Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2017 i The Classic MotorCycle

Author: Dave Crofts Published by: D W M Crofts, The Paddock, Bell Lane, Weston, Newark, Nottinghamshire NG23 6TW Tel.: 01636 822004 E-mail: dwmcrofts@ btinternet.com Also available from: Amazon. Softback, 210 x 295mm (portrait); 118 pages with over 150 pictures and illustrations. ISBN 978-1-326-74957-6 £14.50 including UK postage and packing. When pioneer motorcycle manufacturers are discussed and compared, it is unlikely that the Nottingham firm of Campion is included or indeed remembered. This is unfortunate, because Campion – successful engineer and cycle maker – really was a pioneers, making its first motorcycle, using their own engine, in 1899. The story began with William Campion in the 1860s. He built textile machinery and ran a mill in Nottingham’s labyrinthine Lace Market. By the 1870s, the bicycle craze was established in England…

Early departures, on Sunday, March 19, from the Epsom Downs start reported cold conditions before the route took them south to more sheltered Sussex roads. As part of a tradition that must be as old as motorcycling, roadside refreshment and a mix of bikes and beverages is solidly maintained by the Sunbeam Club. Over the years, there have been many casual pull-ins, somewhere along the route, as there still are, but the club has formalised the arrangement into an organised and coffee stop competently marshalled, as ever, by members of the AJS and Matchless OC, one of several clubs that have long assisted the Sunbeam MCC in various capacities in the running of the event. Handcross School, just to the north of the eponymous village, has served the club well…

Study many recent Scottish Six Days Trials (SSDT) histories, and you’ll discover Hugh (B H) Viney was the first to score a hat-trick (1947-49) of victories – so far, so good. Many then err by continuing his record of three wins was broken by Gordon Jackson who won four SSDTs (1956, 1958, 1960 and 1961). Certainly, Jackson recorded four SSDT victories and famously dabbed only once in 1961. But it was actually Viney who first recorded four wins (his fourth coming in 1953), making the then AJS team leader a double record breaker. The origins of the SSDT begin in 1905 with the formation of the Dunedin MCC. Rival local clubs were later formed including the Edinburgh Waverley MCC (circa 1906) and Leith MCC (circa 1908). All clubs organised social…

“We old-bike enthusiasts have no reason to feel smug, because we and our forefathers were (are) just as ready to part with our money chasing fashion.” With the exception of modern riders wearing one-piece leathers colour-coordinated with their latest rocket-propelled projectile, you’d say most of us are pretty impervious to the vagaries of fashion. Not for us the mindless modishness of youths wearing their trousers at half-mast, or of girls buying jeans already so slashed we’d spurn them as polishing rags. A glance around the average club run or autojumble shows most of us wearing fairly practical togs with such subdued colouring they need to be topped off with a hi visibility waistcoat before we can be seen. So nobody could accuse us of being fashion victims. Or could they?…

This month’s sketchbook subjects all come from my visit to Race Retro in February. Even though the show is biased towards cars rather than motorbikes, there are often some interesting motorcycles. This year, I found three machines that are all special in their own way. One of them even has three wheels. John Surtees’ 1949 Vincent Grey Flash The genesis of the Grey Flash was within the Series C Comet, introduced in 1948. During 1949 the Brown brothers, George and Cliff, both mechanics at the Vincent works, were campaigning a factory racer, with George as the pilot on what became known as the ‘Cadwell Special’. The special used a combination of a Series A Comet with an upgraded barrel in aluminium instead of the standard cast iron, developing 39bhp at…

