newsletter no 32 temp - isle of man vintage motorcycle club · 2017. 1. 30. · ing club nights...

Paradise & Gell has been located on Michael Street in Peel since 1974.Here you will find a wide range of furnishings to enhance any livingspace. Whether you are looking for something contemporary or a moretraditional piece, then look no further than Paradise & Gell.

Contents

Editor: Harley Richards Sub Editor: Job Grimshaw

Cover Picture:- Retiring editor Job enjoyed touring in Cyprus on this, achunky Suzuki Intruder. “The motor was smooth and torquey and shestarted on the button every time. Cornering was much better than anticipated,but required an early turn in compared to British bikes. The front brake wassmooth and powerful, while the softish suspension worked well on the roughtracks. I was sorry to leave it behind at the end of our hols.”

Page 2 Secretary's Notes

Page 3 Job's Jottings

Page 4 Yellowbelly Notes - On a Wing and a Prayer

Page 8 The Vincent is Dead ! - Long live the Vincent Pt 2

Page 14 Rare Moto Guzzi find

Page 17 Fergus Anderson - Rider Profile No 18

Page 18 The TT Mountain Challenge - 2011

Page 22 Indian Chief In Full Colour

Page 24 VMCC IOM - Scarborough Run

Page 26 Trials Results

Page 28 The Des Evans SAAB Special

Page 33 Sons of Thunder Pt 6 – Conclusion

Page 38 Book Review – Stanley Woods

Secretary’s Notes

Continued next page

Hi Everyone,

Another year almost over, and what a successful year for our Section. Regretta-bly the recent Sunday ride out on October 28th saw only eight machines sign upat the Mitre Pub, Kirk Michael. The weather can only be described as appallingfrom the start, with considerable flooding on the Jurby to Bride road to drivethrough. Not a nice ride but thanks to Brian Ward for organising it and thanksto those brave eight souls who turned out on their bikes.

As Secretary of the Club I feel that my role covers not only motorcycling butother events that could have an adverse effect on our members, especially whereit hurts most “in the pocket”. I refer to the wind farm proposals in the Irish Sea.The Company behind the proposed development is Celtic Array, which is a jointventure between Centrica and Dong Energy. Three areas are being considered,but the one that would massively impact on our nation is called the Rhiannonwind farm close to the Walney Extension wind farm already under construction.The impact on our ferry services should the proposed Rhiannon site be devel-oped would be unacceptable resulting in higher fares for both passengers andfreight, longer journey times and fewer ferry crossings. The only way to avoidthis would be to create a 5 mile wide corridor through the Rhiannon site, makingit totally unviable. There are other options however the developers are not keenon these. I do urge you to go to the consultation meetings, contact your MHK’sand even to join the group “Travel Watch” who are reporting back, in openmeetings, on the situation. Dong Energy want to appear as the good guys buttheir brief is to develop , not to be concerned about the effect it will have on ourlives and the future development of tourism on our Island. Phone the SteamPacket and get Issue 12 Autumn 2012 News and timetable to find out moreabout the proposals.

The 2013 events, particularly the T.T. and M.G.P. Rallies and the Festival ofJurby are well ahead planning wise. Entry forms should be available on theSection web site www.vmcciom.org by the end of December/early January.

As most will know by now, Harley Richards is taking over as editor of thispublication in time for the next print at the beginning of March. Harley isalready well involved with Vintage Mann and has in fact edited this edition withmyself as a minor contributor. I know that club members will give him fullsupport, as you have myself over the last seven years.

He has been a professional journalist in the past, and will bring his own styleand technique to the job. I will continue to write articles for the mag, and hopethat more club members will have a crack at doing so. To put a different angleon a well known quote “ There is one article in everybody!” Think about it.

I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to all who have written articles for andadvertised in ‘Vintage Mann’ during my time as editor. Some writers havecontributed regularly for years and still keep coming back for more. Long maythey continue. As I have always said, no adverts, no free magazine. Firms likePhinik, Signmann and Azzy Paints to mention but a few, have given sterlingsupport which made the expansion of the mag and improvements such as colourcover and centre pages, possible. Last but by no means least, many thanks toDave at Peel Copy Centre for his extreme patience, he has always gone thatextra yard.

I have enjoyed my time as Editor of ‘Vintage Mann’. I have made many friendsand learned such a lot. Now its time for a new broom to sweep clean.

Don’t forget the Club Annual Dinner and Prize Presentation January 19th 2013at the Masonic Hall, Douglas. Tickets are available £15 per person from myself,Richard or Rupert. The event is heavily subsidised by your Club funds andoffers top class catering, so please support it.The events list for 2013 will be with you in the next few weeks and will includenot only Road Runs but also Club Nights and Trials dates, please support yourClub by attending all that you can and if you have any suggestions for forthcom-ing Club nights please email me [email protected] a great Christmas and Happy New Year.

