Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2018 i The Classic MotorCycle

Remembering the Hitchcocks Memories came flooding back when I read the feature ‘Triumphant lives’ about Jock and Don Hitchcock in the September edition of The Classic Motor Cycle. In the mid-1960s I worked for a specialised engineering company in Guildhall Street, Folkestone, about 100 yards along from J.A. Hitchcock & Son, Triumph motorcycle dealers. Despite his reputation, it was logical I should buy my first bike from Jock and I duly took delivery of a brand-new Tiger Cub in the late summer of 1965. It was one of the last ‘all Triumph’ Cubs, as a few weeks later the Bantam Cub replacement was announced. I felt a bit miffed at the time, as I recall that it was about a fiver cheaper than the model that it replaced. The pen-picture…

Frederick Lee Frith, a stonemason, was born in Grimsby in 1909. Like fellow Lincolnshire rider Guy Martin, Frith was very good-looking, as well as a stylish and skilled rider. Aboard mainly Nortons and Velocettes, after MGP and Lightweight Manx victories, he became part of the works Norton team in 1936. That year, on the new plunger-suspension Manxes, after Norton top rider Jimmy Guthrie’s drive chain had jumped its sprocket, Frith won the Junior TT, the first 350cc Norton to win for a decade, setting a record 80mph average race speed, then coming third in the Senior behind Guthrie and Woods. Frith said that despite rivalry, Guthrie had been ‘kindness itself’ to him as a younger rider. “He took the trouble to show you how to tackle a corner.” And the…

It’s May 11, 1947, and Inge Stoll is fastening her helmet, ready for her sidecar racing debut at Hockenheim. At just 17 years old, she is stepping into her mother’s shoes as her father’s passenger. The Stolls are pictured with an NSU though the programme also mentions ‘Harley-Davidsohn’ – complete with a rogue ‘h’ – as their machine of choice; the Harley was for the 1000cc class, the NSU the 600cc category. The teenager was passenger for both. This moment defined and set out the future for one of motorcycling’s lesser-known mavericks: Inge Stoll. From this point on, Stoll would go on to become one of the most successful sidecar passengers of the 1950s and the first woman to compete in the Isle of Man TT. She defied convention by…

Basic stuff first, what’s your full name and how old are you? I’m Adrian Ian Moss and I’m 71. Whereabouts are you from Adrian? I was born in Cheltenham. You’ve already mentioned you’re from a motorcycling family, who did that involve? Yes, my dad rode in trials and scrambles before and after the Second World War. He was pretty successful too and I’ve all his trophies in a cabinet in my office. What’s your working background, have you always been a motorcycle dealer/ maker? When I left school I started working at my dad’s garage – my brother was running it really. I left after a bit and went into welding and fabrication making buckets for back-actors on machines and fuel oil tanks for heating systems. Three thousand gallons was…

Many familiar standard and racing motorcycle slide type carburettors from past and present makers based around the world give greater output relative to respective size than the butterfly types found on lots of cars and petrol engined commercial vehicles – the reason some past performance car engineers have used single or banks of motorcycle carburettors. Even better, many slide type motorcycle carburettors are of simple design, construction and operation. Thus after performance preparing our motorcycle engines using routes suggested in the previous features of this series, simply preparing and setting up a standard carburettor following the maker’s ‘tuning’ guidelines makes a huge difference and if one then experiments with main jet size and needle/needle jet variations, standard instruments can often (but not always!) make a decent performance instrument for little…

EDITOR James Robinson Tel 01507 529405 Fax 01507 371066 email jrobinson@mortons.co.uk REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Tim Britton, Rachael Clegg, Jonathan Hill, Roy Poynting, Richard Rosenthal, Martin Squires, Jerry Thurston, Alan Turner, Phil Turner, Andy Westlake, Steve Wilson. CONTRIBUTORS IN THIS ISSUE James Adam Bolton, Michael Davis. PRODUCTION EDITOR Sarah Wilkinson SENIOR DESIGNER Kelvin Clements DESIGNERS Michael Baumber, Libby Fincham PICTURE DESK Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield 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…

The last Pre-Second World War TT races are arguably among the most written about – certainly in the top half a dozen. The stories of the blower BMWs, V-four AJS, the Norton rear guard, Velocette Roarer, Moto Guzzi V-twins – and that’s just the Senior class, with DKWs, Benellis, Guzzis et al in the smaller classes. Something else which happened at the 1939 TT series was the Isle of Man debut of the Velocette KTT MK.VIII, probably the best over-the-counter racer offered, certainly by a British manufacturer, in the whole pre-Second World War period. Possessed of an overhead camshaft engine and swinging arm suspension, it was probably better (certainly better handling) than the likes of the ‘works’ Norton and AJS boys mounts for the 350cc class. So it was no…

The Kent village of Hamstreet is approached by interesting, mainly minor roads and given fair weather, the Elk Promotions shows and jumbles prove a popular destination, demonstrated by the long lines of parked bikes that stretch across the generously-sized event field. Years of experience has enabled the Elk team to hone the near-perfect jumble, that successful mix of tradespeople, specialist suppliers and services, the amateur dealers and those seeking domestic peace by selling the complete contents of their stalls at any price. As well as wondering where the oddities for sale might have been hidden for years, there’s always plenty of interesting machinery ridden in for the occasion. The focal point at Hamstreet is the huge marquee, usually featuring literature and other weather-sensitive items. This time, on September 16, one…