APRIL 8-9 25th Annual South Wales Sunbeam Motorcycle Show. Llanishen High School, Cardiff CF14 5Y. Tel: 01443 435125 www.southwalessunbeammcc.co.uk APRIL 9 Garstang Autojumble. Hamilton House Farm (on A586, off A6) Garstang, Preston PR3 0TB Tel: Ian Sherrard 07836 331324 (day) or 01772 323654 (6pm-8pm) Email: info@garstangautojumbles.co.uk www.garstangautojumbles.co.uk Ace Cafe London. British & Classic Bike Day + BSA Special.www.ace-cafe-london.com Sunbeam MCC third Oxon/Bucks Run. Chinnor, Oxon. Tel: Andy Middleton 01844 352844 Email: apmiddleton@btinternet.com LE Velo Lancs & S Lakes. West Lancs Light Railway, Hesketh Bank. Tel: 01772 782516 Prescott Bike Festival & Prescott Hill Climb. Gotherington, near Cheltenham, GL52 9RD. www.prescottbikefestival.co.uk Nottingham Triumph Owners’ Motorcycle Club – Bottesford Easter Egg Run. Red Lion PH, Bottesford NG13 0DE. Tel: 01780 762531 or 07790 583082  Kenley Autojumble. The Portcullis Club, Kenley Airfield, Victor…

Tim Britton, Jonathan Hill, Roy Poynting, Richard Rosenthal, Martin Squires, Jerry Thurston, Alan Turner, Phil Turner, Gerry Vogt, 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…

The Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, near York, will be the start and finish point for the North East Section of the VMCC’s Golden Era run. The event on Sunday, July 30 is for motorcycles and three-wheelers built before 1931. There are two lengths of run, and on return to the museum participants will be treated to a roast lunch and receive a memento of the event, all included in the entry fee. Due to the available space at the museum places are limited to 60, so please apply early. For more information contact Graham Wilson on 0113 2176509 or 07772 724078, or email gericwilson@ntlworld.com…

Gavin Walton, a popular member of the classic motorcycle community in South Africa, notched up his second win in the prestigious DJ Rally for classic motorcycles made before 1937 when he won the 2017 event, over March 10/11. He had a total error of 220 seconds for the two-day event which took competitors from Durban to Johannesburg with an overnight stop in Newcastle. This was the 46th running of this regularity rally which commemorates the annual motorcycle races held on public roads between Durban and Johannesburg from 1913 to 1936. This year there were 70 finishers from an original field of 93 riders. This year the riders had favourable weather for most of the trip, with only one slight shower encountered, after a heavy downpour in Durban on the day…

A bike weighing considerably less than 200lb but having at least 45 brake horses sounds a recipe for an interesting ride. When the bike has no gears and no brakes and is ridden round a tight oval on a loose surface, the whole experience becomes... well... character building! That’s speedway in a nutshell and its enduring appeal saw supporters join present and former riders at the annual Celebration of Speedway held at Paradise Wildlife Park, Broxbourne, Herts, on February 26. The February date marks the month in 1928 when what was generally recognised as the first high profile speedway meeting in this country took place behind the Kings Oak Hotel at High Beech in Epping Forest. Some 30,000 spectators overwhelmed the place to see the new sport of ‘dirt track…

Our story starts with an ending. The setting is the motocross circuit in the Italian town of Settimo, and the date, October 4, 1972. Racing is over for the day and as the dust dies down, the crowd drifts away. For most of the riders, it was just the end of another long, hard season, and the chance to take a well-deserved break. But for Keith Hickman it was an emotional day, as he knew it had been his last ever race. The 27-year-old from Oxford had decided to call time on his professional racing career. Aboard Greeves and Dot two-strokes, a rasping Triumph twin, Cheney Gold Star, works BSAs and finally a 400cc Husqvarna, Keith raced for 13 years. Now retired after working for many years in the family…

“Two pints later, I’d managed to tie myself in knots, untangle myself, and then get knotted again.” A couple of nights ago, I found myself deep into explaining the function of the flywheel to a non-motorcycling friend. This all came about when I airily mentioned I was going to have one lightened to help with acceleration. “Oh, so the engine will now make more power?” my pal remarked. “Um, no” I said, “no more power made.” “Surely that can’t be,” my pal countered, “you need more power to accelerate faster…” At this point, I should have said something clever and short like… “Aaah, no extra power made, but more power released, because the engine doesn’t have to accelerate so much mass.” But oh no. Instead, I launched into a full-blown…

