Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i The Classic MotorCycle

The top two prices at H&H’s auction at its July 12 sale at the National Motorcycle Museum were fetched by a pair of rarities, in the shape of a rare HRD-badged Series C Vincent Black Shadow and, rarer still, a four-valve Excelsior Manxman. The Girdraulic-forked Shadow featured an extra-sized (five gallon) petrol tank, on which the HRD badge was displayed. It’s reckoned that just 41 ‘C’ Black Shadows had HRD on the tank, in 1949, with the majority of the C Shadows (over 900) having Vincent. It did, of course, feature the iconic 150mph speedo. Price – including premium, but not including VAT on premium, which will be due, as it remained in the UK – was £62,375. If the HRD C Shadow was rare, it was practically common compared…

The Velocette Owners’ Club marks May Day, or the relevant bank holiday Monday, with a gathering at Hamstreet, a village just south of Ashford, a useful gateway to the Romney Marsh and centre of a hub of country roads that could almost be made for motorcycling. The club is quite happy to welcome other makes as the Victory Hall has a generous car park. An advantage that sees the local Vintage MCC sections organising ride-outs to support the event. As welcoming hosts, the Velocette owners organise catering, and even a modest jumble, as part of the activities. By mid-morning the car park was just about filled to capacity with bikes. Enthusiasts of the Hall Green factory’s output had plenty of opportunity to compare the variety on display, including a KTT…

News & Events On June 11, Dave Harvey rolled up to the tapes at Iwade speedway on his 50-year-old machine. Next to him was his nephew Dean Felton. Today, Dave would ignore the fact he was riding for an opposing team. The event was the Jessica Young Memorial meeting. It took place a year after Jessica had attended an inaugural meeting as guest of honour at Iwade. A few months previously she had received the devastating news that the leukaemia, from which she had been in remission, had returned with a vengeance. Jessica devoted her remaining time in pursuing the sport about which she was so passionate. In return, the speedway community treated her royally at Iwade. She died just two months later. This year’s meeting was both to remember…

It’s funny how just about everyone is in some ways guilty of ‘It-was-better-in-my-day-itis’ whatever their interest – be it Mars Bars were bigger, footballers didn’t dive to win fouls and everyone knew their local village policeman – but there’s no denying that the VMCC’s blue riband event, the Banbury Run for pre-1931 motorcycles, isn’t what it was 10/20 years ago. But that shouldn’t detract from what it remains, which is the world’s largest gathering of motorcycles of that era, all of which are in such a condition that their owners trust them to cover routes of 30, 50 and 60-plus miles on public roads. It’s a shame there aren’t the 600 pre-1931 motorcycles out on the roads for the day as there once was, but the fact that the participants…

So, who would still remember a speedway club that folded more than 25 years ago? This was put to the test by the World Speedway Riders’ Association (WSRA) in its latest themed gathering at the National Speedway Museum in Hertfordshire. The track was Hackney, now long-lost beneath the former Media Centre of the Olympic Park in east London. While there had been speedway prewar (Hackney Wick Wolves), it was not revived until 1963, when the Hackney Hawks became one of the clubs offering speedway in and around the metropolis. The operation was soon taken over by Len Silver, whose energy and enthusiasm led to many memorable occasions for those making the ‘Friday night at eight’ meetings. Ever the showman, Hackney promoter Silver led the crowd in enthusiasm and often acted…

That motorcycle manufacture has come out of a need for factories previously involved in the weapons/war industry to do something else, is no real statement of surprise; off the top of one’s head, Tommy Sopwith’s ABC dalliance comes to mind, while, another example, is that Aermacchi previously made aeroplanes, before needing another enterprise – while BMW’s famous badge shows that company’s links to the aircraft industry, before making two-wheelers. Of course, there are many other examples too (Birmingham Small Arms anyone?) but ever since I was young, I’ve always remembered reading how the Wilkinson motorcycle came about… Because in the ever-more industrialised and mechanised theatre of war, there was a lack of demand for swords, which was what the company had previously specialised in making. Although that’s not really the…

TRENDS IN MODEL IDENTIFICATION Into the vintage days Last month, we looked briefly at pre-First World War model identification, and if we look across the pond to America, we find many makers used coding letters and digits, only occasionally model names, and what they used was often descriptive, rather than imaginative. If we take Harley-Davidson as an example, they employed a year identification which initially was four years adrift from the digit/s applied, thus 5 = 1909, 6 = 1910, 7 = 1911 etc until 1916 when 16 = 1916, 17 = 1917 etc, and when letters were applied, these related to specific models. Over at Springfield, Massachusetts, factory proprietor George Hendee must have been somewhat of a romantic, choosing the name Indian for his products as a nod to…

