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Transcript of BMCT News Winter 2013
N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B R I T I S H
M O T O R C Y C L E C H A R I T A B L E T R U S T
BMCT News
November 2013 Issue 25
In This Issue:
Message From The Chairman
BMCT AGM
Stafford Show
New Books For Christmas
Museum News
Bonhams Stafford Sale
New Brough Superior
Diary Dates
Mallory Park Under Threat
The BMCT Collection
ISSUE 25 DECEMBER 2013
A nother year draws to
a close, and it‟s been a
busy one for the BMCT.
We have completed the
purchase of Robin
Spalding‟s important
collection of British motor
scooters following its
successful exhibition at
Co ve nt r y T ran sp o r t
Museum, and have secured
the long term future of the
collection by reaching an
agreement with the
Haynes International
Motor Museum to display
the machines in their
newly revamped museum,
which is due to open fully
to the public in the Spring
of 2014. Robin‟s book
about the collection is still
available, incidentally.
Phone him on 01737
555895 if you‟d like to
buy a copy.
The Trust is also close to
announcing affiliation with
another museum with a
link - albeit a little-known
one - to the British
motorcycle industry. And
a very rare West Country
made competition bike is
due to be repatriated for
exhibition in a local
museum by the time you
read these words. More
details in the next
newsletter.
Elsewhere on these pages
you will read of a new co-
operation between the
BMCT and The National
M o t o r M u s e u m a t
Beaulieu. My fellow
trustees and I are proud to
be associated with the
developments to increase
the profile of British
motorcycles in the
country‟s most popular
transport museum.
All of which brings me to
an announcement of the
standardisation of the
terms under which BMCT
members have access to
our affiliated museums.
Our longest standing
associate member is Roger
Taylor of Steyning, who
joined on 3rd November
Museum. The meeting was
chaired by Ian Walden and
attended by ten of the
Trust‟s twenty voting
members. The annual
accounts and report of the
trustees was accepted in a
motion proposed by Trevor
Wellings and seconded by
Nick Jeffery, and the
trustees retiring by rotation,
John Handley and Steve
Bagley, were re-elected
unanimously on a vote
proposed by Trevor
Wellings, seconded by
Nick Jeffery. Williams
Anderson and Dudley were
appointed as auditors for a
further year, and there was
S teve Bagley and his
team were once again kind
enough to host the Annual
General Meeting of the
B r i t i s h M o t o r c y c l e
Charitable Trust on
W e d n e s d a y 1 8 t h
September 2013 at the
C o v e n t r y T r a n s p o r t
M e s s a g e F r o m T h e C h a i r m a n
P a g e 2
B M C T A G M
B M C T N e w s
2 0 0 3 w h e n t h e
subscription was £20, and
that fee has remained the
same ever since. From 1st
January 2014 your
membership card will
allow free museum entry
to the card holder only,
and any other members of
your party will be
expected to pay the
normal admission price.
Please also remember
your card is non-
transferrable and you may
be asked to provide an
alternative form of ID
wh en v i s i t i ng t he
museums. These terms
already apply to Beaulieu,
Bickenhill and Gaydon,
and by adopting them at
all of our other affiliated
museums we hope to
avoid any confusion or
possible embarrassment,
and also keep our
membership subs at 2003
levels.
I hope you will all
continue to enjoy the
benefits of supporting a
unique and worthwhile
charity, and wish you a
very Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year.
a lively debate about
the future direction of
the Charity with some
very const ruc t ive
suggestions coming
from the members.
The full annual report
will be available to read
on our web site soon.
