Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2022 i The Classic MotorCycle

The National Motor Museum is hosting its brand-new, after hours Classic Grille evenings on July 20 and August 24, as part of the celebrations of the museum’s 50th anniversary. Welcoming owners of classic and cherished cars and bikes of all ages, with free admission, each Classic Grille evening will be an opportunity for motor fans to drive into the Beaulieu grounds to meet the National Motor Museum curators, witness vehicles from the collections being started up, and chat with fellow enthusiasts, while enjoying something to eat. Motorcycles will be the stars on Wednesday, July 20, when the legendary ex-Mike Hailwood 1961 Honda RC162 will be started up. There’ll also be trade stands representing Royal Enfield, Aprilia and Moto Guzzi. The event on Wednesday, August 24, sees the colossal 18-litre engine…

The picture here was reproduced with the caption thus: “After climbing through the clouds on the Stelvio Pass the party stops to view the Ortler mountain.” It was one of seven images that were printed in the July 31, 1958, edition of The Motor Cycle, accompanying an article written by D W Rumbold, the self-explanatory headline of which, Alpine holiday, says it all really. The title was supported with the words: “Four newcomers to foreign touring storm 27 mountain passes on a pair of speedy twins.” Mr Rumbold started his piece thus: “We wanted a cheap holiday, seemingly irreconcilable with a seven-country tour on the Continent. Yet both wishes were satisfied during the course of our 18-day trip.” He goes on to explain that the ‘very comprehensive itinerary’ included 27…

Britain’s illustrious Métisse motorcycle marque was founded in the 1950s by brothers Derek and Don Rickman, off-road aces and household names in Britain thanks to terrestrial television showing the scrambles racing in which they excelled every Saturday afternoon in winter. After achieving dirt-bike dominance with their stiff, good-handling frames, powered by British twin and single motors, they then did something comparable with road bikes. Rickman went on to briefly become Britain’s largest road-going motorcycle manufacturer after the demise of Norton first time around, and before John Bloor resurrected Triumph. The Rickmans’ creations not only represented a key stage in the evolution of the modern off-road motorcycle, they also played a role in helping the Japanese manufacturers discover the black art of frame design for their four-cylinder roadsters, in making Hondas…

Although hard chrome plating in the motorcycling world is associated with the salvaging of telescopic front fork stanchions, like metal spraying, in some cases it may be appropriate for the recovery of worn rotating or sliding parts within engines, gearboxes, clutches, wheel hubs, girder front forks (spindles) and the like. These processes divide restorers into four factions: in favour of both, against both or preferring one or the other. In the long term, neither process is suitable when reprofiling camshafts employed for poppet valve lifting against spring pressure, but have been used with success recovering gearbox selector face or drum cams. Likewise, they have been used for reclaiming gearbox main and lay shafts, girder fork spindles, shaft tapers, telescopic fork stanchions and more. In some cases, it may appear more…

THE SPECIALIST AMOC – the AJS & Matchless Owners’ Club – is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. An extremely proactive club, even linked to its own shop and showroom (Kettering Classic Motorcycles) it’s no surprise the benefits of membership are enjoyed by more than 3000 worldwide. Thanks to the officials and especially club president Rob Swift for help with this guide. ■ AJS & Matchless Owners’ Club Ltd.: 01536 511532; www.jampot.com MODEL HISTORY By the mid-1950s, the AJS Model 20 or Matchless G9, AMC’s 500cc twins, were well established. Although still marketed separately, the marque differences were little more than badges and colour schemes. The all-important American market considered the ‘bigger the better,’ so AMC responded. A short-lived, US-only 550cc gave way in 1956 to the 600cc Model 21…

This remarkably clear photograph was published in the July 15, 1903, edition of The Motor Cycle – the publication’s first year of existence. Taken at the Aldershot Army Signalling School, it shows the conclusion of a two-month assessment and evaluation of the use of motorcycles in the theatre of war, in this instance largely to demonstrate the benefits over other means of transport employed by signallers, namely pedal cycles. The five machines are, from left, a 2¾hp Humber, 2½hp Phoenix (with the rider clutching the then tools of the trade, in the form of flags), 3¼hp Pearson with Aster engine, a Humber Olympia tandem (forecar) and a 2½hp Quadrant. Two others which took place in the trial aren’t pictured – there was also a 2hp Minerva-engined Ariel, absent for reasons…

Elaine’s Gilera Your article and pictures of the Gilera Saturno in the June edition of The Classic MotorCycle pulled a few of my heart strings. Back in the day, my late wife Elaine and I spent some time looking at midrange bikes for her to replace a Honda XBR. One of the last we went to see was the Saturno and it was evident from the start that Elaine was very much at home with it. We went for a test ride from Croydon to Clapham and back – not an ideal route on a Saturday afternoon but enough to convince Elaine that this was the one. Over the next 10 years or so, the little Gilera clocked up some 50,000 miles without issues and included trips all over Europe.…

Go back 94 years and imagine the scene. A road tester arrives at the Indian experimental department after a hard, fast ride north following the Connecticut River, east along the Mohawk Trail, and then south down farm tracks and through woodlands to take him back to Springfield, Massachusetts. Charlie Gustafson, who designed the new V-twin side-valve engine, and Frank Weschler, in charge of the Iron Redskin after founders Hendee and Hedstrom had retired, stubbed out their cigarettes and walked out to meet him. “What does she go like?” asks Gustafson. “Man, this motor has power – plus!” replied the tester. You can almost see the light bulb switching on in Weschler’s brain. He needed a new name for a new Indian and this was it – the Powerplus! It was…

