hills ulysses bugle the hub

HILLS ULYSSES
BUGLE
THE
HUB
March 2013
ULYSSES CLUB
PURPOSE
To provide ways in which older Motorcyclists can get together for companionship and
mutual support.
To show by example that motorcycling can be an enjoyable and practical activity for
riders of all ages.
To draw the attention of public and private institutions to the needs and views of older
riders.
HILLS ULYSSES
The Hills Group was formed in January 2002 and our monthly
meetings are held at The Castle Hill RSL 77 Castle Road, Castle Hill, every third
Wednesday at 7.30 pm.
Members also meet every Saturday morning at 9.00am - 10.00am at Joe’s Deli, 540 Old
Northern Road, Round Corner Dural.
Your Committee
PRESIDENT: Chris Bell
RIDE CO-ORDINATORS:
Ph) 02 9629 7953
Mobile) 0414 414 002
John Kerr
Ph) 02 9652 5834 Mobile)0421 459 577
SECRETARY: Les Mustafa
Mobile) 0425 416 944
Shannon Kinsella
Mobile) 04002 032 310
TREASURER: Slav Ukrainic
Mobile) 0401 988 511
GENERAL MEMBER: Rory Gibson
Mobile) 0413 564 308
Ph) 02 9683 6724
James Schofield
Mobile) 0407 664 004
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER:
QUARTERMASTER:
Brian Donovan
Mobile) 0409 090 872
Articles for The HUB to be sent to [email protected] but always phone first.
Friday Rides Twice monthly for the last few years, members from our Hill Ulysses branch get together for a Friday
half day ride. The group is usually made up of
regulars, many of whom are
fortunate enough to be retired,
& also the occasional riders
who have managed to take a
day off work for some biking
therapy. There is always a
variety of bikes represented,
including Japanese sports bikes,
European tourers, scooters &,
of course, the ubiquitous
Harleys. We usually meet at 10am on
Old Northern Rd at Round
Corner, Dural, where our
Saturday morning “Church” is also held. This location is very handy as it gives us easy access to most
of the roads out of the suburbs & into the beautiful areas that we are so lucky to have available to us
here in northwest Sydney. We aim to ride for around five to six hours, including several stops for
refreshments & socialising. Mostly, there are between five & ten of us on the ride but we have had up to thirty members join us.
It is fun trying to keep everyone together with the larger numbers, especially if we are travelling
through busier areas but we always manage. We generally ride either north via Wisemans Ferry or Berowra Waters, west through Windsor & south through Picton or Heathcote. Some of our favoured destinations include the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands, the Royal National Park & Ku‐ring‐gai Chase. These areas feature great bike roads & magnificent scenery. There seems to be a limitless variety of routes available in the region, although it can be sometimes
be challenging to come up with interesting variations. There is always a balance between the desire
to take a new, untested direction & not wanting to lead the group the wrong way which usually results in an ungainly U‐turn. The Friday riders tend to be a relaxed group, so much so that we recently formed the name “The Friday LAMARs” as an acknowledgement that we are Law Abiding Middle Aged Riders. This title was tested not long afterwards when one of our members decided to ride ahead of the group at an “amplified velocity”, only to be pulled over by a radar‐bearing highway patrolman. A fine was issued but it was subsequently waived due to this being the rider’s first offence in over 30 years, therefore the person involved is still a LAMAR & we hope he stays that way. Being the casual group that we are, we tend to have few “miss‐
adventures” on our rides (aside from the aforementioned U‐
turns). The few events that have occurred are fairly low key, such as a bike having a little horizontal rest on the off‐
ramp of the Berowra Waters Ferry or bikes laying down in various carparks but one incident is worth relating. After a very pleasant lunch at the Megalong Valley restaurant, two riders decided to ride up to the main road, ahead of the others. Unfortunately, the rest of the group soon came across one of the bikes on its side on a tight corner. The rider was a little shaken, the bike was bent in a few places but not much damage was done & we decided to continue on to Govett’s Leap Lookout as planned. We arrived at the carpark & the first order of business was to check out the damage on the bike more thoroughly. The main issue was a bent gear lever so, as some of the bikes seemed to be taking a bit longer than expected to arrive, the repairs were started. The bike owner went to his tool bag & couldn’t find his shifter, nor his hammer, nor any of the tools required & shortly after the “tardy” riders began arriving, we discovered why. Apparently the bottom of his tool bag had been damaged by the fall & the other riders had been stopping every few hundred metres or so, to pick up his tools off the road up from Megalong Valley, across the Great Western Highway & onto the lookout. The bike had temporary repairs successfully carried out & we were on our way home. One thing about the Ulysses club is that if you have more than half a dozen riders with you, there is a chance that someone will be able to fix just about anything with a few basic tools & a lot of experience. Alan Hinshelwood has shown that he can solve a great variety of bike problems with his collection of heavy rubber bands (believe it or not!). Interesting characters on our rides include the unstoppable Janette, who rides a very neat scooter with a customised top box that carries her beloved King Charles Spaniel, all adorned with studded leather biker cap & goggles. This sight brings a lot of curious double takes from passers‐by as we ride along. On most rides, we are joined by either Bruce or Rob; two professional firemen whose presence always adds the reassurance that, if a serious incident did occur, we would be in good hands. The Friday outings are very easy rides that are suitable for any Ulysses members. If you haven’t joined us yet, think about organising a Friday off & coming along. Steve Kiddle The Hedges Diaries
Product Evaluation: The IB Bike Lift
Forty years' ago I traded my seized Honda CL l75 in for a Honda CB
350. I was a young teenager and loved the independence that my
motorcycle gave me. Like all young riders I considered myself a
mechanic as well. So I fiddled with my bike and learnt the hard way. For
example, oil is needed for the motor so it will not seize; red wires go into
red and not into blue; after changing brake fluid you need to bleed the brakes; and after
stripping down a CB 750 K2 motor you need to know how to put it back together again. So
it was I pulled the spark plug out of my new motorcycle and promptly cross-threaded when
putting it back in. I went to my local mechanic who said, 'You're the only bloke I know who
can wreck a perfectly good motorcycle. From that point on I was cursed with a Macbethian
'hurly-burly' which made my mechanical efforts both ‘fair and foul'.
Forty years' on my psychological combat with my former mechanic's curse still continued.
By this time I owned a Harley Davidson Road King. It is wire-spoked and extremely difficult
to place air into the tyre. I successfully deflated the rear tyre. I decided to solve the problem
by ordering an IB Bike Lift. This would bypass the side stand, raise the bike and so allow
me to spin the rear tyre. But remembering the mechanic's curse I said to myself, 'nothing
could go wrong, it is all too straightforward.'
Last week I rang Ian at his factory. He was
not in having taken the day off to have a barb-que. I left a message and he promptly rang
back the next day. I ordered the bike lift and
paid $395, including freight. The next
afternoon a courier brought the box to my
house. I could not believe how quick the
service was. I manfully said, 'I can carry the
lift to my garage.' Not realizing how heavy
the lift was. I huffed and puffed my way and
managed to make it. The courier none the
wiser as to my struggle. I promptly unpacked
it and saw that there was no damage to the
lift.
That night I quickly read the instructions. 'No worries‘, I say. lay the lift out on the floor. Find
the handle and place it in in the hydraulic cylinder. I developed a Mr. Bean whimsicality
about what I was doing. '0h,look', I say, 'the lift is going up‘. Success, but it was not under
my bike. I then try to get the lift down. It is not going down. I reread the instructions: 'Place
open end of handle(2) onto Control valve (3) and turn handle anti-clockwise Very Slowly.' I
did that, many times. In the end I rang Patrice Bell for Chris's help. He, of course, was
travelling to l44 countries in 24 hours. His usual work regime. 'How goes the night, boy?' the
Macbethian mechanic laughs. 'The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.' my alter ego
Fleance intones. I sweatily worried through the night. The past was haunting me.
The next day I tried again. This time undoing the safety control valve. Fortunately no fluid
came out. I decided to ring Ian on his mobile: 0410 559 269. He laughed, "You're supposed
to have a bike on the lift so that when the control valve is undone, it will come down slowly.
