Classic Bike October 2020

Welcome OCTOBER 2020 • ISSUE #489 DAYTONA: THE NAME OF THE GAME TRIUMPH HAD A fascination with big American motorcycle events, which wasn’t surprising really since their biggest market for selling motorcycles was the US. They named their 650cc twin after Bonneville, thanks to Johnny Allen’s success on the salt Flats with JH ‘Stormy’ Mangham’s ‘Texas Ceegar’, a Triumph-powered streamliner. And they named their 500cc unit-construction twin ‘Daytona’ after Buddy Elmore won the 1966 200-mile race riding a works T100/R around the famed banked oval. Bonneville always attracted huge interest with the bike community, as well as the hot-rod car fraternity, being in tune with a record-breaking culture that blossomed in the post-war era. But Daytona was a weird one. In its heyday, the 200-miler always attracted a top-class international…

TRIUMPH HAD A fascination with big American motorcycle events, which wasn’t surprising really since their biggest market for selling motorcycles was the US. They named their 650cc twin after Bonneville, thanks to Johnny Allen’s success on the salt Flats with JH ‘Stormy’ Mangham’s ‘Texas Ceegar’, a Triumph-powered streamliner. And they named their 500cc unit-construction twin ‘Daytona’ after Buddy Elmore won the 1966 200-mile race riding a works T100/R around the famed banked oval. Bonneville always attracted huge interest with the bike community, as well as the hot-rod car fraternity, being in tune with a record-breaking culture that blossomed in the post-war era. But Daytona was a weird one. In its heyday, the 200-miler always attracted a top-class international field and major manufacturers - and enjoyed huge crowds, too - while the race was…

October 2020 EVENTS BOOK REVIEW LETTERS WAY WE WERE YOUR CLASSICS Hawkstone Park hosted the The Matt Murphy Memorial motocross race meeting over the August bank holiday. In this year of Covid-ravaged event schedules, it made for a much welcome opportunity to see riders and bikes from the classic era of motocross getting stuck into some great racing. The legendary race track in Shrewsbury, Shropshire hosted a race programme featuring the National Twinshock and Evo classes. There was an impressive turnout of bikes and competitors, with some riders travelling from as far afield as Fife in Scotland - and though the weather held out, Hawkstone’s characteristically sandy soil proved hard work for many of the veteran riders, especially those on the heavier four-stroke Twinshock bikes. The Twinshock bikes had to be pre-84 air-cooled…

Classic World SPORT NATIONAL TWINSHOCK - AUGUST 30/31 Having it at Hawkstone With sporting events still under the Covid cosh, it was good to see this event go ahead WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: GREG MOSS October 2020 EVENTS BOOK REVIEW LETTERS WAY WE WERE YOUR CLASSICS Hawkstone Park hosted the The Matt Murphy Memorial motocross race meeting over the August bank holiday. In this year of Covid-ravaged event schedules, it made for a much welcome opportunity to see riders and bikes from the classic era of motocross getting stuck into some great racing. The legendary race track in Shrewsbury, Shropshire hosted a race programme featuring the National Twinshock and Evo classes. There was an impressive turnout of bikes and competitors, with some riders travelling from as far afield as Fife in…

THE SAMMY Miller Museum has been at the forefront of the move back to something like normality in the classic bike world. And, while some of the regular events at the New Milton venue have had to be shelved for this year, a new series of ride-in events has provided a focus for many riders looking for a classic fix. With no need to book, the museum is enjoying one of its best summers, with record numbers of visitors flocking to the recently-extended complex. But the Japanese bike ride-in on August 30 really brought the crowds out. The car park and approach road were full to bursting with (mostly) Japanese metal, while the central courtyard area was reserved for pre-’90 Japanese classics. Around 80 superbly presented bikes from the ‘60s to the…

IN VELOCETTE: PASSION OF A LIFETIME, Velocette historian and restorer Ivan Rhodes serves up a history of his beloved marque with a dash of autobiography and diverse contributions from other writers. Although described as a new edition of Rhodes’ 1990 (Osprey) and 2003 (Motorbooks) Velocette history, this production – compiled in collaboration with some Velocette OC members – looks wholly different with much expanded content. The 280-page hardback is heavily illustrated with evocative monochrome period images and more recent colour, some of it of borderline quality. The core history of the Hall Green factory in Birmingham run by the idiosyncratic Goodman family is here, from its 1905 beginnings with the Veloce two-stroke, through an era of racing success with K-Series ohc singles from the 1920s until the early 1950s, to concentration…