Tony

Job Grimshaw

Hats off to everyone involved in this year’s MGP Festival at Jurby, andthe other Vintage Club activities; it was all most enjoyable. For my part,it was the debut of a special bike, made in Lincolnshire and ridden by a“Yellowbelly” racer, which added interest to an already top class event.

My neighbour, Owen George competed in seven Manx Grand Prix between1986 and 1991 but the records show that his races began in 1987. That isbecause in his newcomer year he made use of the helicopter during practiceand was unable to race because of injury. Undaunted, he returned thefollowing year to begin his MGP career in earnest.

Pic 1

Pic 1

YELLOWBELLY NOTESOn a Wing and a Prayer

Pic. 1 shows Owen at Quarterbridge in 1989 on his Yamaha FZR1000. Anengineer by profession, his workshop at home is a gathering place for“Yellowbelly” racers, past and present. “Owen can you mend this - itdropped off on the last lap? “, being a stock request. In the corner of thisgarage bubbles a never ending pot of undrinkable coffee. As I’m sure youcan imagine, there is a lot of not very serious conversation.

Some years ago I mentioned that I had seen a Honda Gold Wing racer andthought it might have something to do with Dresda. When the laughter dieddown Owen simply uttered “Hmmm?” and said no more. A couple ofmonths later I visited Bill Snelling’s excellent exhibition at the Woollen Millin Laxey and there it was - proof of the Gold Wing racer. A phone call toOwen brought him over from Peel where he was staying. This time heoffered an even longer “Hmmm?” A man of few words is Owen, but nothingdaunts him, and so began the endurance racer project.

All sorts of parts were hand made with a precision that Mr Honda himselfwould have been proud of. Finally, after many months work, it was wheeledout to be fired up.

The noise was deafening and the members of the 2 o’clock Club declared it“a cracking job”. Its debut was to be at the Festival of 1000 Bikes at MalloryPark. When it fired up in the paddock, folks queuing for Kevin Schwanz’sautograph all wandered over, leaving the GP star temporarily on his own.However, waiting in the pit lane, the head gasket let go and, in a cloud ofwhite smoke, it was wheeled away. The extra compression had taken its toll.No worries, it was soon fixed and its next scheduled outing would be at theMGP Riders Association demo laps at Jurby.

When I unloaded the bike from my van early on Sunday morning lots ofpeople admired it and there were even one or two who remembered theDresda. The ultimate compliment however, came from Hugh Evans, now aresident of your lovely island, who said it was a credit to Owen. Fromsomeone who was involved with the “real thing” that was praise indeed.

Out on the track the Wing performed faultlessly and ground clearance didnot emerge as a major problem – Pic 3.

Pic 3. (Dave Kneen)

Standing behind some of the many spectators I heard someone say “Yes itis, I told you, it is a Gold Wing!”

On Friday it was the VMCC Rally Parade lap and I was fortunate enough tobe a guest of one of the participants, Neil Costa. Neil is a Manx resident andarch enthusiast who together with John South began TS-2C Racing.

He was riding his own 2C Benelli. Waiting in the road, outside the NoblesPark police station, while the weather deteriorated was nerve- wracking. Ashort delay seemed like an age. The worry that the event might be cancelledstarted to loom into my mind. Neil remained cool, and said that at least theweather would be bad all the way round if we waited long enough! Suddenlywe were out on the start line and the little Benelli fires off. Head down, andaway goes No.77.

Back to the Hailwood Centre as the weather closed in and a gloomy, wet,mist descended as the first batch of riders returned. After a few minutes Icould hear the two-stroke on the pipe (the engine likes wet air) and in rolledNeil. Back at home in Lincolnshire, a search of the internet found thisevocative image (Pic 4).

Pat Sproston: Louth , LincolnshirePic 4 (One Vision imaging)

Pic 4 (One Vision imaging)

No sooner did I get the bike back upright again than I found myselfapproaching, in fact hurtling up to, Becketts. This is an acute hairpinbend that takes you back towards the pits. It leads onto the second partof the triangle that comprises the Silverstone circuit and includes the1000 yard straight leading up to Woodcote Corner, which is just in frontof the start/finish line. Gently round Becketts, I pointed the bike downthe straight to see just what it would do. I was impressed; we went downthere like a good 998 should.

Then, just getting into top, I noticed this lever …

The ignition lever - which manually controls the advance and retard setting.These are extinct on modern twins, but there is a lot to be said for them I feel.Having set the timing approximately you can then achieve the optimumsetting when the bike is running flat out by adjusting the "feel" of the motoras you juggle the lever. There's really no mistake about it feeling quite rightwhen you do move it to the best spot.

