Zublee Foundation

www.london-motorcycle-museum.org

Zublee Foundation

At the Museum on Monday and another international experience with visitors from California and Philadelphia the rest of the week was quite quiet with preparations for a ride on the Buell with the ROG’s (Retired Old Gits) and Saturday at a fund raising event for organ donation in Assam. Sunday was due to be Classic British Bike day at the Ace Cafe but not wanting to get me or the LE wet I have stayed at home to get my adventures for the week written down. We have a new Norton on display a late fifties Dominator looking in show room condition and must be seen. 

 The week was a blurr of DIY and avoiding rain, getting another posting done and some planning for a bike ride that would visit Hive Beach and Sammy Millers in Dorset. Thursday arrived with a fine warm day meeting at Ryka’s then a short trip of only 50 miles to Finchdean and the George pub for lunch. I had an all day breakfast and couldn’t finish it neither did another fella. Mega sized sandwiches were just too deep to get your mouth around but someone tried.

 

I’ve got that pub on my list to revisit and they have a good selection of real ales too! Ending the day at Billy’s, a biker cafe on the A29 with a nice mug of tea before setting off home completing 176 miles for the day. A good start to my biking season.

You may ask what the Zublee foundation is all about and where does it fit in with biking then read on. The foundation was set up to get an organ donation established in India. There are a lot of people in India and you would have thought there would have been a surfit of spare organs, more than enough to go around. Not the case, it seems even in death, the owners want to hang on to them and the relatives want to keep them too! It is all about education. At the launching of this Charity a bike rally was organised in Guwahati in Assam, North East India. 

A ride around the city promoting the Foundation. This was in 2014 and, as in most cases, bikers will do almost anything to ride their bikes. India is no different and I have included some pictures of that event. As to the fund raising event two of the most famous Assamese pop artists were there to entertain us Zubeen and Zublee. Singing for hours popular songs from many eras. Last year Zubeen had a massive hit from a song that was used in a Bollywood movie. Zublee, also a successful singer, started the foundation for organ donation and gave an address at the end of the show to gather more support. 

The web site is www.zubleefoundation.com

I am already a registered organ donor but as I am planning a ride in India next year I may as well join the other Indian bikers in support of a good cause.

From saving lives to a sadder occasion with the passing away of one of our Great British Motorcycling Legends, John Surtees, who won both 350cc and 500cc World Championships before moving on to motor racing and becoming F1 Champion. He was an ambassador for motorcycling and we remember him in a video that we run everyday “The Power and the Glory” as he presents some of the iconic British motorcycles of the fifties.

Harrry Baughan

www.london-motorcycle-museum.org

The Baughan.

Harry Baughan was an interesting man. He first made a light car 1919 in Pinner in Middlesex then, in 1921 moved to Stroud. In 1923 he gave up making cars and went over to making motorcycles and sidecars using Blackburn engines. The company made over 50 motorcycles and 3 with sidecar wheel driving. As there was no differential the set up had a straight on complex when driving. The shaft drive to the sidecar wheel was engaged via a dog clutch. 

To get around this Harry patented a differential but that never went into production. I know of a few manufacturers who did this, in World War 11 it was BMW and Zundapp, Norton also had a design and more recently the Russian Ural.

You can just see the bulge on on the casing  for the shaft drive to the rear wheel on this BMW.

The Ural has a 30/70 split on the differential to even out the drive for better cornering abilities. out the drive for better cornering abilities. design was very successful in sidecar trials winning many competitions going where no outfit has gone before but also excluded from many others. The company moved to larger premises in 1937 and made aircraft parts during World War 11. Harry kept his interest in motorcycles becoming a prominent trials organiser. The sole surviving example of a Baughan is to be found at the Museum in the Park in Stroud in Gloucestershire. Museum web site www.museuminthepark.org.uk It is a Heritage Museum that shows the history of Stroud from the Jurassic to the present day with lots of interesting bits in it including examples of the first lawn mowers! Cutting the grass was changed forever and we now have the legacy of this most Sundays during the summer months.

Doing my bit to support the NHS to stop more cuts in services I attended a march on Saturday. It was so underplayed by the BBC with only seconds of air time. I was very disappointed with this as I had spent most of the day at this rally and some 200,000 people had kept me company. If you know Shaftsbury Avenue the column of people filled the road as far as the eye could see. I could not see the beginning of the march nor the end. It took more than an hour and a half for the crowd to assemble in front of the Houses of Parliament. The BBC only reported tens of thousands taking part not tens of tens of thousands! 

However I did encounter a very nasty animal in Tavistock square where the march assembled. Spotted here, camouflaged, and tripping everyone up were a complete family of trained orcas ready to catch unsuspecting pedestrians sending them sprawling. Beware of Tavistock square and its’ cycle lane marking!

Back at the Museum more fun on the Monday bringing my Velocette LE out for its’ first spin of 2017 it was a delight to have 27 children from the local Primary School visiting us. They were challenged by looking for the motorcycle that has a dog on the tank. Their final request was to hear a motorcycle running. Nothing noisey was available only the LE. 

My LE didn't look like this originally!

As people may know it was used by the Police and many a person has been caught by the quiet approach. It is one of the quietest motorcycles around. Nothing to scare the kids who kept requesting more as I blipped the throttle. How can you say no to that?