Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2018 i The Classic MotorCycle

It’s all trails leading to the Telford International Centre for the Classic Dirt Bike Show, over the weekend of February 17/18. Well-known off-road exponent and raconteur Colin Dommett is one of the guests of honour, and he’ll no doubt have some good tales to tell, with Colin joined by Gerrit Wolsink (twice runner-up in the 1970s in the 500cc GP table) and ex-ISDT rider Peter Duke, who’ll be talking about his late father Geoff as well as his own riding career. There’s also the usual raft of off-road iron – be your preference motocross, trials, racing or speedway… anything that doesn’t take place on the road. Gates open at 10am, advance tickets from 01507 529529, the postcode is TF3 4JH.…

Some huge military machines appeared in the display areas of Brooklands Museum for the occasion. Military Vehicle Day aims to cover the whole spectrum of such transport and so the importance of motorcycles in conflict was represented by an interesting variety of mainly Second World War machines and they attracted much interest. Such restorations are definitely not for the fainthearted. Greatest draw among the motorcycle display was a selection of German sidecar outfits. During the last war, this form of transport found far more favour with the German forces than the British military. David Hucklebridge was one of the owners and he explained that he got interested as a reaction to jingoism, finding the BMW and Zundapp outfits were impressively engineered. His friend, Bill Northcote, also had outfits on show…

It’s not hard to explain the swell of enthusiasm for scooters after the Second World War. Small wheels meant less weight and also left more room for bodywork giving some weather protection, and there could even be a modicum of luggage capacity. Of those factors, only the chance of keeping one’s clothes cleaner and dryer goes part way towards explaining the similar surge of popularity after the First World War, a time when small wheels were surely the last thing most riders wanted on largely unmade road surfaces strewn with nails from horses’ hooves. Looking back you can’t imagine why manufacturers even tried their hand at the genre, but try they did, and predictably they all came unstuck in just a couple of years. With few sales in proportion to…

Born on October 7, 1848, in Chertsey, Hugh Fortescue Locke King inherited his huge, 4600 acre family estate, located mostly in Surrey, in 1885. A year earlier, he’d married 20-year-old Ethel Gore Browne, the youngest daughter of Sir Thomas Gore Browne, governor of Tasmania and later New Zealand. Ethel was to support and encourage her husband’s lavishness, including the building of Brooklands race circuit. Almost from the outset of motorcar development, the Locke Kings were captivated but concerned there were no suitable motorcar testing facilities in the UK. They decided to take action. The planning, building, costs, opening and pre First World War years of Brooklands have been well documented, but a few facts and figures will hopefully amuse... ■ Initially, Hugh and Ethel planned a four-mile long, 20 feet…

The most perilous place in all the many rooms at TCM Towers is The Archive. Why is it so dangerous? Well, it is packed full of possibilities, solutions, encouragement and the like. Entering its hallowed portals one quiet afternoon, intent on finding a parts list for ‘C’ range twins to help evaluate the parts making up our project, the Ghosts of Triumphs Past worked their magic, and as well as the parts manual other things seemingly appeared from nowhere. Well they were in various archive boxes but I swear I wasn’t looking for them… what surfaced were things like the Technical Bulletins from the factory which showed how to improve the performance of the ‘C’ range. Then there was a feature in Motorcycle Mechanics from the 1960s which detailed prepping…

Threads: This subject has been covered in depth in past technical features, but a brief mention of the types found on most British and imported classic motorcycles may serve as a reminder. In an ideal world, past and present motorcycle factories would have stuck to one or two thread ranges and the restorer’s lot would be far easier. But they didn’t, and in certain cases still don’t. Therefore, when working on a project, save and label every fastener removed. They will serve as patterns and to identify thread pitches and diameters when progressing the rebuild. Threads apart, these saved items will confirm hexagon sizes (these often didn’t follow form either) and the material used in the manufacture of the original fastener. British Standard Cycle (BSC) thread: Identical thread form to…

The reason for the African/Arabian/Turkish pastiche garb (and the camel!) was that Riverside County, California, was just about the only place north of Africa where dates could be grown. The rider of the lightly customised Triumph twin was Skip Fordyce, a local motorcycle trader. Skip’s Triumph was a new motorcycle too, one of the launchedfor-1959 5TA Speed Twins, which were based upon the 350cc 3TA/ Twenty-One and implemented to supersede the long running, super successful original Speed Twin, designed by Edward Turner, and arguably the most important British motorcycle ever made. Launched for the 1938 season, the Speed Twin was a revelation which sparked a revolution. For years, a sporting 500cc model wasn’t a sporting 500cc model, unless it was an overhead valve (or overhead camshaft) big single, as hairy-chested…