Front cover: Santa’s on his way! BMCT trustee John Kidson blows away the cobwebs on Graham Rhodes’s Manx Grand Prix-winning
Seeley G50 in the Past Masters Parade at the 2013 VMCC Festival of 1,000 Bikes
Seen at Stafford, clockwise, from above left:
(1) An impressive Matchless Metisse
owned by Graham Nock, son of the former
owner of DMW. Graham also showed the
Greeves Silverstone behind. (2) Getting
nearer completion, the V6 dohc BSA. Can‟t
wait to hear it! (3) Graham Bowen‟s lovely
1969 US-spec T120R. (4) Terry Hoyle‟s
Norton Classic was on a stand full of
Suzukis and beat them all to take Best
Rotary. (5) A tidy Rudge in the Autojumble
looking ready to ride away. (6) The bike we
would like to have ridden home - a
Thruxtonised T120 Triumph. (7) A nice
military pair - 16H Norton and M20 BSA on
offer in the jumble at £4,750 apiece. (8) This
350 twin port Sunbeam Model dating from
1935 was on offer at £6,500. (9) In the
Bonhams sale a very shiny Ascot-Pullin
exceeded its pre-sale estimate to reach a
lofty £29,900! (10) On the VMCC stand we
found this extremely rare 1923 PV, a
London make with 350 Bradshaw engine, of
which more in another issue. (11) “Best In
Show” was this Yamaha Liberty trail bike.
Compare this with what British factories
were offering in 1959! (12) Bling‟s
definitely the thing at Stafford in October,
although this RD Yamaha is taking the
autumn colours theme to extremes...
S t a f f o r d C l a s s i c M o t o r c y c l e
M e c h a n i c s S h o w
P a g e 3 I s s u e 2 5
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
10
11
12
7 8 9
J ust in time for
Christmas! The story of
the Triumph Bonneville –
its conception, design and
production, how i t
c o m p a r e d t o t h e
competition (British and
Japanese), and how it was
seen at the time. With
insights into the company
that built it, from the boom
times of the 1960s,
through struggles in the
70s, and eventual closure
in the „80s, plus guidance
on buying a Bonneville
second hand, this is the
fascinating history of a
British icon.
This is a meticulously
detailed history of the
Triumph Bonneville: its
antecedents, how it came
about, and year-by-year
production changes, with
d e t a i l e d t e c h n i c a l
s p e c i f i c a t i o n s a n d
contemporary road test
reports showing how the
Bonneville compared with
its rivals. However, the
history of the bike cannot
be separated from the
turbulent story of the
company that built it.
Triumph went from huge
successes in the 1960s,
when the Bonneville
conquered North America,
to troubled times in the
early 1970s, leading to the
formation of the workers
c o - o p e r a t i v e t h a t
heroically kept the
Bonneville alive for a
further nine years. All this
is covered here, plus
details on how Triumph
spares producer Les Harris
took over production into
t h e l a t e „ 8 0 s .
Unlike other Bonneville
books, this one also tells
you how to buy one of
these iconic bikes second
hand – all the pitfalls, what
to look for, and what they
are really like to live with.
Whichever one you
choose, it should be fast,
“Tales of Triumph
Motorcycles and the
Meriden Factory” by the
late Hughie Hancox.
From the 1950s through
to the 1970s, Hughie
worked at the Triumph
Meriden factory in various
capacities – a fitter, a
member of the famous
Royal Corps of Signals
Motorcycle Display Team,
in the experimental
department (where he
actually worked on the
A nother offering from
Veloce is the follow-up to
prototype Bonneville), and
eventually as one of the
l e g e n d a r y T r i u mp h
P rod uc t io n T es te r s .
This latter role provided
c o u n t l e s s u n i q u e
experiences with some of
the most iconic British
m o t o r c y c l e s e v e r
manufactured. The story
of testing new motorcycles
at Meriden has never
before been published, and
t h i s i n t i m a t e a n d
pragmatic account comes
N e w B o o k R e l e a s e s
P a g e 4 B M C T N e w s
a g i l e a n d go o d
looking ... on a twisty
country road, there‟s
nothing like a Bonnie,
and with information
on clubs, websites,
spares, and the latest
modifications and
upgrades, this book will
help you get the right
o n e f o r y o u .
