A Special Day

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Opening of the Minter Cafe

After a long time with efforts from everyone our old cafe area has been transformed. It was a little past its best but nothing that new flooring a lick or two of paint and cabinets to hold the trophies of the late Derek Minter. Best know as “King of Brands” and a fierce competitor but one who is remembered as a King in Motorcycling. 

It has taken the better part of two years to get this collection to our Museum and Monday 18^th May was the grand unveiling of the trophies in display cases now for all to see. 

Many people came to see this with Colin Seeley making the address to everyone. Those people who know the former greats like Dave Croxford and Paul Smart will remember them from reading about their racing achievements in the Motorcycle News in the 50's, 60's and 70's. 

It was an honour to meet the people who rode those big singles on British short tracks at that time. There are many others and there is another signed board to grace the museum archives. 

There were so many people there that I must apologise if I have missed more of our motorcycling greats. I had seen their pictures as a lad but time has moved on for all of us and also my memory has faded a bit so the combination of failing memory and years has made some of the people difficult to recognise. However as volunteer I did my duty to give tours to those who wanted them and I think most of the people knew more than me about the bikes we have as they have lived and worked on them in their time. Tales of daring do and close riding filled the air. 

It was a day to be remembered. Eric Patterson was there with his Viscount, the Vincent powered Norton that will be going to Bonneville soon for another record attempt.

I wonder if this bike will be at the Kempton Park Southern Classic bike show on Saturday 23^rd May? I will be there with my little Valiant on the LE Velo Club stand.

St George

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St Georges Day 2015

It is a nice sunny day. It is a ROG's Run day and my first run with them on the Buell for ages. This is an annual event for the Wey Valley Bike Club as more than 20 bikes head off for a weekend of riding in Cornwall this year. The start is at the Hog's Back Cafe on the A303 at 09:30. I only join in the run so far only there for the ride out and stay up to coffee break which is at Fordingbridge. Some fellas are dressed as Knights and a few ladies join in with period costume and capes. Bikes are adorned with flags. It is a great run to Fordingbridge on some very good biking roads. I did see a green Velocette Valiant going the other way, obviously out for a ride in the sunshine.

Sammy Millers is about 20 miles away so I head over there to hand over some fliers and collect some from them. I take a few pictures and then head on home. The journey back is 90 miles and get home just before 3pm. If I had stayed until the lunch time stop I would not have got home before seven in the evening. A long day. For my first real outing of the year it was some 211 miles.

The week, so far, was very busy with clearing the tea room for decoration and refurbishment. The team cleared the room completely Monday evening and bright and early we started on painting the walls. Gloss would have to wait a day or two until after the new floor is laid. As with all things, it does not always work to a plan. The floor people are able to come in early on the Tuesday morning delaying the much needed coats of paint. The old floor comes up as we work around them to get paint on walls. The first coat is done by early afternoon but the colour is wrong. An executive decision is made and more paint is bought. A good job too as the first 5 litres only covers once and we need more paint anyway. The floor gets sealed with green stuff and we have to wait about an hour for it to dry off before continuing painting. It all gets finished by seven in the evening. The floor is to be completed over the next few days and should be ready for visitors on Saturday.

I have an MOT coming up on the Velocette LE and need to do some work on the front brake as it feels a little spongey. It just needed a good clean out and with a few minor adjustments there is a major improvement. I used it on Saturday morning to go to Hayes and meet up with a guy in the high street who used to ride LEs but sadly is no longer able to ride anything now. He promises to come to the Museum.

This Monday I see the new floor laid. A chequer of black and white against the grey walls. Good progress for the new facility, the Derek Minter cafe opening soon. The hard work so far is paying off but we still have the gloss to do before the next stage.

Things from the Shed

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Bike Shed Bikes

It has crossed my mind that so many people undertake restorations back to original spec building, in many cases, a motorcycle that is better than one that came out of the factory. I have been looking around the Museum to see what we have that is completely original and what has been adapted during the lifetime of the bike. An example of that is the Brooklands Sprinter another is the very nicely done Triumph Custom and what about Bill Bragg’s sprint bikes? I, for one, have a view that each bike is individual and the owner makes it so. If anyone has visited the Museum and seen my “Bike Shed Velocette LE” outside will see that it has been greatly modified for the job I wanted it to do. That was green laning in the 70's when I was able to get along many of the stretches of unpaved Fosse Way

 I didn't get to finish the project before moving away from the West Country but did use a '57 Triumph Twenty-one instead. That was also similarly modified. This brings me on to the question should you restore back to original or refurbish what another enthusiast has done? I have been in situations in the 70's and 80's where I could not get suitable parts for love nor money so had to settle for what I could get and you can see this from the twisted custom side stand on the LE. Not my real choice but one I ended up with to keep the project going. Although I started it in 1974 it took me nearly 20 years to finish it off and it first appeared back on the road in 1994 in time for the Kempton Park Southern Classic bike show that year. The LE is registered in 1963 so would someone take it on to restore it to original or refurbish what I have done? If you take the start of the project in 1975 then it is now 40 years on so is it now a proper classic bike and would need to be kept close to as it is now? I open this up for debate and site the Brooklands Sprinter as an example of a motorcycles evolution during its life. 

