Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2022 i The Classic MotorCycle

Winners of the two fabulous Triumph powered machines (featured in our May 2022 issue) offered in the National Motorcycle Museum’s winter raffle, have been announced: Hampshire’s Andrew Quicke scooped the first prize Speed Twin, while Worcestershire man Graham Povey bagged the Triton. The draw took place on Sunday, April 24, at the International Classic Motorcycle Show, Stafford, with the winning tickets being drawn by the grandson of the late Mike Hailwood, Michael Hailwood Jnr.…

After a year’s wait due to Covid restrictions preventing celebrations for a century of Moto Guzzi in 2021, the party can finally happen in Mandello del Lario, over the period September 8-11. Over the second weekend of September, Mandello will turn into a celebratory epicentre, focussed on the ‘heritage of history, technology, style and allure’ of Moto Guzzi. It’s a double date: 11 years after the last edition, the GMG – Guzzi World Days are back, and they join the Città Della Moto Guzzi International Motorcycle Rally. Together with the International Motorcycle Rally Committee, Moto Guzzi is preparing a festival like never before that it says deserves the title “not to be missed”. It was reckoned 19,000 turned up for the 2019 edition, so it could be something rather spectacular.…

Memories of Bonzo Your Sketchbook piece (May 2022) about Bonzo, the Jarnett, brought back memories. I found this bike in a barn near Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, in a non-running state in either 1970 or 1971, and I bought it for £7-10s-0, so it was obviously pre-decimalisation. Not being the sort to do serious research, I did what to me was the obvious thing and got it running, and a friend, the late Simon Walton, entered it in a vintage grasstrack race. Everyone who was involved in VMCC sporting events right up until the 1980s must remember Willie Wiltshire, who’d started racing on a Rudge in around 1926 and was still competing on the same bike; there was a scurrilous rumour that it was still on the same sparking plug… Willie…

Dave Owen’s Ariels have featured in TCM already. His VB 600 SV single was tested in March 2019, and on a Dutch Ariel rally, his VH ohv 500cc Red Hunter single, exceptionally well-kitted, helped out my ailing NH 350cc with infusions of oil from its neatly-mounted spare container, with a matching bottle of emergency petrol. A stalwart of the Ariel Owners’ Club, Dave’s definitely the right man to own this special-built version of Selly Oak’s 500cc twin, featuring an all-alloy KHA engine, only produced for the 1953 model year. With flying colours With 1953 also being the coronation year, Ariel had celebrated with the distinctive white-lined Wedgwood Blue as the standard finish for the alloy-engined 500cc twins and the new 4G Mk.II Square 4, though Dave confirms that the colour…

Attending marketing courses over 30 years ago was confusing in the extreme – tutors claiming car makers universally employed model and series names for successful vehicular marketing, rather than number and letter derived identification. Yours truly, being the ever-awkward soul, questioned this in light of the huge sales success of Mercedes-Benz, who employed such, on occasion followed by a descriptive word if appropriate. Pre-Second World War examples included the sports/ racer series starting with K in 1926, S in 1927 and SS and SSKL the following year. Postwar, there were many ranges including 170, 180, 190, sports models coded 190SL (open) and 190SL Roadster (hard top), and the legendary 300SL Gullwing. The tutors hit back, quoting the greater sales successes of Ford with model names including Cortina, Capri and Sierra,…

On Saturday, May 20, 1922, Brooklands circuit in Surrey welcomed a special guest, as Prince Albert, Duke of York attended the combined BMCRC and Essex Motor Club meeting – an event which was fittingly called the Brooklands Royal Meeting and was seemingly Middlesex Hospital and the Industrial Welfare Society. The duke was welcomed to the track by his uncle, the Earl of Athlone (Alexander Cambridge, who as George VI he was to make governor general of Canada in 1940) – apparently a Persian carpet was laid on the track for his arrival. Prince Albert (he only took on George after becoming king) who was known to ride motorcycles, predominantly a 350cc Douglas flat-twin – was there to see and cheer on his sponsored rider, S E Wood, who was down…

