Welcome
Recently, I’ve been thinking about handlebars,and this hascome about due to variousreasons,includingriding severalmachines and havingdiscussions with friends –not necessarily settingout to discuss it,but it seemingtobethe topic of conversation.
Personally, I’ve alwaysstruggled with clipon handlebars,some of whichIput down to beinga spectacle wearer,albeitthese days it’s generallycontact lenses Iuse.But years agoitwas specs, andtosee through them when ridingwith clip-ons I’dhavetotip my head back,not beinginthe possession of some snookerstar DennisTaylor-style glasses. And it wasabit uncomfortable, whichaddedtothe dislikeofclip-ons –that and not beingable to seeoverhedges.
To seeoverthe aforementioned hedges, then situp and beg,orevenfull-on ‘American spec’barsare the best,transformingriding positions,but thesedomeanthatit’sa total ‘wind in the face’experience.Whichmeans perhapsa gentle downward curve, or indeed fatbars, aremoresuited –unlessa fairing is added.
Recentlyreadingauthor RoyHarper’s impressions of ridinghis VincentBlack Knight (the fullyenclosed job) he commentedthe fat‘ Vincent’ bars didn’t work with the screen, owingtothe fact theyweredesignedtotip theriderfor ward slightly,then the wind pressure would support/stand the rider up,thustaking weight of the arms.Withthe screen on, it wasuncomfortable,being outofthe
EDITOR
James Robinson jrobinson@mortons.co.uk
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wind blast. So ahigher rise handlebar worked best
I’mgoing to exper imentabit,ona couple of bikes ;Iwas given as et of 1950s AMC handlebars which, incidentally,look exactlythe same as apair of Velo Venom ones Ihave. Maybethe yusedthe same supplier in period?Orperhaps the yjust came to the same conclusion with what worked best.We’ll seewhatfeels best on the road.
On another note, arather comical misunderstandingbased on assumption, sawmeendingupabout 200miles from whereIwas expected, and expectingtobe, in relationtothe visit to Doug,featuredon the newspages.Turnedout the HQ of the company whoruns the residential home he’s in is 45 minutes from mine,and not the home itself…Apologies all round, including to ourloyal reader Doug,but it just goes to show,the danger of assumption, and it also highlightedthe fact Ishould neverconsider entering anylong-distance trials
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ISSN No 0263-0850
08 Archivephotograph one WorkspreparedWoolers, at the 1920 TT
A65at1969’shigh-profle air race
Subs cribeand save
have your magazine delivered,too
24 Te rightcrowd
Enjoyingthe sunatBrooklands’vintage and veteranday
28 Rocketsofthe Supervariety Sporty BSAA10 stor yand rebuild, part one.
38 Family treasure
Long-owned vintage Ariel sportingsingle
45 Madasa… MarchHare. Classictrial participation and report.
50 Te Frenchconnection Made-in-France Ratier fat-twin.
60 Mixand match Smartlypresented,personalised Triumph-poweredGreeves
Woolermen at work
These innovativeand distinctivemachines only appeared at twoTTs –the first and secondrunning of theevent afterthe First World War.
It’sthe 1920 Isle of ManTT, the frst Manx races since 1914 owingtothe horrible businessofglobal confict which swept theworld from 1914-1918, meaningsuchjoyful occupations like motorcycleracingwereofthe agenda, replacedbywarfareand allthe misery that it entailed.
Tere’dbeennoIoM races in 1919 either, as the world–and industr y–attempted to return itself to an even keel, whilecounting the cost of the huge number of lives lost. Severalpopular TT menwereamongthe dead, includingCaptain SirR KArbuthnot, Bt, thirdinthe 1908 race and who went down with his ship HMS Defence in 1916.
Oneman who appeared lostinconfict butwasn’t,was Howard RDavies (HRD), his obituary printedinthe press beforehe reappeared,hewas oneitchingtoget racing again, at the 1920 races. Havingfnished second in the 1914 Senior,he wasafancied runner,albeit he’d switched Wolverhampton marques,now on boardanAJS,replacingthe Sunbeamof1914.
