Don't Break Down!
This is what REALLY happens at an old motorcycle rally... some unfortunate sod ('Fass Mikey' Vils) has a difficulty with his motorbike, and is anxiously attending his 1915 Harley, while several of his friends stand around and make jokes at his expense, and jibes at his improvised solutions. And he takes it all in stride. Note the doctor's bag on the rack, which was full of tools and spares, which he used! From the Pre-16 Rally, Atascadero, May 2006.
Evel Knievel in San Francisco, 1967
Evel Knievel made one of his trademark jumps on a Triumph in San Francisco's Civic Center, November 23, 1967. He's riding a brand-new and mildly customized 'TT' Bonneville. It's widely thought that Evel only jumped using Harleys, but Triumphs were his bike of choice in the mid-60s; lighter and faster!
The Amazing Zelocette!
A nice pic of Paul Zell and one of his amazing Zellocettes; this one is the MeSS, with around 700cc of raw power, utilizing a special cylinder head/barrel/piston to create shocking stomp on the road. He regularly humbles riders of new machines, and this bike has proved to be fairly reliable, after much experimentation on earlier versions of 'bigger banger' theme. His previous Velocette special, the monstrous 780cc Thruxton (featured in Cycle World), produced amazing power, but was prone to mechanical gremlins. At this point, Paul is reverting to a standard 500cc engine in his Thruxton, as he's tired of chasing the weaknesses in an overstressed engine. But, the MeSS has been going strong for a couple of years now.
2006 Velocette Owners Club Summer Rally
Summer Rally '06, Crater Lake Oregon. Ken Vincent of Perth, Australia, rode my 1933 Velocette MkIV KTT for a day, and my 1960 Venom Clubman the rest of the week. That's the sort of hospitality such clubs offer - when I traveled to Australia I was loaned bikes, and more bikes when those broke! The VOCNA Summer Rally lasts one week, and the ride is a 5-day, 1000-mile adventure in a different location every year. The rally has been held from the mountains above Los Angeles, to the canyonlands of Utah, to Vancouver BC, to Alberta BC, all down the Rockies, and the whole of the West Coast. That's around 35,000 miles of backroads explored, all over the West. If you have an interest in joining, check out the VOCNA here.
Vintage Gear: 2005 Goodwood Revival
Okay, talk about Vintage Gear; this is the Goodwood Revival, England Sept. '05. A huge vintage car/motorcycle/plane weekend at Lord March's estate, with racing all day on his private racecourse, and the car park (pictured) has hundreds of amazing vehicles which on any other day would have BEEN the show. Best aspect of the event; you're expected to wear 'period' (30's - 50's) clothing! So almost everyone does in fact. Peter Miles gave me a ticket on short notice (usually 100 pounds), so I had to scare up an outfit pronto. I found a tiny vintage shop in the village of Louth where I was visiting Rob Drury, and the fellow had a wool tweed suit, detachable-collar shirt, wing-tip shoes, plaid tie, and 'flat hat', all of which fit me, for 100 pounds. The pants were a little tight, but the fellow advised skipping a meal before the event!
The bike is a '38 BMW R51 racer, an example of which has been sitting in boxes in my garage for 19 years!
Brooklands Relived 2005: David Vincent
David Vincent is among the last surviving veteran of racing at Brooklands, which shut down in 1940 to be used as an RAF base. David won a Gold Star for a 100mph lap in a race at Brooklands in 1936, riding a well tuned 1934 Velocette KTT MkIV. He explained how he was inspired to begin racing after his friends grew tired of being blown off by his fast riding, and insisted he take it to the track! He competed on his ride-to-work Velocette KSS in the very first Clubman's race held at Brooklands, netting a lowly position, so he immediately sought out a real racing machine.
