Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2019 i The Classic MotorCycle

Wemoto handed over a £16,590 cheque to the Manx Grand Prix Supporters Club at the official launch of the 2019 Isle of Man TT on March 19. The cheque was a result of the company’s fundraising efforts in 2018. The money will help fund the MGPSC’s life-saving helicopter ambulance, used during the Manx Grand Prix. Now that its fourth fundraising year is complete, Wemoto is happy to announce it has surpassed the £50,000 mark and has now raised £65,000 for the charity in total. Wemoto’s 2019 T-shirt has recently been released and is available to buy at wemoto.com or in limited numbers at this year’s Festival of Jurby. It is just £10 and all the profits raised go towards supporting racers on the Isle of Man. Visit www.wemoto.com,email sales@wemoto.com or…

1919 At short notice, the Edinburgh and District Motor Club announced the revival of the Scottish Six Days Trial from July 21-26. A total of 72 riders entered, but then due to the short notice of the trial, all trade entries withdrew as they wouldn’t have enough time to prepare their entries. A rail strike added to the organisers’ woes, with the non-arrival of some machines leaving just 50 privateer starters. Many reckoned Aultnaharie, a new hill, to be too severe. The club replied, stating that if 90% of the entry failed it, the hill would be scrubbed from the results. In the event, only 16 failed. Although road conditions in part were poor due to timber hauling for the war effort, many severe potholes had been filled. The starters…

ENGINE: Air-cooled single cylinder, unit construction, horizontal (barrel at 10˚) four-stroke BORE X STROKE: 74x80mm DISPLACEMENT: 344cc COMPRESSION RATIO: 9:1 VALVES: Overhead parallel valves, pushrod activated IGNITION: Battery and coil FUEL SYSTEM: Single Dell’Orto VHB27A carburettor TRANSMISSION: Four-speed unit gearbox (five speeds on special request) FRAME: Single tube spine frame in steel with elements in pressed and stamped CLUTCH: Dry multiplate SUSPENSION: Front telescopic forks 30mm Ceriani, rear twin shocks BRAKES: Front TLS 180mm drum, rear 180mm drum WHEELS: 2/1.85 x 19 front, 2/1.85 x 18 rear TYRES: Front 3.25-18R, rear 3.50-18S DIMENSIONS: Length 2030mm, wheelbase 1335mm, height 970mm, maximum width 680mm POWER RATING: 25bhp@7000rpm TOP SPEED: 90mph/145km/h declared…

Those of us who came to British motorcycles because they were just cheap, old nails before the ‘classic scene’ really got underway, found a champion to our cause in Royce Creasey. As we struggled to keep these things going, Creasey’s words in the fledgling classic motorcycle press offered hope of better things, or at least a decent chance of arriving at our destination. His tales of using a Velocette Venom inspired even Triumph riders. Gaining his expertise in the RAF where he qualified as an aircraft fitter, Royce applied his knowledge to the world of older motorcycles and developed fixes to problems which were brilliant in their simplicity – the alternator rotor fix is still working nearly 40 years on. Leaving the RAF, Royce ventured into the world of F1,…

There are a multitude of threads out there and they generally have a specific purpose in life, which isn’t to catch out the unwary, though it often seems that way. The point of certain threads is to provide a secure fastening system with shake-proof ability built in to it. It used to be common knowledge that Sir Joseph Whitworth was the instigator of standardisation of threads forms in the UK. He did this way back when he was just plain old Joe and the industrial revolution was still all new. Before his standardisation, there were lots of threads made by lots of people. The CEI (or ‘Cycle’) thread was used by the motorcycle and cycle industry because of its strength and the thread form angle resists loosening by vibration, an…

Girls’ day out at Brighton Here’s another photograph for you to identify, please. Stuart Nicholson, email. A super image, Stuart, of a circa 1915-21 499cc P&M, built by Phelon and Moore Ltd of Cleckheaton, Yorkshire. At intervals, the advertising copy writers for modern motorcycle makers can’t resist drawing attention to their up-to-date frame construction, with engines serving as frame stress members. Fine design, but modern concept it isn’t. Any Vincent enthusiast will point out, their post Second World War machines use their engines as the main frame section. Designer Phillip Vincent knew his concept wasn’t new and wisely promoted differently, as more than three decades earlier the first production machines using the engine as a main stress member were unveiled in Yorkshire. Joah Phelon and Harry Raynor were in business…