Roger Slater had said to set it as soon as I was moving. You retard it,naturally, for starting and me not being familiar with such devices, or ratherhaving forgotten all about it, hadn’t moved it since. So I moved it and - Pow!it was just like another gear and then we were really flying. Now when thethrottle was banged open, I noticed that the dual seat lacked a hump as I slidbackwards under the acceleration.

Braking for Woodcote Corner is a fair test for any brakes as I came downfrom 5,500 rpm, which must be somewhere around 120mph, to just 50mph.The front anchor is a similar unit to that used on the 500 Ducati previouslytested and, while it is more than sufficient for that job, it did not shirk thistask even with an extra l00lb or so to haul up. Waiting until the 200 yard signboard and just grabbing the lot, retardation was sure and unfading. In fact,when braking for the hairpin, with the bike slowed to 20 or 30mph, I couldhear the front tyre squealing loudly.

The Vincent is dead!

The chief memory of the machine was the sheer effortlessness of the per-formance. I never had a feeling of buzzing the motor for results. I seemed tobe doing not much more than feeling the bike out in practice, assessing anddeciding just what I'd be able to try when the exercise started in anger.Putting the bike down hard for Maggots Curve, while accelerating flat in top,reduced the ripples to no more than a feeling of bumps, and they did notupset the chosen line.

Practice had seemed a pretty leisurely affair, though it was timed, and sowould provide an interesting pointer as to whether I'd be able to circulate asquickly as I could on a more familiar Triumph. The bike had seemed easyenough to ride and once I’d got used to the tremendous torque, comparedwith a vertical twin, I stopped banging the throttle wide open when comingout of a corner but just fed it in. It was going to be a lot of fun in the race.My lasting impression of the Shadow 70 was flying past a crowd of back-markers down the straight, sitting up, with the engine doing little more thana fast tickover, while they were lying on the tank and chasing every last rev.

So what were the lap times? I made the fastest time, incredible as it seemed,of 71 seconds with an average speed of 81.53mph. This broke my previousbest, which I’d made when scratching like the clappers and winning a race.

Surely, I had to be capable of knocking a couple of seconds off that in therace: when giving the motor real stick, using the full 6,000 revs and properlylaying her down. We'd see.

Taking pole position on the grid, as earned by the practice time, I faced theflag and prepared to heave probably the heaviest, and certainly the fastest,machine in the race off the line. Down went the flag, patter patter went 45pairs of racing boots on the tarmac and one or two engines burst into life. Forme it seemed a good idea to really get up some speed before dropping theclutch, as there were a couple of 500cc pistons to get churning round.

So I did, it fired first time, and the bike sat down on the rear wheel as Iwhipped the ignition lever open, climbed aboard and buried my nose on thetank chinpad. That was not a good idea, on reflection, as it was the last timeI had a good view of anything for the next ten laps. You see, the oil tank fillerwas up the front of the fuel tank and one's nose is about two inches from itwhen really getting down to it. With my nose on the tank and running themotor up to 6,000 in pursuit of the quicker-starting bikes, oil squirted upround the cap and covered my face, more particularly my Octopus goggles.

Instinctively, I wiped them and instantly regretted it as everything wentbrown and blurred. Pulling goggles down is something I don't do, because atanything above two miles per hour my eyes water like mad and I definitelycan't see. So it had to be a case of soldier on. Anyway, on such a simplecircuit it couldn't be that bad, so I thought.

A brief squirt in first and second while weaving through the field, and I'dcaught all the opposition except a Mr Malcolm White on his 750 EDDomiracer. Although the track was almost clear, my vision was rapidlydeteriorating as the wind blew the oil into pretty patterns in front of my eyes.To follow Malcolm, I decided to aim for the next corner, where I knew therewas a braking marker board, keep going until it came up, then slap on theanchors and get set to peel off. On a more tortuous circuit I'd have lost somuch time as to be non-competitive, but at Silverstone it would do. Malcolmhad plenty of speed in his 750 racer but not, apparently, the brakes, as that'show I got in front a couple of times. Not being able to see the rev-counter Idoubt that I gave the motor its full quota of revs, just for safety's sake. Theonly trouble with these racer tests, at least when you are in trouble, is thatyou must still put in a reasonable performance, but without doing anydamage. That would not make a very good story, would it?

Anyway, I thought I could follow him for nine laps, and probably give themotor a lot more stick on the last lap as a final effort. I had visions of notreally getting the best possible results out of this racer test, and then theDomiracer disappeared on lap two. This made life about 200 per cent easier,as now I could grope my way round without distractions and maybe stay onthe track. However, that little defective cork washer under the filler cap wasnot the sole the cause of my problems. Things had been manageable until thetank breather itself got trapped between the petrol tank and the frame tube,and then let the oil by under the built-up pressure. It let more out en route tothe flag and made what would have been an uneventful ride most eventful. Igot covered in lubrication.

