Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2017 i The Classic MotorCycle

Memorable museum visit I live in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, and have been reading The Classic MotorCycle for several years and have really enjoyed the articles on the bike restorations at the Sammy Miller Museum. This past summer we planned a trip to the UK and visiting the museum was a top priority for me. On August 23, 2017, we had scheduled a visit and after a three-hour drive arrived at the museum, only to find it closed due to a power outage; I was so disappointed. Walking up to the front door I had noticed a small side door open with someone working on a motorcycle, who I thought I recognised from your pictures. He informed me that a transformer had blown and wouldn’t be fixed till 4pm, so the…

Itmay be a celebratedoccasion, attracting thousands of spectators, but recent years have not been kind to the Brighton National Speed Trials. Following a tragic accident in2012 the future of the event hung in the balance for some while. Above the seafront course, the viewing terrace (known as ‘The Shelf’) that overlooks the action and gives spectators a unique perspective, was deemed unsafe and out of bounds to all. The CityCouncil, strapped for cash, cut support for the trials. The Brighton&HoveMotor Club faced yet more difficulties as car entries declined and the out and out sprint cars had long been deemed unsuitable for Brighton’s challenge and could no longer compete there. Since the first trials, in1905, it seemed an ever steeper uphill struggle to continue to add to 112 years of…

This magnificently patinated 1949 350cc Royal Enfield ModelGwas the latest project for retired garage owner Alex Taylor. “And the original owner never cleaned it – or changed the oil, I reckon!” laughed Alex, who luckily had the sense to leave things be, externally. But allowing for hyperbole about the oil, which was probably changed infrequently rather than not at all, the machine’s condition wouldhave been consistent with the history of a working 350cc single, bought by someone whodidn’t want thrills or a hobby, but needed good, reliable transport to ride to work all week in all weathers. This Model G is a living testament to that 1940s and 1950s phenomenon, when 350cc singles ruled and BSA’s B31 was its top seller, like the AJS/Matchless equivalent 350s,massively outnumbering the 500cc version.…

Les Randles (Sunbeam)won the first Senior ManxAmateur Motor Cycle event in1923 at a speed of 52.77mph. As the 1920s roared by, the ‘Amateur TT’ became ever faster – in fact, fast and exciting enough to attract factory and sponsorship interest, flying in the face of the event’s purposeof amateur racingon the TT course. By 1926/7, many of the ‘amateur’ riders were being dubbed ‘shamateurs.’ Certainly, some machines were directly or indirectly factoryprepared and odd team crewsweredescribed in period as ‘professional.’Things came toahead in 1929 with over 20 riders disqualified (including both ‘winners’) for rule bending the organisers were no longer prepared to tolerate. Crewe and Nantwich clubman Eric Lea (manager of a corn mill owned by hiswealthy father) was second in the Junior race onaVelocette, second in the Senior onaNorton,…

MOTORCYCLES, SEEN THROUGH THE SKETCHBOOKS OF MARTIN SQUIRES Last month, I featured the iconic Velocette Roarer, which I sketched at the Donington Classic Motorcycle Festival, over August 4-6. One of my other discoveries at the same event was the AWO racer – well, not just one, but a whole garage full of them! Rennkollektiv Simson This gathering of AWOs was a family affair, in as much as all the AWO machines belonged to a ‘Kollektiv’ now called ‘Rennkollektiv Simson,’ named after the original racing department at the Simpson motorcycle factory in Suhl, East Germany. During the 1990s, the Kollectiv would meet at Deutsche Historische Meisterschaft race meetings, mainly in the old eastern part of Germany. Strong friendships were formed, due to the shared obsession with the AWO. It was during…

1 The lathe’s mill attachment at work for this picture. Yes, we should probably be tidier workers, but all tools, including the side cutters, were involved for this work scene, except the file. And I’ve no idea why it’s in the lathe’s suds tray. A decade ago, I published a lathe introduction feature, ‘Keep on turning’ (TCM, August 2007, pages 70-73). At the time, we planned to follow this up, but in the last 10 years nothing has happened – except the subject lathe has done an awful lot of work! Somuch, in fact, it is probably the second most important piece of workshop equipment we use, after the hydraulic motorcycle workbench, which savesmy ageing back and knees! Why has no follow-up feature appeared you maywell ask. While we have…

