JUNE Update

Its June already and recently we have been busy signing off pages of the new website. The new Fenland Classic Motorcycles.co.uk site will be the place to visit for Bikes, Parts, News and information. We are even building a virtual museum where you can discover Images and information about pre-war bikes. In addition we will introduce “The Shed” where you can get hints and tips on that hard to finish restoration, as well as keeping up with the Street Custom scene. Clearly, such a venture is quite time-consuming, so we will be rolling it out over the next 12 months. Watch this space or follow us on twitter @fenlandclassics

Draft of the new Landing Page

Southern Classic Bike Show Diary

The May Bank Holiday was a busy Motorcycle weekend with the Bike Shed Event, and Pendine. However, EP Enterprises Show and Auto-jumble at Kempton Park was a must do event. On Friday afternoon I caught up with organiser Eric Patterson for a quick chat as Exhibitors, and Stallholders were arriving. The ever youthful Eric was proudly sharing his experiences of Elvington Airfield the week before when he achieved a record breaking 132.494 MPH over a mile on his 1000cc Vincent. Eric has built the event from humble beginnings in a Village Hall, before moving to Ascot and then to its current location at Kempton Park. Eric has retained a very hands on approach, which many feel is what gives the Jumble and two annual shows a unique atmosphere. One knock on effect is that Eric does not have long to chat as he is called away. I also had to make way for other vehicles so with the help of one of the Brooklands Volunteers we unloaded the Museum’s Francis Barnett and set up the stand.

Zoë Cano with her Bonneville

On the Day of the show I just managed to slip in the back door as the main gates were opening. Understandably most people wanted to grab a bargain over in the Jumble, so there was time for a quick chat with Zoë Cano about her trip across America on a Triumph Bonneville. She was soon swamped with customers  keen to grab a signed copy of her book so I moved on to the Marston Sunbeam and London Motorcycle Museum stands to try and grab a few more WW1 vintage bikes for the Brooklands Great War 100 Event on 27 Sept. 

An early visitor learns more about Brooklands Museum 

Once back at the Brooklands Stand, people were keen to know about the Tommy Meeten Record Breaking bike, and one Guy from the Two-stroke Club even brought over a picture of Meeten at Brooklands on what we believe was an earlier bike of the same type.

I met Classic Bike Editor Gary Pinchin, fresh back from the London Bike Shed Event the night before. He was busy gathering bikes for a photo shoot and it was time for me to make my excuses and sneak off to grab some brake cleaner and a few bits from the Jumble.

Brooklands Volunteers study picture provided by the 2-stroke Club

All too soon it was time to pack up. I had missed the lunchtime engine run and the prize giving! If I was covering this for a magazine I would have been sacked. However, I did a lot of networking and had a great day out. If you have never been to a Kempton Show I recommend you pay a visit to the Southern Off Road Show on 5 December 2015. If you can’t wait that long the next Kempton Park Jumbles are on 25 July, 19 Sept and 24 Oct. More details at: egp-enerprises.co.uk

Zoë Cano’s book ‘Bonneville or Bust’ is available on Amazon and details of signings and future events can be found at: http://www.bonnevilleadventure.blogspot.co.uk/ 

If you have a 1910-1920 motorcycle and would like to be part of the 1915 Service Events commemorations please email: warbike@fenlandclassics.co.uk and we will send you details. Bikes manufactured during the above period will be free to register.

Triumph volunteer reports for duty in 1912

The Ethanol Debate

I meet a lot of Classic/Vintage bike owners and read a lot of magazines. Over the last few years there has been a growing an obsession with ethanol. I can’t seem to have a conversation without the “E” word popping into the discussion somewhere along the line. Magazines and Club Newsletters are filled with the latest thoughts on the dreaded ethanol. At least one publication even refuses to print letters, preferring to summarise the continuing deliberations at the end of each year. One thing is for sure; whilst there are some very real issues, there are also a lot of urban myths out there.  

Over the last few weeks I have heard various stories about the level of ethanol in various branded pump fuel and one DIY ethanol removal method doing the rounds. However, so far I have seen one cracked fibre glass tank, several leaking taps and two ruined paint-jobs caused by petrol.