So I never did put in a quick lap, in spite of winning. Roger remarked thatthe bike was going past the pits sounding as though it was doing about 4,500and he was probably right. I couldn't see the rev counter, I was too busypeering through the mist for the next marker board. Minor problems aside, itreally is an impressive bike. The motor has the punch that I know fromexperience gives it the edge over a very quick Bonneville. Its brakes are quitea match for the performance and the road-holding conferred by the Egli-Vincent design frame put it on par with the best in vertical twins.

The modifications, compared with the old Vincent, had produced a machinecapable of taking its place with the bikes of the '70s. The Shadow 70 was afitting name for a bike more equal than most - if you see what I mean.

Ray Knight - from notes made some 40 years ago.

WHILE WE’RE TALKING ABOUT VINCENTS….Steve at Conway Motors sold this chassis to a customer a few months agoand was told it was made by Cheney. He then read there was a tie up betweenCheney, Slater and Fritz Egli.

However, Simon Cheney says they never made an Egli frame so it's all a bitof a mystery. The customer is trying to trace its history and if you have anyinformation on the frame, Steve (01732 842657) would like to hear from you.

UK businessman uncovers arare cache of Moto Guzzi

Military MotorcyclesDuring a routine visit of a mili-tary base in Macedonia the mo-torcycles were discovered in aroom hidden from public view.It is believed some of them mayhave been there for 30 to 40years. They are all ex-Yugosla-vian Army.

Initially, the German Govern-ment claimed ownership and thebikes were all transported toGermany. However, our manwas not going to give up andlong negotiations ensued. Even-tually, an agreement wasreached and the bikes were re-patriated to the UK. They arenow safely in the warehousingof Southport Motorcycles, whoare re-commissioning them insmall batches. The bikes will be

UK registered on age-related number plates, with dating certificates, MOTand tax (although all the Falcones qualify for Historic Free Tax).

The bikes are in good condition and, with re-commissioning now under way,the first batch of bikes is ready for sale. The intention has been to keep thebikes as found, just dealing with the mechanics and getting them to MOTstandard. This is because most interest has been from collectors who want toadd their own touch to the bikes. Some want to leave them as Police/ militarybikes, whilst others want to put them back into civilian trim, or turn them

RARE MOTO GUZZI FIND

into Cafe Racers. There has been some interest from people wanting to turnthem in to Classic Race Machines.

The find consists of:

4 x Moto Guzzi V35: 350cc twins circa 1980 to 1983, which will be sold ataround £1,800 each

2 x Moto Guzzi V35 in Military Police trim: 350cc twins circa 1981 ataround £2,000 each

14 x Moto Guzzi Nuovo Falcone: 500cc singles circa 1970 to 1972 at around£3,800 each

To reserve a bike, a £500 deposit is required. The motorcycles are beingoffered for sale via Manx Direct and available to view at their showrooms inSouthport, United Kingdom. Please contact them direct for further details.

Cars, motorcycles, scooters, ATVs, Quads, utility vehicles, trailers/accessories, clothing, helmets, boots, goggles, Military surplus, campingequipment and Rustbuster.

115 Eastbank St, Southport, PR8 1DQLocal: 01704 500029National: 0844 740 2036International: 0044 (0)1704 500029

Website: www.manxdirect.com Email: [email protected]

Fergus Anderson - Rider Profile No. 18

Fergus Anderson wasborn in Wellington,England, on 9th Febru-ary 1909.He won the 350 ccWorld ChampionshipTitle in 1953 and1954, plus 12 GrandPrix victories, 1951 to1954.

1951 Swiss G.P. Berne - 500 Moto Guzzi1952 I.O.M. T.T. Lightweight - 250 Moto Guzzi1952 Swiss G.P. Berne - 250 Moto Guzzi1952 Belgian GP Spa - 350 Moto Guzzi1953 I.O.M. T.T. Lightweight - 250 Moto Guzzi1953 Swiss G.P. Berne - 350 Moto Guzzi1953 French GP Rouen - 500 Moto Guzzi,1953 Spanish GP Montjuich - 500 Moto Guzzi1954 Swiss G.P. Berne - 350 Moto Guzzi1954 Dutch GP Assen - 350 Moto Guzzi,1954 Italian GP Monza - 350 Moto Guzzi,1954 Spanish GP Montjuich - 350 Moto Guzzi

Though a regular pre-war continental rider on Velocettes, Fergus, a tallgood looking man, was the first post-war British rider to compete success-fully on the continent.

