scheme, and should be able to help (Chris Ward, 0208 393 0907).

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October 2016

feedback I’m always on the lookout for motorcycle brochures for my collection, and as Beaulieu Autojumble has previously considerably enhanced it, I took the opportunity to add a few more this year.

The Excelsior scooter example shown here reminded me that, rather than design their own, they adopted the Heinkel Tourist and put their own name on it [Pic.1]. In London, however, Ernie Barrett’s HB Engineering Co in Tottenham produced an All-British scooter called the Phoenix with Villiers engines from 1956 to 1964 [Pic.2]. He also produced and rode Phoenix-JAP racing machines.

In France Motobecane, the makers of the highly-successful Mobylette moped, offered the Moby-Scooter, and this made its first appearance in Britain in November 1958 in 150cc guise [Pic.3]. Prompted by the September issue, Robin Haigh sent me examples of the metal signs he has for both Manhurin and Rixe machines [Pic.4, Pic.5]. He must have a truly remarkable collection.

William Wootton is sure that the petrol tank shown in photographs 1 and 2 in September’s ‘Feedback’ is from a late 1940s or early 1950s Norton single, and enquires if it’s for sale. I’ve put him in touch with Danny Powell, who has it.

Robert Freeman has been sent this photograph [Pic.6] of a BMW R51 by a gentleman who confirms that the lady is his grandmother.

His grandfather was involved in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials after the Second World War, and Robert wondered if the bike would have been imported at that time.

However it appears not, as ABN 29 was issued in Bolton in April 1938.

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This means the bike was bought in Britain some time before the war, when we were still trading with Germany.

Richard Mummery, writing in the magazine of the Association of Pioneer Motor Cyclists (of which I am a member) draws attention to the NAIT shown here [Pic.7] of an Imperial Burlwin, believed built in the Faversham area. As Editor Geoff Davies points out, however, it looks remarkably like the contemporary Kerry and might be an early example of ‘badge engineering’.

Simon Duerden confirms that the sign shown in photograph 2 in the August ‘Feedback’ is for the Garelli Mosquito, but adds that this small unit was made only for bicycles and not Garelli motorcycles. It was offered in two sizes and models – the 38, which was 38cc, and the 38B which was 49cc. He has a spare 38cc engine which he would be willing to sell [Pic.8]. Simon also confirms that the Superia moped range was an offshoot from Flandria. They were produced only from 1956 to the 1970s (see photo 9, August).

Malcolm Aley, whose letter concerning Colmore’s of Leicester appeared in Readers’ Letters (August), was interested to see that Dave Walker was an apprentice there at the time he bought his Greeves (shown here in a poor photograph) [Pic.9]. I’ve put him in touch with Dave. The Greeves, registered XNR 701, was later fitted with an Avon DroopSnoot fairing in matching blue. He wonders where it is now?

David Davies writes from Brigg

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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

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4 concerning Lancaster bombers as mentioned in the August issue.

He confirms that there were no internal combustion power units on Lancasters other than the four Merlin engines that enabled it to fly! Be that as it may, I have heard previously of various auxiliary units being fitted in aircraft.

Steve Childs in Chadderton, Lancashire, sends me this photograph [Pic.10] of his grandfather Humphrey Childs on what his 90-year-old aunt says is a Royal Enfield registered CDK 76, a 1937 Rochdale series. Does it survive, I wonder? Steve restores Hondas and says grandad would probably spin in his grave if he knew!

Nick Morris (07860 472869) offers to help Davie Caulder with his mystery frame featured in the August issue. The two are now in touch. Henry Gregson

throws a little more light on the Superia/Flandria saga. Apparently the Claeys family were the owners of the Flandria company producing bicycles and mopeds, and even running a successful professional cycling team.

Following a falling-out between the two brothers, however, a wall was built down the centre of the factory (through the middle of a machine too, so rumour has it). The Superia brand was formed by Remi, with the other brother retaining Flandria. Superia also sponsored a professional cycling team – Solo Superia. Flandria is now, apparently, English owned.

John Hill sends me this photograph [Pic.11] of a Morgan Aero B three-wheeler originally owned by his father, Richard Winston Hill, then living in Exeter.

The lady in the passenger seat is John’s mother, and the car was

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driven from Exeter to the 1938 Edinburgh Festival and back without problems The motorcycle in the background is a Royal Enfield which accompanied them, but was not so lucky, having broken down, forcing its owner and passenger to take the train home. Without a registration number, John’s quest to see if the car survives will be a difficult one, and the Morgan Three-Wheeler Club hasn’t been able to help.

Finally comes another petrol tank [Pic.12]. Andy James tells me his father found it in a box in the warehouse cellar of what had once been a bike shop about 15 years ago. He kept it wrapped in a blanket under his bed until recently, which accounts for its excellent condition.

It’s from a Triumph that might once have been a hand-change 250cc model. Can anyone positively identify the model and year?