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

FEBRUARY 2014Update

January was another wet and windy and not the sort of weather to do any riding. We did however continue to do some work in the warmth of the workshop, but most of the month was spent in the National Archives working on the Warbike project.

Rhony'x Project

This is currently at a standstill although we did have a good look at the parts to understand the exact nature of the work that needs to be done.

The frame is actually good although it will need one new fork end. The mudguards could perhaps be rescued, but they do also look similar to a much later mobilette pattern which could work as a replacement. The wheels are rusted away, but will be used as patterns whilst the handlebars are a bit bent but could be rescued. Looking at the control leavers these will need to be replaced which leaves the engine.

The engine or what is left of it is in good nick, just wish there was more of it in place. We may even have to temporarily substitute it for a small villiers motor as the Stainless engines appear to be quite rare.

Warbike Project

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

A lot of time during February was spent glued to fascinating documents in the National Archives. It is interesting to note that the military plans had been in place since 1907 meaning that by August 1914 every last detail seemed to be in place, even down to where motorcycles and their riders would be placed on trains. The next job will be to look at some individual dispatch rider’s diaries, with a visit to the London Motorcycle Museum in early February to see what military motorcycle they have.

Trondhjemsridtet 2014

On 7-10 June 2014 The Norwegian Veteran Motorcycle Club (NVMC) will be re-running an ambitious rally for vintage motorcycles. The entry list is now closed, but we will be reporting on it as it happens. It the meantime this is how it all began.

 

Typical Roads used for the Rally

In 1916 Seven motorcyclists gathered at the Park Cafe in Olso, Norway. These were the founder members of the Norsk Motorcycle Klub (Norwegen Motorcycle Club) Who went on to arrange road events in a country which at the time consited of muddy cart tracks. Members of the club carried out a run to Krokkleiva which is near Sundvollen in the west of the country. This was at the time an epic run and gained lots of publicity. Petrol rationing precluded more events until 1919 when the club ran what was effectivly a reliability trial from Oslo to Trondhimiem.

The Trondhjemsridtet was the first long distance rally for motorcycles in Norway It started in Oslo and followed narrow gravel roads through valleys and across mountain passes to Trondheim and back over 2 days – a distance of about 1150 kilometers or 715 miles. The rally was run a further six times until 1924.

In 2012 The Norwegian Veteran Motorcycle Club (NVMC) organized a “replica” event to commemorate the Trondhjemsridtet (TheTrondhjem Ride). It was run as a test rally to find out whether a similar event could be run on veteran vintage and classic bikes 88 years later.

The 2012 Rally “Trondhjemsridtet 1919” was a great success. The route followed, where possible, the original narrow roads – many of them with gravel surface, through beautiful Norwegian rural landscape.

2012 there were 32 participants – 16 from Norway and 16 from abroad (England, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Holland) In the 2014 the Rally will aim for ca. 60 participants with bikes built before 1955. Veteran and vintage motorcycles have been given preference although the organizers say that the he event will not be suitable for the oldest single-speed bikes with belt transmission. Although there maybe a few pioneers turning in their graves who think different!

See a Trondhjemsridtet 2012 video below:

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

NOVEMBER 2013 Update

November is here already and although there have been some good riding days in October I fear that many older bikes will be going away for winter in order to preserve them for future years. The Sunbeam is now partly striped down for what is likely to be its first major overhaul since its restoration in the 1980s. as mentioned last month this is aimed mainly at checking that the Frame, Forks and cycle parts are safe. So far there is a broken stand that needs fixing and the stand retention clip on the rear mudguard has snapped. This will need to be a new part if we can't repair it.

With autumn upon us, it is time to check out the bike related reading and viewing for the winter months and if you have not yet read Mondo Enduro, now is the time to get hold of a copy and follow the exploits of a group of friends as they tackle a 40,000 mile round the world trip on Yamaha 350cc enduro bikes (unsupported). The book is compiled by motorcycle legend Ausin Vince, from the log and diaries of fellow riders Clive Greenhough Louis Bloom, Charles Plenty, Mark Friend, Nick Stubley and brother Gerald Vince. The exploits were serialised at the time on MTV and there is also a Video of the same name. Although the Video is fantastic, I think that you also need to read the book to get a feel of the day to day experiences. The route they took was monumental; taking in Europe, Africa, Central Asia, the former Soviet Union and the length of the American Continent. This journey took place in 1995-96, years before McGreggor and Borman past through some of the same places on the Long Way Round and Long Way Down trips.




