So here's the Tale ..........dedicated to the memory Of Vincent R.I.P.
Beachcomber’s Tales from the Day
"Taking the Crown - Laybye racing - the REAL Ton Up Club" – May 2015
[ RIP Vincent ]
So here’s how the REAL racing took place – and not a Juke Box in sight !
We’re back to the early 60’s here, 1962/3. The lay-bye [ see previous tales ] on the A12 bye-pass route around North Romford was renowned as THE place to take your bike to prove your bragging rights, and of course - that elusive Ton.
There were the regular crew, who were the unofficial guardian’s of the Ton Up “Club” [ itself, unofficial]. Like most cliques, there were the inevitable “elders” who set the rules and officiated any disputes. Just to be clear, there was no “club” involved in these activities – just a like minded bunch of individuals who liked to gather to enjoy their hobby.
By this time I had established myself as one of the “elders”, along with most of my already mentioned pals – Dommie Dave, Rocket George, Bonneville Bob, “Gordon” Goldie………………
The requirements to be officially recognized as a Ton-Up member were to approach one of the elders [ together with your bike ] and request to be timed along 2 full length passes of the “track” – that being from the Moby Dick to Gosnay’s roundabouts. The inductee would then be given a night to turn up and go for it.
One of the elders would then volunteer to accompany the new guy, following him at 100 mph [+] along at least 2 of the passes – actually there was in addition the length from the lay-bye to the roundabout – see sketch ]. The reason for the 2 full passes was simple – that was what was required to take the “King of the Lay-Bye” crown, and also allowed for a fair crack of the whip as the road was sloped down hill [ slightly ] from the Moby Dick to Gosnay’s. This negated any potential advantage running in one direction. The runs always started on the lay-bye that had the up hill run to the Moby Dick, as it was the shortest and gave the rider the full length of the road to back down to Gosnay’s for the down hill crack, it also meant he had to break the ton on the reverse ride up the slope from Gosnay’s to the Moby Dick. In the event of any traffic interference – the guy would get another run.
So that was how it happened and soon sorted the boys from the men – I say that with complete Political Correctness [ as if I could give a shit ] – given a total lack of female Ton Uppers.
A lot of the time, the runs would come about as a result of someone shooting his mouth off about his 125 mph 250 AJS or whatever. Sometimes, to shoot down the more blatant claims – an “invite” would be sent out from one of us to try out for the Ton. After the inevitable dismal failure – most were never seen again, or if they were, they became a little more modest in their claims. The more intense failed riders would often then build a suitable bike [ or buy one ] that had the 100mph+ potential.
There was also a little known offshoot of the Ton Up club – the “Two Up Ton Up” …………which as the name suggests, involved carrying a pillion passenger whilst doing the Ton ! Only the passenger involved [ usually a bird ] had the bragging rights to be known as a TUTU [ that acronym’s a bit unfortunate ] member, and indeed they were known as “ballerinas” for that very reason.
It was never really that popular as most of us had single race seats anyway ! But never the less, WAS part of the early 60’s scene – I bet you won’t hear that one on “Café Racer” !
So what happened AFTER you became a member ? There always has to be a top dog in any organization whether official or not – someone will always rise to the top of the pile.
And so it was with the Lay-bye Ton Up club. Once you were accepted into the 100 mph gang, you then had an opportunity to shoot out for the top honour of the fastest bike – The “King of the Lay-Bye”.
Rather a long introduction, even by my standards !! But at least it sets the scene for the title of this Tale.
I had gradually risen to the elder status via a series of pretty rapid homebuilt, Tribsas, Tritons, and the odd Norton [ Inter ] or two. That is to say a regular Ton Up club member.
Status wasn’t transferrable from the rider’s “club” bike to another bike – that one also had to prove it was capable, usually a foregone conclusion. Neither was the status sold with the bike when it changed hands – the new owner still had to achieve the Ton under the club requirements.
My first tilt at the Crown was with my ex. race Manx Norton with the Bobby Dodger lights – this is the bike featured in the very first Tale. It was a pretty average off the shelf Manx, in reasonable condition and state of tune – albeit to standard factory specs. I’d been a “lurker” up the Lay-Bye and started to get in with the local crowd and was beginning to be accepted as “one of the boys” and the Manx was well known as being fast on the top end – but would be well out accelerated by a good Bonnie or Rocket up to around 60mph -70mph, when the Manx’ race pedigree started to tell. Everyone knew the Manx was well capable of the Ton, but I’d never officially joined the Ton Up club. Not long after the first Tale [ 1962 ], my riding mates were all egging me on to have a go at the Ton Up. The guy that was my mentor for the run owned a pretty well sorted Goldie [ 500 ] and was in fact used for short circuit racing as well as doubling up as his road ride. What I didn’t know at the time that this was in fact “Gordon Goldie” [ in fact Gerry - but that didn't work well ! ] ] and HE had just taken the crown from a Bonnie. So the Ton Up test was arranged for a Thursday night, after we’d done the rounds of the Caffs for the evening.