It wasthe Junior race,too,where our pictured Woolers were slatedtocompete. Ridersofthe fore-and-aft four-stroke350cc twins were AFHoulberg, JS Claytonand J HMcDowell, the latter allocatedthe start number 10, whichcan be seen on theside boardofthe machine at the front, sporting the isle of Manregistration number MN 1028.Temodel behind(withregistration NB7441, aManchestersequence) is probably Clayton’smount,ashe hadthe rider number 30, Houlberg11. Lookingbehind the shoulder of themechanicworking on thenumber10, the endofthe number on theboard canbeseen; it’s clearlynot a one,somustbethe zero from Clayton’s 30. Incidentally, Houlbergand McDowell had‘Wooler MotorCoLtd’astheir entrant, Claytonhimself.Apictureinthe June 17, 1920,numberof Te MotorCycle shows Claytononhis machine; it is indeed the Manchester-registerednumber30.
John Wooler’smotorcycleswerefrankly likenoother.Inour picture, the novelfront fork, with its plungertypesuspension, can be seen, though the similar arrangementat
therearislessevident.Teengine is fairly conventional by Wooler standards (the pre-First WorldWar Wooler hadahorizontal single-c ylinder two-stroke motor with a double-endedpiston…) in that it is an inletover-exhaustfat twin with external fywheel, though it’s possible to make outthe operating mechanism for the weirdgearing system ;it wasa ratchetwith whichthe rider controlled an expandingpulleysystem(similar to that used by the RudgeMultiand Zenith Gradua) in which, viatoothedtracks, the drivinggear wasmoved,asopposed to the rear wheel pulleyasonothers.
Other novelfeaturesincludedthe footrest positions (as canbeseenfromwherethe gear wascontrolled) and of course the famous ‘fying banana’fuel tank –with the fyingbanananame given, as the machines were often fnished in bright yellow. Interestingly, the frontsectionofthe tank as shown is actuallya separate auxiliar ypetrol tank,carryingextra fuel –though whether the ‘works’racershad adiferentset-up is unknown,but the fact there’sa fllercap in frontofthe fork, suggests not. And so to the races.Tipster‘ Vedette’in Te MotorCycle of June 10, 1920 reckonedit’dbe
an AJSwin (theyhad the fastestbikesand best riders…)though the Wooler, by dintof some recentBrookland record-breaking at theeight and12-hour mark,was reckoned tough enough to ‘stickthe distance’, but therewas little or no mention of them in practice reportsuntil the picture of Clayton, as mentionedearlierand then, something in the text :“Excludingthose competitors who sufered accidents and areout of the Junior race,thereremain four riders who have presumably not qualifed.Teseare JS Clayton(Wooler), EGreenwood (Douglas), JWOates (Aurora) and JHMcDowell.”
Competitorsfor the Senior race hadto have completed alap in under an hour,so onewould imagine the Junior race allowed time wasa little more, but, alas,beyond the picturedpairofWoolers.
Te MotorCycle of June 24 carriedits race report,whichtonoone’s surprisewas abattle betweenthe four AJSriders(Eric and Cyril Williams,HowardDavies and Curly Harris) butrather than beingdecidedbyspeed,it wasattrition, as the onlyAjayrunningatthe end wasCyril’s race-winner.Second and third went to the BlackburnsofWatson-Bourne and Jack Holroyd, whilelittleismadeofthe
Woolers, albeit Houlbergseemedtobe runninginclose (ish) order with eventual thirdplace manHolroyd at the end of the frst lap, the Wooler countedthrough 16th. Te nextmention of Houlbergisthathehad ‘stopped with abrokenconnectingrod which fractured the rear cylinderatBallacraine’ on lapthree and that, it seemed, wasthat. Wooler did return to the TT in 1921, and recordedits onlyfnish,witha 34th in the Junior race courtesy of future race winner Frank Longman; the future for Wooler, though,lay away from racingand it nevermadeanother TT appearance.
&News Events
Hair yBiker ’s Beesacharity bonanza
Terewas apackedsaleroomat H&H’s auction, held on March25, 2025, at the National Motorc ycle Museum,Birmingham
In-personattendance at sales have clearly dwindledinthe postcovid era, with many preferringto do their biddingremotely,but this sale broughtout the crowds for sure,with motorcycles following a morningscooter sale.
