A Monthly Publication of the Vintage Motorcycle Club Johannesburg, South Africa
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A monthly publication of The Vintage Motorcycle Club Johannesburg, South Africa. Volume 29. No 2. February 2015. CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE: After a break of almost six weeks, it’s time to get our proverbial rear ends into the swing of motorcycling again. There are a number of important events taking place over the next 2 months. The BIG one is the 2015 DJ. Ian Holmes and the team are working against all odds to ensure a safe and enjoyable event for everyone. Let’s all try to avoid the typical South African mentality of “leaving it to the last minute”. Entries for the DJ close on the 31st of January (yes, that is only a few days away!). Please get all your details together and submit your entry forms to Gwyneth and ease the admin burden. All forms are available on the VMC website, under events. Scrutiny opportunities prior to the DJ weekend are being held at the VVC premises at 3 Athol Oaklands Road on Sunday, 22 February and again at the CMC premises on the corner of Power and Refinery Roads, Germiston on Sunday, 1st March. On Sunday, 8th February, CMC is hosting the Pre DJ & Autumn Rally. The event is a Regularity Trial over 160 kilometres starting and finishing at the CMC Club House, Germiston. Again, all forms are available through the VMC Events page. Can we try for a big VMC contingent at this important ride in preparation for the DJ. Good luck to all our members that will take part in these events, we have a tradition to uphold of “bringing back the Silverware!” Safe Riding Pierre. 1 Edward Turner By Ken Wiggins Edward Turner—designer of the Ariel Square Four, Daimler V8 engine & the world beating Triumph Speed Twin —was finally awarded a coveted Blue Plaque in recognition of his service to the motorcycle industry. The plaque was unveiled on Sunday 25 October 2009. Blue Plaque unveiled in 2009 at Turner’s former residence, 8 Philip Walk, Peckham, London SE15 Edward Turner Voted by the people. That's what it says on the plaque, and that's exactly what it means. By the people. They don't, after all, hand out Blue Plaques to all comers. To get one, you have to really deserve one—and that means more than unearthing a hitherto undiscovered dinosaur, or designing a wind up heart pacemaker, or doing any of a million other things to put yourself on the map of outstanding human achievement. To be awarded a Blue Plaque in the United Kingdom, you need to have a groundswell of people pressure behind you—either from members of your professional or society, or simply from the common man. Most importantly, though, you need to be dead. Edward Turner, arguably the greatest motorcycle designer that Great Britain ever produced, fitted the criteria and was finally recognised by the authority under their own "Blue Plaque scheme" as a man of outstanding achievement, and it was people power that put him there. Erum Waheed, a Triumph owner, barrister and "elusive" member of the Mighty South London Triumph Owners Club felt that Edward Turner—or ET, to those who knew him—deserved to have his name up on the bricks, and sought support from pretty much anyone who could put some muscle behind the fulcrum of official local government approbation. One thing led to another, and soon Southwark Council recognised that they had another live one on their hands, so to speak, and threw a borough historian into the mix. And before you knew it, the house at 8 Philip Walk, London SE15 (where ET lived and worked in the 1920s) was rediscovered—along with a workshop building at the rear. With that, the remaining cogs and gears fell into place. Much has been said about Edward Turner; tales of his temper and petulance and inability to gladly suffer fools. Others decry his achievements citing more worthy motorcycling candidates for the Blue Plaque treatment. But the fact is that there's no progress without a little friction, and in his time Edward Turner made more progress than anyone else in the British motorcycle industry. His designs, flair and intuitions seeded a generation of motorcycles not only from Triumph but from rival manufacturers including Ariel, BSA, NORTON AND AMC. Edward Turner's legendary 500cc 5T Speed Twin of 1937 was the most exciting motorcycle of its age, a bike that metamorphosed into the 650cc Triumph twin that set the world alight in 1956 when, piloted by Texan tornado Johnny Allen, it hit 214mph at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA. The 1959 650cc T120 Triumph Bonneville, capitalising upon that success, was an instant hit and became one of the most famous motorcycles of all