It has a 1922 frame and a 1928 engine, home made front forks and ball end levers that means it was used in competition in the 1950's. I think that the Triton is the classic of all bike shed enthusiasts and that is not original front hub from the 1952 Sunbeam S8 is a worthwhile change from the single sided unit to a full width one. 

Do the pedal blocks on the 1913 JES need to be kept as they are required by the owner to use the machine and if on the bike long enough to become part of the restorable history? All views are 
open to debate including leaving it as it is. We have done this with the 1909 Triumph that has many parts missing along with accumulated rust. I am not sure you would want to use it again if restored but it does reflect the history of the machine. Is it better to retain the battle scars of life or to have a pristine example?

Now mentioning battle scars I have been out and about over the week to Warrs at Mottingham to leave more fliers and again at the monthly Wey Valley Advanced Motorcycle Club. It was a social evening with a talk from the man who started “The Bike Experience”. It is all about getting disabled bikers back on their bikes having received life changing disabilities. Talon, who runs the show, is disabled from the chest down and has managed to get back on a modified bike and even go racing. He has on a few more signing offs to go to get his National Racing Licence. He has a very positive attitude and his mantra is to focus on what you can do and not what you can't. He has a group of very good volunteers and is always looking for more. They help get the disabled bikers launched when they set off and then catch them again when they land. There are no charges for individuals for the experience but they do require quite allot of funding and all this comes from donations as it costs about £400 for each person. So far he has had over 170 people take part in the Experience and the ear to ear smile of people who thought they would never, ever ride a motorcycle again is priceless Talon can be contacted by email at talon@tbex.co.uk or you can visit the website at www.tbex.co.uk.

Another Museum visited

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History on Wheels.

Not every week is plain sailing. After a good day at the museum meeting a very interesting guy from Bermuda I had to trailer the Valiant home. It was the first time I had taken it to the Museum this year and on arriving I had trouble getting any gears so after much pushing and pulling of the gear lever none were able to be found. It was going nowhere. I stripped it down on Tuesday, ordered the part and got it on Friday and reassembled it. 

All tested out and working but I did discover that all the screws on the ignition switch were lose so made starting a bit difficult. Never mind, the fun of running old bikes. The next was to sort out the Buell as the newish battery had failed and was still under warranty so a replacement had finally arrived on Wednesday and I collected it and fitted it with the proviso, that next day, I would have the charging checked out to make sure nothing else had caused the battery failure. This meant I would have to miss my ROG's run. I did order a couple of Military Motorcycle books from Amazon while I waited for the rain to stop. It has been a bit wet and dry this past week. I get to Sunday and a choice of Wey Valley Bike Club open day in the rain or a Citroen Car Club visit to the History of Wheels Motor Museum in the car. 

                       Main Hall                                                American Paratroopers bike

                                           

This was a new museum to me and at Eton Wick, not too far away. I found the collection of cars, Military bikes, Military cars, tanks and memorabilia well worth the effort and a reward for not staying too long in in bed when the hour went on. As usual my interest is in the bikes that included a Norton single, BSA M20, Royal Enfield “Flying Flea”, the James “Clockwork Mouse”, a 1939 German 100cc DKW, a Gnome Rhone flat twin matched with American paratroopers bikes to complete the line up. 

             100 cc DKW                                                       Gnome Rhone

The Gnome Rhone looks very much like the flat twin Zundapp of that era. Of more interest to me was the harness and container that the Brockhouse WW1was transported in. There is a WW1 there too to complete the picture. It was nice to see all the bits together that I had read about but not seen before in real life. 

A point of note is that there are a couple of bicycles from the late 1890's one has front and rear telescopic suspension and the other has shaft drive. If you are interested, bicycles have been far ahead of motorcycles in the quest for a smooth ride and much can be found on the internet and the history of bicycles.

A Rare Beast

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More on the Douglas DV 60

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Chris Bunce of British Classic Superbikes based in Fleet and we arranged to meet up for me to have a good look over the remaining DV 60 that he has in his workshop. A chance to see a piece of history and take some pictures of a rare beast believed to be the only original one in existence. The motorcycle is owned by the Brown family and Graeme Brown worked at the Douglas Factory and was also a member of the Douglas Owners Club had a wealth of information about this machine.

The DV 60 was a project cancelled in World War 2 but reinstated after the war when the military were looking to replace their existing models with something purpose built. During the war this particular motorcycle was damaged by fire from an incendiary and was rebuilt. The tank is different from what was originally fitted. Now painted black some of the original military green is visible around the headlamp.