Oneofthe star lots wasthe BSAGoldStar ridden by the late chef Dave Myersinthe fnal series of TV showTeHair y Bikers.His wife Lili wason hand to watch (and cajole!)as bidding reached£15,800, with all proceedsfromits sale split betweenCancerCareNorth Lancashireand South Cumbria, NSPCCChildline and Te InstituteofCancer Research
Biggestprice of the daywas
Dave Myer s’ BSAG oldStarupon stage, with wi fe Lili ad dr es sing thecrowd.
for the national Motorc ycle Museum’s own1930 SS100, sold owingtothe museum havingacquiredanother similar machine.Tis ex-works model, whichwas actuallyusedby George Brough,soldfor £241,500.
Early on, lot four in fact,the auction wasset abuzzasa1957
Triumph Tiger110,admittedly in beautiful condition, fetched upwardsof£8000, then a1948 SpeedTwindid similar.Other
Go ambling in August
Te August Amble 2025 is anew three-day social ridingevent,opento ridersofsmaller classicmotorcycles up to 250cc andover50years old, i.e 1975 or before. Terewill be arecommended ridingroute for each day usingsmaller ruralroads that arewellsuited to smaller capacitymachines Entr yincludes twonights’ half boardaccommodation at Te Greetham ValleyHotel (Rutland) whichwill be thebasefor the August 19-21 event. Forfull information and bookingdetails contact Pete Murray guzzipetem@gmail.com
noteworthyprices includedover £45,000 for abeautiful Brough Superior SS80 and petrol-tube sidecar, £32,200 on a1914 Zenith Gradua with JAP1000cc V-twin engine,and £11,730 for a 1912 680cc version of the same, admittedlylooking alot sorrier for itself
More than £10,000 waspaidfor a400cc MatchlessSilverArrow narrow-angle V-twin anda similar sumlavishedona 1935 Douglas Endeavour, technicallyinteresting, yes, butneither of whichwere modelsthatcovered themselves in gloryintheir heyday
Some other machineswereon the lowside comparedtowhat we have seen in yearsgone by (for example,therewerethree early triples,consistingoftwo Rocket IIIsand a1970 Trident, all of whichmadelessthan£6000),
and heavyweight1950s/60s machines seem to have on the whole dipped in favour,albeit there’ssometimes no rhymenor reason to it,and often exceptions. Plus,when actuallyviewingthe machines on ofer in ‘reallife’–as so many were at this sale –then some things don’t look as they do in pictures,whichperhaps accounted for the busy sale room andsomeofthe lowerprices. Formore, visit handh.co.uk
Te 2025 Anglo-Dutch
Startedin1912 butresurrected in 1989, this bi-annual event alternates betweenthe UK and the Netherlands.It’sfor motorcycles made prior to 1915 and is limited to 25 Dutchriders and 25 UK riders.
Send an email to
anglodutch2025@vmcmotor com or download the registration for mfromthe Veteraan MotorenC lubw ebsite, www.vmcmotor.com/anglodutch
Te eventwill takeplace from July 28 to August 2, 2025.
Packed sa leroom at theH &H auction, held at theNationa lM otorcycle Mu seum,B irming ha m.
Line -upofB ee sa s; C1 5neare st ma de strong money, whileL ig ht ning Club ma nb ehin d, not. Again, in dica tive of thecurrent market .
TheS S100 Br ough Superior, whichmad etop priceinthe sa le.
Bill Sn elling 1947-2025
In many ways Bill Snelling, who hasdiedshortlyafter his 78th birthday,is/was the perfect example of amotorcycle clubman, havinghad agood go at almostall forms of motorcyclesport,aswell as ridingmotorcycles from veterans to modern.
He recounts his exper iences in his book, Motorc ycles,Mates and Memor ies whichIw ould urge ever yone who hasnot done so,toread, as there’snot enough space heretodohim,and his exploits,justice.
Livingonthe Isle of Man, Bill hadanenc yclopeadic knowledegeofthe TT races,and over the past few yearswith his declininghealth restictingriding, he publishedmanybooks and ensured the event’shistory was promoted viahis collection of historicimages, datingfromthe frst eventin1907.
Oneofthe mostgenerous people with his time and knowledge,Billgained many friends worldwide,who Iam sure will be mouringhis demise. Bill wasveryhumbleabout his ridingabilityand havingcovered
numerousmiles with him on some unsuitable of-roadmachineryin longdistance trials,I canconfrm he wasanexceptional rider ;Iwill alwaystreasurethe laughs and supportoverthe years. IanKerr.