You will have to stand on the frame and it will come down, but make sure the safety catch is
not down." I stood on the frame but it would not move. Guess what? The safety catch was
in place. Panic. I jacked the lift up, moved the safety catch and, finally, the lift came down.
The curse was over, the practice session was finished, and I was finally able to pump air
into my tyre.
'The bike lift works. The owner of IB Bike Lifts is courteous and efficient. But reading a
manual does not answer all questions. I spoke to Chris Bell about this and he quoted a
mistake he did: 'I turned the handlebars to the right and then lowered the bike.- It fell on
me.' Even knowledgeable people make mistakes. It pays to read the cautionary warnings
and follow them. I made initial mistakes but would recommend the IB Bike Lift for side stand
model heavy weight cruisers.
********************************************
Contributions to the HUB are always welcome. The content of the HUB
depends on you, our Members, to write about motorcycle related matters or
interesting things which you, our Members, get up to (within reason and
observing proper decorum, of course!!) Interesting rides, funny stories of
events that happened on rides, group rides, interesting products that improve
or contribute to motorcycling enjoyment, bikes you’ve ridden, a new bike
you’ve bought, books you’ve read, articles which you’d like to share or draw
fellow Members attention to, etc. The list is endless. You can always contact
me to discuss the suitability of a contribution if you’re not sure. Generally I
don’t make any alterations to people’s writing other than trying to correct
typos or spelling but if you’re not a confidant writer then I’m happy to help.
Bruce Walker
Editor
The Kevin Berry Story
– as told to JG
Kev’s love affair with motorcycles began at an early age when his dad Bill had a 1927 belt drive BSA and later a 1937 INDIAN with helical drive, an astounding 10 ‐12 horse power. This magnificent machine was fitted with a double MURPHY side car. Kevin’s father Bill with one of his early motorcycles Many a happy time was spent on the INDIAN when Dad would put Kev with 3 other kids PLUS their mother Olive and head off to visit the grandparents near Croydon Park, Sydney. Yep that adds up to 5 people on the old INDIAN, try that these days. Things were rocking along nicely when Kev’s brother Laurie bought a great ex‐army single side valve BSA, Laurie would pillion Kev out to see Laurie’s girlfriend Kev would borrow this BSA and ride around the block and these were in fact his first rides on his own, Naturally as all good little brothers are inclined to do Kev would also play with the bike during Laurie’s absence, even to the point of starting it up. Top fun, lots of noise and racket in the shed, UNTIL one day the bloody thing caught fire!!! Little brothers live rather dangerously at times!! Kev used to work for ERIC MOORE motor cycles in Wentworth Ave Sydney in about 1951, ERIC MOORE were ROYAL ENFIELD and ARIEL dealers, this where Kev started an apprenticeship as a motorcycle mechanic, unfortunately he did not finish the apprenticeship. It was around this time that Kev became independent and bought his own bike a 1948 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN and this was his first real bike and the beginning of a great adventure. On joining the Army Kev was called up for National service, he stayed in the army for 6 years during which time he was posted for active service in KOREA in 1953, served in an infantry rifle battalion for a year. He returned home to sign up with the military police where duties included riding 1942 HARLEYS, doing speed checks, convoy and VIP escorts. Kev (centre), with some of his Army mates
On leaving the army a career began working for a security firm SNP again on motorcycle duties and using TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRDS, TIGER 110’s and 120’s Kev reckons these early Trumpies were a great type of bike and could really get along when pressed.