Featuring comprehen-
sive appendices of
facts, figures, contacts,
technical specifications
(including correct
colours for each year),
engine/frame numbers,
a n d r o a d t e s t
performance figures,
this is the definitive
book of a bike that
truly deserves the term
„practical classic.‟
“ T h e T r i u m p h
Bonneville Bible” is
available now in
hardback at £35 from
good booksellers or
d i r ec t f ro m the
p u b l i s h e r s o n
www.veloce.co.uk
And as a special bonus
Veloce are offering
40% off all books
ordered between now
and 31 December!
straight from a man who
was at the heart of it.
With many previously
unpublished pictures and
service bulletins, plus
helpful advice on
problems that still exist
with the bikes today, this
is a unique book about a
fascinating time and
place in the British
motorcycle industry.
Softback, £19.99 from
Veloce and good
booksellers.
revamped Motorcycle Display
developed with the help of the BMCT
will take over some of the space when
the exhibition closes on 5th January
2014.
The Sammy Miller Museum would
like to remind all BMCT members of
their winter opening hours. From 2nd
December 2013 until 17th February
2014 the museum is closed on
we ekd a ys , b u t t h ey‟ re o p en
Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd
January, good news for those who
have gone stir crazy over Christmas
and need their motorbike fix! If you
haven‟t seen it yet, get along to the
museum and take a look at Sam‟s
magnificent Moto Guzzi V8 racer, the
latest addition to his wonderful
collection.
And don‟t forget the London
Motorcycle Museum is now open on
Mondays as well as Saturdays and
Sundays. Hours are 10.00 am till 4.00
pm.
been involved with the museum
for 20 years, said: "It's fantastic,
absolutely fantastic. "Aircraft
outside over the years slowly
corrode away, they get birds
nests in and the water gets in and
they won't last. They are made of
alloys and they have to be under
cover and kept dry in order to
survive."
The original museum closed in
2000 after it was announced the
main hangar was to be
demolished. Volunteers have
been campaigning and raising
money ever since to get the
collection back on permanent
display. Aviation enthusiasts will
G loucestershire's Jet Age
Museum is to reopen in the Spring,
13 years after it closed.
Work on a new hangar at
Gloucestershire Airport in
Staverton has almost finished. The
museum will house delicate
aircraft, such as a 1925 Gloster
Gamecock, and contain archive
photos and documents - and also a
motorcycle that was made in an
aircraft factory. Initially the
museum will be open to the public
at weekends and on bank holidays
only while the team put the
finishing touches to the building.
Chairman John Lewer, who has
find much to interest them in the
museum, which is dedicated to the
enormous amount of aviation
heritage to be found in the
Gloucester area. The pioneering
work of Sir Frank Whittle, whose
first jet engined aircraft first flew
at a nearby air field, is
commemorated with replica
aircraft and an audio visual
display, while a team of
enthusiasts are fa i th ful ly
recreating the cockpit area of a
WW2 Horsa glider, examples of
which were assembled locally.
It‟s a little known fact that in the
early nineteen twenties the
Gloster Aircraft Company
N e w s F r o m T h e M u s e u m s
N e w M u s e u m N e a r s C o m p l e t i o n
P a g e 5 I s s u e 2 5
Y ou only have a few weeks left to
enjoy the Bond in Motion exhibition at
the National Motor Museum,
Beaulieu. Alongside the most famous
vehicles like the Aston Martin DB5
and the Lotus Esprit S1, there is a host
o f t r e a s u r e s d a t i n g b a c k
to Goldfinger including the iconic
1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III, the
buzzing autogyro from You Only Live
Twice and Octopussy‟s screeching
Acrostar Jet alongside cars, bikes,
trikes, sleds and boats. A much
diversified into motorcycle
production with an innovative
machine called the Unibus.
