Bleat Editor
Joyce Calder joycecalder@gmail.com
CENTRAL HAWKE’S BAY BRANCH of the VINTAGE CAR CLUB of NZ (Inc) Lamb Country
Branch Email: centralhawkesbay@vcc.org.nz
By Robin Martin
After a decades-long search, a Tauranga family has located the motorcycle ridden by the first-ever Kiwi to win a FIM Grand Prix, the forerunner to today's Moto GP circuit. Ken Mudford rode the 'factory works' 350cc Norton Manx to victory at Ulster's Dundrod Circuit in 1953, after he was asked to stand in for injured Zimbabwean (then Rhodesian) rider Ray Amm. Kris Holmes, whose grandfather Bill later owned and set a New Zealand quarter-mile record on the bike, said it was discovered fully restored in Australia, as part of the estate of Australian rider Fred 'Buffy' Baggs. Speaking from Texas, where he worked as a music teacher, Holmes said he'd posted in online motorcycle forums, looking for the Norton Manx for about 10-15 years. "I was like, hey, 'This is the bike, this is the history that I know of it, does anybody know what happened to the bike, because it's one of only 12 that were ever made, it's going to stick out if it was still around'. Earlier this month, Holmes could hardly believe it when he got a response to a two-year-old post. "I got this message from Stephen Baggs and he said, 'Hey, my dad is Buffy Baggs. He bought that 350 Manx in 1978, took it to Australia, and spent the last years of his life restoring it and rebuilding it, and here's some photos'.
By Robin Martin
"I was just, like, 'What the heck?' It was just amazing to hear from him, that he had found the post and that the bike had been restored so beautifully. "It looks lovely in the photos."
The overwhelming thing is he's, like, 'Man, I wish my dad [who died in September] could have met your granddad' and I'm, like, 'Yeah, well, they would have hit it off immediately, and probably had 20,000 old racer stories to tell about the old days and crazy stuff like that'. Despite the more than 50 years since Bill Holmes, who died in 1999, parted with the bike, there could be little doubt it was the same machine. "You can expect that it looks a little bit different, but there's definitely the frame, the numbers match up and then there's little things as well, like Ken Mudford's initials are scratched under the oil cap. "They did that to all the bikes on race days, so they didn't get the parts mixed up, so it's got KM in there, under the oil cap. It's the same bike." Holmes said, after the Norton Manx's victory in Ulster, New Zealand importer Whites Wholesale shipped the bike down under in early 1955, when it was mustered out of the Norton race team. Bill White loaned it out to Ken Mudford again to ride in New Zealand and then also to another local rider named Syd Jensen. They did really well on it, then one of them, either Ken or Syd, blew it up." Holmes, whose family owns Mount Motorcycles, said being a factory works bike, the engine had to be sent back to England to be rebuilt. His grandfather, an accomplished rider himself, picked up the bike in about 1959. The biggest 'what if' for us is that he got asked to represent New Zealand at the Isle of Man TT in the late 50s and my grandma, being the fearsome woman she was, said, 'No, you cannot go', because the attrition rate for riders was pretty high at that stage, and he had a couple of young kids and was the main breadwinner. He got a little bit, I guess, not forgotten, but just wasn't really seen as getting out there like those other guys were. He was very much one of the better guys to never leave New Zealand and was certainly very well known." Holmes said his grandfather rode the 'works' Norton Manx with great success locally for 2-3 race seasons, before he "blew it up again". As a private owner, there was no question of sending it back to the UK, so Bill sold it to a fellow rider with connections who could help rebuild the engine and eventually the family lost track of it. "It was always something where like my father [Ray Holmes] and my uncle [Darcy] would always say to me, 'Remember that 350 works Manx that your grandfather had?' That was really good and like it was an awesome bike'. There's always these stories about it, because it was such a unique motorcycle for New Zealand at the time." Ray Holmes, himself a collector of classic bikes, heard whispers about the bike being in Australia, but the trail had always gone cold, until now.
organised by
Ken Lyons
Hello all members Ladies and Gentlemen. This was well supported last year and we had a lot of fun. Are you ready for this again ??
If you haven’t tried this before, are you looking for a fun thing to try !!! Then come along to Super-strike Hastings and give Tenpin bowling a go.
This will be a fun morning of two games which will take approx. 2 hours and cost $20.00 per person for 65+ Seniors.
The Super-strike venue has a café/kitchen menu where you can get anything from toasted sandwiches, hot chips to a meal on a plate. Coffee and Bar facilities.
Car pool if you can. This is the same morning as Thursday Torqueheads coffee mornings, but Thursday is the only morning this works for bowling.
Please let Ken know if you are coming along so that he can book the bowling lanes required.
May Thurs 1st
Sun 18th
Wed 21st
June Sun 15th
Super Strike Ten pin bowling in Hastings organised by Ken Lyon Sun 4th
Club Run to Galloways in Norsewood organised by Ella and Henk Domper Sun 25th
Club Dinner and Meeting Waipawa Bowling Club
Lady Drivers Fun Run organised by Kaye Carswell
Tues 17th AGM Dinner and Meeting venue TBA
July Wed 16th
Sun 20th
Club Dinner and Meeting venue TBA
Back Roads Run Most will have never been on finishing at the Patangata Tavern organised by Rod and Scarlett McKenzie. Details closer to the event time
August Wed 20th Club Dinner and Meeting venue TBA
September Wed 17th Club Dinner and Meeting venue TBA
October
Wed 8th Club Dinner and Meeting venue TBA
Mid-October Rod and Scarlett McKenzie will be taking the breach on another adventure to Coromandel Details closer to the event time.
November
December
HB VCC Swap Meet Sandy Road, Meeanee
Mangatainoka Motors show and Shine Tui Brewery
