A Newsletter No 19 2009.cdr - VMCC - Isle of Man

V MINTAGE ANNISELOFMAN SECTIONThe Official Journal of the Isle of Man Section V.M.C.C.Issue 19Sep '09£3.00

Dear Member,The end of August approaches as I write and the big event should be well underway as you read this. Your committee has done an immense amount of work tobring the rally together and I hope that, if you have entered, you enjoy the event.Job is doing his level best to extract copy from me, so I will be brief.Our continuing road run series has not had the good weather of last year, but anumber of hearty souls braved the elements for the full day event, culminatingin a first class spread at Job and Jen's with final numbers tripling as the sun cameout.The barbeque at Dudley's was also well attended and I extend my thanks toeverybody involved.The “Manx” always appears to be a turning point in the year for me and thoughtsturn to autumn and our club night season. Again, we are hoping for a couple ofguest speakers, with one already confirmed which might turn into a two nightevent, so watch this space!If anyone is starting an interesting rebuild over the winter and would like todiscuss it via the magazine, or any other relevant subject, please let Job know.He is always looking for articles. It's your magazine, so please help to make ittopical and interesting.Keep between the hedgesRichard BirchEditorial AdditionJust to confirm Richards request for magazine material. I would like to increasethe local content, so it's up to you. When you are out and about, please do to takea camera with you. You may spot a rare bike or famous face from the bike world,or one of our members out on a run. The main thing is to bear the magazine inmind when you see or hear about something, or are doing some work on yourtreasured possession (no,no, the bike!)Job Grimshaw EditorFront Cover: Eddie Crooks guns his 350cc Manx Norton through Cronk-ny-Monaduring the 1959 Manx Grand Prix. He went on to victory in the Senior race later in theweek. Eddie is the Manx Motor Cycle Club's Guest of Honour at this year's races.

Editorial CommentTony is fully occupied, plus some, with the Manx Rally, so I have steppedinto the breach. The committee are working flat out to make our edition ofthe Manx Rally the best ever. The brand new ‘Festival of Jurby’ which willhave come and gone by now has taken a huge organisational and logisticaleffort.Apart from hundreds of Classic and Veteran machines including the 1929Pendine Brough, Freddie Dixon’s banking sidecar and a never seen before1912 Indian, there was Sammy Miller MBE riding a Gilera, the highlysuccessful Manx electric racer, and sidecar ace Nick Crowe.The JurbyTransport Museum with buses, a steam car and steam wagons, a "ride-in"by the Moddy Dhoo motorcycle club, various car clubs, an autojumble andcar boot sale and childrens amusements. On top of that there were theparade laps! Phew! All credit then to our organisers who strained everynerve to try to make the whole thing a huge success.This year seems to me to be going in a flash. It can’t be old age‘cos I’monly a lad, but nevertheless our winter programme is looming large on thehorizon. Most of the programme is as advertised. However here are twochanges First off it is a ‘Noggin & Natter’ on September 10th at KnockFroy. Then on October 8th, again at Knock Froy, we have a talk by TonyWall entitled ‘All Things Two Stroke’. Should be interesting!I am still looking for more advertisers for your magazine. If you know ofanyone, or have any ideas, just contact me and I will do the rest.Tel 897164 (Answering Machine) jenjobgrimshaw@manx.netStay on board! Job GrimshawVINTAGE ANNMPrinted by Peel Copy CentreTel / Fax: +44 (0)1624 845339

Yellow belly Notesfrom our Lincolnshire correspondentTS//2C – DEVELOPMENTSIn the last issue of Vintage Mann I hinted at the possibility of a Manx GrandPrix ride for the Benelli that raises money for the Joey Dunlop Fund. I amstpleased to say that is now confirmed that on Monday 31 August at 10.15 a.m.Chris Foster will line up for the start of the Post –Classic. This is a greatachievement in such a short time and whatever the outcome of the race, a greatdeal of money has already been raised for the J.D.F. and the whole purpose ofthe exercise realised.thOn June 14 at the Three Sisters circuit in Lancashire, Chris rode my Motobiversion of the 2C to obtain another, off-island track signature, in order tocomply with the entry requirements. Three Sisters is essentially a go-kart trackon the site of a former coal mine and is a tight, short and tricky venue. It must besaid that for some people it is not ideal whilst others see it as a great leveller.Fozzy had practised the bike there once before, in the wet, and was familiarwith its twists and turns. Knowing that all he needed was a finish was not aseasy as it sounded. In fact, Fozzy was faster and more flowing in practice in thePic 1Pat at Cadwell Park

morning. During the race it was obvious that he was much more circumspectand he did a great job of holding back the racer's instinct to compete for everyinch of track. Job done! All that remained was to send in the MGP entry andhope. However to be on the safe side, the owners, John and Neil, had enteredththeir bike into a Vintage Club race at Cadwell Park on Sunday 5 July. I was tobecome much more involved in this outing than I could have imagined.Due to family commitments (birth of little George) Fozzy was unable to come toCadwell but the lads had decided to come over anyway and had brought the biketo put on display in the paddock. The whole entry was to be noise tested andtechnical inspectionwas available onSaturday evening. We Three Sisters Circuit Mapput the bike throughthese pre- racechecks out ofcuriosity and it made102db, which wascomfortably withinthe limit and thescrutineer declaredthe bike safe to race.The only thingmissing was a rider!Signing on thefollowing morningthe only snag wasthat I was going torace with Fozzy'stransponder butusing my ownnumber, 131.The bike felt familiarbut with much moremid- range, and aswe were racing onthe clubman circuitthis was anadvantage. Practicewent well and wewere lookingforward to the first

ace. I had drawn a second row grid place and as the Union Jack fell, nothing! Iraised my left hand, winced and waited. Everybody whistled past me anddisappeared round Coppice. A wire had come loose and had broken at the worstpossible moment.Race 2 meant starting at the back of the grid but this was no bad thing for whatwas really a test ride. The sure handling means that Fozzy will be able to keepthe throttle wide open for sustained periods and his skill will keep the bike onthe correct lines.I was very pleased to have raced it, and was aware of the many sponsors whosupport it, so to Burblin' Bobby, Bethan & Hannah and everyone else involvedin this project, thank you.PS : On their way back to Heysham, John and Neil were spotted having acelebration curry in Hebden Bridge.Pat Sproston, Louth, LincolnshireCrosby Injury Rehabilitation ClinicARE YOU FEELING A BIT VINTAGE TODAY?Pic 4FANCY A QUICK RUB DOWN WITH AN OILY RAG?Do you have any of the following troubles?• Back / Neck problems • Acute or chronic pain• Lack of exercise• Stiff joints• Joint and muscle problemsIf so book in for a service with John Bartonat the Crosby Injury Rehabilitation Clinic!For experienced and expert treatment at very favourablerates give John a call and book your appointment today.Telephone: 01624 851122Mobile: 07624 497889CladrynKermode CloseCrosby, Isle of Man

A Hundred Sections and 3 PintsThat's what I call a trial!!As I've recounted in earlier articles for this fine publication, I was heavilyinvolved in Vintage Racing from the mid 70s to mid 80s. They were halcyondays, with the Club having over 250 riders, full grids of solos and sidecarsover 25 years old, and 'Vintage only' meetings at Brands Hatch, Oulton Park,Donington Park, Snetterton, Mallory Park, 3 Sisters, and Cadwell Park.Ah! Cadwell Park, my favourite. Every year we would have two or threeVMCC meetings there, often over two days with the Velo Owners or theVincent Owners on the Saturday. Remember the half-hour speed trials?Great value for money.In July this year I was across and managed to get to the now re-titled VMCC'Historic Racing' meeting at Cadwell. Three things struck me. Cadwell hasmuch better toilets and other facilities now! Sadly the races currently have tobe bolstered with scooters and classic classes. But the atmosphere at the Clubcircuit hairpin as the outfits and Morgans lock up the wheels is still there!!Roger Allen shows that arena trials are nothing new!

