Vintage Thing No.17.1 - Bill Martin's dirt track Duggie
Following on from VT17 , John Deacon was telling me of Bill Martin a legendary grasstrack racer and Douglas rider from Cornwall who rode his bike around the wall of Redruth railway station. Nothing very special in that - except that he was on top of the wall! This triggered an old memory of mine. I'd seen an elderly and fairly rotund gentleman being helped onto a dirt track Duggie at the West of England Traction Engine Rally back in the eighties. I had a vague idea I had photographed his machine. Searching for something else in the Anarchadia photo archives, I turned up a photo of a dirt track Douglas. And - very rare for me - I'd written down some details on the back. It was indeed Bill Martin's 1928 500cc dirt track Douglas. I remember the knobbly rear tyre. I think the cover was very old. I doubt you can get that tread pattern any more. To me, this bike looks fantastic. Even the hand change and rudimentary springing don't put me off. Hossack double...