Issue 46
June 2020
NEWSLETTER OF THE BRITISH MOTORCYCLE CHARITABLE TRUST
P A G E
B M C T
2
N E W S
FROM THE CHAIR.... It’s now many weeks since the world became a different place, and I hope that all our members are safe and enjoying decent health in these difficult times. As you’ll all be aware museums have been closed since early March, but as I write this there are signs that some may be able to reopen on a limited basis from July. Look out for updates on our website and Facebook page. There being not much to report on the museums front, we’re indebted to our trustees Nick Jeffery and John Kidson for their fascinating contributions to this newsletter. Andy, our Editor, is always on the lookout for similar material to fill these pages, so if you have any tales of interesting rides or restorations, or photos of your prized British motorcycle, please don’t hesitate to contact Andy at the address on page 8. Thank you all for your support for our cause, and stay safe.
TA S S I E T O U R 2 0 2 0
I
am the luckiest person in the world (writes trustee Nick Jeffery) having safely returned at the end of March from a wonderful event - the 'Tassie Tour 2020', a complete 10-day long circumnavigation of Tasmania for motorcycles made before 1970. Unless you've been to Tasmania or had personal feedback from someone who's sampled its motorcycling delights, let Wikipedia remind you that it is 'an isolated island state off Australia's south coast known for its vast, rugged wilderness areas'. Amplifying this, with a population of some half-a-million in an area slightly smaller than Ireland, beautifully maintained roads, little traffic, and a generally relaxed driving style, it was obvious that I was going to have a fantastic time on the tour.
I was even more lucky in that I was loaned a machine to ride, nothing less than an originally Oxford-registered 1930 680 Brough Superior (above) that super-generous Tassie-based owner Peter Bender bought at a Bonhams auction a couple of years ago. Amazingly I am still in contact with the son of the owner who took the bike on a Continental tour in 1931! The bike is seriously patinated and Peter intends to resist all attempts to restore it but it had not been run in anger for a few years so he was anticipating I might experience some 'issues' with it. Another generous loan by Peter was to Swiss Brough Superior Club member Daniel Kessler and his daughter Laura. This was the Brough Superior SS80 outfit equipped with the famous 'petrol tube' sidecar (shown in the front cover picture in front of the West Coast Wilderness Railway terminal in Queenstown, Western Tasmania). Anyway, back to the tour, it started at Ulverstone on the northern coast of Tasmania and proceeded in a clockwise direction with each day's riding being up to 275 km, the route (left) being viewable here:
http://tassietour.info/index.xhtml. One hundred, almost exclusively British, machines ranging from 1926 to 1970 took part with BSA being the most popular marque but Vincent a close second - the Aussies do love their Vincents and there were some beautiful examples. The roads themselves were BRILLIANT and the opening description above did not disappoint as the countryside in Tassie is very varied including extensive wooded areas, rain forest and panoramic vistas over wide plains to distant hills. And, as you ride on the left, us Imperialists were very much put at ease, that ease being reinforced by such familiar names as Melton Mowbray, Bridgewater and Brighton that we passed through on the ride-up from Hobart where we were staying to the start in Ulverstone. All riding was confined to daylight hours as one thing you do not do in Tasmania is ride a bike at night because of the quantity and size of roadkill - hitting a nocturnal wandering wallaby will do you no good at all! Day 1 of the tour itself passed with only one minor mishap with one of the 680's magneto pick-ups, relatively easily fixed, but on Day 2 the bike lost power going up a long hill and attempts to restart it after checking the obvious things were not successful. Although the engine had not shown immense compression up to then, the bike had been running well but now there seemed to be very little compression. So into the back-up trailer with the 680 and I was issued with a replacement bike - a Matchless G12 650. Great that I did not have to travel in the back-up vehicle but riding this reminded me why I never got on too well with conventional British parallel twins - I find you're always feeling for another gear. Anyway, Peter said not to worry as he would sort me out a Vincent(!) when we passed through Hobart again at the half-way stage when a couple of days stop there was planned. On arriving in Hobart at the end of Day 4 we stripped the 680 engine to find nothing remarkable in the cylinder bore area (although it clearly had been seized before - but not by me!) with rings free and well lubricated. However attempting to take the front head exhaust valve out resulted in the disconcerting discovery shown in the attached picture (below right) - the valve seat insert fitted previously had come loose and I was thrice lucky in that it had not dropped out altogether and potentially wrecked the engine. As this could not be sorted out in the time available, I then had the pleasure for the rest of the tour riding an example of that other wonderful British vee-twin marque - a Vincent Series C Black Shadow (with electric start!) Continuing clockwise, on Day 10 and many adventures later, we arrived back at Ulverstone, the western part of Tassie featuring rain forest, 'faded glory' old mining towns and spectacular scenery. Then back southwards to Hobart and the madness descended with Covid-19 concerns and a frantic escape from the island to avoid 'lockdown', just getting back through Singapore before they closed the airport to transit passengers! What a wonderful trip and I am so grateful to the kindness and generosity of Peter Bender and the marvellous hospitality experienced.
