Beachcomber's Tales from the day

Forest Green - that's the one Hoof.

The bike shown is the "De-Luxe" version with the additional chrome on the tank, from memory Father's was all painted, even the mudguards.

Just to finish off, when I got the ES2 back eventually, it was spare as I'd already got the Dommie for the Triton conversion for my pal. Due to the time lines, I'd already ripped the motor out of the Dommie before the Easy Two came back, but that motor was so nice, I swapped it into the Easy Two and built it up as a replica Dommie Racer ::)- albeit with the larger frame. That bike was as nice as any of the Tritons in our area - and faster than most.
 
Off in 2 weeks for our first break this year to Saxony .......got a couple of tales swilling around in my memory banks for my return at the end of the month.
 
So, chill break to Saxony over and back to dear old Blighty - rain, cold, etc. !

A bit different to the 20 degree [c ] and clear blue skies we had in Reichenau.

Anyway, here's another gentle tale ................

Beachcomber’s Tales from the Day.
“Disastrous Day out at Duxford
– never use Aerolastic straps to hold your fuel tank on” May 2012


In the early –mid Sixties the NSA [ National Sprint Association ] secured the use of several redundant WW2 air bases to hold sprint meetings. For those unaware – sprinting was / is generally over a ¼ mile [ sound familiar ?] and in those days used reasonably sophisticated timing apparatus and was you against the clock. However, in order to introduce more spectator interest bikes [ and cars / 3 wheelers ] would “race” in pairs – although the outcome was still based on timing, unlike later Drag Racing. We would also run in the rain, although when times got down in the 10 second ranges – common sense prevailed!

Primarily I was a design engineer and although I’d built 50 + Café Racers by that time – the engineering / tuning side was of real interest. My Sprinting career had begun much earlier [ and illegally ] after a girlfriend’s Father spotted my talents lay in an engineering direction, rather than the academic path my education had taken me. He actively encouraged me into all aspects of engineering, including forays into his business’ drawing office during my school Summer holidays. The company was “Aerospray” [ still in business ] and manufactured all manner of spraying equipment. I was also lucky enough to also spend time in their painting lab. during the same holidays and was taught the rudiments of spraying. Strange though, although he encouraged me [ even bought a Velo for me ! ] he would not allow me to take his Daughter on my road bike. Anyway the result was the Velo was turned into a reasonable Sprinter, I think he enjoyed the process as much as I did as he had no son of his own to “bond” with. Many parts were made up in the Aerospray workshops, the only stipulation, I had to draw them up to the satisfaction of the chief Draughtsman. I also sprayed the bike components under the supervision of their factory foreman – invaluable experience. I spent some time in the machine shop polishing all the internals within an inch of their life !!! Regrettably I didn’t pick up any of the other skills – lathework, welding, etc., only so much time and at 16 years old, I had also to look after my girlfriend’s needs !!

That sowed the seeds for my future forays into Sprinting, and later - Drag Racing.

Anyway, back to Duxford. My own Sprinter was in the process of being built – 350cc triumph Tiger 90 motor with reversed head – so we all decided to take a ride to Duxford to spectate at the weekend’s meeting. We were all anxious NOT to miss a meeting, as our hero George Brown [ Vincent Nero ] was tapping at the doors of the 9 second bracket – yes I know that sounds slow now …………… There was also some young upstart called Alf Hagon, who had brought his talents over from his successful Grass Track racing and used some of the grass track principles to build his 1000cc JAP sprinter. He was also running very low 10’s and it was a case of which one would break into the 9’s first.

We all met up at the Owl early morning so we’d arrive in plenty of time to catch all the action. Nine of us in total, including Dave on his recently built Goldie. Now Dave was almost another Roy, not so accident prone – but not a good rider and would often end up falling off for no apparent reason. Because of this he was also a nervous rider and would generally end up as “Tail End Charlie” on runs.

No different on this particular day, I was riding a Triton that I’d just built for a guy and was running it in / snagging it before delivery. I’d ordered a stainless tank hold down strap [ a la Manx ] from a friend, but unfortunately it didn’t arrive in time, so the ubiquitous Aerolastic luggage strap [ 2 actually ] was pressed into service to hold the tank on.