Dave Greenhough, younger brother of Mondo's Clive was determined to crack the trans siberian highway which beat the mondo Enduro Team. Dave was joined on his round the world trip, cristened Tera Circa by Matt Hill Charles Benner Austin and Gerald Vince. Terra Circa is another epic unsupported journey which is also available on DVD.



It has been a couple of years since I have seen the DVDs so I will be digging them out again soon. You now can buy these and more online direct from us at From our online bookshop 

After first watching the original DVDs I was keen to find out what Austin Vince was doing. Alas, he had returned to teaching and was invisible on the web. That was until I picked up a Tweet from Ross Noble recently who said that he had made a new film. After checking Its seems that Austin has given up the day job to promote low budget DIY adventures. The latest of these adventures is Mondo Sahara and the DVD is now available online.

Commenting on the latest adventure Austin Vince said

 "The aim was, starting in London, to ride off-road, across Spain, Morocco and Western Sahara. With this behind us, we would meet up with Richard Kemplay of Beast of Burden. Whilst we were riding out, he would have been burying food, fuel and water across the deserts of Mauritania. Once we rendezvoused at the Mauritanian border post he would hand us a GPS plot of the supply dumps and off we’d lunge into the Empty Quarter of the Sahara. Englishmen and Americans, following a Garmin speck across the wilderness for 1200 miles. Each night locating and digging up the supplies for the next day. Nobody had done anything like this before. It was only going to be four weeks but would still be a class-A adventure!"

This will definitely will be on our viewing list this autumn (and now available on our website) Click Here for more info and a trailer. 

Greatest Motorcycle Journeys

The Travel Channel are currently showing Henry Cole's Greatest Motorcycle Journeys of the world and watching one last week across Norway reminded the old Timer of his own trips following a similar route. My first trip to Norway on a bike was in the 70s and you could drive all day and hardly see another person. Henry's decent of Trollstigen (The Trolls Pass) was he said spoilt by the traffic. When I did it the road was not even fully tarmaced, but it could get a few coaches. I choose to camp in nearby and run up the zig-zags early in the morning, then over the icy wastelands before returning to the tent for breakfast. A few years later I went up at dusk and was surprised to see thousands of lemmings. They may not in reality jump of cliffs, but they sure do get squashed by the unsuspecting driver or rider.


Also one to catch up on BBC i-Player, if you did not see it is  Full throttle: The Glory Days of British Motorbikes shown on BBC4 at 9pm on October 28. It charts the rise of and celebrates all facets of the British motorcycle industry covering T.E. Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia, IOM TT racing and the Ton-Up Boys of the 1950s

Click http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01k4jm4 to view clips.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03fv7sl to watch. (Expires on 7 Nov 13)


We maybe into pre-war bikes, but we like to keep an eye on the retro scene. October was also the month chosen for the world wide launch of the Royal Enfield Continental GT Starting at the Ace Cafe London over 50 of the new bikes and press drove off across southern England including a stop off at Brooklands Museum, the UKs very own home of motorsport. The latest Enfield incarnation is a recreation of the bike of the same name first launched in 1963. Lets face it the only thing it really has in common with its namesake is the numberplate (63) but that said Indian Enfields do capture the feel of an older bike with the advantage of a reasonable price and mod cons such as electric start and ignition. Looking at the original and the new model face to face against the backdrop of the recently restored BP Petrol Pagoda at Brooklands it does capture the cafe racer look, but will not appeal to the dyed in the wool Ton-up Boy. We can't say much more as we have not yet tried the bike, but for more information or a test drive go to www. Haywards.co.uk or your local Royal Enfield dealer.