This year’s Prescott Bike Fest is set to be the biggest and best yet, with so much to do that organisers have now extended it to cover two days. The event will return to the Gloucestershire hill climb venue on April 14/15, and it will feature a hugely diverse range of machinery covering virtually every era of motorcycling. Throughout the weekend there’ll be live music, special guest appearances, a large zone for youngsters, more than 100 quality trade stands, clubs, plus beer and food tents. All proceeds go to the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes and regional Blood Bike group Severn Freewheelers. The latter is one of 27 Blood Bike groups around the UK that provide a free out-of-hours courier service for medical essentials. The life-saving service is run by…

Brunch for more than 5000 seems a vaguely biblical feat, but it sums up the efforts of Brooklands Museum for its New Year’s Day Classic Gathering, billed as the largest such year-opening event. Whatever the excesses of the previous night, when the gates opened at 9am it started a seemingly never-ending stream of classic, vintage, veteran, commercial and military machines as well as more modern custom creations. The museum had laid on plenty of additional catering to keep everyone refreshed. Eventually, there were more than 1100 pre-1988 admissions. The parking area was provided by the former finishing straight, part of the original track, and finally revealed after the removal of the wartime Bellman hangar. It was a considerable space, but soon filled with cars. The motorcycles had their own dedicated…

Vintage multi cylinders I enjoyed reading the article on the Henderson 4 in the November 2017 edition of The Classic MotorCycle. I can also add a bit to its history as it was entered in the Bonhams sale at Harrogate in 2001. Then, it realised £31,050, see Bonhams advert (right). Who would have thought just six years later it would be sold again for more than three times that amount? While on the subject of bargain vintage motorcycles, also find enclosed a photo of my own 8HP Rex-Acme combination. This machine changed hands in 1960 for just £1. Jonathan Hardwick, Filey. Enjoying an insight I really enjoyed reading and viewing the superb images in the story of the 1954 Manx GP by Richard Rosenthal in the December 2017 issue of…

September 1953 saw huge crowds lining the hillsides of the Drevnice Valley in Czechoslovakia, for that year’s International Six Days Trial – six exhausting days and 1200 muscle sapping miles in the event referred to by the period press as the ‘motorcycling Olympics.’ While many of the riders were mounted on lightweight two-strokes, ideal for negotiating the steep, muddy climbs and tight hairpin bends around Gottwaldov, someone obviously forgot to pass on this information to the West German Trophy team as half of their line-up, comprising of George Meier, Hans Roth and Walter Zeller, were competing on huge 600cc BMW flat twins. They were not just any 600cc BMWs one could buy in the shops, but specially prepared factory R67/2s, with high-level exhaust systems, lightweight trials saddles, quickly detachable wheel…

EDITOR James Robinson Tel 01507 529405 Fax 01507 371066 email jrobinson@mortons.co.uk CONTRIBUTORS IN THIS ISSUE Tim Britton, Rachael Clegg, Jonathan Hill, Roy Poynting, Richard Rosenthal, Martin Squires, Jerry Thurston, Phillip Tooth, Alan Turner, Phil Turner, Andy Westlake. PRODUCTION EDITOR Sarah Wilkinson SENIOR DESIGNER Kelvin Clements DESIGNERS Michael Baumber, Libby Fincham PICTURE DESK Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield, Angie Sisestean PUBLISHER Tim Hartley DIVISIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER Billy Manning ADVERTISING Sarah Mitchell-Savage Tel 01507 529418, email smitchell-savage@mortons.co.uk SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER Paul Deacon CIRCULATION MANAGER Steve O’Hara MARKETING MANAGER Charlotte Park COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Nigel Hole PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Dan Savage EDITORIAL ADDRESS PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.classicmotorcycle.co.uk GENERAL ENQUIRIES & BACK ISSUES Tel 01507 529529, 24-hour answerphone email help@classicmagazines.co.uk www.classicmagazines.co.uk ARCHIVE ENQUIRIES Jane Skayman jskayman@mortons.co.uk Tel 01507 529423 SUBSCRIPTION…

