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

JANUARY 2014 Update

Cambridge: 1 Jan 2014. On the Water in any Weather!

As you can see from the photo it is rather a wet New Years Day in Cambridge and as I write this introduction I hear that lots of people are arriving at Brooklands Museum to enjoy the annual New Years Day Meet which is growing every year. This is particularly good news following the news that parts of the Museum were flooded on Christmas Day. Thanks to the dedication of the Museum Staff and Volunteers all the exhibits were kept from harms way and work is already well underway to get the worst affected areas ready for today. I gather that the ground floor of the club house may still be closed for a few days but other areas are open.

Southern Classic Off Road Show

December turned out to be quite busy. We were supporting the Brooklands Motorcycle Volunteers at the Southern Classic Off Road Show at Kempton Park. Stars of the show were the Record Breaking Brough Superiors which were run at this years Bonneville speed week by Riders Eric Patterson, Alan Cathcart and Henry Cole.



The Eric Patterson Record Breaking Brough

Also on the Brough Stand was The new Brough Superior SS100 on one of its first outings. We try not to do press lines in this blog, so it was great to have a chat with Brough Superior CEO Mark Upham about his own personal views of the project. This is a man who is passionate about delivering a modern state of the art machine which earns it's place beside the George Brough Marque. In a parallel to developments in the aerospace industry this motorcycle is a European engineered machine and a lot of time and care has been taken to develop what is a beautiful motorcycle.

The New SS100 Photo: Fenland Classic Motorcycles

I have to admit that I was not sure about the bike when I first saw the pictures and Mark explained that despite taking a lot of time which the publicity shots he was not sure that they captured the full essence of the bike. Surrounded by others prior to the show as the bike was placed on its stand it was clear that others were also sharing my view that it looks so much better in the flesh, and therefore my final verdict is that it is worthy of the name and could easily be the sort of machine produced if there had been continuity of production over the last 80 or so years. It is details like the retention of a state of the art girder fork suspension as well as the positioning of the cylinders and radiator that I found were not so evident in the photos.

Mark Upham and the new SS100

You too can get to own and ride one. However, this is not something that you just go down to your local bike shop for. No; you will get the Mclaren style service in keeping with its state of the art engineering heritage. Mark says that the bikes are essentially bespoke and buyers will be measured for their machine, then taken through a range of options including a number of performance packages as well as bike part options. All I will say is the price seems competitive when viewed against other specials and limited editions. And as they say if you have to ask you can't afford it! More Information at http://www.broughsuperiormotorcycles.com


It would be unfair to do a stand by stand report, because I am sure that I would miss something, particularly as my viewing time was limited. It was good to see the Pendine Landspeed Record Club guys and they won a few awards. The Frends of Speedway stand made a big effort and were rewarded with best stand, and we should also mention The London Motorcycle Museum which I need to pay a visit soon.

As for the Brooklands Stand we had a lot of interest and gave away thousands of leaflets and New Years Day promo flyers. As always, the Motorcycle Volunteers and events can be found on their facebook page.

Brooklands Motorcycle Volunteers Christmas Lunch

It was great to attend the Brooklands Motorcycle Volunteers Christmas lunch. Good to see so many people from the world of motorcycling present. This was their end of term bash and turned out to be an end of an era event as Team Leader John Bottomley announced that he would be leaving. You can read a statement from John on the facebook page and we which him all the best in 2014.

John "Brooklands" Bottomley at Brooklands Ton-up Day

Warbike Project

The Warbike Project continues to be the main focus at present and once again I would like to say thanks for the information I have received so far, but we are still on the look out for stories of individuals and details such as maintenance of machines in the field (World War One). Email us with any information warbike@fenlandclassics.co.uk

Plans for 2014

We will continue to support the Brooklands Motorcycle Volunteers and also look forward to expanding the site which will also include a sales area later in 2014.

This year we will be promoting Sense, who provide support for Deafblind people. Find out more about Sense on their website and how you can support Deafblind People By Clicking Here

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

AUGUST 2013 Update

By our standards July was a relatively quite month, but it has given us a chance to catch up on some research, fettling and of course chilling out at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Rhonyx Project

We are continuing work on the little French Rhonyx we rescued. Our contacts in France tell us that the Marque, based in Rhone in the 1920s to 30s relied heavily on word of mouth and were not big advertisers. Consequently the motorcycling press of the day did not write anything much and there is next to nothing out there in print. We have however found some similar examples and are slowly gathering more about the model and the engine which was manufactured by the Rhonyx Company under the brand of Stainless. If you have any further information we would love to hear from you at: info@fenlandclasics.co.uk
 

War Bike Project

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

Whilst researching the All Our Yesterdays piece it occurred to us pretty soon that the motorcycle news stories would begin to come to an end as the 100 year anniversary of World War One was reached. We subsequently decided that it is important to ensure that we document as much information as we can about bikes of both wars and so the War Bike Project was born. For now we will be concentrating on WW1 hoping that the interest in the anniversary will prompt more information from private archives. You will have seen from "All Our Yesterdays" that we have already captured some information about testing and procurement of motorcycles by the war office and research now continues for the remainder of the year with the Imperial War Museum and other sources. We already have some information from Club archives as well as ‘My grandfather rode this bike, do you know what it is?’ requests. This information will begin to create a feel for the motorcycle’s place during this period. If you have and information, documentation or pictures you would like to share with this important project. Please contact warbike@fenlandclassics.co.uk We aim to find an appropriate archive for any original unwanted documents after scanning for better accessibility. This is important history and needs tio be saved.

Goodwood Festival of Speed

© FenlandClassics

My first visit to the event must have been about 15 years ago; I was expecting a static event of a few cars at the side if the Racehorse track. Not only did I get the venue wrong, this was NOT a static event. For anyone who does not know, The Festival of Speed is an event dreamed up by Goodwood’s owner Lord March to bring motorsport back to the estate and to allow visitors to get closer to the action.  The Event has celebrated its 20 birthday this year, and its huge success is due of course to all of the organisers, but it is the format that makes it so popular. At its heart is a hill climb event, but It is the overall format which has made it so popular with entrants and visitors. There is a relaxed atmosphere where superstars of motorsport mix with the crowd and where those who are passionate about the machinery can get up close and chat to the mechanics and owners about the history of the vehicle in question. If that is not enough those same vehicles worth thousands, even millions of pounds will be seen running up the hill either with a timed lap for the competition, or as part of a “parade”. Each year the event has a theme in addition to many anniversary celebrations. This year the theme was “The best of the first 20 years” and one of the most notable celebrations was 50 years of Mclaren. This year it was Porsche that were celebrated on the iconic artwork in front of Goodwood House. There are acres of stands and static exhibitions as well as Stunt bikes, BMX and not to mention a 2 mile Rally Stage. This piece really does not do it justice, but if you love motorsport, check out the website for next years event. If you can’t wait that long The Goodwood Revival is held on 13 to 15 September 2013 at the nearby Circuit. Another fantastic event....Just check out the website.

Click Here for a video of Highlights of the last few years

 Images:


KTM 1290 Super Duke Prototype



Augusta Helicopter Engine powered MTT 420s StreetFighter



Action on the Hill



Sammy Miller's  1972 MV Augusta 750



John Surtees's Norton F Type 1955 Prototype



John Surtees and Sammy Miller share a story in the Padock