Rare Humber forCoventry

We’re pleased to report on the acquisi-tion of a rare flat-twin Humber for exhi-bition in the new Motorcycle Gallery atCoventry Transport Museum.

The 4.5 hp model, of 1921 vintage, isone of only a handful known to still ex-ist, and is in fine condition, having beenrestored some twenty years ago.

The type was Humber’s first offeringafter WWI and has many interesting fea-tures, not least the markedly over squareengine which measures 75 x 68 mm, fora capacity of 600 cc. Drive is all chainthrough a three-speed gearbox, and themachine was claimed by Humber to beone of the quietest on the road. Theyadvertised it as suitable for solo or side-car work, with the benefits of the op-posed cylinder layout being even torque,perfect balance, and a complete absenceof vibration.

A published road test of the time foundthe presence of a kick start to be a boon,making starting the machine remarkablyeasy. The tester commented on the ex-traordinary flexibility of the engine,finding it possible to go from walkingpace to over 60 mph in top gear with noprotest from the engine or transmission.He was less complimentary about thebrakes, though, finding the old fash-

ioned stirrup front brake incapable ofstopping the machine on a steep incline.The rear brake, thankfully, was found tobe well up to the job of stopping the 235lbs of motorcycle. Cost new in 1921was £100.

The actual machine shows only fourowners from new in its log book, one ofwhom was an official of the HumberRegister. Our records show it wasbought by the last owner in 1966, and

sometime in the mid nineteen eightieswas taken by him to Switzerland whenhe went to live there.

The British Motorcycle Charitable Trustis delighted to have been instrumental inreturning this bike to the city in which itwas built, and we are sure that it willmake a fitting addition to the magnifi-cent new display in the re-vamped Cov-entry Transport Museum. Go and see itsoon!

Issue 3, Autumn 2006

The VMCC’s Festival of 1,000 Bikes atMallory Park in July was voted a hugesuccess by spectators and participantsalike.

The weekend’s activities consisted ofgeneral track sessions on Saturday,followed by a series of “Past Masters”parades on Sunday. The sessions werewell over-subscribed as enthusiasts tookthe opportunity to give their machines agallop on the chicane-free circuit for aslittle as £15 a go.

Our chairman, John Kidson, took to thetrack on a selection of Velocettes from

the Ivan Rhodes stable, including theincredible supercharged “Roarer”, thusbecoming only the fifth man ever to haveridden this unique machine.

Adding to the interest were grass trackand trials events, plus a sprintdemonstration on the main straightduring the lunch break. A period “Wallof Death” was also in operation, theintrepid riders using Indian vee-twins.

The BMCT road show was set up in theAvenue of Clubs, and we were pleasedto see so many of our members enjoyingthe weekend, including Founder Life

Member Trevor Wellings. Winner of ourmachine recognition quiz was CorinaNorman-Smith of Coventry, who wins ayear’s free membership of the BMCT.Corina, a member of the VMCC’sCotswold Section, rode a 1910 Humberin the track sessions on Saturday.

N E W S L E T T E R

1921 Humber 4.5 hp

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Contents

Rare Humber forCoventry

Festival of 1,000 Bikes

Grant for Manx Museum

New Affiliates

Haynes Museum

BMCT Roadshow

Coventry Parade

Founders Day

BMCT Admin

Festival of 1,000 Bikes

Kidson canters KTT

The Trust has stepped in with a grant of£20,000 to help prevent important racingmachines being lost to the Isle of manfollowing the closure of Murray’s Mo-torcycle Museum. At its height the mu-seum at the Bungalow on the TT coursewas home to a collection of over 120machines, most of which have nowfound new homes after being widely ad-vertised in the press and on the Internet.

The grant to Manx Heritage has gonetowards the purchase of a 1921 Levis, a1924 ex-Bertie Rowell Sunbeam, andAlbert Moule’s 1937 Manx Norton. Allof the machines have now gone on dis-play at the Manx Museum in Douglas.

Issue 3, September 2006

2Published by Matchless Management ServicesBMCT Newsletter

Andy Bufton, Matchless Management Services,Holly Cottage, Bishampton, Pershore, Worcestershire WR10 2NH

Email: info@bmct.org Mobile: 07754 880116

Grant to Manx Museum

Albert Moule was a travelling marshal at the TTfor many years after the end of his racing career

Progress at HaynesWhile work proceeds on their new Re-source Centre, to be partly funded by agrant from BMCT, the new motorcycledisplay hall at the Haynes International

Motor Museum has been taking shape.To help complete the project, MikePenn, the Curator, is appealing to ourmembers for the loan of any motorcy-cling related photographs, especiallythose showing the motorcycle as trans-port rather than a recreational vehicle.

Street scenes featuring bikes would beparticularly welcome. We need to coverall eras from the Pioneers to the Sixties,so if you can help, please contact AndyBufton at the address below. All photo-graphs will naturally be returned aftercopying.

Coventry ParadeThere was a good turnout for this event,held at Coombe Abbey. Despite the rath-er inclement weather around fifty en-trants were flagged away by the LordMayor of Coventry.In our photo below, a competitor takesthe start on a very nice Rudge.

_________________New Affiliates

Two new museums to add to the list ofthose allowing free access to our mem-bers are:

The Manx Heritage MuseumDouglas, Isle of Man

The London Motorcycle MuseumGreenford, West London

BMCT RoadshowEarly July saw us out and about for thefirst time with our big tent and somebikes to bring the name of the BMCT tothe public attending the festival of 1,000Bikes. This is a new departure for us aswe strive to make ourselves betterknown in the world of motorcycling, andwe hope to attend many more suchevents in the future.

If members have suggestions for anyevents in their area that they considerwould be worthwhile for us to attend,

please let us know about them by con-tacting Andy Bufton at the address at thebottom of the page.

BMCT AdministrationIn order to give a better service to ourmembers and affiliated museums byspeeding up processes and freeing upmore time for the Trustees to attend topolicy matters, the Board have reachedan agreement with Andy Bufton ofMatchless Management Services to han-dle the administration and day to dayrunning of the Trust. Andy is alreadywell known to our members as a formertrustee and membership secretary of theBMCT, and his contact details can befound below.

VMCC Founder’s Day Rally at Stanford HallOnce again this event was blighted by stormy weather, but the conditions failed to deter many VMCC and other club membersfrom putting on a superb show. There was much rare and interesting British machinery on view (see below), all of it prepared toan exceedingly high standard. Stall holders in the autojumble section were doing a brisk trade, no doubt wishing to sell off theirstock before it got too wet! We hope to return next year with our road show.

For all the latestnews and eventsvisit our web site:

www.bmct.org

Royal Ruby SOS OK Supreme

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BMCT display at Mallory Park