The Classic Motorcycle August 2018 by Mortons Media Group Ltd

Trriumph Norton Mo odel 21

BEAU UTIFIED T140

RARE VINTAGE SIN NGLE

CIRCULATES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

AUGUST 2018

Road racer with t more o e TWEAKED BSA GOLD STAR

The VMCC’s Banbury Run

“So we turn left out of here...” : PLUS

Low mileage James CadetLansdowne series round-upTwo-owner Bianchi Gardena Luigi Taveri Triumph rebuild

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This year, I decided against riding at Banbury, instead going along in a purely observational capacity, without the added complication of trying to ride as well as carry out my other duties on the day, which basically entail taking notes, pictures and talking. Lots of talking. I arrived there at 9am, left at 4pm and save for 10 minutes when I had a sandwich, I reckon that, pretty much, I spent the whole day talking. These conversations are such a part of our scene and there’s nothing which fires up one’s enthusiasm as the enthusiasm of others. Conversations were varied and wide ranging though all, largely, hanging around the subject of old motorcycles – twins, singles, vintage, veteran, classic… on it goes. I spoke to guys from New Zealand and America, from every corner of the United Kingdom – including the north, catching up with VMCC president Alastair Alexander (from Scotland) and the south with the Isle of Wight contingent. It’s great, this dialogue, and the social side is such a crucial part of the scene. Since the event, I’ve been putting a few people in touch who I introduced to one another, while there are leads to chase up with regards to future features (and of course future potential purchases…) Although I didn’t ride at Banbury, as I write the next six weekends in the diary all have things written against them that I’ll hopefully be doing, providing an opportunity to exercise some motorcycles, and then it’ll really feel like the riding season is in full swing. We (dad and I) spent a bit of time the week before last with my cousin, too, indoctrinating him in old motorcycle lore. Though cousin Dan passed his test 18 months since, and had a modern 125 a while ago, he’d never ridden anything with the gear change on the right, or experienced the ‘limitations’ of older brakes. But an hour or so going up and down the road on a late-1950s Velocette MAC we have, with a few stops and turns put in, and he was confident and competent enough for us to embark on a 70-odd mile ride around the back roads and lanes of Norfolk which he agreed was an entirely pleasant way to spend a few hours. Hopefully, that’s another convert and he’ll be joining us for some of these busy upcoming weekends.

PAGE 24

JAMES ROBINSON Editor

Contributors

James Adam Bolton, Tim Britton, Rachael Clegg, Jonathan Hill, Roy Poynting, Richard Rosenthal, Martin Squires, Jerry Thurston, Alan Turner, Phil Turner, Andy Westlake, Steve Wilson. THE CLASSIC MOTOR CYCLE (USPS:710-470) is published monthly by Mortons Media Group Ltd., PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ UK . USA subscriptions are $63 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. Periodical Postage is paid at Bancroft, WI and additional entries. Postmaster: Send address changes to THE CLASSIC MOTOR CYCLE, c/o Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. 715-572-4595 chris@classicbikebooks.com

CONTENTS ISSUE | AUGUST 2018 Archive photograph .......................................... 6 News ................................................................... 8 Banbury Run .................................................. 14 Letters ............................................................. 20 Subscribe and save ........................................ 24 BSA Gold Star ................................................. 26 Norton Model 21............................................. 34 Bianchi Gardena ............................................ 40 Lansdowne round-up .................................... 46 Triumph T140 (T120 Lookalike).................... 50 James Cadet .................................................... 54 Rex-Acme and the TT .................................... 60 Closer look ...................................................... 65 Brian Crichton interview............................... 70 Men who mattered – Luigi Taveri................. 72 Triumph 3TA/5TA rebuild............................. 74 Roy Poynting column .................................... 78 Jerry Thurston column................................... 80 Sketchbook Travels ........................................ 82 You were asking.............................................. 84 Restoration guide – Raleigh mopeds............ 88

Technical feature ........................................... 90 Classic components – electric cables ........... 96 Diary..............................................................110 Next month ................................................... 113 Classic camera.............................................. 114

POST: The Classic MotorCycle, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ EMAIL: jrobinson@mortons.co.uk

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Super-Mare speed trials Bad weather mired the late August 1919 event.

ustralian Douglas works rider and engineer Les Bailey (36, Douglas) has a quick look across to ensure his sidecar passenger is in position. Apparently, said passenger had a certain, distinct style at the start of the Western-super-Mare speed trials, organised by the Bristol MCC. Explained Motor Cycling: “His [Bailey’s] passenger adopted a somewhat novel procedure at the start, for, having pushed the machine off and run behind it until the engine was picking up, he sprinted and dived first down the torpedo shaped body, travelling down the course head first.” In fact, close study of the picture shows that the passenger is in a slightly strange position – indeed, the position of a man who’s just sprinted and dived head first into a moving sidecar!

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Whatever, it was effective, helping Bailey on his way to a dominant day’s display, winning both the 350cc and 500cc sidecar class with his 350cc overhead valve Douglas, with like-mounted F P Davies (most likely number 49 in the picture) second in the 350cc class and third in the 500cc category. The other prominent man in the picture is number 19, the 350cc AJS of C S Boston, the black-and-white petrol tank colours indicating that this is one of the machines built before post First World War manufacture had resumed; company’s such as AJS were forbidden from making civilian motorcycles after November 1916, by order of the Ministry of Munitions. In the Motor Cycling report, Boston was noted for ‘his good start on the clutch’. Owing to the heavy rain, boards were put down at the start, hoping to enable a

modicum of grip, and avoid bogging down in the sand. The course was a one-mile stretch, ‘…marked off by flag posts and danger signs in the centre portion and held clear at the finishing and starting points by the local police with the help of railings of ropes and posts.’ A driving, westerly wind and relentless, persistent precipitation didn’t stop the crowds flocking to watch the 137 competitors, 66% being members of the organising club. The format was knockout events, the opportunity afforded by the wide expanse of sand on the beach at Weston-super-Mare. There were 17 classes in all. Unfortunately, classes one and two only had one rider apiece, thus were walkovers, with the first excitement class three, for 350ccs. A torrential rain storm delayed

Classic archive

the start, but Boston, sans sidecar, won his heat, though it was Bailey who won the final. As noted earlier, he won the 350 and 500cc sidecar races too, as well as the club specific 350 and 600cc races. All five victories were on the same hard-working 350cc Dougie. Class five (and six for unlimited capacity) were the ones that brought out the big boys – George Dance, the Sunbeam expert, and Jack Emmerson, Brooklands star, here ABC mounted. Add in Bailey and Eddie Kickham (both Douglas) and Harry Martin (Matchless), plus the overhead valve converted TT Norton of Charles Sgonina (who was to carry on developing the machine for some time), and it was some line-up. Dance ran out supreme both times, after Emmerson struck problems. Bert Houlding brought out a big Harley-

Davidson to take the unlimited sidecar class while there was also a lot of interest in the engine of the racing Douglas ridden by F G Ball. Explained The Motor Cycle: “A new racing Douglas… had an engine with aluminium cylinders and four valves in each head – two inlet and two exhaust – each pair operated by a single overhead rockers and oblique tappet rod from the timing case.” Fastest man of the day was Dance, his time of 57½ seconds – that’s 62.91mph – handsomely quicker than everyone else, with Jack Emmerson the only other man under one minute (and only just; his speed was given as 60.01mph) though his day was mired by magneto problems, with the twin cylinder ABC spending much of the day cutting onto one cylinder. The only disappointment (weather aside)

was that ‘match race’ between an Avro aeroplane, a 15hp Straker-Squire car and Kickham, on his Douglas. The Motor Cycle explained the format: “They had to make a standing start together, the aeroplane having to get off the ground within 500 yards, and finish over the finish line at a height to clear the spectators’ heads, timekeepers’ tent, etc, with safety.” Health and safety gone mad, 1919 style… Unfortunately the plane had crashed some days previously (!) and the replacement broke down and had to land near Salisbury, so it was just Kickham v the car. The Douglas man streaked away and led easily, until water got in the works and the Douglas cut out, the car passing him before the line. Noted Motor Cycling: “Very bad luck indeed, as he would have End won easily.”

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

New News Events

News&Events

Brighton speed trials

Fascinating collection consigned

The VMCC Sprint Section will once again be organising the motorcycle side of things at the annual Brighton Speed Trials, by kind invitation of The Brighton and Hove Motor Club. The Brighton Speed Trials is considered to be the longest running motor sport event in the world as it first ran in 1905. Jump forward 113 years and Saturday, September 1, 2018, sees yet another running of this iconic event, the current format being a standing-start ¼ mile sprint along Brighton seafront’s Madeira Drive. Up to 200 cars and 75 motorcycles will take part during the day. It’s not unusual to have a mix of bikes entered from the 1920s right up to current day, and when we say ‘entered,’ the bikes in the paddock are the bikes that are given the beans along the seafront! Spectator entry includes a free programme and access to the paddock area, so not only can the variety of machines be seen at close quarters, the riders/drivers/mechanics can be chatted to if you want to know some detail about the machinery. There’s a 20% reduction for advance tickets up to August 24 – details at brightonandhovemotorclub. co.uk

A fabulous and interesting private collection of earlier machines from the north of England has been confirmed for Bonhams’ October Stafford sale, the motorcycles this year going through on October 14.

Among the machines in the sale are no less than three early vintage NUT V-twins, plus other V-twins from the same late teens/1920s period, including a Reading Standard (built in America), an Ariel, plus a

Fifth Museum Live open day

Following the continued growth of Museum Live over the past four years, Saturday, October 27, will this year see the National Motorcycle Museum host its fifth annual open day, when everyone will be invited to visit the museum collection free of charge. There will also be a host of other free attractions including the ever-expanding indoor trade and autojumble area.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

The event’s large trade and autojumble area is held within the warm, dry surroundings of the National Motorcycle Museum’s conference facilities. For details of how to book a 6ft pitch for just £40 (plus VAT) contact Dan Powell 01675 444112 or danp@ nationalconferencecentre.co.uk Further details at nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk

sublime 1913 Hazelwood. Even earlier are a trio from 1904 (a Rex and two Ariels) while a fore-and-aft Harley-Davidson flat-twin, from 1920, is another rarely seen motorcycle. Visit bonhams.com for more.

A first for Hood A family-run British firm, Hood Jeans, have become the first to be certified with products that comply with new PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) legislation. The K7 Infinity range’s new features include a third generation of the Para-aramid woven Kevlar-type lining, double-layered, with the area covered extended, and more comfortable due to increased breathability and softness. With new labels and embroidery, the jeans are well cut, and that’s with the improved D30 TS EVO X hip and knee armour in place. The K7 Infinity range, in two blues or black, for gents or ladies, retails at £152.99, and is available only by direct order, with the price including all taxes and delivery anywhere. Hood Jeans, 44 (0)1953 888811 or email sales@ hoodjeans.uk Steve Wilson.

Airhead event With the largest display of vintage and classic BMWs in this country, The Airhead Event takes place on the Riseholme Campus of the Lincolnshire Showground over the weekend of July 13-15. Sunday (July 15) is open day and it should provide a great opportunity to see an almost full range of BMWs from 1923 to 1996. All the gate money received on Sunday will be donated directly to the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance. More details are available via the BMW Airhead Fellowship website www.theairhead.co.uk

NEWS IN BRIEF  STEVE MERCER OFFICIAL

Go to www.justgiving. com/crowdfunding/ stevemercerofficial to donate to the appeal for racer Steve Mercer, badly injured in this year’s TT races.

 KEMPTON IN JULY

The Kempton Park autojumble is on July 21, at Kempton Park Racecourse.

H&H at the NMM… and Banbury On July 26, H&H hosts its latest motorcycle sale at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham. There’s a great mix up for grabs, with motorcycles ranging from five Vincents to autocycles. The H&H contingent were out in force at Banbury too;

motorcycle specialist Mike Davis (left) won the Feridax Trophy with his lovely New Imperial, while head of motorcycle sales Mark Bryan (centre, on another New Imp) and auction staff Martin Crooks (Sunbeam) joined in too. Have a look at handh.co.uk for auction details.

‘Anna’ was a maidservant at the court of King Albert I who a dispatch rider fell in love with during the First World War. After the war, he returned to search for her and this run is over the roads he would have traversed in the French border zone. It’s on August 18, details from whereisanna2018@gmail.com

 DEE, ATKINSON & HARRISON DATE There were not many singles present, but one long-time club member is the proud owner of this 1960 175cc Morini Tresette.

taking in the local scenery and including a visit either to the heritage Kent and East Sussex Railway at Tenterden, or to Maidstone Motoliner at Aylesford, which seemed to be the more successful option. As well as the frame-straightening workshops, visitors could see the ‘hobby’ side of the business, a collection of some superb restorations including a number of Italian bikes, with some real

rarities, as well as track and road-racing machines. Back at the camping ground, the rest of the rally was given over to Morini-talk, assisted by constantly available food and refreshment. Club chairman Mark Bailey spoke for the organising team to note the success of the inaugural occasion declaring: “It turned out better than we dared hope.” Alan Turner.

VMCC Festival of 1000 Bikes at Mallory Park The VMCC’s Festival of 1000 Bikes is at Mallory Park on July 7/8. Among the attractions included, are, from the Sammy Miller Museum, the 498cc

This year’s event takes place at the Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Kent over July 24-28. It’s a celebration of military history and vintage lifestyle – check www.warandpeacerevival. com

 WHERE IS ANNA?

Morini rally

The Morini Riders’ Club was formed in 1975 for British enthusiasts. Many of the members attend rallies on the continent, so the club decided to reciprocate by organising its first International Rally. The site selected was near Maidstone, Kent, an easy Morini-ride from Channel crossing points. The event was well supported with various nations represented. It also attracted many riders from the home country. It was apparent the Morini of choice was the 3½, long out of production, but for many of those present, the near-perfect motorcycle with a combination of performance, economy, handling and roadholding. Among the long lines of parked bikes, there were also 250 and 500cc V-twins as well as a few of the singles by which the company became established. On the Saturday of the rally weekend, groups of riders had a choice of ride-outs,

 WAR AND PEACE REVIVAL

eight-cylinder Moto Guzzi V8 the Gilera 500cc four, plus plenty more too, with big names – including John Cooper – among the roster.

There will also feature Pre65 Trials, grasstrack, sprint demonstration, clubs, jumble and live bands – see the site www.festivalof1000bikes.co.uk

Next sale at Sledmore House, up in Yorkshire, is on July 7. Details via andrews@ dahauctions.com

 SUNBEAM DO

The Sunbeam S7 and S8 Rally is on July 12-15, at Osmaston cricket ground, near Ashbourne, Derbyshire. For information 01538 756927.

 AUSTRIAN EXPEDITION

The Norton Owners’ Club Austria – Sulzbach Branch – is organising this year’s Norton Owners’ Club International Rally at the campsite next to the Red Bull Racing Circuit in Austria from August 15-20, 2018. More information at www.noc-austria.at.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

News Events

Brooklands’ final event to mark centenary Previous events have generated much interest in Brooklands’ connection with First World War activities, but there will be a final event, marking the centenary of the end of that conflict, to take place on September 30, 2018, from 10am-5pm. It will consist of a gathering of pre-1919 vehicles and will also include some of the museum’s relevant aviation exhibits. There has been considerable interest already from vehicle owners. The motorcycles will have an opportunity to take part in a re-creation of the original wartime motorcycle trials and these will be held on the recently reopened original finishing straight with bikes also on display in the race bays. Machines up to 1920, or later if accepted to be of special relevance, can either be ridden, or displayed as static exhibits. The organisers would especially welcome entries from those with Phelon & Moore machinery as these were tested at Brooklands by the Royal Flying Corps. For an entry, please contact events@ brooklandsmuseum.com

Alan Turner.

T-shirts from the Vic Bikers Pub The Victoria Bikers pub, based in Coaville, Leicester, hosts a bike night every Thursday, and has now launched a range of T-shirts too – have a look at vicbikerspub. co.uk for what they’re up to and click the ‘visit our shop’ link to see the merchandise. The pub also boasts a campsite, hostel and hosts lots of live music events.

Norman invasion day

Norman Autocycles were enormously popular. Martin Cooper (left) has almost ﬁnished restoring his 1947 model. Tim Kent, behind, continues to clock up the miles on his 1949 version, a family heirloom, with a maximum speed of 25mph!

Closing in 1961, ending 40 years of production in Ashford, Norman Cycles Ltd was Kent’s only major manufacturer. A number of Norman motorcycles can still be seen at Dover Transport Museum, while at Willesborough Windmill in Ashford, the barn (now serving as a cafe) also has a collection of Norman bicycles. The restored windmill at Willesborough is the established venue for the twice-yearly gathering of Norman enthusiasts, the latest being on May 27. There were examples of several landmark models at the event. As a manufacturer, Norman was always looking to improve its products. Like so many others, it fitted bought-in engines, mostly from Villiers. Off-road competition success established the brand and as the road bikes became neatly styled and brightly finished, sales numbers were impressive. Andy Johns had ridden in on his Lido. Andy admitted to “quite a collection of Normans.” He had recently acquired the moped, a German design, which was also offered in slightly altered form as the Norman Nippy, a hugely successful model. Frances Germiney claimed her Nippy had been ‘repatriated’ from

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Club livewire and newsletter editor Gary Pilcher helps Australian visitors Gary and Elspeth Osborne understand the ﬁner points of Norman ownership.

Representing the later lightweights, Frances Germiney with her Norman Nippy, Andy Johns with his recently acquired Norman Lido.

Essex. With her local history interest, it seemed a logical step to add the moped to her modest collection of Norman bicycles. Willesborough visitor Ron Wilson told her that, as a 15-yearold trainee, welding the sheet metal on Nippys was how he learned his craft. Former road racer Ken Whorlow is a keen club supporter and regularly attends club events. In recent months his presence attracts attention

as he rides one of the few surviving bikes that has a British Anzani engine. Busy taking in every last detail were Gary and Elspeth Osborne. Gary was initially puzzled when he acquired a Norman near his home on the Gold Coast in Australia. Internet research led him to the Norman club and his itinerary of a tour of Britain included a visit to Willesborough. Like all the attendees, he had a good day. Alan Turner.

Book Review

‘Bob McIntyre’s 350 Bianchi’ Authors: Raymond Ainscoe and Martyn Simpkins Foreword by: Gianni Perrone Published by: Ilkley Racing Books, 3 Mendip House Gardens, Curly Hill, Ilkley, West Yorkshire LS29 0DD Softback, 215 x 275mm (portrait), 40pp with 40 photographs and illustrations. £15 The Bianchi racers of the early 1960s first came to the attention of British fans when Derek Minter ‘went foreign’ and rode a works 250cc twin – he is shown in a very emotive picture on the starting grid of the 1960 Lightweight TT, alongside two early Honda fours. As recorded in his autobiography, Bob McIntyre was fully aware of the Bianchi’s propensity to throw its rider up the road (as Derek Minter had found to his cost), but judged that the new 350cc twin was the only machine capable of matching the 350cc four-cylinder MV Agusta. Approaching Bianchi in January 1961, he tested the 350 at Modina and Monza and signed up for the season – although he could not ride their 250 as, by then, he had agreed to ride a workssupported 250cc Honda for Reg Armstrong. Designed by Lino Tonti, the 65x52.5mm dohc six-speed parallel twin developing 49bhp with a top speed of around 140mph, certainly had winning potential. At the West German GP Bob Mac harried eventual winner Franta Stasny (Jawa), but was let down by piston failure. Prior to the 1961 TT, McIntyre joked his 250 was faster than his 350 and his 350 was faster than his 500 Norton. Teamed with Ernesto Brambilla and fellow Scot Alastair King, Bob was third fastest in practice, but retired once more with engine failure during the Junior race.

Having previously produced bicycles, Edoardo Bianchi produced his first motorbicycle in 1901, but it was not until 1923 that he approved of a racing motorcycle venture. A year later his designer, Mario Baldi, designed the very advanced 350cc Freccia Celeste dohc single-cylinder racer on which legendary car racer Tazio Nuvalari started his very successful racing career. It was followed by a 500cc version and by 1940 a 500cc supercharged fourcylinder machine was built, but never raced. Post Second World War, Lino Tonti designed a 250cc four-cylinder machine that was never built. Tonti’s enthusiasm seemed to far exceed Bianchi’s racing budget and financial restraints resulted in more conventional racers. Despite some good placings, Bob Mac was no doubt frustrated, as was Derek Minter, by the unreliability of the machines. Perhaps, with more funds available and his undoubted development skills, things may have been different. Tragically, Bob McIntyre lost his life whilst racing at Oulton Park and Bianchi went into liquidation in late 1964. As privateer Gianni Perrone states in his foreword: “There are just two good things about owning ex-works racing Bianchis – the thrilling day of acquisition and the day of sale.” Essential reading for both racing historians and collectors. Reviewed by Jonathan Hill.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

News Events

Straight off

THE WAY WE WERE IN

AUGUST 1918

The passing of Captain C Gordon Bel following a crash while testing a new aircraft near Versailles was noted. Gordon Bell was a well known Brooklands car

1943

Jeremy Deeks gets to grips with his B32 Gold Star – he was into the 16-second bracket on Sunday.

A reasonable pre-entry was boosted with numerous day entries for The National Sprint Association’s first event of the year at Westonzoyland, Somerset, on May 12/13. There’s enough runway left at the venue, a former Second Front wheel clear of the ground, just. Another of John Young’s World War airfield, for a quartertrademark launches on his mile course and the necessary 500cc Triumph-JAP. shut-down area. It seems the having a 400cc capacity. recent and much lamented loss In the Classic classes, Tony of Shakespeare County Raceway means racers have to look further Lockwood fought off the fourstrokes to make his rare Greeves afield to find suitable venues. Oulton a winner, posting 90mph John Young was looking terminal speeds, while the Over forward to another season of 500 Classics were an easy victory adding more successes with for Jasper Joy riding one of his his venerable pair of early brace of Triumph Tridents. Triumph-framed JAPs. Leaving As well as later machinery, the the line in his usual monowheel hotly-contested 750cc Racing fashion, he had the 500cc class class also has a healthy entry of wrapped up, but his Saturday British bikes. Jasper Joy’s former best of 15.92/75mph in the 350cc category was more than matched drag racing Triumph Trident, ‘Mickey Taker,’ remained firmly by John Carter, who exercised the throttle on his Velocette MAC in the 12-second zone leaving Tim Howell’s nitro-burning, to 15.18/86mph. supercharged BSA A65 the best In third place was Jeremy of the Brits with 11.84/117mph. Deeks, getting to grips with a The following day, John Carter nicely trim BSA B32 Goldie. reeled off further 15-second runs In the postwar 500 class, while John Young reasserted Ted Reading’s solitary canter his mastery of the 350cc class, following a long absence from posting a 14.49/97mph. In competing took the class with the Classics, Andrew Webb 18.01 on his 500cc Gold Star, got his Aermacchi on song exactly a tenth of a second and moved just ahead of Tony in front of Simon Rees’ latest Lockwood’s Oulton. project, an interesting rework of Alan Turner. a ZB32 Gold Star with the engine

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THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Independent engineering consultant HCM Beaumont indicated his return to his old love of three cylinder radial engined motorcycles with a proposed range of four

1968

Riding a Suzuki T20 (Super Six) Tommy Robb, Martin Hodder, Stuart Graham and Barry Smith set new 250cc class FIM records for six hours at 94.574mph, 12 hours (93.316mph) and 1000km (94.866mph) at Monza despite, or perhaps in spite of, a tropical storm which brought down a

1993

Just too late to catch the previous week’s deadline, the death of renowned Irish road racer Stanley Woods on July 28 was confirmed in the early August edition. Born November 28, 1903, Stanley, who as a youngster wrote his own references to secure a factory works Cotton ride in 1922, was considered by many as the first truly professional road racer. Never appearing fast, his ultra-smooth style took him to 10 IoM TT victories, starting with a win in the 1923 Junior, aboard a factory 350cc Cotton-Blackburne. Woods was never a gung-ho type rider, rather an analytical, self-disciplined tactician who worked out the capabilities of a machine before even practising, then considered safe maximum cornering speeds, mechanical robustness, road and weather conditions plus many other

and motorcycle racer who enjoyed places and victories racing a 490cc Norton or 580cc BAT-JAP. He began flying aircraft in 1911. models comprising 342, 492, 749 and 993cc fully sprung machines, all fitted with transverse three-cylinder 120 degree radial engines with shaft final drive. light jet plane at nearby Malpensa airport. The Super Six, along with another over-bored to 256cc, were prepared by Eddie Crooks who, along with Brian Ball, Frank Whiteway and Hans-Georg Anscheidt, set a new 350cc class 24 hour record at 91.055mph. factors and raced within these considered limits. What many didn’t know was that he recorded machine set-up, road conditions, results and other factors neatly in a notebook, along on occasions with postulated improvements, for each ride. Alongside road racing, Stanley was an ever enthusiastic motorcyclist, who tried his hand at speedway, ice racing, grasstrack, scrambles and was an accomplished trials rider who for a time ably competed in the annual Scottish Six Days Trial. Twice married, firstly and briefly to a French lady and then from 1936 to Mildred who predeceased him, his funeral was held at the Rose Lawn Crematorium, Belfast on July 31, 1993, with addresses by Terry Hill and Harry Lindsey. Richard Rosenthal.

Taking g the show on the road With near-on 500 pre-1931 motorcycle taking to the roads in the area around Gaydon Heritage Centre (where the run starts and ends) the Banbury Run still has plenty of lustre.

Words and photographs: JAMES ROBINSON

he VMCC’s annual Banbury Run is the ideal place to fire-up one’s enthusiasm for pre-1931 motorcycles; a motorcycling carnival, with an amazing soundtrack and an intoxicating mixture of intriguing smells, as the combination of oils being used (twostrokes, four-strokes, while there’s always a few on Castrol R too) mingle with the aroma of bacon being fried in the early morning summer. The British Motor Museum, which was formerly the Heritage Motor Centre, has been the home of this totemic event for the last few years, and the run is growing into its new surroundings, a place which is under seemingly constant development – this year, the evidence of a whole new infrastructure was plain to see, and although it’s not complete yet, clearly when it’s done, the

site will provide what can only be described as the ideal venue for such an event as the Banbury Run. Lots of pleasure can be had from wandering around the site; I didn’t even make it into the museum this year (it’s always well worth a look) while I found myself basically engaged in conversations from my 9am arrival to my 4pm departure, often revolving around a motorcycle parked in front of us. There’s so much to do and see, so many tales to be heard and told, old friends to catch up with and new ones to be made, as well as introductions – in a coincidence I went to catch up with one of my Lincolnshire friends, who I’d been telling about a chap I’d met the weekend before when he’d arrived at an event on a TT Longstroke Sunbeam, only for me to realise

that they were starting in consecutive numbers at Banbury. I introduced them and soon numbers were being exchanged and help proffered for one’s project the other has experience of rebuilding. It’s the sort of little things I like. The genial godfather of all things Sunbeam (of which there did seem to be a lot of at this year’s event) Archie Beggs was casting his eye over the Marston machines, while his own flat-tank Model 8 had been loaned out; Archie expressing the view (which I’ve known often) that’s it’s always a bit nerve-wracking when someone is on your machine, not through worry about the mount, but that you want the rider to have a good time and the motorcycle to behave. Needless to say, Archie’s overhead valve flattank 350 performed impeccably, as another benefited from his generosity.

Banbury | 2018

1: You don’t see many of those… Fore-and-aft Humber twins are a rarity. This 1914 example belongs to John Emanuel.

2: Chris Chant, on the right, chats with New Zealander Trevor Hackett. Machine is Chris’s wonderful 1926 HRD Super 90.

3: Much-modiﬁed by former owner Don Wright, Michael Farrell is current custodian of this 1925 Indian Scout. 4: John Seddon has had his 1925 Sunbeam six months and been four miles on it pre-Banbury. It performed admirably and John reckoned by run’s end he was even able to change gear without looking down at the gate!