Over the next few months we will be doing a bid of digging to see if we can discover more about the real issues and find out if there are any solutions. For once we don’t want to hear your stories, as we have a mountain of magazines filled with horror stories and solutions to keep us very busy.

Fenland ClassicsTV

Our monthly trawl of the web Including Bike World Series 9 Episode 4 & 5:

Old Timer

MAY Update

<Some images are missing from this update>
The weather has now changed for the better, but it seems that the very best days are reserved for the times when I have to remain inside.

Warbike Project

The Project is progressing well, but I am having to do a lot of work on the pre WW1 period. Lots of parallel developments that have to be taken into account. The images too are looking very good and thanks again to Mortons Media, IOM Avation Museum and Brooklands Museum for those.

Montlhéry

Later this month the Brooklands Motorcycle volunteers will be off to the Vintage Revival. We were on hand to help out in April as the Six chosen bikes were given a final once over. The 1927 Sunbeam was run before gearbox and sump were drained and oil ways checked for obstructions. I had already given the Best and Lloyd pump a strip and full service last year, so no dramas were expected. It is much easier to over oil this particular model as they have direct feed as well as manual feed. It is all too easy to give the auxiliary pump one for luck which inevitably causes the gearbox to leak or a lot of smoke.

The Zenith lubrication system had a repaired crack near the adjuster but this would have been ok for the trip to France. The problem was the Mousetrap Carburettor and Electrics. The Carb was temporarily replaced and the bike ran well. However an intermittent fault caused an occasional loss of spark. It seems that this was picked up on a previous occasion and could not be fixed permanently. The Project Manager decided that it was not worth the risk, particularly as there are more riders than bikes. And so the bike was pulled and replaced with the ever faithful Tommy Meeten Francis Barnett. 

This bike is a distance record holder in period. It had an outing to the Sammy Miller Museum in November 13 and drew a lot of interest at the Southern Classic Off Road Show in Dec 2014. Henry Cole's Mate Sam Lovegrove took time off Filming Channel 4's Shed and Buried to take a look. The bike was given a complete rebuild a couple of years ago and was fitted with a pacemaker in the form of electronic ignition to strengthen the spark This has recently been removed for the sake of authenticity. Needles to say that despite being a small 2 Stroke it runs very well and should be very popular at the Event.

Sam Lovegrove takes time out to discuss the Francis Barnett

The Third bike on the list is an early 1900's Kerry Abingdon. It is a lovely example and after a bit of persuasion runs very well. As with all motor Bicycles of this period it is a bit of a handful, but I am sure it will find its legs round the French Oval.

Fourth is a Velocette which was modified by its previous owner resulting in a cascade of oil after starting. This bike like the Kerry is privately owned and the current owner is confident that it will perform well with a bit of fettling in the pits.

Fifth on the list is a Triumph . Currently on short-term display at the Museum.This bike is a wonderfully prepared machine and featured in a clip from a short film we have been working on the The VMCC.I look forward to some great images of this bike in action.

Last and by no means least is the recreation of Wal Handley's Empire Star.This bike was running at the 2014 Goodwood festival of Speed before going back to the West Country to have some work done on it for the trip to France. It now takes pride of place in the Museum's Motorcycle Display were it was briefly displayed with a Gold Star Telling the story of Handley's Gold Star Win and the development of the iconic BSA motorcycle which bore its name.

The Empire Star on test at Dunsfold Airfield in 2013

As for the 500cc ABC twin. This bike had to be pulled at an early stage because of a bad knocking sound. Having looked at the power unit there is nothing yet which shouts out the problem. It is likely to be a combination of a lot of bearing wear throughout the gearbox/drive. There are some marks on the crankcase which seem to tell a story. However there are some excellent people on the job and they are assisted by a marque specialist via email.

ABC & Brooklands

Sticking with the ABC Story I carried out a bit of Warbike spin-off research on ABC at Brooklands and its subsequent home in Hersham. This will be put into print later, but below are some images of the ABC works in Hersham as it is now, before the site is redeveloped.