The route to Duxford took us on from the Owl across rural Essex with some beautiful lanes to ride. Dave was soon left well behind, but he knew the way so we weren’t too bothered. About a mile or so from Duxford there was a railway crossing with level crossing gates, and needless to say we arrived at just the wrong time as a train was due to pass. We all pulled up to wait for the gates to open, when Dave – unaware of the hold up around the corner came hurtling into the mass of bikes! There were bikes everywhere and we really feared that some would be really damaged – however, my Triton was hit first and the violent forward jolt was enough to dislodge the tank and send it over the other guys and onto the railway banking – which was fortunately grass. Dave was given a round of fucks for his incompetence, but when we sorted the mayhem out there was only superficial damage – the worst being my pal Mick’s newly built Ton Ten which had the rear lamp and mudguard destroyed. Dave’s Goldie suffered a front wheel puncture, but other than a few minor scratches here and there everyone and more important – the bikes were OK.

After running repairs to get Mick roadworthy and Dave’s puncture repaired, we replaced my tank with the Aerolastics and we were ready to set off again.
We arrived at the meeting with no further dramas, other than Mick complaining of severe pains in his side.

The second disaster occurred on the strip – “Stormin” Norman [ Dennis ] had built a supercharged Ariel Square 4 sprinter, which sounded the absolute biz and everyone was certain he’d give George and Alf a run for their money. He got settled on the start line and proceeded to wind the revs up and the sound was absolutely deafening – then – boom, the engine grenaded in awesome fashion sending bits of innards in all directions, scattering those next to the start line in rapid fashion. One part [ piston ?] ended up in the adjacent car park , smashing the windscreen on a car !

Alf Hagon then proceeded produced his new secret weapon to chase the 9’s. These were the days before slipper clutches and we only had 4” wide Avon Slicks, so smoking ¼ mile runs were the order of the day, using the tyre as a clutch. In order to break traction earlier and get the wheel spinning [ Alf used a 2 speed box ], the crew had built a device that acted as a crude paddock stand and the rear wheel was raised and the engine revved to god knows what in first gear and the stand quickly dropped. Needless to say this was banned after a couple of starts.

Memory fades now and I can’t remember whether this was the meeting that Hagon broke into the 9’s – but he DID beat George to it.

The third disaster – they always go in 3’s so my Granny said – on the way back Mick had to stop as the pain in his side was getting worse, and we persuaded him to go straight to the local hospital, where a cracked rib was diagnosed ! After he had been strapped up, they were going to arrange for an ambulance to take him home – “No need the bike’s outside” brought incredulous looks from the nurses. They insisted that he take an ambulance – so we smuggled his riding gear outside and he simply slipped out while nobody was watching – and rode home ! I DID kickstart his bike for him though…………………………….

The Triton ? Quick respray on the tank and you’d never know !

Yes it WAS that meeting 9.595 .....

ah3.jpg
 
Why haven't you been on Top Gear yet? It seems almost every historic racing thing to happen on the Island, you were a part of. The work you did 50 years ago echoes today with motor sports...

Makes me look around and go WTF am I doing.
 
Rat,

it's just a fortunate state of affairs - people of my era [ like Hoof ] missed out on the horrors of WW2, we missed military conscription by a whisker and bikes and parts were giveaway cheap [ and fuel ! ].

The rest is - take your chances when they arise.

If I were to impart just ONE bit of advice, it would be "go for it", worry about the consequences later.

Believe me if you adhere to that philosophy you WILL have your own Tales to pass down for the next generation - hell, we're counting on you young whippersnappers !!
 
BC is right. "A fortunate state of affairs". I wound up in Ireland at that time because I was drafted here in the U.S. But I was 4F'ed (unsuitable for military service) because I had a form of polio as a child and it was classified as a recurable disease. At tha time being 4F was as bad as being 1A (suitable gun fodder). Viet Na was all the rage but I had no interest in going. Still don't give a rats about the place. But the problem was nobody would hire you because as 4F there must be something wrong with you. Pumping gas for a buck an hour wasn't my idea of fun (or a career). I side with Ben Franklin's quote. "there's no such thing as a good war or a bad peace".