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

An opportunity to catch up with the Isle of last word in comfort. The 350cc side-valve (still on its original bore and original, right Wight contingent is always a pleasure, with their ranks swelled by George Case who was down to the footboard rubbers) coped admirably, though Deb reckoned that the on the 1913 Alldays & Onions Matchless, can on the side, for extra fuel, will need to which has only had three owners from new. be replaced by one with vodka next time It featured in our December 2013 issue she’s persuaded to take to the pillion… and George was tackling his first Banbury American resident Hans Deeler was over on it. He made it round successfully on for his regular Banbury visit – he’s ridden the machine gifted to his mother, Mary, at the event before, on one of ace restorer by her father. Also from the Isle of Wight, John Phizacklea’s restorations – and was event regulars the Eason brothers, Andrew perusing the autojumble, while Kiwi Trevor (Norton CS1) and Paul (Brough Superior Hackett made a beeline for Chris Chant’s SS80), were joined by Andrew’s son George, beautiful HRD Super 90; Trevor’s Vincent this year a pillion but fast approaching 17 cap gave away his motivation for looking and clearly well-and-truly indoctrinated at the HRD, the first incarnation of the in the scene; he showed me a picture of a company that was to become Vincent. Chris lovely 350cc overhead valve AJS flat-tanker on his phone. We’ll see him (probably on it) – a man well known in Vincent and HRD circles – is getting to grips with his HRD, at Banbury in the not-too-distant future. which featured in our report on last year’s Young Dan Hood was a pillion on the Founders’ Day event. back of dad Ian’s Big Port, bemoaning being Sammy Miller enjoyed a good ride on dragged out of bed early by dad and also the 1930 Norton Model 21 in this issue agreeing with Ian’s assessment that dad (see page 31) and long-term owner Julian had ‘messed up’ Sunrising. It’ll not be long Cochrane had made the journey down before Dan (now possessed of a Honda from Cupar, Fife, to witness first-hand the TL125) will be at the controls of the Big Port Norton’s performance. Julian also told me to show Ian how it’s done, one suspects… Bryan Lingard (no stranger to these pages, how it seemed the Norton had been owned by someone who hadn’t returned from as his pals were quick to remind him…) the Second World War, while when Julian was on his 1922 350cc AJS Model B, with was first acquainted the Norton, he could pillion Deb atop the original sprung pillion never find any evidence of it ever having seat, which she pointed out was far from the

From the Bell and Bowles Collection – that’s Nicholas Bell, left, on a 1928 Triumph Model N, then Joshua Bell, 1924 BSA L, behind.

sported a registration number, hence it having the later than period (three letter, three number) registration. Interestingly, parked just behind and to the right of the Model 21 was another rare same-year Norton, a Model 20, basically a twin-port Model 18. The Model 20, owned by Simon Hollingworth, has an interesting history too, having been sold new in Denmark and living much of its life there – it still sports various plaques from events in Scandinavia. There’s was so much more too – a trio of Rex-Acmes (two owned by Malcom White, with Tony Heyworth adding the third), a pair of hub-steerer OECs (one a V-twin) plus the quintet of machines (and suitably, fabulously attired riders) from the Bell and Bowles collection in Lincolnshire, to name a (very) few. Bonhams had a great display – as well as welcome hot and cold refreshments – of recently consigned machines, while there were lots of lovely machines on club stands too. The jumble had some gems (a lovely unrestored 1927 Royal Enfield V-twin among them) as well as several later machines; lots of things to enthuse and tempt... which is suitable for summing up the whole event. Nobody with an interest in classic motorcycles can come away from Banbury without thinking; “Well, I’d nd like one of them and maybe next year…” E

Banbury | 2018 1: George Case (left, 1913 Alldays & Onions) completed his first Banbury Run; Reg Eyre (on Rod Hann’s 1914 Ariel) has done a few more… 2: Sammy Miller was joined by Julian Cochrane at Gaydon. Julian first ‘met’ this Norton in 1945. 3: In the autojumble, this 1927 Royal Enfield 182 was on offer for £18,500. It seemed to create a swarm. 4: Philip Butcher’s OEC had been badly cut about, not that you’d know it from the quality of restoration. Engine is a 750cc JAP.

5: Keith Riley with his superb 1930 KTT Velo. He enjoyed the run, his only complaint was that ‘… loads of the pubs on the route seemed to be shut.’

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Readers’ Letters YOUR VOICE & YOUR OPINIONS

TR65 out of time

I read with great interest Steve Wilson’s article ‘Rider on the Storm – TR65’ in the March 2018 edition of TCM. This was a bike that I considered buying when new. I had avidly followed all the motorcycle press reports of its design, development and initial road tests. From what I remember, the engine was far from a cut-down Bonneville, but based on a Government funded university research project to analyse the reason why the Bonneville’s engine vibrated so much. The research concluded that it was the crankshaft flexing and whipping, and this was being exasperated by its central flywheel. Based on this research, the TR65 cylinders were moved closer together, thus making the big ends closer and the central flywheel reduced or removed. This reduced the crankshaft length so the main bearings could be moved closer. By moving the main bearings closer and shortening the stroke, the crank was made much stiffer and less flexible. Hence the reason for the TR65’s low vibrations. With the cylinders closer, the Bonneville’s heads nor crankcases would be interchangeable. So the TR65 engine is dimensionally completely different to the Bonneville’s. The press knew this machine was being released to offer a cheaper bike to buy and run than the 750s, so they speculated it would be 600cc. This would put it both in lower taxation and insurance groups. They were dumfounded when it came out at 650cc as this put it in the same groups as a 750. When I saw my first TR65 in the car park at work my heart sank. I wanted Triumph to prosper. But this was a joke. This bike was expensive and looked very much like it was built down to a budget. Where Japanese bikes had lots of well thought out and finished aluminium components, this had crudely made and finished steel items that were already starting to rust. If this had been produced in the 1960s it would have been a sensation but in the 1980s it was, as I’ve already said, ‘a joke.’ Though I agree with the writer; this is the only Meriden twin I would consider having because it has all the Bonneville style with the refinement of an unburstable, silky smooth engine. David Dew, via email.

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THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Island treasures These two machines were caught on camera during holidays on islands in the Eastern and Western Mediterranean. The BMW single was found in a street known as Kidonias adjoining the bus station at Chania on Crete in October 2017 and the Dnepr was found in Palma on Mallorca in May 2018. I think the BMW was parked very near to a motorbike repair establishment and the Dnepr was located just across from Comtat Del

Rossello. I don’t know what model, era and specification either of these two are, but perhaps the readership of The Classic MotorCycle can identify them, care of your letters column? Phil Barnes, Sussex, via email.

Harley Servi-Cars in India The Harley-Davidson Servi-Car article in the July 2018 issue reminded me of a visit to India over 20 years ago. At the time, Servi-Cars were a common sight in New Delhi. They were usually fitted with two-seat rickshaw bodies (although two-seat seemed to refer to minimum occupancy) and used as taxis. None of these vehicles had their original V-twin motors; I presume they had died due to overwork in a hot, dusty climate. They had all been re-engined with single cylinder fan air-cooled diesel engines. These looked like the sort of industrial engines that would normally power a generator, an irrigation pump or perhaps a nice threshing mill. I suspect they produced

about half the power of the original motor, and this showed in their sedate progress. Among the hordes of tuk-tuks and Hindustan Ambassadors crowding the streets of Delhi, Servi-Car rickshaws would be seen, usually overloaded with up to six passengers, chugging along sedately, belching out black exhaust fumes. Road safety and clean air legislation eventually forced them from the streets of the Indian capital; but, for the Servi-Car enthusiast, looking for an interesting restoration project, India is the place to look as there must be a few of them left, lingering in sheds or even still in use in rural areas. John Palmer, via email.

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Readers’ Letters WRITE TO: The Classic Motorcycle, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, LN9 6LZ EMAIL: jrobinson@mortons.co.uk

A7 transmission questions Recycling result

I’ve found what to do with old skid lids! Richard Fry, via email.

I enjoyed your feature regarding A7 plus one in the May edition of TCM, particularly your comments on the clever design of BSA A7 with the bolt up gearbox – well advanced for the late 1940s! I note in the finer details of the 1949 A7, the clutch was multi plate wet.

Happy memories

The amazing Beatrice Shilling

I was interested in your article in April’s edition about Beatrice Shilling. I had the great pleasure of meeting Beatrice and George Naylor when I purchased her Jaguar E-Type, registration number OVR 269H, in 1970. I had met Beatrice briefly through a friend who used to service her E-Type in the 1960s, and I remember her giving advice to another friend on tuning his Triumph T110, at that time never knowing who she really was. Beatrice also won a poll to be named a ‘Hampshire Hero.’ The online vote and exhibition was organised by Hampshire County Council highlighting a number of Hampshire heroes from the last 500 years. She truly was an exceptional woman of her era. The enclosed picture is of Beatrice Shilling on her Norton, at Brooklands racetrack during 1935 after winning the Gold Cup. Sonnie Morel, Berkshire.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

or vice versa? When I fitted my Steib sidecar for the winter, occasionally the clutch had a tendency to slip under heavy load. Thank you once again for a great read, can’t wait for the next TCM to arrive. Brian Callister, Cheshire.

Butler's good service

I was particularly interested in your article on Kaye Don and Ambassador motorcycles. It was an Ambassador that started my lifelong love of motorbikes with a 16th birthday present from my parents in 1957. It was a 197cc, similar to the ones in your main picture. In 1960 I went to the Earls Court motorbike show and saw a Super S on show, and bought one. It looked so good and it was my pride and a d joy j for f a few years un ntil I got a Norton Dominator 888 and joined the rockers. I enclose pictures of both bikes. Th The Super S had an Avon fairing, ho h ome-made panniers and llugggage, made out of gas tubing. Ih hope this will be of interest to yyo ou and your readers. I am still riding and have come down to a Yamaha YB BR125, a great little bike. The two Ambassadors of Pete Robson, Faversham. Pete Robson.

When I built my Velocette/ BSA A7 (ref letter and photo in April 2017 TCM, page 17), the clutch was definitely a Ferodo type with outer cover and gasket to keep the chaincase oil out. Unfortunately, I do not know how old my A7 engine was, so did BSA change this design in favour of a wet clutch

Further to the article in the July issue (Badges of Honour) I can tell you a little about the mentioned R V Butler motorcycles, as I lived in the m next village and used them for n ccycle and later motorcycle parts. It was situated on the outskirts of the town of Belper in Derbyshire and was a small, double-fronted building with a central door and display windows to each side. Any bikes for repair went through double gates at the side of the shop to a couple of brick sheds at the rear for work. If three people were in the shop together it was full. The owner was Pete Butler, who was always pleasant and helpful to me as a 14-year-old schoolboy who had just bought a clapped out BSA C11 for £15. He repaired

An exceptional woman – Beatrice Shilling at Brooklands, on her Norton.

anything and everything and sold consumables such as chain, cables, bulbs, oil and used parts. For instance I cycled the two miles to the shop and returned with a used Speedmaster tyre and tube (which Pete removed from the front end of a scrap LE Velo) over my shoulder and a tin of Brushing Belco maroon paint in my pocket! BSA specific parts meant a 16 mile return cycle ride to David Tye’s at Cromford. There was another motorcycle shop at the other end of Belper, Bill Lomas Motorcycles, anyone heard of him? Nowadays the Butler and Lomas premises are residential properties and Tye’s is a basketware dealers. Eric Smith, Derby.

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Top dog This track-day Gold Star has been built up with many goodies from specialist Phil Pearson, including a 604cc conversion. But don’t worry, owner Barry Winter’s got a stock Goldie as well! Words: STEVE WILSON Photographs: GARY CHAPMAN

arry Winter is a lucky man, but it’s the kind of luck that comes out of sustained effort. With a successful career as a skilled engineer at the Environment Agency behind him, he could concentrate on his small, interesting collection of classic bikes; some of them have featured previously in these pages. But the story of perhaps the collection’s high point, this 604cc Gold Star, which he uses mostly on the Island and for track days, began back in the day, and has a complexity unexpected in such a monolithic motorcycle. For there’s another Gold Star in his garage.

The family way

“I bought my original Gold Star, a 1955 500cc DB34, around 1960,” Barry explained. “Then my brother had it, but I bought it back from him.” So time passed, and when circumstances allowed early in 2002 it was this original bike that the big engine – from Gold Star specialist Phil Pearson – was fitted into. Barry had provided Phil with the 500’s set of crankcases, as back then cases and cylinder heads were the only Goldie engine components Pearson could not supply new, and Phil did the conversion, details of which later. But for over 40 years Barry had also kept a new 1955 frame, and three years ago decided “because I had so many bits left over” to put together a purpose-built version, mainly for his increasing participation in track days... though it was also to be road legal. So he fitted the big engine into the new frame. It also had Pearson’s five-speed gearbox conversion, in standard BSA cases but stamped ‘Pearson’, featuring Nova gears; the original RRT2 close-ration four-speed box went back into the original 500. The extra ratio is a real bonus on any Goldie, famous for their need with the RRT2 to slip the clutch up to

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

BSA | Go Gold Star

The top of the top BSA dogs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DB Gold Star, with Pearson 600 conversion, in full Clubman racing trim.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | JULY 2018

30mph, on a first gear that can do 60! I once test-rode Phil Pearson’s own five-speed 604cc Gold Star, and the set-up, which included Pearson’s Suzuki GS550based clutch, half the weight of a BSA or Triumph one, was a distinct improvement. However, as Barry noted, moving off you do still have to slip the clutch, but less. Barry has opted for a Bob Newby belt-drive and clutch on his 604. He found a new set of cases for the 500 engine and built it into a complete bike again, one which currently wears a Lyta-style five gallon alloy petrol tank, while the 604 sports the original, unique and iconic Gold Star one, with its circular five-inch scarlet badges, butterfly cap and curling breather pipe – as well as a ding sustained on a sortie to the Isle of Man. “I’ve had it on the Island for the Manx Grand Prix 10 or 12 times,” said Barry. “Since Phil built the engine it’s never been down, I’ve had absolutely no problems with it. I may only have done a few thousand miles, but they’ve been hard ones.”

Let’s get technical

3 4

The big 604cc’s dimensions are 90 x 95mm, against the standard 499cc’s 85x88mm. The American Wiseco company, which now supplies all Pearsons’ wide range of pistons, used Yamaha XT500 dimensions on this one, which gives a compression ratio of 8.75:1. A Jawa speedway conrod runs via a needle roller I.N.A. bearing on a 35mm big end pin. The chromed molybdenum steel crankshaft, one of four variants that Pearson offers at £825, is an extended one; another variant of this can be used to fit an alternator. The drive side shaft is 30mm and the timing side one-inch diameter. This extended crank is pressed rather than bolted together, and runs on five main bearings – that’s two more than standard – to counter the standard racing Gold Star engine’s Achilles heel, its bottom end at speed. Numerous classic racing successes, like Dennis Gallagher’s third place in the 1999 Junior MGP on a Seeley-framed short-stroke 350, attest to its strength. The 604’s balance factor is between 50 and 60% – these engines will not loosen your fillings – and despite the extra capacity, the 604 is the same height in the frame as the 500, since the gudgeon pin is 4mm closer to the crown than on a BSA piston. In the boredout cylinder, the lining is of non-magnetic, austenitic iron. The conrod to crank angle is 1.73:1, against the stock angle of 1.86:1. Barry’s engine features DBD valves. The 604, along with exceptional torque, claims an output of 48bhp, compared with a good stock 500’s 40bhp, or top US competition engines giving 45bhp @ 7200rpm. The bigger engine with the five-speed box is also claimed to give 50mpg, 10 more than a hardridden DBD 500. Top speed? Pearson will tell you one 600 conversion owner’s chronometric speedo went past the 120mph max and bent its needle! Cycle parts on Barry’s 604 include one of the first of Pearson’s eight-inch 2ls front brakes; today he also offers ones for the alternative 190mm brake at £675, or £635 for the former. On the stainless front mudguard, a big U-shaped bracket is fitted to connect and stiffen the fork legs. The exceptionally shapely and well-fitting racing seat with its rear hump came via the GSOC from Paul Moss (01132 865662). The 19 inch wheels are original Dunlop alloys. The electrics, in keeping with the bike’s roadgoing capabilities, have had a

1: Racing seat from Paul Moss via GSOC blends beautifully with Goldie’s lines. 2: Twinned chronometric clocks, essential for the café racer mystique. 3: Two nearside rear-set foot-pegs (extreme and extremer?), both folding, as they have to be on the kickstart side. Dunlop alloy rims trim weight and Avon Roadriders hold road. 4: Equipped for the Island and for track days, with Pearson 2ls front stopper, no-compromise clip-ons, the 600 engine and a 1½ inch Amal GP carb, this 1955-based Goldie takes no prisoners.

BSA | Go Gold Star

12 volt conversion using a solid state regulator and the standard dynamo; though currently a dummy is fitted, behind a non-standard chromed magdyno cover, part of weight-saving for a recent track day at Castle Combe. The magneto was rebuilt by Dave Fisher.

Phil Pearson Engineering

After decades of involvement with Gold Stars, Phil, based outside Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, is the go-to guy for these BSA models. And customers do come, from all over the two-wheeled world. Of four Gold Star owners who flew their machines from West Coast America for the MGP, it was said “all the guys swear by Phil Pearson”, and after the Manx they rode right across a rainy England to visit Phil. And that was not unusual. Achievements of his engines on the track have spoken for themselves; on the Island Dennis Gallagher’s short-stroke 350cc Goldie’s record still stands, then in 2016 the David Hardman-owned, Pearson-engined 500, with Phil McGurk up, was the first Gold Star to lap over 100mph, with a race average of 99.9 as the GSOC had offered a £1000 prize for the first GS to lap at the ton and finish, so McGurk apparently eased off a little on the last lap!

Above: Long-term owner Barry Winter is by now at one with his tweaked Goldie. Below: Rear light, on non-standard mounting, taped for the track too.

Pearson is a local lad, and though after a Bantam he ran a very quick Ariel Arrow for a while, as he said: “The Yarmouth boys always had BSAs, while the Lowestoft lads all rode Triumphs.” Phil, after a homebrewed A10 Super Rocket 650, soon got a Goldie, and that was it. Now with over 50 years’ experience of the singles, Phil’s deep knowledge had grown as he progressed via an engineering apprenticeship at Mann Egerton and eight years in the trade as a car and bike mechanic at Newtown Motors in Yarmouth, and then with his own engine and gearbox repair business for another 12 years, before concentrating on Goldies. He had also been sub-contracted to an oil company, for whom he designed innovative engineering solutions, often to underwater problems. Phil thinks outside the box. In pursuit of Gold Star knowledge, he had corresponded with and eventually met the late Roland Pike, the racer and designer who until 1955 at BSA had been a key figure in Gold Star development. Phil was given many original drawings of Pike’s work on components like the Vernier adjustment camshafts that Phil now offers. Pike was also remembered for his prototype 250cc Gold Star racing engine, which

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

1: Over-centre kickstart was another thing to contend with. Note reversed gear lever. 2: A study in perfect purpose as Barry gets down to it. 3: Tower of 600 power, complete with dummy dynamo to save weight on track days, and GP carb, not an asset in trafﬁc. 4: Headlamp, taped for track days, is supported by Goldie’s lightweight tubular “slingshot” mounting – a lot less fractureprone than versions on BSA’s 1971 range.

with short-stroke barrels and oval flywheels, is also an option that Phil now offers. Another is a 400cc hop-up for B31 or DB32 350s, using a Triumph T140 piston machined to accommodate bigger valves. Phil is a friendly, unpretentious man with a gentle Norfolk accent and a deadpan sense of humour. He is helped by his wife Linda, who not only takes care of the business side, but helps in the workshop on occasion, used to ride herself, and has covered many miles on the pillion of Phil’s own, now 604cc, DBD Goldie – and he doesn’t hang about. Because quality doesn’t come cheap, you’d better start saving up if you’re hankering after Pearson’s wares. Complete engines start at £5000, and the labour alone on a rebuild is £1000, with a 1½inch GP carb retailing at £475. There’s even an electric start kit, at £1445. Not outrageous, given Phil’s proven track (literally) record for reliable components and engineering. He has parts made by a handful of tried and trusted firms, including castings from Kingfisher Foundries outside Baldock, and camshafts from a local man. “I can supply every component for the Goldie engine, including DBD crankcases. And once the castings come in here, I do the lot myself.” For a high-end, international business (“I now speak American, Australian, and Irish…”) the ‘works’ are modest – two not very large but well-equipped sheds. But it’s Phil’s deep knowledge that is priceless. He has the tricky GP carb bodies cast, but that’s just the beginning. The float bowl features his Weber jet conversion, but still overall “tuning can be finicky – they have to be tuned to the cam you have selected, and the exhaust pipe…”

Some limits

Barry did the honours starting his 604. I’d hot-started Phil’s own machine, but that had been 16 years ago. I have to be honest here – the big Goldie was an intimidating challenge, and I didn’t really rise to it. Over the magnificent flat blat of the very loud exhaust, Barry told me: “It will tick over with the GP, but don’t

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

BSA | Go Gold Star

rely on it, at a junction it might cough and die, so blip it gently as you wait. Start on half retard and when you’re ready to pull away, flick it to full advance immediately.” Barry came with me on a modern bike, and I was to be glad of it. The brief run out did reacquaint me with the glorious flexible power of the Pearson engine, but also with my own increasing difficulty handling the rearsets and clip-ons riding position. From the start I had terrible trouble with the left-side folding (which I hadn’t realised) footrests, which I kept inadvertently kicking up; and also those on the right, spending some time mistakenly resting my foot on the gear pedal… it was a bit better after Barry fastened the rests ‘down’ with old inner tube bungees. With that sorted, the up-for-first, down-for-the-nextfour gearshift proved smooth. We proceeded in a series of throttle-on, throttle-off lurches, noisily negotiating village traffic, and the beast proved forgiving, in its excellent steering and handling, non-grabby front anchor, and the way when the revs dropped and the engine began to die, you could slip the smooth clutch, then let it fully out and the engine always caught again.

Above: Unusually for any motorcycle, this Goldie looks almost as good from drive side as it does from timing side. Primary cover conceals Newby belt drive and clutch.

Phil Pearson Engineering, The Bungalow, Flegg Farm, Mill Lane, Fleggburgh, Norfolk NR29 3DA. Callers by appointment only. Tel: 01493 368331: Office hours. E-mail: enquiries@bsagoldstar. co.uk

On one or two clear straight roads, I got a taste of the very strong, apparently endless power on tap, but was still sorting myself out too much to really take advantage. “It likes to rev,” Barry had said, but I only got a glimpse of the foothills in that respect, which still involved nudging 80 while not even having got into top gear. But I wasn’t really working the engine. Then I had to wait for an endless stream of oncoming traffic at a righ-hand turn, and finally the engine died and I paddled across to a field entrance. Barry, patient, unflappable and considerate throughout, started it again for me, and we crept home through building rush hour traffic, blipping the noisy engine, a bit of a nightmare and not my finest hour. Barry recognised the problem, kindly saying: “A lot of guys on club runs have fitted straight bars not clipons, and different carbs, on their DBDs.” But that kind of misses the point. I know how at speed the clip-on/rear-set grief can go away as the wind of speed takes your weight and you meld with the machine. When blood is in your eye and the bit between your teeth, the big Goldie Barry has put together would be the tool you want. But as Phil End Pearson once said to me, “you got to ride them”.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Norton | Model 21

An Unapproachable

Norton Not all Nortons are deserving of the famous phrase, but this one is.

Words: ROY POYNTING Photographs: TERRY JOSLIN

o say Norton’s designation of its various models was rather obscure is a bit like suggesting Geoff Duke was quite a good racer – true, but a gross understatement. As well as the occasional use of letters, Norton coined names for the later machines, and through the years model numbers from 1 to 99 were scattered around with no apparent relationship to engine size, frame type, or even the order of introduction. Unsurprisingly therefore, when Sammy Miller told me he’d just restored a Norton Model 21, I had little idea of what he was talking about. But I’m far from alone in my ignorance; the Model 21 turns out to be one of the rarest variants in existence, and it needed somebody with the encyclopaedic marque knowledge and status of the late Dr George Cohen to authoritatively identify this one. So what is a Norton 21? Well it appeared in that interim period when Bracebridge Street was graduating out of its vintage phase, and was effectively a hybrid combining features of the betterknown ohv ES2 and ohc CS1 models. As Norton aficionados will know, the two models were already closely related with the 1927 CS1 racer being virtually a slightly uprated ES2 frame fitted with the new ‘cammy’ engine. Importantly, a novel feature of that engine was its use of a gear-type pump recirculating the oil (rather than relying on an old-fashioned totalloss system) and when the same arrangement was adopted on the ohv engine it created the Model 21. The new system was actually quite straighforward but causes a bit of confusion because – unlike later fully automatic systems – there are two controls making it appear to need considerable rider intervention. The more visible control is in the oil feed line and has graduated markings to enable it to be used as a valve to control the flow, the zero setting stopping the flow altogether. The latter aspect

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Below: There’s a strong pull from low revs, even if top gear is accidentally selected too soon.

probably wasn’t important when these engines were new and in regular use, but – provided you remember to operate it – is nowadays quite a benefit to prevent the wet-sumping promoted by thinner oils, significant lay-up periods and inevitable wear in the pump gears. The less obvious control is situated at the base of the timing cover and takes a bit more understanding. These engines were described as semi-dry sump (Norton’s catalogue Code Word was ‘DRISUMP’) or semi-wet sump depending on your point of view, because the scavenge side of the pump in the Model 21 or CS1 was arranged to leave just enough oil in the crankcase to wet the crankshaft flywheels as they rotated. The timing-cover control is directly connected to the pick-up tube which Bob Stanley – who dealt with the engine rebuild in Sammy Miller’s workshop – tells me is less than a centimetre in diameter and has a small hole in its side. Oil is drawn through that hole, and rotating the tube via the external knob varies the oil depth in the ‘sump’ by that small amount. That might seem simultaneously crude yet overcomplicated, and it’s true that once set, the control doesn’t need to be altered very often. But it’s quite a nifty safety feature which must have been comforting

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

for owners of the period who had yet to develop full faith in automatic oiling. If the delivery side of the pump failed or the oil tank became emptied for whatever reason, riders could reset the control to raise the level in the sump, whereupon there would be enough ‘splash’ lubrication to get them home. Naturally the oil in the sump tended to slosh around all the time in any case, and that’s why you might well see a Norton of this type emitting an extra cloud of exhaust smoke when it goes over a bump in the road. Going back to the Model 21 in particular we see that it has quite a few other features indicating it was made at the end of the vintage period. The valve gear in particular is absolutely typical. From the right it looks fairly modern with enclosed pushrods, but from the left you can see that the rocker assembly is simply mounted on pillars extending above the cylinder head, with valve springs and stems exposed to the elements, and relying on manual lubrication. The Sturmey Archer gearbox is unashamedly vintage with only three ratios changed by a long hand-operated lever without the help of a positivestop mechanism, or even a ‘gate’ to help the rider reliably select the desired gear. Other vintage echoes are seen in the elegant but expensive inverted

Norton | Model 21

Above: ‘Gorgeous and imposing to look at’ reckons Roy Poynting. Can’t argue with that.

FINER DETAILS

Norton Model 21

Right: Roy, Sammy and Bob with the Norton 21.

ENGINE TYPE Single cylinder ohv

1: Three speed Sturmey Archer gearbox was the best in its day.

CAPACITY 490cc

2: Rear hub, cushdrive and brake came from Royal Enﬁeld.

BORE X STROKE 79mm x 100mm LUBRICATION Semi-dry sump (see text) GEARBOX Three-speed SturmeyArcher

SAMMY MILLER MUSEUM

TRANSMISSION All-chain

Crammed full of interesting machines – more than 400 in total – the museum is open daily from 10am. The Sammy Miller Museum is at Bashley, New Milton, Hampshire B25 5SZ Tel: 01425 620777 or www.sammymiller.co.uk

STARTING Manual IGNITION/ELECTRICS Lucas Magdyno CARBURETTOR Amal SUSPENSION Norton-Druid girder forks, rigid rea FRAME Open cradle BRAKES SLS drums, 7in front, 8in rear WHEELBASE 55.5in SADDLE HEIGHT 29in TYRES 3.25 x 19in front, 3.50 x 19in rear

TOP SPEED 75mph (est)

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Above left: Julian Cochrane with friend A J ‘Tony’ Stokes, from whom he bought the Norton in 1945. Above: Julian Cochrane and Sammy Miller, with the Norton Julian owned for the best part of 70 years and has known for even longer.

At the ﬁnish of the 1950 Land’s End Trial, Julian on board.

Banbury Run, 1951; Julian Cochrane at the start. The Norton was then only 21 years old.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

handlebar levers and the provision of separate stands for front and rear wheels. The forward position of the Magdyno looks slightly archaic too, as well as exposing the device (which would normally have an alloy or pressed steel shield) to rain and mud splashing up from the front wheel. The lighting set would have been an optional extra at this time, and would doubtless have been more common on the touring 21 than on its more sporting CS1 sibling (whose magneto was in a more protected position behind its cylinder). Probably because of the Model 21’s prominent timing chest its exhaust runs down the left-hand side of the bike – putting it at odds with convention – and after a post-Model 21 experiment with an ungainly cross-over pipe, Norton re-designed the cylinder head to suit a right-hand exhaust. But, if some of the mechanical details of the Model 21 are a bit of a compromise, surely nobody could deny it is a gorgeous and imposing machine to look at. Being made on the cusp of the post-vintage period it has a saddle-type petrol tank. Despite being a new departure for Norton (and the only year it featured on the Model 21) it looks supremely elegant with its back cut away to blend into the nose of the Lycette saddle, and makes the 21 look years younger than the flat-tankers immediately preceding it. The lovely wraparound oil tank helps too, as does Norton’s archetypal black and red coach-lining on silver paintwork. The primary chaincase would not have originally been polished, of course, but is exactly the sort of embellishment no keen owner could have resisted. Just visible behind the case is a rod which unusually pushes forward onto a cross-over linkage operating the right-hand drum of the proprietary cush-rubber Royal Enfield hub. The reason all these details are correct – and possibly the reason the Norton has survived – is that it has been in one man’s ownership for the best part of 70 years! Julian Cochrane – who lives in Scotland – has actually known it for even longer, and among the photographs he donated to Sammy Miller when he passed over the bike is one of himself and the thenowner A J ‘Tony’ Stokes with it in August 1945. By 1951

Norton | Model 21

Julian had taken over ownership from his friend, and immediately put the Model 21 to use in the Land’s End Trial. He thinks it was probably the same year that he did the ACU National Rally – covering 425 miles – and also rode the Model 21 in the Banbury Run. If all that sounds a bit ambitious on a vintage bike, it’s interesting to reflect that had the VMCC already adopted its 25-year eligibility rule at the time, the Norton would have been significantly too young to take part in events such as the Banbury Run. And in fact, at that time riding the 21 long distances would not have been considered any more of a hardship for a young man than riding a 20-yearold bike today. The rigid rear end would have been thought quite normal in the immediate postwar years, and girder forks were by no means uncommon; the friction-damped Norton-Druid type used here being arguably better than many weedy and undamped early telescopic ones. The net result of all this is that (unlike some Nortons I’ve ridden) the Model 21 truly measures up to Norton’s ‘Unapproachable’ slogan. The relative comfort is matched by superb roadholding, decent

Above: The Model 21 provides a riding experience almost too good to be vintage.

brakes and a power output enabling main road speeds to be reached and maintained without fuss. And if the lack of a positive stop gearchange mechanism means that an over-enthusiastic change up from first sometimes lands me in top gear, the long-stroke engine doesn’t complain at all; it just barks a bit louder and pulls strongly from seemingly impossibly low revs as it smoothly gets back into its stride. Some years ago I sampled an overhead cam Norton CS1, and ‘tongue in cheek’ suggested it was too good an all-rounder to present much challenge to a rider expecting a Vintage-style experience. Well, the Model 21 is from the same mould, and as a result it’s the sort of motorcycle anybody would be delighted to ride and be seen on. Don’t just take my word for it. Even before its restoration was completed – and despite all the other exotic machinery he could borrow from his museum – Sammy Miller banged in an entry to ride the Norton in the VMCC’s Banbury Run where I’m sure it will prove just as enjoyable as when used on the same End event by Julian Cochrane all those years ago.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Bianchi | Gardena

Long-term g lightweight Adrian Coole is only the second owner of this rare little Bianchi, which he bought in 1961. Words and photographs: JAMES ADAM BOLTON

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

O The 75cc two-stroke engine is in unit with the three-speed gearbox.