Anyway, I digress. What I was going to talk about was what we Vintage racersof those days, got up to to fill the gaps between road racing…no sniggeringplease!Many of the sidecar racers also entered sprints and hill-climbs. Events such asBarbon, Baitings Dam, Houghton Tower, Curborough offered a somewhat lesshectic sporting event, but we still got our 'speed fix'. When I was passengeringfor Roger Allen he made the sidecar on the Triumph 'quickly detachable' and herode in both sidecar and solo classes at straight sprints, with a proper sprintingslick in the back. Roger could also modify the 650 Triumph with wheels fittedwith knobblies, and changed hand-holds for us to go vintage grass track racing.These were great events, VMCC only or as an invite in a modern meeting. As adispensation to the vintage outfits, we were allowed to race anti-clockwise as itplaced less stress on rigid frames and back wheels. It also looked much morespectacular to see the passengers right out of the chair on the corners. As along-time sufferer with hay fever, this was not my ideal pastime, but I couldjust about do four laps before a fit of sneezing.In the winter we turned to Vintage trials. The Taverners Section of the VMCCis based in the Leicester area and they ran a monthly trials series, much like ourown Section does now. Again, the vintage sidecar crews were to the fore whenit came to competing. Pre-war girder forked bikes were most popular. RogerAllen had a Triumph Tiger 70, Pete Wilkinson on a GTP Velo, Tony Regan a350 Ariel, Pete Robson a Levis and I had a 350 Enfield. Although the sectionswere relatively simple, a few mods were carried out on the bikes, usuallyseeking better ground clearance. Sorry you concours restoration guys…..but weused to cut and weld the frames, weld on footrest hangers, and cut and lengthenthe fork top links.Sponsored by:PLUMBING & HEATINGDesign & installation ofDomestic & CommercialPlumbing & CentralHeating Systems628424www.scs.co.imThe Taverners trials used to be all day affairs withfive laps of ten sections in the morning and thenanother five laps after lunch. And then oneparticularly cold day someone suggested we go tothe pub just down the road to warm up a little atthe lunch break. This then became a regular habitand eventually the Clerk of the Course used tocome and have to get us out of the pub to restartthe trial. Eventually we saw the error of our waysafter a number of damaged machine and highscores that we thought might be attributable to'one too many'. The Taverners Committeeeventually clipped our wings by modifying thetrials to eight laps with no 'pub-stop'!!

The Norton 500T after the TalmagEach January some of us would also enter the Talmag Trial. This wasparticularly popular because it was a classic only trial, had a girder fork classand a sidecar class.In one of Titch Allen's many sheds in Ibstock there lingered a Norton 500Twith a genuine Canterbury trials sidecar. Myself and Roger had used it quiteoften to carry the two of us and a chain saw into local woodland where we hadpermission (I think!!) to saw up dead trees for firewood. We used to then stackthe chair with logs and take them home. I know, I know!! Sacrilege, butvintage bikes weren't coveted then in the way they are now.Anyway, we decided to tart it up and enter the Talmag. A bit of practice locallyat a Taverners trial after we had finished on the solos and we were ready forour first trials sidecar win…...well we won most road races, didn't we?We were in for a bit of a shock. Too high geared, not enough ground clearance,and sidecar way too heavy. Not a problem. The Roger Allen theory of sidecarcompetition came to the fore……just go faster. I spent more time under thesidecar than on it. To avoid grounding out on humps we just took off overthem. The spectators loved it, and Roger never could resist playing to a crowd.We had a great time, bruised and battered we must have finished well back, andit was our first and last trial on the 500T.Steve Woodward

GEORGE BROUGHan innovator?These days in many motorcyclists' minds George Brough is regarded assomeone who merely fitted other manufacturers' components into his owndesigned frame and petrol tank. While, to a point, there is some justification inthis view, in some ways he can also be regarded as an innovator. In the firstplace he virtually invented the concept of the luxury high performance vee- twinmotorcycle for solo riding rather than for sidecar duty.Even before the 1914-1918 Great War when working for his father William E.Brough, he had built several competition models equipped with large capacityvee-twin motors rather than the 500cc, 680cc and 810cc flat twin enginesproduced by his father. With his own machines, first produced for sale in 1921,he made a positive cult following of the big vee-twin design. There are manytales in folklore as to why the 'Superior' suffix was added. Certainly father andson's machines were concurrent, with Willian E. Brough ceasing manufacturingin 1926, a full five years after George produced his first model. It was stronglystated that there was no technical or commercial connections between the twomakes so perhaps family tensions were the cause.In 1919 George left employment at his father's business and claimed hispatrimony amounting to the not inconsiderable sum of £1000. This secured aplot of land in Haydn Road, Nottingham and the erection of a single-storey prefabricatedconcrete workshop. He embarked on building motorcycles before thenew premises were completed and assembled a small number of machines in the

factory of his long suffering father. The first produced was JAP (J.A. Prestwich)engined but Swiss Motosacoche and sleeve-valved Barr and Stroud units werealso used.The first Brough Superiors were considered as somewhat ugly, but appearancewas soon improved by the fitting of Druid front forks and later with George'sown patented Castle forks, which drew heavily on the Harley Davidsoncomponent. George was never averse to copying a good design once somebodyelse had proved it. This thinking also extended to his frame. Rather than designhis own, he made it under patents held by Bentley and Draper whose frame, atthe time, was considered to be one of the most satisfactory. Later for someunknown reason he adopted the inferior plunger system for his final, greatestinnovative design the 996cc Golden Dream of 1938.The Dream never reached production and was the last of a series of BroughSuperior 'Show Stoppers' exhibited each November at the Olympia MotorcycleShow, all of which were one-offs. Previously there had been a transverse veetwin,a transverse vee-four, an in-line four and best known of all, for it did reachproduction, a grand total of 10, a sidecar machine fitted with an enlarged andtuned watercooled Austin Seven engine and gearbox with shaft-driven, closelycoupled twin rear wheels. When asked why he made these hugely expensiveshow models with little or no intentions of producing them for sale, he jokinglyreplied he did so to keep JAP up to the mark! Maybe there was some underlyingtruth behind the humour. During the 1930s the quality of JAP engines sadlydeclined and eventually George Brough, along with H.E.S. Morgan with histhree-wheeler, approached Matchless for replacement power units.

In happier times, Brough and JAP were almost inseparable. From 1923 Broughrepeatedly broke the Brookland's circuit lap records, ultimately held in solo formby Noel Pope at 124mph and the world's fastest, an average of two runs over akilometre. In 1937 Eric Fernihough secured the latter with a speed of 169.7mph.Tragically he lost his life during another attempt, in Hungary, the following year,the fatal crash occurring on the second run. The first run had been covered at anastonishing 180mph.'8mph to 80mph in top' was the slogan for Brough's first model of 1921. Whilstall out top speed was never in the forefront of the company's advertising it wasquietly implied with the model designation such as the famous SS100 whichwas guaranteed in writing by George himself to reach that figure. The SS100model was ridden by factory personnel and if the magic figure was not obtainedthe engine was rebuilt until it was. The SS80 underwent the same treatment toreach its designated top speed. Although top speed was important the true appealof the Brough Superior lay in its ability to cover vast distances at high averagespeeds with excellent rider comfort. Each Brough really was individual, no twomodels being identical, with any details or special features being requested bythe buyer duly incorporated. This naturally made them very expensive. Forexample the second model purchased by T.E. Lawrence (he of Arabia fame) in1923 cost £150 which at that time would have purchased a small family houseoutright. One of the special features requested by Lawrence was a smallerdiameter rear wheel to enable his short legs to easily reach the ground!A form of stage payments was employed. After an initial deposit being paid thebuyer would be invited to attend the factory in Haydn Road, Nottingham to seehis machine being assembled. On that and each subsequent visit furtherpayments were made, thus avoiding a large payment on taking delivery andhelping with the company's cash flow.