<Images to be added>

Fenlandclassics TV

Our Pick of the bunch for May and Series 9 Episode 3 of Bike World.

APRIL Update

Warbike Project

Research is a funny old game. You can spend months, sometimes years searching for information on a particular subject, then up it pops right in front of you. This has happened on a few occasions, but just recently I was looking at some references to the early testing of military motorcycles by the Army. The trail led to HCL Holden, who was the designer of the Brooklands Circuit and a member of the Army's Mechanical Transport Committee. A random Holden reference led me indirectly to the 1914 Red Cross Field Day at Brooklands.

About two years ago I had been looking at the event and had concluded this was likely to be a closed exercise open only to members of the Red Cross, Military and other interested parties. There was one intriguing report that hinted at advertising posters, but this was not directly concerned with my Sidecar Ambulance research so I left it.

This latest gem pointed me to the Welcome Collection and here I found a treasure trove of information including two Red Cross Field Day programmes and a flyer advertising the event to members of the public. Still nothing further on Ambulance Sidecars, but some fascinating insight into the scenarios played out on the day.

It transpires that the Event was in fact a full scale Red Cross exercise run with the military which included a two pronged invasion from the South and East including locating and retrieving casualties from miles beyond the Brooklands track, as was previously thought. So lots more to write up and place in the Brooklands Library.

Historians, unlike archaeologists have the luxury of being able to focus on a single subject without being bogged down by other things they discover. However I often feel obligated to explore the side shoots which is just a long way of explaining that the final stage of editing the Book is a slow process.

I recently spent some time at the Royal Logistics Corps Museum in Surrey. Here I found some excellent documents that tell the early story of military motorcycling. I am now able to tell the real story of how Triumph and Douglas became the most successful of the WW1 manufacturers and how Douglas's bid nearly foundered at the bottom of the Brooklands Test Hill. And, as they say on the TV news; more on that later!

Vintage Revival

The biannual Vintage Revival takes place on 9/10 May 2015. The event is an eclectic mix of old vehicles which can be seen on the oval banked xx circuit. The track is still in very good condition and the Brooklands Museum Railton 4D Experience production team used the French circuit to recreate the feel of the Surrey track in period.

The Brooklands Motorcycle Volunteers are currently preparing bikes for their third outing to the event. This year they plan to take some of the oldest machines which has its challenges. The Zenith is not run very often as its mousetrap carb makes this bike a bit of a handful. However this has been temporarily replaced; new grips and footrest rubbers have been fitted and the pillion carrier removed. The loose bits have been wired up and it ran like it was just out of the factory.

The Zenith gets a test

Less successful was the 1921 ABC 500cc twin. This bike was built in Hersham after the company was forced to move from Brooklands when the Royal Flying Corps took over. The bike has a few issues, but these were rectified over the last few months and the bike was test run on the banked circuit. Unfortunately the engine still had a nasty knocking which was traced to the main shaft bearing. Fine for running round the temporary track at Brooklands, but this Bradshaw designed machine is too precious to be risked on the big French oval. Work has already begun and the engine will be removed during the next few weeks.

Meanwhile the hunt is on for a replacement. The Museum's 1920's Sunbeam was test run a couple of time and is looking good for a place on the trip.

More news on the preparation next month.

The Bike Shed Events 2015

The Bike Shed Motorcycle Club is a group passionate about the street custom scene. This year they have spread their wings across the channel to Paris where they will be holding their first French event at Carreau de Temple on 11/12 April 15 which promises to be an awesome weekend showcasing all that is current in the Cafe racer/custom world. Don't worry if you can’t make it to Paris, because they will be doing it all again at Tobacco Dock in London on 23/24 May 15. Click Here for Tickets and more information on both Events.

Shed Finds: Triumph Model H and Tyler JAP

Triumph Mod H

A few months ago we were privileged to be present when a collection of bikes were discovered in a shed in West London. Among the mountain of spares and various post War bikes was a Model H Triumph and a JAP powered Tyler. Both bikes were in very original condition. Whilst the Tyler was a bit on the poorly side the Model H looked as if it had been placed in a shed the day after it was purchased. Both are due to be auctioned at Stafford later this month and we will have more about these machines in the next update.

