Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2024 i The Classic MotorCycle

When the Norman Cycle and Motor Cycle Club was formed originally, many members were drawn from former employees of the company. They recalled the Norman factory as a great place to work and it was a huge disappointment when the enterprise closed in the early 1960s. The club remained an excellent contact facility for former workmates. Some are now represented by the next generation, and it has become a family affair to maintain the links with the past. Willesborough Windmill was long established before the Norman business, but like the motorcycles, it has become part of the town’s heritage. It is situated a couple of miles from the former factory. The cafe adjacent to the mill has a Norman Museum and the twice-yearly club gatherings are an opportunity for the…

The caption with this picture, which appeared in The Motor Cycle on July 3, 1930, and which we’ve chosen not to clean up (leaving the grey box showing how it was ‘cropped’ for use), reads: “THE LONG TREK. This Scott owner is attempting to ride from Johannesburg to England. He reached Nigeria after a journey of nearly 7000 miles, a distance covered, with the exception of 12 miles, under the machine’s own power; he then proceeded across the Sahara to Algeria.” That’s as much detail as given, but the original picture reveals more. Mounted on bluey grey cardboard, the assembly, on its reverse, bears the legend, ‘The Scott Motor Cycle Co Ltd’ in red italics, with, also in red but a smaller font and all capitals, ‘Shipley, Yorks’ written underneath…

The early days of BMW AG – to give today’s automotive giant its official name – saw it born 101 years ago of a struggle for survival, after the November 1918 Armistice and ensuing Treaty of Versailles which ended the First World War stipulated a ban on the German manufacture of aircraft or aviation engines. BMW (as in Bayerische Motoren Werke AG) had been founded two years earlier in a reorganisation of Rapp Motorenwerke, a Munich-based aircraft engine manufacturer, so to stay alive it was forced to turn to making industrial engines, agricultural machinery, toolboxes, office furniture, and then finally, in 1923, motorcycles. The Treaty of Versailles ban threatened the survival of BMW, because until then it had been a major supplier of six-cylinder motors to power the nascent Luftwaffe’s…

Vintage flat track in the UK is alive and kicking, or should that be drifting? While much of the motorcycling world’s focus is on the Isle of Man in June, the DTRA UK (Dirt Riders Association UK) were on the Isle of Wight for their latest meeting at the Smallbrook Stadium at Ryde. Six classes, including three vintage classes, two youth classes and an open class with a £500 prize, were showcasing flat track racing on a rare visit to the South of England. DTRA Flat track racing is not just about the racing. Anthony Brown and Anna Butler, the founders of the DTRA, run an inclusive organisation, with many different classes, encouraging and welcoming new riders into the sport at youth and adult level, as well as supporting riders…

Canning Town, London 1903 Since my record-breaking run at Canning Town last month, Excelsior continued to support my racing efforts. My knowledge of tuning and racing going into the competition season on the banked tracks of London, had made me the man to beat.…

This picture, taken by ace photographer Nick Nicholls at Mallory Park, on Sunday, September 21, 1969, shows the two who many regard as the greatest motorcycle racers of all time, Giacomo Agostini and Mike Hailwood, indulging in a bit of pre-race chat. The meeting was the ‘Carreras 1000 Guineas International Race of the Year’ which boasted a prize pot of over £2000 for the big race alone, and so not only had it attracted Ago and ‘Mike the Bike’, but other famous names too, including Phil Read, the other stellar star of the 1960s. The actual Race of the Year was event 13 of the day and scheduled for 4.45pm, over 30 laps and ‘…for invited drivers of machines between 100cc and 1000cc. Driver will be asked to nominate their…

Published in the March 20, 1952, issue of The Motor Cycle, this picture was accompanied by an explanation thus: “Forty years ago tomorrow, in the issue of The Motor Cycle, dated March 21, 1912, there appeared an illustrated account of a trick-riding performance by a slim young man by the name of Albert Milner. Now the slim young man is a stout 64-year-old. He tips the scales at over 14 stone. Until recently (unless secret practice has been the pleasure of his declining years) he had not ridden a motorcycle for two decades. But that he can still cut a pretty figure is evident from the illustrations on this page.” On the original publication of this picture in 1952, it was joined by others, including one of Milner standing on…