The 1970 AMA Grand National champion and winner of the 1975 Daytona 200, Gene Romero, passed away on Sunday, May 12, in Fullerton, California. He was 71, just a week shy of his 72nd birthday. A hugely popular guest at the 2016 October Stafford show, Romero won 12 AMA nationals during his 16-year racing career, but is perhaps best remembered for his role in the 1971 film On Any Sunday. The biggest win of Romero’s career was the 1975 Daytona 200. He was fourth for the first half of the race on his factory Yamaha, before passing Giacomo Agostini and Steve Baker, then taking the lead when Steve McLaughlin crashed. It was his only win in 14 Daytona 200 starts, though he was second in 1969 and 1970. Romero also…

Open to all types of classics (cars and motorcycles) the Serpentine Charity Run on June 30 starts at 9.30am from the Devonshire Dome (SK17 6RY) and involves a route though the Peak District national park. Entrants will be given their route maps at registration. The run will be around 100 miles and involve places of interest, as well as stops for refreshments, pub lunch, picnic etc and culminate in a display of all entrants at the finish line in one of the Peak District’s historic locations (it’s a secret until you get there) around mid-afternoon. More details from 01298 25590 or email c-kitchen@sky.com…

PRESCOTT FESTIVAL The Prescott Bike Festival will take place over June 15-16 at the Gloucestershire venue, owned by the Bugatti Owners’ Club. All proceeds from the event – which will feature a vast array of classics and customs – go to the Blood Bike charities. Gates open at noon on Saturday (for the preview day) and admission is £12, then it’s from 8.30am Sunday, with track action from 9.30am with admission £20. The hill is just outside Gotherington, near Cheltenham GL52 9RD. Details from www. prescottbikefestival.co.uk KEN BLAKE The well-known Poole enthusiast and restorer, many of whose machines have featured in this magazine over the years, died on April 22. Our condolences are expressed to his family and friends. ROMNEY MARSH CLASSIC SHOW The Romney Marsh show at Hamstreet, near…

From Aberdare to Wooler Author: Rinsey Mills Published by: Herridge & Sons Ltd, Lower Forda, Shebbear, Beaworthy, Devon EX21 5SY Tel.: 01409 281990 Fax: 01409 281910 E-mail: info@herridgeandsons.com Hardback, 210 x 270mm (portrait); 600 pages with more than 1500 illustrations. ISBN: 978-1-906133-61-0 £60; $90 US; $110 Canada Aberdare? Never heard of them? Well, they made motorcycles and small-capacity two-stroke motorcycles under the name of Bown in Wales in the 1950s. The obscure Wooler, however, you should be interested in, because of the fascinating eccentricity of John Wooler’s designs. In between the letters A and W you will find all the familiar names, with a number of unfamiliar ones and lost causes too. As for better-known makes, the book contains 75 pages on AJS and Matchless, 27 on Ariel, 67 on…

ENGINE TYPE Parallel twin two-stroke CAPACITY 653cc BORE X STROKE 76 x 72mm COMPRESSION RATIO 8.5:1 POWER OUTPUT 53bhp @ 6000rpm LUBRICATION Total loss feed controlled by engine speed and throttle opening GEARBOX Own-make four-speed TRANSMISSION All chain IGNITION/ ELECTRICS 12V Boyer-Bransden contactless ignition (originally Lucas Lumenition) CARBURETTOR 38mm Amal Concentric SUSPENSION Spondon telescopic forks, rear swinging fork with Girling units FRAME Spondon duplex BRAKES Front twin AP Racing discs, rear 7.5in drum WEIGHT 320lb WHEELBASE 58.5in TYRES Front 90/90x18in, rear 110/80x18in TOP SPEED 115mph (est)…