The final 'show stopper' the Golden Dream, designed and built with help fromH.J.Hatch, former Blackburne designer, in 1938 represented the zenith ofBrough's fertile mind. A flat, over-square, transverse four engine, in essence apair of flat transverse twins mounted one on top of another with the twocrankshafts geared together, giving as near perfect balance as it was possible toobtain, with a four speed gearbox and shaft drive. Whether or not it would havebeen commercially viable is debateable. A sum of £80,000 to £100,000 tomarket it was estimated. Such thoughts turned out to be purely academic for theoutbreak of the Second World War precluded any further progress.What is not generally known is that in addition to producing the 'Rolls Royce' ofmotorcycles, George also found time between 1935 to 1939 to constructapproximately 85 motorcars. The first using Hudson straight- eight 4168cc sidevalve engine and when Hudson withdrew this unit in 1936, a Hudson engined3455cc straight-six model appeared. The final car, of which only one was made,was equipped with a 4387cc V12 motor in a George Brough designed chassiswith Girling brakes and Ford axles. The vehicle still exists.The Brough Superior Company survived the war. Although machine spare partswere made and supplied and machines serviced by George Brough and AlbertWallis for many years afterwards, George could see the luxury market had gone.He never again involved himself in motorcycle production. During thecompany's existence of 19 years of production, a total of approximately 3048motorcycles were built. George Brough died in 1969.ClubmannPhinik I.O.M.(Ltd)ENGINEERING SERVICESServicing The Islands UtilitiesCoded Welders to ASME IX / EN &-1-92Steel FabricationSpecialised Stainless Steel &Aluminium WeldingStructural Steel WorkBead Blasting engine cases and framesStainless Steel & Aluminium FabricationsEstablished since 1960Douglas 625205UNIT 5 - SPRINGHAM PARKSPRING VALLEY IND EST.BRADDAN IM2 2QU.Fax: 01624 672030 www.phinik.com e-mail: phinik3@aol.com

The History of Motor Cycle RacingChapter Four: Scott and VerdelSCOTT:Just as the Curtiss vee-eight pre-empted Carcano's Moto Guzzi racer, it shouldbe remembered that the Kaaden inspired ML of the late 1950s was very far fromthe first successful two-stroke racer; arguably the machine to beat at the TT inthe pre-Great War years was the Scott, Bradford's finest. "2 cylinder, 2 stroke, 2speed" was its famous slogan.When the TT was moved to the Mountain course in 1911, for the most part itfollowed the route which is still used today - save for turning right at Cronk-ny-Mona and rejoining the present course at the top of Bray Hill. In 1911, the startwas at Woodlands, just after the bottom of Bray Hill; it was re-sited to near StNinian's Church in 1914 and moved to the Glencrutchery Road after the war.Scott entered three special twin cylinder bikes for the 1911 Senior TT, eachfitted with a chain driven rotary valve attached to the rear of the cylinder block.(The design had been granted a patent in March of that year.) The riders, FrankPhilipp, Eric Myers and Frank Applebee, were also kitted out with a novelty:purple coloured leathers. (For his part, De Rosier sported black tights, runningshoes and a woollen hat).Tim Wood poses with his rotary-inlet-valved Scott after winning the 1913 Senior TT.

The exhaust note of the Scotts left an indelible impression on the audience -particularly as they climbed Snaefell - but the results left something to bedesired; two retirements, caused by slipped timing, and Applebee finished last.But a hint of the future came with Philipp's record lap at 50.11 mph on his soletrouble free-lap.The 1911 TT series witnessed the event's first fatality, when the Rudge teamsterVictor Sturridge crashed in practice. The accident occurred outside the GlenHelen Hotel, the team's HQ, beneath the horrified gaze of the Rudge squad'steam manager.In 1912 Alfred Angas Scott hit the jackpot at the TT. He entered two new 486 ccmodels which boasted substantial refinements from the previous year's models,with gear driven rotary valves, newly designed cylinders and reduced watercooling.In the Senior TT, Applebee and Philipp both suffered practice shuntsbut were lying first and second after the first lap, which positions theymaintained despite Haswell's challenge. But on lap four, Philipp's rear tyre blewoff the rim at Ballaugh Bridge, forcing him to stop and make repairs, prior to restartingand finishing in eleventh place. But Applebee continued to record thefirst TT win by a two-stroke; it was the first occasion on which the winner ledfrom start to finish.In 1913, the Scott factory moved from Bradford to the famous Shipley site butits racing exploits continued unabated. For that year's TT series, the organisersdecided that the races would be held over two days; three laps would be run onday one and the machines would then be held under ACU observation until therace was re-stared two days later, with no refuelling or repairs allowed.The 1913 Senior must go down in history as being the only TT to be won by arider appearing in his first race. The rider was Scott's tester, H O Wood. He andbrother Clarrie, another stalwart of the Scott tale, had been educated at BradfordTechnical College where Clarrie was known as "Splinters" and HO was"Timber", abbreviated to "Tim".The 1913 TT machines were very similar to the victorious 1912 models andexternally akin to standard production models. With a record lap on the thirdtour, Wood moved in to the lead at the end of the first day, albeit only 4 secondsahead of Rudge's young star Bateman. But at the re-start Wood encounteredproblems; a flying stone cut a water pipe so he had to stop at the Ramsey pits totake on water and mend a broken petrol pipe, and he had to stop again tobandage the water pipe with tape. But, having fallen back to fourth place, herecovered the lead which he held, to win the race by the slender margin of fiveseconds ahead of Abbott (Rudge). Abbott had managed to overshoot atParkfield, the last corner of the race and the delay certainly cost him victory.

But Scott was not a man to rest on his laurels and for the 1914 Senior TT hebuilt four revolutionary machines. Whereas most machines raced so far weremerely developments of road-going bikes available to the public, these weregenuine purpose built races. The open frame, so distinctive a feature of Scottmotorcycles, had been filled with a triangular petrol tank, with a leather tool boxmounted atop. The engine was still of 486 cc but had been substantially redesigned,with detachable air-cooled heads, two plugs per cylinder; a specialBosch magneto and a Scott designed carburettor was fitted. The gearbox (usingtwo speeds for the TT but with provision for three) was built in unit with theengine.Several features of the design obtained patents in April 1914 including the leafspring saddle. Armed with this missile, Wood, starting first by dint of being lastyear's winner, established a record lap of 53.3 mph from his standing start but,well on the way to victory, eventually came to a halt at Union Mills with,supposedly, an oil-drenched magneto. So the Rudge team had its revenge, asCyril Pullin took the honours.thScott took three racers to the Island - Roy Lovegrove (18 ) and Frank Applebeeth(25 ) were never in the picture - and a fourth bike as a spare. The four bikeswere eventually sold and the remnants of one came into the possession of MattHolder (who had acquired the bankrupt Scott company in the 1950s beforeproducing the Birmingham Scotts). Eventually, the TT model passed from theHolder family to Scott enthusiast John Bentley. The bike was restored by DavidFrank and duly took its place in Bentley's museum at Batley.THE VERDEL:One of the stars of the 2000 edition of Montlhery's Coupes Moto Legende wasentered in the programme as a 1912 Verdel. The mighty 750 cc radial fivecylinder pushrod engine caused a mighty stir with spectators, as rider PatrickSproston took the "fox in the hen coop" (as the French press described it):Then between correspondents as the specialist French magazines reported itsappearance at Montlhery.The bike had never been seen before in public, and some experts hazarded aguess that the motor was of Anzani manufacture. Certainly a five cylinder motorwas not unheard of in France before the Great War. It is beyond dispute that asearly as1908 a five cylinder REP (Robert Esnault Pelterie), reputedly producing35 bhp, was employed as a pacer for cycle record breaking attempts.The Verdel re-appeared at Spa in 2004 and was then acquircd for display in theSammy Miller Museum, prompting further correspondence in the Britishspecialist press.