Website

We are currently working on a new website, which will include articles, films and information as well as a virtual Museum and Shop. Watch out for more announcements on Twitter @Fenlandclassics over the next few months.

Fenland ClassicsTV

This month we have unearthed some more great shorts:

• The Build By EXIF
• Harley Iron Head from the slightly strange but Brilliant Cafe Racer TV
• Cafe Racer Themes: Music collection by Kevin Sparrow
• And the latest Bike World Episode 9 Episode 2

Old Timer

OCTOBER Update

October is here and still we have been blessed with some remarkable biking weather. We were planning on covering some of those indoor jobs, but we will be leaving that for later.

Warbike Project

 

The finishing line is in sight, but we are still working on making the book an interesting read as well as a reference source. This is a challenge, but only time will tell. The book will cover military motorcycling during the period 1899 to 1919. We recognise that this is an important period for motorcycling as a whole and therefore we have also covered some of the social historical aspects of this period, trying not to go off on too much of a tangent. For example in 1914, volunteers were asked to turn up with their own motorcycles. This was part of a predetermined plan, but means that many makes of bike were at the front, before the relatively small number of manufacturers supplied the war office. British civilian manufactures continued to try and win military contracts and some such as Sunbeam and Ariel supplied bike to Allies, but not to British forces. There lies a further problem; as records are hard to come by we are not yet in a position to say x manufacturer never supplied military bikes, so we will be looking for continuing support to ensure that the records are as accurate as possible over the coming years.

The October 2014 (published September) edition of The Classic Motorcycle carries our summary of the period up to 1915. We have also rediscovered an unknown event that took place at Brooklands in the autumn of 1915. Pictured on page 64 of TCM, The Royal Aircraft Factory meeting was open to factory workers. This together with the two services meetings were the only meetings held during World War One and we are working together with Brooklands Museum to find a fitting way to commemorate these events next year. If you are the owner of a period machine and would like to get involved please write to warbike@fenlandclassics.co.uk

Brooklands Motorcycle Volunteers

A Group From Brazil pop in to see the volunteers

 

As ever a plug for the Volunteer’s excellent Facebook page. Kept up to date on a regular basis by volunteer Tony Baxter this site documents what is the continuing story of the iconic Surrey race circuit. The volunteers work every Thursday and at present are focussed on preparing some of the more challenging projects for events in 2015.

The Custom Scene and the Brooklands Ton-up Day Back Story

Henry Cole & Gary Pinchin Chat to Simon Arrowsmith about his Yamaha SR500



Whilst strictly outside of our period, you can’t help being swept up by the growing trend for “anything goes” street custom bikes. At the hub is the Bike Shed, showcasing what’s hot on the scene. Viewers of itv4’s The Motorcycle Show will know that Henry Cole, whilst passionate about motorcycles in all forms has caught the bug and is now producing “The Gladstone” a street chop. Motorcycle Journalist Gary Pinchin is also at the forefront of promoting the expanding this enthusiasm for individual expression on two wheels. I was privileged to catch up with Cole and Pinchin when their two worlds collided at the Brooklands Ton-up Day. 