Australian Velocette Club Centenary Rally
The Australian Velocette Club held an international rally in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney, in October 2005. Through the generosity of John Jennings, I was able to ride his Thruxton through this amazing area, which felt very similar to my own Marin County, with all the rolling hills and twisty roads. We even have lots of eucalyptus trees here, from some crazy/failed lumber scheme in the late 1800's (the trees flourished, but they make lousy wood for building houses). The Aussies gather lots more Velos in one spot than we Yanks have ever managed - the photo of the lineup really gives a sense of the magnitude of the gathering - 120 Velos of all ages and varieties lined up in front of the college admin building which served as our rally center. Quite a lineup of racing machines (KTTs and hotted up pushrod bikes), humble commuter bikes (LEs, MACs, MOVs), and everyday sportsters (KSS, Venoms, Thruxtons, etc), even a few antiques thrown in for good measure.
Keith Hamilton joined us with his wife Barbara, towing his amazing 1923 Velocette Lady's model, which Keith spent years making as correct as possible. He fabricated parts like the alloy cylinder muff and petrol tank, plus a hundred other small parts to make the little beastie run again. He was kind enough to let me have a go on a very rough dirt parking lot, outside the narrow-gauge railway we were about to embark on.
The Velo felt spindly, but once the engine was happy with its two throttle lever settings, it had a surprising turn of power for a little 225cc two-stroke single. Keith is a club stalwart and a regular contributor to the Velo Tech Forum, signing off as 'KFO' (Keith from Oz). His stories about pre-and post-war Velocetting are a treasure - I'll have to do a whole post on him someday. [I did, as a memorial, here]
Speaking of trains, that's Neville Smith in front of the train itself - Neville rode his Venom down the footpath to join us at our half-way point, and pose for a pic in front of the City of Lithgow. The train serviced the mines in the area.
We rode through some spectacular and bucolic areas, and most everything was green as it was spring. The minor roads through the hills and forests were nearly empty, and a few of them were worthy of a good scratch.
I enjoyed following John through the unfamiliar territory - as you can see from the video, his pace is a little quicker than the rest of the rallyists! And he was two-up with wife Di on the back of his Venom Clubman, 'Kamahl' - this is the clubman which dropped a valve seat on my watch (at the time , I was 20 miles off-route, down a dirt road, exploring some trees south of Perth, in 2003).
Next pair of photos shows a most interesting machine - an Aspin rotary-valve experimental Velocette. The Aspin engine uses a rotating sleeve for the cylinder wall, which has holes cut in strategic points to create the 'valve' timing. At the sleeve rotates, the hole for the carb intake opens, and the fuel mixture is sucked in. Then, after combustion, as the cylinder rotates further, the port for the exhaust opens - it's all similar to a two-stroke engine with transfer ports, but the piston goes up and down in standard four-stroke fashion, and the fuel only comes into the combustion chamber, which is flat or domed at the top, but contains no valves.
The barrel is rotated by the camshaft tower from a KSS, but instead of a cambox on top, the top of the barrel is serrated like a gear, and is driven by the bevel gear on top of the cam drive shaft. See the photos from some sense of how this engine is put together.
Next pic is in the hamlet of Sofala, with John's Thruxton parched for some non-existent gasoline... this had been a mining town, which now relies on tourism - a mining museum and several cafes made up the commercial center, and the Gold Rush buildings looked remarkably like the California versions.
This photo documents the only time you'll catch me wearing flipflops on a motorcycle, but the bike is RUBY, an infamous little beastie owned by Keith Canning, president of the VOC Australia. It's an LE MkIII, and is a veteran of several long rallies, often two-up! I've owned an LE before, and have to admit it has charms... quietness, smoothness, etc, especially the styling, which is so utilitarian as to be beautiful.
Next photo shows the gentlemen in question; John Jennings and Dennis Quinlan, deep in discussion about technical matters, no doubt. You'll also note that they're both wearing black and gold, as is the habit of Aussie club officers at their big awards banquet, at the end of each rally. Dennis has an encyclopedic knowledge about racing Velocettes, and I rely on him frequently for information and tidbits about their history, lineage, and whereabouts!