If there’s a picture which encapsulates mid-1930s road racing in Ireland any better than this, then it’s never crossed the editorial desk at The Classic MotorCycle. This wonderful image shows a collection of young lads, on aged machines and in ill-fitting riding attire, sans gloves, preparing to ‘do their thing’ watched by a crowd of men in blazers, ladies in hats and the odd slightly urchin-looking boy. The occasion was the fifth running of the Dublin 100, held over a four-and-a-quarter mile circuit in the city’s Phoenix Park, in July 1935. Winner was H M Carson, a member of the Dublin university club, riding a 490cc Norton, described in the press as ‘old.’ The ‘100’ was a handicap race, with O Sheridan, on a 348cc Rex-Acme, as limit man. He…

It is reasonable to assume the supply of unrestored British motorcyclesmust be running down. After all, restoration has been going on a long time, and not every old motorcyclewas tucked away in a barn, outhouse, shedon allotment, attic or basement and subsequently forgotten about. Those of us fromareas where steel wasmade will have heard of all sorts of stories about vintage motorcycles being weighed in to the scrap yard–my grandfather’s motorcycles went that way in the Second World War – and even when mates went to work at our local steel plant in the 1970s, they would tell of lads riding up on an old Brit bike, being given a few quid for it, and into the melting pot it went. In less industrialised areas, perhaps there are still ‘Brit…

What do you do with a weekend off in September? You go to the Goodwood Revival on September 8-10; well, that’s what I did. And things could only get better, I thought, after the customary Goodwood cricket match, where I was out for a duck. Overall, it was looking great. A beautiful, pristine, Molnar Manx Norton, sat patiently on the workbench, just waiting, practically begging, to be ridden. Brilliant. If ever you were to draw a racing motorcycle, it would end up looking like a Manx Norton. Expectations were running high – to be dashed only 25 minutes into qualifying, in the torrential rain, when things turned sour… BernardMurray, my team-mate, was first to ride ourManx and after just 12 minutes he would come in for the changeover, then it…

Threaded inserts (aka thread inserts or thread/threaded bushing) are one of a number of methods for reclaiming stripped and damaged threads. While commonly motorcycle and automotive thread insert repairs involve fitting externally threaded compact wire or solid locked in inserts with required internal thread, there are other methods that are used over a range of industries, which may resolve awkward situations. Of course, on occasion we can make our own threaded inserts to suit the problem presented. Captive nuts: Commonly these come in two types – caged/clip-on nuts, used with flat and pressed formed sheet metal, and fitments pressed or moulded into the component, which may be plastic, glass fibre and other soft materials, aka press-fit or mould-in inserts. The outer structure of press-fit or mould-in inserts grips once fitted.…

The Classic MotorCycle is brought to you by... EDITOR James Robinson Tel 01507 529405 Fax 01507 371066 email jrobinson@mortons.co.uk CONTRIBUTORS INTHIS ISSUE TimBritton, Rachael Clegg, Jonathan Hill, Steve Parrish, Roy Poynting, Richard Rosenthal, Martin Squires, Jerry Thurston, Phillip Tooth, Alan Turner, Gerfried Vogt, SteveWilson. PRODUCTIONEDITORS SarahWilkinson SENIOR DESIGNER Kelvin Clements DESIGNERS Michael Baumber, Libby Fincham PICTUREDESK Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield, Angie Sisestean PUBLISHER TimHartley DIVISIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER Billy Manning ADVERTISING SarahMitchell-Savage Tel 01507 529418, email smitchell-savage@mortons.co.uk SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER Paul Deacon CIRCULATIONMANAGER Steve O’Hara MARKETING MANAGER Charlotte Park COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Nigel Hole PUBLISHINGDIRECTOR Dan Savage EDITORIAL ADDRESS PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ VISITOUR 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 Full subscription rates…

Best in show at Stafford Bill Millar celebrated his 1967 Bridgestone 350GTR being chosen winner of the Rod Gibson Best in show trophy at the 2017 Classic Motorcycle Mechancis show, at Stafford over October 14/15. What’s better, Bill had ridden the Bridgestone to the show. More next month. Fours sell for £221,400 Bonhams autumn auction, at the Stafford show, saw lots of good prices realised, with the biggest price being the £113,500 for the inline four-cylinder Henderson (right), which featured in our November 2017 edition. The 1911 Pierce Arrow from the same collection, which was in our October issue, made £107,900. More from the sale next month. Bonhams Bond Street sale… Heading up Bonhams’ New Bond Street sale on December 2 are an early SeriesCBlack Shadow (sportingHRD badges) and a Matchless-engined SS80…