Sc ottish ClassicMotorcycleShow
AyrClassic Motorc ycle Club has announcedits Scottish Classic Motorc ycle Show will once again takeplace on SaturdayJune 14,
2025. Tis will be the 33rdshow andwill, as usual, be held in the PrincessRoyal Function Suiteat AyrRacecourse, Ayr.
Tis year ’s guestofhonour will be ex-motorcycleracer Alex George.Alex is athree-time winner at the Isle of ManTTand wasafamiliar face on the Grand Prix circuit duringthe 1970s.Alex will be relivinghis career,telling anecdotes and meetingfans.
At previous shows,therehave been over 120 bikes on display, from the early1900s through to the 2000s.Again, this year,there will be aparade of bikes and classicracers, plus anumberof traderswill alsobepresent. Entryhas been maintainedat £10 peradult and under 16s arefree. All exhibitors, clubs and traders who areinterestedinattending areasked to contact the show secretaryfor further details: showsec@ayrclassicmc.com
KopHill Climb
Onetomarkinyourdiaries,the KopHill Climbtakes place on September20/21. Formore details visit kophillclimb.org.uk
Banbur yRun
Te VMCC’s Banbur yRun, the world’spremier eventfor pre1931 motorcycles,takes place on June 8, 2025. at the British MotorMuseum,Banbury Road, Gaydon.
Giro South West
Entr ies for the 2025 Giro South West (Tree MoorsRun), whichw ill be held September 14-17, arenow open.It’san eventcover ing500 miles and specifcallyfor Motogiroeligible machines,s osub-175cc and pre-1970, essentially. Email Russ ell Benne yatRussell@ phas eone.co.uk
An Italian dayout
Tis year,the Moto Italiawill be on Sunday,June1.Tefree eventisheld at the PowisArms, Lydbur yNorth,Shropshire, and is an opportunityfor all Italian motorcycleenthusiaststo gettogether
FowlersBike Nights
Te RudgeMotorcycleClub will be holdingits annual rally, in
conjunction with the London Douglas Club,on June 21/22. It’s
at Stow-on-the-Wold rugbyclub; details steve.bolger@live.co.uk or call 07518662901.
Held at Fowlersonthe frst Fr iday of each month,fromMay through to September, Br istol Bike Nights areapopular fxture for ridersfromall directions, providinganoppor tunityto kick of thew eekend in the company of fellowbikers. Ar rive at FowlersMotorcycles,2-12 Bath Road, Br istolBS4 3DR from 5.30pm.
Bill Snelling racing aVelocet te,a tJurby,circa 19 68.
Alex Geor ge in ac tion,onthe Sp or ts Motorcycle sD ucati.
Walton’smag nifc ents even
ee finishers:win nerGavin Wa
(lef t),a nd
Gavin Walton, of Springs, South Africa, notched up his seventh wininthe Durban-Johannesburg (DJ)regularityrally forclassic motorcycles made prior to 1937, when he recordeda scoreof289 for the two-day eventwhichtook competitorsfromthe Hillcrest ShoppingCentre, outside Durban, to the Benoni Northerns Sports Club on March14/15, 2025. Walton (64), who once again rode his trusty 1936 side-valve AJS, is nowequal with the late Kevin Robertsonwith sevenwins in theevent,whichhas been run annuallysince 1970, except on twooccasions
Tis year’s eventwas the 53rd in
the series whichcommemorates the road race held between Durban and Johannesburg from 1913-1936. It is for this reason that competingmotorcycles must have been built no laterthan1936.
Runner-up wasAdrianHollis (1935 500ccSunbeam Lion) with ascoreof328. Tescore is made up of the seconds earlyorlateat the variouscontrol points on the route, of whichtherewere38on each of the twodays.
Tirdplace wasflled by Martin Kaiser,ona1934 500ccSunbeam, with ascore of 411.Tis year there were 53 fnishersfromanoriginal entryof 76 riders. RogerHoughton.
Shelsle yWalshBikeB onanza
To be held on July 5, 2025, there’s ahostofattractions to make a visit to the famous old hill climb course amemorable dayout
Triumph collector Dick Shepherdistobring some of hisfamous machinesout to play,while at least20ridersand machines from the Lansdowne ClassicSeries for pre-1962 race ware aredowntocompete.
