Blimey that was a slog. All the material I’ve accumulated from 1953, when ERII was crowned and your ‘umble scribe rolled off the production. line, awaits your attention. I (more accurately countwordsfree.com) have just checked, and am mildly surprised to find nigh on 200,000 words as well as oodles of pics. It was a busy year. Before ploughing into 1954 I’ll take some time out to whittle away at the many (many!) hundreds of pics, most from mon ami Francois, in the swollen pending files and will also indulge myself down a number of rabbit holes—starting with letters written in 1927 by Oily Karslaske giving a blow-by-blow history of the Dreadnought. I might even find time to work on at least one of the four Brits that are languishing in the reserve fleet. Meanwhile, here are a couple titbits from that glorious year. As always…enjoy!
“Another surprising Chinese exhibit was an auxiliary ‘motor wheel’ for a bicycle which bore every resemblance to the British 32cc Cyclemaster. The only apparent difference was that the manufacturers’ nameplate had been replaced by a likeness of Piccasso’s Dove, which also appeared on the 350cc twin…it has a two-cylinder horizontally opposed sv twin engine of 350cc with unit-gearbox, shaft final drive and a pressed-steel frame; it is somewhat reminiscent of the German Zündapp.”
“Described as the ‘most powerful dragster in motorcycledom’, ‘this monster has two 1,300 Harley-Davidson engines. While a speed of 150mph is anticipated, so far the machine has attained a mere 129mph.” “Margaret Hood, wife of the co-builder of the ‘Brute’, is herself an ardent dragster.”
Head down, working through the blue ‘un’s monstrously thick 1953 show report, and I realised I hadn’t posted any updates for many weeks. So here’s an update: the timeline’s progressed to autumn on 1953 and I hope to have completed the year within the next couple of weeks. More than 100 pics have been uploaded to Melange 4 and some additions have been made to 1900. My favourite feature of 1953, which I’ve been looking forward to showing you, is Vic Willoughby’s tale of his 150mph run along Pendine Sands aboard the awesome Nero. It really is a treat.
My hero, Vic Willoughby, tucked in for a ride on the beach.
Busy busy…forgot to mention, the updates to 1949-1952 are now completed and there’s oodles of good yarns and pics ready for browsing. And I’m about two thirds of the way through 1953 with, so far, more than 120,000 words with gawd knows how many pics. Roadtests of Triumph, Beeza and Norton twins, the TT, a blazing row over the German GP, heated readers’ letters opposing the threat of a skidlid law 20 years before the anti-helmet law campaign that even got me on the streets, lots of suggested Latin mottos for the ACU, an ACU Rally that left a lots of riders distinctly unimpressed. I’ve also made a tiny reduction in the number of pics aw`aiting includes in Les Melanges; as well as a good assortment in Melange 4 you find some excellent new images from WW2 courtesy of arch archivist Francois. Merci bien, mon ami. Nuff said, back to burn some more midnight oil in 1953…ttfn.
As promised, I’ve been collating stories from 1953. Then a friend came up with a fab stack of old Blue ‘Uns including a 1949 Earls Court Show issue and a random cutting from the Daily Express warning of ‘Hot Rod Jockeys’ blasting round the streets of New York at 125. So now 1949 includes a comprehensive show report (including the debut of the Gold Flash and the Thunderbird) and a report that “one electric light pole still has a rider’s shin bone embedded in it”. Before I move on to 1953 I’ll be extracting lots more yarns for 1950, 1951 and 1952; watch this space for progress reports.
Worth a read in 1952: a two-up test of a 197cc James combo involving snowbound Welsh passes. Barking mad if you ask me.
Apart from a handful of pics and a couple of readers’ letter 1952 is ready for your inspection and, I trust, delectation. It was a bad year for Britain’s ISDT teams although a trio of Beezas won golds, and a Maudes Trophy. A Norton one-lunger won the Senior TT by the narrowest of margins from an MV Agusta. In the Junior Nortons, AJSs and a Velocette were the first 10 bikes home (in fact all 51 finishers rode Nortons Ajays and Velos). But in the Lights weight Guzzis scored a hat-trick and in the Ultra-Lightweight an MV led a trio of Mondials home—the first Brit home, a Bantam, was 7th. The Earls Court Show (opened by ACU patron the Duke of Edinburgh) was, of course, all about British iron but the Milan Show was packed with innovation. The times they were showin’ signs of achangin’.