Engine was actually of German Puch design, built under licence.

n my way to examine Adrian owner of this 1959 version, and is in complete Coole’s unmolested-looking agreement – the fact he’s owned it for 56 Bianchi Gardena 75, I once again years is proof surely that these little jewels of ask myself a question that always stumps engineering and style can definitely get under me when I go and report on a sub-125cc your skin. In fact, Adrian is only the second motorcycle from the past. What is it that’s owner out of two. changed so much over the decades that “It was registered on September 30, 1959, small capacity, lightweight motorcycles have by the supplying dealer, W G Hoar, ‘cycle so dropped out of favour with motorcycle specialist’ in High Wycombe,” explains Adrian, manufacturers? Is it simply because there “and it was my friend Kenneth Tapping who are no willing paying customers for them? bought it new, and his is the only other name Or is it because the amount of traffic on our on the old original logbook. I then bought roads nowadays simply prohibits the use of it from him in 1961, and, well, I’ve had it motorcycles with a reasonably low top speed ever since!” and less than rapid acceleration? It’s always fascinating how years and Whatever the reason might be, it’s a years of ownership of a motorcycle is usually shame, because lots of fun can be had also accompanied by a thick folder of notes, in small packages, and the Italians in documents, manuals and of course, loads particular were experts in putting together of anecdotes, and Adrian’s Bianchi is no an attractive, well-built ‘motociclo leggero.’ different. From the original registration I’ve been lucky enough to have ridden document, in those days issued by the local many classic Italian lightweights over the county council (Buckinghamshire in this years, and most of them were stunning – case), and an original well-used manual the Maserati SS50 ‘Rospo’ and Mondial in Italian, there are also many drawings 50 Sport come straight to mind, but the made by Adrian’s own hand to reference Bianchi Gardena is just as handsome, with certain components, and some interesting just the right amount of exotic Latin flair. certificates of insurance documents from Adrian, a 76-year-old retired electronics the early 1960s. There’s also a precious engineer and now furniture restorer, is the black and white photo of Adrian on the Bianchi that dates from around 1962, and it’s the only shot of him with it from those earlier days. There are also slightly faded

The Bianchi up and running, though gear issues prevented a ride.

Bianchi | Gardena

Petrol cap with its securing arm.

Original rims are, of course, present and correct. Though rechromed.

Bianchis were made in Milan, as conﬁrmed here.

Only foot control is the right-sided rear brake.

Beautiful handlebar rubbers have withstood the tests of time admirably.

Brakes, front and rear, are the same size – 115mm.

colour prints of the Bianchi during one of the rolling interventions that Adrian has undertaken over his almost 60 years of Gardena ownership. And then I ask why he bought the Bianchi all those years ago – did he just simply love Italian bikes? His reply partly explains one of the reasons why these small machines were so popular in their heyday. “No, I didn’t care that it happened to be Italian – I just needed wheels to get to work. My car, an old 1947 Hillman Minx, had broken down yet again, and the police had called round to knock at my door at 6am to advise me to kindly move it off the highway. I had no money, and I had previously owned a Douglas Dragonfly, and had a helmet and a bit of suitable gear, so I thought of getting a bike again. My friend Ken offered me the Bianchi as he was moving on to a car, so I probably paid him something like 20 quid for it. It was only a couple of years old and hadn’t done many miles, and most importantly, didn’t require any work, so I bought it and started using it at once. “The journey to work was three miles each way across High Wycombe to Cressex, but it was my only transport, so I’d be out on it at weekends too. We’d go two-up to places like the Hellfire Jazz Club, and my girlfriend Diana (now Adrian’s wife) hated it, but, I tell you what, it used to go very well even with a pillion. It has a really rorty motor and so could cope with it no problem,” laughs Adrian, though Diana, who is with us, doesn’t look so convinced. “I then made you buy car as we then got married and bought a house,” she reminds Adrian. Adrian’s choice of motor was also slightly eclectic, opting for a 1947 six cylinder 2½ litre Jaguar, running boards and all. “It would only

ever run on five cylinders, so the few times it also sparked on six it was the smoothest thing around. It had to go and I sold it for £15! I then had a Thames van, fantastic vehicle, then a Triumph Spitfire, then a Spitfire Mk.3 which I bought new in 1967, and still own and use today.” So, Adrian’s loyalty of long-term ownership also extends to being custodian to his convertible Spitfire for 50 years, and in fact, the Spitfire and Bianchi share space as they are over-wintered in a dry barn together. Bianchi were the old masters and pioneers of Italian motorcycle manufacturing, its founder Eduardo Bianchi (who was brought up in an orphanage) having attached an engine to one of his bicycles in 1897. By the early 1930s Bianchi was a wellestablished company, having enjoyed huge racing success in the 1920s with Tazio Nuvolari racing their 350cc racers. Photos of Mussolini on a Bianchi Freccia d’Oro helped sales throughout the 1930s, and Bianchi was lauded as the ‘Grande Casa Nazionale’ until Allied bombs wiped out their factory in 1943. The Bianchi name lived on through its cycling exploits with the multi-time champion Fausto Coppi, and continues to do so today, and high quality Bianchi road bicycles are easily spotted in their light blue livery. Its motorcycles too continued to sell after the war until production was ceased in 1967. Sad, especially as the entry of Lino Tonti in 1958 to the Bianchi house at Via Fantoli, 11, Milan, had given a fresh impetus to the Milanese manufacturer, designing several road models and their beautiful 250 and 350cc twin cylinder race machines, piloted by Remo Venturi and Silvio Grassetti. The Gardena was one of the models

All so Italian – levers, grips and headlight.

to be developed under Tonti to address the demand of the post-war ‘economic miracle’ in Italy and abroad for economic, lightweight machines. In Italy alone at the beginning of 1953, there were an incredible 80 manufacturers offering 230 different models. The Bianchi’s two-stroke, 75cc motor was reasonably cheap to produce, and in fact, many were produced under licence from Puch by Bianchi. It’s likely the Gardena was destined principally for foreign markets, and a look at the 2016 list of examples recorded by the Italian Bianchi Owners’ Register shows only three, very few compared to other smaller Bianchi models such as the Falco 49 and Orsetto on the same list. The name Gardena continued Bianchi’s theme of using the name of Italian mountain ranges for their motorcycles (Mendola, Tonale etc.), Gardena being a pass high in the Dolomites in northeast Italy. Central to the Gardena is its two stroke, 75cc, vertical cylinder engine including

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

FINER DETAILS

unit three-speed gearbox. The cylinder is inclined forwards, and the whole unit is mounted centrally off the pressed and robust looking frame. Carburation comes through the Dell’Orto UA16BS carb, with choke lever, tickler on the float bowl and reusable air filter. The spark is supplied from a coil mounted under the seat, and a flywheel ignition system with easily reachable points. The kick-start is mounted on the left of the motor, and is kicked forwards and down – Adrian sat on the bike to start it, and I preferred to keep it on the dinky centrestand and use my right boot. A rear brake foot lever is found on the right, and there’s nothing on the right, as the controls for the clutch and gears are mounted on the left handle bar. Stamped ‘Ali-Saker,’ which I have to say I have never come across on an Italian lightweight before, it’s the classic twist system that relies on two cables (more on those in a minute…) running in parallel down to the gearbox output lever, with first selected by pulling in the clutch and twisting towards you, then second and third by pushing down towards the ground. Then along with a horn button and light switch on the handlebar, and another light switch on the CEV headlamp, that’s about it to the Gardena 75. But just look at it! Low clip-on handlebars that beg the rider to ride as prone as possible (just like the rider in Bianchi’s press ads for the Gardena), sculpted 2¾ gallon fuel tank with go faster stripes, drilled-for-speed full width four-inch hubs, chrome Radaelli wheels with a 19in front, shaped dual seat, telescopic forks and handsome chrome exhaust system, an air filter with drilled holes, bright Italian Racing Red paint and the final touch, chequer tape decals on the fork shrouds. Even in its wonderful pretty much original condition dripping with 60 years of patina, it shouts everything that the Italians were so expert at in designing motorcycles that appealed to their target youngster buyers. In comparison to British manufacturer,s many of whose postwar models were still blackpainted and austere looking, the Italians built what looked like mini racers, even if the performance from a 75cc proprietary engine might not have on the road matched the promise of the sporty lines.

1959 Bianchi Gardena 75

ENGINE: Single cylinder two-stroke air-cooled, inclined at 35 degrees cylinder head in light alloy, three ports, three piece crankshaft BORE: 46mm STROKE: 43mm COMPRESSION RATIO: 6.9 CAPACITY: 71.5 cc MAX. POWER: 3.4bhp@7000 rpm LUBRICATION: 5% mix, two stroke/ fuel mixture

CARBURETTOR: Dell’Orto UA 16 BS with choke and washable air filter SPARK PLUG: Marelli CW 240A POINTS GAP: 0.45 mm FRAME: pressed steel SUSPENSION: front, telescopiic forkks, nd rear, swinging arrm an ocks hydraulic sho

EEL: FRONT WHE 19 inch EL: REAR WHEE 18 inch UM: BRAKES  DRU h 115mm width GEARBOX: nit three-speed un construction CLUTCH: Wet clutch, multi plat p te WEIGHT DRY:: 60kg (132lbs) FUEL TANK CAPACITY: 12 litres MAXIMUM SPE D D: SPEED 75km/h (46mph) at 7000rpm

1: This is the only picture of Adrian with the Bianchi in the ‘early days’. 2: Picture taken in the 1980s, after the Bianchi had languished for several years. 3: Original brochure. Left: User’s manual. Right: Lovely period instructions.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Bianchi | Gardena Beautiful miniature motorbike.

Bianchi was typically Italian in that it wasn’t scared to experiment, using different designs, components and offering bright colours. And with a claimed 3½bhp at a maximum 7000rpm, and almost 50mph top speed from a 75cc motor was enough to impress any young would-be cafe racer. Imported by continental moped and small motorcycle specialists Layford Automotive of King Street, Hammersmith, the Gardena sold new in 1960 for £108-9s-11d, so it looks like Adrian got a bit of a bargain with his. What’s remarkable about Adrian’s Bianchi is that since it was built in 1959, it really won’t have covered that many miles, and shows only 3592 miles on the small speedometer – he fully admits his ownership has been a case of rolling maintenance on the Gardena. “Once we got married and I eventually ended up with a company car, I stopped using it, and it simply sat around. We moved from High Wycombe to our current house in 1972, and the Bianchi ended up in the shed. At some point in the early 1980s, I dragged it out again, and started to get it sorted again – that’s when I took the pictures you see here. It was sound, so I didn’t want to restore it, but just get it running again. Time ran out again, and then eventually in 1991, I got it out again, and by then the wheels and exhaust system had pretty much corroded away. At that point I had the original wheels rechromed and rebuilt, bought a new exhaust system that

was copied by Armours from the old system, and put a new cover on the seat. The motor had already been taken out of the frame previously and sat in a dry box – it’s never been apart! But then again, all the activity on the bike stopped again for some reason, but at least it was left in better pieces than it had been before,” laughs Adrian. “Then in 2010, I put it back together again, and sent it down to our local old bike expert Dave Rogers to tickle it up and get it sorted. There was work on the cables and electrical system to do, seeing as it sat around for so long. I also had to battle with the DVLA to retain the original registration number.” But, Adrian, would you ride it more if you could? “Yes, and I intend to from now – I still try after all these years to get to the third stage of ownership which is riding it regularly! It’s quite hard to ride with the riding position and so on, and I do think now that it needs a pair of mirrors to ride it on the road. The hand gear change and clutch can occasionally be problematic. But – I love the Italianness of it. I like the design, the bright red colour, and I like its power for such a small machine. We used to zoom around on it all over the place, and it’s geared to easily reach 45mph or so in top, and it goes very well. I’ve never seen another in the UK so it’s pretty rare which is nice and like my Spitfire, I’d never sell it – especially after nearly 60 years!” Eventually, it’s time to get the Bianchi up

and running for a few photos. With some fresh fuel and two-stroke mix added to the fuel tank (the manual recommends 5%), plug cleaned, and a nice fat spark confirmed, we start the Gardena. The motor sounds great, really quite quiet, and although there’s a fair amount of smoke on start-up, it ticks over well. After all, it’s sat around for a while. Adrian dons his riding gear, and I get ready with the camera as he prepares to set off on the Bianchi across his field to the road. Then – nothing, no power, no drive. I walk over to join Adrian. “It’s not going into gear,” he says. I see at once what has happened, and it’s not unusual, especially on Italian smaller machines. The solderless cable end on the Bowden cable running to the gearbox output lever has simply disappeared. It must have been loose enough to have been pinged off when Adrian was trying the gears, and now it’s gone. We search around for it, but it’s gone, and there isn’t another. The test is over and the Gardena goes back unceremoniously to keep the Spitfire company once again. Strangely enough, the last Bianchi I was involved with for TCM also shed a part that forced an unexpected halt to the riding element. But it’s spurred on Adrian to get the 75 reliable, and rack up some more years of ownership of this great little Italian motorcycle. Note to self: always carry a spare solderless nipple when riding small End Italian bikes…

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

The story so far... Now two decades old, the Lansdowne Classic Series is already halfway through the 2018 season. It’s time we caught up with what’s been going on so far... Words: THE LANSDOWNE CLASSIC SERIES Photographs: RUSS LEE/SPORTSPICS

his is the 20th season for the Lansdowne, with seven meetings at six circuits. The series has retained its four sponsors – all of them at the heart of the classic motorcycling scene. Bonhams has backed the series since its start in 1999 and the National Motorcycle Museum (NMM) since 2001, while both Avon Tyres and The Classic MotorCycle (TCM) have been sponsors for a decade. Without these dedicated companies, the series would not be what it is today.

Silverstone

The first meeting of the 2018 season was on the Silverstone International Circuit with four races by invitation of BMCRC (‘Bemsee’), based in the vast garages of the F1 wing. Last year’s champion Dean Stimpson (Izzard Racing Manx) started the new season where he left off in 2017 with three wins and a second place, and he was duly awarded Bemsee ‘Rider of the Day’ on the Saturday. Team ACR had young Sam Clews (Manx) at the sharp end with one win and two second places plus a DNF in a wet Sunday race, owing to ‘water in the works!’ Chris Firmin is riding the Ripley Land G50 this year and secured some strong championship points while getting

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

acclimatised to the new machine – also running near the front were Keith Clarke (Izzard Racing Manx) and Duncan Fitchett, riding Andy Savage’s lovely Francis Beart-green Manx. Robin Stokes (Manx) had three class wins in the NMM sponsored WRR Class (named after museum founder W Roy Richards) with Chris Bassett (Manx) taking the other. Two new riders to the Lansdowne, Andy Hornby and Steve Parrott, showed good potential, both riding Manx Nortons. It was nice to see a group of 350s all having their own dice further down the field. Father and son David and Jimmy May were on a pair of Manxes, Mick Baldwin on a 7R AJS, with Tony Raynor and Cliff Ransley on another pair of Manxes also in the mix. To summarise, it was a very well run meeting in sometimes challenging conditions.

Donington Park

For the season’s second meeting, the series moved to Donington Park for three races with Endurance Legends, a different meeting to the usual, with the Sunday afternoon filled with a four hour classic Endurance race. All Lansdowners were together in the paddock and had a qualifying session on Saturday morning, two races in the

afternoon and the last race early on Sunday morning. Qualifying was dominated by Mike Russell (Manx) who lapped two seconds faster than Sam Clews and Chris Firmin, in the WRR class it was Peter Crew from Matt Kirby and Robin Stokes all on Manxes. Heading the 350s was the May duo, followed by Mick Baldwin on his 7R. In the pre-1954 TCM class, last year’s champ Sam Rhodes was out on the Graham Austen Velocette and Charlie Williams on a Farrall Rudge, which all added to quite a variety of machines on circuit. Race one saw Russell, Clews and Firmin at the sharp end, with Russell taking the win with the fastest lap of the weekend at 1 min 21.507sec. The top three in the WRR were Peter Crew (Manx) followed George Thomas (Dunnell Manx) and Tony Perkin (Manx). In race two Clews turned the tables on Russell in the Bonhams class; in the WRR was Crew, Stokes and Thomas, then the Avon 350cc race saw the order of Tony Raynor, from Jimmy May and Baldwin. Up until race three Glen English had been having a bad meeting with his bike, but finally got it sorted and took the flag from Russell by 0.168 sec, Clews was third and Fitchett fourth. The WRR class was Crew from Perkin, with Stuart Tonge (Manx) rounding out the first three. For this meeting

Lansdowne | Classic Series Lansdow

1: Sam Clews (90, ACR Norton) leads the ﬁeld but Dean Stimpson got the better of him in this race at Silverstone.

2 3

2: Duncan Fitchett (7, Norton) in a tight battle with Chris Firmin (Matchless) and eventual victor, Glen English (Norton). 3: Jerome Chevally and his wife Francoise had travelled from Portugal for two rounds, with this nice, original Manx Norton. 4: Sam Rhodes took a clean sweep of wins in the TCM Class at Donington, on Graham Austen’s Velocette.

5: Charlie Williams on the Mike Farrall Rudge, at Donington. 6: Avon 350cc winner at Donington, David May (18, Norton).

5 we had the good company of Jerome Chevally and his wife Francoise, who had driven over from Portugal with a very nice, original and reliable Manx Norton – Jerome circulated all weekend very tidily, getting faster and faster as the laps ticked off.

Snetterton

The following weekend saw the Lansdowne paddock move to Norfolk for a Bemsee meeting on the Snetterton 300 circuit, which turned out to be two days of wall-towall sunshine; Jerome Chevally reckoned it was just like Portugal, so he felt at home! In qualifying on Saturday morning, the front order was Stimpson, Russell, Firmin, so that was the front row for all four races. Race one was won by Stimpson from

Russell and local man Clive Ling (Dunnell Manx), the WRR order was Crew, Bassett and Seb Perez (G50 Matchless) and the 350cc class won by Tim Jackson (7R) from Roger Ashby (7R) and Tony Raynor (Manx). Stimpson convincingly won the next three races as well, with Russell taking two more second places and Clews the other. In the WRR, it was a ding-dong dice between Crew, Thomas, Perez, Bassett and Perkin. Bassett came out on top with two wins, the other two going to Thomas and Perez. Jackson took all four 350cc wins. Our Portuguese visitor had to skip the last Sunday race to make sure he caught the ferry to Santander from Portsmouth, but he finished every race he started and thoroughly enjoyed his 10 days in the UK. In

October, the Lansdowne paddock visits him and moves to Portimao in Portugal for two guest races at the Portimao Classic Festival, a nice way to finish the season, but there are four more meetings in the UK before that.

Upcoming dates

■ July 7/8: Pembrey, North Glos Racing (championship) ■ August 3/4/5: Donington Park, CRMC Festival (championship) ■ September 7/8/9: Goodwood, Revival (invitation only) ■ October 6/7: Cadwell Park, CRMC Race of the Year (championship) ■ October 19/20/21: Portimao (Portugal), Algarve Classic Festival (nonchampionship)

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

New website To celebrate the 20th season of top classic racing for the series there’s a new Lansdowne logo, and a website update; take a look at lansdowneclassic.co.uk

A good showing of the 350cc class at Silverstone; here, Tony Raynor (11) is with Cliff Ransley (54) and Jimmy May (28, all Manx Norton)

Tables

THE BONHAMS LANSDOWNE BRITISH GP CHAMPIONSHIP Pre-1963 500cc Grand Prix racing motorcycles, either original or replica but in a period original specification. Original sized wheels, exhaust systems, carburettors and so on are required, plus the appearance of the bike must be in keeping with bikes raced in the period. All riders must use control Avon tyres. 1 Dean Stimpson, 117; 2 Sam Clews, 108; 3 Mike Russell, 85

THE WRR 500CC LANSDOWNE CHAMPIONSHIP

Tim Jackson (AJS 7R) on a rare outing at Snetterton, which saw him take a clean sweep of Avon Tyres 350cc class wins.

Pre 1963 351-500cc racing motorcycles, either original or replica, to original specification. Subject to a handicap system, in-period modifications are allowed, for example: wheel size, exhausts and carburettors, while competitors may use a tyre manufacturer of their choice. 1 Peter Crew 135; 2 Tony Perkin 100; 3 Chris Bassett 84

THE AVON 350CC LANSDOWNE CHAMPIONSHIP Pre 1963 350cc racing motorcycles, either original or replica, to original specification. Subject to a handicap system, in-period modifications are allowed, for example: wheel size, exhausts and carburettors, competitors must use Avon tyres. 1 Tony Raynor, 90; 2 Mick Baldwin, 64; 3 Jimmy May 58

THE TCM LANSDOWNE CLUB CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP

Michael Russell (Adams Norton) tried in vain to catch Stimpson at Snetterton, but still bagged four podiums in all.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Regulations common with the 1950s spec’ class at the Goodwood Revival. Open to original pre-1954 Group one bikes and pre-1955 Group two bikes. 1 Sam Rhodes, 30; 2 Roger Ashby, 12; End 3 Charlie Williams, 7

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Triumph | T120/140 Bonneville

Optical illusion Triumph With this cleverly modiﬁed Meriden-made Bonneville twin, what you see is not what you are really seeing…

Words: JAMES ROBINSON Photographs: GARY CHAPMAN

he illusionists’ art has been in the news recently, when well-known magician David Copperfield was taken to court after one of the punters at his show chosen from the audience to participate in a disappearing/ reappearing trick, fell and hurt himself as he was hustled through the backstage corridors of a theatre in Las Vegas, the plan being the audience member (and the 17 other volunteers) would ‘reappear’ as the back of the auditorium for Copperfield to take the applause. As part of the court case, the illusionist had to reveal how the trick was performed, but Gerry Cain – the owner of this visuallytricking Triumph – is quite happy to discuss how he’s performed his own illusion and his motivations for doing so. This isn’t the only Triumph to have been given a makeover – there was a famous Triumph story from around 1970, of a different beauty kit. American buyers (who the men at Meriden had high hopes would be falling over themselves for the new triple) were somewhat ‘cold’ about Ogle’s avant garde styling for the recently introduced Trident, and the US distributors wanted a solution. Step forward the ‘beauty kit’ – basically a load of bits to make the breadbin tank bedecked and Raygun

Another from the T120 parts back catalogue is the two-tone seat.

silencered Trident look like the Bonneville and TR6 which the American buying public so loved… The benefit of hindsight (supported by the fact the Trident basically morphed into looking like a three cylinder Bonnie) says that, probably, the Trident’s ‘cutting edge’ styling would have been better off avoided, in favour of a more familiar silhouette, but the people might have accused Triumph of conservative ‘same old, same old’ so the company couldn’t really win. But what did happen was that later versions of the T150/ T160 Triumph Trident began to look a lot more like the circa 1970 Bonneville, which itself was clearly recognisable as being from the same line of Bonnevilles which arguably began in 1960, with the first twin front downtube frame, the replacement for the 1959 launch season Bonneville’s single downtube version – visually the removal of Triumph’s first year Bonneville nacelle did more to change the visuals (from 1950s to 1960s in an instant) than the frame swap. Gerry decided to follow his own course of action and make his T140 look as he fancied – which was as that first of the quicklydetachable headlight Bonnevilles. A man employed in the printing business, he overlaid a picture of a 1960-62 era pre-unit T120 onto a photograph of a T140,

Rev counter and speedo are straight from the 1960s.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

The legendary nimbleness and sweet handling is in no way diminished.

like the one he had in his garage. From there he noted and plotted how and where everything fell, and set about making a plan so that his T140 was adapted to carry what was, effectively, the T120 silhouette. Once he’d decided what needed doing, it was to time to make it reality in metal... and glass fibre – which was the product used to make the ‘oil tank’ (the T140 oil is carried in its frame) – and toolbox, basically just copies of those found on the T120. The rear subframe was significantly modified (and shortened too) while proper pattern T120 mudguards were carefully altered to fit. The petrol tank was crafted from a proper T120 one, with the bottom and middle cut out and reshaped to go over the T140’s frame. A T120 seat was also altered so that it fitted, which with the handlebars and the angle of the clocks, meant that the T120 silhouette which Gerry was pursuing was followed carefully and closely. On climbing on board, the T140 feels more like a T120, though a slightly bigger version – a check later reveals that a standard T140 seat height is 31.7in and a T120 30.5in and despite the modified subframe and T120 seat, this one does feel a little taller in the saddle than the original Triumph. The bars are quite narrow, but the view down – with Triumph parcel grid – is very much late 1950s/early 1960s. Starting was a painless affair, ignition on and a good kick firing up the 1960s tribute act. It sounded fabulous too, a lovely rasping exhaust note urging me to get going.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

One of Gerry’s modifications is to switch the gear change to the right-hand side, which contributes to the classic feel of the Triumph, while at the first opportunity to try the brakes, the ‘modernity’ is underlined; Gerry has these nicely set, with good braking an absolute asset. How does it go? Very well indeed, once again providing a reminder of just how nice T140s are to ride (for that is, after all, what this one really is). That typical Triumphant acceleration is present and correct, the twin cylinder engine pulling brilliantly, the rev counter needle positively shooting round. The five-speed gearbox was a delight, likewise the brakes and suspension. The ‘flat’ handelbars provided a nice riding position, and though I was aware I wasn’t on a 1960s Bonneville, it did feel ‘older’ than most T140s, somehow. I thoroughly enjoyed my ride, disappearing for longer than I’d meant as I was relishing it. This ‘retro’ take is interesting in so many ways, providing what is clearly an ‘old bike’ though with many elements that make it easier/nicer to ride in modern conditions. While a modern Hinckley Bonneville is, without question, a modern motorcycle, with the sanitisation that comes with that, this one is still unmistakably an ‘oldie,’ complete with a slight vibration tingle and possessed of that factor which some say the new generation Bonnies lack – character. So although this isn’t a machine as it seems, it’s a lovely compromise and, visually, a End superb illusion.

Gerry Cain – aka the Illusionist!

The 744cc engine has been subtly tweaked and carefully put together. It’s a joy to sample.

Modiﬁed T120 petrol tank is the machine’s crowning glory.