Cover picture: Daniel and Laura Kessler with Brough Superior in Tasmania on the Tassie Tour 2020
I S S U E
4 6
P A G E
3
WILLIAM CHARLES (BILL) CROSBY 1932 - 2020 sidecar outfit ridden by Pete Tyack and Johnny Meehan, competing in club and international races and at the TT. The 1960’s and 70’s saw the business get steadily busier with various people helping in the workshop part time. Apart from regular repairs, Bill built a few choppers and lots of Tritons. He had some alloy tanks made with a small race bike outline and RAT (Reg. Allen Triumph) embossed on the side. Numerous specials were commissioned and built and all the time his involvement with competition machines, especially Triumphs, continued. By 1971 Bill was sponsoring a 500cc Daytona ridden by Bob Biscardine and Declan Doyle in 24-hour Production races. They competed in the TT and raced all over Europe, winning the 500cc class at the Barcelona 24 Hours. It was the racing abroad that inspired Bill to change the shop name to Reg. Allen (London), and it traded under that name until closing in 2018.
W
e were sorry to hear that Bill Crosby, founder of the London Motorcycle Museum, passed away at the end of March, aged 87. Bill was born in Westminster Barracks in April 1932 the son of Sgt William Crosby, Master of the Stables in the Grenadier Guards. But Sgt Crosby’s son would grow up to be master of a different kind of horsepower. Bill lived in London all his life apart from a brief evacuation to Suffolk to stay with his grandparents during WW2. After completing his national service in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, Bill returned to work as a plumber in Civvy Street. Motorcycles had always been a big part of Bill’s life and he regularly repaired his own bikes and those of friends. Apparently, one youthful attempt at repairing a petrol tank took the side out of a garden shed!
From 1960 Bill had begun hoarding some choice bikes and one day he was approached out of the blue by a friend asking if he would like to display them. Bill's bikes were moved to Syon Park, Isleworth, where they were displayed alongside a collection of vintage cars. This worked well for a few years until the museum premises closed in February 1979. Following the closure, Bill's bike collection was moved to a new home in Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, but in 1982 the building housing them was closed and the collection moved to nearby Riber Castle. This too worked fine for a while until the owner sold up. Bill was forced to look for a new site when a visit to check on the bikes revealed missing parts and encroaching rust. The subsequent urgent mass removal from Riber Castle took place in a convoy of vans and the bikes were dispersed to Bill’s friends. Some of the bikes had to be sold, but Bill refused to let any Triumphs go, vowing that his ever-increasing collection would remain at home until he found a London site to open his own museum.
In 1958 Reg Allen Motorcycles in Ealing came up for sale and an enthusiastic young Bill bought the “name and goodwill”. After months of waiting for Reg Allen to move from the shop it transpired that the In 1997 Bill heard about a site in Greenford. Ravenor Farm had ceased premises were not part of the deal! A hunt for premises found Bill a to be used for agriculture in the early 20’s and had been used as an shop in Grosvenor Road, Hanwell, London W7. Ealing council depot since. Under the control of an enthusiastic community group, talks were held and plans were submitted to turn the old stable block into what became the London Motorcycle Museum. For twenty years Bill and his hardworking family struggled against the odds to develop the museum and improve the site but rising running costs in later years made the museum unsustainable and forced its closure in 2019. The exhibits were sold off or re-homed. Sadly, Bill didn’t get to enjoy a long retirement, and with his passing we’ve lost another link with the motorcycle industry of old. We extend our deepest sympathies to his wife Philippa and all the family. R.I.P.