Shelsley Walsh We’re disappointed to discover there will be no bikefest at Shelsley Walsh this year. As an aside, organisers state Shelsley Walsh is the oldest surviving motor sport venue still in use. Is this correct? And have bikes raced on the climb before the bikefest? Graham and Lil Henderson, email. Located in Worcestershire, the first event (for cars) was held at Shelsley Walsh on August 12, 1905 by permission of the then tenant Claude Taylor. The first victor was Ernest Instone, driving a Coventry-built Daimler. Shelsley Walsh has played host to motorcycle competition on and off over the years, including pre-First World War, although there have been huge periods of absence, including between 1912 and October 1946 when Irishman Ernie Lyons (498cc Triumph) set fastest time of the day,…

Jazz legend Louis Armstrong poses on an NSU Quickly, during one of his tours to Europe, which started in the mid-1950s when he was one of a number of jazz musicians sent out by the US State Department as goodwill ambassadors. Whether the legendary trumpeter actually used the Quickly or not is unclear, though he was quoted in the German-language release with this picture as saying; “Da ist eine Quickly very good,” – basically, ‘There is one Quickly, very good’ which doesn’t make it clear whether he was riding it or not. Made from 1953 to 1962 in the N version as detailed, the NSU Quickly sold in its thousands, particularly on its home market. Powered by a 49cc two-stroke engine, driving through a two-speed gearbox, housed in a pressed-steel…

Unique’ is an oft-overused word, but that is the only fitting term to describe the achievements of John Surtees, the only man to be world champion in the blue riband category on both two and four wheels. Born on February 11, 1934, in Tatsfield, Surrey, John was the son of Jack, a regular sporting competitor as well as proprietor of a motorcycle shop in Croydon, south London. Aged 15, John joined his dad in the business, then made his racing debut at 16. By the time he was 17 he was an apprentice at Vincent and racing – and winning – on a Grey Flash. The rise of Surtees was meteoric – at just 18 he came sixth in the 1952 Ulster GP, on a Featherbed Norton. There were factory…

750 MACHINES SET FOR MECUM SALE Following on from its gargantuan January sale, Mecum is now working towards its summer sale, on June 1-3. There’s expected to be something in the region of 750 machines on offer. Go to www.mecum. com  for details. RACE, ROCK N’ RIDE Race, Rock n’ Ride is back in 2017, at the Santa Pod Raceway on May 20-21. CHEFFINS’ ELY EVENT There’s an auction at Cheffins’ East Anglian premises, at Sutton near Ely, on April 22, for which consignments are being taken. Call 01353 777767 or www.cheffins.co.uk ASI MOTOSHOW This year’s ASI MotoShow is on May 12-14. As usual, there’s free public admission while details of how to take part are available at www.asifed.it  or by calling…

The story of Gordon May’s overland journey from the UK to Vietnam on a 1941 Matchless is told in a new book. Overland to Vietnam is May’s account of his 2015 solo ride of 11,500 miles on a Second World War ex-British Army 350cc Matchless motorcycle only recently repatriated from Myanmar (formerly Burma). Overland to Vietnam is 432 pages and available in paperback, £11.95; hardback, £14.95 and available from www.overlandtovietnam.com or 0161 408 6310. Alternatively, Gordon and his Matchless will be at the Stafford show.…

1967 Thirty two-year-old Sammy Miller, riding a Spanish 252cc Bultaco, won the year’s Scottish Six Days Trial, equalling the four win records of AJS teamsters Hugh Viney and Gordon Jackson. Mr Viney remained the only person to complete a hat-trick of SSDT victories. Miller (18 marks lost) led all week to win by a margin of 16 marks over Dave Rowland (173cc BSA) who took the under 200cc trophy. Peter Gaunt (128cc Suzuki, on 97) won the under 150cc award and third place man Dennis ‘Jonah’ Jones (246cc Greeves) secured the under 250cc cup. Amusingly, Miller also had a hand in the best over 350cc award, as winner Peter ‘Jock’ Wilson rode an ex-Miller 497cc Ariel, with a loss of 127 marks. The Best Newcomer trophy went to Martin Lampkin…