•Luca s •Am a l•Hep olit e•Renold 5 00/65 0/75 0 Unit Twins /T rip les OPEN :2 p m -6.30p m Da ily-Ca llers bya p p oint m ent only FOR M AILORDERS & EN Q UIRIES.N O VAT T EL/FAX Felixs t owe 01 3 9 4 2 7 9 9 2 9 E-m a il:s a les @ t 8 t s .co.uk W ebs it e:www.t 8 t s .co.uk

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Local he ero

This little James has never left the are ea in which it was bought when new, serrving several owners, just a few miles apartt, well. Words: ANDY WESTLAKE Photographs: GARY CHAP PMAN

n 1958 the hula-hoop was invented, rock star Elvis Presley topped the charts with ‘Jailhouse Rock,’ Wolves won English football’s first division and in the UK the price of an average house was £2390. Young TV viewers saw the launch of Blue Peter, or if you were a budding motorcyclist the weekly press was full of the launch of the new Ariel Leader two-stroke twin and BSA’s single-cylinder C15. Some buyers’ aspirations of personal transport were slightly more modest and down at Pankhurst Motorcycles in Weymouth on May 23, 1958, Elwin Graham handed over his £101-13s-7d and took charge of a brand new 150cc James Cadet. Elwin can’t have imagined that 60 years on, his James would still be running with just over 13,000 miles showing on the clock, and that four owners later it would still be in Dorset, the county where it was first registered. Still in its original red and grey livery, the little James is now owned by West Country enthusiast Ron Axon, a man who has been motorcycling for more than 70 years and one who loves unrestored machines. The Cadet is now part of an impressive collection of British and Japanese bikes that have come Ron’s way, although most of them have cost little money – he was actually given the 150cc two-stroke 20 years ago. Before we hear from him about how he acquired the Cadet, perhaps it’s time to reflect on the launch of the new model in 1956. From the James factory at Greet in Birmingham the first Cadet had appeared in 1950. This version continued until 1953 when it was replaced by a utility model, numbered J5, powered by a Villiers 13D engine featuring a new frame with plunger rear suspension and simple telescopic front forks using springs as the suspension medium, while for those who wanted a bit more luxury there was also a deluxe version that offered a dual seat as an optional extra. In 1955 the J5 was replaced by the J15 but the only real change was that the larger 30C engine was fitted, although there were also alterations to the handlebar fixings and the headlamp shell, which was lengthened to take the speedometer, lighting switch and ammeter. Like the rest of the James range, the Cadet was also fitted with full width brake hubs but

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

James | CCadet

“The mileage of 13,422 is totally genuine.” 1

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it had to wait until the following year when the new model – similar to the one we have on test – appeared. The design team at the south Birmingham factory had come up with a new frame built from tubes and pressings, with the rear swinging arm controlled by a pair of forward mounted springs hidden by the centre enclosure and covered by the deeply valanced rear mudguard – one that to the casual modern observer looks a bit like a monoshock rear suspension system. In addition, the lightweight stroker was also fitted with a new set of telescopic forks with tension springs and compression oil damping and a very quiet alloy expansion chamber mounted beneath the gearbox with twin tailpipes. A single rider’s seat went on top of the rear enclosure panelling and for those wishing to take a passenger, an extra seat and pillion rests could be added to the 150cc single. Such a machine was put through a lengthy road test by Motor Cycling in April 1956 and it lavished plenty of praise on the Greet company’s new arrival. The following is a precis of some of their remarks… “The concept of the beam-cum-pressed-steel frame and the highly efficient silencer shows progressive outlook; redesigned too are the front and rear assemblies… Undoubtedly the advanced layout of the Cadet’s silencing system has brought the machine into line with many continental two-strokes now renowned for a quiet exhaust tone… Appealing to the eye, the deep rear mudguard forms an extension of the centre section to which it is bolted and sweeps in a graceful arc over the back wheel… The result is very clean lines blemished by clipped-on accessories. The black and red bi-chrome seat was supple and comfortable.” They were equally complimentary regarding the bike’s impeccable starting – described it as ‘of the highest order’ – and also the braking, though there was some criticism of the gear ratios on the three speed box. “During city trips first gear seemed too low and resulted in over-revving and, conversely, second seemed rather high. Inevitably, this resulted in frequent ‘cog swapping.’ The top gear in the three-speed box was usually selected at 36mph but steady acceleration, free from transmission snatch, was forthcoming from 22mph… Cruising speed in the region of 45mph was employed regularly and, fully run-in, the Cadet’s near maximum speed of 50mph could be held without distress to the power unit.” They summed up their road test of the little James by saying… “Light to handle, easily manoeuvrable and having sufficient nippiness to see it through congested city streets with minimum time wastage, the Cadet ranks high as a means of daily transport.” In 1957 the Cadet was fitted with a conventional

1: Ron Axon is only keeper number ﬁve; owner four’s widow gifted it to him, even having it delivered! 2: The Villiers 30C, of 147cc, was a typical 1950s commuter unit. 3: Where are the suspension units? The rear cowling gives a modern look to the back end. 4: The head and barrel showed little sign of wear when taken off for a check.

James | CCadet

silencer system and also lowered gearing; the same specification featured on the red and maroon example – LTK 34 – which first hit the roads the following year. In south Dorset there are few city roads to negotiate but as Ron has discovered the James was certainly used as a daily workhorse by all of its previous owners. He takes up the story... “From the day I rode my first bike in 1946 – a 1935 Blue Star – I’ve owned and ridden all sorts of machines and running my own car repair business, I got to know many of the local motorcyclists. “The previous owner of the Cadet was a chap by the name of James (always known as Jimmy) Mann who lived next to the Swanage railway line and worked as a miner in the nearby Creech Grange clay works. Jimmy – a Scotsman – had spent the war years training aircraft gunners in Canada but, on the cessation of the hostilities, he met his wife and moved

Above: The opportunity to enjoy the scenery is afforded by the James’ modest performance.

to Dorset, where he got a job working in the clay mine. “After the original owner, Elwin Graham, sold the bike back to Pankhurst motorcycles, all of the next three keepers (Reginald Gates, Paul Green and Jimmy Mann) lived and worked in the village of Creech, so the bike was only used to go a couple of miles to the clay works and, as far as I’m aware, the mileage of 13,442 is absolutely genuine. “I’m not sure when Jimmy took it off the road – the clay works closed in 1999 – but my guess is that it hadn’t seen any action for many years and when Jimmy died, his widow contacted me and asked if I would like his old bike. She wanted it to go to a good home, steadfastly refused any payment for it and even got her son to deliver it to my garage. “Although during my motorcycling career most of my bikes have been four-strokes, the Cadet is my second James; I had my first was during the Suez crisis in 1956 when my wife Tib and I had a pair of

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Elwin Graham handed over his £101-13s-7d in May 1958 for his brand-new James.

FINER DETAILS

1958 James Cadet ENGINE Villiers 30C air-cooled single-cylinder two stroke CAPACITY 147cc BORE 62mm STROKE 55mm COMP RATIO 8:3.1 POWER OUTPUT 5½bhp@4250rpm GEARBOX Three-speed foot change CARBURETTOR Villiers S19 IGNITION Six-volt SUSPENSION Front lightweight telescopic; rear twin shock BRAKES Front 4in; rear 5in TYRES 3x18in PETROL TANK 2¼ gallons 24:1 petrol mix WEIGHT 185lb (84kg) TOP SPEED 50mph (est) PRICE £82 plus £19 13s 7d Purchase tax

98cc Comets – mine a deluxe model – which were our ride-to-work machines during the petrol rationing. “LTK 34 was a bit rough and ready so I treated it to some new hand-brushed paint but looking at the fasteners it was obvious that they were originals and it had had a very gentle life. I lifted the head and barrel and found that there was little or no wear, although at some time it had blown a head gasket and Jimmy had replaced it with one made out of cardboard! With this replaced by a new one – not made from cardboard – and the bodywork refitted a fresh mix of petroil saw it start first kick and tick over like a Swiss watch. “With other bikes to ride, my outings on the Cadet have been limited to a few miles around the local lanes. I quickly discovered that with its lowpowered 150cc engine and three-speed box it’s not a machine to take on modern traffic situations and for most of the years I’ve owned it, LTK has stood in my workshop virtually unused.” In fact, on the day I went to ride the Cadet, Ron had calculated it was probably the first time the James had been out on the road for the best part of 15 years but with the tyres inflated and new fuel in the tank, it only took one swing of the kick-starter to bring the little two-stroke chiming into life. The exhaust note – a subdued hum though the long silencer – is a reminder from my boyhood days when bikes like the James carried men past our door on their way to work at the local print factory. As its 150cc engine turns out a fairly measly 5½bhp it’s not a bike to set the pulse racing, but the motor was surprisingly torquey and, as we purred along the Dorset lanes, I was taken back to an era when the pace of life was slower and I found myself more aware and appreciative of the beautiful countryside. With top gear engaged the little Cadet was happy to bowl

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along at around 45mph and although the suspension is rudimentary – over bumps it was a bit like riding a pogo stick – the single seat was surprisingly comfortable and the brakes more than up to bringing the 185lb (84kg) machine to a controlled halt. In its L15 guise, the Cadet would continue until 1960 when it was replaced by the L15A powered by the 150cc AMC engine and marketed under the name of the Flying Cadet. By the early 1960s Francis-Barnett had moved its production into the James factory and the L15A was changed to the model M15, the same as the Franny-B 95 with a different tank badge. With the industry falling on hard times the end was near and in October 1966 the last James rolled out of the Greet factory. In its day the Cadet offered cheap, reliable transport to many motorcyclists and today it still offers the same attributes for anyone looking for a small capacity classic – it’s a little gem and I returned from my ride to thank Ron with a big grin across End my face.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Stuck in the middle In between a host of plastic fantastic machines, a little Rex-Acme provides impetus for a fascinating tale to be told. Words: RACHAEL CLEGG Photographs: MORTONS/RACHAEL CLEGG

row of motorcycles on white plinths flanks an exhibition wall at this year’s Isle of Man TT. The machines include RS250 and RS125 Hondas, a 1000cc Padgetts 2012 Honda Fireblade Superstock racer and, also from Padgett’s, an ex-John McGuinness Honda CBR600. And then – somewhat incongruously – among the plastic covered modern machinery sits a 1923 250cc Blackburne-powered Rex-Acme. I put it there – smack bang in the middle of the show – because the story of this machine is one of intrigue, promise and ambition. What’s more, it is extremely rare: this Rex-Acme finished third in the 1923 Lightweight TT with a speed of 49.53mph and a finishing time of four hours, 34 minutes and 20 seconds. So at this year’s Bennetts/Rachael Clegg exhibition at the TT, the centre of attention was an elegant, exquisitely pretty, vintage Rex-Acme. Beetle-black and slightly sinister-looking, the machine features umpteen levers, dummy belt-rim

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Above: The TT podium Rex-Acme nestles in between later racers in Rachael Clegg’s 2018 TT exhibition.

brakes, a sprung single saddle and an outside flywheel engine in full working order, after being restored for the 1907 TT re-enactment in 2007. Its paintwork is in mint condition and the gold-painted ‘Rex-Acme’ logo is crystal clear. And in front of the machine stands a photograph of a gentleman and his podium-finishing Rex. Written across the photograph – in typical 1920s, whitepainted capitals – reads ‘DAVISON HALL ‘REX ACME’ - 3RD IN LIGHTWEIGHT TT RACES, 1923.’ His face is almost expressionless and his attire – typical of motorcycle racers from that era – is unfathomably flimsy for tackling 200 odd miles (with practice and the race) around the world’s most notorious racing course. But much like his expression, research into his name, and his machine, draws a blank. Davison Hall’s official TT entry on the database is ‘D’ Hall whereas in later years he was referred to as ‘Davy Hall.’ Information on the 250cc Rex-Acme is even harder to come by. The lightweight’s owner, Rupert Murden, explains:

Isle of Man M | Rex-Acmes

Above: Rex-Acmes on parade, at Banbury 2018. Tony Heyworth’s is nearest the camera, Malcolm White’s pair behind. Left: The handsome 1928 works RexAcme, with a Dougal Marchant designed ohc MAG engine. Below: Picture of ‘Davison Hall’ with his 1923 TT mount.

“There is very little information on this machine and added to that there has been some confusion as to the rider’s proper name; some people believed he had a double-barrel name while others got him mixed up with a fellow rider with the name of Davison. The whole thing is proving quite a mystery but I am determined to get to the bottom of it. “But we do know that it was a works Rex-Acme,” says Rupert, who bought the machine from a Sothebys auction in the 1990s. “And it was raced at the Isle of Man in 1923 and finished third. It has a registration number – HP 6005 – as racing machines were registered in those days. “I’ve had it for a long time,” he says. “But I’ve never actually ridden it. It was restored in time for the reenactment of the 1907 TT across the St John’s course but it hasn’t really been ridden since.” For this year’s TT, however, machine was returned

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to its spiritual home: Glencrutchery Road – the start of that very special stretch of 373/4 miles of road. But it’s also tragic, and somewhat ironic, that the Rex-Acme Lightweight class racer should return heree. Rex-Acme was defined and defeated, in part, by its focus on racing activity. After all, this was a marque that was technologicallyy cutting-edge from the 1900s to the late 1920s, no doubt, using competition at events such as the TT to help develop its machines. In 1919 one Motor Cycle journalist said: “Rex was one of the pioneer makes which did so much to develop the industry at a time when it appeared to be in danger of becoming extinct by the apathy of manufacturers in 1904.” Indeed, the marque’s innovations included telescopic forks and rotary valve engines – not insignificant developments for a motorcycle manufacturer at the turn of the century. Rex began in Birmingham in 1899 as makers of motor cars and in 1900 the company moved into new headquarters in Coventry. But the marque did more than simply move premises: they also moved into a new market, that of the motorcycle. At the 1900 National Show, Crystal Palace, Rex launched a 13/4hp motorcycle. This machine, despite its relative infancy, was the only one at the show capable of climbing the hill at Crystal Palace without pedal assistance. Rex was certainly on an upward trajectory and in 1907 it entered the inaugural TT races with Billy

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Below: Riders lined up for the start of the 1923 Lightweight TT. Rider number 33 is Davison Hall.

Heaton in the saddle, who rode the twin-cylinder machine to third place in its class. And following Billy’s success the marque went on to clock-up racing accolades on a regular basis, predominantly at the TT and at Brooklands. As Rex’s machines got bigger and better, so too did d its business empire: the company expanded and bought b out its Coventry factory next door neighbour, the t Acme Motor Company. This was the marque whose w motorcycles were advertised as ‘the machine of o no regrets’ and in 1921 – presumably without any reegrets – Rex became ‘Rex-Acme.’ And from 1922, all its machines used proprietary en ngines including the 170cc Aza two-stroke to the 2550cc and 350cc ohv Blackburnes, to 293 and 550cc side-valve i JAPs. There is scant information on the 1923 model in the exhibition but a report in The Motor Cycle describes the 1922 model thus: “In appearance the new lightweight suggests a deluxe specification, and it would be difficult to point out any feature, either in design or finish, which could reasonably be improved were price a matter of much less consideration.” This suggests Rex-Acme was a maker of quality machines, and a testament to that comes from the

Isle of M Man | Rex-Acmes

Above: Rex-Acme’s main man. Wal Handley won two TTs in 1925’s races, the ﬁrst person to do so. This is after his Ultra Lightweight win.

VMCC’s Rex-Acme marque specialist Dave Jolly, who has clocked-up 70,000 miles on his Rex-Acme. He said: “I bought my 350cc Rex-Acme Speed King from a friend. The machine was found in the house of two brothers who lived like Victorians even in the 1980s. They had no electricity and the roof had collapsed in the shed, which was full of bikes. The house was stuffed with machines too but they lived in such poor conditions that a local farmer delivered them water every day. The strange thing was that they lived in a fairly affluent area in Nottingham – their neighbour even had a speed boat on the drive.” Despite abject living conditions, albeit in a posh area, with little in the way of insulation or dampproofing, the Speed King was reasonably wellpreserved. “I’ve ridden everywhere on that machine,” says Dave. “I even used to take it on long-distance camping trips.” These were machines built to last – not just one lifetime, but several. But back to HP6005, the 1923 250cc racer in the exhibition… HP6005 marks the tipping point just before the Rex-Acme marque really exploded. We know this particular machine was raced to an impressive

third place by ‘D’ Hall in 1923 but this podium achievement was soon to be overshadowed. Later that year the company would make the most significant human resources decision in its entire history when it signed up a young Brummy rider called Wal Handley. Handley was already signed to OK-Supreme motorcycles and had competed at the TT in 1922 but he had acquired a joke-like reputation in the press, not least because he made a wrong turn and rode in the opposite direction during his first practice session. Handley was plagued by mechanical set-backs – on race day in 1922 he achieved the fastest lap from a standing start but his incredible lead was cut short by a broken inlet valve. Further bad luck earned him the name ‘Unlucky Handley.’ But his talent was recognised nonetheless: he was awarded the Nisbet Shield by the ACU for his sheer grit and persistence in spite of technical adversity. Despite his joke moniker, Rex-Acme signed him up. For Rex-Acme, he was anything but unlucky. For starters, Handley won the 250cc Belgian GP race for Rex-Acme that year. It was a victory peppered with his signature finesse. Handley led the race to the finish line and as he crossed it the brass band broke into God Save the King, while Handley’s helpers came running over to congratulate him. That was, until they realised that the finish line was another 100 yards away. Quickly, Handley shoved on his crash helmet and finished the race – properly this time. He still won. The band were obliged to break into God Save the King once again. Within months of his appointment at Rex-Acme, Handley had achieved a flying five mile record at Brooklands of 79.94mph and a standing start 10 mile record of 78.42mph on his Dougal Marchant-tuned Rex-Acme. Then, at the 1925 TT came the biggie: Handley became the first rider to win two TTs in one week, the Ultra Lightweight (175cc) and the Junior TT. His Ultra Lightweight race time was 2.49.27.0 hours with a speed of 53.45mph and his Junior time was 3.28.56.4 with a speed of 65.02. But these were the roaring 1920s, and Wal Handley epitomised the era. He had a penchant for flying, was notorious for his wild riding and dabbled in racing cars. His dogged determination in racing echoed his experience in and attitude to life: Wal Handley’s father died when Wal was just nine years old. At 12 he left school in order to work a variety of jobs, including

Purposeful Rex-Acme TT racer; here, a 1924 350cc mount.

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junior tester and general helper at the OK-Supreme motorcycle factory. The boy done good: soon RexAcme would make him competitions manager of the firm and eventually director. And boy, was it a good move from Rex’s point of view. Handley had put Rex-Acme firmly on the map as a dependable speed machine. In its heyday of 1926, the company had 15 motorcycles in its catalogue, ranging from 172cc to 746cc. Handley worked for Rex Acme until 1928 and after

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Above: Living in the shadows – darkﬁnished Rex among the light coloured more modern motorcycles. Below: One of the riders who excelled on Rex-Acmes was Chris Staniland, pictured with tuner Wooly Worters.

he left the firm started to slide. Despite its racing prowess, the marque was struggling and these struggles were then exasperated by the 1929 Wall Street Crash, which led to one of the biggest global downturns in history. The Roaring Twenties had its roar snatched from it, as colossal speculative investments – much like those which caused the 2008 crash – meant one of the biggest financial disasters in economic history. Not even Handley’s tenacity could defeat that. Rex-Acme tried to introduce new models to its range to boost sales and eventually focused on racing-geared machinery, but this did not prevent its demise. If anything, the company started to disproportionately rely on bonuses from racing rewards while the business continued to slide. The day of the proprietary engine in racing was coming to the end too, as the likes of Norton, Velocette, Rudge, Sunbeam, Excelsior and New Imperial, all with their own engines, started to take over. In 1932 Rex-Acme was bought out by sidecar manufacturer Mills-Fulford only to drop motorcycle production in 1933. Sadly, that was the end of RexAcme. The dainty 250cc Rex-Acme in the exhibition is a potent zeitgeist of a marque at the brink of its shortlived peak. It’s a testament to Rex-Acme’s racing prowess and also a symbol of its downfall. All this history, in just one motorcycle on a plinth. But this is where the machine belongs: smack bang in the middle of the exhibition parallel to the place of its happiest memory, when it finished on the podium at the frontier of End Rex-Acme’s pinnacle.

Closer lo look | Road testing 1912-1938

Testing values Over 25 years ago, a multi machine road test of modern 600cc sports bikes published in a weekly made great play of one brand being dead in the water because it was 2mph off the pace of its main rivals… A trivial variance, but one which leads to the question: ‘Have road test performance ﬁgures always been paramount?’

Words: RICHARD ROSENTHAL Photographs: MORTONS ARCHIVE

ithin moments of stepping into any modern motorcycle show or dealership, you’ll often hear the question ‘How fast will it go, mate?’ or words to that effect and the sales team will display these vital statistics on every new machine. Often if buying a new motorcycle, we may be more interested in touring capabilities, comfort, handling, braking, steering, reliability, spares back-up and

maintenance schedules. While we won’t be interested in its ability to pull wheelies or scribe doughnuts, sooner or later we’ll ask its speed potential. Recently, two older enthusiasts viewing my son’s 1960 BSA A10 Golden Flash were overheard discussing speeds with one stating: “She’ll be good for the ton.” Speed was clearly a consideration to them and a glance at the 1950s road tests of their youth confirm speed figures – including outright and through the gears –

were regularly quoted. But was this always the case? The slant of five weekly magazine road tests from the Blue Un and Green Un were chosen at random – well, sort of – covering the period 1912-1938. To add extra interest, rather than pick tests of better known models, the products of four smaller makers – Calcott, Martinsyde, AJW and Zenith – were chosen, along with a late example New Imperial, because your scribe is biased.

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Lightweight Calcott, The Motor Cycle – April 11, 1912 There was a gentlemanly introduction to this road test: “A few days ago we received an invitation from Calcott Bros Ltd., Coventry to have a short trial on one of their lightweights.” Newcomers to the motorcycle manufacturing game, Calcott Bros had quietly unveiled their first machine in 1910 and the road test model, rated initially 2¼HP, was displayed at the autumn 1911 London Show, fitted with their own manufacture 237cc side-valve engine. In April 1912, the Coventry maker supplied The Motor Cycle’s tester with a 2¾HP version, with an enlarged 292cc engine. Devoid of clutch, variable gear system or free engine facility, the test motorcycle was fitted with pedals for starting and for light pedal assistance (LPA) on steep hills. While Calcott Bros designed and built its engine, the magazine scribe noted its frame ‘follows standard lines,’ which was true as it was assembled using proprietary lugs and other components (possibly supplied by Chater Lea or Sun Cycle and Fittings) and fitted with Druid side sprung girder front fork. Other proprietary parts included the fuel tank with oil compartment, wheels, Bosch open magneto and Brown and Barlow carburettor. The tester, accompanied by a Calcott employee riding a similar machine, left Coventry for Warmington Hill. “With a view to proving the speed capabilities of the little machine it wasn’t spared on the somewhat undulating road via Warwick and Gaydon Inn to the foot of the hill” with the writer adding he’d covered 24 miles in an hour. Not outright speed testing, but his intent is clear. Almost since the advent of car and motorcycle manufacture, Midlands’ factory testers, along with magazine staff and others, were attracted to the Edge Hill range. Considering the Lightweight’s moderate power the tester wisely chose (or was perhaps steered by the factory employee…) to attempt

Coventry ﬁrm Calcott made its own sidevalve engine.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

The Lightweight Calcott, with direct drive and the provision for ‘LPA.’

Warmington Hill rather than attempt the more intimidating Sunrising Hill. And other than brief LPA near the church, the Calcott ascended the entire climb carrying its 13 stone rider without further assistance. Late in the day, the Lightweight Calcott was returned where ‘someone’ found the time to inform the magazine writer a similar machine with its adjustable engine belt pulley set at the lowest ratio ‘…had taken 30 stones over the well-known Coventry test hill at Stoneleigh.’ An extravagant claim perhaps, but underlines that hill climbing had as least as much value, if not more, to makers, testers and private enthusiasts, as speed.

Martinsyde 496cc V-twin, The Motor Cycle – June 22, 1922

Built by the aircraft maker Martin and Handasyde of Maybury Hill, Woking, the 496cc V-twin test model, with its unusual mechanical overhead exhaust valve over side inlet valve engine and fittingly graced with silhouette transfers of an aircraft on its tank, was built for hard work at speed. The test machine, weighing 290lbs, was fitted with hefty 3/8in chain transmission, three-speed AJS type hand change gearbox with clutch and kick-starter, AMAC two-lever carburettor, dummy rim brakes to both wheels and drip feed total loss lubrication.

Martinsyde was a name formed by amalgamating the two makers’ names, ‘Martin’ and ‘Handasyde.’

On test, the Martinsyde covered 400 vibration free miles. ‘Fast, silent and reliable’ was how the test concluded.

Closer lo look | Road testing 1912-1938

Above: AJW at speed – though the ﬁrm supplied its own test rider for the high-speed runs.

The tester enjoyed almost 400 fascinating miles on the 3½HP Martinsyde. He enjoyed its absence of vibration and transmission shock absorber, clutch and clearly revelled in the engine’s exhaust note on acceleration. These, combined with other virtues, made him wonder if his self-confessed devotion to sporting singles was a little prejudiced. Against this background, he then waded straight into its speed attributes. “A twin of any sort has certain unquestioned advantages over the single, advantages which particularly apply when the engine is of the high efficiency, hefty type. No 60mph chain driven ‘one lunger’ is pleasant to drive at lower speeds unless very well designed transmission shock absorbers forms part of its equipment.” That set the bar and later he extolled the Martinsyde’s lack of vibration at 50mph but then lightly chided the model’s tremor felt at speeds over 50mph to maximum ‘in the neighbourhood of its elusive mile a minute’ maximum gait. Although not timed, speed testing – again as with the Calcott feature – illustrates the tester’s intent. Further facts and figures hidden in the copy confirms a 75-80mpg fuel consumption ridden hard and good hill climbing abilities with its low ratio enough in reserve to ascend a freak one-in-three climb. In his final summary, the scribe penned: “Fast, silent and reliable.”

Right: Lovely control plan illustration for the big AJW.

AJW 996cc Two-Port Sports, The Motor Cycle – July 26, 1928

The writer’s closing summary paragraph best summarises his testing values perfectly. “To sum-up, the double port 996cc AJW as a high speed sporting machine gives a remarkable performance, a low fuel consumption and great comfort.” Or does it? Priced at £145 ex works and devoid of lights and horn, this out and out sports motorcycle, weighing 420lbs dry was built by the AJW Motor Co, Friernhay Street, Exeter, using a proprietary 996cc ohv V-twin Summit engine, nine-inch Enfield sls drum brakes to both wheels, Jardine four-speed gearbox and Binks two-lever carburettor. Extras fitted to the test model included a Miller dynamo with lighting kit, horn and speedometer. In what was an extensive test, The Motor Cycle’s writer used the big AJW for high speed touring, along country lanes, during trials and commuting through London traffic to the magazine’s Tudor Street office. While one wouldn’t expect the long stroke 78x104mm V-twin to be as powerful as an ohv JAP JTOR or KTOR racing V-twin engine, reading between the lines the tester was deliberately avoiding an outright speed capability, stating: “With its top gear ratio of 4¼ to 1 the 996cc double port sports AJW at 50mph gives the rider the impression that he is pottering and it’s not until a speed of nearly 70mph is reached that the big Summit begins to feel at work.” Later he states the machine

accelerates from a standing start to 70mph within a few hundred yards and that with 78mph showing on the speedometer, the AJW is still accelerating. True, these are high speeds in the late vintage period, but equally within the capabilities of a 500cc single cylinder Model 18 Norton, TT Model 90 Sunbeam or others. And at every available opportunity testers, observers, owners and the makers themselves didn’t waste a single opportunity in reminding the world of the late-1920s ohv V-twin 1000cc JAP-powered Brough Superior SS100 or ohv Coventry Eagle Flying Eights 100mph top speed. However, from his repeated references to speed, it was important for the tester to include these references.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

The 747cc side-valve JAP power plant of the Zenith V-twin.

For the rest the scribe found that 70mpg was possible if speeds were pegged to 40mph, the hand gear change lever could only be worked with his foot between third and fourth gears and stretching was required to engage some gears by hand while the absence of a gear change gate made selection tricky. These traits, plus the fact that the lever fouled his leg in certain positions, annoyed our scribe, as did the positioning of the rear brake lever and operation of the front lever. And the criticism didn’t stop there as sometimes the engine took ‘several minutes [of] hard work’ from cold to start and once going it was mechanically noisy with a loud exhaust note. As the tester referred to its speed potential without giving precise figures more than once and the criticism levelled at gear change control, brakes and noise, one must assume the writer was being as critical and honest as he could. And he tellingly hadn’t mentioned in the feature’s text that much of the speed work for standing start assessment, top speed and the high speed photography was undertaken on the Mamhead Straight, Haldon Moor, Devon by AJW’s part-time tester Harry Marks…

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Zenith 750cc V-twin, The Motor Cycle – June 22, 1933 Four years later, The Motor Cycle tester gave a no-holds-barred assessment of the 747cc side-valve JAP-powered Zenith, which it came out of well. While many small volume motorcycle makers survived on a hand to mouth basis (unless manufacture was a sideline to another far more profitable trade) Zenith’s financial state had been even more parlous two years before this machine was built. By the close of 1930 Zenith, then of Hampton Court, were out of funds and motorcycle production had ended. That should have been that, except established South London motorcycle dealers Writers of Kennington took over and restarted production in the summer of 1931, with initially a reduced range to which they soon expanded. The original Zenith factory included a 747cc side-valve V-twin JAP powered model in their range and Writers continued with this machine when they restarted Zenith production. A standard version remained until into the 1936 season and a de-luxe version ran from 1932 until the outbreak of the Second World War.

The Motor Cycle’s tester was handed a brand-new machine for the feature. In deference to this, maximum speeds in the two lowest gears weren’t attempted but 42mph and 63mph were the recorded maximums in third and top gear respectively, figures he felt could be improved once the engine was run in. Obviously impressed he continued: “For a machine that has no pretensions to be a ‘racer’ the acceleration figures from 20 to 45mph were remarkably good; in third gear the time was 6.2 seconds and in top 8.8 seconds. In third the machine ‘jumped to it’ without the slightest hesitation.” No guarded comments here, but rather tell it as it is. The praise continued with just the odd adverse comment. At 35mph 57mpg was recorded while starting from hot was a first kick affair. However, from cold, care was needed setting the magneto ignition advance/retard lever; too much advance and the engine kicked back while too little was rewarded by enduring silence. The tester liked its Burman clutch, smooth even running and tickover, good handling (despite initial uncertainty considering the weight of the machine), effortless cruising at 40-45mph, near mechanical silence, quiet exhaust

Closer lo look | Road testing 1912-1938 note, comfort except for very short armed riders and effective coupled brakes. But the gear change and its requirement for precise changes fared less well. On a 1 in 8 section of a test hill with loose surface the machine acquitted itself well, accelerating away from stationary with ease, even in third gear. Many details such as the large Dunlop rubber saddle, adjustable footrest hangers and easily removable wheels were all noted. And, as the tester pointed out in his opening paragraph, despite the popularity of efficient ohv singles, there were (and are) plenty of riders who preferred the flexibility and effortless running of a big twin.

