Posts

Showing posts from August, 2011

Vintage Thing No.88.1 - Gregory Special

Image
It's an AMC gearbox I knew my mates would oblige with identifying the gearbox on the Gregory 500. Pete Low has come up trumps but is just as perplexed by the Gregory 500 as I am. Not only that, but he's mentioned another weird and wonderful machine by the name of George. Here's his e-mail to me in full. "I've never seen this bike. The engine looks Jawa to me, from the timing side, with its exposed oil pump, but I agree that the timing side is weird. "A mate of mine took over a thing called "George" (after its maker) it was a BSA B31 with a Jawa engine grafted in, but I remember it used a timing side cam drive that made use of the Beeser's alloy push rod tunnel. Now that's got me wondering. Was it a Jawa bottom end with a BSA head? or vice versa? Sorry can't remember! "The gearbox is simple. AMC type, as used by AJS/Matchless/Norton from mid 50's to the last of the Norton Commandos, and the clutch goe...

Vintage Thing No.88 - Gregory 500

Image
Slim and light, this Jawa Rickman looks very inviting for uphill blasts. Another mysterious machine from the past is this speed hillclimbing motorcycle from the 1980s. When I say hillclimbing to many people they automatically think of the dirty business of trialling but hillclimbing,  in Britain at any rate, means against the clock and and on metalled roads. My friends know what I'm on about but others who not so steeped in engine punk don't quite catch on. These photos are so old they date back to when I would carefully write on the back what they depicted and a good thing, too, for the Gregory 500 apparently was a 1980 Rickman JAWA. This is not a common motorcycle and Phil Gregory, who was named in the long since lost programme for this event, made it even more special. It looks like he had some help along the way. There's a sticker on one of the downtubes that says "Don  Barton - GRP" and another on the tail is for Kidderminster Engineering Services....

Vintage Thing No.87 - SUMB 4x4

Image
This SUMB turned at Boconnoic this year After all that effort on the Candidi Provocatore Allard to change its engine I began to wonder how a side valve Ford flathead engine could still be churned out by a factory in Clermont-Ferrand in 1991. Rob's description of a four-wheel drive NATO Simca rang a distant bell and I referred to my copy of The Observer's Military Vehicles Directory by Bart Vanderveen. Under France: Trucks, ½ to 2 ton, 4x4 , I found the Simca-Unic-Marmon-Boucquet MH600BS. It's a bit of an ugly thing but that's okay with boonie bashers. The engines listed for this device is listed grow in stages from the original 3622cc via 3923cc litres to 4184cc. They still only put out 100 bhp, though, so any excitement is tempered somewhat, but still - phwaor, though, eh?. So who were Simca, Unic, Marmon and Boucquet? I'd heard of the first three. Simca was set up in 1934 to produce Fiats in France under licence and subsequently bought...

Vintage Thing No.86 - Austin 20 sports

Image
"Excuse me, gentleman of the MCC, but we're looking for Blue Hills 2. Can you direct us?" "Certainly, my good fellow, just drive straight into the sun and you can't miss it." Entered in the 2011 Land's End Trial was this marvellous 1927 Austin 20, which I saw climb Blue Hills 2. Austin 20s are typically lumbering great beasts that were available either as saloons weighing as much as 1 ¾ tons or bare chassis to be clothed down by similarly heavy bespoke bodywork. This one belonging to Tim and Jack Kemp of Landridnod Wells has the rakish looks of a more exalted sporting machinery. I really like the hot rod or sports car look of this machine and the old style wheels suit it perfectly. Surely this would be eligible for VSCC events? This is the old variety with a 3620cc 95 x 127mm side valve four instead of the later sixes, a perfect powerplant with grunt aplenty for the west country hills. Herbert Austin was inspired by Hudson designs and incorpora...

Vintage Thing No.85 - Suzuki GSP500

Image
Well though out and subtle in a muddy sort of way So Suzuki never made an GSP500? Somebody has. I spotted this outfit at the start of the 2011 Land's End Trial at Plusha Services. I walked passed it only to pause and turn back. At first glance, it's nothing special but then you notice the double overhead cam twin. It's greater than the sum its parts. The 500 was a sensible ride to work bike. The SP370 was a twinshock traillie from the seventies. A clandestine liaison between the two and this wonderful love child is the result. I liked this a lot and despite all the fun that we had on that Triumph outfit I wonder what it would be like as a solo machine. Good on the road but perhaps a little heavy in the mud? Maybe it is best as an outfit - it keeps the perversity of motorcycling asymmetric.

2011 Land's End Trial

Image
Somewhere in a car park near you, a motorsport happening could be starting. Unfortunately, that spectacular Wasp outfit isn't going to get very far. Shame. So instead of actually competing in this event I had to settle for being a spectator. It wasn't quite the same but I still enjoyed myself. I went up to to Plusha Services to see the Cornish starters off. and it made a pleasant change to see the machinery without being lampered in mud. Pete's looking quietly confident here. I see he's fitted a longer swing arm to the outfit he shares with Shani, the redoubtable Cox-Triumph Among the bikes were Pete and Shani Adams who are campaigning the ex-Team Robert Triumph sidecar outfit (VT No.16 ) that Rob and I used to play with, the one which caused us to become airborne and morph into Ginger and Binky. Pete and Shani were hoping to get further than a mile down the road this year because last year they suddenly struck valve problems. They set off alright but I d...

Why Team Robert weren't in the 2011 Land's End Trial

Image
It's engineless! Team Robert were at this stage grubby but unbowed. Close but so far away, it was a sterling effort by your brave boys but in the end our dream didn't come true. It all began to go wrong when Rob discovered what was making the funny tapping noise when he revved the engine on the Candidi Provocatore Allard. This machine is now under his stewardship and he discovered that a stud holding on the centre main bearing had broken, allowing the main bearing cap to fret about. If you look closely you will see only one stud for the centre main cap. The other stud is in two pieces, one of which is still in the block. Rob tried drilling it out and did a good job but the main bearing cap would still need replacing. To get the replacement to fit the block properly, that would need line boring the block caps and that's an engine out and strip job. Doesn't the oil pump look vulnerable without the sump on? This can sometimes happen on these engines if they...