With some pressed tin spanners and WD lorry bulbs Bill was in business. He became agent for several marques: Mobylette – which were delivered to the shop, NSU Quickly – which he collected from Hammersmith, and Excelsior – which he collected from Hanwell railway station. Triumphs were always his main love (motorcyclewise) and Reg Allen became a main Triumph dealer in 1977. He was also an excellent source of spares after the Meriden Co-operative ceased trading. Bill was all for encouraging young talent, and sponsored riders in scrambling, grass track, trials, speedway and later in road racing. Bill not only prepared the scrambles bikes but went to all the meetings as well. His riders, Eric Bateman and Alan Harle, rode in the Isle of Man Grand National in 1960 and ’63 and, together with fellow riders Pete Rogers and Bill Bunn they rode the length and breadth of the country. Nick Thompson and Dave Beavis, the scrambles sidecar team, won the European Championship. Bill also began to sponsor a road race
Bill Crosby (on the right) with wife Philippa and youngest son Sam. With them is the BMCT’s 1911 BSA which was on display at the LMM.
P A G E
4
B M C T
N E W S
ADVENTURES IN MOTORCYCLE RACING The following article by John Kidson has also appeared in Cotton Pickins, the Journal of the Cotton Owners and Enthusiasts Club.
I
started using a motorcycle for getting to work in 1951, an unexciting but reliable BSA C10 250s.v, followed by various bikes- Royal Enfields, Norton Dominator and culminating in a Vincent Black Prince, which was a quick and comfortable touring motorcycle, on which I travelled all over Europe. I also went spectating at the T.T. and short circuits from 1953 onwards. Eventually, as you do, I decided that I could race faster than a lot of those I was watching, so I bought a 1930's 250 Rudgeengined racer called a Fuller Special. This was one of a series of racing motorcycles constructed by a Mr Fuller, whom I know nothing about. I bought it at a small garage in Leicester for £60, and travelled there as a pillion on a friend's bike. It was in full race trim including open megaphone. The question of how to get it home was solved by the seller bolting a number plate he took off a shelf on to the back of the racing seat and off I went all the way back to Stroud- no tax or insurance and on an open megaphone, anyhow the trip was non-stop and uneventful.
because I only have one seeing eye due to an accident with bow and arrows when I was 4. The ACU insisted on a medical examination and I had two examinations one after the other by ophthalmic specialists who both failed me for road racing in the I.O.M., and each exam cost me ten guineas, which was about what I was earning a week! In desperation I went to see Harry Baughan at his engineering business in Stroud, he was steeped in motorcycling and was at the time Chairman of the ACU Competitions Committee. He listened to what I had to say including telling him of Austin Munks who had won 4 MGPs in the '30s and ‘40's, plus one of the Hinton brothers who competed in the T.T. both with one eye. A week or two later he said he had fixed me up with another test with a consultant who was also a motorcyclist - at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. I duly attended and while he was carrying out his examination we talked about racing, and the T.T. in particular. At the end I asked him the result which, as I was paying, I would have thought I was entitled to. As usual he said he was reporting to the ACU but then added "Have a good ride if you go to the TT", so I had the answer!