Small explanation of procedure – when shooting for membership the run always began from the short uphill drag to the Moby Dick roundabout, involving a full downhill pass, and a full return on the uphill side – finishing in the Lay-Bye opposite. There was also a long [ left hand going downhill ] curve, that a 100 mph+ began to sort out the handling. And so it was on this particular evening with me pulling out with Gordon following. The Manx really came into it’s own given the slight downhill run after the roundabout, and in any event – was the equal of the Goldie in acceleration [ relative lack of ]. Not only did the Manx well and truly blitz the Ton mark [ 120mph ], but was pulling away from the following Goldie, much to Gordon’s displeasure ! Gordon claimed that he was just sitting at just over the Ton to check my progress ……… right.
Pretty pleased with the Manx’ performance and spurred on by Gordon’s whingeing and the lads pushing me – I issued a challenge there and then for the Crown ! Gordon cried off for that night, stating that he had not prepped his bike for a Crown challenge. OK – another night then ? So the dual was set for the following night.
Now here’s where the second set of procedures came into play – when issuing a challenge for the Crown – the challenger had the choice of Lay-Bye to start from. In this instance, the Manx stood a better chance starting off from the downhill Lay-Bye to take best advantage for the lack of initial acceleration, and the long swinging left hand bend where the Manx handling and brakes would start to tell. The same could be said for the Goldie, as they were notorious for getting off the line. Gordon was well aware of the shortcomings of the Goldie on acceleration – and opted to change his final gear ratio [ gearbox sprocket ] to increase his acceleration – as he thought, on the UPHILL stretch. Great – this played right into the strengths of the Manx, as Gordon was unaware until the night that I had opted for the downhill start – although Gordon would have the initial advantage [ ‘ish ] with his shorter gearing – I would be able to use the Manx’ superior top end grunt on the downhill leg being able to brake later - and then the crucial uphill stretch and into the short home straight after the Moby Dick roundabout. And that was about how it happened, with the Manx pulling 5-6 bike lengths as we passed the finish line.
It was shortly after this event we all decided that a nice plaque should be awarded to Ton Up club members to commemorate their achievement. Maurice [ of the Cemetery Tale fame ] was the obvious choice as he had access to the tool shop at Ford’s main Dagenham plant. Ford had a small oval plaque blank that they use for something or other, and Maurice managed to get his hands on a box-full [ around 100 ] and proceeded to get them engraved “Ton Up Club”.
It soon became obvious that a big single was not the tool for the job as they were initially outclassed on acceleration by the big twins – that would then hold that initial advantage to the end. So, I decided it was time for a change – and as I’d been into Tribsas for some time, I decided that was the way to go. My engine of choice was the 500 Grand Prix backed up with a BSA RRT2 gearbox. This was in fact the bike I’d developed for circuit racing, and what it gave away in capacity [ 150cc ] to the big twins, more than made up for in lightness and better braking – generally more nimble.
So this was the successor to the Manx and defended my Crown against all comers for 3 months - seeing off challenges from Bonnies, Rockets, CSRs and the odd Goldie.
Until Rocket George emerged with his Rocket Gold Star. This was a complete surprise, as he’d kept it to himself while continuing to ride his regular [ still quick ] Super Rocket And so it was we were all up a Ted’s one night and in pulled George with his new ride. At this time very few of us had even seen a real Rocket GS. It was a cracking tool, and it wasn’t long before the subject of “how quick” etc. came up – followed equally quickly by George issuing me a challenge for the Crown.
George chose the traditional uphill start as he knew his RGS would have the advantage on the final uphill drag – and it did !! Boy was that bike quick with gobs of torque. The 500 Tribsa was well and truly beaten – by around 8 bike lengths I recall [ damn ]. George was a gracious winner saying that “after all, his bike had 150cc more than the Tribsa”.
George kept the Crown for the remainder of 1962 – again defending against all comers – including a vicious Norvin [ more of this one later ! ] I even had one more go – and again failed – albeit by a smaller margin [ Tribsa now fitted with Amal TT carbs ].
Was I at all bothered by this ? You bet yer ass !!!! So in true stealth style – I bought the first of my ex. Bob Mac Connies. I had by this time got a “cooking” Connie as my everyday ride as the Tribsa had become impractical for road use. I was immediately impressed by the grunt of the thing, it would pull like a train up to 70mph - 80mph – and then keep going ! OK, it didn’t handle nearly as well as the Tribsa and was bloody heavy – but that was just another set of challenges to sort out. It easily burst into the Ton Up club with a blast of 112 mph – bog standard. Not a bad starting point. It was soon put on a serious diet – 5 gallon Goldie tank [ alloy ], GRP AJS 7R seat, siamese pipes with Goldie silencer and binning heavyweight mudguards and associated squitter. I’d just started collecting engine tuning parts – pistons, cams etc., and started work on a spare engine. Now then – brain fade assist. Does anyone remember a US cam maker with the name “Ravesi” or something similar. Their logo was a Roman chariot pulled by 2 horses. They were unusual for the day being a Polydyne grind ?????????? While all this was going on – I had Phil Bishop build me a pair of Borrani rims onto the hubs, which in turn were lightened as far as practical by the judicious drilling of various holes.
