Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2021 i The Classic MotorCycle

Welcome to the issue, one in which we’re celebrating 40 years of the publication being in existence. We’ve not gone over the top, instead we’ve taken a look back at some of the issues in the intervening four decades, acknowledging the changes which have occurred, as well as reprinting an article published in the wake of founding editor Bob Currie’s passing, originally appearing in 1988 and which tells the story of the man who created the magazine. In 1981 I celebrated my third birthday, while in 1988 it was my 10th year – though by then I was a regular reader of this magazine, while my poor mother had to endure my childhood choice of ‘read a book with mum’ being Jeff Clew’s The Scott Motorcycle. As a magazine, the…

Time-saving device The report of Richard Rosenthal’s Golden Anniversary OEC ride (news, June 2021) reminded me of a similar one I did in 2005. I bought my first ‘proper’ motorcycle, a 1950 Francis-Barnett Falcon 55, from Cheshunt Motorcycle Mart (Harry’s), on May 1, 1955. By coincidence, the VMCC Relay Rally was being held on May 1 in 2005, so I decided to do it on my current Falcon 55, a 1949 model, to celebrate 50 years of F-B ownership. Back then I had been doing the event on my 1929 BSA Sloper along with Derek Fox and Frank Dolman on vintage Model 18 Nortons. Clearly a different arrangement was necessary if I rode the F-B, owing to the differences in performance. We were using a circular route from the Herts/Cambs…

In 2019, for the first time in many years, the Cardiff Classic Motorcycle Show at Llanishen School did not clash with any other events I wanted to go to, and I managed to get down there. I paid my £5 and walked into the show hall, to be straightaway stopped in my tracks by this stunning blue and white Norton. I wasn’t the only one who liked the eye-catching example, as it went on to win The People’s Choice Trophy at the end of the show. It also happened to be the first photograph I took at the event. A few months later, I was at a Cardiff bike night on my Yamaha XS650 chopper, when I met Leif Williams, who has a similar XS-based chop. After talking, I found…

The title of this piece pays homage to the series of articles entitled ‘Overhauling a Seven-year-old Thoroughbred’ published between 1934 and 1935 in The Motor Cycle by its editor Torrens (Arthur Bourne), then owner of the subject matter, it being a rather special 1927 Sunbeam Model 90. The thinking behind this piece now though stems around an idea, which evolved in early 2018, to use and enjoy this same bike in as many informal and organised events as possible, in a short period over a few summer months. The plan was to experience first-hand how a nonagenarian sporting thoroughbred would perform on today’s roads. Firstly, a little bit of history about this particular Sunbeam: At the beginning of 1927, Ralston D. Dunlop, a gentleman Scottish solicitor and amateur speed man,…

Once the happy event of a tiny spark had occurred at the plug, I considered myself vindicated and could go electronic. Yes, I know the project is a twin and needs a spark at both plugs to run, but I’d become so hacked off with the whole electrical thing, frustration kicked in and when the brief, weak spark appeared at the timing side plug, I declared it to be a result, so stopped mucking about with wire and connectors. This allowed me the sensible option of passing folding restoration coupons towards an electronic ignition supplier… Along with this freedom to approach an electronic sparking system, I’ve also been convinced the hacked about timing cover will work, so points-in-the-side it is. Except I’ll have an electronic trigger rather than a set…

Hardly ever will a picture more accurately represent a period in motorcycling history than this wonderfully evocative image, originally published in the June 27, 1946 edition of The Motor Cycle. There’s scant detail with its reproduction, simply captioned; “A club under canvas : A glimpse of the Southampton and DMCC camping members, who spent Whitsun in the grounds of Mr Wilson, The Lodge, Tiverton, as his guests.” The reverse of the original picture affords little details either, apart from a photographer’s stamp (‘S Brown, 3 Bampton Street, Tiverton’) and the pencilled instruction ‘Pay’ written in front of it. In July 2020, 3 Bampton Street (a five-storey building) was up for auction, the ground floor – one would imagine the site of Mr Brown’s photography business – an estate agents, with…

Brookland Museum’s 100th celebrations On April 28, 2021, members of the motorcycle team at Brooklands Museum commemorated the centenary of the first motorcycle to reach 100mph in Britain, and the first motorcycle to reach 100mph at Brooklands. The team assembled on the Railway Straight of the original track, which is now part of Mercedes-Benz World, together with two contemporary motorcycles representing the Harley-Davidson and Indian that took part in the duel to be the first to break ‘the ton.’ The accompanying picture shows John Warr exercising the Harley-Davidson (Photograph: The Brooklands Bulletin). Sparkbrooks to star One of the star lots in H&H’s auction on June 9, 2021, at the National Motorcycle Museum, is this 1914 Sparkbrook V-twin. The 770cc model is one of just three known V-twin Sparkbrooks known to…

Though this is perhaps out of our usual remit, an email along the lines of: “We’ve got this for sale, picture attached, would you like to come and look at it?” from a company not too far away, and in a building helpfully located near to the workshop of friends, meant I was hotfooting it to the fenland city of Ely, for my first-ever sight of an Ecomobile. I was vaguely aware of them, but my knowledge was (and remains, truth be told!) scant. What amused me most is that this example dates to 1995 – making it over 25 years old and thus eligible for VMCC events! Not quite sure how it’d do on the Norfolk backroads where I do much of my riding, but, well, I was curious…