Just to remind us that British designs could count higher than two, Wooler did a four.
Two-and-a-half hours to go until 2026 and I’ve just uploaded the last material to hand for 1951. As usual I’ll take a break before getting stuck into 1952 and will concentrate on reducing the vast backlog of pics in the pending file courtesy of mi amigo Francois, so feel free to keep an eye on Melange 4. The interweb tells me that over the past week the timeline’s been visited by enthusiasts from 44 countries. To them, indeed to you, best wishes for the new year and remember: motor cycles keep us from thinking about the ultimate futility of existence.
‘Export or die’—Matchless G9 twin at Earls Court, crated up to be enjoyed by an undeserving Colonial.
Busy busy busy…to date there are upwards of 90,000 words under the ‘1951’ heading including reports on the French and Dutch Grands Prix; the return of the ACU National following the unpleasantness with Herr Hitler; a smashing interview with Charlie Collier, still busy running AMC 44 years after winning the first TT; a tour to Germany on a 98cc Jimmy and much more (look out for a letter from America from a rider who mentions he has long legs, is a fan of tight, very tight leather jeans and shirts, and is keen on swapping pics of riding gear with British enthusiasts. Innocent times. Also for your delectation are lots, and I do mean, lots more pics dans les Melangescourtesy of mon ami Francois. What’s more my 1936 M100 Panther is on the verge of regaining her long-lost fourth gear. Where would I be without my mates?
“Charlie Collier on his 1912 990cc Matchless twin in the Sunbeam Club’s 1950 Pioneer Run.”
Well it was a long time coming but the timeline has entered the 1950s.Amid the 90,000-plus words and oodles of period pics you’ll find a great introduction to the decade by Bob Currie; a comprehensive TT report (spoiler: Norton scored a double hat-trick) a comprehensive ISDT report (spoiler: the Brits scored a Trophy/Vase double); roadtests, including the Black Shadow (spoiler: it was too damned fast for the Blue ‘Un to find its top speed); and…go find out for yourself. and, enjoy.
Just for a change, let this ad represent the year. No explanation needed.
More than 100 pics have been added to the melange picture galleries, including the first batch in a fourth collection. And at least as many again have been dropped into years from the 1890s to the 1940s and a couple of dozen have been uploaded to the Artwork/humour page. Several hundred images are still waiting in the pending file but they’ll have to wait as I’m finally getting back to work on the main timeline. Feel free to watch this space.
The nights are drawing in, both my combos have lost their front sidecar lights at the same time, strange but true, and instead of sorting them I’m keeping busy on the photo front. Dated pics are being moved from les melanges to their respective years in the main timeline. An obvious move, in hindsight. At the same time dated pics from the huge backlog (merci, Francois, mon ami) are being uploaded, sometimes entailing some caption research. The earliest additions can be found in the 1890s; as I write this I’m taking a break from 1926. On which subject, I was adding a couple of snaps from the 1926 Paris-Nice rally when I noticed that an existing caption pointed readers at the extensive Paris-Nice report in Images of Yesteryear (part 5), authored by my oh-so-valued collaborator Francois and published by kind permission of him and the Leicester Phoenix MCC (wotcha Ben). Readers are recommended to check out the club’s excellent rally/touring site lpmcc.net without delay. The point being (yes, there is one) that I’d forgotten how bloody good Images of Yesteryear is. If you haven’t visited it (via the main menu) you’re in for a treat. The themed essays and photo galleries are les bolleaux de chien. I just had to pull myself away—this is also a problem with Murray’s electronic Tragatsch (https://ozebook.com/), the Grace’s Guide to industrial history (https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/) and Sheldon’s Emu (https://cybermotorcycle.com/) which is packed with marque histories, specialised articles and so much more. Be warned—all three sites are addictive. Murray, whose work rate puts me to shame, has even compiled a PDF version of the main body of this timeline laid out as an electronic book which is a bloody delight. Nuff said, back to 1926.
Rolland looking determined on his 350 Terrot at the UMF’s S1926 trasbourg grand prix.
Motorcycle Timeline 