DECEMBER Update

Richard "Dick" Standing

Dick's Silver TT Replica from 1967 complete with entry pack

Late October brought sad news of the death of Brooklands Motorcycle Volunteer Richard Standing. “Dick” was a wonderful character who always had a tale to tell about his career as an engineer at Hawker Sidley and British Airways, flying model Aircraft, sailing and bike racing. He was very modest about his own achievements on the track and it was not until his funeral on 17 November that many of us knew of the two Bronze and one Silver TT replicas that he had won on the island. The Silver was won in the Diamond Jubilee year of 1967, in a race that featured the period greats of Agostini and Hailwood. Over 87mph not bad for a part-timer! Many members of the VMCC Brooklands Section, where he served as a Committee Member, accompanied him on his last ride out, and 150 family and friends squeezed into the chapel to hear tributes from his close family and friends. You can read a full tribute to Dick on the Old Bike Mart website.

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Warbike Project

The book is (still) nearing completion and it seems that the last bit is never ending. The pictures are looking great and it should not be long until we can get the first full draft off the press. Meanwhile this is an ongoing project; so if you have any WW1 military motorcycle information to contribute please write to warbike@fenlandclassics.co.uk or check out the warbike project facebook page.  We are still looking for a 1914-20 Phelon and Moore bike to photograph at the Brooklands circuit to commemorate the many bikes tested at the Weybridge track before and during WW1. If you have or know of a P&M bike please contact us at warbike@fenlandclassics.co.uk  

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The Southern Off Road and Racing Show

Brooklands Stand at Last years Kempton Show

The Southern Off Road and Racing Show will be held at Kempton park Race course on 6 December 2014. The ever popular Bike jumble will be supplemented by the show all for the price of just £6 with reductions for pensioners. The Brooklands Volunteers will be promoting the Museum with two bikes from the collection. 

Sammy Miller Prepares for a ride at his museum in 2013

The first is a 1927 Tommy Meeten Francis Barnett. This is the Record Breaking minnow that went up against the big boys in 1927 winning the 6 hour endurance race at an average speed of 50 mph. The high average speed was maintained with the addition of two auxiliary tanks mounted to the rear on each side. The pocket rocket was fully restored a few years ago by the volunteers and still runs regularly.



At present the bike is at present being prepared for a trip to the Montlhéry vintage meeting in May 2015. 

Ian Prepares for a run during the 2014 photo shoot

The second bike on the stand will be a 600cc EW Douglas which was built from a collection of bits that were donated to the museum. Volunteers Ian and Carl spent many hours converting the diverse collection into this this stunning bike. The Douglas that was featured in The April 2014 edition of The Classic Bike Guide Magazine is also regularly run on the test track at Brooklands.   

The dangerously low ground clearance is a challenge

The motorcycle makes its second appearance at the Kempton Venue having previously featured at the Southern Classic Bike Show. A full review of the December show will appear in the January Blog.

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Brooklands Military Vehicle Day

Whilst on the subject of Brooklands there was the usual big turn out for the Brooklands Museum Military Vehicles Day on 16 November. Bikes were represented by a WW2 RAF BSA and a GI Indian. 

These solos were heavily outnumbered by several Zundapp and BMW combinations. They relished the challenges of the Mercedes World 4x4 test track in the morning and most were out again for a rumble up Test Hill. 

Barnes Wallis was turning in his grave, but Churchill and Monty were also on hand to save the editorial balance of this piece.

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Road Improvement Programme

The PM visits a single carriageway section of the A1. Without any Traffic!

Transport Secretary Patrick Mcloughlin announced today (1/12) what he called “the biggest, boldest and most far reaching roads programme for decades” We don’t want to get into politics in this space other than to say that governments come and governments go. Every few years they propose a tunnel under Stonehenge and other major projects before retreating again. For bikers the priority must be repairing what is already there, particularly on the twisty B roads and country lanes we love so much. To be fair there has been improvement in some areas since a recent injection of cash, but the poor weather over the winter is bound to compound many roads already in dire need of a make-over.  

For those interested the key improvements announced are A1 to become a dual carriageway from end to end, A303 & A358 to be improved including a Stonehenge Tunnel! Meaning dual carriageway from London to within 15 mile of Lands End. (I hope the car-park is being increased) Improvements in the midlands include the M62 becoming a “smart” motorway and further work on the M42 so that in years to come we can get to the NEC Motorcycle Live more easily.  

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Fenland Classics TV

Another collection of our favorite motorcycle films from the web including Series 8 Episode 2 of Bike World. Select Playlist to skip a film.

by
Old Timer