Event report | Ashford show For motorcyclists of a certain age, the name Arter Bros. may well conjure up images of a trilby-hatted Tom Arter in a road race paddock, or winners’ circle somewhere, where one of the many riders he supported over the years has just achieved a giant-killing act with a superannuated AMC race bike. There is no denying that Tom had an eye for talent and expended considerable effort, and money, in pursuit of success. However, for those with the curiosity – and the name Arter Bros. offers a clue – there was much more to this long-established family business. Some of it was revealed at the recent Elk Promotions Show at Ashford Cattle at the end of May. Some of the more exotic machines from the…

Having not ridden at the VMCC’s annual blue-riband event, the Banbury Run, since 2019, a call from the National Motorcycle Museum’s James Hewing resulted in me being offered a machine from the collection to ride in 2024. And what was the motorcycle on offer? A 1928 AJS K10. And what did I ride in 2019? A 1928 AJS K10 – but a different one. The statistical probability of riding two examples of that same model is incredibly low, and quite possibly makes me the world’s most experienced K10 rider, and certainly will if I manage to blag a ride on the two others I know of, as there really can’t be many of them about, for it is the first year, made-for-one season flat-tanker. The AJS works racing team actually…

As the prospect of another world war was darkening the international mood in the late 1930s, three young men – an Englishman, an Italian and a German – were probably more concerned with trying to be on top of the ‘fastest on two wheels’ record podium. BMW factory rider Ernst Henne had a more or less firm hold on the world record since October 1932, with a two-way mean speed over the kilometre of 152.86mph (237.06kph). Now trying for speeds that desperately needed serious streamlining, the German factory launched a completely new motorcycle on one of the country’s new autobahnen in 1936. With a smaller and higher revving supercharged engine, and radical but untested fully enclosed streamlining, Henne raised the record by a massive amount to 169.02mph (256.04kph) on October…

This bit was supposed to be about the new fork seal holders being made so Triumph stanchions can be mated to BSA sliders to complete a hybrid set of front forks. Unfortunately, such work is beyond my metalworking ability, even if the small Hobbymat lathe in the workshop could happily take on the task if operated by someone with more skill. What initially turned out to be a simple task some time ago, has taken on a life of its own, partly because of what is wanted for this project… a lighter, more off-roady appearance. Triumph’s standard front wheel is based on a cast iron hub with either a seven or eight-inch diameter depending on the machine model, a truly massive thing which works well enough, but is heavy. Available…

Gordon Jackson (1931-2024) One of the most famous and best trials riders of all time, Gordon Leonard Jackson has died, aged 92. From Kent, Jackson was winner of the Scottish Six Days Trial four times (1956, 1958, 1960 and 1961), the last victory coming, most famously, with just ‘one dab’ – see page 40 of this issue for the picture which captured that moment. In 1958, he also won the British Experts and the ACU Trials Star, while he narrowly missed out on further ‘Scottish’ success and was also British Car Trials Champion, all the time while still farming. Famed for his association with AMC – or AJS in particular – Jackson rode a 500T Norton early on, influenced by his friendship with John Giles. Jackson switched to a 500cc…

The April 1958 issue of Motor Cycling featured a full, front-page advert for the AJS 16MS. Above an image of two suitably-attired gentlemen, one astride and one behind two examples of the model, sat the ‘hook’: ‘A pleasure to own… a joy to ride…’ Beneath them a paragraph of copy extolled the machine’s virtues: ‘Fast and lively, yet extremely economical, the superbly finished, fully sprung 350cc OHV Model 16MS is equally happy when used for serious long distance touring with full equipment and a pillion passenger, for sporting purposes, or for daily transport.’ ‘May we send you particulars?’ was – in modern advertising parlance – the ‘call to action’. It was of course common practice for the front cover of weeklies to be adorned with a full-page manufacturer ad. What…

You don’t need an engineering degree and a workshop crammed with the latest machine tools to design and build a racing motorcycle. At least, you didn’t 85 years ago when Frenchman Jean Nougier began modifying humble pushrod singles and transforming them into race winners and record breakers. Based in the small village of Saint Andiol, 12 miles south-east of Avignon, Jean only ever used the ancient belt-driven lathe and milling machine that were in his father’s garage, but that didn’t stop him making more than 20 racers, ranging from 50cc singles to 500cc in-line fours. Jean’s younger brother Henri started racing in 1927 on a 125cc Rovin two-stroke. To improve reliability and increase the performance, Jean cast his own alloy cylinder barrel and head, but he soon realised that a…