It would be reasonable enough to expect that an engineering company originally founded in 1912 to manufacture aeroplanes and then turned its hands to building motorcycles 40 years later, is going to make a two-wheeler fly, and that’s definitely my experience of every Aermacchi I’ve ever ridden. It doesn’t seem to matter what engine size, 175, 250 or 350cc, but there’s something in the Aermacchi blood that means that the motorcycles are just exciting and always feel quick, a fact backed up by a long and successful record breaking and racing heritage. Like those stickers that you see on the back of helmets proclaiming ‘the older I get, the slower I go’, I take much more pleasure nowadays in profiting from what’s on offer from smaller engines with fewer cubes…

Herbert Sydney Kershaw was born on August 7, 1892, in Sydney, Australia, the only son of a shipping clerk and his young wife. When his father died in 1895, young Bert and his bereaved mother moved to England, settling near Manchester, where she had family. At 14, Bert – employed by a firm of electrical contractors – held a motorcycle driving licence (which could at that time be acquired at 13) and had wide experience of different machines, owing to lots of like-minded friends, his pals including Billy and Arthur Butterfield, makers of Levis. On one of their two-strokes, Bert won his first competition (a hill climb) in 1911. By 17, he’d bought his own first motorcycle, a well-used Triumph, to which he fitted a cane-built sidecar. The electrical trade…

Last summer I visited one of those pretty little Cotswold towns where antique shops outnumber everything else; and when I wandered into one, I immediately set eyes on a heap of motorcycle magazines. Seeing there were some copies of The Classic MotorCycle among them, I was about to surreptitiously transpose them onto the top of the pile (never waste an opportunity to promote the product) when the stall holder started his sales pitch by offering them for 50p each. I explained I didn’t need to buy them as I already had author’s copies, so we inevitably progressed to a longish discussion about our respective motorcycling careers, and that culminated in his wife asking me to add an autograph to one of my articles. Whether that was for her own benefit…

American Benjamin Franklin coined the term ‘battery’ in 1749 after joining a number of capacitors while carrying out electrical experiments. As we know, the term is still in use today, but correctly the rechargeable batteries, often used for our motorcycles, cars, boat etc, are known by their design – lead acid batteries, but most call these batteries and we will here. The Italian scientist and researcher Alessandro Volta developed his Voltaic Pile cell c1800, which comprised of rounds of copper and zinc sheet (alternates connected) separated by a non-conductive material soaked in a salt solution and housed in a suitable inert container. They were not rechargeable and had a limited life but did produce electrical current on demand. Further scientists honed this design. Frenchman Gaston Planté is credited as inventing…

JUNE 7-9 Retrofestival. Newark Showground, Newark, Notts, NG24 2NY. www.retrofestival.co.uk. Lion Rally. Gravelly Bridge Farm, Grazeley Green Road, Grazeley, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 1LG. www.readingmag.org.uk. Email leebrown296@hotmail.com. JUNE 8 Daventry Motorcycle Festival. Daventry Town Centre (Market Square & High Street), Daventry, Northampnshire, NN11 4HT. www.daventrybikefest.co.uk.Tel 07877 544572.Email info@daventrybikefest.co.uk. Gillingham in Gear. Red Lion Field and Town Meadows, High Street, Gillingham, Dorset. Tel 01747 823747. Italian Bike Day. The Red Lion, Cassington, Oxfordshire, OX29 4DN. For more information, email alanbmrco@gmail.com. JUNE 9 Triumph Bike Day. Ace Cafe, Ace Corner, N Circular Rd, Stonebridge, London, NW10 7UD. london.acecafe.com. 20th Ripon Classic Car & Bike Show. Ripon Racecourse, Boroughbridge Road, Ripon, HG4 1UG. www.markwoodwardclassicevents.com.Tel 01697 451882. Email info@markwoodwardclassicevents.com. Erith & District MCC are promoting the ACU North Kent Trials Combine. Jacksons Wood, Haymans Hill,…