The October Stafford show, which runs under the title of Classic Motorcycle Mechanics, attracts a varied and eclectic range of machinery, and although the accent is Japanese, there’s plenty there to satisfy motorcycle enthusiasts of every genre. For example, if Italian exotica ticks your boxes, then the staggering Cagiva collection of tasty race tackle on the main stand was worthy of extended study. Ranging from the small capacity class machines through to the last – and especially beautiful – V-four 500cc two-strokes, to see such a tide of red (the red sea?) collected together will have made many an Italia-phile showgoer’s journey worthwhile on its own. There was also a famous name associated with the marque at the show – Pier Paolo Bianchi – and he was interviewed onstage by…

Now here’s something you don’t see too often. Reflecting the fact that le Puy Notre-Dame’s Rétro GP (over July 21/22) attracts so many prewar machines, new for its 22nd running was a class limited to belt driven motorcycles – in which a good number competed. And so many were the motorcycle entrants this year – getting on for 200 – that the new class was in addition to, rather than at the expense of, the existing tourist, racing and sidecar classes. By their nature, the belt driven class attracted no machines later than the 1920s – and every one was of French manufacture. That’s not to say there were no British belt driven machines present. In the paddock was a gorgeous 1911 Zenith Gradua, but sadly it didn’t take to…

At the start of the 20th century, the Automobile Club (it received ‘Royal’ status in 1907) was an influential pressure group to further the cause of motoring, a divisive issue at the time. When the idea of creating a race course to demonstrate the potential of vehicles using the internal-combustion engine, the name of Harry Preston was high on the list. Harry was the entrepreneur who had turned around the fortunes of the seaside town of Brighton. After the glitter of royal patronage in the Regency period some decades past, its reputation had slid to a level low as an ebb tide. When Harry arrived from Bournemouth he invested heavily in his new home town. He brought new ideas and energy. He had connections with numerous influential people, which helped…

It was during the 1930s that BSA cemented their reputation for building dependable motorcycles. Of course this was largely through design, but also a significant part was due to necessity: the 1929 market crash and the global depression that followed would hit both supplier and customer hard – long gone were the extravagance, optimism and technological leaps of the 1920s and in their place came the need for simplicity, low cost and reliability. At the dawn of the decade BSA offered one of the largest and most varied ranges of any manufacturer, but the economic downturn forced a rapid rethink of the entire operation and output. The inevitable belt-tightening began, production at Redditch ceased and the remaining workforce was sent back to Small Heath. A survival strategy was quickly implemented…

When I was a youth, one of our local scout leaders pitched up punctually every Monday on his ageing big single and we motorcycle-mad lads waited to hear him throttle back, accompanied by the backfire or two, as he arrived. Listening for the familiar racket one evening, we ignored the sound of a revvy twin slowing and were stunned to see ‘Edward’ (pseudonym, as blushes must be spared…) beaming, astride a smart two-tone painted twin. Although they’d been in production a couple of years, by the time Edward bought his Norton Jubilee, we’d never seen one, and wrote it off as ‘some Japanese machine,’ until we spotted ‘Norton’ on its petrol tank. But it was like no other Norton we’d seen. Many of us knew family friends or relatives with…

Electric start motorcycles have been with us for over a century. Before the First World War, American Charles Kettering perfected an automotive self-starter first fitted by Cadillac in 1912. While Kettering’s concept was sound, battery reliability let it down. Despite this Achilles heel, Indian’s president Hendee decreed electric start for their 7HP V-twin, claiming them ‘…ideal for outfits and would increase the appeal of their motorcycle.’ Developed by the Standard Electric Company of Pittsfield in 1913, the Indian Hendee Special Model’s starter relied on a 1½HP electric motor/generator with inverted commutator and current from two six volt batteries. A switch enabled the motor/generator to serve as starter motor or generator when output was controlled by a voltage regulator. Starters While some observers regard the Indian Hendee Special Model an ill-fated…

Inspired by the late Max King and held every two years in sunny Barnstaple, the ‘Down Memory Lane’ reunion celebrates the best traditions of the ‘Golden Era’ – the period between the end of the Second World War and 1970 when British bikes and riders achieved spectacular results, on and off-road, round the world. The reunion started in 1996 so this year was version number 12, and the number attending holds up well, although there were one or two empty seats this year caused by the relentless march of anno Domini. With Colin Dommett in charge of the proceedings, the theme for 2018 was the International Six Days Trial (ISDT). The dining room display was restricted to three bikes – all ISDT tried and tested models: a 1954 500cc Triumph…