OCTOBER 2013 Update

How time flies, and already the evenings are getting cooler and the old bones are wishing the summer could go on forever. However now is the time to start planning for those winter projects in the warm workshop. Maybe you got that last missing part or new project from the many summer autojumbles, but if you were busy enjoying the weather you better get yourself sorted soon.

Warbike Project

 

The response has been excellent, and still more information is required about motorcycles and riders of World War One. We need those personal stories, not only to build up the background but to act as a lasting commemoration of all those brave men and women motorcyclists who were involved in the battlefields Europe and beyond. The reality is that after over 95 years since the armistice we are already too late for first-hand accounts and for many the reminiscences were too painful to recall during their lifetime. There are some interesting accounts to be found, the most well known of these is “The adventures of a Dispatch Rider During the First World War” by Captain W.H.L Watson first published in 1915 and as such is a contemporary account. The cover of the version above shows dispatch riders preparing to re-supply pigeons to the trenches.

Jobs for Autumn

 

Sunbeam Forks & Wireing in need of repair

After what has been quite a good summer it is time to take a look at some of those jobs that keep being put off. They say you should leave well alone, but this 1930s Sunbeam needs a few parts to avoid a potential breakdown. We believe this is an older restoration that was done some 30 years ago and is in good condition. We will start with a new set of cables followed by rewiring to the original pattern and an overhaul of the girder forks. No doubt it will turn into a full rebuild as these simple jobs often do, but we will keep you updated on progress.   

Online Update

Our main job for the autumn is updating the website which will make way for the e-commerce site which will come on line during 2014. Which this space for more information.

SEPTEMBER 2013 Update

August was been a quiet month for us. Plenty of time for enjoying the sunshine and dodging the odd shower.

All our Yesterdays
See the All our Yesterdays page for information about what was happening a hundred years ago in the motorcycling world. This month there is new of the first man to ride ou Skidaw on a motorcycle and a plea to reduce the number of deaths caused by carrying passengers on parcel carriers. 

Rhonyx Project
No progress since the last update so the research continues. The Netley Marsh Autojumble is coming up in September, so it might be worth a trip. Even if there is nothing there, you get a lot of punters from across the channel to chat to. If you have any information on the Rhonyx Marque let us know at info@Fenlandclassics.co.uk.

War Bike Project
Lots of information coming in on WW1 motorcycles. Some wonderful stories and photos. It turns out the London Imperial War Museum has been closed at present, but there is still a lot of work to be done to organise and reference what has been coming in. I am particularly interested at present in the training for riders prior to being sent to France/Belgium. Also stories or information concerning maintenance in the field. We have an interesting story of grass being used to stuff a punctured tyre! If you have any information please contact us at: Warbike@Fenlandclassics.co.uk   

The ABC Flat Twin

Since there is not much going on I thought we could fill the space with some interesting facts about one of my (Many) favourite bikes:



An ABC at a Recent Bonhams Auction

The All British Engine Company (ABC) was founded at Brooklands in 1910 and had a close association with aircraft manufacturer Sopwith and moved to Hersham, Walton-on-Thames in 1914.

When aircraft sales slumped post WWI this bike was designed by Granville Bradshaw and built at the Sopwith aircraft factory in Kingston-on-Thames from 1918.

Whilst this was perhaps a business disaster, we have to view it in the context of the engineering pioneers. This motorcycle was in my view way ahead of its time. Its design was largely experimental and quite complex. This complexity ultimately led to its eventual downfall and spelt the end for the company. It was unreliable and too many unsatisfied customers.

Unusually, even for this period it had no means of mechanical starting. The rider had to engage the gear and push-start. However, it featured leaf springs at front and rear. It also had a Duplex (Cradle) frame and the flat twin engine later adopted by BMW and challenged by the designer. Later models also featured speedometers and electric lights. The front and rear leaf springs can be seen in the photos below.



Rear Leaf suspension

 

Front Leaf Suspension

The motorcycle was produced in England until 1923 and some were made under licence by Gnome and Rhone in Belgium until 1925.

All our yesterdays

After a slow start we now know that there was loads going on in 1913. Catch up with this month’s selection including the first motorcycle to be ridden up Skidaw and a patent for an “automatic” motorcycle gearing.

Old Timer