As the dark clouds of conflict that hung over Europe dissipated, minds turned to rebuilding and restarting bruised and battered economies. For the time being, the emphasis would have to be on making do and mending, and for motorcycle manufacturers, that meant repurposing military models, and resurrecting pre-Second World War designs. When Royal Enfield resumed production during 1946, they could only muster a three model line-up of civilian machines – 125cc Model RE two-stroke, the rigid 350cc Model G and 500cc Model J – complemented by factory rebuilds of military C and CO models. Sporty, technologically advanced and desirable they were not, but what they definitely were was exactly what the nation needed: tough, uncomplicated, dependable and economical transport. Factories needed workers, and workers needed to get to those factories.…

While James had initially had thoughts of the tank being painted in a bright and vibrant red, he’d finally decided on a more contemporary, and classic, black with gold detailing. And it was up to the team at Vale Paints to deliver the goods, once the tank was levered off the shelf in James’s office and sent to Nottinghamshire. When it came under James’s ownership, the tank had a BT yellow pinstripe around its perimeter, and the faded TT Winner transfers on each flank too, and the idea was to replicate the style (albeit without any BT sponsorship) with a Velocette logo. But, of course, initially it had to be stripped and checked over to ensure its integrity so that it wouldn’t either be filling up the carb with detritus…

JUNE 2021 5 YOUR OLD BIKE MART WITH YOU TODAY 6 Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum, Vintage Japanese Bike Day, Morris Minor Annual Meet. www.sammymiller.co.uk 6 ’Normous Newark Autojumble: The Showground, Drove Lane, Winthorpe, Newark, Notts NG24 2NY. www.newarkautojumble.co.uk 6 MAD Sunday (Motorcycle Awareness Day): Ace Cafe, Ace Corner, North Circular Road, Stonebridge, London NW10 7UD.london.acecafe.com 7 JUNE ISSUE OF REAL CLASSIC 13 Stratford Autojumble, Stratfordupon-Avon Racecourse, Warwickshire CV37 9SE. www.stratfordautojumble.co.uk 13 Triumph Bike Day: Ace Cafe, Ace Corner, North Circular Road, Stonebridge, London NW10 7UD.london.acecafe.com 13 Mere Brow AutoJumble, Leisure Lakes, The Gravel Mere Brow Preston PR4 6JX www.merebrowautojumble.co.uk 13 Acorns Motorcycle Club. Round two of the British Solo Classic Scramble Championship, Lymes Farm, Butterton, Stoke on Trent, ST5 4DR. Tel: 07971 950921. 16 JULY ISSUE OF CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS…

We were only about a month away from April Stafford 2020, when the whole world changed. Now, over 15 months later, we may finally be getting back to the showground. With both (April and October) of last year’s events having had to be cancelled, this year’s April has endured a couple of date changes – but now will take place over July 3/4 – though the Bonhams auction (see separate story) will begin on July 2. So, what can we expect from Stafford ‘July 2021’? For us personally at The Classic MotorCycle, we get to celebrate our 40th (ruby) anniversary, which we intend to do by having several of our old ‘cover star’ motorcycles on the stand. Among them will be George Formby’s personal International Norton (which was slated to…

An AJS 497cc E90 ‘Porcupine,’ previously owned by postwar AJS works rider Ted Frend, is being offered for the first time at auction in the Bonhams Summer Stafford Sale on July 2, 2021, with an estimate of £250,000-300,000. The E90’s reputation was made as the first motorcycle to win the 500cc World Championship in the series’ debut year of 1949, carrying Frend’s fellow works rider Les Graham to his (and AJS’s) first and only world title. Dubbed the Porcupine by the era’s motorcycle press due to its distinctive spiked ‘head’ finning, the E90 remains the sole twin-cylinder machine to have won world motorcycling’s flagship series. Just a handful of E90s were built by the British firm, purely for its works team. Frend was the first rider to win on the…

THE SPECIALIST AMC Classic Spares – the name sums it up neatly. Stocking and supplying any NOS parts it can find and securing quality alternatives for the ones it cannot. There is also an impressive inventory of second-hand parts. The company was started by Steven Surbey many years ago and we are grateful for his knowledge concerning the last hurrah for AMC’s roadster singles. ■ AMC Classic Spares: 01462 811770: www.amcclassicspares.com MODEL HISTORY The 1950s had been good for AMC (Associated Motor Cycles), but the concern was soon in trouble in the following decade. In 1962, in a first step to centralise production and cherry-pick the best of what could be manufactured, the Norton operation was moved to the parent company’s Plumstead base. By 1964, the result of the policy…

EDITOR James Robinson Tel 01507 529405 Fax 01507 371066 email jrobinson@mortons.co.uk REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Tim Britton, Jonathan Hill, Roy Poynting, Richard Rosenthal, Martin Squires, Jerry Thurston, Alan Turner. CONTRIBUTORS IN THIS ISSUE Alan Cathcart, Mick Easton, Tony Smith, Phil Turner. PRODUCTION EDITOR Sarah Wilkinson ART EDITOR Kelvin Clements DESIGNER Charlotte Fairman, Tracey Markham PUBLISHER Tim Hartley DIVISIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER Tom Lee ADVERTISING Sarah Mitchell-Savage Tel 01507 529418, email smitchell-savage@mortons.co.uk SALES AND DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Carl Smith 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 Full subscription rates (but see pages 16-17 for offer):…