The Classic MotorCycle November 2022

There was basically a whole generation of motorcycle-mad youths who grew up when MV Agustas ruled the racetracks – consecutive 500cc world champions every year from 1958-1974 – and where BMW motorcycles were the last line in luxury, high-cost motorcycling. Witness Richard Rosenthal’s piece in this issue, about the 1961 (peak MV domination) ‘no show’ where an R69S not only cost more than a brand-new Matchless G50 in 1962, one could’ve bought a brand-new Bonnie and a brand-new Greeves TES for exactly the list price of the Beemer. As for the MV, when the Italian firm finally decided to market what many customers had clamoured for, for years, then those impressionable youngsters who’d longed to experience their own MV four, finally could – including our own contributor, Andy Westlake, who,…

Written by one C B Waterlow, the seven-and-a-half pages dedicated to the story of motorcycling in the Alps, in the August 3 and 10 editions of 1922, was a lot of space in those days, particularly as there was little mention of the actual motorcycle; Waterlow refers to ‘My little AJS’ but that’s about as much as he says, over the whole two-parts, about his machine. So it clearly wasn’t a thinly-veiled advertising feature and, indeed, the very lack of the motorcycle mentions leads one to think perhaps it was something other than accidental. Although in the 1920s (and indeed later) it wasn’t uncommon for the machines to be given little precedence, though there is normally at least the model reported. Not here. What the reader does get is a…

ULSTER GP CELEBRATIONS The Northern Ireland section of the VMCC celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Ulster GP, with events scheduled for October 14 (100 years to the day from the first race), with a lap of the Cladys course by vintage motorcycles, at 4pm on the 15th. Email lario@btinternet.com H&H DECEMBER AUCTION The next instalment in H&H’s successful National Motorcycle Museum sales will be the December 7, 2022, event. Keep an eye on www.handh.co.uk for details. CHRIS PILE After a short illness, Chris Pile died on August 19. Along with his father, Bill, who died just last year, they were stalwarts of both the Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club as well as the East Sussex Section of the VMCC. They rode in all sorts of events on a wide variety…

Taking place on October 15/16, the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics show, although aimed at a 1970s-on classic scene, always offers plenty of interest. Among the attractions, Honda’s official freestyle motocross display team will be bringing their high-octane action to the main parade ring, opposite the grandstand. The Bolddog FMX team travel the UK and Europe showing off their stunts. Of course, there’ll still be many traditional elements of Stafford too, while the Moto Guzzi club will be belatedly celebrating (owing to Covid delays) the Mandello maker’s 100th anniversary, while the BSA Bantam Club celebrates its 20th anniversary with a display of GPO little red roosters. Of course, there’s the Bonhams auction too – please see separate story for details of that. Spicer sale There’s some interesting and tempting machinery on offer…

Author: Phil West Publisher: The Crowood Press Ltd, Ramsbury, Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 2HR Email: enquiries@crowood.com www.crowood.com Tel.: 016725232 Hardback, 225 x 265mm (portrait): 208 pages with over 290 photographs and illustrations. ISBN: 978-1-78500-695-1 £25 (UK), $34.78 (US), $44 (Canada), $44.52 (Australia) Say ‘BMW motorcycle’ and most motorcycle fans will automatically think: ‘airhead boxer twins.’ The distinctive, air-called horizontally opposed, twin-cylinder engine layout has been so intrinsically linked with the legendary German marque that, for most of BMW’s history, very few other manufacturer have even attempted to use it. And what a history that is. From powering the first BMW motorcycle in the 1920s to style icons, racing and record-breaking in the 1930s; from wartime workhorses to a new generation of luxury tourers in the 1950s and 60s; and from…

There’s no shortage of persistence among the enthusiasts in Thanet, at the far east of Kent. After many years’ absence, in 2015, the Western Undercliff at Ramsgate saw competition motorcycles once more in a revival of the Sunbeam MCC’s sprints that were once a popular attraction. For the time being, the Ramsgate course remains unavailable, but a weekend of bike entertainment was very much still an ambition. Eventually, Betteshanger County Park came up on the radar. This is a leisure facility located on what was the largest of the Kent coal field pits, near Deal, which closed in 1989. Even focusing on this as a venue proved to be less than straightforward with the restrictions generated by that well known virus to combat. Finally, in 2022, on August 14, it…