As an antidote to turkey, mince pies and James Bond movies, it seems the CBG Winter Classic has struck the right note, with plenty wanting to squeeze in a little off-season motorcycling, if this year’s attendance – the best for several years – was anything to go by. After everything seemingly being about Christmas, it was a pleasant change to have a bit of motorcycling normality, with a host of desirable motorcycles on display for an enthusiastic audience to appreciate, as well as a reasonable sized jumble and even a hall or two of scooters to peruse. Guest of honour was Michael Rutter, who took several turns on the stage, a stage which had a couple of Ducatis with Rutter associations near it too, in the shape of racers, one…

It’s oft stated that necessity is the mother of invention and when Gerry Cain was creating his ‘ultimate’ Velocette, he felt it was necessary his interpretation of the best Venom available had a five-speed gearbox – and as one wasn’t available, there was only one option. He explains: “It was 10-12 years ago and I’d built the Velocette I wanted and was happy with how it looked. But every time I rode it, I was a little disappointed. Aesthetically, it was absolutely right, but I couldn’t help thinking that it was missing something. Basically, it needed a gear between third and fourth… “I thought I’d do something about it. I approached Nova transmissions and explained I wanted a five-speed gearbox with ratios similar to my Triumph T140. Nova said, yes,…

Park a Bantam of any age in any British town and I’d wager you’ll not stand there long before you’re approached by someone who: “...rode to work on one of those...” or for whom “...it was my first bike...” The opening gambit is usually followed by a brief outline of what said person went on to ride next, and then how the partner and family came along and two wheels had to be replaced by four. But it’s quite a feat for such a humble machine to still ‘stop traffic’ all these years later. Thinking about it, it’s not that surprising that so many people remember the plucky little Beesa, as it was around for so long – by the time the covers came off the D14/4 Sports in 1968,…

Tucked away, off an unremarkable West Midlands dual carriageway, in an unremarkable West Midlands industrial complex is an unremarkable industrial unit. But it’s here where some of the world’s most extraordinary motorcycles are restored. As they say, you can never judge a book by its cover. This is the workspace of Colin Wall, who’s been restoring some of the world’s most important two-wheeled machines since 1974. Wall has worked on – quite literally – hundreds of motorcycles for the National Motorcycle Museum (NMM), many of them before the museum existed. What’s more, his craft has been passed on to his son, Wes, and his grandson Kyle, who also restore motorcycles for the NMM. And here, behind this nondescript breeze block facade, is Colin Wall’s working haven. We are, essentially, behind…

SUNBEAM LONGSTROKE MODELS THE SPECIALIST The Marston Sunbeam Club and Register is a prime source of spares and resources for owners, and aspiring owners, of the famous marque. Members with the same models can become part of ‘model interest groups’, concentrating their mutual enthusiasm. Paul Hutton, club machine registrar and archivist, guided the way through the sometimes convoluted tale of Sunbeam’s Longstroke. ■ www.marston-sunbeam.org MODEL HISTORY Alec Bennett’s 1922 Senior TT win was the result of nearly four hours in (and often out of) the saddle at an average speed exceeding 58mph. The last side valve Senior TT victory, it could hardly be surpassed as an endorsement of Sunbeam’s new sports model. The production 3½hp TT Sporting Model was really a half-litre racer for the road. A 4¼hp version (Model…

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 FEBRUARY 1-4, 2018 Rally with a Chalet. Pontins, Coastal Road, Ainsdale, Southport, PR8 2PZ.www.facebook.com/OriginalCruisers1original.cruisers@hotmail.co.uk Tel: 07732 696438 FEBRUARY 2-4 NI Motorcycle Festival. Eikon Exhibition Centre, Balmoral Park, Halftown Road, Sprucefield, Lisburn, Northern Ireland, BT27 5RF. www.motorcyclefest.tv.info@nuttravel.com Tel: 028 70351199 FEBRUARY 3-4 The 38th Carole Nash Bristol Classic Motorcycle Show. The Royal Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 6QN www.classicbikeshows.com FEBRUARY 4 Bike Day. Ace Cafe, Ace Corner, North Circular Road, Stonebridge, London, NW10 7UD. london.acecafe.com FEBRUARY 8 LE Velo Lancs & S Lakes. GB Antiques, Lancaster. Tel: 01772 782516 FEBRUARY…