My Dad who grew up in Ireland, filled my head with stories of racing on real roads. So I decided to give it a shot. Supposed to be for a year or two but turned into 15. It was a whole different world then. Like the drag racing BC mentioned. People had their own ideas as to what was a good engine or they tried different things. And more importantly were allowed to try different things. If you look at virtually every racing organization today the rules are such that variation or innovation are strictly forbidden. Moto 2 and 3 are a perfect example. I watched Moto 3 yesterday and all the riders are skinny little kids. I figure in a year or two you'll see emaciated 10 year olds on the machines. As everything is equal the only way to save weight is get skinnier kids

I have seen a photo or two of 'Stormin' Norman's blown Ariel. And read of its explosion. And followed the exploits of Hagon, Brown, Higgins etc. as well as the racers here.

Parts were cheap and cheerful. I laugh when I think back about buying a slimline featherbed for 25 pounds on condition that I take a 500T Norton engine as well. Or the photo of Jeff Smith setting off to defend his world motocross championship. His defense consisted of a car with the works bike on an open trailer, one mechanic and the spare parts thrown in the back seat. Definitely different and happier times.
 
After the recent sad news about Shelby, I have decided that a tale devoted to him will be my personal tribute, including some exclusive photos.

It will concentrate [ maybe there will be some others ] on the events during the 1994 Le Mans 24 Hour Race - the week before and the event itself.

I'll make it late in the year as it will be quite a tale, probably 3-4 times the length of my usual Tales. Also, I want to leave a reasonable time for personal grieving.

There'll be a couple of Bike related Tales in the meantime -

"Start out on the Connie - come back on the train" and
"What happens when you collect two Moto Parillas in a Renault R8"
 
Have not heard of Moto Parillas before ..... googled it and wow ......... they're a bit special aren't they!
 
For shame Erskine! High cam Parillas were the stuff 13 year old's dreams were made of. K&N (before they went into filters) had one in their shop and I would ride my bicycle there on a Sat. and lust at it. Then one day it was gone. I only saw a couple of others here in SoCal.

P.S. BC. A long time friend in Ireland sent me some photos of various friends on vintage runs etc. This was in the bunch. Turvey Ave. around 1971. Should have kept it this way.
roadmanxturvey1975.jpg

By weslake at 2012-04-27
 
Our local bike breaker Guru was a guy called Ted Bloomfield, a real character and he became a good mate over the years. He had an old Victorian house which he used as his base, and every floor, nook and cranny was filled with bike bits - and I mean 1000's of parts. The amazing thing was that he knew exactly where to find a part when asked !
Complete and almost complete bikes were kept in what was the living room and yard - you couldn't make this place up.

This is the guy that I bought several Connies from - including the ex-Bob Mac Thruxton. In fact he always used to call me first when he had a new one in, as I was almost inevitably a buyer. He also said, that I was the only one mad enough to have them!

So what's that got to do with Parillas?

It wasn't until many years later - when a magazine did an article on him that I found out he was the original Moto Parilla importer for the UK ! This was when he had swish modern premises in East London - another fact I never knew. At the time of the upcoming Tale I had just swapped an old featherbed rolling chassis for a complete running Parilla ! I was going through a bit of an Italian phase at the time having the 200 Duke and a Garreli [ 180cc ?? ]. In honesty they were far too small physically for my size - no 30lbs of excess flab in those days, but I was still a big lad ! What appealed about the Parillas was the Swiss watch like quality of the parts - everything was "crafted" - not just simply pulled out of a universal parts bin. I remember the control levers were exquisitely made - alloy of course.

At the time I didn't relate the dealer's decal on the rear mudguard "Bloomfields of London" to Ted !

Handled [ and stopped ! ] a dream and was pretty quick too, even with my bulk it would outrun most mundane Brit bikes up to 500cc.

When Ted found out I'd got the bike, he put me in touch with the owner of the two in the Tale. He also gave me a load of original dealer / importer literature and manuals.

That pic is pure nostalgia Hoof !!
 