This was late 1958. I lived with my grandparents and had use of a shed for a workshop, and checked the bike over carefully during the winter 1958/59. I duly obtained my ACU licence and entered my first meeting at Thruxton, Easter '59 This was quite a big meeting with the likes of a young Mike Hailwood and lots of the aces of the time competing. It turned out a very wet day and a bunch of my motorcycling pals from Stroud came down for a laugh. In the wet race the old bike went well and somehow or other I stayed on, and to my - and all my pals'amazement, finished in 6th place and secured £2 prize money, so the laugh was on them, not me! I had a couple of reasonable results during the rest of the season but dropped it a couple of times and the engine blew up a few times, so lots of work on the engine in the shed, including having to straighten bent connecting rods, etc. I was on a big learning curve with broken It's a tricky old circuit as most of you probably know and first engine bits in one hand and Phil Irving's “Tuning for Speed” in time excess exuberance resulted in me dropping the bike on the first early Monday morning practice at Glentramman, a the other, so to speak. difficult section where what could be but shouldn’t be a fast What this first season showed me was that I could be right hander was followed immediately by a tight left hander, competitive on what was an out of date racer with girder forks so of course, having belted round the right hander, I was off etc. when riding against guys on NSU Sportmaxes and so line for the tighter left hander and dropped it. I can remember on. By this time I had been joined in the endeavour by one of sliding down the road, watching the Norguz cartwheeling along the guys, Nigel Partridge, who had come for a laugh to that first the road before thumping into a wall, so it was in a very bad meeting at Thruxton and he was the best spanner swinger way. I was knocked about all over with a damaged right hand around, who also had a super memory for remembering the and arm but no broken bones. We had to buy a second-hand problems that had gone before and how we'd solved Manx front wheel from Reg Dearden who always had loads of them. Encouraged to find something better I saw a 250 Moto Norton stuff and bikes. We straightened the frame which was Guzzi advertised in the "Green Un" and we set off to well bent with the help of Ken Sprayson and about four Lincolnshire in my car with a trailer we had built using old welding torches and a lot of red-hot tubes. I had my ace Standard 9 wheels and some angle-iron. The Guzzi was another spanner swinger, Nigel, with me and I had only one effective special but with the proper racing o.h.c. engine built into a hand and arm, but with some virtually all-night effort we got complete set of Norton Featherbed cycle parts including wheels the bike rebuilt by Wednesday. I had to go before the TT and brakes with “Norguz” inscribed on the Norton 5-gallon doctor for checking to get a fit ticket to let me out for tank. We gave it a test run up a local road and I purchased it practice. He said "Oh you are the bloke with one eye who I with every bean I had - I think it was £200, while the Fuller didn’t approve for TT entry but I got over ruled by the ACU?". He was not best pleased, but I performed all the Rudge was sold on for £50. various physical movements, in pain but without showing it, In 1960 quite a few successes were achieved, earning enough and got passed. That slowed me up a but in the race I finished points to get my ACU International Road Racing Licence. The 15th so that was good. pinnacle world of racing in those days was of course the T.T. and so I entered in 1961. Briefly this produced a problem The winter 1961/62 plan was to lose some weight off the bike
P A G E
5
and I designed a frame using a 3½" top tube, the steering head passing through the tube which doubled as the oil tank. I needed someone to make the frame and approached Pat Onions (of Cotton Motorcycles) about this. He agreed to build the frame for free if I supplied the tubing. A draughtsman pal completed full size drawings (1:1) of the new frame and Ken Sprayson let me have some lengths of 18-gauge Reynolds 531 tubing for the job. The Cotton factory was an old stone building in Quay Street, Gloucester, and Eric Lee built the frames on the top floor. I was introduced to him, and by tacking a few extensions onto his existing jigs he produced the new frame for me, which was very stiff and a lot lighter than the Featherbed. The bike was finished in red and christened Cotton Guzzi using a Cotton transfer on the new fibreglass 5½ gallon petrol tank which we moulded to sit over the 3½" top tube oil tank with appropriate sponge rubber padding, and clamped down using a standard over the top tank strap. The geometry of the frame copied the featherbed set-up and used Manx Norton forks with 18" wheels and Manx brakes giving a trail of 3½". This turned out absolutely right from the word go, saved weight, and gave perfect handling even on the rough and bumpy mountain circuit. We were going well in the 1962 TT, but unfortunately had a big end failure on the 5th lap. The Guzzi engine had a very strong one-piece crankshaft with bolted-on balance weights and a