At the recent Kop Hill Climb set in the beautiful Chiltern Hills, The Classic MotorCycle trophy for best prewar went to Paul Stirling with his 1926 Sunbeam Parallel 9, with the postwar CBG cup going to Edward Wallbank, for his Vincent Rapide with Steib sidecar. It was Paul Stirling’s first Kop and on his way down from Strathglass in Scotland he collided with a large stag, which not only damaged his vehicle but the Sunbeam which broke free from the ties, breaking off footrests and damaging paint. Paul returned home, repaired the bike and came down for the two days of the event. The trophies were presented by TV antiques expert Eric Knowles. Read the event report on page 28.…

Alan Winter, owner of this Ariel KH 500 Twin with full patina and history, is a big man. And a character. He’s also a precision automotive engineer, originally from Northern Ireland. When I noticed the Ariel’s cracked mirror (rescued from a skip) and asked if he was superstitious, Alan came back swiftly with: “Wasn’t me that broke it!” Alan’s pursuit of this KH was as chequered a story as the bike’s own registration – being built in 1952, sent to fulfil an order on the Isle of Man, and registered there in 1953. The order, originally intending to use the KH as a sidecar tug, fell through, and the Ariel, stripped of its dynamo, battery, headlamp etc for lightness, had been used as a marshal’s bike for the 1953 TT,…

If motorcycles can be said to have characters, then the Douglas OB is an out-and-out extrovert. From its unusual engine and gearbox layout, to handlebars like the horns on Desperate Dan’s cow pie, everything about it shouts individualism. And this example – resplendent in a gleaming finish freshly applied by Sammy Miller’s Museum workshop – shows it all off to perfection. I know some enthusiasts prefer vintage bikes unrestored, but this glitzy finish is not just for show, it’s a deliberate choice made by an intelligent owner. Desmond McCann – a south coast GP and an experienced rider of modern motorcycles – turned up on a big Moto Guzzi while I was sampling his Douglas and explained his reasoning. “I used to have an elderly patient,” he tells me, “and…

The British Bike Bonanza (this year held on July 29, at Tarlton, Gloucestershire), run by the proprietor of Rickman Motorcycles Adrian Moss, is the off-road event considered a ‘must do’ by fans of classic off-road sport. Those with an off-road bent will also be familiar with the stunning Rickman motocross machines, with a range of engines fitted for the classic scrambles scene which look just as ‘right’ as they did when Don and Derek Rickman created their legend in the 1960s. To be honest, if Adrian had only these two things to his name then it would be noteworthy, but in amongst all this he’s managed to be a top grasstrack racer, sidecar – and solo – trials rider, a more than decent scrambler, motorcycle dealer and steel fabricator. “I…

There comes a point when it can’t be put off any longer and the bits I’ve been shifting around had to be assembled into the frame so it looks like I’ve got a real motorcycle. A selection of nuts, bolts, studs, washers and spacers all do their task of holding the three main chassis components together and the engine in place. In the early stages of this project, around 1990, an empty set of cases were stuck in place and parts books consulted as to the dimensions of the engine plates. I didn’t have any original ones, which didn’t bother me in the slightest, as I was going for the lightweight aluminium alloy style, rather than heavy steel. There is a fixed point which determines engine positioning and it’s the…

THE SPECIALIST There are a number of websites where Nimbus information is offered, as well as spare parts. Nimbus Owners’ Group UK has a wealth of information for British owners. Unfortunately, internet sites are not always the most reliable source of information, so grateful thanks to Vintage MCC marque specialist and long-time Nimbus owner Bill Phelps for his help with this guide. ■ www.veetopia.com/nimbus ■ Vintage Motor Cycle club: 01283 540557; vmcc.net MODEL HISTORY Danish concern Fisker and Nielsen was a motorcycle manufacturer like no other and turned out motorcycles that were equally individualistic and, in some aspects, considerably ahead of their time. Earlier Nimbus bikes, the Model A (1919-23) and the Model B (1924-27), had four-cylinder engines; production of the B ceased as the factory needed space for the…

NOVEMBER 1-4 International Dirt Bike Show in partnership with MOTUL. Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, CV8 2LG. www.dirtbikeshow.co.uk. Tel 01507 529529. NOVEMBER 3 Firework Frenzy. Santa Pod Raceway, Airfield Road, Podington, Wellingborough, Northants, NN29 7XA. www.santapod.com. Tel 01234 782828. Rockers Revival 3. Harrow Leisure Centre, Christchurch Avenue, Harrow, HA3 5BD. www.skiddle.com./whats-on/Harrow/Harrow-Leisure-Centre/Rockers-Revival-3-/13111785/ NOVEMBER 3/4 The Footman James Classic Vehicle Restoration. Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, BA4 6QN. www.bristolclassiccarshows.com. Tel 01507 529529. NOVEMBER 4 Garstang Autojumble. Hamilton House Farm, on A586, off A6, Garstang, Preston, PR3 0TB. www.garstangautojumbles.co.uk. Email info@garstangautojumbles.co.uk. Ton Up Day – England Expects. Ace Cafe, Ace Corner, N Circular Rd, Stonebridge, London, NW10 7UD. london.acecafe.com. NOVEMBER 8 LE Velo Lancs & S Lakes. Dunsop Bridge, meet main car park. Tel 01772 782516. NOVEMBER 11 Poppy Day Parade & Service –…