SteveParrish will lead aride in, as well as demonstrateanRG500
Suzuki,and there’llbetrade stands and jumble,too
Doug ’s sp ecialday
Te teamatTeMalthouse Residential Care Home in Gillingham,Dorset, worked behind the scenes to organise atruly specialsurprisefor one of its residents,lifelong motorcyclingenthusiast and TCM reader,Doug.
Te Malthouseteaminvited and subsequentlywelcomed members of the VMCC’s Dorset section, who arrivedwith an arrayofmachines,includingan Ariel RedHunterand sidecar, amodel Doug,now 93, once ownedhimself
Te celebration wasnot just limited to Doug,many other residents shared in the excitementofthe day. Two members of the care home team even hadaride around the car park in the sidecar.
Doug wasoverwhelmedwith gratitude,saying: “I am such a lucky man; IfeellikeI’vebeen treatedlikeroyalty.”
Debra, the home manager,
refected on the day, saying: “Daysliketoday areincredibly special. It’s achance to trulygive somethingbacktoour residents, and seeingDougsohappy was an emotional momentfor all of us.His heartfelt speech to the VMCC ,thankingthem fortheir kindnessand generosity, was trulytouching. It’s incredible howmuchjoy theybrought, not just to Doug buttoall ourresidents.”
AstonHill wasthe sceneofsomeofthe countr y’searliestand most prestigiousHill Climbs from 1904 to 1925, with many notabledrivers and motorcycleriderstakingpart.
On May17, 2025, acelebratory eventwill takeplace.Fifty cars and ninemotorcycles whichran in the original eventbetween 1904 and 1925, or models of the same type andyear, have been confrmed.
Te eventfeaturesarun up the hillfor some entries, alongwithalarge display of classic motorcyclesand cars that should provetobeofmuch interest. Display machines will date from the early1900s up to the 1980s
Please seewww.astonhill100.com for furtherinformation.
SteveParrish on an RG50 0 Su zuki in 1979;see them reunited at Shelsley Wa lsh. Line
Rollingbackthe year s; Doug on aB MW.
Topthr
lton
runner -up Adrian Hollis(right) fla nk thir d placeman Martin Ka iser
Martin Ka iser ride sintothe finish, on his1 93 4Sunbeam Mo del9.
JUNE
1900
Results of the Automobile Club 1000 Mile Trialhad been confrmed.Attractingboth trade and privateentries,the eventstartedfromGrosvenor Place,London, on April23, 1900, and fnishedinthe cityonMay 12, 1900. Of the 83 entrants,65 startedand 35 completed the course.Teevent took them to Manchester, the LakeDistrict, Carlisle,Edinburgh,Newcastle, Shefeld and back to London.
Tree machinesfromthe Ariel MotorCompany started from London, with trade entries Jack (John William) Stocks drivingaquadricycle and EdwinCheel ridinga tricycle with trailer,plus
1925
Te lowpressure(aka ‘balloon’ or ‘w ired-on’) tyre hadstar tedappearing on the road and at spor ting speed meetings.Asdis cuss ed in earlier features,the wire bead securedthe tyre covertothe rim, rather than relyingon
1950
Foronlythe second time in IoMTThistory,afactory swept the boardofthe top three places in both the Junior and Senior races.And it was Norton who completed this frstly in 1933 and then again in 1950, with Artie Bell leading home Geof Duke and Harold Daniel in the Junior, and later
1975
Londoner Barr ySheenewon his frst 500cc Grand Prix at AssenonJune 28,1975. Havingsecured pole position in practice,Sheene posted
2000
In 1998, Brembo began developingaradially mountedbrake caliper,to reduce fex and lessen heating, for Valentino Rossi’s1999 250cc World Championship Aprilia. Te
privateerArthurJames(AJ)
Wilson, the former renowned racingcyclist and cyclesport scribe (with the pseudonym ‘Faed’)ridinghis own1899
Ariel tricycle Stocks’Ariel quad won ClassE(b) for motorcycles carryingtwo persons and 10% of the prizefund, with Cheel’s Ariel trikeand Whippet trailer second, securing 5% of the prizefund.