As the crow flies, the distance from the top of Ireland (Malin, County Donegal) to the bottom (Mezin Head, County Cork) is given as 290 miles. But of course, that’s the direct line; for anyone wishing to do it on the roads, then the journey is significantly increased – between 373 and 413 miles seems to be most commonly-quoted/stated. And, in 1909, the roads of Ireland wouldn’t have been up to much, putting it mildly… On August 16, 1909, C E Murphy set out from the coastguard station at Rock island (which is actually not quite the furthest point south, if we’re splitting hairs…) at 5am, on August 16, aboard his single-speed Triumph, one of 3000 built that year by the Coventry-based maker. Triumph had only built its first motorcycle…

News & Events Bonhams has announced it is to auction the well known collection of motorcycles from Tony East at an all ‘no reserve’ sale at the Autumn Stafford Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show on October 14/15. Regular visitors to the Isle of Man will be familiar with the A.R.E. Classic Motorcycle Collection, located within the grounds of The Old Vicarage at Kirk Michael on the TT course. At times comprising over 100 machines, this world-class collection was assembled by the late Tony East, who moved to the Island when he retired in 2002. Highlights include a bevy of beautiful Triumphs (indeed, three of Tony’s early Speed Twins were among the machines we featured some years ago), some glorious Ariels (including a pre-Second World War Red Hunter), BSA and BMWs, among…

The Charterhouse June auction of classic and vintage motorcycles was billed ‘another great success’, with sales totalling over £425,000. “Plenty of buyers turned up to the auction but we also sold bikes to Poland, Japan and Australia,” commented George Beale, head of classic bikes at Charterhouse. “It was fast and furious on the auction day with an amazing selling rate a little shy of 75%.” There were just under 120 motorcycles in the auction. At just over £60,000 top lot in the auction was a 1968 Egli Vincent. This sold to a collector near Bristol, bidding live online via the internet. Before the auction, he had looked at the Egli Vincent when it was on display at the Charterhouse stand at both the Bristol Classic Bike Show and the Stafford…

With a dozen motorcycles, including two sidecars, the members of the new – as reported in The Motor Cycle, June 22, 1933 – Worcester MCC ‘about to set off on a run.’ Pictures like this are absolutely fascinating, giving an insight into the club nature and camaraderie of the times. It’s also great fun trying to work out what machine is what, and to take into account things like what part geography played in the choice of machines. For ‘locality’ seems to be at work here, with possibly as many as five machines in the photograph being Royal Enfields – made at Redditch, about 20 miles from Worcester, where, presumably, the photograph was taken. Frustratingly, there’s no real clues as to where the picture was taken – no street names…

Having never been to Kempton Park Autojumble before, when the Mortons Media Group shows team invited me along to have a stand and see the event on July 15, I took them up on their offer. With a pitch just inside the front door, I was afforded prime position, then spent my entire day basically just talking. Many were the readers who came up to say hello, thank you to all, while I was also able to catch up with loads of old friends too, some of whom I haven’t see for ages. Plus we sold a few magazines, as a bonus. I took along a couple of machines – the Bantam D10 Sports (see November 2020 issue) and my 1927 Norton Model 18 – which both provoked plenty of…

If you live on an island that’s just 17 miles long by nine miles wide, you don’t need an R1 Yamaha, or even a Honda 50 to enjoy the roads. In fact, you can get around easily on a bicycle or hop on one of the old yellow buses that still serve locals and tourists alike. But if you want to experience this Mediterranean island in style, you need a classic motorcycle. Something like John Baldacchino’s AJS Model 26 de luxe. “It’s a beauty to ride,” says John. “Very reliable, powerful and it can be quite fast. But the rigid frame means that you might displace your internal organs on some of our roads!” Just because Malta is small doesn’t mean you can’t have a good day’s riding. John is…

News & Events The Lansdowne Classic Series, until recently long-sponsored by The Classic MotorCycle, suffered a tragedy at Snetterton, when young rider and 2018 champion Sam Clews was fatally injured in a multi-rider start line accident. The 32-year-old ran his own business in Staffordshire and was a regular front runner, generally on a 500cc Manx, at classic events, including partnering TT star Peter Hickman at the Goodwood Revival Meeting. Our condolences are expressed to all his family and friends.…

