VMCC Weymouth Week 2011



Pub at Cerne Abbas chocka with old bikes

Always the big local run of the summer the Weymouth Run was expanded several years back to an entire week of runs. Sunday's Weymouth run is still the key event and the one with the most riders - not everyone is retired and can attend for the whole week! Several made the trek from overseas though and there were small Dutch and German contingents.

The weather for the whole week was pretty much ideal and turnout for each of the runs was good with seemingly few breakdowns. Myself I managed one run and two coffee stops. Most of the machines entered were more recent, perhaps reflecting that a run or day for a week is a lot to expect from a vintage bike.

Highlights of the week were seeing Cerne Abbas full of bikes for the lunch stop on Sunday, excellent fish and chips in Swanage and getting in the miles on Dorset country roads in proper English summer weather.

Here's a selection of pics of bikes that caught my eye over the week...


Vintage JAP engined Ardie.

This Ardie came over from Germany. German built but heavily British influenced with its big JAP side-valve engine it is a really high quality machine. The attention to detail on the build really puts many British bikes of the era to shame with the fine quality even going down to levers, switches and even a very neat map and instrument light!








Sunbeam combination fitted with a JAP 750cc sv motor.

A really nicely made Sunbeam special. Fitted by the builder with a JAP 750cc side valve twin motor it passed the 'specials test' of looking like something that could have been factory produced. In fact it seems strange that Sunbeam dropped twins from their catalogue in the early vintage era. It would have been easy enough to offer one as their 600cc side valve single cycle parts were ideal to accept a twin.







James 500cc ohv v twin.

Late vintage ohv 500cc James v twin. Fitted with James' own engine it is a beautifully high quality machine; light, nimble and designed for solo riding as against the majority of the Brit v twin buses of the era. I followed it as it was ridden two-up on Sunday's run, it kept a good pace and sounded superb. A bit of smoke from one pot but we can forgive it that!








AWO Simson 250cc model 425 single.

East German Simson over from united Germany. Not to everyone's tast styling wise it none-the-less appealed to me. With obvious design cues from BMW singles it is however quite apart from them. In fact I would go as far as to say the lines are far better than an R25 of the same period...

This is the 425 Sport model. The sport denotes swinging arm rather than plunger suspension as on the touring model.






Moto Rumi Tipo Sport.

A beautifully turned out Moto Rumi Tipo Sport. A wonderfully eccentric yet functional design - I've always wanted one. Seems hard though to justify the high prices they fetch. Perhaps at six foot three I'm a bit too large a pilot as well as holding different spending priorities.









Excellent Matchless G80 single with bathtub sidecar!

This is what it is all about! A proper old bike in the condition they were back in day! Matchless G80, cowhorn handlebars, sidecar with plywood board to which is bolted an old tin bath. All that is missing is a pair of greasers wearing stormtrooper helmets and studded brando jackets....










BSA M21 with launch type sidecar.

Tidy late thirties BSA M21 fitted as it should be with a sidecar. In this case a launch type of the deisgn favoured through the late twenties and thirties.

Vintage Revival Montlhery part II

Cycle race 'stayer' in action.

One of the several cycle pacers in the 'stayer' parade. I'd hoped that they might be actually pacing period track bicycles. If I'd have had a suitable treader there I might have volunteered though it could well have exposed a fitness deficit. Plus I suspect that there is quite a degree of skill required from both the stayer pilot in keeping a nice steady pace and the cyclist keeping close enough to benefit with making catastrophic contact. Look at the huge wooden belt pulley.

Sima Violet flat twin two stroke racer - loud!

Quite possibly the loudest vehicle I have ever come across. Sima Violet monoposto racer. A flat twin 500cc two stroke engine running through short megaphones. More noise than speed perhaps but it kept a fair pace with later sports Morgans with an engine only half the size.

Super Kim Agentinian land speed record contender.

'Super Kim' Argentinian record racer. Built by a producer of motorcycling accessories from the starting point of a Zenith, it sadly never quite broke any land speed records but was beautifully made. 1700cc and supercharged. As a nice touch relatives of the builder were at the event but alas the bike was not fired up.

Bugattis hit the accursed chicane.

 A pair of Bugattis on the dreaded Montlhery chicane; seemingly put in the track to stop folks getting high up on the banking. It was one disappointment of the event, given that there were so many authentic speed bowl racing machines present, that entrants weren't able to give full gas and lap on the full banked outer circuit. The section of banking used nowadays is relatively small and getting up near the top is a challenge.

'Piglet' GN / Ford special.