Doubtless a fair few American riders would’ve been inspired to find their nearest BSA showroom by Jim Rice. A leading AMA Grand National racer during the 1960s and early 1970s, Rice notched up no fewer than 12 AMA national wins during his six-year pro racing career, all but one of them on BSAs. Born in Wooster, Ohio on July 10, 1947, Rice cut his racing teeth drag racing cars. At 16 he moved to California and, unable to afford car insurance, purchased a Honda 50 to get around on; it was this that sparked his interest in two wheels. Rice started riding in local scrambles races on a Yamaha YDS2 he bought with a friend, but having secured employment in a motorcycle shop, he soon progressed to a 1965 Spitfire…

Dispatch riders (DRs) were equally active in wartime Britain, a potentially hazardous environment where road deaths peaked in 1941 at 9916. Bombing and bomb damage, the blackout, the absence of road signs (and even shop signs bearing a town’s name were painted out), road surfaces which included cobblestones and greasy wooden blocks, English weather, plus, from 1943, large numbers of Forces’ vehicles piloted by Americans accustomed to driving on the right – all had to be contended with. Many UK-based DRs were female, Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) or Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS), to free up manpower for combat roles. Their number included the future ‘Avengers’ star, Honor Blackman. The Senior Service in particular initially recruited from the upper end of the social strata. The redoubtable Mrs Virginia Hussey’s future…

Wanderer is one of the most interesting German motorcycle marques you've probably never heard of. Founded in 1896 as ‘Chemnitzer Velociped-Depôt Winklhofer & Jaenicke, the firm started life as a bicycle maker and repairer in the Saxony city of Chemnitz. Initially the concern assembled, sold and serviced British bikes, but founders Johann Baptist Winklhofer and Richard Adolf Jaenicke – both keen cyclists and talented engineers – were soon building and selling their own machines under the brand name Wanderer; it's said the name came from the translation of the British bicycle brand name Rover. The high quality and elegant design of Winklhofer and Jaenicke’s bikes meant they were soon in high demand, and the pair moved their operation from a rented workshop in the city to a 200,000sqft plot in…

There can’t be many people who get to see and read their own published obituary, but in the remarkable life of Howard Davies, that was just one of the many improbable or implausible things to have occurred. Howard is probably best remembered for his 1921 TT effort, when he won the Senior (500cc) TT on his Junior (350cc) AJS. Other huge achievements included winning a TT on a machine of his own manufacture (1925 Senior race on his HRD-Jap) as well as an Isle of Man career which took place either side of the First World War. Born in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, on June 27, 1895, Howard excelled at sport as a child, but like most Midlands-area schoolboys he was a motorcycle fan, and on leaving Wolverhampton Municipal Grammar School…

Horizontal Amal 10TT32 Duke of York and motorcycle racing Studying English royalty, I’ve discovered the Duke of York (King George VI 1936-52 and father of your current Queen) was interested in motorcycle racing. However my research material gives no further details. Maureen (Mo) Peterson, email, USA. Not only was the then Duke of York interested in motorcycle racing and spectated at a number of venues, he also sponsored his chauffeur Mr S E Wood at Brooklands and possibly elsewhere, on a range of machines, including a 989cc Harley-Davidson, 349cc Douglas and 988cc Trump-Anzani. Wood and the Duke of York enjoyed their first win in the Five-Lap Handicap for solo motorcycles of 500-1000cc with the 988cc Trump-Anzani. Organised by the BMCRC (Bemsee) on Saturday, June 10, 1922, their third meeting at…