In a year which witnessed the opening of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, which has run continuously since the February 6 passing of King George VI (Covid-19 apart); John Cobb establishing a water speed record of 206.89mph, on October 5 at Loch Ness,; Dwight D Eisenhower winning a landslide US presidential election; and the accession of Queen Elizabeth II, the IoM again hosted the fastest MGP motorcycle racing on record. Earlier, in June, the 1949 Senior MGP victor Geoff Duke (Norton) scored his fourth TT win at 90.29mph, leading home team-mate Reg Armstrong (almost one-and-a-half minutes adrift) with New Zealander Rod Coleman bringing home the factory AJS in third. Buoyed by his Junior win, Duke bumped his works Norton off for a hoped-for Island double. And for four laps the Lancashire…

When setting out on this rebuild, I did have some sort of plan in place, and it involved creating a machine which, broadly speaking, resembled a competition Triumph twin, as used in the mid-1960s, and I wanted to do it using the parts I had collected or acquired over a period of years. This was to show it was possible to create a motorcycle on a reduced budget which would work and look okay, too. A decision not to hide the frustrations along the way was hoped to encourage others doing the same thing, by demonstrating they weren’t alone when they hit problems, and that you can work around them with a variety of methods. I’d decided early on the bike would fulfil a variety of roles and given my…

For my 80th entry into the Sketchbook Travels series, I’ve been holding back a really special machine. In November 2021, I took a long-overdue trip to see Ivan Rhodes; many will know Ivan as a tome of knowledge on the Velocette marque, especially the KTT. Having served his apprenticeship as a motorcycle fitter with Wilemans Motors in Derby in the late 1940s, Ivan went on to prepare and ride various motorcycles for competition through several decades. After retiring from competition, Ivan kept active by supporting his two sons, Grahame and Adrian, in their own motorcycle endeavours. Grahame is still a great help to Ivan today and it was fantastic to spend time with both father and son, discussing the various machines they have been and are working on. With his…

Among a quality grid of interesting machinery in H&H’s July 20 sale at the National Motorcycle Museum, from tasty vintage through to modern classics, this pair of Triumphs, both from the era after the ‘original’ factory had closed, offer some unusual interest. The first is one of only two ‘Renegades’ built by Les Williams Motorcycles. Based on a Trident, it has all sorts of memorable goodies – among them a four-leading shoe Grimeca front brake – with an engine built by legendary figure Arthur Jakeman. It was owned by L P Williams boss Trevor Gleadall from its build in 1994 to 2006, since when it has been in a private collection, recommissioned for light use in 2021. Estimate is £12-16,000. The second is a splendid Triumph sidecar outfit, a 2008…

The now annual excursion for the Brooklands Volunteers Motorcycle Team and the Brooklands Members active motorcyclists finally hit the jackpot this year after a good number of years of trying. After two quite wet years we managed a dry day with cool temperatures which provided perfect riding conditions. The second milestone was a sell-out of all the places in our group. This was achieved with the help and support of the Brooklands Section of the VMCC and a few good friends who have ridden with us over the years. We owe thanks to Classic Bike Trackdays (Darin and Rob) who have kept faith with us over the years in providing us with a track session of our own, that gives us five 15-minute sessions on track during the day. They…

Only 12 solo and one sidecar (and no three-wheelers) were awarded premier awards, while 27% of the starters retired, underlining just what a tough event the 1935 edition (which was number 23) of the London to Land’s End Trial was. With 41 starters in the solo class, six succumbed; the high attrition rate saw nine from 19 sidecars fail to finish and of the wheelers, seven of 19 didn’t make the end. A combination of the hills being in a ‘nasty mood’ (Motor Cycling, April 25, 1935) and weather, meant it was tough going all round – with a particular thought going to our pictured man Keen, who was aboard his belt-drive, hub-gear, over two-decades-old side-valve Triumph. Of the starters gathered for the 343-mile trek through the night and half…

After a three-year break, the VMCC’s East Sussex Section was finally able to offer another Snow-Mann Test Day to anyone who wanted some easy-going, yet competitive fun in the spectacular surroundings of the South Downs. The event is found in Bopeep Lane, a turning off the A27 south coast trunk road. At the foot of steep chalk cliffs, a large farmyard offers ample space for paddock and parking. The sometimes confusing name for the event refers to the two VMCC members who originally devised the concept. “The sometimes confusing ‘Snow-Mann’ name for the event refers to the two VMCC members who originally devised the concept.” Entries were among four solo classes, divided by age of machinery, plus a catch-all category for three-wheelers. With 22 manufacturers represented, the day was not…

Ken Kesey, author of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ once wrote that the secret of life was to find the balance of going with the holy flow, and taking care of basic business. I think that’s the key to why world traveller Jacqui Furneaux’s book is so satisfying. Titled ‘Hit the Road, Jac!’ it covers her seven years spent crossing three continents on an Indian-built Enfield 500 Bullet. In the year 2000, Jacqui had bought it new in Madras/Chennai for £1000, and had covered some 40,700 miles on it when she returned home for good. Another journey During that time, she underwent another journey. In the words of the daddy of round-the-world riders, Triumph-mounted Ted Simon: “What Jacqui has done with her life is extraordinary. Much more than an…

Sometimes things affect or direct the course of our interests, and from then on nothing else will do… It doesn’t matter what the interest is, but as this is a motorcycle magazine, we’ll concern ourselves with motorcycle matters. In John Young’s case a feature on the racing triples in the early classic press absorbed his interest so much he couldn’t stop thinking about them. He says: “It was just fabulous, the whole thing, the history of the bikes, the shoestring budgets, the passion from the people, the successes and, well, I was hooked. From then on, it had to be a triple.” His start in the world of two wheels was a little more basic as he’d just taken to the roads, aged 17, on a BSA Bantam. The feature…