Real Classic January 2020

I’d had another great idea. These are not entirely infrequent here at RCHQ Bude, as you may know – and if you do already know, you are immediately forgiven for moving swiftly on to the next page! The great idea? Instead of whining piteously about my lack of progress with – well – anything in The Shed, I would instead write cheery, positive and possibly uplifting stuff about getting out and about to a couple of great events. Not just any old events, no! These would be as different as I could fit into what is in all truth a fairly uncrowded schedule. So, the great big new bike bash which is held at Brum’s NEC each year, and the great grubby bits extravaganza hosted by the Somerset section of…

I’d had another great idea. These are not entirely infrequent here at RCHQ Bude, as you may know – and if you do already know, you are immediately forgiven for moving swiftly on to the next page! The great idea? Instead of whining piteously about my lack of progress with – well – anything in The Shed, I would instead write cheery, positive and possibly uplifting stuff about getting out and about to a couple of great events. Not just any old events, no! These would be as different as I could fit into what is in all truth a fairly uncrowded schedule. So, the great big new bike bash which is held at Brum’s NEC each year, and the great grubby bits extravaganza hosted by the Somerset section of…

It’s already ironic that safety-minded Switzerland should have produced the kind of motorcycle that in the past half-century has conceivably brought more fun on two wheels to more people than any other. That’s the Big Twin cafe racer, which Fritz Egli invented back in 1965 by building the first of the Egli-Vincent 998cc V-twins. It’s even more improbable that, for the past 40 years, the most dedicated and capable restorer and re-creator of Vincent motorcycles, as well as the most successful Vincent exponent in topline Classic racing, should not be an Englishman, but a ‘bloody Frog’. Using that term denotes no sense of chauvinism (though, of course, Monsieur Chauvin was indeed, erm… French), for that’s what the late Patrick Godet, French Vincent expert par excellence, always called himself! Patrick Frog…

It’s already ironic that safety-minded Switzerland should have produced the kind of motorcycle that in the past half-century has conceivably brought more fun on two wheels to more people than any other. That’s the Big Twin cafe racer, which Fritz Egli invented back in 1965 by building the first of the Egli-Vincent 998cc V-twins. It’s even more improbable that, for the past 40 years, the most dedicated and capable restorer and re-creator of Vincent motorcycles, as well as the most successful Vincent exponent in topline Classic racing, should not be an Englishman, but a ‘bloody Frog’. Using that term denotes no sense of chauvinism (though, of course, Monsieur Chauvin was indeed, erm… French), for that’s what the late Patrick Godet, French Vincent expert par excellence, always called himself! Patrick Frog passed…

WATN? John Surtees sits astride a Norton Dominator, chatting to Geoff Duke. A couple of years later, RC reader Derek used a Surtees racing frame to build an extra-special Dominator This must be the most impossible ‘where are they now?’ quest, but I have to give it a go. What became of my HNS? After completing two years National Service in REME, 1956 to 58, I parted with my faithful old BSA A7 and purchase d a 1953 Norton Dominator. It came from our local, rather dubious dealer of all things old and new in motorcycles, one Frank Miers in Kent. The Norton’s previous owner had an argument with a bus and did not survive; the bike did but required some cosmetic work. This had not included the frame, as…

I wonder whatever became of my 1959 Triumph 5TA Speed Twin, registration 613 JUP, which is no longer on the DVLA records. This pic was probably taken in 1975 and, as I moved on to larger bikes, was the last time my feet could lay flat on the ground for many years. Paul Narramore, member An enterprising reader found some info on the isitnicked.com website which shows this bike was last MoT’d in 2012. At that time it had covered just seven miles since 2006. Maybe someone out there knows more……