This was about as far as I’d got when the first of the ex. Bob Mac bikes came up courtesy of my pal Ted Bloomfield [RIP]. The bike was as it last raced [ Thruxton ] and still had it’s scrutineering [ tech ] tags. That bike was effing quick …….. a genuine 128 mph [ timed at Thruxton ] with blinding acceleration to match. It was the obvious candidate to challenge George. The bike was a real sleeper as it didn’t look any different to a normal road going Connie.
Rumours were around that I was building a demon set of parts for my own Connie, but nobody knew about the Bob Mac bike ! So, when I threw down the challenge for George – he expected me to turn up on my roadgoing Connie that was in the process of being built as I rode – still with the stock motor.
Due to the Production Racing regs – there was not a great deal manufacturers or entrants could do beyond the standard showroom spec., so the Connie looked pretty well standard !! [ see pix from the day ]. I resisted the urge to fit the Alloy tank and seat I had stashed for my own Connie build and turned up on the night with a Connie that to all intents and purposes was a stocker ! George realized something was up on the first short leg up to the Moby Dick – the Connie was already 3-4 bike lengths ahead – that reduced somewhat due to the Rocket’s better handling on the roundabout – but I still held a 2 bike lead after we came out and onto the downhill stretch. That lead simply increased with every yard until I had pulled an 8 bike lead at the Gosnay’s roundabout. That was about where we’d finish up, with George well and truly beaten with no excuses. This time it was my turn to be gracious and admit that my extra 50cc advantage [ 650 vs 700 ] had obviously made the difference !!
Again the Connie resisted all comers for the next 3 months or so …… until THAT Norvin made a reappearance …………….
The Norvin made sporadic appearances at the Lay-Bye, but we never saw him at any of the Caffs we frequented. In fact he was a bit of a loner and unlike most of the lads, was difficult to strike up a conversation with. Eventually the ice was broken and it transpired that he had just gone through a messy divorce [ aged 23 ! ] and didn’t really feel like socializing. The bike was obviously bloody quick, and the ton-up club was a mere formality when he eventually decided to have a go. As he became more of a regular with us and the caffs, ultimately the talk got round to him going for the Crown. He really didn’t seem bothered, and I certainly wasn’t going to encourage him as it was one of the few bikes that would get anywhere near the Connie!
I carried on working on my own Connie project and even devised a method of strengthening the swing arm pivot area of the frame to stiffen it up. That dramatically improved the handling – and was such an obvious mod, you had to wonder whey the factory hadn’t done it ! I was convinced my own effort would eventually be quicker than the Bob Mac bike …………………… however, before I could get it finished – Vincent [ that WAS his name ! ] issued the challenge for the crown. This time we started from the normal uphill run, and by the time we got down to Gosnays we were pretty much even, but as we went round the big roundabout, the Norton chassis and brakes showed their pedigree and he pulled out 3 bike lengths by the time we got to the uphill drag. The Connie pulled him back to a mere bike length by the Moby Dick roundabout – but again, the Norton’s superior chassis [ and brakes ] gave him the edge and he again opened out a 3 bike lead which he held to the finish. Certainly not embarrassed, but I was determined to get the crown back !
So, work went on double-time on “my” Connie with the engine alone taking 2 week’s to prepare – every item was blueprinted and polished – the con-rods had a brighter shine than most people had on the outside of their engines! The bike was nearly finished, although I resisted the urge to rush anything. The Alloy Goldie tank ended up being highly polished, with the rest of the “tins” being painted in the traditional Constellation Burgundy – Looked the bollox. With my stiffened frame, I decided to fit race tyres, and a trip to my pal Tom Kirby bagged me a set of hardly run in Avon GP’s [ ex. Bill Ivy no less ! ]
By this time most of my pals knew about the Connie project, and weren’t at all surprised when I sold the ex. Bob Mac bike to one of the lads up the Lay-Bye.
Before all this took place I approached Vincent and told him I would be calling him out in a few weeks time with my “new” bike.
Vincent – still a bit of a loner – did accompany us on our weekly rides down to Southend and it was on one of these outings that Vincent had the run in with the Daimler Dart [ see “Crispy Daimler Dart” Tale ].
Then – he just disappeared from the scene for a couple of weeks – in fact disappeared full stop. None of us knew him that well, but one of the lads had been to his Mother’s house where he had gone back to live after his divorce. Of course there was much piss taking that he was shitting himself at the thought of my upcoming challenge ! Eventually one of the lads said he was going in that general direction at the weekend and would call in to see him.
Well he soon wished he hadn’t – turned out Vincent had crashed his bike on a dead straight road into a bridge at around 100mph. It was never proved, but he was seriously depressed after his divorce and his Mother was convinced he’d crashed deliberately.
After that, the Lay-Bye Crown didn’t seem so important any more and as we couldn’t work out how to start over – we canned it [ end 1963 ].
RIP - Vincent mate.
Norvin - I've selected pictures which are as close to the owner's bikes as possible
Rocket Gold Star - just like George's !
Typical Tribsa - mine had no rear mudguard and a 7R seat - and the Grand Prix engine.
My actual Connie with Bob Mac aboard [ Thruxton ? ]