Those Dashing Racers of the 1920s: Harry Weslake
The legendary Harry Weslake in 1925: note his double-breasted suit, fedora, pocket square, and member's badge on the lapel - for all-access at the Brooklands racetrack. Weslake worked for Sunbeam at this time, developing their engines with the radical gas-flow testing technology he'd invented. Weslake is standing with factory Sunbeam racer Gordon Cobbold, who is of course in full racing leathers, but is wearing a white shirt and tie underneath, as was typical in the 1920s.
The racer has an unusual single-port OHV motor - unusual for Sunbeam anyway, as their typical racing bikes used twin exhaust ports and mufflers, even thought they had a single exhaust valve. That was the fashion in the 1920s, but Weslake proved on the test bench and on the racetrack that a single port motor made more power. Sunbeam didn't take him up on his findings, and kept building twin-port racers and roadsters.
Brooklands Again: Malcolm Campbell's Workshop
Brooklands again, in front of Malcolm Campbell's workshop, preserved today as a museum of racing machines. Campbell was known for his land speed record 'Bluebird' cars and boats. The 1927 Velocette KSS/TT I'm riding is owned by Ken Boulter, a good friend from Chiddingly, seen in the lower photo contemplating the bike the prior day. Ken has an ex-Brooklands Norton racer/ record-breaker with a sidecar inside the museum, which he rides on track days, although his health isn't so good and this is the only time he rides.
Shinya Kimura at the Legend of the Motorcycle
Shinya Kimura exhibited three of his remarkable creations at the Legends of the Motorcycle Concours, in the Custom motorcycles section, which I wasn't a judge for - mine section was the vintage British machinery. But, the Triumph and Excelsior foundations used for two of his machines caught my eye - here is someone doing interesting things with vintage engines. His bikes are wabi-sabi, with all his handiwork visible, and the Triumph 'Needle' I found especially interesting, with really slim lines and a futuristic style. They were displayed beside the usual American choppers, and some unusual ones too - Jesse James' bikes especially, but I found Shinya's by far the most intriguing.
[Editor's note: this was my first encounter with Shinya Kimura, but not the last! As seen in many later articles for The Vintagent, Shinya has generously participated in exceptional interviews (see 'I Am A Coachbuilder' here), allowed us to Test Ride his remarkable machines (see Test Ride: MV Masterwork here), wet plate photo sessions (see 'El Mirage by Wet Plate' here), and featured the very machine pictured in our 2018 Petsersen Museum exhibit 'Custom Revolution' (see photos and story here). We have been gifted with his friendship for many years since this 2006 encounter, which includes joining him on four cross-USA journeys on vintage motorcycles as participants in the Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Rally (see 'Cannonballs Deep' here)]
2006 Legend of the Motorcycle
The Legends of the Motorcycle Concours, May 2006. At a reception before the opening, organizers Jared Zaugg and Brooke Roner entertain their judges and VIPs.
Great event; can't wait until next May.
A Pair of Vintage Racers
My 1926 Norton racer, a Model 18, the chassis of which was apparently for a 600cc machine that raced by the factory until 1930 (or at least, ownership was retained by the factory until then), when it was sold to Jimmy Shaw, a Norton factory racing rider. It's a well-developed and fast bike, with great solid handling, although the engine is a bit of a piledriver! It will go around corners as fast as you like, and the frame could handle more power, although the previous owner (Ken Boulter) claims to have been timed at 93mph, sitting up! There's no speedo, but it's certainly a fast bike.
Welcome to The Vintagent!
What is The Vintagent? An exploration of all things Old Motorcycle; the bikes, the events, the people, the cultural connections, the art, the fashion, the writing, the films...because, as it says on The Vintagent's masthead: The world of Motorcycles has all the ingredients of a good, enriching drama; heroic deeds, political intrigue, design brilliance, cut-throat business practices, quirky characters, national tensions, cultural biases, eros and thanatos.