An essential break to share some riding experiences

This event in its second year is still finding its feet, but is growing into a celebration of Cafe racers and street customs of all eras. This year there was a Village Green vibe with bikers getting together swapping stories and generally having a chilled time whilst period bands played in the background. Those who wanted also got the chance to parade their bikes up the Brooklands Test hill and there was also a prize for the best bike in each category see September Update   Henry Cole was filming for his show whilst Gary was giving him tips on being a journo for the day. On a break from filming I caught up with Henry and Gary for a chat. Henry plays the fool, but behind the thin veil is a very knowledgeable man who is absolutely passionate about all things motorcycling. Just another bloke on the street, Henry always makes time to share rides and experiences with fellow bikers. After yet another break to discuss the roads in Australia with a group of leather clad cafe racers he explained how important it was to him to mix in with the crowd for a chat. “Love the show, when can we have some new Greatest Motorcycle Rides” shouts another group of fans. “Thanks mate, got unfinished business with the Matisse” Henry talked more with us about the frustration of the Rickman Matisse on the South Africa trip and how he is planning another trip on the classic Rickman desert racer. Henry and Gary both agreed that the street custom scene is continuing to grow with the Bike Shed Event leading the way. Henry also reminds a modest editor Gary that he has done more than most to bring the scene to the attention of the masses.  Time for more work and Gary points Henry in the direction of the Paddock where they spend time with Simon Arrowsmith and his Yamaha SR500 Tracker which was to become the title spread for the article which appeared in September’s CBG. They say a picture says a thousand words and Gary’s silent partner on this trip out was photographer Mykel Nicolaou. A biker himself, Mykel’s work regularly adorns the pages of Classic Bike Guide and on this particular day he was in among the crowds getting shots to accompany Henry’s article.

Henry Cole explains to Gary why he is late!

There is no doubt that the street custom scene has now arrived and whilst it is fair to say that the custom scene has been around and evolving for many years I believe that it is now more accessible than ever before. At its heart it is still about blokes in sheds building great bikes and the donor bikes are now 70’s Jap bikes that can be picked up cheaply (for now!).

Evidence of the fact that this is more than a backstreet fad can be seen by the likes of Triumph getting on board with the Belstaff Special and other limited editions. The Beckhams are also climbing on the two wheeled band wagon with a range of clothing and Now even Clarks shoes have joined the Party. And now Ducati are making me late posting the blog as they launch what appear to be Flat Tracker look-alikes. There is a concern that big business will swoop in and steal the limelight.  However, the custom scene will continue to evolve and the reality is that big business cannot keep up with the man in the shed and the cottage industry that is Street Customs.

Next Time we will look at men in sheds and the Record Breaking obsession.

 

Fenland Classics TV

Our Picks for October.. Enjoy

Stop Press Tax Discs

From today (1 Oct) UK motor vehicles will no longer need to display a tax disc. You will however need to continue to pay the tax unless the vehicle is exempt because of age or category. I am waiting for a reminder this month for an exempt bike, so I am keen to know how this will work on line. I guess it will just be a tick box for use on the road and another for SORN.

 

Old Timer

APRIL 2014 Update

March has been very busy working on the Warbike project with not much time for anything else. However we did find a couple of days for a trip out to Eric Patterson’s Kempton Bike Jumble and the Veleocette Owners Club day at Brooklands Museum at the end of March.

Warbike Project

A lot of time has been spent in the National Archives. It is a chilling thought to realise that many of these young lads signed up as volunteers in 1914 believing that they were off on their bikes for a six month adventure to give the Bosh a bloody nose and would be back for a warm beer and a Sunday Ride out with friends. The tragic truth as we know was very different. Although relatively speaking the Dispatch Riders did have slightly better conditions. Often Billeted away from the front, the protection of rank gave them freedom to move through villages able, to eat and drink whilst their Tommy brothers and even motorcycle machine gunners were stuck in the trenches. 

We are also now setting up a Facebook page for contributions. This will be followed by a website that will act as research resource later in the year. If you have any information or documentation about any aspect of Motorcycles and WW1 please contact us at: Warbike@Fenlandclassics.co.uk or via twitter @fenlandclassics.

 

Kempton Jumble

The weather was good for the 2nd Kempton Jumble of 2014. There were a few French bikes and engines for sale and for a moment we thought we might source some parts for our rescued 1930’2 RhonyX. We did however discover that the tank shape was also used on similar Peugeot’s. We also got to see a 1935 Sunbeam for sale with remanufactured silencer. Sadly the work was done before the current owner acquired the bike, so we will have to keep digging for a replacement for our Sunbeam project.

Velocette Day at Brooklands



Will he make it ?