The amazing and incredibly swift VerdelThe truth is however as follows: The engine was conceived and built in a backyard shed in Clitheroe some two decades ago by a talented engineer. The projectwas revived in the 1990s; the engine was then placed in a frame and, completedwith brakes and mudguards off a bicycle and items culled from a pre-War lawnmower,it was ready to run by 1999.The choice of name came about thanks to the author's late father who, on hisvisits to the battlefields of the Somme, had met Jean Verdel. Jean's grandfatherHenri had founded a firm called Verdel-Vermel in 1894. The firm was one ofPeugeot's earliest agents, selling bicycles, motorcycles and cars from two shopsin Bapaume. In her book "1914. The Days of Hope", popular historian LynMacDonald wrote of Bapaume that "it was there that (the inhabitants of morethan dozen villages and hamlets) went to market........their tools and implementsto be mended at the garage workshop owned by Monsieur Verdel."It may not be of 1912 origin but the Verdel is nevertheless a masterpiece. As isits stablemate, the Packer. Also built in that shed in Clitheroe, the Packer wasdesigned as an American vee-twin board racer of 1908 vintage and is now alsoon display in the Miller museum. Enjoy them both for what they are.Raymond Ainscoe

ANTRIM COAST RUNthth27 & 28 JUNE 20099.00 a.m. Thursday 25th at the Sea Terminal on my Norton 350 c.c. waitingto embark on my trip to Carncastle, five miles north of Larne, on the coastroad, which will be the starting point for each day. I am staying with IanMcBride my good friend of the Northern Ireland section. The first function isthe Friday evening dinner. This is a great time to meet the other riders andenjoy a good night's entertainment with music till about 1.00 a.m. Ian and Istill had to drive twenty miles to his home, a very long day.9.00 a.m. Twenty miles to the start. Sign on and collect our route sheets, nowwe are ready.10. 00 a.m. Seventy bikes all running waiting for the start. Off we go, northalong the coast road to Glenarm through Carnlough. Here we leave the coastroad and start climbing up through the Glen's 22 miles to the top. What a viewyou see of The Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. We then start our way downHarry heels over on the Model 50 Norton

through the villages of Knocknacarry and Cushendun, back on to the coastroad and into the car park for our first comfort stop, 24 miles now completed.Back on the road through Cushendun and now the real test for man andmachine over Torhead ( change down Harry! Ed. ) the most northerly road inNorthern Ireland. Past the Radar Station and on to Ballycastle and a second 38miles comfort stop at the Harbour. Time for that ice cream.On we go again still on the coast road past Kenbane Castle through Bushmills,no time to stop for that whisky! Through Ballvoy village and past the famousDunluce Castle and on to Portrush for our lunch stop at the Royal Court Hotel.Now we have done 56 miles, where is that dinner ?The return run takes us inland through Dervock and Stranocuh and now theScenic route, over the mountain and through the forest to Broughshane at 96miles and a very welcome comfort stop. Is that the toilet block? thankgoodness! On we go again down through one of the Glens of Antrim rightdown to the coast road to Glenarm along the coast to the Halfway HouseHotel. What a great first day, total miles covered for the day 116 and nowanother 20 miles to Ian's home.Quick wash and change, return to the Halfway House Hotel for dinner,entertainment and to receive our finishers award. Another late night, left Hotelabout 1.00 a.m., then yet another long drive home. Where is that bed. ?Sunday morning, early but not bright, twenty miles to the start at the HalfwayHouse Hotel to receive our route sheet for the day. Off we all go along thecoast road, then uphill through another of the Glens of Antrim, throughFeytown and Carnalbana villages and Slemish Mountain to the visitors centre.At 16 miles a comfort stop and a chance to see the views. Off we go down themountain to Buchna and Orra via the scenic route through the forest roads toCushendun. Then another scenic drive to Glendun and down through anotherGlen to Waterfoot on the main coast road. Lunch is at the Laragh Lodge Hotelat 28 miles. After lunch a straight run along the coast road to the HalfwayHouse Hotel and the finish at 53 miles. After saying our farewells, Ian and Ireturn to his home. Then I go another 5 miles to the ferry terminal in Belfast toreturn to the Island.My thanks to the Northern Ireland Section, Jack Agnew and his team fororganizing a wonderful weekend of Motorcycling.H. J. CARDY

y RitonFred Wyeth1918 – 2009thFred died on the 4 June, 1 dayafter his ninety first birthday.He was born in Uxbridge andspent his early years inBuckinghamshire and Sudburyon Thames.Fred was known by many people because of his passion for Calthorpes. Hisfather bought the first one for his eighteenth birthday. It was later replaced by aTriumph 500cc Speed Twin and many other bikes over the years. In the midseventy'she saw a Calthorpe for sale in boxes which turned out to be the verysame bike which he owned before. This machine he brought to the Island andrestored in his living room at Holly Cottage in Lonan.Fred rode in many rallies and demonstrations all over the British Isles and herein the Isle of Man. The photo of Fred was taken at the Golden Jubilee TT Rallyin 2005. He was given an award for being the oldest rider in the event.He was one of the three founder members of the Motorcycle Action Group, anorganisation which was against the compulsory wearing of crash helmets.Guess how he paid his fine - by a cheque written on a helmet. I wonder howthey cashed it?Fred had many jobs, starting work as a butchers boy. He worked at Pinewoodand Shepperton film studios. Before the war he was an apprentice engineer andworked for the Ministry of Defence on the Chieftain tank and joined the HomeGuard.Fred retired and moved to the Island in 1981. Everyone knew where Fred livedin Laxey, the Calthorpe was parked on the main road, covered over, with brickson the saddle to hold the cover down. Fred was quite a character and his lastdefiant act was last September at the age of 90. He was caught speeding whilstdriving his car and fined £150.Fred's family have passed his beloved motorcycles to the ARE Museum at KirkMichael here on the Isle of Man. I am proud to have known Fred as are all themembers of the Isle of Man Vintage Section. We all extend our deepestsympathy to his family.

Fred on one of his beloved Calthorpes

Sidecar PushTony East applauds the Push Team as they arrive at his Kirk Michael MuseumThe Team before leaving for the next stage of their lap of the TT course

Above: Italian and English military bikes make friends at the PushBelow: Sidecar supporters at Kirk MichaelThe Sidecar PushA complete lap of the 37¾ mile TT course by friends of theNick Crowe & Mark Cox appeal, raised £10,000 for the charity.