New Imperial 350cc Clubman Model 100, Motor Cycling – May 18, 1938

Ill fortune befell the road test Model 100 New Imperial earlier while partaking in the ACU observed test at Donington, when it broke a tappet, creating a small dose of mechanical mayhem – yet another piece of bad luck which was steadily bringing the Birmingham maker to its knees. Against a background of dwindling sales, Bob Foster scored New Imperial’s sixth IoM TT victory in the 1936 Lightweight race from H G Tyrell Smith (Excelsior) by over five minutes at a race speed of 74.28mph. Unfortunately, this was a brief sunny respite during an otherwise stormy finale for this great factory, as diminishing sales hit profitability, resulting in an ever-growing bank overdraft. Then founder Norman Downs, who’d been battling ill health for some time, died on August 18, 1936, aged 62. Earlier in the year his younger brother (not

Pillion testing with the New Imperial – comfort was praised.

associated with New Imperial since c1914) had died aged 56 from a heart attack. Cash-strapped, the factory ended racing support in 1936 although Les Archer provided a ray of hope in the 1937 IoM Lightweight race by finishing fourth, with fellow New Imp rider Jock Moore seventh. But still sales fell further and the overdraft grew. Then the mechanical failure at the aforementioned ACU observed test turned the screw further, as did some observations during the Motor Cycling tester’s feature. In

A top speed of 78mph was achieved with the New Imp Model 100.

spite of this, the 350cc machine produced more than respectable performance figures on test, proved itself an able pillion machine (with a young lady occupying the mudguardmounted seat) and was keenly priced. But at the end of the 1938 season sales had fallen by another 25% to 2427 machines and in November 1938 Lloyds Bank appointed a Receiver. And against this background Motor Cycling’s man performed his test, which, in hindsight, may appear rather akin to the factory’s last rites. Yet overall this was a fast, modestly priced 350cc machine, offering the comfort of a fully sprung frame giving rarely experienced at the time comfort to both rider and pillion passenger. Performance wise, the Model 100 gave 45mph in second gear, 60 in third and a 78mph maximum. Using both brakes, the New Imp stopped from 30mph in 33.5ft and returned an average of 74mpg in town allied with 81mpg in the country. It used negligible oil during the test. Overall, the scribe liked the handling both solo and two-up, the steering and performance, though, while finding the comfort outstanding, he didn’t like its valve gear noise and although the foot change gear system was positive it required too much effort in his opinion. But modest price of £63-10s for such a well-equipped machine earned an overall thumbs-up. As if to underline the importance of performance figures, by this time Motor Cycling had introduced their famous acceleration against time in seconds graph. With its segments shaded to indicate gear change points, this was a modern trend which underlined the publisher’s ever increasing focus on the test motorcycle’s performance regardless of its maker’s intended role for it. 

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Interview | Brian Crichton

A brief chat with...

BRIAN CRICHTON

chance discovery of a motorcycle newspaper being part of the publishing group a young Brian Crichton was working for set him on the path to being one of the most respected journalists in our field. There aren’t many readers of motorcycle papers or magazines who won’t have heard of Brian. Perhaps one or two will raise an eyebrow at his given name, but mention ‘Badger’ and the fog will clear. “That’s thanks to Bob Berry as in the days when he was editor of MCN he coined the nickname and it’s stuck,” he grinned when asked about it. Brian goes on to say it can be a good thing to have such a nickname, as it

means people remember you. Brian has embraced all sorts of motorcycles and has plenty of first-hand experience of machines now regarded as classics, as well as the sporting side of the scene too. Having been involved in the motorcycle scene from 1965 onwards, it’s probably no surprise to learn that the decade closest to Brian’s heart is the 1960s. That’s when he learned to ride and those early experiences came in useful when he occupied the editor’s seat of this magazine for a year or three. Though now regarding himself as semi-retired, these days Brian is still involved in the industry, as he provides regular features for the British Dealer News – a trade publication – and several other titles here and there, plus helping out with the local scrambles club where we caught up with him.

Classic life What is your full name and how old are you? Brian George Crichton and I will be 70 next year. Where do you hail from? I was born in Manchester but brought up in Newmarket, Suffolk. My father George was involved with horses – in Manchester on the railways, and in Newmarket in the horse race industry, at one time as a jockey. You’re widely known as a journalist in the motorcycle field but is journalism what you’ve always done? No, I didn’t enter journalism until I was 20. Before that my jobs included working at Butlins, the Eastern Electricity Board and on a farm. In 1969 I joined the Newmarket Journal as trainee reporter. When I discovered Motor Cycle News was in the same group – EMAP – I was mad keen to be involved. When I secured an interview with MCN, based in Kettering, Northamptonshire, in 1971, I was riding a slightly customised, Easy Rider-influenced BSA A7SS and working at the Wisbech Advertiser in Cambridgeshire, just round the corner from Mick Walker’s first motorcycle shop. I joined MCN in September that year and have stayed in journalism, working for a variety of motorcycle and car titles, both as an employee and as a freelance. Now I am semi-retired, maintaining a strong link with my last employer, Mayo Media, the publisher of British Dealer News. I’m also involved with the AJS and Matchless Owners’ Club magazine, helping with the local scramble and all sorts of other activities that keep me busy all the time. You were at one time editor of this publication and have been involved with classic titles for many years, how has the old bike scene evolved during this time? Yes, I was editor of TCM from 1996-1999. The way I see it the classic scene was given instant currency by the first edition of Classic Bike magazine in 1978. This established the classic bike movement as a national scene providing a platform for discussion and development. The first Classic Bike Show, organised by Alan Whitehead in 1980, gave the scene further depth and impetus. Since then the scene has mushroomed and matured. If you were aged 40 at the time you are now 80 and, as a consequence, likely to be less active on two-wheels. But from what I’ve seen and experienced, age doesn’t diminish the enthusiasm. As a rough rule of thumb I think nostalgia kicks in at about the age of 40. Hence the Japanese bike interest today. It is obvious you’re as besotted with motorcycles as the rest of us, but how did you become involved with these often exasperating machines? In the 1960s my family generally regarded the motorcycle and those who rode them as trouble. My father never owned any form of powered transport. A friend at school, Ross Law, offered me a ride on his

Brian with motocross star Andy Roberton.

125cc BSA Bantam. That little Bantam, in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, opened up a new world for me. It was such a thrill. What was your first motorcycle and when did you pass your test? After Ross’s Bantam I started saving for my own bike, buying a second-hand 75cc Bianchi Gardena two-stroke. This was followed by a BSA C11G. I passed my test on a borrowed Triumph Tiger Cub when I was 16 or 17. I have always had a motorcycle. Is there anyone who has been a great influence on your motorcycling career and maybe your journalism career too? When I joined MCN Mike Nicks was deputy editor. He had worked for an American bike magazine, Cycle World, I think. He told me how the American riders got such good performance figures by dropping the clutch instantly for standing start acceleration tests and with one hand on the fork leg for top speed runs. I tried these techniques and for a period I was the fastest tester on MCN. Speaking about your motorcycling, are you a practical hands-on enthusiast? Yes, I like to think I am, though I have my limitations, which include making things. I do my own maintenance and I like working on bikes. I am reasonably good at thinking up a solution to get me home if possible using string and wire so to speak. I don’t like leaving a bike anywhere on the road. In some respects I subscribe to the Titch Allen school of ‘bodges’ to get me home, and then put it right in the garage. I seem to recall you being involved in tuning a Suzuki X7 for sprinting to find out what worked and what didn’t. Yes, with Suzuki X7 two-stroke twins I took five UK speed records, plus six on a 250 LC Yamaha I bought new to go production road racing. The Suzukis were second-hand. The tuning credit has to go to Dave Walker, former technical editor of Motorcycle Mechanics and The Biker. Dave was

keen to be involved and today runs his own mainly car engine tuning business, Emerald Engines, in Watton, Norfolk. When I was there in 2017 he had the current UK sidecar grasstrack champion’s outfit on his dynamometer. There were pics of you blasting the X7 along a sprint track but have you tried other motorcycle sports? As well as sprints, records, drags and road races I also did a season of trail bike scrambling, rode in a couple of enduros, two scrambles and a handful of fun trials, at which I am useless. I only ever did two full seasons of club racing. Is there a particular era of motorcycling you prefer over others? I like the 1960s. There were so many exotic works road racers about, such as Agostini’s works MV three. The noises the bikes made! Hearing Hailwood on the works Honda fours and sixes at full noise and Agostini on the works MVs still sends shivers down my spine. And the roar of the G50 Matchless and AJS 7R single being warmed up in the paddock, Manx Nortons flat out and so on. They were great days. A question I always ask in interviews is ‘what’s your favourite motorcycle of all time whether you’ve owned one or not?’ My favourite is more or less the last one I saw or rode. I still love British twins and singles and am happy on little bikes, any bike really. But you want me to give an answer – Honda CB1100R, 1981. I was truly impressed by this bike at the time. It had a big tank, so it could be ridden as a tourer. It was comfortable and predictable. On the short straight at the MIRA proving ground I got it up to 150mph. What a bike for its time. But it won’t run on diesel. We were riding back from Monte Carlo in 1981 with Honda on a variety of new models and the late Japanese journalist Yuri, a lovely bloke, filled it up with diesel by mistake in France. I felt sorry for Yuri, but you had to laugh. My favourite bike? Hmm. On reflection, that’s the 1960s Dunstall Norton 650SS twin... End here I go again.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Men who mattered | Luigi Taveri

LU I G I

TAV E R I

Young Luigi was keen, but cash was short, so he funded his racing by working on machines in return for the loan of them to go racing.

orn into a motorcycling family of Italian-Swiss heritage on September 29, 1929 in Horgen, Zurich, Switzerland, Luigi Taveri didn’t suffer family disapproval when he announced he wanted to go motorcycle racing; on the contrary, he was encouraged by both his father and brother Hans, 16 years his senior. In fact, Luigi’s first taste of competitive action, in 1947, was as passenger to Hans on his 500cc Husqvarna V-twin sidecar outfit, used for both road racing and grasstracks. On the same machine, stripped of its chair, Luigi made his solo road racing debut in 1948, though with the sidecar reattached he was back as ballast for his older brother – their most notable success was defeating sidecar star Eric Oliver at a Zurich hill climb in 1949, the same year Oliver became the inaugural world champion. Young Luigi was keen, but cash was short, so he funded his racing by working on machines in return for the loan of them to go racing. His rides varied immensely, from a 250cc DOHC Parilla to a 500cc BMW flat-twin. In 1953 he had his big breakthrough – pulling together the necessary money, he bought a Mk.VIII KTT Velocette, which although not new, was still competitive, so much so that Luigi became Swiss 350cc champion. Hans (a motorcycle dealer) was impressed and for 1954 he bought his little brother a new AJS 7R while Luigi acquired a 500cc Manx Norton. He also travelled to Argentina to race, demonstrating his love of a challenge. Luigi’s star was now rapidly in the ascendancy and for the 1954 Italian GP he was drafted into the works MV team, on a 500cc four, after having given works MV star Nello Pagani an earlier beating on his privateer Manx. A fourth place finish at the French GP on the same Norton was impressive, too. He had a few more outings on the big MV but it didn’t come to much, though he was also given a try on a 125cc MV single, which proved more to his liking. The upshot was that he went into the 1955 GP season looking a strong contender for the 125cc crown with a win at the opening round in the Spanish GP the ideal start. But he hadn’t accounted for the fact that he wasn’t an Italian in an Italian team. He always reckoned that the Italian riders, in particular

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Carlo Ubbiali, were given superior machinery. Taveri was not the first or last to come to such a conclusion. So three years on, MVs (1955, 1956 and 1957) yielded only three more GP wins and no world title, with his best performances three second-place finishes in the title chases (1955 and 1957 125cc, 1956 250cc). It was good, but not outstanding. Taveri’s confidence was now at a low ebb, though a move to Ducati, to ride Fabio Taglioni’s Desmodromic racers, provided a restorative tonic, with another year, 1959, on an MZ twostoke also encouraging. An invitation to rejoin the MV fold for 1960 was forthcoming and, despite what had gone before, the MVs were still the bikes to beat. But it wasn’t a fairytale return, with a trio of third places (including at the 125cc TT) the best he managed and then, at the year’s end, MV quit the smaller capacity classes. Taveri looked like he’d retire too. Enter Mrs Taveri, Tilde. She and Luigi had been married in 1955 and they’d known each other for many years before Luigi started racing. She knew that Luigi had talent, a desire to keep racing… and unfinished business. It was she who approached Honda and asked for Luigi to be given a trial. It was the beginning of his happiest and most successful racing years. Over the new six years he was to claim three 125cc world championships for Honda – the first in 1962 on a twin, winning six GPs that year, the second in 1964 on a four (five wins) and the final one, in 1966, on the exquisite five-cylinder, 22,000rpm RC148 racer, again with five GP wins, while he was also twice a runner-up (1963 125cc and 1965 50cc). During that time he won 26 GP races on Hondas and such was his standing with the firm (and in particular its funder Soichiro Honda), that on his retirement at the end of 1966 he was gifted the 125cc five and a 250cc four. After he finished racing, Taveri built up a useful panel-beating and paintwork car repair business in Samstagern, Zurich, though he remained involved in motorcycling at all sorts of historic events. He also served for 20 years as a ‘chauffeur’ to backward facing photographers on the annual Tour de Suisse cycle race. Luigi Taveri died on March 1, 2018 aged 88. Tilde End and he had two children, Bianca, and a son, Luigi junior.

Classic life

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Rebuild | Triumph unit twin

Beingadaptableisamust If restoration was easy, everyone would do it… wouldn’t they?...

Most of the engine bits are stored like this and have sub-containers with related assemblies.

to work on one bike, the others have to be ne of the best qualities an out of the way. amateur restorer can have is So, my own theory is while it’s nice to adaptability… when something have a plan of work to do before heading goes wrong or a minor hiccup occurs into the workshop, remain adaptable and the adaptable person can then smile when presented with the horrors clear in and circumvent the problems. Or at least pretend that’s the way it’s going to happen… these pictures, a different tack can be taken. The other day, I was battering one of the other bikes in my personal fleet against the Change of plan tougher bits of the Highlands in the recent Last issue, the bottom end was dealt with Pre-65 Scottish two-day trial and after the and everything all cleaned out, some thread first day was doing a bit of minor fettling. As issues rectified and new bits acquired. ever in such circumstances, a few ‘friends’ Other new bits had been found – packed in were on hand to offer ‘advice’ and during a different box to the one I thought… – and one such exchange it came to light one lad there is now a gasket set available. A quiet always has two projects on the go in his afternoon heating cases, dropping bearings garage at any one time. The theory being if in and slipping the crankshaft in place one goes awry he can just move on to the before fitting the pistons and sliding the other then the original problem sorts itself barrel on was envisaged... out – the example offered went thus… Hauling the barrel out of the crate “…I dropped a nut and couldn’t see showed this was not going to happen. In it anywhere, so moved on to the other case you’re not aware of the set up on a bike, next day the nut was clearly visible, Triumph twin, the barrels have a couple of caught in the space between the mag and tappet guide blocks pressed into the casting the engine…” – one for inlet, one for exhaust. These blocks Problem is, at the moment, I don’t have have two tappets in them which follow the the luxury of that kind of room and in order contours of the cams and open the valves

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– some refer to them as cam followers but Triumph call them tappets. It didn’t even need a close inspection to see these tappets were coated in rust and having acquired a modicum of common sense in recent years, waling in to them with a drift and a hammer wasn’t an option as all sorts of damage can occur with this method. Ignoring the seized tappets for a moment, I turned my attention to the bores which also needed cleaning up and given a light go with a cylinder hone, glaze buster or emery paper before a good clean in degreaser. Now, in stock is a pair of plus 20thou pistons for a T90, so I slipped them in the bore to see what they were like and, according to an engineering friend, a bus could be driven down the gap. Some more measuring showed the bore to be at 59mm diameter and checking the handbook shows this size bears no relation to any Triumph twin bore of standard or oversize piston. My first thought was ‘…someone’s bored it for Cub pistons’ a popular mod for getting a slightly bigger engine at one time but, no, 59mm is too small for Cub kit. Of course there will be a

Classic life

1: I hadn’t realised the head was this bad, or maybe I had and had forgotten. 2: Replacing ﬁns isn’t difﬁcult for those who can weld... I can’t.

3: Reason for this photo is to say watch the head of the valve, it may have a slight lip due to the hammering action of the rocker tip. This lip will ruin any clearance in the guide. 4: A lot of remedial work to be done.

5: Looking at the mating face there appears to have been a bit of blowby with the combustion chamber gas. A surface table will show if it is ﬂat or otherwise. 6: Not a huge inlet tract but then it’s not a high performance bike. 7: Once it’s stripped out I’ll try ﬁnd a wet blaster up here in Northumberland. 8: Initially the barrels didn’t look too bad…

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Rebuild | Triumph unit twin

A selection of bits awaiting use or repair.

piston out there which will fit and it isn’t unknown for those with access to things such as stationary engines or agricultural equipment to fit pistons close enough in diameter or even Japanese pistons. In order to find such pistons all that’s needed is the bore diameter and the gudgeon pin to piston crown height and someone with a catalogue.

A better option

This doesn’t get over the fact the pistons I have, which are in excellent order, won’t work in the original barrel of the 3TA engine. Luckily, there was somewhere in storage another barrel which, once found, measured up to the right size and the mists of time cleared when I recalled buying the barrel and pistons from a lad having a clear-out in Aberdeen. In another box was a cylinder head from the same source and the option not to have to use the one which came with the engine 20 years ago was suddenly the better option. I’ve not measured things yet on the head but it may well be a T90 head or at least a 3TA modified to such spec. In any case, the spare barrels and head are in better condition cosmetically and mechanically than the originals so using them will allow the originals to be repaired at some stage. Again, if you look at the photos, you’ll see the original head has some considerable fin damage which happened when it was being delivered to me via a courier who claimed it was ‘…okay when it left us, sir… click,

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brrrrrrrr…’ – maybe I should have pushed the matter but I didn’t. Some of the broken fins are available and if anyone out there fancies welding them back on I’m all ears. There’s also a lot of rust on bits and pieces plus carbon here there and everywhere, so I envisage more steeping in the parts washer. The barrel, however, is going to need careful attention as I don’t really want to press the tappets through their bores with the rust on and there’s not a lot of room to work to remove the rust. There are a number of other rust removal options including electrolytic removal – putting the rusty bits in a liquid and running a low electrical current through it with electrodes and whatnot – which is popular with tool restorers in a wood working magazine I take, then of course there’s a hot-tank caustic dipping procedure which may well be the option to go for as it not only removes the rust but paint too and leaves the base metal undamaged with the advantage of there being no blasting medium to contend with. Not sure if hot caustic dipping is good for alloy castings but maybe a hot detergent… Looking over the barrels I have to hand, the tapped guide block in one side is slightly out of line, sort of squint over to one side as though it’s turned in its housing slightly. This may or may not matter too much as the screwed peg which locates the block in the casting still screws in fully but it doesn’t seem right to me. Luckily, I have that handy block removal tool, aka the tappet block punch. Having in the past

broken a number of blocks by careless use of the tool, I settled on a slight tweak to it and fitted a couple of copper washers over the prongs which just deaden the blows slightly without affecting the force. The rocker boxes are also having a bit of attention as they too seem seized, or one of them is as the other was stripped out some time ago to clean it up – yes the bits are there, I know this because I can see them in a plastic storage box which has a lot of other stuff stacked on top of it at the moment.

Blasting required

Both rocker boxes are all cruddy inside and will need to be cleaned up which will likely be through aqua blasting or wet blasting which gives a pleasing finish on aluminium castings but means all the steel bits will have to come out. Rocker boxes on the smaller unit range are slightly different to the bigger machines and the pre-unit Triumph range. On the smaller ones the rocker oil feed is through the centre bolt fixing and has the oil unions running across the top to pump oil through a drilled bolt. I thought all was well as there are two bolts with each rocker box though rather than a drilling through the centre these have a relieved portion on the shank and bear no relation to any parts manual images… nor do I have any of the rocker feed oil lines and their nuts. To be fair, I only paid £90 for the engine in 1998, so perhaps I shouldn’t be too surprised at the condition.

Classic life 1

Gearing up

This issue’s feature was supposed to be about the gearbox and I did look at the cogs and shafts and unlike the rest of the bits in this engine they seem fine, even the bearing run in is okay – it’s going to be changed though to be safe. The gear change shaft though has had it, the splines are completely gone so unless there’s one in the other spares I have, something will have to be done. I’ve not checked to see if these are available or if there’s a repair similar to the one Mick Grant did for me on my B40 using a repair kit from Burton Bike Bits. Basically, Burton Bike Bits have had replacement shafts made and Mick bored one out, turned the original down and pressed the two together using engineering adhesive. The repair is superb.

Instant gratification

It would be so easy to send all the fasteners off to a plating shop to have them coated

in zinc but I want to wait until the bike is assembled and I know I’ve all the fasteners I need. Until then my timehonoured method is to fit a wire wheel to my bench grinder and remove rust. Yes, the bolts will eventually rust again but a smear of grease will keep them clear for the purposes of this budget rebuild. Over the years I’ve used this method – it still makes me smile to see a nice shiny bolt appear from the muck, it doesn’t take long to work, it isn’t difficult, maybe some creativity is needed to work on small parts and make sure if you drop something it will be easy to find as the wheel will throw them some distance. Work under-hand so if the bolt is snatched it will hit your safety boot rather than your safety glasses… you do wear safety boots and glasses when using such tools, don’t you? Wipe a grease impregnated cloth over the result and End it should last a wee while at least.

1: No broken bits… 2: but the rust on the tappet shafts has seized them in place… 3: … and care will have to be taken. 4: Luckily there are spares available. 5: If I come to remove the tappet blocks this tool is essential, the copper washers are my modification after breaking a block some years ago. 6: Hmmm yes, well… 7: Outside doesn’t look too bad… 8: The modded nut was in place of the oil feed banjo… the relieved shaft is in place of the drilled oil feed bolt. Can anyone confirm if this was a standard mod? I can’t find any reference to it in my literature. 9: It’s probably a reflection on my sad life that cleaning up rusty fasteners makes me smile… 10: …nor does it take long to do. 11: A hangover from last issue, the suspension mounting plates have been removed, flattened, rebrazed and blast cleaned. 12: They now look good.

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Classic life

Opinion | Roy Poynting

Restoration for show and go

The diversity of the classic motorcycle world means that a happy balance is struck and maintained.

IY restoration with the aim of creating a usable end product is a remarkably important aspect of the historic vehicle and similar movements. Few other hobbies seem to be anything like this, and as far as I know few anglers buy battered fishing rods which need refurbishment before being used, while I’m sure most knitters would prefer a new ball of wool to an unpicked cardigan. Philatelists simply look at undisturbed exhibits in an album, while collectors of old master paintings and teddy bears (to take two extreme examples) are unlikely to contemplate anything other than professional help if repairs are needed. Watchers of TV programmes concerning antiques will also be aware of the irony that their cherished Dinky toys are worth little if their paintwork is chipped, yet they are worth even less if repainted. When anything has a motor, though – whether it’s powered by fossil fuels, steam, water or even clockwork – something gets the restoration juices flowing. A scan through our former sister magazine Old Glory will show you traction engines, buses, stationary engines and lorries all back in working order and looking as good as new. Preserved steam railways invariably feature locomotives returned from the brink of oblivion by dedicated enthusiasts, while other devotees repair and operate tractors, military vehicles, fire engines and even sea-going ships. I guess all this is something to do with the fact that – apart from a bike or car bought as an investment, or one restored as a museum piece – vehicles are normally put on the road (or rail or sea) almost from day one, and as soon as that happens they inevitably become degraded in some way. So – unlike old paintings that have always been admired from afar or die-cast models that have never left their boxes – restoration in a minor sense is part of their existence from the start, even if it only involves oiling the chains and tightening the nuts. How essential – and practical – this is depends on the vehicle. Steam road rollers may appear absolutely stunning with their gleaming brasswork, but a glance at their soot and grease-encrusted drivers shows how much work is needed to get and keep them that way. Cars can similarly be kept looking immaculate with touch-up paint and polish; but peering at the mud under their wings quickly shows the results of actually using them. Steam-

Roy Poynting has been a regular contributor to The Classic MotorCycle since 1995 when he entered and won a writing competition. A veteran of many restorations, he continues to be an enthusiastic rider.

powered ships need even more attention to preserve their looks with steel hulls and salty sea water obviously not being the best companions, and even apparently pristine aeroplanes are subject to damage from bird-strikes, hail, etc. All these problems can obviously be overcome, but with trains and boats and planes (to quote Bacharach and David) restoration is a mammoth job involving battalions of people, pots of money and lots of organisation. Even with cars, full restoration is usually impractical for the amateur in his garage, especially if rust or the failure of routine maintenance calls for serious technical expertise. Luckily for us though, motorbikes – especially older ones – are a special case because of the way they are made and used. Since just about everything is on full view, they are very susceptible to visible cosmetic damage and degradation, yet the very accessibility of everything makes most repairs and refurbishment relatively straightforward. Also, unlike other forms of mechanised transport, bikes are man-sized and can be put up on a bench where you can access every working (and non-working) part without lying on your back or climbing stepladders. Moreover, you can do one thing at a time, so if you take off the non-mechanical parts for cosmetic attention or remove the engine and gearbox for mechanical repairs, you can still retain a rolling chassis which may be moved out of the way until required. And if you have the skill, confidence and blind optimism to strip the whole thing down to the last nut and bolt, it can be compacted into a couple of boxes and moved from house to house until (hopefully) resuscitated at a later date. Additionally, older bikes have the undoubted benefit to amateur restorers of being devoid of inscrutable black boxes, fuel injectors etc. We might not comprehend exactly how a carburettor or magneto does its job, but we definitely know what that job is! Is it any wonder restoration is such a prominent part of the old-bike game? Luckily, classic bike enthusiasts are a diverse bunch, so some are mainly interested in riding and are happy to rely on another bod’s restoration, while some of those lose interest once a bike is restored and are happy to pass it on to a person who will use it. Put End those folk together and you’ve got a win-win situation.

When anything has a motor, though – whether it’s powered by fossil fuels, steam, water or even clockwork – something gets the restoration juices ﬂowing. 78

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Classic life

Opinion | Jerry Thurston

One in, one out… With a motorcycle sold, its replacement is found in double quick time – though is rather similar to what went before…

he 1968 Montesa Cota had been sitting in the workshop unfinished for four years, the total riding time racked up on it was near zero and the guilt level had reached the point where I either had to get it finished and use it properly, or get it sold and use the money for something else that I would ride more. I was testing the water really, placing an advertisement on a ‘classics for sale’ site on the internet and to be honest I didn’t expect to get many calls as although it was sensibly priced considering all the restoration that had been done, it was still unfinished. If I sold it great, equally I was also happy to keep it and finish it properly. I got one call but that was all it needed. Some gentle negotiation and the next day it was in the back of a van and off to a new home. A chunk of the money was hived off to go towards another project and the rest could be to be used for its replacement. But what should I buy? I briefly toyed with the idea of a semi-modern road machine but soon dismissed this; I knew the amount I had would not buy anything decent and I’m not a big distance rider so why pay through the nose to insure something that would serve exactly the same purpose as the old CZ? Searching the internet and classifieds soon showed me what was on offer for my limited funds. Something British was my first choice but the amount I had to spend would hardly find me anything from one of the UK manufacturers, unless I fancied something like a BSA Bantam or James Comet, which I didn’t. A project machine was tempting, but as object of the exercise was to have something I could use, that notion was dismissed. Within my price range there were any amount of mid-sized 1980s Japanese machines and while I have no objection to Japanese motorcycles, I didn’t really want one of these either. Among the other machines I viewed there were also many trials bikes similar to the one I had just sold. Rather than dismissing them as been-there-done-that, instead I found myself strangely drawn to them. My original plan was to road register the Montesa and use it for a little gentle greenlaning – the more I thought about it, the more I realised that I still wanted to do this. Scrolling through the ranks of trials machines I

Jerry Thurston bought his first vintage motorcycle when he was 17. For a time he was The Classic MotorCycle advertising manager. Now 30 years on from buying his first old bike, Jerry still owns and loves them and is especially fond of fast, noisy flat-tankers.

stumbled across a scruffy Beamish Suzuki – it was a mess, but there was still something about it. I recalled something about these having a British-made frame but could not remember much more. Recourse to the internet turned up the brilliant Beamish owner’s club site from where I learned the full history of these. Graham Beamish was the UK’s Suzuki off-road importer. In 1974 the Beamish concern had modified the unsuccessful Suzuki Exacta trials bikes to work far better but even then they weren’t quite right. Simply, the Suzuki had great running gear but needed a better frame. A replacement was commissioned by Beamish, designed by Mick Whitlock and made in Reynolds 531 tube. This proved to be so good that Beamish were confident enough to buy all the unsold machines from Japan and America and convert them. They sold over 1200 in 1975! The next year Suzuki made it ‘official’ and all Suzuki trials bikes sold between then and 1981 were Beamish models. There were two solo versions, a 250 and a 325cc. Here was something that was appealing to me very much, it had a strong British connection, featured an engine proven to be great and even better, spares were readily available via the Beamish club, so one could be used with impunity. One of these sounded perfect, so I set out to find a good 325 for my money. Much searching turned up two potentials, the better one (a 1981 model) was a bit out of my price range but from the pictures looked dead right so I gave the vendor a call. After a chat I was more confident than ever that this was the one I wanted, we discussed price and agreed, subject to viewing, on a sum I could afford. When I arrived it was on a stand ready for me and looked good as I expected. I checked it thoroughly, had a feel of the motor to check it was stone cold and then gave it a kick – an instant starter and sounding fine. I had a loop of his big garden to prove the rest worked nicely and paid up. A friend owns some woodland, so next day I was able to do more extensive riding and prove definitively that it was all good. After half a day playing at being a trials rider I am thrilled with my Beamish. Green lanes are calling so next job is to get the club to officially date it End (£35) so I can get it registered. Happy times ahead!