His untimely death at Floreffe, Belgium, whilst riding a factory BMW, wasa shock to his many friends.Fergus Anderson died 6th May 1956, aged 47 years.

Dorothy Greenwood

A celebration of 100 years of the Mountain CourseWe had fine weather for this once in a lifetime ride, to mark the 100th yearof the Mountain Circuit. A great display of old motorcycles (and sometimeseven older riders!) was lined up in pit lane after their ride. If I was lucky Iwould come across the rider alongside his motorcycle, take photos and havea chat about the bike. Quite a few riders had ridden in period clothes, whichwas a nice touch to the event.

The VMCC Isle of Man section put on a good show of riders and machines,dressed for the occasion. Wayne Barry and Margaret Davies on their 1937BSA M20 500cc sidevalve sidecar outfit. (Pic 1) No. 84 Rupert Murden onhis Velo'. (Pic 4) No. 40 Nick Magnay on an Excelsior Manx Mara 1936model. (Pic 3) Will Gallieres who lives in Shrewsbury had done the ride onhis 1933 Model 30 Inter Norton, which he had owned for 5 years. KenBlackburn was on a Velo' too. (Pic 2) He thoroughly enjoyed his ride after abit of a layoff with an eye injury, well done Ken.

A rare motorcycle, a JAP engined HRD, was brought over by Mr. JamesBridge-Butler and ridden by his son Nick. James informed me that he boughtthe bike, a 1930 model, in 1982. It had been a shed find and a bit rough, butalmost complete. He said that when restoring the bike they found that nopaint would take to the frame. Whilst tracing the history of the bike hediscovered it had been raced at Brooklands and the Hutch 100 in its day. Itwas then sold on to a chap in Ireland who raced it on the sand. That's whenthey realized that the frame had been impregnated with salt. Using therelevant methods to clean off the salt, the paint then took perfectly.

Nick said he had no trouble from the bike on the lap. Both he and his dad hada great day, being very impressed with the welcoming and smooth runningof the event, with particular thanks going to Richard Birch, and David andJoyce Plant of the VMCC Isle of Man Section.

Word & Pics John Dalton

The TT Mountain Challenge - 2011

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3 Pic 4

Just finished assembly of my 1946 Indian Chief which has spent the last4 years in bare metal.

It took me a long time to visualize the color combination I wanted but finallydecided on original Indian colors of jade green and yellow cream. Putting ittogether was a challenge as there is only one way to disassemble andassemble these Indians, and if you miss a step you get to start all over again.It’s also nerve racking since there is so little room for error with those fatfenders and the close fitting frame. I had to cover all the contact points withmasking tape and brown paper to protect them from scratching. After twodays of careful fitting this is the result......pretty nice. If you’re ever up thisway in the Pacific NW, you’ll have something to ride! (Form an orderlyqueue now! Ed.)

(By email from Chris Vock)

Indian Chief in full color!

John A of the US

A hearty welcome to these three new members:-

December 13th Club Night. Knock Froy Santon. Bring and Buy Sale 8.00pm

December 16th Trial. Knock Froy Santon. Pie and cake. Start 1.30pm.

December 30th Christmas Hangover Road Run. Tynwald Inn, St Johns 11.30 for 12.00pm start. Organisers Anne & Rupert Murden.

January 19th 2013 Annual Dinner and Prize Presentation Masonic Hall, Douglas. 7.00 for 7.30pm

Malcolm W Meddings – Kella Sheear, Sulby IM7 2HG

Gordon Garrett – Grenaby Farm, Grenaby Rd, Dog Mills, Ramsey IM7 4AN

Michael Gooderham - Cooil Aalin, 17 Cannan Avenue, Kirk Michael IM6 1 HF

To check on the venue for the finish of each Road Run please checkour website - www.vmcciom.org - or phone Tony East on 878242.This is to avoid any confusion following last minute changes.

VMCC IOM SCARBOROUGH RUN21-26 JUNE 2013 Events Committee

We are looking to hold our annual ride this year in the Scarborough area,giving unrivalled easy access to the stunning riding territory which is theNorth Yorkshire Moors.This coincides with, but is quite separate from, theVMCC Scarborough week, run by the East Yorkshire Centre. Members arewelcome to make their own arrangements to join in that event if they wishto. Our own Rally will not be restricted to VMCC eligible machines andrides can be graded to suit older machines.

We shall be based at the Old Station House in Cloughton, which from the1880’s till 1958 was a British Railways Station. Over the past 20 years thishas been developed by the current proprietors into an upmarket, self con-tained, self-catering/ B&B accommodation. We shall be taking over almostthe whole premises for 4 nights for our members.