Velo' Fellows at the ManxNeil Kelly takes Ballaugh Bridge in the 1967 Manx Grand Prix riding the Orpin Velocette SpecialRegular Velocette racer, Tony Ainley, rounds Quarry Bends on his Mark 8 KTTduring this years Manx practice.

Special Discountsfor VMCC membersOnline StoreThousands ofDISCOUNTEDproductswww.manxdirect.comwww.southportmotorcycles.comAll enquiries01704 - 500029Wheel manMotorcycle Spoke Wheels RebuiltTel: Chris on 880335Rims (Chrome or Alloy)Spokes (Polished Stainless or Galvanised)Black Lion CottageLeodest RoadAndreasFixture List Sept '09 to Jan '10Sept 10thSept 27thOctober 8thOctober 25thNovember 12thDecember 10thDecember 27thJanuary 23rd 2010Club Night. Knock Froy. Santon. 8.00pm Noggin & NatterRoad Run. St. Johns School opposite the Farmers Arms.1.45 for 2.00pm. Organisers: Mr & Mrs Clive KnealeClub Night. Knock Froy. Santon. 8.00pm Speaker: Tony Wall - '2-Strokes'Road Run. Mitre Pub. Kirk Michael. 1.45 for 2.00 p.m. Finish at Tony'sfor refreshments. Organiser: Brian Ward.Annual General Meeting. Knock Froy. Santon. 8.00pmClub Night. Knock Froy. Santon. 8.00pm Bring & BuyChristmas Hangover Run. St. Johns, Tynwald Inn 11.30 for 12.00pmOrganisers: Anne and Rupert Murden.Annual Dinner & Prize Presentation

VINTAGE TRIALS RESULTSth5 ROUND 2009 CHAMPIONSHIPrdSATURDAY 23 MAYGEOFF CANNELL MEMORIALBIMS FIELD, ST GEORGES BRIDGE, ONCHAA. ROUTE1. JIM DAVIDSON B.S.A. 182. PHIL WARD YAMAHA 193. SHAUN HUXLEY JAMES 21B. ROUTE1. STUART CLAGUE FANTIC 42. ANDY SYKES B.S.A. 193. CHAS WATSON HONDA 264. MIKE DUNN HONDA 395. TOM MASON B.S.A. 416. MICHAEL HARDING SUZUKI 457. STEVE TAYLOR HONDA 528. STEPHEN FRANKLIN JAMES 62A hearty welcome to these five new members :-Michael MoodyIan WilcockStephen MeadowsStephen CoxPhilip DimentEllan Vannin, 6 Lezayre Park, Ramsey IM8 2PU28 Seafield Crescent, Birchill, Onchan IM3 3BZSerendipity, 12 St Mary's Glebe, Port St Mary IM9 5PF9 Mull View, Kirk Michael IM6 1AQ29 Ballardcliffe, Andreas IM7 3EW

Riding HighHi greetings from Leh the capital of Ladakh. Remember the MCC trials? Wellhow about a section that's over two hundred miles long !! The DVD wewatched did show the road to be a bit bumpy but it hadn't rained had it !! On myfirst day going up the himalaya I was twelve hours in the saddle and onlycovered 220 km. The views are breathtaking of course. So far Bullet numbertwo (long story) has crossed the Lachlung La at 16,850 ft and the Tanglang La at17,754 ft the limited performance of an Indian Bullet does drop off a bit !!Raleigh Wisp comes to mind.Next is the mighty Khurdung La at 18,676 ft supposedly the worlds highestroad. This is in the forbidden zone and I will find out in two hours if my bid fora permit has paid off. By the way the locals call this route 'the road over the roofof the world' bit too poetic ??.Best wishes Phil NewmanWe have no pictures of Phil on this epic ride yet. However here he is on another one! Riding arigid framed BSA Gold Star aptly named 'BloodySAurus' in the 1984 Manx Grand Prix

Tittle TattleTHRUXTONS I NEVER OWNED - PT 4This time :- an excuse to tell you about early visits as ateenager to Ken Swallow's workshop in Golcar, HuddersfieldWell I did promise you this a while back, but I havebeen searching my dusty shelves for a superb photo ofthe Swallow workshop in Yorkshire in one of thevarious Velo hardback books, perhaps one of the Veloexperts out there can remind me where to find it pleasefor future reference.So it's 1967 and Doddy and me have both got Velos, myplain 1960 Viper and his 1962 Clubman (big tank, allthe goodies). All I could do to make my humble cookin'model look a little racier was to ditch the red fibre glass side panels and all thetinware which is priceless these days, you know - nacelle, toolbox and red steelmudguards which could probably have saved the Titanic from the iceberg. Thehandle bars even found themselves turned over to a nice dropped position.Anyway he wanted a new fishtail. I had bought a cheap and nasty 'pattern'version from Jack Bottomley's on Cheetham Hill Road, but Doddy was built ofsterner stuff so it had to be a Veloce item. We scoured the local rag for a secondhand one, contemplated ringing the factory (but they seemed to want enquiriesin writing), and even looked through the embreyonic Motor Cycle News. Thenin Motorcycle Sport we saw the ads for Velo dealers – Geoff Dodkin in London(!), Roy Smith motors in Surrey (same difference), BMG in Ilford (thought itwas a film), then K.W. Swallow in Yorkshire.That sounded a bit closer, so oneSaturday morning off we set, fully armed with a spare aerolastic to sling it overthe shoulder (we would take it in turns on the way back).Following the little direction map from the magazine was not at first as easy aswe had imagined it to be. Firstly there was the route – you had to go miles pastand then turn left and work your way back. Then there were the hills. To usLancie lads hills were what we looked for to bump start the bikes on, somethinggentle, about 50 yards long. No, this was different (anybody ever been?), A62out of Oldham, Diggle, over the top to Marsden, straight down to Slaithwaite,Milnsbridge, find the left for Scar Lane, through a gaggle of mills, up the top,then along Station Lane, easy peasy. Does not tell you that it drops precipitouslyover dodgy gravel and brick dust down to the railway line which was obviouslyin the wrong place anyway.

Eventually found we squealed to ahalt and parked up in the yard ofwhat had been some dark satanicplace of hard labour in a differentera, when men were 'ard andLuddites roamed the hills. We parkednext to, I might add, the overgrownchassis of a long expired Rolls Roycehearse, only the classic radiator shellshowing any signs of the shine it hadonce deserved.The 'shop' can best be described ascave-like, dug into the hill, andalmost as dark. When your eyesaccustomed themselves it was morelike the home of Aladdin, similar to the back of a works Thames van, Velo andManx Norton racers in different states of disrepair/tuning all around. A genialhost in brown denim workshop coat looked after us, and I distinctly rememberthe young lads busying around (Swallows junior I imagine?). A fishtail, yeh, andfolding stuff changed hands (about one quarter of what my Viper had cost).Once home it turned out to be the standard item, not the Clubman one, howeverwe lacked the bottle in those days to take it back. Beautifully made and chromedit was too.But what was that above the counter, where other bike shops would bedisplaying brake shoes tyres and cables? It couldn't be a Velo as it was silver-ishand dark, what's that, blue? Could it be? How much?And that was my first sight of a Velo Thruxton. Once found, Swallows thenbecame our Mecca for a blast on an idle Saturday morning, and so we wouldoccasionally hammer up the Pennines over Standedge (long pre-M 62 ofcourse). I don't know how many years we went up for, but that VMT nevermoved a wheel.Footnote :As I now have Doddy's Clubman (in bits) I must still have that fishtail, 42 yearslater.Footnote (2) from an earlier article:I was approached on one of our VMCC IOM rides recently and asked if Iremembered the name of the guy with the Thruxton who lived in Mottram, methim at the garage in Dukinfield, swopped him a Velo frame for some panniers?Yes?'No I never knew his name' I said, “Well it's me” he proudly declared.Turns out it was a very nice, black big-tank Venom Clubman, but no, he never

