JULY Update

Goodwood Festival of Speed

Crowds flocked to Sussex on 26/28 June for the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed. This high octane garden party is hosted by Lord March and is a celebration of the history of motor sport. The event has grown from a few hay bales along the Goodwood House drive to an internationally renowned parade and hill climb event. The Festival is now the place to be for top motoring brands that spend many weeks building vast temples to their products. Visitors get to see the vehicles up close and the drivers and riders love it because they can get in among the punters without all the usual hassle. I heard one owner, new to the event saying; ‘Is it OK to leave the kit here’, as they manoeuvred starters and placed their helmets by their bikes. The reply was ‘Oh don’t worry about the kit, Goodwood’s not like that’ and they left a few hundred thousand pounds of machinery and kit for us to admire. There is a special atmosphere at Goodwood and long may it continue. 

We’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Jet Bike rounds the Flint Wall on the way upthe Hill

 

Bikes by the bucket Full.. 1984 Honda NSR500

Sammy Miller's 1927 Brough Pendine Racer

George Coen's Manx Norton

Velocette 1938 KTT

1650cc 2015 Bienville Legacy

Fun with The Dakar machines

...and Kimi's just confused by the whole thing

Warbike Project: The History of British Military Motorcycling 1899 to 1919

Work continues prior to publication and as the research draws to a close on this part of the story I should mention a few people who have helped along the way. The Brooklands Library team have been an invaluable and ongoing source of  both material and support. The Museum Library has a vast catalogue of records concerning Riders/Drivers, Cars and Motorcycles that raced at the track as well as a vast library of books relating to every aspect of Brooklands History. I was privileged to also have access to the photograph archive which contains some stunning images.

The National Motorcycle Museum allowed me access to their Clyno Motor Machine Gun Carrier which has resulted in some great detailed images of this machine.

The Royal Logistics Corps Museum gave me access to the Annual Reports of The Mechanical Transport Committee, which tells the War Office side of the story as far as military motorcycling is concerned. These records gave a fascinating insight into the procurement process. For example, I was interested to learn that Douglas almost failed to make the grade on several occasions but still managed to become the second most successful supplier of WW1 motorcycles.

Mortons Media and The Manx Aviation & Military Museum have also provided some great Dispatch Rider images and I am also indebted to the many people who have shared information and images through the Great War Forum.

It has been an interesting journey and I hope the book will dispel a few myths and pay tribute to the many riders that played a vital role during WW1.

The Ethanol Debate.

 

Another damaged tank liner to deal with.

Last month we started to look more closely at the issue of ethanol in petrol and in particular the issues people have running older vehicles on pump fuel. We hear lots of stories, but are these urban myths? Also is it all down to ethanol, or are there other substances lurking in our favourite cocktail?

Well, the story so far is that the effects are real. We have personally experienced bikes with treacle in the carbs, damaged fuel lines and only today I saw yet another melting tank liner. We have also trawled the fuel company websites for information and they seem to be devoid of any mention of ethanol information. Furthermore, the experts would seem to confirm it is ethanol is most likely to be the culprit. However, tt is important that we do not demonise the fuel companies. They have to comply with the regulations and legislation that is rightly there to protect us and the Planet. But, the historic vehicle community does need ready access to up to date information to make informed decisions. There is still more research to be done and the final piece with links to ethanol friendly products and locations of ethanol free fuel will be on our eagerly awaited new website.

We have also discovered some long-life ethanol free fuel which we will be reviewing and running at the Shere Hill Climb in September. Keep checking out the Twitter feed @fenlandclassics for updates.

Future Plans

The Ton-up Boys at Brooklands

The website is progressing and we are busy sourcing some of those difficult to obtain bits for your restorations. For example we will have sight glasses for vintage oil pumps and other high quality reproduction items as well as a range of good quality used parts. Our approach will be to aim for high quality difficult to obtain merchandise. You can see the first of our gift range, based on adverts of the 1900’s via Red Bubble.

We have also been busy behind the scenes advising on an American TV pilot filmed during May and are currently working with Brooklands Museum on the Great War 100 commemorations in September. This event will feature a recreation of the 1915 service events held at the iconic Surrey circuit. This blog has also been delayed as we have been filming Ton-up Day at Brooklands for the Museum and our new website.

Fenland ClassicsTV

This month we have our regular visit to Bike World as well as some other Cafe Racer and Street Custom inspired films:

Old Timer