Our provisional booking is for 12 persons for 4 nights. A special rate for ourparty of £32 per head per night B&B has been agreed. We shall stop for anadditional night on the way back to Heysham around the Hawes area in thescenic Yorkshire Dales. This has not yet been booked or a price agreed butwe can expect it to be in the region of £35-45 per head for B&B.

CLOUGHTON STATION

Barbara the proprietor says:The Station House is a con-verted Victorian railway sta-tion in the village ofCloughton on the formerScarborough to Whitby rail-way line. Set in half an acreof beautiful gardens, thiscountry station has been ex-

tensively renovated and now offers accommodation in the form of en-suitebed and breakfast rooms as well as self-catering in 'OSCAR', our 4-starluxury railway coach or in the newly-renovated Goods Shed.

The Station House Tea Room is open from 10.30am until 5.00pm, Saturdayto Wednesday, where we will be happy to serve you with delicious homemade food. The Station House is an ideal base for exploring the dramaticNorth Yorkshire coastline and the stunning 'Heartbeat' countryside of theNorth Yorkshire Moors as well as the historic seaside town of Scarborough.The village of Cloughton is five miles north of Scarborough, along the A171towards Whitby, Station Lane being the first road on your right as you enterCloughton, travelling North. There is a bus service 200 yards away servingScarborough and Whitby, and local pubs are a 10 minute walk away.

All are well advised to look at their web-site

http://www.cloughtonstation.co.uk

The proprietors, Steve & Barbara Hargreaves, are long-term friends of SteveLeonard who will be assisting by arranging a full series of outstandingrides-out, including spooky Whitby, ancient Robin Hood's Bay, Oliver'sMount race track, steam trains in Heartbeat country, the famous 1 in 3Rosedale Chimney, and moorland crossings around Hutton-le-Hole, Helms-ley and Pickering.

For further info e-mail [email protected] , or cut out the form belowand return to Roger Halliwell, 1 Majestic Drive, Onchan IM3 2JQ

VMCC IOM SCARBOROUGH RUN 21-26 JUNE 2013

I wish to book a place on this event

I enclose holding deposit of £10.00 cheque payable to VMCC IOM Events.

Name………………………………………………………….….…….…..

e-mail………………………………………………………

Likely to bring van? yes/no

Tri

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Res

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Dyed in the wool motorcyclist and Manx resident Des Evans has manystrings to his bow. He raced for eighteen years, was a Travelling Marshalfor thirty-two and was a start line official for ten years. He has been adirector of the Manx Motorcycle Club for the last fourteen years. Busyman! But that is not the whole story........…

His day job before retirement in 2008 was as a motor engineer in Derby RdDouglas, with his own garage. With his engineering knowledge and all theright equipment on hand it was a natural thing for him to have a crack atbuilding his own specials.

It started with an idea that germinated in 1973/4. Why not put a two-stroke850cc SAAB car engine in a bike? A preliminary look at the project - size ofengine - suitable frame etc, showed it was possible, but not a job for the fainthearted!

Des on the SAAB Special, then sporting tele. forks, at the Jurby Racing Circuit

Des decided to build a prototype to test. He chose a Norton Dominatorframe, which he modified by spreading the front down tubes to allow a betterposition for the engine. He built his own leading link front forks using T45tubing (easier to use than 531 which crazes if it gets too hot) and incorporat-ed a Maxton Disc brake. Rear braking was taken care of by a Triumph discwith Lockheed calipers and master cylinder. A manifold was made usingYamaha TZ reed valves and the barrels were modified by adding a fifth portas on the TZ. Three Mk 2 Amal carbs with powerjet were fitted. A massivetoothed belt from Uniroyal, who made the toothed pulleys as well, drove theNorton AMC type gearbox. The fuel tank was Norton but the high torquesoon shredded the spokes on the rear wheel, so Des fitted Campanoli castalloy wheels, a much better bet.

During further tests at Jurby, Des found that the carbs needed setting and theignition points bounced at high revs. So a change was made to electronicignition. Des was not happy with the exhaust set up either. He contacted theSaab agent at Ballaugh Garage, Dennis Taggart, who in turn contacted Saab.

“You know Des, you made a lovely job of these forks”

Go! Go! Go! ….. At the start of the Hillberry to Kate's Cottage Hill Climb.

“Can you smell something burning?” Warming up at Jurby

They were verysupportive, send-ing technical de-tails of the racingport timing, suita-ble chambers,and a race crank-shaft! With allthis kit fitted theengine ran to9,000 rpm Aproblem withoverheating wascured by fitting asecond radiatoron a frame exten-sion in front ofthe forks.

The bike wasraced at Jurby in75/76 where itwent well, withgood handlingand braking, Un-fortunately apatch of gravel atthe end of thestraight broughtDes down in 75,

and he lost it again in 76 when a hydraulic pipe fractured, lubricating thetyres. He rode the bike for a number of years in the Hillberry to Kate'sCottage Hill Climb and the Ramsey Sprint.