The following day it was the Velocette Owners Club event at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge. Our friends at the museum were running a museum Velo. There were hundreds of Velocettes of all ages shapes and sizes on site and many took a trip up the famous Test Hill in the afternoon led by racing Legend Ivan Rhodes.

Below are a few pictures from the day:

Just a few of the many that turned out

A nice looking Straight Line Racer

Ivan Rhodes Checks directions with members of the Volunteer Team 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Brooklands

 The April edition of Classic Bike Guide available now, carries an excellent 10 page Brooklands Special providing more information about the history of the site and the bikes. There is also a piece on Volunteer Ian McCaw’s rebuild of a 1927 Douglas which was donated to the museum.

Cotton Jap sporting referbished forks

Ian’s latest project is the rebuild of the Doug Earle Cotton Jap which now has a new tank and repaired forks. Why not get down to Brooklands to see this amazing collection.

The museum is open every day and the Premier Bike Event of the Year is Ton-up Day on 6 July 2014 (Twitter #TonUpDay14) with other bike events on:

• 8 June 2014 – Norton Day

• 20 July 2014 – Cotton Day

Photographer Mykel Nicolaou Grabs a shot of the Douglas for the Brooklands Special

 

Mondo Sahara

Motorcycle Adventurer Austen Vince has taken a group of like-minded mates on a trip into the desert on Honda XR400 cross over bikes. Sounds simple, and yes it is; the point of the exercise was to prove that you can still have the pure adventure experience and don’t need back up trucks and film crews as has been seen in other films in recent years. In fact they had no back up, relying on food and petrol that had been buried across the desert. Their only luxury item was “The IT Guy” whose job it was to navigate mostly off road from the UK across Spain, Morocco and into the Sahara. Well worth a watch and needless to say everything does not go exactly to plan, but they do achieve their goal. Bit of a sudden ending and some great extras (including your very own Mondo Pin Badge in ours).

We give it 9½ out of 10.

Old Timer

MARCH 2014 Update

Don’t want to keep on about the weather, but this really is beyond a joke. However this does mean there have been no excuses to get on with the Warbike Project which is well on track for publication later in the year. Also managed to catch up with Brooklands Motorcycle Volunteers projects and we will be previewing some Brooklands events in May.

Warbike Project

The research has been focusing in a bit more depth on some of the individuals who signed up to become WW1 dispatch riders. Many will already know Corporal Watson, author of Adventures of a dispatch rider, which we have mentioned here before. He paints an interesting picture of the early months of the war from the relatively privileged position of a dispatch rider. Spending time in taverns he never seemed far from another omelette and coffee, something far removed from the bully beef, and long marches the ordinary Tommy had to endure. This period August 1914 to February 1915 was, a very mobile period, and it was May 1915 before the stalemate of trench warfare set in. We have looked at the Army records of a well known racer of the period and some other riders, who seem to confirm the relative privilege of the Dispatch Rider Corporal. We now need to look into a bit more detail at those motorcyclists serving with the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Motor Machine Gun Service (MMGS) set up late in 1914.  If you have any information on these or any other aspects of Military Motorcycles please contact us at Warbike@fenlandclassics.co.uk or on Twitter @fenlandclassics using the #WarBike.

Brooklands Motorcycle Volunteers

We caught up with the Brooklands Team recently and the Earle Cotton Jap restoration is coming on nicely. Gary Pinchin from Classic Bike Guide dropped in to take a look and some other projects, so they should be appearing in the mag soon. Whilst on the subject of Magazines, we would urge you to continue to support your favourite magazine by buying it rather that checking it out on the shelves at W.H Smiths. We may have a digital presence ourselves, but we do subscribe to our favourites, and would hate to see any of them to only be available as eMags.

If you are into Velocettes, then you need to get yourself down to the Musuem on 23 March 2014 for the Centenenary Celebrations. To celebrate the Centenary of Velocette Motorcycles there will be a display of over 100 Velocette bikes in and around the Paddock. There will be action on Test Hill (subject to weather).
Entry for Velocette Motorcycles is through the Campbell Gate, and tickets are £8 per person arriving on a motorbike or arriving with a Velocette.
Contact: Brooklands Museum events@brooklandsmuseum.com

June is the Centenary of the Red Cross Field Day held at Brooklands in 1914 to test the organisation’s readiness for war. Brooklands have nothing organised, but it may be used to promote the Great War Commemorations that are to be held at the Museum on 3 August 2014. This will be well worth a visit as besides WW1 era race starts, and a vehicle cavalcade there will be a flying display of Great War Aircraft.  