crowded 3mm roller big end, with a two-piece rod using a bolted-on cap, just like rods using shell bearings but very well finished on the bearing surface so the join was hardly visible. However, it was designed for about 7,000 rpm and above this the uncaged rollers skidded instead of rolling causing damage to the bearing surfaces. Because the engines were very free revving with 35mm carbs and big ports which produced more power at higher rpm (bore and stroke being 68 x 68) it was necessary to use caged rollers, so that meant changing to a built-up crankshaft and one-piece rod. It took me about three weeks of evening and weekend work on my old Drummond lathe to rough turn a crankshaft from solid billets of KE805 which was subsequently heat treated and ground to finish size by a foreman toolmaker pal. We also rough turned the new crankpin using EN36 which was heat treated and ground to the finished size for the high-spec Duralumin cage and rollers. We could rev at about 8000 rpm. For the 1963 TT we had carried out major engine work ,including the new crankshaft, and we finished 6th. I do remember the "Green’un" and others referring to the bike as a Guzzi, but they swiftly received a letter from Mr. Cotton correcting their mistake! Subsequently I obtained the damaged remains of Maurice Cann's Moto Guzzi with three double knocker camboxes and made a short stroke crankshaft, giving a bore and stroke of 72 x 61mm. That combination enabled us use 10,000 rpm on short circuits and 9,000 rpm in the Island. Come 1964 we had fitted the engine with one of the doubleknocker camboxes, so it was flying. I was allocated the number 2 plate and started the race alongside No.1, Jim Redman on the works Honda-4 so I didn't see him for long! There were about 15 other works bikes in the race so I was expecting a lot of traffic coming by me on the first lap, but in the event a lot of them broke down. I was going well but was trying too hard at Laurel Bank on the last lap and dropped it. Although the bike and myself were okay I was forcibly restrained when about to remount by the marshals, and missed out on a 4th or possibly 3rd place, as both Malina on a works CZ and Pagani on a
B M C T
N E W S
works Paton had a lot of bike troubles on their last laps. In 1965 Pat Onions of Cotton offered me a works Telstar to accompany the one to be ridden by Derek Minter. My Telstar was absolutely standard, although Derek's bike undoubtedly had special attention and probably a trick engine via the Peter Inchley connection, but I cannot remember any detail, or whether it had an extra gear or two. Derek was riding the bike regularly on short circuits and getting good results but he was always secretive about his bikes (mainly Manx Nortons) which were looked after by one of the ace tuners of the ‘50s and ‘60s Steve Lancefield, (although I don’t think he had anything to do with the Cotton). Derek’s bike had Norton Roadholder forks which I imagine handled better than the standard Armstrongs, otherwise Derek wouldn't have changed them. My recollection
John (on the right) and Derek Minter push off at the start of the 1965 Lightweight TT. Note the Norton forks on Minter’s bike.
is that the standard bike handled satisfactorily with no tendency to bad habits and it was ok in practice on the Island. Things went well in practice with Peter Inchley helping with setting-up the carburation for us, always tricky for two-strokes in the Island with the large variance in altitude. Derek and I started together, numbers 11 and 12, and we were using very large petrol tanks in an attempt to go non-stop for the six lap race. In those days, after warming up, the Shell petrol guys walked along the line topping up the tanks to brim full as you pushed down to the start line. Derek's bike was a bit special so my plan was to try and slipstream him and stay with him as long as possible. We got away together, and were nose to tail as we braked for Braddan Bridge. Unfortunately in those days we didn’t have one-way valves in the tank breather pipes, and the breather pipes were clamped down one of the frame tubes, and the next thing I saw was fuel coming from the back of Derek's bike straight on to the road and onto my front tyre, so of course grip was lost and down I went, with me following the bike down the road. The bike crashed into the stone bridge parapet on the right-hand side, bursting the petrol tank and letting out
Seconds before disaster struck at the 1965 TT. John leaves Quarter Bridge on his way to an appointment with the Tarmac at the next corner...
P A G E
6
B M C T
N E W S
nearly seven gallons of fuel onto a hot engine! I got up and ran away in the opposite direction, but miraculously the bike did not catch fire. I became a spectator and Derek had a good ride finishing 9th at 84.32mph. Chris Conn also rode a Telstar in ‘65 and finished 12th at 81.53mph. The race winner was Jim Redman on the works Honda.
with bent forks he had just picked up, and for which he had to prepare a repair quote, and said “Do you want to borrow the head off that?” Well, however unethical that was, I got the spanners out and was away with the cylinder head very quickly! We gave it a new set of valves and gave the inlet port a bit of treatment, and so away we went.
