Paul d'Orléans

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.

Harry Weslake and Gordon Cobbold in 1927. [The Vintagent Archive]

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.

Harry Weslake at Brooklands, again with Gordon Cobbold on a factory Sunbeam, likely 1926. [Stilltime Collection]

Paul d'Orléans is the founder of TheVintagent.com. He is an author, photographer, filmmaker, museum curator, event organizer, and public speaker. Check out his Author Page, Instagram, and Facebook.

by Paul d'Orléans

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.

Paul d'Orléans on Ken Boulter's 1927 Velocette KSS/KTT racer in front of Malcolm Campbell's workshops at Brooklands. [Ken Boulter]

Ken Boulter with his restored 1927 Velocette KSS/TT racer. [Paul d'Orleans]

[Ed note: Ken Boulter passed away in 2020. He was a very early member of the VMCC, and restored a great many vintage cars and motorcycles from the 1950s onwards. He was also part of the first long-term station on Antarctica, and once remarked on the hardships of being isolated for 6 months on ice, 'Seal meat is delicious, but dog meat is terrible.']

by Paul d'Orléans

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.

Shinya Kimura with his 'Needle' custom, and friend [Paul d'Orleans]

There's a story behind the skeleton; Kiehl's is a big sponsor of this event, and Susan Towers, a VP, threw a reception two months before the event at Kiehl's in SF. My wife noted a skeleton on display, and asked Susan if she had any extras, for her school. Susan said yes, then we forgot all about it until the Legends, when suddenly a skeleton was waiting to be wheeled 400 yards from the Kiehl's booth at the show to our room. Shinya hijacked the prop for some pix; one was published in Old Bike magazine.

[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)]

by Paul d'Orléans

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.

Pictured from the left; Paul d'Orleans, Brooke Roner and Jared Zaugg (organizers of the event), Gwen White, Darcy Campbell, and Peter Fonda. [Legend of the Motorcycle]

Amongst this august group, Paul was most fascinated by Gwen, who was a factory trials rider for Francis-Barnett in the 1950's, and quite a motorcyclist apparently. Look beyond that sweet veneer and you might find... a competitor! Read her 'Confessions of a Factory Trials Rider' here.

Great event; can't wait until next May.

by Paul d'Orléans

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.

The 1925 Norton M18 racer has a special gas tank with extra capacity, and an auxiliary tank atop that, built in modern times. A compelling and beautiful machine [Paul d'Orléans]

My 1933 Velocette KTT mkIV racer, seen here on top of Marble Mountain, near Etna CA, basically in the middle of nowhere. During day 3 of a 5-day ride, the bike is slathered in oil as usual, there is just no hope for staying clean on this thing. For better or worse, it's one of my favorite machines ever, so clothes are sacrificed... The chassis is from 1928, and the engine was brought into the USA by Macks Motors in Massachussets, who installed it in a KSS frame, and raced it on the dirt tracks of the day in the mid-1930s. It was found back east by Eddie Arnold, who restored it as a vintage racing machine, and worked extensively on the engine, with a 7lbs lighter flywheel, ported cylinder head, and special cams made by Eddie, with longer rocker arms to suit. It flies.

'The Mule', a 1933 Velocette MkIV KTT engine in the frame of a 1928 KSS, and a front end from a MkVIII KTT. Restored and tuned in 1980 by Eddie Arnold for vintage racing. [Paul d'Orléans]

by Paul d'Orléans

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.

My tiny garage ca.1988, with a Norton ES2, Ducati 900GTS, and Velo Venom. Stuffed in the back are several more! [Andy Saunders]

When diving into the murk of motorcycle history, we find unexpected riches...everything which makes this life interesting, and worth living. Motorcycles per se are just metal; it is individuals who animate them, and inhabit the stories within this site. We provide meaning to the metal, and in telling the story of Motorcycling, we tell the story of our world.

My favorite of all, the '66 Velo Thruxton I bought in 1989, and since put 50,000 miles on. Here we are in 1989, at the top of Mt.Tamalpais on Easter morning...'Courgette' clocked 114mph going over the Golden Gate Bridge at 4:30am...[Denise Leitzel]

What's my history with old bikes? I've been collecting, restoring, investigating, traveling for, and most importantly, riding old bikes since I was 20 years old. Something got under my skin, and vintage motorcycles became an obsession; I spent the next 25 years following that muse, and amassed a huge library of books on the subject, while collecting obscure machines, trying them out, finding my favorites. I've owned around 300 bikes in that time, sometimes buying large collections to 'get at' one machine I wanted, especially in the days when old bikes were relatively cheap, and the financial stakes were low. I was lucky to get in the game while it was still possible to buy just about anything you could find, and I've been offered interesting bikes I wish I'd bought, or kept!

A humble BMW R60/2 with a large Touring tank...I did a lot of miles on 'Bertha'...[Craig Feder]

The following are some of the machines I've owned...its amazing how poorly I kept photographic records of the machines which passed through my garage...but a few of these bikes are still in my collection; most are not. I kept the ones which were the most fun to ride, period.