Page 1 Paradise & Gell has been located on Michael Street in Peel since 1974. Here you will find a wide range of furnishings to enhance any living space. Whether you are looking for something contemporary or a more traditional piece, then look no further than Paradise & Gell. Page 2 Contents Page 2 Secretary's Notes Page 3 Chairman's Chat Page 4 YBN “Turning Japanese" Page 7 MGP Memories Page 14 New Members Page 15 Floggers Corner Page 16 Trials Results Page 20 Book Review - A stupid thing to do and An Alpine thing to do Page 22 Second Jurby Test Day Page 23 A Moment in Time & Where is it now? Page 24 "Go for it" - Noel Pope Page 30 Rider Profile No. 25 - F. L. Frith Page 31 Stanley Woods & the DKW Lightweights Editor: Harley Richards [email protected] Cover Picture:- Details of the riders, machines and the year have been lost in the mists of time but where else could this be but the Isle of Man? Photo by Amulree Page 1 Secretary’s Notes Hi Everyone, A rather short Secretary’s Notes this time as I was delayed in the UK due to weather, and consequently everything has got behind. The recent Jurby track day was held in good weather and was well attended. We obviously need to repeat it in 2015 as it has proved to be very popular with our members. The TT Rally and the MGP Rally are well into the planning stage and will hopefully attract more entries than ever, although I understand that ferry crossings are now scarce at popular times for the MGP and even harder to get for TT and this may well affect our entry numbers. Watch out for the advert in Jan/Feb Old Bike Mart!! Additional support for the MGP Rally is a pop up Museum by the National Motorcycle Museum and Footman James, this will be featured at the Festival of Jurby. To safeguard the Committee against litigation, the Festival of Jurby is set to become a limited liability company and will be called the “Motorcycle Festival of Jurby”. Also, the event has attracted a posse of racing Rotary Nortons, plus up to a hundred BSA Gold Stars will be celebrating their anniversary and many, many celebrities have pledged attendance already. Lots to look forward to. Don’t forget the Hangover Run on December 28th, starting from Tynwald Inn at 12 noon. The finish will be finalised in the next few days and will be on our Section web site, or give me a ring closer to the time on 878242. Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Tony Printed by Peel Copy Centre Tel: +44 (0) 1624 843889 Page 2 Chairman’s chat Seasons greetings and a happy and prosperous new year to you all. 2014 proved to be a good year for motorcycling and our Section, with 2015 promising more interesting and enjoyable events for you all to enjoy. In this issue of Vintage Mann you will find a copy of a survey which I would like you to complete as honestly as possible, it's anonymous and all individ- ual comments will be confidential. Hopefully it shouldn’t take to long to answer but we do feel this is an important step in making sure the Section delivers what you, its members, want going forwards. Please use the en- closed stamped, addressed envelope to return the survey. The survey has been produced with grateful thanks to Alastair Alexander (Scottish VMCC rep), and Gary Corlett. I would also like to thank all of our committee members for their commit- ment over the year and especially to Joann and Harley for the production of our excellent local magazine. A great deal of hard work is carried out seamlessly behind the scenes on your behalf. Richard Did You Know? It is difficult for some of us to think of a Honda Gold Wing as a Vintage bike, but early versions have no trouble in complying with the 25 year rule. At almost 900 lb (408 kg) ‘fully-dressed’ and fuelled, the Aspencade version certainly had a presence when ridden two-up. Back in 1985 a tester wrote: “It takes a certain style and class to ride a Gold Wing Aspencade, and look as though it is yours by right. We didn’t have it. Our legs are too short”. David Wright Page 3 Yellow Belly Notes Turning Japanese I answered the telephone a while ago and was asked “Are you going to the Stafford show in October?” This is not an unusual question but when I replied that I was only going for the Sunday, things became somewhat odd. The question was being posed by Gerry Daine, who went on to say that he would like a bike to display on the British Historic Racing stand in the “GP Paddock” at the show. Gerry, for those of you who don’t know him, is the Obergruppenfuhrer of all things racing in the Vintage club, and was asking me to provide a Japanese race bike! He said that he would pick it up on Friday and return it on Monday - and that it would be on display to demonstrate the Club’s commitment to the new class on the grid for 2015. I said yes, and then later let it sink in. As a member of the VMCC for a number of years I have my own stereotypical view of the membership - elderly male riding a British single from the fifties, on a club run to a country pub, wearing a fluorescent Sam Browne belt and Derri boots. I know I’m in the wrong and I apologize immediately, but that is the picture I have in my mind. I certainly qualify for the elderly male part but have never been on a club run in my life. If I have this right, to participate in a club run, a bike must be a minimum of 25 years old. Well I have a bike that I use regularly on the road which qualifies. It is a 1987 350 c.c. power valve Yamaha. Pic 1 Your Lincolnshire correspondent nipping down to the shops.) However if I were to use it to turn up one Sunday morning to the square in Market Rasen, to join the boys of the Mid - Lincs section, I would be made welcome (by some) but feel that I would be rather missing the point. Page 4 Pic 1 Anyway, once at the Classic Mechanics show at Stafford I headed to the Bonhams’ auc- tion and had a look at some MV Agusta race bikes, which turned out to be mainly bitzas. Outside in the “GP Paddock”, there was my ’72 Yamaha next to a Roger Moss Scott (Pic 2), proving that, in engi- neering terms at least, nothing is new under the sun. The bike that lays claim to be the quintessential “boy racer” of the 80’s was, in fact, done so much better in Shipley in the Pic 2 30’s. Ho hum! Page 5 Gerry told me that the Yamaha had been well received and the club wanted the bike for the Newark show in January, but I will make sure to take my Greeves Oulton along as well, just in case. Pat Sproston. Louth, Lincolnshire P.S. How’s this for commitment? (Pic 3) This Enfield will be back on the grid next season. Pic 3 Where is it NOW? Does anyone know the whereabouts of a BSA 500 that was bought by someone on the island around 1980? It came from Reading and its UK plate was RD 3952. The daughter of the gentleman who owned it has discovered some photographs which might be of interest to the current owner. All leads to Tony or myself please. Thanks. Harley Page 6 MGP memories I competed in the Manx Grand Prix between 1974 and 1983, riding various British 4 – strokes, and, although I didn’t have any real success- es, I thoroughly enjoyed my years racing on the island before a young family meant it was time to hang up the leathers and call it a day (Pic 1) Time moves on and this year I found my- self with an opportuni- ty to enter my late father’s Norton Inter- national (named “Boanerges” after TE Lawrence’s Brough) in the Vintage Parade. I took the entry with some trepidation – would I still remember the course? Would I be at one with my fa- ther’s bike – after all, Pic 1 it had spat me off once before? Come the day of the Parade I found myself in Pit Lane warming the Norton up – the cacophony of noise from the other exhausts gave me goosebumps! Looking down towards Bray Hill was daunting though and memories of my racing days came flooding back – the dry mouth, the racing heart beat – and then the flag dropped and we were off! On the move, my anxiety vanishes and is immediately replaced by the memory of me and my Dad waiting at St Ninian’s cross roads for the arrival of Bob McIntyre and John Surtees in 1957 (Pic 2). Gilera leading Agusta - the sight and sounds so fresh it felt like yesterday. Page 7 Pic 2 Heading down Bray Hill, I notice the rider in front move to the middle of road. The racing line comes back to me and I head for the right hand curb at the bottom of the hill, avoiding a very brave (and hopefully well paid!) photogra- pher.