Classic Bike February 2021

I ALWAYS FOUND it a little strange that the oil-in-frame BSAs – and Triumphs for that matter – copped so much flak from enthusiasts of the marques back in the early 1970s. Many of them despised the taller seat height of the new bikes, as well as the more angular styling. Back in the day I had an OIF BSA Lightning, plus a couple of later Triumphs with similar oil-bearing frames, and each of them seemed to handle and stop as well as any of the older Brit twins my mates rode – and at that age we ragged the life out of our bikes, most of us having little regard for mechanical sympathy. Back then, I was new to motorcycling and had no experience of the earlier BSA and Triumph twins,…

Welcome PLAYING THE FRAME GAME I ALWAYS FOUND it a little strange that the oil-in-frame BSAs – and Triumphs for that matter – copped so much flak from enthusiasts of the marques back in the early 1970s. Many of them despised the taller seat height of the new bikes, as well as the more angular styling. Back in the day I had an OIF BSA Lightning, plus a couple of later Triumphs with similar oil-bearing frames, and each of them seemed to handle and stop as well as any of the older Brit twins my mates rode – and at that age we ragged the life out of our bikes, most of us having little regard for mechanical sympathy. Back then, I was new to motorcycling and had no experience…

UKTV has commissioned a new 10-part series, Secrets of the Transport Museum, due to be shown on its leading factual channel, Yesterday, early this year. Produced by Middlechild Productions, the series goes behind the scenes at the Brooklands Museum in Surrey and follows the skilled and enthusiastic volunteers who work to preserve the array of historic racing motorcycles, cars and aeroplanes that have a permanent home there. The series will be narrated by English comedian, actor and TV presenter Sanjeev Bhaskar. For years Brooklands has been visited by many and varied TV and film production companies, all of them eager to get the site or parts of the collection onto our screens. Productions from Antiques Roadshow to The Crown and The Classic Car Show, along with countless documentaries, have all shown…

Classic World Brooklands BEHIND THE SCENES One of Britain’s most treasured motorcycle and car racing heritage sites is the subject of a new television series that’s due to be aired early this year. We got the inside information... WORDS: MARTIN GEGG PHOTOGRAPHY: MARTIN GEGG, COURTESY MIDDLECHILD PRODUCTIONS AND GARY MARGERUM UKTV has commissioned a new 10-part series, Secrets of the Transport Museum, due to be shown on its leading factual channel, Yesterday, early this year. Produced by Middlechild Productions, the series goes behind the scenes at the Brooklands Museum in Surrey and follows the skilled and enthusiastic volunteers who work to preserve the array of historic racing motorcycles, cars and aeroplanes that have a permanent home there. The series will be narrated by English comedian, actor and TV presenter Sanjeev…

Fifty years ago, at a time when Motor Cycle News was championing the cause for a full- on 750cc World Championship and the ACU had launched a 750cc British Championship, Triumph works racer Paul Smart – 27 years old at the time – was in South Africa with his Rob North-framed 750cc Trident, giving world champion Giacomo Agostini a hard time. In a trip that spanned two weekends of non-championship internationals, Smart stole the show in the opening encounter at Pietermaritzburg near Durban in the South African TT. Ago, used to having things pretty much his own way by that time in the 500cc Grand Prix races, was forced to break the lap record on his exotic 500 MV triple to keep Smart and the production 750 Triumph Trident at bay…

Peter Williams, a much-admired racer who immersed himself in the art and science of motorcycling, has died at the age of 81. Six feet tall, wearing glasses and quietly spoken, ‘PJ’ was not so much concerned with battling others on track, as being in a zone of riding and machine perfection that would take him to the win. He opted to apply his engineering expertise to developing British machinery rather than join the wholesale shift to more potent Japanese hardware in the early 1970s. Arguably, the peak of his career was winning the 1973 Formula 750 TT on the unorthodox John Player Norton Monocoque, a product of his creative brain. That win with a 107.27mph class record lap came after five second placings in Isle of Man racing. But Peter was…