Classic Bike June 2021

Welcome HARVEY MUSHMAM Motorcycle fun ON EVERY SUNDAY ‘Harvey’ had a major inspirational role in On Any Sunday – as well as many other Hollywood movies… EVERETT COLLECTION INC / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO HATS OFF TO HARVEY This issue of Classic Bike is our tribute to Bruce Brown’s On Any Sunday, the ultimate motorcycle movie that was released in 1971 – a film that had a massive effect on me, and I’m sure many others, in shaping our motorcycling lives. A film that, even today, continues to inspire. One of the key characters in the film was Harvey Mushman, a guy who lived and breathed motorcycles and liked nothing more than to race his Triumph desert sled or Husqvarna motocrosser at weekends. That spirit, in essence, was the message of…

HATS OFF TO HARVEY This issue of Classic Bike is our tribute to Bruce Brown’s On Any Sunday, the ultimate motorcycle movie that was released in 1971 – a film that had a massive effect on me, and I’m sure many others, in shaping our motorcycling lives. A film that, even today, continues to inspire. One of the key characters in the film was Harvey Mushman, a guy who lived and breathed motorcycles and liked nothing more than to race his Triumph desert sled or Husqvarna motocrosser at weekends. That spirit, in essence, was the message of On Any Sunday. Of course, it focused on the exploits of some legendary motorcycle racers – every cinema production needs its leading characters. But ultimately the film was a tribute to all the guys like Harvey,…

OBITUARY WAY WE WERE EVENTS YOUR CLASSICS LETTERS As a motorcyclist, I can’t count the amount of times I’ve watched On Any Sunday – and I know for a fact I’m not alone in that. For some people, the legacy of the classic Bruce Brown film is insignificant – a nod to a different time, perhaps, or an interesting look at Steve McQueen. For many motorcyclists, they are glad that things have moved on since 1971 and would never think to look back at that era in some sort of golden light. But I’m sure many of you reading this will know that what Bruce Brown captured was something special. Something that has been lost from the world we live in now, but something worth preserving the vestiges of – be that…

Classic World DIRT TRACK RIDERS ASSOCIATION SLIDE RULES It may not happen every Sunday, but here in Britain there’s a racing series that lives up to the legend of Bruce Brown’s iconic ’70s movie. We get an insider preview of the 2021 championship WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: TOM BING OBITUARY WAY WE WERE EVENTS YOUR CLASSICS LETTERS As a motorcyclist, I can’t count the amount of times I’ve watched On Any Sunday – and I know for a fact I’m not alone in that. For some people, the legacy of the classic Bruce Brown film is insignificant – a nod to a different time, perhaps, or an interesting look at Steve McQueen. For many motorcyclists, they are glad that things have moved on since 1971 and would never think to look…

Although short in stature, Dick ‘Bugsy’ Mann was a giant figure in US motorcycle sport. In a career stretching from the 1950s to the 1970s, Mann was twice US Grand National Champion, won two Daytona 200 epics and was the first of only three racers to win rounds in all five of the championship’s disciplines: the mile, half-mile, TT and short track on dirt, plus asphalt circuit racing. He won a Bronze Medal in the 1975 ISDT, shone in motocross (a sport he helped launch in the USA), campaigned for track safety and built frames for dirt track and off-roading. Mann was truly versatile, but his special skill was racing on rough tracks. “Anyone can be a superstar on a track as smooth as asphalt, but dirt track can be brutal,”…

Reaching a Zenith Cherished photos capture John Saunders’ dad and uncle on tasty inter-war tackle THE PHOTO ABOVE right is of my dad, Frank Saunders (born 1904) on a mystery bike in Acton, West London in the early 1920s - scarily, no front brake visible! Frank and his older brother Syd owned many renowned bikes in the 1920s and ’30s, including a Triumph Model H, Rudge Multi, Zenith, Douglas and OK Supreme. I am fortunate to have photos of some of them handed down to me. The pic of Syd on the Rudge Multi (right) was taken in the back garden of the family home in Chatsworth Gardens, Acton, West London around 1920. Syd was a draughtsman for various aircraft companies, then ended up being a lecturer in Newport, Isle of Wight,…