He intends to restore this amazing machine this winter and run it in theParade at the 2013 Jurby Festival. I for one just can't wait to see it performand hear the exhaust note!

Job Grimshaw

“Oh Bugger - if only I had remembered to put the oil in!!”

One ofthe notable aspects from the annals of production racing back inthe late 60s/70s was sFritz Egli’s spine frame accommodated severalmotors and found wiTo be continued …... Ray Knight

Sons of ThunderPt 6 - The Superior motorcycles of Aircraftman Shaw

My Brough still goes like unholy smoke ,when I turn it's taps on. But Ihave a feeling it will have to go soon.…

1939 Brough Superior SS

Lawrence had become friendly with Mr and Mrs Blanchard, the proprietorsof the Ozone Hotel, where he was virtually the only winter resident. TheBlanchard’s son, Reg, was a motorcycle enthusiast, and it was he who lentLawrence the typewriter he often used for his letters. According to local

legend T.E. once rode Boanerges at 90mph along the Promenade to provesome point to Reg.

In 1938 the Blanchards sold the hotel to the Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club,who had it appropriately re-styled on a boat theme, and whose property itremains today – the tower room where Lawrence lived can still be seen. Hisletter written from there to Mrs Shaw on the last day of December 1934 saysmuch about how seriously Lawrence took his motorcycling.

“…last Friday night …… it was pouring with rain as I left London and rodeup the Great North Road. At the crest of that rise towards Welwyn I had topull my front forks back into the main road, they had turned off towardsAyot …… Had I called at Ayot that night and found you both there, nopower but yourselves would have set me again into the night and the rainnorthward and I felt that you might press me to stop. Such a dog’s night, itwas. Instead the Brough purred smoothly, to Royston and Biggleswade andStamford and Grantham and Bawtry and Goole and Bridlington. Even therain ceased after a while, and I got in warm and dry. Today I have cleanedthe good servant till it shines again …… It has been stored at Clouds Hilluntil I felt it almost shared my unhappiness in our separation ……”

An odd note creeps in later, after he cautions GBS, who had been ill, to takethings easy. “… Better, I suppose, to break than rust away; but how I hateboth choices …”

Writing to Robert Graves in February, Lawrence reflects “…Long ago Ifound out what income I needed for retirement and set it aside, invested. Therest – what I had and what I made – I spent on friends and books and picturesand motor-bikes …”

On the 26th of that month Lawrence, no longer an airman, left Bridlingtonnot on Boanerges but on his bicycle. He knew that journalists were en-camped at Clouds Hill, and took a long leisurely way home to avoid them.However, they were still there when he finally arrived. Exasperated, Law-rence blacked the eye of an especially persistent photographer. He wrote toWinston Churchill asking for help – Churchill spoke to EdmondHarmsworth, chairman of the Newspaper Proprietors Association, and thepressmen backed off. Churchill, despite his famous comment about Law-rence “hiding his light in a napkin when the Empire needed its best”,

remained a staunch admirer, and invited him to lunch at Chartwell the nextSunday. Lawrence arrived on his bicycle. It would be their last meeting.

Lawrence was no longer involved with his motor boats, but he was delightedto hear in April that Admiral Henderson, the Navy Controller, had orderedhard-chine launches of the type Lawrence had helped develop for all capitalships. He records a little sadly “…I have great development plans, which Ihave left to my successors – and there is no successor yet. Our latest boatdoes 48 mph. ‘Our’ I say: poor fool. It’s all over …”

Also in April Lawrence wrote to George Brough “… I’ve only ridden theancient-of-days twice this year. It goes like a shell, and seems as good asnew … The old bike goes so well, I do not greatly long for its successor. Ifonly I had not given up my stainless steel tank and pannier bags [he washaving these items transferred to the new Brough George was building forhim] and seen that rolling stand … But for these gadgets my old ‘un wouldstill be the best bike in the S. of England …”

Clouds Hill is owned by the National Trust and open to the public

Writing to the artist Eric Kennington [who would sculpt his memorial] in thefirst week of May Lawrence remarked “… All over bonfires, the beautifulDorset, tonight. Twenty-six, I think, so far, from my window …”. Thebonfires were to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V.

A week later, on May 13th, Lawrence had a letter from Henry Williamson,who wanted to make his long-delayed visit to Clouds Hill. Lawrencejumped on Boanerges, rode down to Bovington post-office and sent Wil-liamson a telegram “… Lunch Tuesday wet fine cottage one mile NorthBovington Camp SHAW …” On the way back he came across two messen-ger boys on bicycles fooling about in a dip in the road. Lawrence tried toavoid them but clipped the wheel of one of the bikes. He lost control,crashed, and was thrown over the handlebars.