Beachcomber - glad you're keeping these coming, we all surely appreciate the stories!

Wanted to tell you that I kept up my end of the bargain - I said if you kept bringing tales, I'd send money:

L95Hrl.jpg


If anyone isn't aware, Beachcomber is an internet salesman these days through DWMS racing.

Looking forward to future installments.
 
As we're in Moto Parilla mode at the moment I thought I'd dedicate the upcoming tale to my involvement with the marque -"What happens when you collect two Moto Parillas in a Renault R8".

A few points of explanation would be in order - for those not familiar - the Renault R8 was a small family saloon, rear engined and with a small boot [ trunk ] at the front.

The car was waaaay ahead of the English offerings [ 1963>] as it had independant suspension all round, 4 wheel disc brakes and radial tyres all as standard. I raced the Gordini version [1300cc ] of this model and built several specials fitted with the R16TS crossflow engine [ 1600cc ].
Tale coming up in the next few weeks ...........

Here's the car in question - Gordini version. This was after we'd blagged our way onto the closed race circuit at Le Mans for a few laps around the Bugatti circuit. That's the circuit the GP boys used at the weekend - when Rossi wiped Stoner's nose ......

img015-1.jpg
 
"Rossi wiped Stoner's nose"? Is that politically correct seeing that Stoner just announced his retirement? Aren't you supposed to be heaping praise on him? But wasn't it a beaut if a nose wiping?? I thought Marco's death had taken the edge off of Rossi (and if it had I wouldn't blame him). To see the old Rossi back again was a delight to the eyes and the soul.
 
Swivel said:
BC would forgive CS all his sins if he was from Britain with a little black storm cloud following him all around hovering over his head...Gardner,Doohan,Stoner,etc Young,McConnell,Johnson,etc....Sing along kids:"some of these things belong together.....Whats the answer children?"...Thats right!: The mere spawn of convicts.Like the rebels of King George they just don't know their place.....The old Rossi,is like gone forever.....

Swivel, you need to see a shrink to get that chip off your shoulder. ;) ;)
 
I'd forgotten just how small they were !

This one was shortlisted for Classic Bike magazine's Reader's rebuild of the year [ one of 10 ].

Not entirely orginal - but close.

There was a real "wow" story attached to this one. The guy bought the engine with a view to "doing something in the future". long story short - a few years later he decided to do just that and responded to an ad. for a rolling chassis somewhere up North. When he got there he was amazed to find it was the chassis belonging to his engine which had been removed FORTY years before !.

img138.jpg


img137.jpg
 
Swivel, if only you put as much effort into telling others about your motorcycling and related experiences. ::) You do have some don't you ?

You're not a ghost writer for those girlie fiction books by any chance? ;)

The thread here is Tales of the Day - if you don't wish to take part or have no intelligent input, why bother to read them ??? ::) ::) ::)
 
You would think that engine/ chassis story uncommon but more than once, I've read about it happening predominately with old race cars. I can just imagine the look on the guys face when he read that the vin on the engine matched the one on the frame!
 
Garage Rat said:
You would think that engine/ chassis story uncommon but more than once, I've read about it happening predominately with old race cars. I can just imagine the look on the guys face when he read that the vin on the engine matched the one on the frame!

I just re-read the magazine article and it's even more bizarre than just coincidence - like most tales ! Apparantly the guy bought the engine because "It looked nice" - he didn't even know what a Moto Parilla was at the time.

I must say that the bikes were exquisitely made, even down to mundane things like controls. Inside the engine was equally Swiss watch like - a real pleasure to work on.
 
Sad end on Ted Bloomfield. Did a Google search yesterday to see if I could find out more info on his Parilla sales connections, only to find that he'd died some years ago - another chapter from my youth closed. RIP Ted mate
 
I read this thread over the last two days. I wanted to thank everyone who shared their stories of the good old days. They remind me of the stories my godfather Jeff used to tell me of the past. He was a first order story teller who lead an accomplished life. Living through the depression and WWII taught him to work hard for what he wanted and to play hard when he could. I sorely miss him. Thanks for sharing your memories and helping me to relive some of my own.
 
Back
Top Bottom