Frazer Nash / GN / Ford special 'piglet' replete with taxidermy weasel gave a good showing of itself around the circuit.

Maserati monoposto dash.

Dashboard view of a Maserati monoposto.

Sandford three wheeler on the grid.

French built Sandford three-wheeler on the starting grid. With a 1100cc Ruby engine it is quite a potent machine. In its day, more rapid and refined than a Morgan but doesn't hold up against the power to weight of a developed racing Morgan.

Strange 'Ganardiz' rotary engined beast.

I know nothing about this wonky French one off rotary aero engined machine other than it says 'Ganardiz' on the tank, has a Sturmery gearbox, looks a bit ungainly and runs. It was started up by the owners but not ridden, the exhaust note was suprisingly subdued given the stub exhausts. That carb has its work cut out though supplying five cylinders!

Lovely Darmont three wheeler.

Look like a Morgan but isn't. French built, Blackburn engined, Darmont.

Koehler Escoffier race monster.

Awesome French built Kohler Escoffier race bike. 1000cc ohc v-twin,

Nougier Magnat Debon 125cc record breaker.

Nougier Magnet Debon record breaker. A genuine Montlhery bike, back in 1938 this machine took four speed records. 125cc, double overhead cam and four speed box. It took the 100 kilometers record at 114.450 km/h as well as the one hour, fifty kilometers and fifty miles records.

'61 Norton Dominator 99ss homeward bound.

My '61 Norton 99ss loaded up and on its way home. A 700 odd mile round trip. Excellent event, thoroughly recommended and assuming it is held next year I hope to be back and perhaps on the track....

Vintage Revival Montlhery part I

The days of the Coupes Moto Legendes event at Montlhery hold happy memories. Manic frenchmen hyped up on the atmosphere and red wine hooning their vintage machinery around, campfires harvested from the circuit's woodland and of course the sight and sound of hundreds of bikes circulating the banked track. Sadly though those days are long gone and it's been around a decade since the event moved to the more sanitised surroundings of Dijon-Prennois.

Brooklands Zenith out on the circuit

So when we got wind of the Vintage Revival event attendance seemed very necessary. A joint car and bike bash, the promotional literature made clear that it would be a different kettle of fish from Moto Legendes but it still held great promise. The very un-french prohibition on picnics, booze and camping appeared to be a stipulation by the circuit's owners wary of memories of alcohol fuelled lunacy, pillage of their woodland and the frenchman's perception that any mildly secluded bit of nature is fair game as a toilet (though given past time's facilities at Montlhery any option was preferable to the official one). As it turned out, though it would have been good to camp on site, the lack of picnics and alcohol didn't put any damper on affairs.

Ferry across the Seine

Our gang of four met up at Portsmouth Ferry Terminal for the crossing to Le Havre. Dan on his tweaked 625cc Bullet, Matt on his Velo, Rob astride a Ural and myself with Norton Dominator. We were in good company with, amongst many others, several brace of Morgan trikes, an Edwardian aero-engined four-wheeled special and a large group of Frazer Nash BMWs on their way down to Sicily.

Normandy is my usual entry point into France so I was sceptical that we would find a scenic route down to Montlhery from Le Havre but it turned out to be a corker, following the Seine down for a good few miles, cutting across around Paris and then traversing the forests to the capital's South. Rob's Ural dictated a cruising speed of around 50mph, an ideal speed to enjoy the countryside. The '68 Ural had been the subject of considerable scoffing until we saw it in action and despite leaving a light smoky trail in its wake its performance was a pleasant surprise to all until it started to tighten up with about 50 miles to go. We stopped to find a motor that was volcanically hot. One side was considerably hotter than the other. Dan, also Ural afflicted, suggested it was running too weak on one side. Raising the carb needle didn't really seem to improve things. We all sat down and had a picnic waiting for the bike to cool down. In grief at his bike's woeful showing Rob slashed his hand with a knife whilst pretending to cut a baguette.

Brooklands New Hudson sidevalve

 On returning to the Ural we made the startling discovery that without oil an engine will seize. Rob's performance modification of an extra large sump giving nearly one more litre of oil had apparently increased the bike's non-seize range by some 20 or so miles. However in testament to the slack tolerances of Soviet engineering the Ural was filled up with fresh oil and ran fine. At the end of the day this performance won Rob the innaugural presentation of the 'Pink Spanner Award for Least Meritous Performance of the Day'. A new and self-explanatory addition to our two wheeled touring adventures.

With a new, lower, more sick Ural friendly, cruising speed we arrived at the munipal campsite at Dourdan in good time to put up tents and wander in to town for a meal.