Like most motorcyclists of the 1930s, Lawrence never wore a helmet – hesuffered severe head injuries. His extraordinary constitution kept him alive,but in a coma, for six days. He died without ever recovering conciousnessin the Camp Hospital at Bovington.

His death, curiously, in-directly benefited futuregenerations of motorcy-clists. Hugh Cairns, thedistinguished neurosur-geon, [later knighted]had been one of thosecalled in to treat Law-rence. Cairns was a greatadmirer of Lawrence anddeeply affected by hisdeath. As a result hebegan lengthy researchinto the head injuries suf-fered by motorcyclists.Later he devised the firstcrash helmet for militarymotorcycling use, andthis in turn led to the de-

velopment of other models for civilian riders. A roadside stone marks the scene of the fatal crash

Of all Lawrence’s letters, there can be none better to conclude with than thathe wrote to his sometime biographers Robert Graves and Liddell Hart, for itexpresses his whole philosophy of motorcycling

“Put in a good word for Boanerges, my Brough bike. I had five of themin four years, and rode 100,000 miles on them … The greatest pleasureof my recent life has been speed on the road. The bike would do 100mphbut I’m not a racing man. It was my satisfaction to purr along gentlybetween 60-70mph and drink in the air and the general view. I losedetail at even moderate speeds, but gain comprehension. When I usedto cross Salisbury Plan at 50 or so, I’d feel the earth moulding herselfunder me. It was me piling up this hill, hollowing this valley, stretchingout this level place: almost the earth would come alive, heaving andtossing on each side like a sea. That’s a thing the slow coach will neverfeel. It is the reward of Speed …”

Kennington’s sculpture of Lawrence depicting Lawrence recumbent in Arabdress (there is also a bust by him in St Paul’s), can be seen in the Church ofSt Martin in Wareham.

Allan Jermieson Hawick, Scotland.

BOOK REVIEW

By Jonathan Hill

Here is a book which someone had to write, as a richly deserved tribute to onewho made a remarkable contribution to motorcycle sport between the wars. In thedays when the word “superstar” was virtually unknown, here was a sportsmanwho could justify that description, especially for his performances in the Isle ofMan. Between 1923 and 1939 he entered in 37 TTs, won ten, retired while leadingthree more and was beaten in three more by a total of 48 seconds. He retired 16times, never finished lower than sixth and posted 11 fastest laps. He also had animpressive continental Grand Prix record as well as being a great all-rounder.Stanley Woods was born in 1903 on the south side of Dublin and by the age of 13he had learnt to ride an older friend’s 5/6hp Indian. In 1920, after joining his fa-ther as a travelling salesman, Woods Senior was persuaded to buy a Harley Dav-idson outfit for business use, which Stanley promptly used at weekends in trialsand hill climbs, and for his first-ever road race. After witnessing the 1921 SeniorTT, the seeds were sown for his racing ambition and he, somehow, persuadedCotton to loan him a machine for the 1922 Junior TT in which he finished fourth.The following year, also Cotton-mounted, saw him win the first of his 10 TT vic-tories. Stanley joined Norton in 1926, winning the Senior TT and the Junior-Sen-ior double in 1932. The 1935 Senior TT saw him mounted on his favouritemachine, the works v-twin Moto Guzzi in what was arguably his finest race. Asthe last lap started, Guthrie was holding a 26 second lead over Stanley. WhenGuthrie crossed the line, Norton thought it was all over bar the shouting; surelythere was no way Stanley could pull that gap back? However, Stanley had shownwhat a superstar was capable of, setting a new lap record to win by 4 seconds. It isdifficult to do justice to this excellent historically-important book, containingmany of Stanley’s personal records and photographs, and whose author was a per-sonal friend. Highly recommended.

Author: David Crawford

Foreword by Sammy Miller MBE

Published by David Crawford, 9 Woodland Gardens, Lambeg,

Lisburn BT27 4PL Northern Ireland, U.K.

Tel.: (+44) 028 9266 0057 E-mail: [email protected]

Also available from Lexicon Books, Strand Street, Douglas, I.o.M.

Hard back, 220 x 275mm (portrait); 200 pages with 420 photographs and illustrations.

ISBN 978-0-957034-10-5

Limited edition of 1,000 copies. All profits to be donated to the Northern

Ireland Hospice. Website: Stanley-woods-superstar.org.uk

£30.00. Please contact the author for postage and payment details.

300+ VEHICLES ALWAYS ONSHOW AT BETTRIDGE’S

Mines Road, Higher Foxdaleopposite Foxdale School

newsletter no 32 temp - isle of man vintage motorcycle club · 2017. 1. 30. · ing club nights...

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