Classic Bike August 2021

Welcome WHAT IF…? We’re all well aware that in the annals of British motorcycle lore there are many potentially great bikes that never got past the prototype stage or were never fully developed due to mismanagement – in terms of finance or enterprise. But can you imagine Rex McCandless’ dismay when his avantgarde, pressed-steel-framed Dommie got this kind of response from Norton’s management? “Well, yes Mr McCandless, it’s a brilliant concept and it looks years ahead of current designs, not just in our range but against those of our competitors, too… but maybe it’s a touch too radical for our customers. And there’s the difficult issue of materials we’ve already ordered for our tried-and-tested current model to continue in production. We can’t simply throw them in the scrap bin…” Well,…

We’re all well aware that in the annals of British motorcycle lore there are many potentially great bikes that never got past the prototype stage or were never fully developed due to mismanagement – in terms of finance or enterprise. But can you imagine Rex McCandless’ dismay when his avantgarde, pressed-steel-framed Dommie got this kind of response from Norton’s management? “Well, yes Mr McCandless, it’s a brilliant concept and it looks years ahead of current designs, not just in our range but against those of our competitors, too… but maybe it’s a touch too radical for our customers. And there’s the difficult issue of materials we’ve already ordered for our tried-and-tested current model to continue in production. We can’t simply throw them in the scrap bin…” Well, at least Sammy Miller’s Museum…

LANDMARK MODEL LETTERS THE WAY WE WERE EVENTS YOUR CLASSICS Ian Foster had planned to launch his selfpublished NW200 90th book in 2020 to celebrate 90 years of one of road racing’s greatest events, the North West 200. But the 2020 NW200 was cancelled due to coronavirus and as this year’s event has also fallen foul to the ongoing pandemic, Foster has published the book this year. And what a hefty tome it is – not only does the large- format A4-landscape hardback boast 404 pages dedicated to the history of the race, there’s also an extra 82 given over to the road bike scene surrounding the event. The package weighs in at a whopping 2.73kg! And it’s top quality, too, with hundreds of period pics (both mono and colour), every year’s race…

BOOK REVIEW NW200 90th ROAD & RACE Ian Foster’s comprehensive new book celebrates Ireland’s number one international road race in style BY WILLIE CARSON & GARY PINCHIN PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF IAN FOSTER, NW200 90th LANDMARK MODEL LETTERS THE WAY WE WERE EVENTS YOUR CLASSICS Ian Foster had planned to launch his selfpublished NW200 90th book in 2020 to celebrate 90 years of one of road racing’s greatest events, the North West 200. But the 2020 NW200 was cancelled due to coronavirus and as this year’s event has also fallen foul to the ongoing pandemic, Foster has published the book this year. And what a hefty tome it is – not only does the large- format A4-landscape hardback boast 404 pages dedicated to the history of the race, there’s also an…

The BSA Bantam 175cc worth of real bike 23 The number of years the BSA Bantam was in production. The unit-construction piston-ported two-stroke-powered machine began life as the D1, a 125cc rigid-framed machine and progressed through various incarnations until the 1971 B175, which had a 175cc engine in the ‘pivoted fork’ (swingarm) chassis. Estimates of production figures vary wildly, but they range from at least 250,000 up to nearly half a million. Either way, the lightweight machine was one of the most successful British motorcycles of all time. 3 The number of different capacity versions of the Bantam. The initial D1 125cc machine (52mm bore x 58mm stroke, giving an actual 123cc) was superseded by the D3 150cc Bantam (57mm bore x 58mm stroke – 148cc) in 1954. Then in 1958, with…

Here are a couple of photos that were taken in the summer of 1978 on our tour of the Alps – my first time ever abroad, aged 21. The photo on the left, showing my 1958 Norton Dominator 99 and my friend Derek’s Ducati 860GT, was taken on the Colle di Nava in Liguria – that’s me in the white helmet, my girlfriend Pat in the blue, and John behind the Ducati. The one below is on the Col de Restefond in France, with me in the middle, Pat to the left and John to the right. We set off in leathers and jeans, full of youthful enthusiasm, and both bikes behaved faultlessly – although, riding two up, my Norton was breathless on some of those passes. It sowed the…