Although he retired after completing450 miles,Faed’s year-old Ariel trikewas one of asmall handful of entrants who climbedthe 2½ mile Taddington Hill climbat over 12mph
high pressure.It wasknown that when abeadededge tyre suddenlydefated,the covercould leavethe rim, to wrap its elf around aforkleg, causinghavoc.Tis scenar io wasunlikelytohappenw ith a wired-on tyre
in TT week,Dukewinningthe Senior,followed by Bell and JohnnyLockett
In 1933, Irishman Stanley Woodstookthe Juniorfag frst, with TimHuntand Jimmie Guthrie second andthird. Woodscompleted the double by winningthe Seniorahead of Jimmie Simpsonand Hunt
aracespeed of 95.708mph to beat Giacomo Agostini (Yamaha) and last year ’s class worldchampion Phil Read (MVAgusta).
system then appeared on Carl Fogarty’sW SBKDucati and it wasforecastthe design would soon be fttedto road-goingsportbikes
RichardRos enthal.
Bo ok Review
“Italyand the Ulster”
Introduction by Denis Wilson
Author : David Crawford
PublishedbyDavid and Joan Crawford
Email: lario@btinternet com
Designer: Colin Slack
over 180 and illustrations, plus colour paintings
Dedicated to the memor y of DeniseHouston. All profts from the sale of this publication will be donated to the Northern Ireland Hospice,Belfast. Softback,210 x295mm (portrait); 118 pageswith over 180 photographs and illustrations,pluscolourpaintings and artworkbyGerald Browne,Chris Graham and cartoonist Jock Leyden.
ISBN 978-0-9570341-1-2 £20 GB; $25 USD; $36 CAD; $40 AUD.
“A bo ok lik en oo ther,” is how the au thor,D av id Craw ford, des cr ib es It al ya nd the Ul st er, whic hb ec ame al ab ou ro f love –t he re su lt of ov er fo ur ye ar ss pe nt re se arch in ga nd wr itin gt he his to ry of It ali an wo rk smac hines and ri der s tak in gp ar ti nt he Ul st er Grand Pr ix from 193 5t o 1970 when the yw it hdrew from ra cin g.
Pict ure-le d, wi th al ar ge colle ction of ve ry emotiv e conte mp orar yp hot og ra phs, pa intin gs by Ge ra ld Brow ne, Ch ri sG ra ha ma nd ca rt oo nis t Jo ck Le yd en, to ge ther wi th pres sc ut ti ng s, ye ar by ye ar it is full of ex cellent des cr iptions of the ra ces, the ma ch ines and ri der s inte rs pe rs ed wi th the au thor ’s pe rs onal comments “O ve rt he ye ar s,”s ay st he au thor,“ Ihav eg rown to love and ow nman yItali an mot orcy cl emarques,l ea rnin g their his to ri es as we ll –Mot o Gu zz ia nd MV Ag us ta in pa rt ic ul ar.” Lo ok in gb ac k to 1939, Davi dC rawford inte rv iew ed Do ri no Se ra fini (in 1998), who ro de t he wo rk s su pe rc ha rg e5 00cc Gi lera fo ur in the Ul st er of that ye ar, onl yt oret irew it hb ig -e nd failure–p os t-Se co nd Wo rl d Wa r, of co ur se,s up erchar gin g
wa sb anne di nrac in g. David is pic tu re dw it hS eraf ini and als of or mer nine-time wo rl d cham pion Ca rl oU bbi ali. Fo llowi ng his great fr iendship wi th St an le y Wo od s– Craw fordw ro te his bio grap hy –h ew as pr ivile ge d to be ab le to me et ma ny great It ali an en gine er sa nd ri der s, inc ludin gt he te ch nic al st aff at the Mo to Gu zz if act or y, lik ed es ig ner Gi ulio Ca rc arno, Um be rt oTod eroa nd Ar tu ro Ma gn i, he ad of the MV Ag us ta ra cin gd ep ar tment.
Imag ine the 1957 500cc ra ce wi th the three ful lyst re amline dG ileraf ou rs of Li be rati, Du ke an dMcInt yre finishin ga he ad of the MV fo ur so fSur te es and Sh epherd and the Mo to Gu zz is of Ca mp be ll and B ry en. In 1962, Mi ke Ha ilw oo dw on on the 500cc MV fo ur.A ll the other gl amorou smarqu es fe at ure, su ch as Be nelli, Du cati a nd FB Mo ndi al, bu ti ti sf it tin g that the final pa ge sc ov er Ag os tini’s 1970 do uble on MV tr iples.A go is als op ict ured in 2024 at Bi shops co ur t, givin g ad emons trat ion ri de on the au thor ’s 1978 MV Ag us ta Mo nza,t hatC rawfordhas ow ne df ro mn ew.
