The Classic MotorCycle October 2022

That there’s going to be a 1990s hall at the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show in October has set me thinking. All the time I’ve been involved in the vintage and classic scene – which is practically all my four-decades-plus of life, and the last 20 years work-wise – it’s always been that classic is, to me personally, harking back to an ‘old’ era. I am into old bikes. But now, suddenly, the era I grew up in and with, is classic. When I was a teenager – I turned 13 in 1991 – my interest was for all motorcycles, from old through to new. I didn’t really differentiate between what was what, era-wise; I wanted an RC30 Honda (actually, it was the 400cc NC30 really) and an 888 Ducati, just…

In 1913, action photography was really still in its infancy – although it was 36 years since Eadweard Muybridge’s famous movement pictures of the horse Occident, it was yet a relatively primitive hit-and-miss process, which makes this picture of H G R Slingo and energetic passenger, on a 5-6hp Clyno V-twin, more impressive. In The Motor Cycle’s report of the event, the MCC Standard Reliability and Hillclimbing Trial, (published August 7, 1913), it reckoned ‘Slingo was good, but cut the corner close’ – which the picture provides evidence of. The bend was the second on Porlock Hill, in Somerset, where ‘…competitors were timed over about 1400 yards of the steepest portion.’ Despite his antics, Slingo, his pal and the Clyno were still able to finish on schedule. The silver cup…

Now, it’s well out of our remit for this magazine, but the fact ex-GP and BSB star Niall Mackenzie is bringing both his 1992 NR750 Honda and 1999 Yamaha R7 to the October 15/16 Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show, is something of a coup. The oval-piston 750cc Honda was based around the ill-fated late 1970s Honda NR500 project (when Honda tried so hard to compete with the two-strokes with a four-stroke) on which Mick Grant, amongst others, suffered huge disappointment. The NR750 was the road-going development and they just aren’t seen any more. The R7, meanwhile, was the homologation WSB racer, another sensational piece of kit and, again, largely unseen and forgotten about. The show this year features a couple of new elements too, with a special ‘Naughty 90s hall’ where…

The first Norton ES2 listed in Norton factory records was the stand-out lot at Cheffins’ July 23 sale, held at the company’s sale site near Ely in Cambridgeshire. Norton’s new pushrod machine debuted in the 1927 TT, with Jimmy Shaw recording a fine fourth place finish, in a race won by Alec Bennett, on another new Norton, the overhead camshaft CS1. There is no record of the factory machines from the Senior TT (there were three ohv models) and the first time an ohv Norton appears in the ledger is this machine – supplied to ‘Mr H Matthews ATT’ (Amateur TT). It was one of four for the race, forerunner to the Manx GP, this one having the lowest engine and frame numbers. It takes no great leap to suggest…

Enthusiasts were out in force to support Yorkshire Classic Motorcycle Club’s annual charity bike show. And the calibre of classic motorcycles matched the company they were keeping. Mingling among the predominantly two-wheeled icons of the racetrack – Velocette, BSA, Ducati, to name but a few – Nick Jefferies faced some tough competition. Yet Nick, a member of the dynasty of motorcycle champions, who along with his father Allan, brother Tony and nephew David, all recorded TT podium finishes, appeared to be taking the judging of these classic bikes in his stride. After unprecedented temperatures were reached in Britain during the previous day’s heatwave, the dull sky made a welcome return high on the hills above Keighley, West Yorkshire, where the cooler conditions made for a comfortable ride for those attending.…

An extraordinary collection of 31 speedway motorcycles, reflecting the glory years of a sport once the second most popular in the UK, will be the centrepiece of Bonhams’ Autumn Stafford Sale on October 15-16. The Forshaw Speedway Collection represents 60 years of speedway history from its beginnings in the 1920s. Led by an exemplary prewar American duo of a Crocker and an Indian, the collection also includes European solo style motorcycles, representing great marques such as BSA, Douglas, Norton and Rudge. They are offered with associated memorabilia, including six engines and an extensive selection of race jackets. Having been displayed at the prestigious Haynes Motor Museum for the past 25 years, the collection is now offered with a total high estimate of more than £500,000. The motorcycles and memorabilia were…