Watsonian has released a picture of its Grand Prix sidecar, colour matched and attached to the new BSA Gold Star. Watsonian MD Ben Matthews explained: “We’ve received a lot of enquiries about fitting sidecars to the new BSA Gold Star and we managed to obtain one of the first production bikes so we could develop a kit. The BSA Gold star fitting kit costs £495 including VAT and prices for the Grand Prix sidecar start at £7195. For information on the range of Watsonian sidecars and fittings call 01386 700907 or visit www.watsonian-squire.com…

Harry Plews pushes off his number one Norton to start the 1956 Junior TT. Plews, a 42-year-old decorator from Horsforth, near Leeds in Yorkshire, was supported by Bill Bancroft; Plews had a Bancroft-entered Norton for the Senior race too. He raced to 21st in the depicted Junior, improving to 17th in the Senior, his best result in the TT ‘proper’ – other Isle of Man finishes included recording a fifth on a Norton in the 1951 Clubman Senior race, plus a brace of sixths in Junior Clubman races. The number two machine, just moving forward, is Australian Eric Hinton (21-year-old son of ex-racer Harry), also on a Norton; while the number three is Bob Coleman with his AJS 7R, Kiwi Coleman being the brother of Rod, winner of the 1954…

The sun was shining as I belatedly rode into the pre-arranged photographic location, running behind time owing to a frustrating ride, with closed roads and massive potholes doing their best to unseat me. However, as I caught sight of the test machine, all my animosity to the UK Government melted and I lost nearly 50 years off my personal time clock, because the gleaming motorcycle awaiting my attentions looked identical to the Norton Commando 850 Interstate I bought brand-new in 1976. In fact, having taken off my helmet and apologising to owner David Harris for my late arrival, I had to check the registration number was not that of my previously owned machine. In some ways, I was glad it wasn’t, as I have always said my old machine was…

It was heartening to have some 200 participants back for the 2023 Moto Giro d’Italia, over May 22-27, up from less than 80 riders in 2021 and 2022. Tuscany and Umbria were superb settings for this year’s 1600km, six-day event, starting and finishing at Pisa. The route was fantastic, the rustic little villages adoring and the Italian hospitality warm and welcoming. We even managed a section from the 1927 Mille Mille. And, with wine flowing from 10am and food to die for, each of the five or so stops a day was a gastronomic delight; for those who indulged. But this is the issue – there were only about 25 ‘tiddlers’ there. Let’s go back a step – the essence of the Moto Giro event has been its re-enactment of…

Just once a year, Elk Promotions gets the opportunity to promote a show at Ashford Livestock Market. In spite of the rural associations, thoughts of draughty barns and walking on mud and straw are soon dispelled. A large concrete hard-standing allows easy parking for visitors on two, three and four wheels, and a generous outside jumble space. The sale room complex offers a large area for indoor sales and jumble as well as rooms and passageways that provide cosy, but well-lit galleries for the numerous classic and vintage bikes that are entered. Among them could be found the guest of honour for this occasion, Kent-based former road racer Dave Hughes, along with the Arter Matchless that took him to one of his greatest achievements. Blighted with inclement weather, conditions outside…

Special building has all but disappeared from the modern motorcycling world; the design and complexity of new machines rendering cross-pollination between marques and models nigh-on impossible. The last bastion of the pursuit are high-end custom houses, building expensive, bespoke machines, destined only for display or the private collections of the few who can afford them. The builders of yesteryear, who took to their own sheds and workshops for reasons of competitive edge, or simply for the sake of it, will sadly soon be relegated to annals of history. You don’t have to look too far in the classic world, though, to still see a chink of light breaking through; the art kept alive by a handful of enthusiasts for the ‘shed build’. Engineering mind One such practitioner of the special…

Rebuild | Triumph Unit TwinClassic life There are two ways to come at fettling old motorcycles – one is to ship the bike off somewhere and chuck loads of money at it as someone else does the work, the other is to do it yourself. No surprises there, and to be honest most of us fall in between those two extremes. We pay someone to do what we can’t, or haven’t got the facilities to do ourselves. The trick is balancing the costs, putting together a motorcycle with a high intrinsic will generally outweigh the costs of professional restoration… The problem is restoration work costs what it costs and it doesn’t matter if the frame lug being brazed is on a motorcycle with a six or seven figure price tag,…