That was the end of my support from Cottons, although the crash was not my fault. They had a very damaged bike returned to Quay Street. During my association with Cotton I didn't have much to do with Monty Denley, but Pat Onions (who in effect was mostly on the factory floor) was always friendly and helpful, as of course was Eric, with whom many years ago I gave a joint talk to Cotton enthusiasts at Brockworth.
At the start of the last lap the pit board came out P1+1, which is not what you want to see, so I had to go like smoke on the last lap, but in fact the bloke who was lying second was disqualified at the end of the race because he had oversized carbs on his Suzuki. After the race we stripped the head off immediately for official measuring, and we didn’t put it back on but instead whizzed down to Neil’s shop with a still warm head in our hands and reassembled his customers bike! Some years later Neil told me that of course he had not divulged to his customer that he now had a race-winning cylinder head on his engine! Neil was the last rider to win a TT race on a Velocette when he took the 1967 500 production race on a Thruxton at 89.89 mph.
Aboard the Cotton Guzzi at the TT
To finish off, I continued to ride the Cotton Guzzi with constant engine developments on short circuits and at the TT and in 1969 it still finished 16th. However the rise of the 2strokes in the '60s made the old 4-strokes increasingly noncompetitive, and when Gordon Wadley (Nettleton Motorcycles in Gloucester) began sponsoring me in 1971/72, the Cotton Guzzi was retired as he put me on Yamahas and Hondas. The TZ250 and TZ350 water cooled bikes were really quick and in fact one year we collected from Bill Smith a new TZ350 in its crate and built it up in the Island. This therefore was straight out of the box and yet was only 3 miles per hour slower than Ago’s MV at the speed trap, 144 against 147 mph. The trouble was the Japanese in those days could never build a good handling bike and you never knew if it was you or the bike which was in control, which is not a good idea in the Island, and that is why most people put the engines into Maxton or similar cycle parts, or fitted longer swinging arms as the weight distribution was all wrong on the standard bikes, with the front wheel spending much too long in the air or only slightly touching the road! I continued riding modern Yamahas and Hondas up to 1977 when I got a win in the Formula 3 TT (and with it the World Championship) on a Honda 400-4 (reduced from 408cc to 398 cc) sponsored by Gordon Wadley. During practice the 400-4 dropped a valve in the left-hand cylinder which wrecked the piston and bent the con rod, and rendered the head unusable because of severe damage to the hemisphere and the valve seats. We had most spares with us including new rods but not a head. I trawled around all the dealers looking for a spare head and when I called on Neil Kelly’s shop in Douglas he took me down to the workshop where he pointed out a crashed 400-4
On the way to a win and a World Championship in the 1977 Formula III TT.
I subsequently bought a very nice Aermacchi 350 (below) and raced it in the Manx Classic races, getting a couple of second places, and 4th in 1989, before knocking myself about again in 1990 riding Sid Lawton’s ex-works Aermacchi, which finally brought my racing career to an end.
I sold the Cotton Guzzi to Virgil Ellings who has his own private museum in California where it now stands alongside my old Sprayson-framed NSU Rennmax Twin and Mike Hailwood's Reynolds framed works 500 Honda Four. In those days racing was a totally different world to where we are today and we did it for the pure joy of racing.