Burt LeVack designed dohc 250 JAP New Imperial

Day broke and action in the camp was slow. Sausages were cooked, camp stoves misbehaved and Matt took ages in the shower block with his daily beauty regime. Engines were kicked into life and off we went. The Dourdan camp site is the closest municipal one to the circuit but still about half an hour away. We had expected other vintage enthusiasts to be staying there but more than likely they had found accommodation of greater luxury. Halfway there the solitary bungee attaching Matt's circuit clothing to the Velo's carrier gave way and ejected a shower of shoes and cut off jeans across the highway. A strong contender for the Pink Spanner had been identified!

 It's always a great feeling arriving at Montlhery. From the outside you can't make out much of what is within. You show your ticket, ride through the tunnel under the banking revving with bravado to hear the note reverberate and then emerge the other side to enter a vintage petrol head's wonderland.

Looks right but wasn't right.
ohc Sunbeam of disappointing performance and
fantastic looks.

 And the machinery on show was indeed wonderful. The event was certainly more car orientated than bike and not huge in size but it was all about quality over quantity. There was a strong UK contingent from the Vintage Sports Car Club and the Brooklands museum had brought along a selection of motorcycles and the awesome Napier Railton. Sadly the Railton didn't seem to get above a tickover out on the circuit and it was a pity to see the Wickstead blown Triumph replica misbehave in the holding area, overheat and tighten up. Generally though machines were being driven with some verve out on the track and it was great to see so many Bugattis and other exotica being thrashed.

Part two to follow......



Sammy Miller Autojumble

Beautiful unrestored Norton featherbed International

A sunny day on a May Bank Holiday is always a fine reason to ride over to Sammy's autojumble. I'm not alone in the sentiment as there's always a great line up of old bikes in the car park. The jumble is organised on the fine principle of being free for vendors, pay a deposit, turn up and you get it back, don't turn up and lose it.

There's a healthy number of stalls and one or two interesting bits and pieces on sale but for me the pleasure is in riding over, scuffing around stalls and having a natter with aquaintances old and new. A couple of machines for sale caught the eye, a lovely original trials D1 BSA Bantam for a very reasonable £860 and on Sammy's stall an unusual Parilla Slughi. The little Parilla was missing its side panels though was otherwise complete and would make someone an interesting if probably disproportinately expensive project. The lines of the bike are late fifties futuristic and fairly easy on the eye though it is hard to see how they sold any in the UK market back in the day. I guess the answer is that they didn't shift many making it the rare oddity it is today. Parillas seem to attract a strong following though this is certainly down to their beautiful high cam singles rather than the Dan Dare strange Slughi.

Parilla Slughi project anyone?

For those enthused by the Slughi picture (!!) here're some useful Parilla links:

North American Parilla enthusiasts page

Italian Parilla enthusiasts page

UK Parilla enthusiasts page

 As an interesting compare and contrast in the car park was a lovingly restored Francis Barnett Fulmar. Seems like the boys at FB had a look at the Slughi and wanted in on the action.

 

There's something familiar about it.......

Other assorted lovelies parked up were a pair of used and parrently unrestored Norton Internationals, a Featherbed as above and a Garden Gate as below. On the theme of unrestored and original a Honda CB72 rolled in later in very authentic condition. Nice to see as early Japanese bikes seem to, all too often, get given the catalogue perfect shinier than thou going over.

Honda CB72 as it should be

Garden Gate Norton International

Hereford Vintage Auctions

The ex Hamish Moffatt Scott

The Hereford Vintage Auctions sales are thrice yearly gentlemanly affairs held in the atmospheric, if rather cramped, surroundings of How Caple Court, in, you've guessed it, Herefordshire.

The speciality of the sales is pre-war bits and pieces and complete vehicles. The bias of the sales is very much to four wheels but I make the trip up when I can for the atmosphere, surroundings and the chance of picking up something interesting.

Nicely modified 500cc Red Hunter

The big excitement for me in the Spring sale was the ex Hamish Moffatt Scott 2 speeder. Hamish Moffatt was a larger than life character in the vintage sportscar and aviation world. His Telegraph obituary notes his 1952 drive to Cape Town in a 1923 Lagonda 12hp taking just six weeks to drive down the West Coast of Africa and escapades in a Tiger Moth which resulted in stern words and fines from the Civil Aviation Authority. The Scott had been in his hands for several decades and on the face of it was in very tidy unrestored condition. A closer examination revealed a few updates and re-finished bits and pieces here and there but overall it was a fine 90 odd year old motorcycle. 