Every era has its iconic, defining, motorcycle – its Fireblade, Bonneville, Brough Superior or whatever – and for a few years around the First World War that accolade arguably belonged to the RudgeMulti. Its reputation was inextricably tied up with the contemporary popularity of belt drive; somethingmodern enthusiastsmight find hard to comprehend. After all, even in the early 20th century chain drive and gearboxes werewell understood by pedal cyclists and motorists. When it came tomotorcycling though, belt drive still had several plus points including greater familiarity – just look at those photographs of factories with rows of machines belt-driven froman overhead shaft – and the ease with which it could be repaired at the roadside. Additionally, belts and pulleys were cheap to make and maintain, and perhaps most importantly, belts’…

Fifty riders, all on pre-First World War machines, a rumbling ensemble, were puffing their way through rural Bavaria and its villages.Thirty more, on slightly younger machines from1919 to 1924, joined in.Themotorcycles, as well as the participants, were fromall over Europe – Peter and Andrea Billquist from Sweden had made the long journey, while others came from Switzerland, a few from the Netherlands, France, Austria and the Czech Republic, not to forget Noel and Matthew Whittall from the UK – the father and son who found out about this event in 2015 and haven’t missed it since. Peter Hostalek, who runs a veteran motorcycle museumin Ceské Budejovice, formerly in Bohemia, calledBudweis, brought his 1901 Laurin&Klement single – the 1.75hp steed does a steady 25mph and never missed abeat. The make was…

Perched on a footpath on RueGambetta, Biarritz is a 1970 R60/5. Beyond the machine, an old man onamoped zooms by with a longboard surfboard strapped to the side. He wobbles precariously down the street as his longboard wavers. And he’s wearing nothing – not even shoes – other than a wetsuit pulled down to his waist. But he is at least wearing gloves; in France it’s against the law to rideamoped or a motorcycle without gloves. The 9ft longboard, the exposed belly, the bare feet and the drippingwet wetsuit are all absolutely fine and legal. Welcome to Biarritz: Europe’s capital of bonkers, effortless chic, where even the pensioners are hip. It’s also home toamassive classic and neo-classic motorcycle scene – faux old (and some genuinely old) Bonnevilles and Royal Enfields…

THE SPECIALIST Enthusiasm for old, small capacity powered twowheelers could even be perceived as a counterculture, a resistance to the upwards spiral of the cost of desirable older bikes.Whatever the reasons, more riders are undeniably being attracted to the many merits of smaller machines. Alan Hummerstone of the VMCC’s Cyclemotor Section has long championed the cause of smaller capacity bikes and offers advice on autocycles. •VintageMotor Cycle Club: 01283 540557; www.vmcc.net •Villiers Services: 01384 265797; villiersservices.co.uk MODELHISTORY The term ‘autocycle’ has been applied to a variety of two-wheelers from the veteran period onward. This restoration guide concentrates on the later, more prolific types, powered by 98 or 99cc Villiers engines. At the end of the 1930s, cyclingwas enormously popular. Autocycles persuaded the curious to master the additional complications of throttle…

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 NOVEMBER 4 Rufforth Autojumble. Rufforth Park, York. Tel: 01904 738620. www.rufforthautojumble.com Firework Frenzy. SantaPod Raceway, Airfield Road, Podington, Wellingborough, Northants, NN29 7XA. www.santapod.com Dee Atkinson & Harrison Auctioneers. Classic Car, Motorcycle & Automobilia Auction www.dee-atkinson-harrison.co.uk or www.auctionhouse.uk.net/ hullandeastyorkshire NOVEMBER4?5 Charter house Auctioneers Classic Car and Motorbike Auction. Classic Cars, inconjunction with TheFootman James 17th Classic Vehicle Restoration Show–Royal Bath&West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA46QN NOVEMBER 5 LE Velo Lancs&SLakes. Barley VisitorCentre. Tel: 01772782516. AceCafe London. TonUpDay – England Expects. www.ace-cafe-london.com Garstang Autojumble. Hamilton HouseFarm(on A586, off A6), Garstang, Preston, PR3 0TB. Tel:…

This picture shows a well-used Clubman BSA DBD34 Gold Star, sporting a 190mm front brake, with several period embellishments (flyscreen, numberplate mounted across the forks) but, on a casual glance, nothing out of the ordinary, particularly. But look closer… First of all, what is going on with the front frame downtube? Actually, not much… in the absence of enough space to carry what were regarded as sufficient tools (including a big hammer!) they have been lashed to the frame, tightly secured with a manner of fixings. Now look a little further back to the gearbox area. Rearsets, check. But what about the gear-change mechanism? Well, there’s an explanation to be found in the report of the event at which the BSA is pictured – which, as evidenced by the front…