I got one call but that was all it needed. Some gentle negotiation and the next day it was in the back of a van and off to a new home. 80

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I have enjoyed attending The Bike Shed show each year since the inaugural event in 2013. All the shows that this veracious bunch of bikers has put on have consistently grown. The quality of the show has also jumped up – not just in size but quality, as the newer custom scene has grown worldwide. The custom builders who enter their machines for display have also

upped the game year-on-year in both their ambition and workmanship. I’ve only featured the odd machine from this show within Sketchbook Travels due to thinking of what is interesting to the readership. This year, however, I think that the show has grown such a wide appeal that I can actually dedicate a whole article to

The Bike Shed. The machines I have chosen do have an older leaning in terms of their influence. Due to the nature of the custom motorcycle, these machines are definitely not for the purist, so please proceed with an open mind as I present my choices from the show…

V-Moto ABC - Bee This was one of my favourites from the show, the main reason was that when I saw it my initial question was; “Did ABC make a V-four motorcycle? Surely not?” After spending a while sketching it, the owner introduced himself and the mystery was solved. No, ABC didn’t make a 734cc V-four motorcycle but they did continue to make engines for the aeroplane industry after the company stopped making motorcycles in 1923. The engine in this build dates from the late 1940s when the company made Airborne Auxiliary Power Plants (APU) which would power onboard generators, bilge pumps and compressors. This

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

particular engine, the ABC Bee, would have been used in a Blackburn Beverly, a heavy transport aircraft from the 1950s. Built by V-Moto, the ABC was only started in earnest in February of this year. This is a real achievement for company owner Viv and his team, as not only did he scratch-build the frame and tank, amongst other elements, the engineering task of grafting on a BMW gearbox onto the back was also achieved in this short period of time. With the pulled back handlebars and attention to detail the build does look like

a 1920s motorcycle – many people who were puzzled by it actually thought it was a genuine vintage machine. The addition of original Thomson machine gun bags on the back as tool bags helps with the illusion of the machine being older than it is. The ABC was only just finished the night before the show and so hadn’t been ridden at the time, but Viv has every confidence that it will work well and I too look forward to hearing how its maiden voyage goes. With a humble 19hp, I can see it thumping along, proving itself to be a reliable touring machine, due to the industrial nature of the engine.

“Nowhere Faster” Ducati Sprinter Regular readers will know of my obsession with sprint bikes and specials from previous articles. One of the stand out displays at The Bike Shed was the Sultans of Sprint display consisting of nothing but sprint machines. Sultans of Sprint is a sprint challenge for custom motorcycles, created by Sea Lorentz, the race series now runs at various venues across Europe. ‘Nowhere Faster’ is the successor to Bernard Mont’s previous Ducati sprinter, called ‘Nowhere Fast.’ The stand-out element of the build is the low frame, reminiscent of the 1960s minimal slingshot drag bikes. This long and low frame (measuring 64cm at

the highest point) was designed for the same reason – to minimise the potential for wheelies. The frame is TIG welded chromoly. The hub centre steering makes the front end very minimal – the choice of hub centre steering may not be a bad one; just consider the stability of the 1920s Neracar! The front shocks are bicycle items which save weight and are fully adjustable, which should come in handy when needing to make those on site tweaks. The engine is a Ducati Multistrada injected 1000DS, which remains mostly stock bar an ultralight flywheel. A quick shifter has been employed to help with

those all-important gear changes and extra power is provided by the Nitros Oxide (NOS) system. There were some great builds on the Sultans of Sprint display, so if these sprint machines are of interest I would encourage you to look at their website for tons of images. The series mixes sprint racing and custom motorcycles to create a mix of entertainment and competition – I love the fact all the machines are built to compete as well as look good, giving a lighter side to this traditional sport of straight line sprinting.

Norton ES2 Custom From the extreme and puzzling to the simplicity of this Norton ES2. I was really taken with this machine, originating from a rigid 1936 frame and a box of parts, which builder Aled has put together, over time, to create a very considered custom machine that takes cues from the aesthetics of vintage machines. The engine is a 1958 ES2 unit which meant that the rocker cover went into the

tank – the solution to this is one of Aled’s favourite details, the cut-out in the tank. As well as this the oil tank had to be enlarged to accommodate the later engines needs and the toolbox now houses the battery and electrics for the modern ignition. These modifications, along with the choices of paintwork, various subtle finishes and an overall understanding of what makes a bike look balanced shows Aled has done a great job.

The whole build was done by Aled with some help from his father in law Pete. As always, life gets in the way and the build took him four years. Along the way he has learned a lot and has since started a new project based on a 1959 Triumph 5TA, even though he doesn’t have room! Meanwhile, Aled plans to get some well-deserved miles in the saddle of the Norton – well, at least that will make some more room in the shed.

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THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

You were asking | Expert advice

You were asking Your queries resolved with Richard Rosenthal

Marking and drilling wheel rims Our friend Alan is rebuilding a 1911 automatic inlet valve 340cc Douglas. It’s his third veteran Douglas restoration and it has suffered decades of abuse – a project for the brave only. Fortunately, as a lifelong motorcyclist with over 60 years’ experience of mainly British machines, which usually arrive in boxes, Alan is that brave enthusiast. While an appropriate wheel hub graced the front fork, its wheel rim had disappeared years ago. No problem, as new undrilled beaded edge rims to suit 26x2inch tyres are available from the VMCC. And, bar the shouting, that should have been that as the spoke nipple holes could easily be marked using an engineer’s square and a similar wheel rim placed alongside, with either the required 36 or 40 nipple holes as its pattern. A great plan, which fell at the first hurdle – the early Douglas’ front wheel hub is drilled with 32 spoke holes and an exhaustive search proved fruitless; not a single 32-hole rim to serve as a pattern could be found. Plan B involved phoning friends, including a couple of wheel builders, all to no avail. Plan C involved… well, actually there wasn’t one! I’m sure some could measure the rim’s circumference and, using some complicated maths which is apparently simple but way beyond my ability, then be able to measure and mark the rim accurately. Then the penny dropped – why not use our dividing (indexing or

Photo C

The table surface served as an indexing point and with an engineer’s square, 32 marks were scribed to the wheel rim. Still unsure if this simple and quick to set up scheme would work, the segmented lines were numbered and 32 equally spaced marks were applied to the edge of the wheel rim

Photo D

D Photo A

C spiral) head? Since our manual dividing head is able to divide the circumference (periphery) of a cylinder, round bar or other such piece of work, surely it can be schemed to do the same for Alan’s wheel rim. While the indexing plate permanently fixed to the tool’s spindle can be used for many simple divisions (two, three, four, six… 24) there was no way this could be used to mark the 32 spoke nipple holes for the Duggie’s new wheel rim. But like most European dividing heads, each full turn of its crank handle turns the equipment spindle which holds the work by nine degrees, thus 40 complete turns of the crank handle equates to precisely one complete turn of the spindle holding the workpiece.

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My rotten maths informs me that to divide the wheel rim into 32 equal segments, the rim must be rotated by 11.25 degrees to mark each nipple hole site. Using the 16 hole circular sequence of indexing holes, one handle turn plus our holes equated to 1.25 turns and to save counting holes as the work progressed, the two markers, black tape and the hole between the number 16 divided the disc into four even segments

Photo B

Using a 10mm nut, bolt and a couple of flat washers as an arbor, a length of timber batten was fixed to the dividing head’s spindle-mounted chuck. By measurement the wheel rim was centrally mounted to the batten and fixed with cable (zip) ties, with the rim overhanging a garden table to which the dividing head was secured with a clamp.

Again with the engineer’s square, central lines were marked to indicate drilling points. As we wanted holes offset in the fashion of many rims, rather than mark this offset, a fence was set up on the table of our freestanding engineer’s drill. First, 16 alternate holes were drilled with one rim edge pressed against the fence, then the rim was reversed and the other 16 drilled. The job took about four hours to scheme and simplify what was initially an over-complex plan, 15 minutes to set up, five minutes to mark wheel rim and then check (another five minutes) and 10 minutes to set up fence on drill table and drill nipple guide holes with a hard tip. I’m sure many other schemes would have suited and proved even better, but this worked and the sight of me operating the dividing head’s crank handle and marking rim with pen and square convinced two mates, who’d inconveniently just popped round, I was having another of ‘those moments’ which made it all even more worthwhile!

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Dead centre drilling of rods and tubes You asked for suggestions to help with making items for motorcycle repairs and restorations. Attached to my email are a series of photographs demonstrating the method I’ve devised for dead centre drilling rods and tubes. For central accuracy to the lathe’s chuck, the V blocks were made in situ. With a 3/8in drill, drill at 9mm spacings. Then backing off 4.5mm go back along the line to remove most of the material between the holes, followed by finishing with a countersink drill run along the entire length. Using this equipment, round rods and tubes are drilled dead through the centre and in one instance at a required 45%. Colin Porter, email, Blackpool If this column was to present an award for the best idea of the year – which naturally I’m far too mean to do – Colin’s approach for dead centre drilling

1: The V blocks which can be clamped to the top slide of my lathe. 2: As an alternative to above, a V block machined for use with the four-way tool post I made.

1 2

4: Once the hole is drilled to size, if a thread is needed the ﬁrst tap is installed in the lathe’s chuck, which can be turned by hand using the crank handle with expander bolt photographed. This approach ensures it will start tapping true until the tap starts slipping in the lathe chuck. Then I revert to a manual tap handle with the work transferred to a bench vice.

3 round rods and tubes would be a top contender. I’ve devised methods involving our lathe mounted mill or Fobco bench drill, but all involved a drill vice and errors creep in. I’ve now tried Colin’s method in micro form using our tiny Hobymat lathe usually reserved for small work like drilling carburettor jets with model engineering twist

3: The V block fitted to the four-way tool post with work for drilling clamped to it. As the V block is fabricated and fitted to align centrally to the lathe’s chuck, any round rod or tube will be drilled dead centre. Here, I’m about to start drilling work, first with a hard tip to drill a guide hole.

4 drills. The task involved dead centre drilling two round short brass rods to take split pins. In

the past I’ve mildly skewed this job which is annoying, but not this time.

What defines a mountain? Although I’ve never visited the Isle of Man, I’ve just enjoyed watching the TT racing on the TV and I also like reading about IoM TT and Manx GP history in The Classic MotorCycle and other magazines. However, I’m troubled by the media use of the word ‘Mountain’ or ‘The Mountain’ for Snaefell. It can’t be that high as the modern racing motorcycles make such light work of it! Ivor Ringham, email. There is no precise definition height wise of a mountain but by convention it’s accepted by most worldwide that to qualify for the term mountain, it must be at least 300 metres/1000 feet above sea level. And as Snaefell is at its highest point 2037 feet above sea level, a mountain it is. Modern machines certainly make light work of climbing Snaefell on the IoM TT Mountain Course, but they are both powerful and relatively light. But even in the 1920s many 350cc and 500cc machines also made light work of the climb and

even some of the 250s – it was the road surfaces in the vintage era which proved more troublesome. But this wasn’t always the case, or at least the perceived case by organisers and authorities. Hence from 1907 to 1910 the IoM TT races were held on the shorter St John’s Course which avoided any contact with The Mountain. But for 1911 the authorities considered racing machines had proved themselves and the Mountain Course was adopted and universally used other than a spell during the 1950s when 125cc and 250cc Lightweights plus sidecars raced on the Clypse Course. Although on the TT course climbing Snaefell is a machine test, it’s really a speed, skill and bravery test because other than a few points and initially sharp bends it’s a steady rather than steep climb, but as you ride up it, the climb seems to go on and on and on, which seemingly ought to have sapped low powered machines. In our garage resides the

Derek Minter (Manx Norton) on The Mountain during 1960’s Senior TT, when he became the ﬁrst man to lap the Mountain Course at over 100mph on a single cylinder machine.

Woolley Kreidler which Brian built using a 49cc Kreidler Florett step thru’ engine as his starting point. Although not overburdened with power Horace ‘Crasher’ Crowder, weighing over 10 stones at the time, enjoyed a race speed of 59.96mph in 1962 with a fastest lap of over 61mph. Since at that time the machine wouldn’t have pulled more than 70mph it must have made, in its terms, a speedy accent of the

Mountain, something I once questioned Crasher about. And after all the jokes of reading the paper and going to sleep on the climb were exhausted, the former coal miner from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire confirmed he was holding 55 to 60mph for much of the climb. And as race winner Ernst Degner (Suzuki) won at a race speed of 75.12mph he must have held 65-70mph for much of The Mountain climb.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

You were asking | Expert advice

You were asking Norton engine prefixes A year ago, I bought what I thought was a Norton 500cc single cylinder ohv engine in rebuilt condition. The autojumble dealer told me he knew it was this because a late friend had rebuilt the engine and it has the dimensions ‘79x100’ stamped onto the left-hand crankcase, along with its engine number and the prefix H4. He said he wasn’t a Norton expert and couldn’t identify the engine’s exact year or the machine it came from. It would have been nice to know, but an irrelevance as the engine now powers (very enthusiastically) a special I’ve built. All good so far, but now a couple of friends think the engine barrel looks too small to be 500cc and think it’s much older than mid-1950s by its design. Surely the fact it has 79x100 on the crankcase makes it a full 500? Ian Clarkson, email. Although you quoted your Norton’s engine number I’ve omitted from this text for obvious reasons, though it was useful to me and supports the dating information I emailed to you. Norton issued the following model prefixes for their common models, single cylinder unless otherwise stated: 1 = 490cc CS1 – ohc 2 = 490cc 16H – sv 3 = 490cc Model 18 – ohv 4 = 490cc ES2 – ohv 5 = 348cc CJ – ohc 6 = 588cc Model 19 (rigid machines to 1933) – ohv 6 = 597cc Model 19 (rigid machines 1933 onwards) – ohv 7 = 633cc Big 4 (rigid) – sv

8 = 633cc Big 4 (spring frame) – sv 10 = 348cc Model 40 International – ohc 11 = 490cc Model 30 International – ohc 10M = 348cc Manx 40M – ohc 11M = 490cc Manx 30M – ohc 12 = 497cc Dominator 7 = ohv parallel twin 13 = 348cc Model 50 – ohv 14 = 597cc Dominator 99 – ohv parallel twin 15 = 497cc Dominator 77 – ohv parallel twin 122 = 497cc Dominator 88 – ohv parallel twin 3T = 490cc 500T trials – ohv 17 = 249cc Jubilee – ohv parallel twin 18 = 646cc Dominator 650SS – ohv parallel twin 19 = 349cc Navigator – ohv parallel twin 20 = 745cc Atlas and Commando – ohv parallel twin It must be stressed this isn’t an exhaustive list as many models (including the 348cc ohv JE, ohv Model 20, ES22, 25, 19R, 19S, Nomad, N15CS, P11, P11A,

Ranger, Short Stroke Manxes etc and others…) are omitted. But in some case the model identification list above can help. Using this list and the prefix you supplied Ian, we can confirm your engine, coded ‘H4’, came from a 490cc ES2 Norton with the letter H confirming its season of manufacture as 1953. That the engine number you gave me falls into the range 47300 to 52800 range also confirms year of manufacture as 1953. As you rightly surmise the numbers 79x100 are the engine’s bore and stroke dimensions and are appropriate for the 500cc (490cc) single cylinder engine – all of which fully substantiates your autojumble vendor’s claim it was a mid 1950s 500cc ohv Norton single cylinder engine. Norton stamped digits only to engines before the Second World War and having reached 9999 in 1924 added a fifth digit, which carried them through to 1939 when engine numbers were in the range 87290 to 94700. They also applied five digit numbers to

Hard chrome recommendation Several years ago I had some Honda fork stanchions hard chromed and ground by Philpots of Bedfordshire. At the time, the machine had 60,000 miles on the clock. Its speedometer clock is now showing 174,000 and the

stanchions still look brand-new. I’ve had three more sets hard chromed by Philpots since and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend their process. They arrange collection and delivery too. Alex Wood, email, Oswestry.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Thank you for your recommendation, Alex. Usually this column hesitates making such recommendations for a range of reasons, but in this case you give the firm a glowing report so hesitations are cast into the

A 1953 Norton ES2, such as this, will have a H preﬁx engine number.

early military 16H and Big 4s as well as odd other machines. From March 1939, they adopted the system of issuing engine and frame numbers with the prefix W for 16H models and S (sidecar wheel drive) for such Big 4 models largely for the duration of the war. In most instances the frame and engine number matched ex factory, but once they had undergone major overhauls with REME or other depots, frames were refitted with an appropriate engine rather than an original engine. In many such instances a small brass tag was fitted to an engine barrel stud detailing date/ year of overhaul and sometimes other details too. Unfortunately, odd machines were supplied to the military during the Second World War with non-prefixed ID numbers – confusing! In 1946, Norton restarted their Model ID number series at 1001 using the year prefix A, then B for 1947, C for 1948 etc, through to R for 1960. To avoid confusion, they didn’t allocate the letters I and O.

four winds in this case. Contact details: Pitted Forks, Unit D, Cradock Road Industrial Estate, Luton, Bedfordshire LU4 0JF. Tel 01582 571234 email: sales@pittedforks.co.uk, website: www.pittedforks.co.uk

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Restoration guide | Expert advice

LATER RALEIGH MOPEDS THE SPECIALIST

When it comes to spares for, and knowledge of, Raleigh and Mobylette mopeds, Aplins Motorcycles in Bristol is a recognised authority. Founded in 1959, Aplins was soon dealing with both marques and continues to do so. Thanks to Brian Aplin, the son of the founder, who shared his encyclopaedic knowledge for this guide. ■ Aplins Motorcycles: 0117 9777376 ■ VMCC (Cyclemotor Section): www.vmcc.net 01283 540557 ■ National Autocycle and Cyclemotor Club: thebuzzingclub.net

MODEL HISTORY

For decades, Raleigh bicycles provided commuter transport for millions, so moped manufacture was a natural evolution. The driving licence regulations at the time and cheap insurance made mopeds very attractive to anyone who wanted basic, solo transport. The absorption of major British bicycle manufacturers into the Raleigh group meant it actually made a variety of mopeds. Rationalisation was inevitable and a dramatic solution was adopted when Raleigh became part of Tube Investments (TI). Rather than develop any of the various designs it owned, in 1961 Raleigh’s RM4 appeared. This was a French design, built under licence from Motobécane, which marketed similar, or identical, machines almost worldwide as the Mobylette. Introduced simultaneously, the similar RM5 offered a more upmarket specification. The RM6 Runabout of 1963 became the big seller, soon joined by the RM8 with its uprated engine and drum brakes. It was 1967 before the RM7, the Wisp, combined the basic RM6 engine and Raleigh’s RSW16 small-wheel bicycle. Some Raleigh models, or model variations, were short-lived. Some received updates and occasionally there were detail differences that could affect parts interchangeability. Through the 1960s, styling changes could not disguise the increasingly outdated basic design. Raleigh phased out powered two-wheelers in 1969, but the RM6 was available until the last batch left the factory in 1971.

WORDS: ALAN TURNER

01 Engine The engine was a single cylinder piston-ported two-stroke, with 39mm bore and 41.75mm stroke. A compact alloy crankcase, with one case-half fitting into the other, supported a built-up crank assembly. The two-ring piston moved in a chrome-plated bore and the cylinder head had a decompressor valve. The original engine produced 1.3bhp and many later models were powered by an uprated engine with modified porting and a different cylinder head that produced

1.7bhp. Rebuilding is not a problem provided the crank assembly is in good order. Although there’s global interest in Raleigh/ Mobylette machines, no one has yet started producing con-rod and big-end assemblies. Main bearings need to be Raleigh-specific, the seals the correct way round and the crank and clutch assembly parts all in the right order. Poor storage may cause problems with the chrome bore plating, but replacement barrels and pistons, can still be supplied ‘off the shelf’. Some restorers have had cylinders re-chromed

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

successfully. The mopeds were supplied with original French Gurtner carburettors of varying specifications, supplying the engine with 20:1 pre-mix. A compact engine unit, but it was rugged in construction. At least one major oil company had many of them, used for research by testing petrol and oil products.

02 Transmission The centrifugal (automatic) clutch is crankshaft mounted. Behind it are a pulley and a V-belt taking drive to a further pulley,

turning the sprocket for the ½ x ⁄in final drive chain. The pulleys rotate on needle roller bearings. There are no inherent problems, but removal of the clutch will require a special puller. Any replacement transmission parts can be supplied if necessary. The higher spec RM5 Supermatic and RM9 Ultramatic models incorporated variable gearing, using variator pulleys, the two halves of which move according to engine revolutions, altering the overall gearing, effectively improving both performance and economy.

03 Electrics The electrical system was rock-bottom basic, although the standard flywheel generator was uprated in 1965. Both systems contained contact breakers and LT coils for the ignition. The HT ignition coil was mounted externally. UK lighting regulations required Raleighs to have different lighting coils to the standard Mobylette issue. With no battery, current was supplied directly to the lights. These were supplied by Wipac, Lucas and Miller, the manufacturer and precise type depending

Classic life PRICING

Brian Aplin remarked that prices have risen dramatically just in the last couple of years, especially for oily-rag condition machines that can go to £400-£500. Balance possible restoration costs with purchase price, as even a fully restored, top-spec Raleigh is unlikely to make a four-figure sum.

IN CONCLUSION

on the year and model of Raleigh. Miller tail-light assemblies are most common. One dalliance with a Wipac plastic headlamp assembly was short-lived, as the lens had a tendency to fall out when a glued joint failed!

04 Cycle parts The pressed steel frames are sturdy and, excepting accident damage, have no inherent problems. The steering head has cup and cone bearings and these are usually best changed when restoring. The RM4 and 5 models had drum

brakes, initially operated by Mobylette aluminium levers, but these were soon superseded by Raleigh cycle levers with a throttle twist grip from Amal. The front brake for the RM6 used a bicycle-type caliper, acting on the front wheel rim. While the RM4 and 5 had fuel tanks behind the steering head, the RM6 and most later models had the fuel tank behind the seat, making rider access easier and forming a small carrier platform. The wheels were 23x2in, except the RM5 (2-1/4x18) and the RM7 Wisp (2x12). The sizes might seem

motorcycle unfamiliar, but the necessary spokes, rims and tyres are all common fare in lightweight land. Wheel bearings were a mixture of heavy-duty, cup and cone bearings or ball journals, depending on the model. Abandoned mopeds often suffered from poor storage. Some models had legshields, either as standard or optional extras. With the exception of some mudguards, there’s no NOS tinware, so it will be necessary to repair, or search for replacement items if you want or need them.

05 Suspension All Raleigh models had rigid frames, but for the less common RM5, which had swinging-arm rear suspension controlled by a pair of slim, self-contained units. Front forks were commonly curved cycle type, but the earlier RM5 had undamped leading link suspension, with rubber bands as the suspension medium. The RM4, later RM5 and RM8 had telescopic forks, with internal coil springs. These were also common to Mobylette and spare parts are still easily sourced.

Most of Raleigh’s moped production went to buyers looking for basic transport. There were far fewer takers for the more sophisticated models, for which considerably higher prices were asked. The machines were used and discarded, their obsolescence hastened by alternative offerings from Italy and Japan. The mopeds are not rare, but survival rates are definitely poor from a total production run (all models) of more than 190,000. Brian Aplin says he has noticed the increasing number of bike enthusiasts who find Anno Domini or infirmity has curtailed their abilities on bigger bikes, but a moped is a manageable, and very affordable way to get their mechanical and riding fixes. When restoring, it’s worth keeping in mind that production engineering at the time often required tolerances to be adjusted with spacers, shims and washers. Raleigh was no different. Interest in autocycles, cyclemotors and mopeds has created something like a counter-culture, with many clubs and groups across the country providing excuses to ride, socialise and generally have fun. After all, Sir Walter Raleigh’s royal charter encouraged him to go to “remote, heathen and barbarous lands, countries and territories”. You can guarantee someone’s End done it on an RM moped.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Technical feature | Triumph Trident returned to the road

Here, rear wheel bearings are examined for rock.

Wake-up call, part two Overhaul one component from a motorcycle and further tasks always surface. Last month the Triumph Trident’s carburettors were cleaned and re-sleeved, making the machine’s fuel pipes look shabby, plus the mounting rubbers were perished. Time to replace them before returning the three Amal Concentrics to the triple’s engine. Words and photographs: RICHARD ROSENTHAL Carburettor refit

Last month, the Triumph Trident’s overhauled carburettors were refitted to their subframe, the throttle slide was synchronised and the choke slides with new cable set were fitted. On strip-down before work commenced, a brief visual check confirmed the linked fuel pipe set, with their myriad different clamps, were beyond reinstalling and the three carburettor mounting rubbers (stack pipes) were lightly perished. Arguably, they would have served a few more years, but as the carburettors were off the engine, it made sense to fit a new set. New fuel pipe assemblies for Triumph Tridents and BSA Rocket Threes were available as a ready-made kit in the past,

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

but as I enjoy all aspects of working on motorcycles, I’d rather make the set from a length of appropriate flexible fuel pipe and a handful of crimp-on pipe ferules, thus no check on the availability of readymade fuel pipe sets was made. Details of our approach to the task are in the accompanying photographs and captions – many of you will have your own methods that work well for you. With the new fuel pipe set and manifold mounting rubbers fitted to the carburettors, the entire structure was re-fitted to the machine. It’s not the difficult job some imply, especially when using new flexible manifold mounting rubbers, rather than those hardened by years of use. But, as all three carburettors need mating to their

manifolds in unison, the task is made much easier if two people are involved. Once the carburettors are mounted and the manifold pipe clips tightened, the air cleaner (airbox), an assembled multi-piece unit that mounts to the three carburettors, is re-fitted. This is possibly a tricky task and approaches differ. The airbox comprises pressed steel front and back plates, complete with insert rings and sealing rubber grommets to the front, an air cleaner and the familiar Amal perforated band with tightening clamp. In situ, the air cleaner assembly rests on a frame boss, keeping the rubber-mounted carburettors level rather than allowing them to droop on their manifold rubbers, which, along with minimal space, can make

Classic life

The Trident’s old fuel pipes comprised rock hard plastic pipe and an assortment of crimp and jubilee-type clips. To make a replacement set, one needs appropriate crimp ferules, fuel pipe, a sharp knife and crimping tool available from many tool suppliers and one make specialist parts suppliers. As sharp knives are involved, it befalls TCM to warn of the risks, rather than rely on the fact we are all grown-ups, so hopefully the added sticking plasters in the photograph will make the required point!

An example of old fuel pipes compared with new, complete with ferules sited but not yet crimped to secure.

We all have our own tricks for easing the fuel pipes over the enlarged union ends – I position clip home on pipe, lubricate the union’s appropriate boss lightly with petroleum jelly (which as you should be using appropriate fuel pipe won’t harm said pipe) and just light twisting pressure is required to push the pipe home, as here. Crimping tool illustrated.

Using the old fuel pipes as patterns, appropriate Continental fuel pipe is cut to length. Fuel pipe and crimp ferules were supplied by Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket Three specialist LP Williams, Unit 3, Low West End, Hornby Road, Claughton, Lancaster LA2 9JX. Tel: 01524 770956 or email sales@triumph-spares.co.uk

As a tip, check the fit of crimp ferules to Amal carburettor unions before completing crimping operations. While the holes in the crimp ferules are standard, uniform and appropriate, we have experienced some variance with the castings of the Amal unions from the period. And if they are misshaped slightly, the clips may need opening out a little to slide over the raised lip at the end.

The finished job with short elbow pipes, complete with soldered-on olives for the fuel taps. It might seem sad to some, but even after 50-plus years of working on motorcycles, jobs like this give me real satisfaction.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Technical feature | Triumph Trident returned to the road

The fuel pipe set links all three carburettors and here the pair of fuel tank to carburettor pipes are tucked out of the way, ready for sliding the carburettor bank into position on the machine.

While the machine’s current manifold mounting rubbers were soft, near unmarked and only slightly perished, we don’t want to have to replace them in a year or two, so three new rubbers were also bought from LP Williams. The thrifty among us will be pleased to know the current mounting clips were cleaned and lightly oiled for re-use. True, they aren’t bright and shiny, but then neither is the Trident.