Silver Sunbeam cycle

Other two wheeled items of interest were a 1929 Silver Sunbeam sporting bicycle and a very original BSA folding parabike sadly fitted with the wrong back wheel. Motorcycle-wise there was a nice patinated 1927 Triumph Model N, the last year of the flat tank Triumphs, a pre-war Ariel Red Hunter 500 that had had a fortune spent on it only to be left unused and unregistered and an unusual Villiers-engined Monet Goyon autocycle that needed a lot of love and attention...

LSD trike

In with the car lots were a few treasures; the wonderful LSD tricycle fitted with a JAP v-twin engine needing light attention and the truly bizarre Carden cyclecar. The Carden was a two stroke parallel twin of slightly sub one litre capacity. The barrels are entirely separate from each other and sit facing forwards either side of the drive in the centre of the rear axle (no differential). It is a design which with hindsight it is rather difficult to see the logic behind, particularly if you are unfortunate enough to occupy one of the rear seats which are both located directly above an air cooled cylinder. The Carden was a cousin of the equally wonky Tamplin cyclecar.

wonderful mascot on the LSD

As seems to be the case at all vintage vehicle auctions at the moment bidding was keen from the off. The Red Devil Motors equipe had a lucky bidding session with the Sunbeam bicycle and on paying up discovered that it came with a second, still to be identified, but probably Sunbeam, twenties sports machine for spares. The Scott had been attracting strong interest all day and with the Triumph coming up first and a space in the stable for a useable flat tank a late bid brought the hammer down on our side. Having given up hope on the Scott I didn't really want to see it go within my meagre budget. I wasn't disappointed as there were already bids left that were some four thousand over estimate and it began at around ten thousand. All the action was on the telephone and folks on the bidding floor did little but remain slack jawed as it crept up in price to be hammered down at £11,300. The Red Hunter also brought in strong money though remained reasonable against the undoubted cost of getting it into such an immaculate condition. The humble Monet Goyon however was in the reach of most pockets at £90!

1927 Triumph Model N finds a new home!

The LSD three wheeler failed to sell at £7,600 which didn't seem to bad a price for it... granted the performance would be woeful but try finding a JAP twin engined bike for less than five figures. Interest in the Carden was also fair but though it hit its lower estimate it failed to sell. A bit cheeky but probably reflecting the fact that HVA charge only a reasonable £50 to enter a vehicle into the sale and don't tap sellers for commision on top. At that price I guess some owners just think it worth a punt to see if they can get the big money!

So a couple of bicycles and a flat tank Triumph made the journey home to Dorset. The Triumph has turned out to be a cracker. After the pain of coughing up for it I walked outside, tickled the carb, set the levers and with a gentle kick it chuffed into life. Let's just see how long it takes me to break it now....

Royal Enfield Model G and BSA Bantam trials

Dan on the Enfield trials iron

There's a place not far from home where you can post a tenner into an honesty box and play for as long as your heart desires with your trials bike. It's really just a field with a hump and a few trees in it. Probably not too challenging for the more experienced GasGas pilot but in places it is far beyond my abilities on my rigid framed Royal Enfield clunker.

A sunny day beckoned and Dan heroically rode his '51 BSA Bantam trials over whilst I put the unregistered Enfield into the back of the van and travelled the lazy way.

I bought the Enfield a few years back. An unexpected  ebay buy; I was travelling around Africa on another old Enfield and was sitting in an internet cafe in Burkina Faso killing time waiting for my visa to Mali to be processed. I saw a scruffy girder forked Enfield trials bike at what I thought was a steal. I threw in a bid I knew wouldn't win and when I looked again four days later I saw that I had bought another bike.

It was a good month before I was home and able to pick up. The attraction of the bike had been the rocking horse poo rare all alloy pre-war top end. The guy who had built it in the eighties lived in Redditch and had built it up with plenty of know how. There was no doubt it had been built with form over function displaying some agricultural cut and shut welding on the frame and a very uniquely angular exhaust system. But riding it proved that Terry the builder had known what he was doing. Indeed when he had campaigned it in competition it had been a very successful bike in the rigid / girder class.

Kicking the G2 trials into life

Shortly after buying I entered the trial at the VMCC Festival of 1000 Bikes. I had a hoot and came second in class (there were only two of us)  despite not even finishing the trial. I found riding with the girders tricky to say the least, I suspected the geometry of the pivot points was wrong (though it obviously hadn't impeded the previous owner), so decided to fit a pair of tele forks from an Indian Enfield. The teles actually do improve looks substantially too and whilst I was making cosmetic improvements I fitted a more suitable petrol tank from a pre-war Model C and a nice upswept exhaust system.

