British Soil Walking with legends - men and machines

Walking with legends - men and machines

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Main: The concourse line up. 1&2. A piece of history. – Don Rickman’s British GP Winner 1966. 3. Dan Field gives the Norton some wrist action. 4. Concourse comment “Could do better”. 5. Sammy Miller interviews Don Rickman.

Words and photos by Brian Salt.

Now an annual event at Sammy Millers Motorcycle Museum, the Rickman Day was an event that I will not miss again. Set in the idyllic surroundings of Sammy Miller’s courtyard, the place was bursting with all things Rickman from a police bike through to road racers, cafe racers to Rickman Mettisse scramblers, with boyhood heroes Jeff Smith and Don Rickman taking pride of place.

After a late morning bimble around the tarmac paddock, my enjoyment betrayed by the broad grin on Jeff Smith’s face, renewing his acquaintance. He was facing the interviews prompted and led by inquisitor Sammy Miller, with the banter and races re-run being a privilege to behold. As well, I had not been there half an hour before I met with John Mathews, a Rickman enthusiast all the way from Australia, and in the absence of anyone from New Zealand he must have been the furthest travelled.

One item of interest was the Huskyengined Rickman made for Graham Noyce, the only Husky example made and still in original condition. The swingarm is interesting with different drillings to alter the angle of the shock absorbers, perhaps the shape of things to come in the suspension world? While wandering around I saw that Wasp Motorcycles had a display, put on by Albert, welder extraordinaire, and now settled in new premises following the demise of the founder Robin Rhind Tutt. They currently have orders for a number of the twin shock sidecar chassis for Norton and Yamaha engines.

Next door was the entrance to the motorcycle museum. Stepping inside I was completely astounded by both the number and diversity of the machinery and so decided that it would be worthy of a prolonged visit and an article in these pages on its own in a future issue.

Continuing on my way past the enclave of legends, I spotted the definitive autobiography of a certain J.V. Smith written superbly by Ian Berry and signed by JVS himself. It details his younger years and development and GP career in great detail plus covers the years in Canada

with Can-Am and the development of that machinery. It goes on to detail his retirement and involvement with the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association. I lined up with him on the start line at the Daytona Bike Week scramble in 2001 and I must have been a bit overawed as I promptly fell off on the first bend. All in all a superb book (available from motorsportx.com). Completing the lap I looked in Sammy’s workshop where the historic machinery is bought to life once again and I’ll also save that for my next visit.

For the second part of my column, it was onwards in a hot dry July to the British Bike Bonanza, a much loved annual event staged by ex-top grass track rider Adrian Moss, now in it’s 40th year. There was barely a two-stroke in sight amongst the paddock full of fire breathing machinery. It was a fast flowing course without jumps, so it made for some close and exciting racing. The guest or honour was Colin Dommett, an ex-scrambles champ and multiISDT gold medal winner and he was joined by Freddie Mayes, Vic Allen, Andy Roberton and the youngster Neil Hudson, all telling yarns of yesteryear. The racing was close and no quarter was given with Dave Bell taking six wins on his Triumph Mettisse (Dave is normally a sidecar passenger). The results list for bikes reads like a history book including: Tribsa,

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Goldstar Mabsa, Norton Mettisse, Jap Metisse and last but not least a Greeves Griffon. It was definitely a wander down memory lane just with the names, never mind the occasional whiff of Castrol R - a track without jumps, incredible company...what more could you ask from a day at the races with legends?

This brings me to a much discussed item, that is the cost of what started out as a cheap bit of Sunday fun for the lads.

It has spiraled out of control, with metal start gates being the norm now. What was wrong with the elastic start (as used at the bonanza), if anyone broke it they started facing backwards! Then there’s transponders, as these have killed the art of lapscoring by ladies who would brook no argument, with the cross checking between teams ensuring there was no mistakes. As well, the use of prepared tracks which now invariably cost thousands of pounds. Previously it was a few hundred pounds that went to a farmer who was glad of the money and who knew the grass would be back within a few weeks. Add to all this is the fact that marshals are paid and the first aid is no longer the local Red Cross but a fully equipped team of paramedics. Then there’s the cost of travel/fuel for a large van. Small wonder that the entry fees have escalated and regional meetings are becoming just that with no one travelling hundreds of miles, with consequent smaller entries, which we are now seeing at many meetings.

The final factor in this sad story is the way that the cost of all classes of bike have escalated putting the sport out of reach for so many. I have spoken to numerous organisers and they for the most part seem to be coming to the end of a long road. Spectator gate money is a small and not reliable consideration so the entire cost of the meeting has to come from the entry fees, plus whatever sponsorship can be found (always hard if not impossible to find)!

The sport in the UK was entering a similar phase in the ‘90s as crowds stopped coming in their thousands. The costs then were considerably lower and as the costs of running a meeting exploded so did the entry fees to the point now where many simply cannot afford it. Please send me some solutions on the back of a £20 note - to go towards diesel to get to the next meeting!

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1. Dereck’s GP winner. 2. A beautiful Honda 750 Rickman cafe racer. 3. Youngster of the stars on parade, Neil Hudson, saying how as an upcoming lad people like Andy and Vic were the riders he had to catch in those early days. 4. Andy Roberton gives Vic Allan something to smile about. 5. Brian Salt (on right) meets up with Rickman’s No. 1 fan from Australia, John Matthews 6. Never seen one before a Rickman police bike. 7. One of Sammy’s workshop projects. 8. No metal gates here, the elastic has gone and a Victor, a MABSA and a Matchless are away! 9. The one-off Husky Metisse made for Graham Noyce.