The Jet Age Museum have
located one of the few
remaining examples of the
marque, and the BMCT is
pleased to announce we are
assisting the museum with
their plans to put the machine
on long term exhibition in the
h a n g a r fo l l o wi n g i t s
restoration. More in a future
issue of BMCT News.
B onhams annual sale
of collectors' motorcycles
at Stafford on Sunday 20th
October made a total of
£1,337,475, with 80 per
cent of the 436 lots sold
and created a brand new
world record.
Top performer among the
competition machines on
offer, the c.1966 Norton
350cc Manx prepared by
legendary tuner Francis
Beart and raced by Joe
Dunphy and Keith Heckles
found a new home for
£61,980, more than
doubling the top estimate
and setting a new world
record for a Manx sold at
auction. Hot on its heels
came the modern Molnar
Norton Manx, prepared
and entered by Fred
Walmsley for the late
World Champion Barry
Sheene, which sold for
£55,200.
But it was a technological
marvel from an earlier era
that produced the sale's
best result when the 250cc
Moto Morini Grand Prix
racer from the 1960s
fetched £83,260.
The Michael Buttinger
collection of Japanese
motorcycles provided one
of the star lots of
Bonhams' autumn Stafford
sale when the limited
edition c.1992 Honda
NR750 superbike - an oval
piston, 32-valve, V4-
engined technological tour
de force, the like of which
has not been seen since,
sold for £57,500. Ben
Walker, head of Bonhams
Motorcycle Department,
comments: "In strictly
performance terms the
Honda NR750 wasn't any
faster than many of its
more mundane contempo-
raries. What really blew
everybody away was the
bike's sex appeal when it
came to style: never before
h a d a p r o d u c t i o n
motorcycle looked more
like a two-wheeled
Ferrari."
Two of Britain's premier
marques, Brough Superior
and Vincent, again put in
their customary strong
showing, the 1950 Vincent
998cc Black Shadow
Series C selling for
£57,500 while the 1940
Brough Superior 990cc
SS80 - the last to leave the
factory with a Works
Record Card - made
Some 70 years after the last bike left
their Nottingham factory, Brough
Superior have announced a new
model. The company has been owned
by Mark Upham since 2008, and so
far he has been producing replicas of
the original machines. Now he has
revealed this modern take on the
theme with an all-new dohc 140bhp
997cc V-twin engine housed in a
modern frame, and featuring an
interesting dual wishbone front fork.
B o n h a m s S t a f f o r d S a l e R e p o r t
P a g e 6
B r o u g h S u p e r i o r i s B a c k
B M C T N e w s
£54,050. 'Barn find'
examples from both
m a r q u e s a g a i n
d e mo n s t r a t e d t h e
healthy demand for such
projects, the 1938
Vincent-HRD 500cc
Meteor (below) owned
by the same enthusiast
for 60 years, selling for
£25,300 while the
seriously distressed and
i n c o m p l e t e 1 9 3 9
Brough Superior SS80
made an above-estimate
£19,550.
NEW MEMBERS We welcome the following new members
and supporters of our cause:
Colin Jackson, Dawlish
Craig Fenton, Frome
Barry Holden, Portsmouth
Sally-Ann Rollinson, Bognor Regis
Martin Rollinson, Bognor Regis
Jacky Howard, Freshwater, IoW
Mike Ricketts, France
Mark Booth, Basingstoke
Edd Crooks, Dudley
Jonathan Markes, Southampton
David Gough, Warwick
Andrew Gough, Warwick
Jean Gilpin, Bognor Regis
Tony Rothin, Kidderminster
Giles Vodicka, Winchester
Clem Peake, Burntwood
Peter Dunfored, Andover
John Dullea, Gloucester
Nicola Dullea, Gloucester
D M Grandy, Southampton
Ron Hockley, Stony Stratford
Glen del Medico, Ashtead
M B Appleford, Crowthorne
P Coombs, Lymington
Stephen Elsom, North Baddesley
Lee Gibson, Doncaster
Paul Martin, Southbourne
Ian Murfitt, Hersham
Here are some of the notable dates to look forward to early in 2014. Get them in your diary now!