Book reviewed by Jonathan Hill.
It’s an airrace
BSAtwin plays its part in anewspaper-backed, military-supported, celebrity-featuring competitivedash between London andNew York, and back.
Inthe kind of antics whichprobably wouldn’t happen today, an RAF policeman sits on his BSAA65 and watches on, apparently waitingtocollectthe incomingpilot from an early vertical takeof RAFHarrier aircraft that hadjustfown across the Atlantic in an attemptto wina race, backedbythe DailyMail newspaper
Co nceiv ed by the Da il yMail to commemo rate the 50th anniv e rs ar y of Alco ck and Brow n’sf ir st nons to p trans at la nt ic fli ght, and hel db et we en May 4a nd 11 ,1 969, it wa sc alle da n air ra ce (in fact,T he Da il yMail Trans -Atl anti c Ai rR ace), tho ugh act uall yi t wa sarace be tw ee ni ndividuals,b et we en t he to po f Lo ndon’sPos tO ffice Towe r( nowt he BT Towe r) and the ob se rv at ion pl at for mo f Ne wYork’sEmp ireState Bu ildin g.
Tere were at least20separateprizesand theonlystipulation wasthat the competitors hadtouse some formofair transport during their journey.
Te competition attracted bignumbers of competitors(around 400) and all manner of diverse entrants,w ith theR AF,Royal Navy and Br itish Ar my all participating, while there wasamilitar yhelicopter from the Canadian Navy too, although the United States AirForce decidedagainst an entr yowing to its ongoingoperations in Vietnam ;the USAF hadmootedusing aB58 Hustler supers onic bomber,but it didn’thappen. Tismeant that the RAF (w ith the new Harr ier) and the RoyalNavy (Phantom) were probably the most fancied runners, buttherew erelots of others in on the act too, includingStirlingMosswho wasamongthos etocharter aVC10 aircraft, as well as TV pers onality ClementFreud, Pr ince Michael of Kent, BillyButlin(who incidentally als oran arevolving restaurant at the topofthe then-PostOfceTow er), Olympic gold-medal winningathleteMar y Rand, and Anne Alcock,niece ofthe man whos efeatwas beingcelebrated.
It hadbeenin1913, that the DailyMail putupa£10,000 price for ‘[an] aviator who shall frst crossthe Atlantic in an aeroplane from anypointinthe US,Canada or Newfoundland to anypointinGreat Britain or Ireland in 72 continuous hours.’ Toughthe FirstWorld Warsaw thecontest suspended, in June 1919, Captain John Alcock and LieutenantArthurWittenBrown made the successful crossing,inanopen cockpitVickers Vimy biplane
Te half-a-century laterrerun captured public attention and imagination, with frst to leave18-year-old Alcock,carryinga communication from Britain’spostmaster
general to his American counterpart, in recognition of howitwas the importance of airmail that drovetransatlantic fight. Footage alsoshows Moss jumpingonthe back of ablue Commando Roadsteroutside the Post Ofce Tower.
Te Harrier took of from a‘special’ temporar yRAF airfeldina coalyard at St Pancras,inclouds of dust. Tere were two planes takingpart, with Squadron Leader TomLecky-Tompson making the shortest time from London to NewYork, wherehe landedonthe foundations of aschoolat BristolBasin on the EastRiver.Tefastest overall time wasbyLieutenantCommander
PeterGoodard,who few as passengerin aPhantom from FloydBennettNaval Air Station to Wisley Aerodrome in Surrey,then washelicoptered into London.He took fvehours and 12 minutes and scoopeda £6000 prize, while Lecky-Tompson was59 minutes longer, butalsocollected £6000; the airstreams meantitwas fastercoming from Americatothe UK .Total prizefund was around £60,000.
Much of the attention seems to have been on howcompetitorstravelledfromthe start point, to wheretheyboarded their aircraft. Motorc ycles featured heavily, with Army teams ferryingparticipants onthe pillionof
B40s,the aforementionedMossfavouring aCommando,while the RAFpolice were on hand too, while thereisfootage of an RAFA65 comingtogrief as it stops near an aeroplane
In NewYork, RocketTrees seem to be fairly evident, plus there’sHarle ys and BMWs,while other competitorsreliedon things likeJaguar E-types,Rolls-Royces and (in Amer ica) aStarsand Stripes Tr iumph TR6.