As ever please check out all the latest news from the Motorcycle Volunteer Team at their facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brooklands-Museum-Motorcycle-Volunteer-Team/330068980426392

All Our Yesterdays

From July onwards, we will be extending the ‘All Our Yesterdays’ page to provide more information prior to and following the outbreak of WW1. We hope this will be an educational resource that will  help provide an insight into the period from a motorcyclists prospective.  

Bring on the Sunshine

Old Timer

DECEMBER 2013 Update

November was an interesting month. We were supporting the Brooklands Motorcycle Volunteers with a trip to the Sammy Miller Museum and spent some time at the National Archives working on the War Bike Project.

War Bike Project

THE CANADIAN ARMY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR© IWM (Q 53568)

 

The research continues and last month we were looking specifically at the work that went into setting up military motorcycles for use supporting the Army. There was initially some debate about the role of motorcycles and it seems to be the Royal Flying Corps that did the most planning for the use of motorcycles in the field, both as methods of transporting intelligence and possibly transporting pilots and mechanics. The documents we have reviewed relate to the organisation of the Special Reserve just prior to World War One and we are still on target to publish volume one of Warbike in July next year.

 

Brooklands Motorcycle Volunteers

The motorcycle volunteers continue to make history at Brooklands by maintaining the Museums interesting collection of Bikes and promoting the Museum at outreach events such as the VMCC Festival of 1000 Bikes and the forthcoming Southern Classic Off Road Motorcycle Show at Kempton Park on 7 December 2013.



Bowser Pump after Restoration

The volunteers are nearing the end of refurbishing the BP Petrol Pagoda which included a fine restoration of a BP Bowser hand cranked petrol pump seen here after restoration.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

Last month also saw the start of the restoration of the Earle Cotton Jap.

The Brooklands Earle Cotton Jap Pictured before the start of the Restoration



The Earle Cotton Jap Frame

 

This bike was built as a recreation of an outer circuit racer created in later life by Doug Earle who raced at Brooklands in 1938.  The bike has a Cotton Frame powered by a 498cc Jap engine. It is thought that the bike may have been used as a grass track racer before being created in its current form. It remains a controversial bike as it is a later and somewhat eccentric build. However, it helps tell the story of racers like Earle and continues to provide a relatively smooth ride.

The Volunteers also took a visit to The Sammy Miller Museum with Tommy Meeten’s record breaking Francis Barnett for a photo opportunity. Sammy could not resist a ride on the little 2 stroke and was surprised to learn that it averaged 50mph in its record breaking endurance race. The bike benefits from three separate fuel tanks which extended the range well beyond some of the larger and faster bikes that had to stop to take on fuel. Mr Miller also fired up his V4 AJS for a couple of circuits of the courtyard.

Sammy Miller on the Tommy Meeten Brooklands Special



Keep up to date with the volunteer's their Facebook Page.

Caterham Bikes  

Whist we remain committed to keeping old bikes running, regular readers will know that we also have an eye on the future and are always on the look out for sustainable solutions which will help save precious fuel for older bikes. So we did not hesitate in contacting the newly formed Caterham bikes to find out more about their e-bikes launched last month. The Classic e-bike is modelled on a 1920s racing motorcycle and Caterham tell us that it will be ready next year so keep an eye on our twitter feed @fenlandclassics for more information. For more information on the Classic e-bike and other bikes in the range see our news page and Caterhambikes.com.  




The Caterham Classic E-Bike

F1 Fantasy Team

News hot off the press is that the Fenland Classics Fantasy F1 team finished 9,560 places higher than our starting position back in March but sadly still finished in 1,427^th place.

Old Timer