In winning the Edinburgh & District Motor Club’s 2019 Pre-65 Scottish Two Day Trial, Triumph Cub-mounted Dan Thorpe created a new record, that of becoming the only son of a winning father to be victorious in the event in its 36-year history. Dan had finished in the top three before but lost out to tie-break rules that stated the biggest bike takes precedence and then the oldest rider. This year he made no mistake and was the clear winner, setting himself up for the following week’s SSDT. Thorpe Senior – former Triumph, Ossa and Bultaco works rider Dave – won the event six times from 1987 and was riding in this year’s trial. The challenge is set, so come on dads and lads, or mums and daughters, 2020 awaits!…

Newly-released is a fascinating bookazine on the legend that is John Cooper, conducted in a question and answer fashion by journalist Chris Carter, who is a lifelong friend of John’s, the two having grown up together near Derby. With his easily recognisable ‘Moon Eyes’ crash helmet deal, bespectacled John was a regular winner throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, famously beating Agostini and the MV at Mallory Park in 1971, Cooper riding the roadster engine-based ohv three-cylinder BSA triple (admittedly 750cc), with Ago on his usually unbeatable, full GP dohc 500cc MV triple. Dedications are spread throughout by all manner of well-known names, with lots of lovely period illustrations too. Priced at £6.99, it’s available in newsagents and direct from Mortons on 01507 529529 or at www.classicmagazines.co.uk…

Like the Silverstone race circuit, Sammy Miller has been having his museum road and car park re-tarmacked in readiness for the spring/summer season, getting the museum circuit ready for all its demonstrations and testing. On event and marque days, this will enable riders to enjoy a smooth surface when riding around the complex. The drive has been widened to accommodate more hard standing for stalls at the autojumbles. This means they can continue with autojumbles, regardless of the unpredictable British weather. The Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum is at Bashley Cross Road, New Milton, Hampshire, and is open daily from 10am. Details from 01425 620777 or www.sammymiller.co.uk…

The story goes like this. In 1900, American Rufus L. Patterson, inventor of the first automated cigarette-manufacturing machine, set up his company American Machine and Foundry, or AMF for short. AMF became a huge multi-faceted manufacturing corporation that specialised in buying up brands and manufacturers, and in the 1950s, it made vast amounts of money manufacturing and running automated bowling alleys and centres across the US. They also bought up Roadmaster bicycle manufacturing and AMF Wheel Goods was set up in 1950 to run it. AMF then snapped up Harley-Davidson in 1969, throwing them a financial lifeline in troubled times, and so by default they became owners of Aermacchi too by 1972. In 1960, Aermacchi was still a wholly run and financed Italian company, but it had split loyalties. Founded…

There is a point in a rebuild (or in this case a ‘recreation’) of a motorcycle when the major work is complete and the ‘fun’ of adding the little bits and pieces can begin. I use the term ‘fun’ loosely, as I am trying to fit components together which, while they might have originated from the same manufacturer, didn’t originate from the same year, or model, or any number of other combinations that could be thrown in to the mix. By and large these components can be persuaded to go together and they have been in this saga – sometimes by myself, other times with the assistance of engineering companies or those who have more idea of engineering than me. There is no shame in admitting a task is beyond…

I can honestly say, my need to realign a pair of flywheels started with a can of paint stripper. All I needed to do was strip the black paint off a unit engine and gearbox and give it a fresh coat – a simple task on the face of it, but trying to do the job without taking the engine apart proved to be a nightmare. I tried juggling a fully assembled motor while wielding a paint stripper-loaded brush, but after an hour I hadn’t progressed far and I couldn’t see how – even if I continued – I could do a remotely acceptable job this way. So I decided I mustn’t be lazy; it is easy enough to split the motor, pop the bearing out and do it properly.…

Following on from the strong performances of the Honda Monkey Bikes in the recent Bonhams’ auction at the Stafford show, it seems apt to reproduce this fabulous period picture, printed in the July 2, 1964 issue of The Motor Cycle. The grinning rider is Jim Clark, Formula 1 motor racing star, who was the reigning world champion in Colin Chapman’s Lotus cars, and who was to go on to a second championship in 1965, again in a Lotus. Clark was tragically to lose his life, aged just 32, in a Lotus, when he crashed in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim in 1968. Clark won 25 F1 Grands Prix and achieved 33 pole positions, from his 72 Grands Prix, as well as winning the Indianapolis 500, and numerous sports car…