Kev in full uniform with the famous Harleys Could not stay away from the army, back to the military police again 1942 WLA HARLEYS that had a foot clutch and hand gear change, very rough to ride as they only had a sprung seat to absorb the shock, old girder forks on the front and rigid frames. However the detraction from comfort did not stop some of the blokes from stripping them down to the bare essentials and tearing around the old MOOREBANK scramble track that used to be one of the main dirt track rides in the Sydney area at the time. Repairing a flat, Army style in the 1950s Kev with Number One, Stephen Dearnley. At 78 years of age Kev was still riding and enjoyed both his Kawasaki 1400GTR and, what he regarded as his ‘collector bike’, a Triumph Sprint. Kevin loved the camaraderie of the Ulysses Club and was always one of the earliest to arrive at our Saturday Morning Social. He always stood to greet the lady members and no matter how unwell he was feeling he always had a smile. Kevin’s passed away unexpectedly on 23 November, 2012 due to complications from a infected Gall Bladder. Kevin will be sadly missed. A “Man’s Man” and a True Gentleman. PHILIP CONRAD VINCENT
or
PCV as he was known to those who knew him was born in 1908 and died from bronchial pneumonia at age 71 after a series of debilitating strokes. PCV was a designer, engineering genius and visionary who gave his name to perhaps what is the most famous of all motorcycles. The Vincent motorcycle was so advanced that its power, handling and speed were only exceeded more than a decade after production had ceased! Never before or since was a motorcycle so ahead of its time and so dominant in the sport. It was the fastest production motorcycle from 1946 to 1967 until the mighty Honda 750 Four appeared. It was PCV’s obsessive ideas and determination that made the motorcycle bearing his name a reality. PCV’s genius had been overshadowed in later years by the genius of another man. His daughter Dee (Deirdre) has expressed some sadness about that. (Dee’s husband changed his name to Vincent‐Day for two reasons. One, he wanted the Vincent name to live on and two, Dee didn’t want her name to be Dee Day as that has other connotations!) My thesis about the decline of PCV’s reputation is that he brought on himself with his own autobiography (which I haven’t read). Ideas people are rarely successful businessmen in the same way that revolutionaries are rarely successful politicians. His father installed a man named Walker to supervise the management of his son’s company. PCV was not interested in making money. He was driven and intense and although more relaxed, mellow, reflective and witty in his later years never really understood why people didn’t see things his way. Later photos of the great man show a slightly bemused look on a PCV and Phil Irving Circa 1930s face whose mind was elsewhere. Some have compared him with Bill Gates. He didn’t suffer fools. PCV’s background was middle class privileged. His parents lived on and owned a cattle property in Argentina. His mother took herself to England so that Philip could be born there and PCV and his two sisters were sent to live with an uncle in England for their education. PCV went to Harrow and Cambridge University where he studied mechanical engineering. He bought his first motorcycle, a sv 350 BSA while at Harrow and by age 20 had persuaded his parents to let him drop out of university and provide funding for him to buy a small ailing motorcycling company, HRD. At age 16 PCV had already patented a cantilevered rear suspension system. The ideas behind PCV’s system are essentially the same as those used on all motorcycles today. He was way ahead of his time. As is often the case with moneyed backgrounds in the UK, PCV most likely suffered from the “them and us” mentality of British management towards their employees. Some of this has its basis in the British class structure and the obsession with genealogy and proving bloodlines coupled with a fascination with royalty. Interestingly the converse of this was the obsession in Australia of not tracing bloodlines for fear of finding a convict ancestor (an obsession which has fortunately disappeared in the last fifty or so years). Perhaps put more simply, PCV was a snob, but more on that later. Possibly PCV’s greatest stroke of genius was in hiring the Australian engineer Philip Irving. Without each other the achievements of the Vincent Motorcycle company may never have occurred. To say they complemented each other is an understatement. PCV, the difficult driven genius bursting with ideas and innovations and the easy going laconic Australian engineering genius who could transform PCV’s ideas into practical reality. Irving’s genius was in finding practical solutions to engineering problems. Although Phil Irving went on to design the Repco Brabham V8 engine that brought World Driver’s and Manufacturer’s Championships PCV and Elfrieda on Honeymoon 1954 to Jack Brabham, he always regarded the Vincent V Twin motorcycle as his finest achievement. Both Phils were totally obsessive workaholics. An inspired chain smoking Irving would work around the clock hardly noticing the time. I don’t think Irving ever really understood PCV even though