With the carburettor bank/air filter refitted and fresh fuel in the tank, the triple started second kick. On reassembly, the airscrews were set at 1½ turns from tight – some prefer two turns from tight. After a 10-mile ride to properly warm the engine, my son Peter adjusts the air screws using the method described in this column and YWA on previous occasions and also detailed in many manuals.

the job difficult. One approach is to force the carburettor bank upwards with one hand while sliding the air cleaner assembly into position and locating it onto the three carburettors. Once in position, two securing bolts screw from the carburettor subframe into threaded bosses welded to the air cleaner assembly and each is locked off with a nut. Some find it easier to assemble the air cleaner in situ. Again, if it works for you, stick with it. Once the throttle cable and fuel pipes are connected, in theory it is fire-up time for the Trident, and after warming the engine thoroughly over seven and a bit miles, the

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Was all the effort of re-sleeving the carburettors and associated work worth it? Without doubt, 100% yes. Throttle response is again instant as is shut off and with the throttle stop adjusted to give a 1500rpm fast tickover, we had a cup of tea, leaving the needle rock steady as the triple continued to run evenly without touching the twist grip. This was a totally pointless exercise but so satisfying after the Trident’s increasingly erratic running at engine speeds of under 2000rpm over recent years. Despite its previous uneven running at low engine speeds, at above 2500rpm the engine still performed well.

carburettors’ air screws are adjusted. But is it really fit for the road?

Fit for road use check

I won’t be drawn into the rights and wrongs of the recently introduced rolling date MoT revised exemption for classic vehicles and, of course, it must be noted here differing rules apply to some ‘specials’, HGVs and other vehicles. Full details are available from DVSA online or your local MoT testing station. But it must also be noted that an MoT test pass certificate isn’t a guarantee, nor ever has been, of the subject vehicle’s continued roadworthiness. It simply is a test to ensure vehicles meet required

minimum standards on the day of the test. It does not, nor ever has, guarantee a vehicle’s roadworthiness for the next 12-month (up to 13 months if dated) period the newly issued MoT test certificate covers. Thus, while the MoT test ensures a set minimum standard is met at the time of test, the responsibility of a vehicle’s roadworthiness has always been that of the registered keeper and, as custodians of our classic motorcycles, it has always been our responsibility to maintain it to at least this minimum standard throughout the 12-month intervals between tests. Of course, we can still present our MoT test-exempt vehicles for an annual MoT

Classic life

Motorcycle inspection checklist

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency offers a motorcycle MoT inspection checklist online. Photographed on the Trident seat is the current checklist MoT testers employ, so what better list for us to use when checking our motorcycles? As a belt and braces job, Peter and I both check each of our machines independently, thus we check each other’s work. With each following caption the items an MoT tester is expected to check are detailed in list order. The items to be tested are taken directly from the DVSA motorcycle MoT inspection checklist. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

12 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Checking the front brake and clutch lever action, the front brake master cylinder cap is removed to check the brake fluid.

Front of machine Front position lamps, headlamps, indicators Front suspension, steering damper (if fitted) Brake master cylinder (if fitted) Front mudguard

test but we are no longer required to do so by law. As when the 1960 MoT exemption date was introduced readers who felt happy to check their own vehicles contacted the YWA column asking for an MoT test-type checklist. Now, due to the extended MoT exemptions, readers are again asking for a motorcycle MoT inspection checklist. This is available online and from MoT testing stations and is printed in broken down form with accompanying photographs. As emissions testing has never applied to our classic motorcycles, the only parts of the test we cannot carry out to the letter is a brake efficiency test using a rolling road and a headlight beam aim check using MoT

13 ■ ■ ■ ■

Sitting on machine Handlebars, brake control, switches Throttle, clutch lever Head bearings, horn Front suspension (bump test) Rear suspension (bump test) Steering

Examining the secure fit of the front mudguard.

Front wheel raised Steering, steering head bearings, front suspension Wheels and wheel bearings Tyre, front brake

test equipment – many of us have always set our machine’s headlamp aim using an appropriate mark we’ve applied to a garage door, wall or whatever. Although we can detect brake juddering on the road, a brake efficiency test is more difficult. While I’m not going to set ‘legally required standards’ (as three readers to date have now asked) guidance can be found in many of the period road tests for what are now our classic machines, as they recorded braking distances from set speeds (often 30mph) for front brake, rear brake and both brakes. And if our Grundlethorp Minor was never road tested in period, pick a road test for a similar speed and weight

machine. Of course, bear in mind rider weight will alter braking distances and such testing in period was, as in more recent times, always carried out on a private proving ground, not the public highway. But being mindful of what is expected will give us an idea of what our machine’s brakes should be achieving in our everyday riding conditions. Since the subject Triumph Trident was built and first registered (albeit in Austria) in 1975 it is now MoT test-exempt. Thus, as it’s been off the road for a couple of months, although continuously licensed, it is right and proper to check the machine is fit for road use before returning it to the road.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Technical feature | Triumph Trident returned to the road Ensuring the secure fit of the offside rider’s footrest.

■ Rear of machine ■ Rear position lamp ■ Stop lamp, indicators ■ Reflector, registration plate

With front brake (left-hand) on, Peter is checking for steering head bearing play with his right hand, while checking visually.

14 ■ ■ ■ ■

Offside of machine Frame, seat, footrests Rear suspension, final drive Exhaust, fuel system, tyre, brake

Final carburettor set-up

While the carburettor’s throttle slides were synchronised before refitting to the machine, as per the maker’s instructions, the air screws were only rough-set at 1½ turns (you may prefer two turns, either is fine) from tight to enable the starting of the machine and to allow a warm-up ride. Warmed up on our 10-mile testing route the throttle stop was adjusted to give an approximate 1500rpm fast idle speed. Then, taking one carburettor at a time, the airscrew was adjusted to best running, which is observed on this machine’s rev counter. As the airscrew is turned out of adjustment, the engine slows marginally, reaching optimum as the engine speed increases, or maintains if 1½ or two turns is correct. In practice, an airscrew setting of about 1¾ turns from tight proved the optimum, and after each carburettor airscrew adjustment the fast idle was adjusted to 1500rpm. The procedure was repeated for each carburettor then the throttle stop was adjusted to give a 1000rpm engine speed; some set the Trident/Rocket Three idle speed at lower than this but as triples thrive on revs and grumble at low revs through the gears, an idle speed of 1000rpm seems appropriate to me and has served our example well over the last eight years.

Peter discovered one yellow rear number plate bolt missing and replaced it, as indicated by his finger.

■ Nearside of machine ■ Frame, seat, footrests ■ Rear suspension, final drive ■ Exhaust, fuel system, tyre, brake

Peter is using a raised straight edge to check wheel alignment as many MoT test stations do. If you prefer, lasers, lengths of string or other systems can be used. So long as the method ensures your wheels are aligned, we can all be happy.

■ Brake test ■ Efficiency ■ Bind, grab or judder

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THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Other things to check… (not illustrated)

Rear wheel raised

■ Rear wheel and bearings ■ Rear suspension ■ Tyre, rear brake

Headlamp aim ■ Headlamp aim (rider on machine)

Sidecar

■ Tyre, wheel and wheel bearings ■ Brake (if fitted), suspension ■ Attachment of structure ■ Swivel joints on leanable sidecar ■ Wheel alignment

» Every issue will be sent hot off the press and delivered straight to your house » You’ll never miss an action-packed issue or supplement again

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

Classic life

Classic components | Electrical cables

Electrical wiring cables, grades and colours

Electrical wiring cable topics are discussed in many manuals and published technical features, including by TCM. While many accept advised electrical cable choices, the whys and wherefores can remain confusing, especially as electrickery’s current is invisible. Words: RICHARD ROSENTHAL Images: MORTONS ARCHIVE Colour coding

As far as motorcycles are concerned, with few exceptions, electrical current is taken to and from the machine’s electrical components by copper wires sheathed or coated with an insulating material. This may be a form of plastic, or rubber in the case of older electrical cable, or modern replicas of this. Initially, the sheath was black or another single base colour, which made tracing the cables through the machine ever more difficult as systems became more complex. One alternative tried by some makers was to apply colour-coded rings to ends of each cable to aid tracing, but soon a colour-coding system was adopted. Initially, these were single colours, but as wiring became more complex, a greater variance of coding cable was needed, leading to two and even three-colour wiring sheaths. Either in single or multi-coloured form, these are known as tracer cables. Unfortunately, different automotive electrical cable makers used differing ranges, thus tables suggesting blue or blue/white serves the headlight, green/black a charging system role and white/brown an ignition system role will apply to one maker – Lucas for example – the same won’t apply to a rival such as Bosch. Thus, the only appropriate course of action is to source a maker’s machine specific wiring diagrams to determine the original tracer colour choice. Of course, there is no reason why you shouldn’t create your own system, but it may confuse others in the future.

The German DIN standard creates uniformity, but only for cables made in Germany or for their market as, for the most part, the rest the world didn’t bother with such standards.

Wire grades

On the grounds of economy, plus the fact thicker cables are more difficult to bend and in multiple make for too thick harnesses, makers usually employ cables that are the minimum size to perform their role. However, they’re limited by two factors: on full load the voltage drop mustn’t be too large and cables mustn’t overheat. In simple terms, the cross section of the copper wires must be large enough to minimise voltage drop and prevent it overheating, but

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

small enough to allow it to bend sharply and minimise harness diameter, yet also cheap to help manufacturing costs. And of course, the greater the cross section of the copper wire element and the more insulation used to sheath it, the dearer the cable. Before discussing how such cables are graded it must be stressed household and industrial electrical cable is, for the most part, totally unsuitable for wiring motorcycles. Such cable may be cheaply available but often it has a steel or other such wire core causing a greater voltage drop that doesn’t matter when using a 240V household system, but saps vital current in 6V and even 12V set-ups. Of course, the same often doesn’t apply to copper-cored

household cables, but if I see you’ve used this, I’ll cut it out! Regardless of whether one is sourcing imperial (inch) or metric cables, identical grading systems apply and three figures are usually applied relating to size, current rating and volt drop. Size: Two figures are usually given with the one before the / detailing the number of wires and the one after the strand diameter. e.g. (inches) 14/0.012 = 14 strands, each of 0.012in diameter or (metric) 14/0.25 = 14 strands, each of 0.025mm diameter Current rating: expressed in (A) – Amperes Volt drop: expressed as V/ length/A, thus imperial = V/ ft/A and metric–V/m/A End (ft = foot, m = metre).

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

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AJS 1926, 350cc, OHV, Big Port, reg 31st December 1926, vgc, rare desirable bike, £13,950 Tel. 02085 465274 or 07968 047678. Surrey

AJS Competition Model 18/55, former works short stroke engine (1955), ex Bob Manns ISDT 1956 etc, G50 crankpin, polished flywheels, £7800 Tel. 07866 598336. Northumberland

AJS 18MS, 350cc jampot, 1956, immaculate must be seen, owned for nine years, £3750 Tel. 01664 812723. Leics

AJS 16MS 1958, alternator/coil ignition model, owned last eleven years, matching numbers, new Amal 376, not concours, £2750 Tel. 01303 864319. Kent

AJS 16MS 1959, 350cc, black, good condition, £2995 ono Tel. 01495 759234.

AJS 30CSR 1961, CSR in good condition, 650cc, not mint, a good riding bike, £5000 Tel. 07842 234777. Northants

AJS MODEL 30 600cc twin, 1958, recent comprehensive restoration including engine rebuild, stainless rim & spokes, Owners Club certificate of authenticity, vgc, £4750 Tel. 01482 632091. East Yorkshire

ARIEL Square Four MK2, 1953, red and black, 4 pipe, good condition, £10,950 Tel. 01495 759234.

ARIEL 1957, VH 500cc, fitted VHA engine, 12 volt electrics, vgc, £4000 ono Tel. 01932 846523. Surrey

ARIEL HUNTMASTER 1957, good clean condition, new tyres, carburettor, magneto battery 12 volt, original log book, £5000 no offers Tel. 01214 445320. West Midlands

ARIEL SQUARE FOUR 4G Mk 2, first reg June 1955, Watsonian Grand Prix sidecar which was fitted around 2003, Tel. 07970 375317. Dorset

BMW F650CS ‘Scarver’, 2002, 19,000 miles, fsh, £1700 ono Tel. 01787 477945. Essex

BMW R100 mono shock, very slightly modified, MoT, runs beautifully, uses unleaded petrol, oil cooler, £2500 Tel. 07768 688186. East Sussex

BMW R69S triple matching numbers, work carried out: new valves, springs, new piston rings, glaze busted bores, new clutch with back plate & re-sleeved carburetors, $6500 USA Email. marriottrades14@gmail.com

BSA A10 Golden Flash, 1959, very nice example, electronic ignition, rebuilt dynamo 2016, beautiful usable classic, £5750 ovno Tel. 07900 497373. Somerset

BSA A50 1962, non matching, nice looking bike that rides well, vgc, MoT April 2019, £4200 Tel. 07762 048221. Hants

BSA A65 650cc, 1964, runs and rides well, needs a little touching up on the chromework and paintwork, £4650 Tel. 07365 297414. Hants

BSA B33 Plunger, 1953, currently Sorn, unused for 10 years but sound and complete, can be viewed close to Shepton Mallet, Somerset, best offer over £2500 will be accepted Tel. 01373 831464.

BSA B40 1965, ex-AFS bike, much original, oily rag condition, but lost spark, £1700 Tel. 01928 717844. Cheshire

BSA BANTAM lovely red Bantam, in good condition & great fun to ride, has a current MoT but is exempt, £2150 Tel. 07850 444339. East Sussex

BSA BANTAM 175cc, D1 frame, D10 engine, complete respray, electronic ignition, new levers, cables, chain, many other new parts, £1200 ono Tel. 07951 270827. Berks

BSA BANTAM 1968, one previous owner matching frame and engine numbers, bike can be viewed in Braintree Essex phone to arrange to view Tel. 07578 738321.

BSA BARRACUDA matching numbers, 250cc, single, ride as is or improve previous new handlebars and controls, mudguards, battery, reducing collection, £2150 Tel. 01723 372219. North Yorkshire

BSA C15 excellent condition, green log book, V5C, original Dunlops, MoT, easy starter, 1965 model, £2800 ono Tel. 07758 876673. Lancs

BSA C15 250cc, 1964, first reg 20 August 1964, MoT, starts & runs beautifully, was offered £2500 in p/x last month, but am open to offers Tel. 07811 073138. Hampshire

BSA GOLD STAR 1957, DB32, refurbished GP carb with Surrey Cycles tick over adjuster in cable, RRT gearbox, £18,000 Tel. Pete 07917 126146; Chris 07880 187935. London

BSA GRUPPO Velox Special with V5C, reg 1955, restored condition, but in need of finishing, engine and gearbox rebuilt, lots of Goldie parts, £5500 Tel. 01803 858774. Devon

BSA HORNET 1965, matching numbers, road registered, MoT, vgc, £7750 Tel. 07931 975223. West Midlands

BSA SHOOTING STAR 500cc, 1959, good clean condition, lots of chrome, new tyres, alloy rims & lots more new parts, £5000 Tel. 01214 445320. West Midlands

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BSA THUNDERBOLT 650 1972, Firebird pipes, Boyer ignition, new rear wheel, carb, centre stand, fork seals, SRM sump filter, unique paint job, MoT, £5250 Tel. 07786 833126. Bedfordshire

DKW RT200VS 1959, original, 8300 miles, unrestored in running order, well looked after, nice patina, £2400 Tel. 017772 774770. Lancs

FRANCIS-BARNETT Cruiser, 84, very rare, 1961, 250cc, fully restored, on Sorn, £2850 Tel. 0161 7940500 for full details. Salford

HAGON JAP 350 Grass track bike, Albion racing gearbox, SEM magneto, very good running order, 100% original, £3900 Tel. 0033 609 78 06 11. brooklands-classic@outlook.fr Paris

HARDING TRICYCLE with cyclemaster 32cc, it has been completely refurbished to concours condition having recently won a prize at the Ardingly Classic Motorcycle Show, offers Tel. 07702 001509.

HARLEY DAVIDSON F45 1942, superbly restored ex Canadian motorcycle complete with a motorcycle trailer & quick release pillion seat, can sell separately if required, £16,500 Tel. 07967 140676. Dorset

HARLEY-DAVIDSON 2004 Heritage Soft tail classic, 33,980 miles, mint, new MoT, serviced, 1450 cc, Stage One tune, £3000 extras, beautiful, two owners, no cash, no ride, deposit to hold bike £100, Tel. 07528 704174.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON 2004, FLSTCI, mint condition, 9,800 miles, full history, many extras + Stage 1 fuel injected, only used in the Summer, agreed value for insurance, £8250 Tel. 01494 815604. Bucks

HARLEY-DAVIDSON XLH 883cc Sportster, 1990, 25,000 miles, excellent condition with extras, £3000 Tel. 01905 641012. Worcester

HERALD 250 Classic, 1000 miles, September 2015, mint condition, genuine reason for sale, £1650 Tel. 01747 853957. Dorset

HONDA original from new, 5381 miles, MoT Nov 2018, all chrome, brakes, frame & running gear refurbished, Honda owners manual included, £1750 ono Tel. 07742 887421. West Midlands

HONDA CB125S 1973, restored, in good order & in recent use, 21,000 miles, good engine, many new parts inc wheels, tyres, indicators, forks, seat cover, Sorn, £950 Tel. 07581 004527.

HONDA CD200 Benly, 1980, in good running condition, 33,500 miles, comes with V5 & original registration document, MoT till June 2018, £1895 ono Tel. 07729 861275.

HONDA CX500 Z very rare model with black radiator, silver Comstar wheels and true 50bhp at the time, MoT, Sorn Tel. 07849 348724. Cheshire

HONDA GBTT500 super single in the Goldie mould, electric start auto decompression fitted with the indestructible RFVC motor pushing out 38BHP. Tel. 01204 791764. Lancs

HONDA GL1100 with Watsonian Oxford sidecar, Y reg first reg 1983, MoT before sale, currently on Sorn, also small trailer, £2500 no offers Tel. 01420 474032 after 6pm, leave message and I will call back. Hants

HONDA H100S-J 1989, 38,000 miles, good reliable runner, good tyres, top box, £650 Tel. 07720 718585. Surrey

HONDA VF750S Sabre, 1982, great condition for age, fully running, under 50K on clock, MoT July 18, £2500 ono Tel. 07376 571041. Argyll

HONDA XBR500 1986, unrestored, Japanese take on a British Cafe Racer without the oil leaks, MoT Nov 2018, recent service (oil, filters, valve clearances) Tel. Ken 07530 239439. Suffolk

ITALIJET M5C 50cc it has spark, compression and it’s all complete just needs someone that knows about bikes to get it cleaned up and going again, £250 ovno Tel. 07498 064288. Kent

KAWASAKI W650 mileage 26,000, good condition but could do with some work on the chrome, £2900 Tel. Phil 07986 612234. West Lothian

KYMCO PULSAR LX 125cc, 900 miles only from new, bike is 4-stroke with electric start, all as new, £1100 ono Tel. 01524 782291. Lancs

MATCHLESS Les Harris, Model G80, 1992, 12,556 miles, MoT, used regularly, ideal tourer, panniers, some spares, £4250 ovno Tel. Tony 07769 181376. Essex

MATCHLESS G11 1959, documentation, original registration, fully restored, every component finished to highest spec, £5250 ono Tel. 07887 544207. Glos

MATCHLESS G3 LS 1959, good overall condition with the exception of the rims which have some rust, been in storage for 8 years, new battery, starts & runs well, £3250 Tel. 07801 235806. Kent

MORINI 350 STRADA 1974 Spanish import with NOVA Cert, part restored, rebuilt wheels, good tyres, new chain/sprockets, Armours stainless silencers, £2650 Tel. 07788 442155. Somerset

MOTO GUZZI T3 1979, bought 1988, recent LM2 upgrades: engine bottom end; gearbox; transmission; wheels; brakes; twin plug heads; (36mm manifolds available) £5750 ono Tel. 01626 834085. Exeter

MOTO GUZZI V50 1982, 500cc shaft drive V twin, left foot brake, right foot gear change, long MoT, £2000 Tel. 01522 753100. Lincs

NORTON 600cc, considered smaller British bike in exchange Tel. 07743 370641.

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NORTON ATLAS complete as photo, engine, gearbox out ready to refit, 1965, V5C, USA import, good condition, 7745 miles, offers over £5000 Tel. 01132 854135. West Yorkshire

NORTON COMMANDO Fastback, built in Nov 1971, 1972 model, only reg in Feb 1973, matching numbers, five owners, old MoTs & a lot of service history, £8950 Tel. Nick 02084 228511. Harrow, London

NORTON ELECTRA Electra, 1964, 400cc, been restored and the electrics upgraded, not an import, with tank cover, gasket set & workshop manual, £4100 Tel. 01322 666455. Kent

NORTON ES2 1938, very original correct nos, will need restoring, all documents plus history, £7000 Tel. 01749 860377. Somerset

RELIAN TRIKE 850cc, MoT, good runner, now too heavy, sell or swap for small classic bike or low cruiser, £2300 Tel. 07470 387302. Durham

ROYAL ENFIELD Bullet, 350cc, 100% overhaul engine & cycle parts, new rims & tyres, paint, exhaust etc, looks like new, £2200 Tel. 02392 713432. Hampshire

ROYAL ENFIELD 1939, Model D, 250cc side valve engine with hand change, three speed gearbox, girder forks & rigid rear end, all in good condition, £3750 ono Tel. 01564 779007. West Midlands

ROYAL ENFIELD Continental GT535, 2014, good condition, fitted with Hitchcocks handlebar risers, original bars with bike, petrol cap flip up key cover missing, 4965 miles, £3350 Tel. 01823 666646. Somerset

ROYAL ENFIELD 500 Bullet, 2004, only 2400 miles from new, stainless wheels and silencer, Amal carb, Boyer ignition, loads of spares, always garaged, £2200 Tel. 07936 432701. Kent

ROYAL ENFIELD 350 Bullet 2002, mileage 16,000, great condition, viewing recommended, £1600 Tel. 07986 612234. West Lothian

ROYAL ENFIELD CLIPPER Clipper, rare 1955 model, fully restored 500 miles by agent, owned 15 years, green logbook, £2500 Tel. 07900 832043. Norfolk

SACHS HERCULES K125 BW (Kraft Bundeswehr), small project, 1969/71, almost no mileage, totally original, comes with original ammo case and entrenching shovel Email. sebastianjthomas@gmail.com

SAMMY MILLER CUB Pre 65, completely rebuilt 199cc engine supplied by Meriden Triumph Electrex World ignition, Mikuni carb, trials engine & gearbox, £4500 ono Tel. 07790 600703.

SCOTT 1933 TT Replica, paintwork, engine, wheels, brakes, radiator etc all done & ready for recommissioning, original reg, £8950 Tel. Ken 07939 001115. Leics

SUNBEAM S8 1952, recent rebuild with full documentation, £6000 Tel. 01214 424176. Birmingham

SUZUKI 1966, Super Six, perfect for restoration project, £2950 Tel. 07974 973663. Grt Manchester

SUZUKI 1100EX 1981, excellent condition, new MoT, 26,748 miles, owned since 1992, £3500 Tel. 07855 494012. Cardiff

SUZUKI GSX600 1990, no t&t, should run, does turn over, Viper exhaust, 35k miles, no log book, offers Tel. Graham 07488 352630 for more info. W London

SUZUKI GT750 Watercooled, 1974 L model, just finished nut & bolt restoration, paint by Dream Machine, no expense spared, £12,500 ovno Tel. 07778 306139. Cardiff

TERROT TENOR nice bike, 1961, £1850 Tel. 07513 269252. Staffs

TRIBSA 650cc, engine rebuilt to high standard by ‘Ace Classics’, repainted new tyres, clutch, seat, exhaust, comprehensive rebuild, £6250 ono Tel. 07966 533076. London

TRITON 500 pre-unit, 1958 wideline, 1955 alloy T100 preunit, alloy w/rims, oil tank, e/ plates, etc roadholders, full width hubs, vgc, £6795 ono Tel. 01763 272339; 07905 184644. Herts

TRIUMPH 1963 Bathtub, matching engine/chassis numbers, MoT till May, good runner ready to ride, buyer to collect, £3950 Tel. 07967 313012. Surrey

TRIUMPH looks, runs & rides well, many new parts fitted including carbs, Boyer ignition and regulator, silencers, £5995 Tel. Paul 07775 526614. Devon

TRIUMPH Hinckley Bonneville, bought new in 2001, always been parked in garage when not in use, mileage of 6214 is genuine, MoT, V5C, £3800 ono Tel. 07967 668664. Surrey

TRIUMPH 21 1958, matching nos, ride or restore, all metal bath tub etc, £3000 ono Tel. 07837 865016. Notts

TRIUMPH 21 3TA ‘Bathtub’ 1963, full nut & bolts restoration in 2017, numbers all corrected, s/s wheel rims & spokes Tel. 07582 351060. Lancs

TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE T120, 4 speed, 1972, 17,000 miles, matching numbers, immaculate condition, electronic ignition & regulator, new paint, £5950 Tel. 01270 662186. Cheshire

TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE T120 1967, upgraded 750cc 5-speed, 4000 miles since upgrade, rebuild, lots history, bills, books, etc, bargain at £5750 ono Tel. 01763 272339. Herts

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TRIUMPH MOUNTAIN CUB beautiful restored bike, lots of new parts & history, new forks, carb etc, good investment, £3650 Tel. 01934 635464. N Somerset

TRIUMPH SUPER CUB 1966, club dating certificate, Pazon ignition, £2600 Tel. Malcolm 01476 577096. Lincs

TRIUMPH T100R Daytona, 1969, original condition apart from stainless steel spokes & Boyer ignition, vgc, £7500 ono Tel. John 07852 544184; 01969 640496. North Yorkshire

TRIUMPH T100T Daytona, 1969, owned it for 22 years, have fully refurbished the bike, vgc, runs superb without leaks, Tel. 07950 359772. Norfolk

TRIUMPH T110 1955, iron head model, all original, £7500, p/x why? also bar end mirrors, cheap at £8 p&p at cost Tel. 07443 642408. West Yorks

TRIUMPH T110 1959, please ring for details, £7850 Tel. 07779 742629. Cornwall

TRIUMPH T120R Bonneville, 1970, matching engine & frame numbers, MoT, original paint, £9000 ovno Tel. 01204 412157. Lancs

TRIUMPH T140 1980 matching numbers, four previous owners, recently covered over 200 miles since rebuild, runs fine, vgc, MoT, £6000 Tel. 07931 975223. West Midlands

TRIUMPH T140E Bonneville, 1979, completely restored to high standard, engine rebuilt including mains, big-ends, re-bore, pistons, valves & guides, £5500 Tel. 07801 827437. Suffolk

TRIUMPH T150V 1972, in very good condition, 25,000 miles, £6900 Tel. 0121 6945583. B’ham

TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD 6T, 1954, rigid sprung hub, matching numbers, original reg number, very nice condition, original throughout, may p/x why? £11,500 Tel. 07743 642408. West Yorks

TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD Sport, 11,500 miles, owned for the last 20 years, superb original condition, Tel. 01302 710704. South Yorkshire

TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD 1996, vgc, many spares and extras, full history, too heavy now, consider exchange for American or Speedmaster £3900 Tel. 01509 559930. Notts

TRIUMPH TIGER T90 Convert T100 engine, original reg, Boyer ignition, great sound, £4850 Tel. 07598 315018. Gloucestershire

TRIUMPH TIGER CUB 1962, V5, has a 1967 square barrel engine fitted, many new parts, £2750 can be viewed in Edinburgh Tel. 07917 021713.