The Enfield's inlet tract has been lengthened, a smaller concentric carb fitted and the exhaust port is significantly narrowed. The tune is obviously just right as the pulling power of the motor is a revelation. It will pick up uphill from a tick over and has characteristics that flatter even my poor off road abilities. The frame is shortened and raised and the geomoetry seems as good as it will get for a rigid off roader. The alloy barrel and head save a good few pounds but having to pick up the beast after dropping it still reminds that it is a fair old sized lump of metal.

1951 BSA Bantam trials

Swapping over to Dan's original trials Bantam is to experience motorcycling chalk and cheese. The bike is all correct factory spec with the exception of the lack of lights and lowered gearing. It's got a Rex Caunt cdi ignition so starting is easy and the immediate impression is of light weight and diminutive size. Standing at six foot three and having just stepped off the Enfield the Bantam feels toy-like. The riding position is set up for Dan's preferences and the bars are a little low for me but it's cheeky nature adds up to a fun ride. Whereas the Enfield will plod along the smaller engined two stroke needs to be pointed at an obstacle and given some revs and commitment.

The Bantam's decompressor needs to be used descending steep slopes and lets out an amusing whiny whiffling noise. The original forks are decidedly choppy but the handling is fine. For modern style vintage trials the Enfield is evidently the more capable bike but it's easy to see that the Bantam is the proto scurrying mammal to the Enfields diplodocus and a few years development on two strokes would see the tables dramatically turned.

The Pioneer Run 2011

Ariel at start line

The mighty Wall Autowheel had its entry secured into the 2011 London to Brighton many months ago and last Sunday the big day came. Preparations had been thorough and exacting and consisted of a two mile ride to the local MOT station.

An early morning rise and the long drive up to Epsom downs beckoned. This was my second Pioneer Run, the Wall and I had completed the 2010 event and with mixed emotions. Being my first Run I hadn't really expected to be piloting a machine with a twenty miles per hour top speed along dual carriageways on the fringes of London and under the Gatwick runway. But halfway along suddenly all was beautiful Sussex countryside, minor roads and cheerful crowds lining the roads. Great, until we approached Brighton, took a dual carrigaeway over the downs and then had to negotiate busy city traffic. Added to it all the performance of the Wall was erratic as usual with occassional periods of splendid tune and bouts of miserable overheating.

Beautiful De Dion trike at tea stop

Knowing what to expect this time I snuck in a little before my allotted time at the start line, well, you've got to take every chance you have when piloting such a feeble steed. I sailed away and cruised merrily along as folks on more powerful contraptions gently wafted by.

Somehow this time even the dual carriageway was far more enjoyable. Perhaps knowing what to expect helped and staved off disappointment. The tea stop was marvellous and the bike was threatening enough power to make a rice pudding skin worry. Suitably refreshed before setting off it seemed prudent to check oil. Remarkably the total loss system had by this point used absolutely no oil at all. Luckily I had put some two stroke oil in the petrol and clearances in the well used motor are such that seizure is quite unlikely. Last year I had consumed a tankful by this point. Thinking that this was down to using too thin 30 grade oil I had swapped to 50 this year. Obviously it was proving too gloopy to drop through the oil regulator at all.

oops!

As I approached Brighton I was feeling pretty chuffed with myself. Sure a little overheating and consequent power loss was evident, when you are dealing in fractions of horsepower a little difference counts for a lot, but progress had been good and the end was in sight. But coming in to the city outskirts I noticed the brackets supporting the Wall to the bicycle had fractured. A couple of miles to go and with smooth roads I made the decision to press gently on. A mistake. In sight of the Pavilion the Wall decided to break from its partner bicycle and make its own way in life.

Disaster! The motor unit clanked down the road behind the bicycle dragged on by the bowden decompressor and throttle cables. I came to a rapid halt in the middle of a busy junction and made my way to the pavement, cursing the blank-faced car drivers too gormless to stop and let me across.


1913 TT Douglas at finishing line. Wonderful patina

So close to the end and on busy roads there was little to do but detach the cables, pick the Wall up, and cycle on. I placed the unit on top of the handlebars and, though a bit hairy going through city traffic so top heavily laden, we pedalled across the finishing line to a mini cheer.

Thankfully the Wall sustained only minor flesh wounds and will soon be re-attached to the Raleigh Cross-Frame, perhaps to return next year.....