Clive demonstrates the Royal Oilfield to his disciplesNow stockingAnti-Corrosion FormulaRobin's VapourBlasting ServicesGlass Bead Blastingof Car & Bike Engines,Bike Framesplus many other items..For further information please call07624 - 453344

ought it to the Isle of Man. His name is, er………….. ask around, he's not tooshy, I'm sure he won't mind completing my tale for me.Oh yes, and on to the Enfields, or Royals… as they now proclaim themselves.Bumped into a branny one on Peel breakwater the other week (delivered onlythe previous day), complete with shiny new black sidecar. You will probablyhave seen it around by now, ridden mainly on 2 wheels by Clive Kneale. Prizeof virtually no value for first person to tell me what colour they think the bike isreally finished in -? And black is the wrong answer…….And if I'm not on the cutting room floor yet, here's a little snippet from the sameMotorcycle Sport I got the Swallow ad from :-Sacrilege (©MCS, October 1968 page 367)What next? Velocettes with coil ignition?'The last defender of the faith of magnetos has been forced to toe the line andmake obeisance (stet!) to the twin gods of progress and expediency. No moremagnetos with armature windings like a toffee apple rotating between magnetsof alloy steel, but sparks dispensed from a mute immobile canister like a packfor shaving soap.'- Will Stevens and Dodkin jump into the breach with magnetoconversions?...- No matter that the Thruxton, oft truculent to start, may with coil ignitionbe as amenable as an L.E……- I can think of one more blow that can befall the dedicated Velo men.Velocettes might fit a diaphragm clutch'.FREE PLUG – 'mute immobile canisters' in 6 and 12 volts are readily availablefrom our erstwhile Secretary, many sizes, will outlast the rest of yer bike (samemake as fitted to my AUDI as OE)SteveTIMBERMANNMichael WhitakerCarpenter & JoinerMobile: 07624 464099Tel / Fax: 01624 618681• Timber Buildings• Garage / Workshop• Summer House• Stables• Decking• Fencing• Tree Felling

Floggers CornerIsland based inactive member deciding to become active again wishes to buya bike....will consider any make, and any year provided it is older than thevintage threshold. Must be in excellent condition and must have been throughTromode. Please contact Ian Stone 880454 or better irs30@cam.ac.ukG. H. Corlett Ltd.The Veteran Family Business (Established 1835)High Class Jeweller and Watchmaker4 & 6 Castle Street, Douglas.Tel: 676762 Fax: 661779e-mail:ghcorlett@manx.netwww.ghcorlett.comThe Island's leading Trophy Specialist and EngraversTrophies, Shields and Medals available for all sports.Call in and view our extensive range of Trophies,Watches, Clocks and Beautiful JewelleryCBG CONTRACTORS LTDGeneral GroundworksUnderground Electricity & Water Ducting - Sewage PipeworksTel: 842479 • 493605 Fax: 844808

The mz influenceDuring the life of motorcycle two-stroke performance development a handful offactories have truly advanced the cause. Scott, Levis, Yamaha, Kawasaki andSuzuki instantly spring to mind, after a little more thought we'll rememberothers ....... Greeves, Velocette, Puch, perhaps DKW but one firm oftenoverlooked is MZ. Yet the Zschopau factory progressed the development of theracing two-stroke engine by light years during productive decade after thewounds of WW11 had calmed. However the story started long before MZ(Motorrad-werk Zchopau) came into being.East German Heinz Rosner raced MZ's 1965-9, during his best yearwith the Zschopau factory he finished 3rd in the 250cc title chase.Born in 1878 Danish engineer Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen established hismotorcycle factory, JS Rasmussen in Saxony, Germany after WW1. Assisted bydesign engineer Hugo Ruppe Jorgen launched a 122cc single cylinder twostrokeauxiliary clip-on, which within two years was selling at the rate of over15,000 units per year and 25,000 had been sold since its 1921 launch. Thecompany adopted the initials DKW for their motorcycle products, which many

claim represent Das Kleine Wunder (little miracle). While in later lifeRasmussen was amused by this concept he wouldn't commit to it offeringadditionally two other reasons for the initials DKW. Dampf Kraft Wagon (hisfirst engine was a steam unit for a car like vehicle) and Der Knabische Wunsche(the schoolboy's dream).Earning a superb reputation for reliability DKW soon added to their range withthe 122cc Golem and later 142cc Lamos scooters then in 1923 their firstmotorcycle, the 173cc single cylinder SM (Steel Model) with advanced pressedsteel frame. All were two-strokes.Not only was Rasmussen an able engineer but he was also a clever businessman.By 1927 his company had taken over 16 rival firms and was employing 15,000workers. Soon by volume DKW would be the world's leading motorcyclemaker. Rapid expansion can lead to massive borrowing and with the approach ofthe worst depression the world had seen DKW like many could have goneunder. Instead Jorgen's policy of the grouping of companies through mergersand takeovers not only ensured they survived but also ensured sufficient fundsfor continual development.Keen for more power for racing DKW worked on the double piston conceptwhereby one piston acted as a charging pump and the other the combustionpiston. Although this improved DKW performance for racing purposes in themiddle to late 1920s their engines still suffered breathing problems associatedwith selected deflector piston designs. In 1929 Ing Schneurle solved the problemwith his loop scavenge system which employed flat top pistons. Despite DKW'swish to protect this landmark design rivals soon circumnavigated theirprotective patents, however the Zchopau plant had overnight become a worldleader in two-stroke performance development.Of interest DKW gained its famed badge comprising four silver interlockingcircles, still found on Audi cars today, when they merged in 1932 with Audi,Horch and Wanderer to become Auto Union AG. Against this businessbackground DKW advanced in leaps and bounds with motorcycle development.On the racing front came as succession of ever more powerful split single(compressor) 250/350cc racers, which developed ever more power. For much ofthe 1930s the factory had 150 engineers working continually on the racingprogram leading to the 250 delivering 40bhp @ 7000rpm (49bhp on alcohol)and the 350 giving 48bhp @ 7000rpm (60 bhp on alcohol). Success often cametheir way at Continental meetings and famously Eward Kluge gave them an IoMvictory in the 1938 Lightweight TT. On the downside these racers were thirsty,15mpg on a good day, and incredibly noisy with wags claiming they could beheard in Liverpool when powering up the mountain in the IoM.