The Monday of May Day bank holiday (May 2) has long been established as a celebration of motorcycling in the south east of the country. The seaside resort of Hastings attracts thousands of riders, mainly on modern bikes. Yet some miles away, in the Kent countryside, the Velocette Owners take things at a more genteel pace. Focal point is the Hamstreet village hall. This year’s gathering simply continued a long club tradition of time and place. Hamstreet is among a network of roads offering pleasant scenic riding so that’s a good enough reason for many to attend. As well as a wide selection of Hall Green’s finest, equally welcome was a mix of mainly classic and vintage bikes. Kindly weather, refreshments on offer and even a few jumble stalls to…

After 2019’s successful Easter Monday show and jumble at Ashford (Kent) Cattle Market, Elk Promotions was hoping to build further on this annual gathering with a celebration of onetime local engine specialist Weslake. For many years, the company had a busy factory in Ashford, later consolidating everything at its long-established base in Rye, some 20 miles away in East Sussex. The pandemic dictated the project’s postponement until 2022, but at last it could take place. The show was run to the usual format, an outside jumble, while the indoor halls and rooms were given over to yet more sale goods as well as machines on display from individuals and owners’ clubs. One of the halls saw the gathering of Weslake bikes, engines and memorabilia. This became the focal point for…

The sound made by motorcycles has long been a source of consternation and debate, one which still rages today, but which, in 1952, The Motor Cycle chose to investigate, using a modern, newly available piece of equipment – the noise meter. The devise used was made by Dawe Instruments Limited, founded 1945. The firm later changed its name to Lucas (yep, the self-same Joseph Lucas company) Dawe Ultrasonics, then formed an alliance with American company Branson, with the British arm later making products under licence. At the time of The Motor Cycle’s test, though, the noise meter was being made in Hanwell, Ealing, west London, while The Motor Cycle ‘research team’ first took the meter out in Oxford Street, to record some general noises. After an explanation about how and…

Although not back to pre-pandemic levels, the recent International Classic MotorCycle Show held at Stafford over April 23/24, was a lot more like the old days, as the hordes flocked to the county showground, to gorge on all things classic motorcycle. There was plenty to feast on too, with a huge variety of machines to savour and enjoy, with club and trade stands, sprawling outdoor autojumble, plus a massive auction, all adding to the overall carnival feel and atmosphere. There were absentees, too, of course – German Helmet Dahne, one of the ‘class of ’78’ brought together to celebrate Mike Hailwood’s epic, fairy tale 1978 TT comeback, was unable to attend; while on the Friday of the show, David Hailwood, son of Mike and who’s collaborated on the new book…

Of those motorcycles that are donated, some take pride of place within the halls, occasionally replacing identical models which are then moved on, while others are restored to sell or use as raffle prizes to raise funds for the museum. As mentioned in the feature on the two raffle bikes a couple of issues ago, while the museum’s entry fee does contribute to the restoration, storage and maintenance of machines, it doesn’t cover the entire cost, and thus the museum has to use other resources to raise funds and keep it all going. Aside from the raffle prizes, the donation of bikes allows the museum to have a steady supply of machines that can be restored and sold to raise much-needed funds. The decision of whether a donated bike goes…

Arguably the world’s greatest ever motorcycle racer, Mike Hailwood transcended eras and generations. His two-wheeled racing career began – and he initially made his name – aboard big, British single-cylinder machines, then he took to high revving Japanese and Italian four-stroke multis, before finishing on booming V-twins and screaming two-strokes. Hailwood went from the black-and-white era, from one-colour dark leathers and pudding basin crash helmets, to the multicoloured, full-face helmet, sponsorship driven days of the late 1970s. He also found time to do some car racing too, recording a third at Le Mans in 1969 driving a Ford GT40, winning the 1972 Formula 2 European Championship and competing in 50 F1 Grands Prix, his debut in 1963, his last in 1974. Though the car statistics are impressive, the motorcycle ones…

THE SPECIALIST Some years ago, Phil Speakman and Amanda McFadyen set up The MZ Shop Ltd. They bought out the remaining stock from Fred Rogers who had closed his MZ spares and repairs business. Since then, the MZ Shop has expanded and modernised and holds comprehensive stocks of spare parts for the manufacturer’s two-stroke models. Phil is the man to thank for help with this guide. ■ The MZ Shop: 0151 493 1390; www.themzshop.co.uk MODEL HISTORY East Germany was firmly isolated behind the Iron Curtain and when MZ’s ES125 and 150 models arrived, the Cold War was going through one of its frostier periods. The brand was known for its competition successes, but the new road bikes bore little relation to those making their respective marks in road racing and…