I S S U E
P A G E
4 6
7
BOOK REVIEW - “PASSION OF A LIFETIME ” From Nick Jeffery (Trustee) Dear Andy To follow up Ivan Rhodes' letter in the last issue of BMCT News, I was very sorry that the launch of his book 'Velocette - Passion of a Lifetime' at the National Motorcycle Museum was pulled because of Covid-19. However on return from Tasmania (see separate article) I bought a copy and, despite having Ivan's earlier 'Velocette - Technical Excellence Exemplified' on my bookshelves, would highly recommend it to anyone with the slightest interest in Velocettes and the history of the fascinating Goodman family business. Ivan has taken the opportunity to greatly expand the historical and technical content of the earlier edition and generally produced a higher quality book, including using colour where appropriate. However what makes the book for me are new sections on the detailed descriptions of his rebuild of various historic Velocettes, including the supercharged Roarer, and the incorporation of a section entitled 'Velocette People' where he relates accounts of prominent personalities he has known personally such as Phil Irving, Charles Udall, Bertie and Peter Goodman and many others. Their comments are very revealing about the pressures and politics within the company! He also has enlisted Dennis Frost, doyen of the flat-twin Velocettes, to contribute a chapter on the LE/ Vogue/Valiant/Viceroy models that were not covered in the previous book. Lastly he has brought current Velocette happenings up to date with reference to such bikes as Australian Stuart Hooper's amazing 193 mph Velocette single that, rather like Burt Munro's Indian, started as a humble road bike!
Ivan’s 280-page hardback book is available from the Velocette Owners' Club www.velocetteowners.com and the National Motorcycle Museum www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk for £30 + P&P. If you’d like a copy but don’t have internet access, contact Andy Bufton (details on page 8)
B M C T M E M B E R ’ S B S A R O C K E T 3 R E S T O R AT I O N
T
his is one of the first production three cylinder BSA Rocket Threes made, having been built for export to South America in November 1968. The first bikes for the home market came off the line in January 1969. It’s been subjected to a stunning nut and bolt restoration by BMCT member Dino Paglia from Hampshire. Dino has also restored a 1938 Triumph Speed Twin and a Triumph Hurricane to the same standard and we’ll be publishing photographs of these in future issues of BMCT News.
P A G E
B M C T
8
N E W S
T HE BR I T I S H MOTOR CYCL E C HA RI TABL E TRUS T Registered in England No. 01445196 Registered Charity No. 509420 Registered Office: Holly Cottage Main Street Bishampton Pershore WR10 2NH United Kingdom Life President Trevor F. Wellings Trustees: Paul Barnes (Chairman) Ian Walden OBE Peter Wellings John Handley Mike Jackson Nick Jeffery John Kidson Mike Penn Secretary & Editor Andy Bufton Mob: 07754 880116 Email: editor@bmct.org
The British Motorcycle Charitable Trust (BMCT) was originally formed in 1979 to facilitate the building of the National Motorcycle Museum at Bickenhill, near Solihull in the West Midlands. Since 1995, however, the BMCT has been an entirely separate organisation, a grant-making Charity dedicated to the promotion of British motor cycle engineering heritage through a network of affiliated transport museums throughout the country.
Our affiliated museums are: Black Country Living Museum, Dudley British Motor Museum, Gaydon Brooklands Museum, Weybridge Coventry Transport Museum Dover Transport Museum Gloucester Life Museum Grampian Transport Museum, Aberdeen Haynes International Motor Museum
Associate Membership is open to all, and allows free entry to all the museums in our affiliation scheme. Our funding comes from membership fees, bequests, donations, and income from our investments. Please direct any enquiries to the secretary, at the Registered Office address on the left.
Internal Fire Museum of Power, Tanygroes Jet Age Museum, Gloucester Manx Museum, Douglas, Isle of Man Museum in the Park, Stroud National Motor Museum, Beaulieu Sammy Miller Museum, New Milton Tank Museum, Bovington
www.bmct.org
The Norton Collection Museum, Bromsgrove
Preserving the past...for the future
NEW BMCT WEBSITE GOES LIVE! We’ve been busy over the lockdown moving our website to a new platform and giving it a facelift and re-write at the same time. We hope you’ll approve of the new look, which for the first time allows us space to give descriptions of the forty machines in the BMCT Collection of motorcycles and where to see them, plus details of the British Scooter Collection, which is in storage at the moment whilst we make arrangements for a new exhibition. An up-to-date version of our Museums Guide is featured on the new site. This is downloadable as a pdf file for you to print off and keep as a reference for the time when we can once again start visiting our Affiliated Museums. Familiar features like the News page and Newsletter archive are retained, so why not go to www.bmct.org and check it out?
Published by Matchless Management Services, Holly Cottage, Main Street, Bishampton, Pershore WR10 2NH