As for ourpicture, its hard to understand; one assumes it’s areturningHarrier,perhaps that fown by Squadron Leader Graham Williams,a late call up to the team,after lead
pilot Mike Adams wasinjured in apre-race crash when the nosewheel collapsedon his Harrier…And such wasthe newness of the vertical take-of aircraft,therewere onlythree men qualifed to fy them…But it doesn’t seem to be at St Pancras and most footage shows the Harrier men beingmoved by helicopter.Perhaps this wasa pre-event trainingefort?
As for theBSA .It’sclearly an A65 and a checkonthe DVLA websitereveals it’s still on there, still showing as taxed.Italsoconfrms it wasregisteredinMarch 1969. If you own it,pleaseget in touch, we’ll send youa copyofthe picture.
The‘engine’of TheClassic MotorC ycle magazine is jointlyfuelled by the passions of thosewho putittogetherand thosewho read it;one without theother simply won’twork. So we hope we can persuade youtobecomepar tofour communit ywith asubscriptiontoour magazine so we can, together, traver se thehighwaysofmotorcyclinghistory.
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An epic adventure
What ve hic le wo uld one choo se fo ra nove rlan d trip to Aus tral ia?Well, fo r this re turning old s olider it had been at ra desm an ’s bicyc le, powe re dbya 49cc bo lt -o ne ngine.
Printed in Te MotorCycle of October29, 1953, the caption accompanyingthis pictureread: “BackinLondon after atripround theworld on atradesman’sc ycle fttedwithPower Pak engine,Peter Lee-Warner is greeted by Miss Vivian Blaine,the actress. During the trip he covered13,000 miles.”
It wasn’t the frst time Lee-Warnerhad appeared in the presseither, as he’d appeared severaltimes,includingwhenheset of,with areportoutlininghis plans appearingin Te MotorCycle of March26, 1953. It wasfagged as the startofa ‘round trip to Australiaand back’with the mileageexpectedtobe‘a 25,000 mile journey’,though the fact that the mileagebackinLondon was13,000 miles suggests that original aim wasonlyhalfcompleted…Albeit he wasbackinLondon, wherehe’dstarted.
Buttogobacktothe original announcement, it stated:“Primereason for choosing abutcher ’s cyclewas to allow alarge amountofequipmenttobecarried –aone-man tent, sevendays’ food supply, medical kit, mosquitonet,and a16mm cine camerawith 600feetofflm being some of the items.Telarge frontcarrier,a standardfeature of trade cycles,supports theequipment, as well as severalsparesfor thePower Pak. Fitted in the frametriangle is an auxiliar yfuel tank of abouttwo gallons capacity: and belowthe carrier thereisa small tank containingdrinkingwater.”
Tere aremorementions ofthe journey in other places too, whichsuggeststhat either Lee-Warner waswell connected, or particularly mediasavvy. Or perhapsa bit of both,aswhen he setof, he waswaved away from AustraliaHouse (which, incidentally, is whereour accompanyingpicture wasalso taken) by the Aussie’s trade commissioner. Regardsthe 34-year-old, described as a‘war hero’ and reputedlyanex-commando,it’s all abit vagueastowhat he did and where, though he seems to have changedplans and decided to go round the world, appearing to have done some of it on airliners, then returningfromNew York to the UK aboard
the QueenElizabeth,presumablywith his PowerPak on boardwith him
Tenitwas back to AustraliaHouse and his meetingwith Miss Blaine,who had come to London to continue in the role of Miss Adelaie in Guys and Dolls,whichhad transferredto the West EndfromBroadway. Did theyperhaps travel together on the QueenElizabeth?Other wise it doesn’t really make much senseastowhy she wasthere… Anyway,Lee-Warner ’s PowerPak was made by London-based Sinclair Goddard, or at leastoferedfor sale by them,and was
one of the mostpopular ‘bolt-on’engines from the early1950s,atime when the need for cheappersonaltransport wasperhaps at its highest. It waspossessed of a Heplex piston, Wipacmagneto, British bearings andanAmalcarburettor,and hadanengine size of 49cc.Toadd aPower Paktoa bic ycle (any bic ycle really, butsomethingsturdy one would assume!) wasa simple job, with it locatedabove therearwheel, the cylinder pointingdownwards and the petrol (petroil) tank on top. It drovethe rear wheel by a friction roller.