4-5 January The Classic Bike Guide Winter Classic, Newark Showground, Newark, Notts.
8-9 February The Bristol Classic Motorcycle Show, Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset
22-23 February Alan Wright‟s Off Road Classic Motorcycle Show, Telford International Centre, Shropshire
22-24 February Race Retro Historic Motorsport Show, National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, Warks.
13 April Sunbeam MCC Pioneer Run, Epsom Downs to Brighton
26-27 April International Classic MotorCycle Show, Stafford Showground, Stafford
8 June VMCC Banbury Run, Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon
activity per year, as per the
agreement. The circuit operators
protested that the extra track days
they had been running were the
only way to make the operation
viable, but a court hearing found
that they were in breach of the
planning regulations and levied a
hefty fine, plus costs. In
September the operators (Mallory
Park Motorsport Ltd) were put
into receivership by the British
Automobile Racing Club and all
racing and testing was stopped. It
now appears that a new company - not
entirely unconnected with the BARC - has
been set up to run race meetings at the
track, which if it‟s true would mean that
the Festival of 1,000 Bikes - the circuit‟s
biggest event - will return next July, as
originally planned. So watch this space….
As this year‟s sun-kissed VMCC
Festival of 1,000 Bikes drew to a
close, rumours were circulating
around the paddock that there was
some doubt that the event would
return next year. Apparently the
circuit has for some time been
operating outside the terms of their
1985 planning approval (with the
knowledge of the local council) but
newcomers to the area were
complaining of the noise and
lobbying for the circuit owners to
abide by the limit of 92 days
M a l l o r y P a r k U n d e r
T h r e a t
D a t e s F o r Y o u r D i a r y
P a g e 7 I s s u e 2 5
O ur trustee Mike
Jackson is pictured
left in his pith helmet
on the Salt Flats at
Bonneville, USA.
Mike was there
assisting the Brough
Superior team in their
efforts to set new
records at the annual
Speed Week.
Riders Alan Catchcart
(750cc) and Eric
Patterson on the
1150cc version set
new AMA records at
101.328 and 124.334
mph respectively.
Photo courtesty of Paul d’Orleans / The Vintagent
Registered Office:
Holly Cottage
Main Street
Bishampton
Pershore
United Kingdom
WR10 2NH
Phone: 01386 462524
Mobile: 07754 880116
E-mail: [email protected]
The Trust was originally formed to
facilitate the building of the National
Motorcycle Museum at Bickenhill, near
Solihull in the West Midlands, but since
1995 the BMCT has been an entirely
separate organisation, a grant - making
Charity dedicated to the promotion of
British motorcycle engineering heritage
through a network of affiliated transport
museums throughout the country.
Membership is open to all, and allows
free entry to all the museums in the
scheme. Our funding comes from
membership fees, bequests, donations
and income from investments. Please
direct any enquiries to the secretary,
Andy Bufton, at the address on the left.
T H E B R I T I S H
M O T O R C Y C L E
C H A R I T A B L E T R U S T
T h e B M C T C o l l e c t i o n
Preserving the past...for the future
WE’RE ON THE WEB! WWW.BMCT.ORG
Trustees: I N Walden OBE (Chairman) P J Wellings, S Bagley, T P V Barnes, J F R Handley, M Jackson, J N Jeffery, J Kidson,
Registered in England No. 01445196
Registered Charity No. 509420
Published by Matchless Management Services, Holly Cottage, Main Street, Bishampton, Pershore WR10 2NH
In that big box is the latest addition to the BMCT Collection. It‟s pictured leaving Philadelphia en route to
New York, from where it is due to be shipped to Felixstowe, and then on to be exhibited at a museum in the
UK city where it was made fifty years ago. All will be revealed in our next issue...
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