time. Under Edward Turner, Triumph was always a profitable, 2 successful and happy firm. In hard CASH terms, the company brought home a fortune in much needed Yankee dollars during the post-war "export or die" years, and ET also turned a worthy but otherwise unremarkable British motorcycle marque into an international icon. Edward Turner's unique ability to bridge the gulf between engineering, styling and marketing far and away puts his star at the top of the tree. Turner was born on 24th January 1901 in Southwark, South London, the third of seven children. Edward served in the Merchant Navy as a radio telegraphy officer from 1916. In the early 1920s he bought Chepstow Motors in Peckham Road, South East London, which was a Velocette agency. By 1925 he had designed his first motorcycle engine; a geared OHC 348cc single. Within two years another machine, built to a similar design, had been completed and was known as the Turner Special. In 1928, the Ariel Square Four; a compact 500cc unit with twin (geared) crankshafts and a one piece cylinder block, appeared. Ariel, under the control of Jack Sangster and with Val Page as its Chief Designer, saw the potential in the 500cc four-cylinder engine and promptly offered Edward a position in the firm. Working under Val Page, Turner further developed the Square Four. It was first shown at Olympia in 1930. By 1936, Turner moved from Ariel to Triumph and was now Chief Designer—also with Jack Sangster in control of the firm. Triumph's existing range of 250cc, 350cc and 500cc Singles (designed by Val Page—who had spent four years at Triumph before moving to BSA) — were revamped into the more sporting Tiger 70, Tiger 80 and Tiger 90 models. And in 1937, the legendary 498cc, 27bhp 5T Speed Twin was unveiled. In 1949 the 649cc 6T Triumph Thunderbird appeared; essentially an enlarged Speed Twin. Ten years later, in 1959, the T120 Bonneville was launched. By this time, Edward Turner had already made a serious and positive impact on the American market which was buying every Triumph they could get - supply of bikes to the USA was, apparently, carefully controlled by ET to avoid saturating the market and thereby lowering the price. When BSA group owned Triumph and Sunbeam, after 1960, Turner visited Japan and was mildly shocked at what he saw. The Japanese motorcycle industry was clearly gearing up for a full scale assault on the west, and Triumph—along with the other British manufacturers—was ill-prepared. Edward Turner resigned in 1963 as Chief Executive of BSA-Triumph. He retained close ties with Triumph until his death in 1973. He lived through tumultuous times beginning with the Edwardian era, passing through two world wars, a depression, and some of the biggest political cock-ups Britain has ever made. Throughout, he maintained his focus and served both his country and British industry, and made an indelible mark on the world of motorcycling. Today, Triumph has re-emerged as one of the most prized brands in the motorcycle arena - and it was largely Edward Turner's drive, energy, enthusiasm and sheer genius that made it so. ADELAIDE TO DARWIN RALLY 2014 An Adventure submitted by John Wightman The Veteran Car Club of Victoria organises a biennial rally for veteran vehicles and following on the very successful Perth to Sydney event, in 2012, the organisers selected Adelaide to Darwin as a suitable route to follow in the wake of a previous epic. The event is open to two wheelers as well, and so it was, that on the 3rd of August, in the middle of our mild, southern hemisphere winter, 35 veteran cars and 23 motorcycles departed from the Birdwood Museum, in the hills just to the north of Adelaide, at approximately 34 degrees south in latitude. Organiser Mark McKibben and his wife, drove a magnificent 1909 Sizaire Naudin. In the pack were five Western Australian riders, Greg Boothey on a 1911 Triumph, Dave Alderson on a 1913 Triumph, Graeme Hammond on a 1918 Indian Powerplus and myself on a 1929 DKW, 3 300cc single. I was able to convince the organisers that my motorcycle, though not veteran, was slow enough and old enough looking to not raise eyebrows along the route, nor perturb fellow participants. The fifth Western Australian rider, Neil Bromilow, very graciously supported a 1912 Rover, to be ridden by a pair of young Victorian women, whose elderly father passed away in 2013 and who had almost completed the preparation of the machine for the event. Neil, an owner of a 1912 Rover himself, brought his own bike along and it was used on a couple of occasions, when the entered bike was out of service, pending repairs. Graeme Hammond and his 1918 Powerplus, Coober Greg Boothey and his 1911 Triumph, Coober Pedy, S.A Pedy, S.A.