A monthly publication of The Vintage Motorcycle Club Johannesburg, South Africa. Volume 29. No 8. August 2015. CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE: Again we seem to bring sad news. On Friday, 10th August Peter de Klerk passed away after his prolonged illness and fight against cancer. To all of his friends, motoring colleagues and family, we want to acknowledge that the VMC has lost another motorsport stalwart and that he will be sorely missed for his knowledge, willingness to help and true dedication to motoring in general. To an issue that is a threat to the existence of our movement and to the pastime of each member. We had to cancel the running of the VMC Winter run because of a total lack of entries. The Magnum Rally is under threat of the same fate because of a lack of entries. People, we need to encourage participation in as many events as we can. If this doesn’t happen our club will not continue. We all need to encourage existing members to participate in activities, especially organised or proposed rally events – which are one of the main avenues for exposure of our club and the other like-minded clubs. Please do your utmost to attract friends, colleagues or even acquaintances so that our numbers can grow. A very important event happens at the club meeting at the end of July each year. Please make every effort to attend the VMC AGM. After all it is your club and you are responsible for the committee chosen to lead us into the coming year. Remember to keep warm, ride safely and encourage as many people you know to become new members. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM) Notice is hereby given that the 2015 Annual General Meeting of the Vintage Motorcycle Club will be held at the Vintage and Veteran Club at 3 Athol Oaklands Road, Oaklands, Johannesburg on Monday, 24 August 2015, commencing at 20:00. AGM Agenda To receive and consider the Annual Financial Statements and the Chairman’s Report for the year ending 30 June 2015. To elect office bearers and committee members for the new financial year. Nominations for the post of Chairman, Vice-chairman, Secretary and Treasurer must be made in writing and must be signed by the persons so nominated. Such nomination papers shall be furnished to the Secretary, prior to the commencement of the meeting mentioned above. It is requested that nominations for the election of committee members be similarly made in writing. To discuss any other business, deemed by the Chairman, to be relevant. Pierre Cronje Chairman (Notice dated 18 May 2015) 1 Obituary for Lloyd du Bois (1924 – 2015) Lloyd passed away on the 3rd of June 2015. (Last month). Not long after the loss of his beloved wife Jane. He was a long-time member of the VMC and a stalwart rider of the early DJ’s and supporter right till the end. Lloyd was a competitive motorcycle racer in the years after the Second World War. Competing with the likes of Borro (Beppe) Castellani and other famous riders of the time on circuits like Alexandra Park, Snell Parade and the Bluff 100. Lloyd in action on his 1937 AJS R7 ohc. His DJ mounts were a Norton CSI and latterly his Levis. (The Levis was last seen on the 2013 DJ ridden by a new owner.) His other interests were vintage cars, he played rugby and was a very useful polo player for the Stony Hills Club. With skilled hands he was able to turn and fabricate an assortment of parts and gadgets in his home workshop. In the last few years he was ever present at the start of the DJ Commemorative Runs helping competitors with last minute adjustments and vending his valuable store of parts and handmade accessories. On the first day he would meet us at the Pietermaritzburg petrol stop to render assistance or offer sound advice to all. He will be missed by all in the Vintage Motorcycle movement. A great loss of another colourful character and true vintage motorcycle enthusiast. He is survived by his son Mark, daughter Gail, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren. CLUB NIGHT 23th June 2015 compiled by Ken Wiggins There were 30 members in attendance at the event during the middle of winter; motorcyclists are indeed a hardy bunch. The evening started with apologies from 11 members unable to be at the meeting. Pierre and Roly then gave us an update on Member’s health. Although we were very pleased to see Kevin Robertson at the club, the list of members with health issues grows longer. We got into the crux of the evening, Kevin Walton asked again for volunteers to assists at the VMC stand at the CMC 1000 Bike Show. A number of people had offered to help and Kevin also asked that people make every effort to attend. 2 The VMC Winter Rally has, unfortunately, been cancelled; this is a very worrying situation not only for the organisers. They had put in a lot of time to plan a route and arrange facilities. By the “close of entries” date only four entries had been received. This makes rallying impossible because organiser’s motivation goes out the window and we are the ones who will suffer in the long run. Please put your thinking caps on to get ideas on how to keep our movement alive! Pierre mentioned that a club run was organised for Saturday, 11 July to the Deneysville Motorcycle Museum. See details of the run in Past Events. A motorcycle was to be shown but as the saying goes “No names, no pack drill” so at least Martin Kaiser is safe on that score. Fortunately, Janusz Gruszka was on hand and he presented a very interesting talk on his speciality of Vapour Blasting which is the latest in metal cleaning trends. The process cleans by flow, not impact, producing a 'soft' finish which doesn’t damage or scour the material. This is particularly beneficial to non-ferrous metal components on veteran, vintage and classic restorations where valuable surfaces are left unscathed. The equipment operates at a pressure of 2 bars that helps to gently “peen” surfaces and reduce porosity in castings. For anyone needing pieces cleaned to a high professional standard, don’t put crank cases in the dishwasher like Pierre did in Gwyneth’s kitchen, get in touch with Janusz. His details are in the Restoration and other Services section towards the end of this publication. After Janusz finished showing the meeting some fine examples of Vapour Blasted motorcycle pieces, results for the Natal classic were discussed. They are now final and are we surprised – this winner is Gavin Walton. The delay in publishing results has added momentum to the need for adding technology to our rallying. According to Peirre, investigations are progressing well incorporating GPS technology into scoring and rally results management. Feasibility of the idea should be tested as a as a pilot project using a few guinea pig riders on the Magnum next month. The raffle draw was met with the usual frivolous banter from the non-winners and with no more formal business to be done general conversation, drinks and tall tales filled the time until the meeting closed. CHANGING SCENE AT 1000 BIKE SHOW submitted by Roger Houghton This year’s 1000 Bike Show organised by the Classic Motorcycle Club (CMC), was held again at the Germiston High School on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July. The show was once again a big success in terms of exhibits and visitor attendance, but it also showed some interesting trends. One of these trends, which is now a growth area worldwide in the world of classic motorcycles, is the growing number of Japanese machines from the 1970’s and ‘90’s that are being exhibited in an environment that was generally dominated by British, American and European brands for many years. Henry Watermeyer’s 1914 Humber Best Stand: Velocette 3 For instance this year the Best Bike on Show in Germiston was an immaculate Yamaha RD350 sports bike with the patented YPVS Power Valve system. The machine was entered by Paul Danvers and had been carefully restored by an enthusiastic team from Bike Craft. The Japanese machines were almost totally dominant the Concours d’Elegance for Street and Custom Bikes, taking 11 of the 14 available awards. The only British motorcycle to win an award in this category was a "Bonneville Spitfire" which took the laurels in the Best Bobber category. Another trend at this year’s 1000 Bike Show was the continued growth in Cafe Racer conversions, with many of the modified machines being new models, not reborn old classics. The 1000 Bike Show has grown from humble beginnings as a small display at the Carlton Centre Centre Court in 1985 to what is now arguably the largest dedicated classic and custom motorcycle show in Africa. The show has moved venue over the years to accommodate more exhibitors and visitors and has for the past 14 years been held at the school. Best on VNC DJ stand: Janusz Gruzela Best Velocette – Kevin Robertson (Excelsior Super X) (Velocette Thruxton) Once again there were more than 400 motorcycles on display in the huge marquee and a host of other machines on show outside, not to mention the hordes of modern motorcycles and trikes that were ridden to the show by visitors and took up all the available parking on the sports fields. The excellent weather certainly played an important role in ensuring a huge crowd, which once again exceeded 10 000 people over the two days.