There was extensive use of alloys on the machine and it weighed in at 315 lbs. Girder forks were replaced by the newer radiadraulic units. Other features included a sprung pillar seat and oil bath chain case. The machine could do 70mph and return 90m to 100mpg. It had a very low first gear and low compression ratio so it could run at tickover in first gear clutch fully home. It was over square with 74 mm bore and 70 stroke and with crankcase, barrels and heads made from alloy it was a very light engine. Crankshaft was one piece, balanced with white metal lined big ends unusual for Douglas at that time. More details can be read in “The Best Twin” by JR Clew.

Military at the Museum

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Military Motorcycles

Nearly a year after posting More on Douglas I have received a note about the Douglas DV60 the post war flat twin that was put forward in direct competition with the Triumph TRW as the military bike of choice.

Fortunately for Triumph the DV60 did not win however where did they all go? Not sure how many were made but one has turned up in Guildford. I look forward to seeing it. Closer to home I've had the LE Club meeting discussing my escapades in India and the plans for the club at the Southern Classic bike show in May. The first of the month was the Wey Valley Observed Sunday and after dishing out some fliers there I went on to Newlands Corner to hand out more and information about the forthcoming WVAMC open day on the last Sunday of March. There are always some interesting bikes that turn up at Newlands Corner on a Sunday and this was no exception.

Not so pretty but very different was the DMW Deemster with a Villiers engine. Some of the later models used the Velocette Viceroy engine. Much to my liking was this “dustbin” faired Bonneville. Smartly done.

Back to the military, the bikes we have on display include the 122cc James affectionately known as the “Clockwork Mouse”, the 125cc Royal Enfield “Flying Flea” called so as it was used during D day landings in 1944 by paratroopers. It was thrown out of planes in a cage that had a parachute attached we have a photo of one but there is one at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. Look out for it in the Lancaster hall. 

 Clockwork Mouse.                                                       Flying Flea.

Nearly everyone remembers the BSA M20 and their presence post war sold through Pride and Clarke. More modern machines are the Matchless 350cc single a Bullet in military guise and a Harley Davidson that has a Rotax engine and an Armstrong chassis. Around in the Home of Triumph are a number of TRWs but sitting beside it is the 350 side valve 3SW. There is in the ranks a 350cc ohv twin the 3TA WD built for the Dutch military.

Still on a military vein I am reading Elsie and Mairi go to war. Before the First World War Mairi who rode a Douglas teamed up with Elsie a member of the Gypsy Motorcycle Club. Elsie was also known as Gypsy because of her wanderings around the UK riding in endurance events and trials sometimes on her Chater Lea or Scott Outfits. Elsie had her riding gear made by Dunhill and her special dark green leather outfits later became available through Dunhill for other lady riders. Both these ladies were nursing soldiers on the Western Front in Belgium and worked to save many casualties with bullets and shrapnel flying around their ears. There is much about them at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Forgotten Engineer

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Austel Motorcycles

Not well known but we have one in the Museum. It is a 1300cc Metro engined model with a 4 speed automatic gearbox. It is really designed for sidecar work, hence the leading link front forks and sturdy design. Chris Castell was the man who built these and was featured in Motorcycle News in October 1985. This article is on display with the Austel.

I have often wondered why someone would make something like this but when you talk to someone who knows about them and having ridden an outfit myself for many years I can understand the why. It is nothing to do with weight but the torque delivery from a car engine. Modern motorcycle engines tend to be short stroke and high revving delivering power at revs along with the torque. The older style of single cylinder motorcycle from the 1950's, in the form of 500cc singles, delivered the power much like a car engine and were really for sidecar use as at the time big solos were mainly of 350cc. This is not ignoring the vast numbers of lightweights that got people to work every day. In 1985 you had the big 750cc motors from Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki that had amazing performance but the engine design and power delivery were not well suited to hauling a sidecar along. There other specials around at the time like the Fath NSU engined monster that gave so much torque it is reported that the rear wire wheel would eat its spokes and he ended up using cast wheels to get around this. At one time we had an Austin Ruby engined Norton on display so specials of putting car engines in motorcycles is not new. There are even 2CV engined specials with one on display at the London Motor Museum just down the road.

 

A couple of notes from Ian Savage who has kindly sent me these photos of his friends Austel rebuild.

“Thank you very much for showing me around the museum last Monday.

Here are a couple of photos taken today of my friend's Austels. Both are sidecar machines. The rusty one is Number 17, chain driven, 1000cc and was not completed at the time of Chris Castell's death. It is not as bad as it looks as it has just surface rust. The rest of the parts are away being painted.”

“The one with the red tank is Number 5, shaft driven, 1300cc and is the present project.

For your information, Austel are featured in Motorcycle sport November 1986 and June 1987.

At the moment we are converting the gear change and clutch from an awkward two pedal arrangement to hand change and foot clutch. The redundant hand clutch lever will be used to brake the sidecar wheel.”

No two Austel's were the same, one even used a Nissan engine. Some were shaft drive others chain. Gearboxes were automatic or manual depending, perhaps, on what was available at the time eleven were made but only 10 completed before the death of Chris Castell. He was quite special in what he achieved. It does make you wonder what he could have produced today as car engines have become lighter, smaller in capacity and in numbers of cylinders.