Following on from the winter raffle draw results, the National Motorcycle Museum has announced details of its summer raffle, affording the chance to win a fully museum restored, gleaming, matching numbers 1959 BSA Gold Star DBD34, in full Clubman trim. Second and third prize are from Sealey Tools, in the form of a £1500 voucher for second place, with third prize a £720 tool cabinet. The prize draw will take place on Sunday, October 30, 2022 at the National Motorcycle Museum LIVE event. Tickets cost £2 each and will be distributed during May/June 2022 via subscription copies of the specialist press, and you can also purchase tickets online by visiting www.thenmm.co.uk…

If there was ever a motorcycle racer who defined the 1970s, it was Barry Sheene. Just like his Formula 1 car contemporary and fellow 1976 world champion James Hunt, the fast-living, long-haired playboys couldn’t have come from any other period, really. In 1977, the Queen celebrated her Silver Jubilee, an occasion marked most obviously in the motorcycling world by Triumph launching its Silver Jubilee Bonneville, a special edition that was to be a foretaste of things to come in terms of specialist branding, an example of the changing, marketing-led world. Barry Sheene epitomised this world – Barry knew that branding was key, while the product he was promoting and carefully cultivating was… Barry Sheene. This splendid picture, reproduced here, was taken by Nick Nicholls on bank holiday Monday, September 1,…

Best in show winner at Stafford 2022 was Steve Marks’s 1920 Henderson Model K, which, is some ways, was a strange choice, as the machine has been rebuilt and modified for riding, but it’s been done so well and tastefully, everything appears in keeping. Actually, it makes it even more deserving of the accolade, in that it looks as good as a show bike, but, in fact, is a ‘proper’ rider, and there’s quite some story to it, too. In 1993, Steve Marks’s father-in-law Derek Frapple proposed a project to Steve, in the shape of a 1920 Henderson Model K. Steve baulked immediately; there was hardly any of it there, while what was present looked far past it’s best – besides which, Steve had only even vaguely heard of the…

Despite the lingering after-effects of the Depression, the 1930s was an era of two-wheeled technical novelty, in which the ideal overall format of motorcycle design having essentially been determined, the challenge was now how best to wrest optimum performance from that, coupled with reliability. The radial-valve Excelsior 250cc road racer, dubbed the ‘Mechanical Marvel’ upon its victorious debut in the 1933 Lightweight TT ridden by Syd Gleave, epitomised that period’s pursuit of mechanical excellence via innovative design. Like so many pioneer brands in the early days of motorcycling, Coventry-based Excelsior began life in 1874 as a bicycle manufacturer under its original name of Bayliss, Thomas (BT) and Co., making penny-farthings aka ‘ordinaries’ carrying the Excelsior and Eureka names. It dead-heated with its neighbouring Humber rival in producing the first proper…

For about 10 years, a pre-unit Triumph TR6 has been my dream motorcycle. I first rode one when I went to see another bike at a classic motorcycle dealer near to where I was working. I wasn’t taken with the machine I’d gone to view, but, among the many machines on display, there was a stunning, 1959, pre-unit Triumph TR6 export model, with high level pipes and a beautiful ivory white over Aztec red painted petrol tank, along with those great mouth organ Triumph tank badges. Generously, the dealer let me have a ride on the TR6; I immediately liked the riding position, as this is a bike you sit in, with low, wide handlebars. I took it up and down the road, getting faster and faster with each run.…

Focussing on certain aspects of this rebuild for so long has meant other bits were left alone or just done hurriedly as a temporary measure to produce a result. Biggest example of this is the wiring. I hesitate to say ‘harness’ when referring to the collection of wires going between such components as alternator, powerbox, micro ignition gizmo and the HT coil as ‘harness’ implies something professional and well laid out whereas what I had created simply connected the bits up. Nor was I entirely sure exactly where the major components would be sited, initially I thought a vertical plate mounted on the frame lugs which originally held the air cleaner unit. I also had a piece of aluminium alloy plate which fitted in the space and was of large…