TRIUMPH TR6 1967, MoT August 2018 + free tax, approximately 19,800 miles, £7500 ono Tel. 01622 632595; 07731 953693. Kent

TRIUMPH TRIDENT T160, 1000cc (Norman Hyde Conversion), 1975, fitted with alloy rims c/w s/s butted spokes, twin disks, £9000 ono Tel. 07990 735928. Bucks

VELOCETTE LE Mk3, 1968, 200cc, foot change, kick start, restored as new, offers Tel. 01233 756651. Kent

VELOCETTE LE200 Mk 3, 1960, lovely machine, mint condition, total restoration, two years ago, £2400 ono Tel. 07866 570675. Cambs

VELOCETTE VOGUE MoT, rides superb, lots of stainless, engine first class, 41,000 miles, Stafford show bike, £2600 Tel. 01782 392090. Staffs

VINCENT Black Shadow, 1800 miles since full rebuild by VOC experts, not a matching numbers bike but is immaculate, £59,000 Tel. 01608 658675. Gloucestershire

YAMAHA A5IC historic, 8000 miles, very good condition, blue and white, £2600 Tel. 01772 653494. Lancs

YAMAHA DIVERSION SJ6S, panniers carrier, very clean, 2011, 8400 miles, £4000 ono or swap for CB600F Hornet low miles & good condition Tel. 01709 579556. South Yorks

YAMAHA RD250C 1976, full nut and bolt rebuild, MoT, excellent purchase, dry stored, well worth a look, £3250 Tel. 07780 714683. Warks

YAMAHA SR400 only done 2600 miles from new, one owner, lovely condition, colour blush matt grey, on Sorn, £2900 Tel. 01524 903496. Lancs

YAMAHA VIRAGO 535 1996, beautiful burgundy & scarlet colour, very good chrome for age, low miles 13,758, £1850 ono Tel. 01564 779007. West Midlands

YAMAHA XJ600 Pre diversion, 1989, MoT, immaculate condition, 15,000 miles, total rebuild all fully rewired, £2995 Tel. Martin 07765 647959. Grt Manchester

YAMAHA XJ900S 1999, 30,700 miles, fsh, MoT May 2019, newly serviced, full set Givi luggage, recently powder coated rims, lovely condition, £1695 Tel. 07772 163646. West Yorks

YAMAHA XS1B 1970, vgc, only got 9000 miles on clock, chrome is very good, have the Nova form to register it, been stood for some years, £5000 Tel. 01782 518953. Cheshire

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BALL AND ROLLER BEARINGS

BIKERS BIKES & SITES

FRAME REPAIRS

ELECTRICAL LEVERS

BLAST CLEANING MAGENTOS AND DYNAMOS

BRAKE SHOES & CLUTCH PLATES

www.classicmotorcycle.co.uk METAL FINISHING

NUTS AND BOLTS

CHROMING

NUMBER PLATES DEALERS UK

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For Sale

BSA BANTAM 1953, all working, runs nice, only year they offered this bike in black so few about £2000 ono V5 present Tel. John 07736 893291. Leics. BSA BANTAM D1 Plunger for restoring, non runner, £950 Tel. 01978 842668. Clwyd. BSA GOLD STAR Pearson electric start, Pearson clutch 190 Brave GP Carb RRT2 gearbox, Dunlop alloys, new tyres, new oil pipes, new cables, 10,000 miles, vgc, £20,000 Tel. 07720 957800. Notts. BSA GOLD STAR 1958, 500cc, totally restored, excellent condition, best offer over £17,800 Tel. 07855 423117. Hants. GREEVES 250cc Hawkstone Moto X bike, 1958, fully refurbished, one previous owner, new s/s rims, spokes, tyres, tubes powder coated frame alloy mudguards, seat engine rebuild, new barrel, piston crank shaft, in excellent condition, £3100 Tel. Robert 07816 949637. South Wales. HONDA CB400F 1977, 408cc/4cyl, Motad exhaust, tank cover, historic vehicle, good condition, £3000 Tel. 01932 846523. Surrey. HONDA CG125 1989, 5-speed, V5C, on Sorn, in running order, everything works as it should, ideal for learner, commuting winterhack etc, comes with fitted lockable top box, £675 Tel. 01268 735135. Essex. HONDA CX500 W reg, first reg March 1981, MoT till Oct, currently on Sorn, vgc, nice looking bike, If interested please call evenings after 6, if no answer please leave a message and will ring you back £2500 no offers Tel. 01420 474032. NE Hants. HONDA H100S-J 1989, 31,000 miles, well maintained, top box, good runner, stored in garage, £875 Tel. 07720 718585. South London. HONDA HRC DREAM 50R racer, fabulous race CR110 replica, a mechanical masterpiece from a private collection, never been started, brand new, £8000 Tel. 01522 703687. Lincoln. HONDA SUPERDREAM 250cc, shed load of spares, please phone anytime for requirement and price Tel. 01255 319574. Essex. JET OFF ROAD midi motor bike, 2013, automatic clutch electric and hand start, many new parts runs well, must go quickly £100 Tel. 07919 158173. Hampshire. KAWASAKI W800 1,800 miles only, Baglux tank cover, rear carrier, as new condition, £5250 Tel. 079690 28246. Herts. MATCHLESS CSR250 1961, original condition, not been restored, bike is a runner, will take a larger British bike in part exchange with cash Tel. 07779 982556. Scotland.

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RUDGE ULSTER 1937, fully restored, new rims, tyres, chains, cables, magneto rewound, carb rebored, contact for photos details, £16,000 Tel. 01592 720858. Fife. RUDGE ULSTER requires parts, restoration, £6500 ono. Norton ES2 engine Model 18, £100 ono. Jap O.H.V. engine, 1920s. Velocette KSS engine, £2200 ono Tel. 07791 796983. Northern Ireland. SUZUKI GS500EW 1998, black, MoT November, very good condition, buyer collects, sensible offers Tel. 07808 090174. Bucks. SUZUKI T500 1974, good condition, with sensible modifications, non matching numbers, registered historic, good tyres, MoT’d, includes many useful spares, £2956 Tel. 07733 324707. E Hants. SUZUKI VAN VAN 125 2012 white, only 5500 miles, heated grips, chain oiler, immaculate, learner-legal, £1550 ono Tel. 01543 682946. Lichfield. TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE 790cc, 2005, immaculate, 9k, service history, main stand, screen, rack, fork gaiters, last of the carb model, in the sought after red, white and blue, mature owner, on Sorn, £4795 Tel. 07751 696571. Gtr Man.

Parts For Sale

2 X AKRONT 2 x 19 flanged aluminium wheel rims Tel. 01823 253297. Somerset. BEARINGS: nos 6205 x 4, 7203, 6003 x 2, 6202Z, 6207Z, 6203 x 3, 6305 x 2, 6206Z, 6303, NW865, 6002 C3, concentric 928 carb (complete) Triumph Twin oil pump Tel. 01772 783774. Lancs. BSA B44 GP SPARES: engine/frame no 2773 exRoyal signals display team converted to Moto-X, partially dismantled and minus carburettor & exhaust, stored Brighton £1500 ono Tel. 07966 771916. Oxfordshire. BSA BANTAM D7 ENGINE, appears complete and looks in good order, e.g. cases not butchered, no broken fins, good splines etc, (history unknown), £350 Tel. 01268 735135. Essex. BSA M20 kickstart military, £20. A65 kickstart new chrome, £35. 400x18 trials tyre, good thread, £15 Tel. 07711 956040. South Yorks. BSA OUTER TIMING COVER fits B31, B33, etc, a bargain £20 plus £5 p&p; also nearly new bar-end mirrors, bargain £8 plus p&p Tel. 07443 642408. West Yorks. F2 350 ROLLING CHASSIS stainless braided brake lines, four Lockheed racing callipers on three disc brakes, 13” alloy wheels, priced to clear workshop space, £250 Tel. 01302 851716. South Yorks. HARLEY JD 1920s, timer distributor, £275; H/L brackets, £30; exhaust pipes, £100; petrol mainpipe, £30; petrol cap, £20; 1929 original rider’s handbook, £45. Tel. 078120 83713. Herts.

THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE | AUGUST 2018

BMW K100 RT spares, most parts available, also some K75 plus workshop manual Tel. 07950 587126. Kent. KAWASAKI GPZ750 Unitac spares, early eighties, about 85% of a complete bike, lease ring for details, all parts in Cornwall Tel. 07779 742629. KAWASAKI Z400 fuel tank 1978 type, new unused but slightly shop soiled condition, very light scratch, colour (blue), bought for bike rebuild but sold bike unfinished, has been in the box since, £100 Tel. 07860 552149. Colchester. MAGNETOS FOR SALE Wico Series A single, Wico Series A Four cylinder type AX456Z, Lucas Type KSA1, Lucas SR1 type MK11A, Lucas SR4 type K11A 3 off, Lucas Maglita type FD. All working some in need of maintenance, £50 each. Doherty Control Levers, for 7/8 bars, left and right with integral air and magneto levers, part numbers P311 and P312. Still in original packing and unused £20 each Tel. 07964 514984. Somerset. NORTON 99, 1956, chain cover, £50. Exhaust pipe (mint), £50. Payen gasket set, £20 ono Tel. 01206 263536. Suffolk. NORTON ES2 ENGINE dismantled circa 1960 (big head) £300. Norton rear brake drum/sprocket good teeth £65. Wideline tool box and oil tank some damage, £50 pair. Many copies of The Classic MotorCycle (5-15 years old) £1 each for the lot. Tel. 01672 562475. Wiltshire. PAIR ALLOY FORK yokes Norton Commando, 1971 on. RGM Part No 050705 2 13/16 offset, £100 + postage Tel. 01827 874609. Staffs. SUZUKI VSTROM 650 (AK9) 09 model, petrol tank and all four side panels, silver, like new, buyer to collect from KT12, £150 Tel. 01932 240150. Surrey. TRIUMPH steel trials cub petrol tank, £60 Tel. 07966 771916. Oxfordshire. TRIUMPH oil tank and toolbox with lid, pre Duplex, £50. Filter cover pre-unit, £5. Push rod tubes, new pre-unit, pr second hand, £5. Two battery retainers F6897, £5. Two 12 volt coils, new with brackets F6943, F6944 and clips E6389, £15 plus post Tel. 01933 355796. Northants. TRIUMPH SPEEDO 120mph, £126. 80mph speedo, £100. Timing cover, T100, £60. Vokes filter, £40. Tank grill, £20 Tel. Albert 02088 944704. Twickenham. TRIUMPH T120 rear wheel QD WM3 re-chromed for 1959 bike, £300. Front wheel 8” hub WM2-19 rechromed, good condition, 1958/1965, £200 Tel. 01772 653494. Lancs.

Wanted

BSA B31 WANTED in oily rag condition, something to ride or restore, anything considered with or without V5 Tel. 01748 811676 or 07810 434147. North Yorkshire.

ANY MAKE OR SIZE classic motorcycle wanted in any condition from a basket case to one in nice condition, cash waiting Tel. 07811 189755. BARN/SHED FIND any old motorcycle, any condition, old Scrambler bikes, retirement project, cash waiting Tel. 01751 474984; 01751 474984. E Yorks. BOOK ‘A SINGLE PURPOSE’ Francis Beart Life Story, by Jeff Clew Tel. 04333 42972. County Longford, Ireland. BSA RESTORATION PROJECT wanted, anything considered from a Bantam to A10 or A65, have cash and will travel, prefer complete bike but unfinished project or spares ok. Tel. 07984 225937. Leicestershire DAYTON ALBATROSS wanted in first class condition, it can be either original or fully restored but must be top notch, I would prefer a single, but a twin is fine. I currently have a 1965 Vespa which I am willing to trade but I will buy anyway. I would prefer to buy outright Tel. 07710 362705. Lincolnshire. EXCELSIOR 150cc OHV 1933-35 engine, frame cycle parts etc, anything relating to this model to assist rebuild, why? Tel. 01284 753974. Suffolk. FRONT AND REAR crash bars to suit Triumph 3TA, anything considered Tel. 01332 874790. Derby. GREEVES 32DC Sports Twin main alloy frame (1961 on) Tel. Roger 01363 84200. Email. d.brooking36@ btinternet.com Devon HARLEY-DAVIDSON 883cc, looking for clean bike, MoT, 2008 onwards, cash waiting for right price. Tel. Ian 07454 701824 anytime. Lancashire. HONDA WANTED: 1960s CB77 or CB72, any condition, even rough basket case. Tel. 01978 842668 (please leave message if no answer). Clwyd. JAMES SUPERSWIFT sport motorcycle wanted Tel. Martin 07539 102661; 01271 830720. Devon. LINCOLN ELK - parts, literature & help wanted! Particularly looking for a single speed frame, magneto chain covers and 2 speed countershaft parts Tel. Phil 07974 654272. MONTESA CAPPRA VR250 engine wanted, any condition, may consider complete bike Tel. 01529 413579. Lincs. WANTED BSA V Twin, 1000cc side valve bottom half of engine, would be interested in complete engine, also magdyno. Tel. 07931 975223. West Midlands. WANTED NSU QUICKLY Puch Maxi, Cycle Master, or just parts Tel. 07790 168224. Warwickshire. WANTED PHOTOGRAPH OF Jack Findlay with 250cc Mondian Racing in the late 1950s, early 1960s, also 1927/28 Calthorpe frame, also Lohmann diesel clip on engine Tel. 07791 796983. Northern Ireland.

WANTED J.A.P 250cc inlet rocker, approx 1928 and two good shafts please Tel. Phil 01283 509562. Burton-uponTrent. WANTED: NORTON 1926, 19H top and bottom fork yokes. 1926/27 Calthorpe frame, Lohmann diesel, diesel clip-on engine, photograph of Jack Findlay racing 250cc Mondial. Tel. 07791 796983. N Ireland.

Miscellaneous

BOOKS: British Motorcycles since 1950 by Steve Wilson, 1982, Vols: 1-6 as new £40. Illustrated History of Motorcycles by Erwin Tragatsch New Edition 1985, £25. Cigarette Cards: WD & HO Wills Series, Motorcycles 1926, full set of 50 vintage motorcycle cards, £150 Tel. Jim 01332 371938. Derby. BOOKS: F W Neill, AJS (single cylinder), £10. Haynes manual. Norton Twins, £5. Haynes manual, Triumph 650/750 Twins, £5. All books above are plus postage and packing, or you can collect Tel. 01728 603863. Suffolk. REAR CARRIER to fit Royal Enfield 350/500 Bullet India, excellent condition, can send email pictures, £30 plus postage Tel. 01384 872202. West Midlands. TWO TRIUMPH motorcycle works catalogues: No.1. The 1939 issue with models and prices. No.2 The 1946 advance list, first post war catalogue, models and separate price list, both rare and in very good original condition, a must for a speed twin owner, £75 for both Tel. 02890 364770. Antrim. DYNAMOS, DYNAMOS, Dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos, dynamos. Paul Dunn 01782-856839. (T). PA625172C

ANDY TIERNAN buys all pre war BSA’s, also consider flat tankers, all makes especially v-twins. Tel. 01728 724321, 07802 896114 (T) or email: andybuysbikes@hotmail.com AN627685C

PANTHER 120 650cc wanted, prefer up and running but all considered. Tel. Andy 01728 724321, 07802 896114 (T) or email: andybuysbikes@hotmail. com AN627687C WANTED BRITISH AUTOJUMBLE spares or part projects, BSA, Norton, Triumph etc. Try us on top prices, friendly family firm for over 20 years. Collect anywhere especially Midlands, Stoke, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Derby. Tel. P. Dunn Dynamos, S-o-T 01782-856839. (T). PA625169C

CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES WANTED, any condition including projects, collection from anywhere, bikes sold on a commission basis. Tel. 0161 748 0865 Manchester, Lancs. (T). RO627441C

NUMBER PLATES

SHOT BLASTING

SHOCK ABSORBERS

SPARES

PISTONS

POLISHING & CHROMING

SPARES

TAX DISCS POWDER COATING

TIGER CUB SPARES

TRANSFERS

RESTORATION

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Diary JULY 7 Rufforth Auto Jumble. Rufforth Park, York YO23 3QH. Tel: 01904 738620/07713 164848. www.rufforthautojumble.com JULY 78 Skerries 100 Road Race. www.loughshinnymotorcycleclub.com JULY 8 Garstang Autojumble. Hamilton House Farm, on A586, off A6, Garstang, Preston PR3 0TB. www.garstangautojumbles.co.uk Email: info@garstangautojumbles.co.uk Milton Keynes Bike Show. MK Dons Stadium, Milton Keynes. www.mkbikeshow. co.uk Email mkbikeshow@gmail.com Spyder Riders Ride-In. Sammy Miller Museum. www.sammymiller.co.uk Indian + Victory Bike Day. Ace Cafe, Ace Corner, North Circular Road, Stonebridge, London NW10 7UD. london.acecafe.com Bovingdon BBC Summer Show. Bovingdon Airfield, Upper Bourne End Lane, Bourne End, Hertfordshire HP1 2RR. www.woodclass.com Email: events@ woodclass.com. Tel/fax 02082 526831 JULY 11 VMCC (Essex section) Club Night BBQ and Evening Run. From Writtle Green. Tel: John Beckinsale 01268 763805

YOUR EVENT SHOULD BE HERE The Classic MotorCycle is anxious to learn all about your motorcycle-related events. Contact us at The Classic MotorCycle, Mortons Media Ltd, Diary Listings, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ or email obmfreeads@mortons.co.uk

JULY 1315 Dragstalgia. Santa Pod Raceway, Airfield Road, Podington, Wellingborough, Northants NN29 7XA. www.dragstalgia.co.uk JULY 14 Ladies’ Ride-In. Sammy Miller Museum. www.sammymiller.co.uk Barton Bike Night. Barton town centre, Barton upon Humber, North Lincolnshire. Tel: 01652 660865. www.bartonbikenight.com South Midlands Autojumble. Ross-on-Wye Livestock Centre, Oveross, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire HR9 5QQ. Tel: 01989 750731 JULY 1415 Walderstown Road Race. www.foremcrc.com JULY 15 Colchester Classic Motorcycle Club 9th Annual Bike Show. Kings Arms, Frating, Colchester. Tel: 07962 012906 WAC Motorcycle Club Annual Star Bike Awards. The Tower, Perdiswell Park, (A38) Droitwich Road, Worcester WR3 7SN. Email: Robsa10@btinternet.com Penrith Autojumble. Penrith Auction Mart, Skirsgill, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 0DN.

www.garstangautojumbles.co.uk Email: info@garstangautojumbles.co.uk LE Velo Lancs & S Lakes. Wings & Wheels weekend, Myerscough Microlight Airfield. Tel: 01772 782516 South of England Summer Classic Show & Bikejumble. South of England Showground, Ardingly, West Sussex RH17 6TL. www.elkpromotions.co.uk Italian Ride-In. Sammy Miller Museum. www.sammymiller.co.uk AJS & Matchless (East Berks) Charity Run. www.amoc-eastberks.co.uk Appledore Vintage & Classic Vehicle Show. Appledore Recreation Ground, The Street, Appledore, Ashford, Kent TN26 2AE. Tel: 01233 732829 Salisbury Motorcycle & Light Car Club Lightweight Run (250cc and under). Tel: Andy Elliott 07909 778685. Email: publicity @salisburymotorcycleandlightcarclub. co.uk www.salisburymotorcycleandlightcar club.co.uk Sunbeam MCC Garden of England Run. Headcorn, Kent. Tel: Jo and Julian Swift 01233 756346. Email: julian@julianswift.com 70s Bike Day. Ace Cafe, Ace Corner, North Circular Road, Stonebridge, London NW10 7UD. london.acecafe.com Fourth Classic Motorcycle and American Car Show. White Swan car park, Hunmanby, North Yorkshire YO14 0JU. Tel: 07804 709168. Warlingham Rugby Club Classic Car and Bike Show. B269 Limpsfield Road, Hamsey Green, Warlingham. www.warlinghamclassics.co.uk

JULY 1825 Lincolnshire Bike Week. Various places in Lincolnshire, LN12 area. www.lincolnshirebikeweek.co.uk Email: adrian@coastaleventscic.co.uk JULY 1922 Norton National Rally Meeting. www.nortonownersclub.org/events JULY 21 Kempton Park Motorcycle Autojumble. Kempton Park, Staines Road East, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, TW16 5AQ. www.kemptonparkautojumble.co.uk Tel: 01507 529529. Scorton Auto & Bike Jumble. Scorton, North Yorkshire Events Centre DL10 6EJ. Tel: Bert 07909 904705. Leigh Food Fair & Vintage Classic Car/ Bike Show. Leigh Village Hall, Leigh, near Sherborne, Dorset DT9 6HL. Tel: 01935 873846 www.leighfoodfair.co.uk 50-50 Afternoon Gathering & Bike Show. Carington Arms, Folville Street, Ashby Folville, Leicestershire LE14 2TE. JULY 2122 Aberdare Park Road Races. 9 Park Lane, Aberdare CF44 8HN. www.aberdarepark.co.uk Scottish Motorcycle Festival. Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh. mcnscottishfestival.co.uk JULY 22 Cheshire Classic Motorcycle & Car Show. Capesthorne Hall, Macclesfield, Cheshire,

Send your diary entries to obmfreeads@mortons.co.uk

SK11 9JY. Tel: 01484 667776. www.classicshows.org Old Fossils Charity Bike Run. Horndean Technology College, Barton Cross, Horndean, Hampshire PO8 9PQ. Tel: 02392 593004. www.waterlooville-mcc.co.uk BTSC Eddie Creighton Memorial. Newbridge Garden Centre, Broadbridge Heath, Horsham, West Sussex. Tel: 01798 812383. Bike Day. Ace Cafe, Ace Corner, North Circular Road, Stonebridge, London NW10 7UD. london.acecafe.com Rideout. Meet Morrisons supermarket, Diss IP22 4XF. In aid of the Brain Tumour Charity. Tel: Andy 07774 780992. JULY 25 VMCC (Essex section) Third Wrinkly Run. Starting from Writtle Green. Tel: 01268 763805 JULY 26 LE Velo Lancs & S Lakes. Malham, meet village centre. Tel: 01772 782516 Krazy Horse – Park it in the Market. Greenwich Market, Greenwich Church Street, London SE10 9HZ. www.krazyhorse.co.uk JULY 2628 Moto Guzzi Club GB Summer Camp. The Powis Arms, Brampton Road, Lydbury North SY7 8AU. Tel: 07593 676802. www.motoguzziclub.co.uk JUL 2728 Armoy Road Race. www.facebook.com/faugheen.rrclub

JULY 2729 Kingdom of Mourne Weekend 2018. Newcastle, Co Down. Organiser Adrian Saunders, email: adriansni@gmail.com Tel: 07545 274883. vmccni.org.uk Scottish National Assembly of Vintage Motorcycles. Coupars Sports Ground, Coupar Angus Road, Blairgowrie, Perthshire. Tel: 01241 852369 JULY 28 LE Velo Northampton gathering. Red Lion, Thornby NN6 8SJ. Tel: 01604 499858. JULY 2829 Vintage Garden Festival. Letchworth Garden City. letchworthvintagefestival.org Tel: Norma 07445 705673 or Hayley 07900 287778 JULY 29 Classics at the Castle. Bodelwyddan Castle, Rhyl, North Wales LL18 5YA. Tel: 01484 667776. www.classicshows.org Sports Bike Special. Ace Cafe, Ace Corner, North Circular Road, Stonebridge, London NW10 7UD. london.acecafe.com Vintage Motor Cycle Club North Cotswold Section, Cotswold Way Run. Hayles Fruit Farm, Winchcombe GL54 5PB. Email: ncvmcc@gmail.com www.northcotswoldvmcc.com Suffolk Auto Jumble. Church Farm, Kettleburgh, near Woodbridge, Suffolk IP13 9JX. Tel: 01728 724858 (before 9pm) Exeter Classic MCC 30th Annual Dartmoor Charity Run. Start Exeter Quay. Tel: 01647 252680 www.exeterclassicmotorcycleclub.btck. co.uk/Dartmoorrun

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AUGUST 35 The 44th Annual Gloucestershire Vintage & Country Extravaganza. South Cerney Airfield, Cirencester. www.glosvintageextravaganza.co.uk AUGUST 45 S&T Regularity Run. VMCC (Stirling Castle Section), Cultybraggan Camp near Comrie. Tel: 01764 653474 International West Kent Run. The Friars, Aylesford, Kent ME20 7BX. Tel: 07761 005995 or visit iwkr.co.uk Trimpley Vintage Rally Weekend. Bite Farm, Trimpley, Bewdley, Worcestershire DY12 1NU. Tel: 07986 170715. www.bvmc.org.uk LlandBikeFest 2018. Royal International Pavilion, Llangollen LL20 8SW. Tel: 07960 693398 www.llanbikefest.co.uk National Sprint Association (Southern Section). Westonzoyland Airfield, Bridgewater, Somerset TA7 0LZ. www.sprinting.org.uk AUGUST 5 Garstang Autojumble. Hamilton House Farm, on A586, off A6, Garstang, Preston, PR3 0TB. www.garstangautojumbles.co.uk Email: info@garstangautojumbles.co.uk ’Normous Newark Autojumble. The Showground, Drove Lane, Winthorpe, Newark, Notts NG24 2NY. Tel: 01507 529529 www.newarkautojumble.co.uk Suzuki Sunday. Ace Cafe, Ace Corner, North Circular Road, Stonebridge, London NW10 7UD. london.acecafe.com LE Velo Lancs & S Lakes. Rivington, South Barn. Tel: 01772 782516.

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AUGUST 711 Ulster Grand Prix. www.ulstergrandprix.net

AUGUST 16 LE Velo Lancs & South Lakes. Arnside, meet car park at viaduct. Tel: 01772 782516

AUGUST 1012 Moto Guzzi Club GB GuzziFest. Riverside Camping and Caravan Park, Marsh Lane, North Molton Road, South Molton, North Devon EX36 3HQ. Tel: 07593 676802. www.motoguzziclub.co.uk

AUGUST 18 Scorton Auto & Bike Jumble. Scorton, North Yorkshire Events Centre DL10 6EJ. Tel: 07909 904705 Sunbeam MCC first Bolney Vintage Run. Bolney, Sussex. Tel: Rob Pond 01306 628297/07907 694751. Email: events@sunbeam-mcc.co.uk

AUGUST 1112 National Sprint Association (Northern Section). George Brown Memorial Sprint. East Kirkby, Spilsby, Lincs PE23 4DE. www.sprinting.org.uk AUGUST 12 Classic Motorcycle Show. Hen & Chickens, Baldock. Tel: 07963 609143 The British Two-Stroke Club (Leicester section). The Belvoir Run (venue to be arranged). Tel: 01162 750532. Taunton Classic Motorcycle Club, Annual Exmoor Run. For details visit tauntonclassicmc.weebly.com Sunbeam MCC 56th Graham Walker Memorial Run. Beaulieu, Hampshire. Tel: Ian McGill 01293 771446. Email: acsociable1@sky.com VMCC & Classic Bike Day. Ace Cafe, Ace Corner, North Circular Road, Stonebridge, London, NW10 7UD. london.acecafe.com AUGUST 1419 VMCC (Essex section) Summer Camping. Tel: Dave Iszard 01621 892206 AUGUST 1520 Norton International Rally, Austria. www.nortonownersclub.org/events

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AUGUST 1819 The Classic Car & Cheshire Autojumble Passion for Power. Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6QN www.cheshireauto promotions.co.uk Tel: 01507 529529 AUGUST 19 Ladies Day – Bring What Ya Run. Ace

Cafe, Ace Corner, North Circular Road, Stonebridge, London NW10 7UD. london.acecafe.com UK Monster Truck Nationals. Santa Pod Raceway, Airfield Road, Podington, Wellingborough, Northants, NN29 7XA. www.monstertrucknationals.co.uk Taunton Autojumble. Taunton Rugby Club, Hyde Lane (off A38) TA2 8BU. Tel: 07977 643852. Harley Ride In. Sammy Miller Museum. www.sammymiller.co.uk Kenley Autojumble. The Portcullis Club, Kenley Airfield, Victor Beamish Avenue, Caterham, Surrey CR3 5FX. Tel: 07772 169524/07971 823314. www.facebook.com/KenleyAutojumble Sunbeam MCC second Summer Pioneer Run. Handcross, Sussex. Tel Rob Pond 01306 628297/ 07907 694751. Email: events@sunbeam-mcc.co.uk

Next Month ON SALE August 3, 2018

Royal Enﬁeld rarity Overhead camshaft prototype The Classic MotorCycle is brought to you by... EDITOR James Robinson Tel 01507 529405 Fax 01507 371066 email jrobinson@mortons.co.uk CONTRIBUTORS IN THIS ISSUE James Adam Bolton, Tim Britton, Rachael Clegg, Jonathan Hill, Roy Poynting, Richard Rosenthal, Martin Squires, Jerry Thurston, Alan Turner, Phil Turner, Andy Westlake, Steve Wilson. PRODUCTION EDITOR Sarah Wilkinson SENIOR DESIGNER Kelvin Clements DESIGNERS Michael Baumber, Libby Fincham PICTURE DESK Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield PUBLISHER Tim Hartley

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THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE (USPS: 710-470) is published monthly by Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ UK. USA subscriptions are $63 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. Periodical Postage is paid at Bancroft, WI and additional entries. Postmaster: Send address changes to THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE, c/o Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. 715-572-4595 chris@classicbikebooks.com PRINTED BY William Gibbons & Sons, Wolverhampton. © Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher. ISSN No 0263-0850

Classic life

Classic camera

Schoolboy era

A wheelie-popping youngster on a sporting baby Triumph. Photograph: MORTONS ARCHIVE

heel-lofting action from 12-year-old Neil Cheshire, son of well-known scrambler Terry, with the youngster reported as ‘having already experienced many scrambles laps’. He’s riding (with some elan) a Triumph Tiger Cub, a four-stroke – dad Terry was better known for his exploits on two-strokes, DOTs mainly, though he did ride lots of four-strokes too, Royal Enfields and Gold Stars among them. The ‘scrambles’ Tiger Cub remains one of the rarest variants of baby Triumph, though there were several incarnations, spawned from the earlier T20C Competition Cub, more trials focused than for scrambling. It was announced in 1957, essentially a replica of the works machine which appeared at the 1956 International Six Days Trial.

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The Scrambler came in 1959, running until 1961, with young Neil’s machine most likely from that period. So it wasn’t an old nail he was racing around on, but a proper piece of kit, though the seat suggests it’s possibly a trials version, featuring a more modest 7:1 compression ratio rather than the ‘full on’ 9:1 compression scrambler. He was only 12, after all. Neil Cheshire was a bit before his time – it was the late 1960s really when schoolboy sport took off, with the British Schoolboy Motorcycle Association (BSMA) formed in November 1969, then running its first season of events in 1970. In the 1970s schoolboy sport went from strength to

strength, with many of the leading British stars of the 1980s coming through from the Junior formula, including Graham Noyce (1971 British schoolboy motocross champ and 1979 500cc world champion) and Dave Thorpe, who in 1985, 1986 and 1989 was the world’s premier class motocross champion. Not since Thorpe has a British rider won the title and in fact only one other British rider, Jeff Smith in 1964 and 1965, has been world champion – and Smith rode a BSA unit single, which could trace its lineage to End the Cub... as ridden here by young Neil.