Despite their racing successes as far was the world would be concerned afterWW2 their most significant model was a humble economy lightweight roadster.Certainly pre WW2 they built many fine machines. all two-strokes, including500 twins and a range of up to 350cc singles. They even briefly tried a 600cctwin during the early 1930s. However it was the tiny DKW RT125, which wasthe next landmark in our story. Unveiled just before the outbreak of WW2 the123.2cc two-stroke single was to become one of the world's most significantdesigns.During the war around 33,000 DKW RT125s were delivered to the Germanmilitary by Auto Union AG of Zschopau. By the end of the conflict the factorywas in ruins and found itself in Germany's eastern zone. DKW relocated toIngolstadt in what became West Germany and a new motorcycle maker wasestablished at the former Auto Union AG (DKW) factory under the title VEBMotorraderwerke Zschopau (MZ). For bizarre reasons up to the mid 1950s theirproducts were marketed under the IFA (Industrieverband-Farhzuegebau) brand.From 1946 onwards the Zschopau factory concentrated on the development andproduction of DKW like motorcycles under the IFA brand. Here spacelimitations dictate we concentrate on one machine only the DKW RT125, whichAlan Shepherd piloting the 125cc MZ to victory at Oulton Park on Easter Monday 1964from the Hondas of Bill Ivy and Tommy Robb. Alan completed the double winning the250 event from Ralph Bryans and Tommy Robb, again both Honda mounted.

ecame the IFA RT125 then with development the IFA RT125/1 in 1954 and theMZ RT125/2 in 1956 as the MZ brand progressively replaced the IFA brand.Additionally as we all know the DKW RT125 led to many machines world wideincluding the BSA Bantam (mirror image) and models from Harley Davidson,Yamaha and many others.As the world settled to peace again interest in racing built across Europe andmuch of the world. Although here in the UK factory interest focussed on thelarger 350 and 500cc classes many Continental riders and factories favoured thelightweight 125 and 250cc models. The first 'works' IFA (MZ) appeared in 1950,little more than a stripped roadster complete with 3-speed gearbox it was in theterms of what was to come, underwhelming.A year later private tuner Daniel Zimmermann had developed rotary disc valveinduction driven by the crankshaft for the tiny racer. This combined with facingthe exhaust rearwards using modified barrels suddenly released more powerfrom the 125s. Racing in the non championship German GP at Solitude, nearStuttgart East German runners Krumpolz and Petruschke finished 4th and 5thagainst the might of DKW, Puch and NSU. Suddenly MZ were on the sameplaying field as their mighty rivals.As IFA/MZ were establishing themselves probably the most significant player ofthe post WW11 two-stroke development scene was establishing himself inbusiness at Waldkirchen near Zschopau. Walter Kaaden was apprenticed to theDKW factory before the war and raced with success a supercharged Deek. Forhis final college project Kaaden designed and built a four-cylinder four-strokeengine before being assigned to duties developing a jet fighter, theMesserschmitt Me262. None of which gave any sign of what would happen next.While working is his own workshop after the conflict Walter built andsuccessfully raced in national East German events a 7bhp 100cc two-strokemachine. Unfortunately like many budding businessmen and women Kaadenbecame a victim of the Communist state of East Germany where individualenterprise was actively discouraged. Abandoning his own business Kaadenbegan working for IFA/MZ during late 1952 and gained a formal contract inearly 1953.Daniel Zimmermann's two-stroke tuning expertise had been earnt racing anddeveloping his own two-stroke Formula 3 racing cars. Although some claim thiswas new development, it wasn't. The British maker Sun had fitted engines withcrankshaft driven disc valve induction control during and just after WW1, truethe discs were 6mm thick while those of Zimmermann and later Kaaden were ofthin spring steel but the concept certainly was rotary disc valve none the less.

Italian Silvio Grassetti en route to winning the 1971 Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchampsat a race speed of 119.552mph from the Yamahas of Dodds and Braun.Likewise selected leading two-stroke designers had considered rearward facingexhausts from the back of the barrel and the active use of exhaust back pressureto in effect supercharge their engines. However it took the genius of Kaaden torefine the concepts and incorporate his own tuning ideas.Starting the 1953 with a 125cc engine developing 9bhp @ 7800rpm HerrKaaden had improved this by 25% to give 12bhp @ 8500rpm by the season'sclose, and MZs became regular front runners in the East German ultralightweight races. In turn factory sales increased. At the season start Walter wasworking in a small lean to building sited at the end of the factory with a handfulof staff but gradually he gained extra help and more workshop space. Howeverthroughout his career with MZ funds were always limited.Walter Kaaden's development followed a path which today seems the norm, butin the middle to late 1950s he was a groundbreaker and rightly earned thenickname of the 'father of the racing two-stroke.' In basic terms his workfollowed a number of paths, which complemented each other. The use of rotaryvalve induction enabled the carburettor to be moved away from the barrel andpermit much extended port timings. He employed extensive revised alterationsto the exhaust and transfer ports including multiple transfer ports. Squishcombustion chambers were developed.

Not only did he use exhaust pipes facing backwards from the rear of the barrel,but he developed the expansion chamber (highly resonant exhaust system) withits volumetric capacity precisely developed to suit the engines capacity,compression ration and port timing. Initially he did this work by trial and error,often taking 50 - 60 attempts to achieve the optimum for maximum power butsoon he developed calculations to work out a guide when developing engines,which then required no more than 5 experimental attempts to achieve theoptimum.Over the next years Kaaden extracted more and more power from his MZ racingengines achieving a significant landmark in 1961 when his 125cc singledeveloped 25bhp @10.800rpm which equates to 200bhp/litre of engine capacity.His engine was and still is internationally recognised as the first piston engine toachieve this landmark. While the 125 was capable of well over 100mph withacceleration to match a similarly developed 250 MZ could hit 155mph whenfully faired. Walter Kaaden's critics claim his extreme development caused MZsto be more unreliable however any unreliability had more to do with the poorquality of parts and materials available to him rather than a slur on his racingengine expertise.Tales of intrigue surround how MZ improved their quality without the 'state'knowing! Walter Kaaden himself walked in 10 sets of Norton forks, a leg at atime hidden down his trousers through Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. Fromconversation with the late Alan Shepherd (MZ works rider) I learnt he boughtHepolite pistons direct from the British factory on special order for Mr Kaaden,often one at a time as Kaaden had little western currency, and smuggled themwrapped in his clothes across the border into the eastern zone. You can imaginehow MZs gradually gained Girling shock absorbers, Avon or Dunlop tyres,Lodge sparking plugs, Smiths rev counters, Amal carbs and Lucas ignition.MZ scored their first world championship points in 1957, in the 125cc class asHorst Fugner and Ernst Degner finished 4th and 6th respectively, a lap adrift inthe West German GP at Hockenheim. MZ scored their first 250cc GP places ayear later. Although they finished runner up in the constructors title chase theynever won a riders world championship, but should have done so in 1961 hadnot Degner defected to the west towards the end of the season while easilyleading the title chase. Ultimately Tom Phillis (Honda) was crowned 125ccWork Champion with Degner runner up.Ernst Degner took not only his family and riding skills to Japan but also his twostrokedevelopment skills learnt while working alongside Kaaden. Suzukisuddenly transformed their also ran models into international front runners andmany claim Kaaden's development skills earnt them their first WorldChampionship in 1963 and many more after. Such observers also state Yamahalearnt much and developed quickly at the same time.

AprilS M T W T F S1 2 3 4 5 6 78 9 10 1 12 13 1415 16 17 18 19 20 212 23 24 25 26 27 2829 30Spring Bank HolidayMay DayJuneS M T W T F SJuneS M T W T F S1 23 4 5 6 7 8 910 11 12 13 14 15 1617 18 19 20 21 22 2324 25 26 27 28 29 301 23 4 5 6 7 8 910 1 12 13 14 15 1617 18 19 20 21 2 2324 25 26 27 28 29 30Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday1 2 3 4 5 6 7Tynwald Day8 9 10 11 12 13 1415 16 17 18 19 20 2122 23 24 25 26 27 2829 30 31AugustS M T W T F S1 2 3 45 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 14 15 16 17 1819 20 21 22 23 24 2526 27 28 29 30 311While Kaaden was saddened by Degner's defection he never publicly stated anyill feelings to his former colleague and many years later often said it would haveonly been a brief matter of time before Suzuki and Yamaha were developingsimilar power to his MZs even if Degner had remained loyal to the cause. SadlyErnst was a troubled soul who took his own life in 1968. Despite Degner'sdefection MZ racing development continued successfully until 1972 by whenthe racing department had become so strapped for about everything includingcash it folded. Alongside the road racing a string of ultra successful ISDTmounts were run too. However not everything Kaaden touched went well, the50cc project fizzled out after a couple of very slow races in 1962 but by contrastthe later 350s went well too.A long string of great racers enjoyed MZ rides and contracts including ErnstDegner, Horts Fugner, Derek Minter, Gary Hocking, Luigi Taveri, TommyRobb, Deiter Braun, Heinz Rosner, Silvio Grassetti, Gunter Bartusch and manyothers including the late Alan Shepherd who not only understood Walter Kaadenbetter than most but remained a lifelong friend until the great racing engineerdied. And its a brief extract from the report of Shepherd's win in the 1964 250ccAmerican GP at Daytona on February 2nd which perhaps illustrates Kaaden'sskill, speed of thought and engineering expertise to perfection. Due to therestrictions his communist state homeland Walter Kaaden couldn't travel withthe 250cc twin cylinder MZ racer to America. On arrival Alan Shepherd triedthe machine only to find it truly sick and unable to even run properly let aloneperform on the poor quality fuel then available in the US. Permitted just one 3minute phone conversation with his rider, Kaaden learnt of the problems,appraised the situation and detailed to Alan how to re-tune the carburettor andignition. That Alan Shepherd won the race at over 90mph with a fastest lap of94.577mph is the mark of Walter Kaaden's genius.It was popular sport to deride the road going products of MZ, yet the machineswere usually sound while it was selected owners were at times less than sound.Proof of the pudding was my 1976 example, which covered more than 13,000miles in a year before I could afford 'something better and quicker.' Only nowdo I realise the errors of my ways and I often fondly remember its 'ring ting ting'exhaust note.Richard RosenthalFamilyCalendar2010MaySunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday1 2 3 4 56 7 8 9 10 11 1213 14 15 16 17 18 1920 21 22 23 24 25 2627 28 29 30 312010YourPhotoHEREJuly30AugustS M T W T F S1 2 3 45 6 7 8 9 10 1September28 29 30 31Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday12 13 14 15 16 17 1819 20 21 2 23 24 2526 27 28 29 30 312 3 4 5 6 7 89 10 11 12 13 14 1516 17 18 19 20 21 2223 24 25 26 27 28 29OctoberS M T W T F S1 2 3 4 5 67 8 9 10 1 12 1314 15 16 17 18 19 2021 2 23 24 25 26 27Peel Copy CentreAtholl Place - Peel - Isle of Man - IM5 1HEPersonalised Calendarse-mail: peelcopycentre@manx.netTel / Fax: 01624 - 845339

CLUB TROPHIESxPROFILE NO 11PAUL HIPKIN CUPThis cup was awarded for ourfield trial. The first winner wasD. Ward in 1992. Due to badweather in 2007 there was nofield trial, so the cup wasawarded to Janet Cope for thebest machine on the road run.The present holder is TrevorMoore.PROFILE NO. 12DENNIS REED TROPHYThis Trophy was donated by PeteMitchell in memory of his friendDennis Reed. It is awarded to themember attending the most runsduring the year, riding a 1931 -1940 machine. The first winnerwas Ken Teare in 1994. Presentholder is Anne Murden.

Graham Walker - Rider Profile No. 8Commentator Extrordinaire Graham Walker rounds Ramsey Hairpin, withTommy Mahon in the chair, during the 1923 sidecar TT. They took second place.No man has done more formotorcycling than GRAHAMWALKER, the supremebroadcaster of T.T.commentaries, tirelesscampaigner for safety on theroad and brilliant Editor, formany years of "Motor Cycling."Dorothy GreenwoodIn retirement he is gave a lot ofhis time to the motorcyclemuseum at Beaulieu. YoungestD. R. Sergeant of the '14 war,Graham had a brilliant racingcareer with Norton, Sunbeamand Rudge and in winning the1928 Ulster Grand Prix gave theClady circuit the title of "theworld's fastest" and the 500 c.c.Rudge its type name of "Ulster."He was also captain of theBritish I.S.D.T. team.

Desmodromic valve gear'Desmodromic' is from the Greek and means 'running as in a bond or track'.When used for valve gear it implies that the valves are positively closed as wellas opened. Such a system has great advantages and the wonder is that it took solong to achieve. Not that this was for lack of invention or practical work, forexperiments date back to well before the Great War (1914-1918), but none ofthese efforts was truly successful. It was during the 1920s with the change, forracing in particular, from side by side valves to overhead valves that thedeficiencies of valve springs as a closing mechanism became very evident.Not only were they unreliable and prone to fracture, but as speeds and enginerevs rose, double and even triple springs were used to try to combat 'valve float'by damping out the spring's natural frequency of oscillation. Interestingly, JamesL. Norton was one who, as early as 1924, published a patent on a desmodromicsystem (he even used the word) with a chain-driven overhead camshaft, androckers that engaged, at one end with an annular 'track' that served both asopening and closing cam. However, he sadly died soon after, and if the idea waspursued at all, it is forgotten today.In fact not until 1954 was interest revived again, with the advent on Grand-Prixcar racing on the legendary W196 Mercedes Benz racing car. This 2.5 litreunsupercharged straight-eight engine produced around 260hp and for the nexttwo seasons easily outclassed every other Grand Prix contender. However, noother maker attempted to imitate the system, for needless to say, it wascomprehensively protected by worldwide patents. Suprisingly, Mercedes(though they used it in the 300SLR sports racing car) made no move to extendthe system to their more mundane motor cars, if Mercedes' can ever bemundane.In Italy, the DucatiCompany had plans tobegin racing at a timewhen Mercedes'exploits were still frontpage news. DesignerIng. Fabio Taglioni,newly arrived fromF.B. Mondial, designeda desmodromic valvegear train that legallycircumventedIng. Taglioni's brainwave

Mercedes' patentsand which provedan instant success.Fitted to thefactory's existing52.5mm x 52mm124cc racingengine, anastonishing gain of23% in power wasachieved along withunimpairedreliability. That isthe sort of resultthat most designerscan only dream of.Doug Hele's Norton VersionThe first racing 'Desmo' Ducati had its debut far from home at the SwedishGrand Prix of 1956. It was sensational, rider D'egli Antoni winning at recordspeed and lapping every other rider! Alas for the ecstatic Ducati racedepartment, Antoni was almost immediately involved in a fatal accident inpractice at Monza and Ducati temporarily withdrew from racing.On the factory's return to the Word Championship in 1958 they were unluckynot to win it, for they soundly trounced the hitherto all conquering MVs in raceafter race. But the bid was unsuccessful and at the end of the season the raceshop was closed down on the orders of the board of civil servants whoadministered the semi-nationalised factory. Much of the race shop was sold,including two sadly under-developed twins, a 250cc and a 350cc purchased byStan Hailwood for son Mike's use. These machines never lived up to thepromise of the singles, which was hardly the fault of Ing. Taglioni.Ducati persevered with road-going machinery and in 1968 introduceddesmodromic valve gear, which they gradually extended to the whole range. Noother maker of motor-cycle ever copied them in this respect.Although experimental desmodromic engines were built and tested by Mondial,Honda, Benelli and Norton none were ever consistently raced, let alone offeredon road going machines. Ducati had shown that positive valve operationpossessed definite advantages. One can only wonder why other manufacturersdid not, or could not, follow and build on their experience.Clubmann

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