they worked so closely together. I suspect that he admired and liked PCV. He resented the fact that PCV always had money to buy new cars but never gave a thought to raising Irving’s salary even at a time when Irving could have received double the amount elsewhere. One gets the feeling that to PCV, Irving was always the employee and PCV was the boss and could never accept or realise the contribution that Irving made was the reason that Vincent Motorcycles remained afloat as long as it did. It became clear to Irving that PCV thought Irving beneath him and in his autobiography Irving relates an incident when he and PCV were driving through a town and came across a statue of someone named Irving. PCV rather facetiously remarked that he supposed it was Irving’s grandfather, to which Irving correctly replied “No, it’s my great‐grandfather.” It was clear that PCV admired Irving’s work and the men seem to have worked well together. Irving described PCV as slight and unsmiling. His major contribution to motorcycling, I think, is in motorcycle suspension. He was perhaps sixty years ahead of the rest of the world with his rear suspension and he was acutely aware of the short comings of both girder and telescopic front forks. Both Phils were equally dismissive of the plunger rear suspension adopted by many motorcycle manufacturers. It was an article written by Phil Irving under the name “Slide Rule” which inspired the Royal Enfield Motorcycle Company to skip plunger rear suspension and move directly to swinging arm rear suspension and thus take the off road scene by storm post WWII. In front suspension ’lateral rigidity’ appears to have been PCV’s catch‐cry. The Girdraulic forks which featured on the Series C and later Vincents are an example of Irving finding the practical solution to the problem set for him by PCV. The forks were superb for high speed touring and it was only much later that the drawbacks to the design were found and many years before research uncovered why they ultimately caused problems. Two issues were found: too much unsprung weight and wear in critical areas. But it was a valiant try by a pair of brilliant minds. Much more recently BMW successfully solved the problem with their Telelever system. The servo clutch was another Irving solution to the massive torque produced by the mighty V Twin engine. In 1949 PCV thought that USA buyers may be confused by the name HRD Vincent thinking HRD stood for “Harley R Davidson”. Consequently the HRD was dropped from the name. Comment about the name change from Howard R Davies who outlived PCV is not recorded. At age 45 PCV married Elfrida and fathered Deirdre. I suppose such a late in life marriage can be expected in a man bursting with ideas who lived and breathed Vincent Motorcycles and Stevenage Engineering. From Irving’s accounts life at the Vincent Works in Stevenage was a happy experience and management and senior staff generally got along well. So one must assume that PCV’s enthusiasm was infectious and carried people along despite the business being always close to insolvency. In the entire period of operation Vincent Motorcycles produced between 11 and 12 thousand bikes bearing the Vincent name. Many survive and for some models it is thought that 90% are still around. The main market in the era when the UK had to export or perish was the USA with significant sales in Argentina and Australia. Series A Rapide The First Vincent V Twin Sadly I think PCV blotted his copybook with his autobiography taking credit for some of Irving’s ideas (Edward Turner, the boss of Triumph, also famously claimed credit for other people’s ideas). Irving’s autobiography is much more gracious. PCV would not listen to Irving on the subject of big end bearings and suffered failures because of it. Similarly, Irving privately told motorcycling journalist Vic Willoughby that the solution to the valve problems was entirely his idea not PCV’s as claimed. The time problems was entirely his idea not PCV’s as claimed. The time line and Irving’s experimental work at Velocettes immediately beforehand supports Irving rather than PCV. In 1947 PCV had a serious accident while testing one of his machines and never rode again. He was in a coma from the head injury for quite some time and Irving relates in his autobiography that the firm severely missed the guiding hand of PCV and was very pleased when he finally returned to work. The ever money hungry managing directors wanting immediate return on their investment had seriously interfered with PCV’s plans and set back the firm financially for some time due to their lack of foresight. PCV was only 48 years old when Vincent Motorcycles ceased production. He bought a garage, car repair and sale yard but soon left that and moved to London. I’m not sure what he did in his last years however his inventive mind was still bursting with ideas. Elfrida worked in a pub to support him when he was trying to interest backers in a rotary engine he was designing but without a Phil Irving to turn things to reality it was most likely a lost cause. The loyal Elfrida hated the focus and credit given to Irving in later years. During that period, buoyed by a young journalist friend PCV wrote his autobiography and many articles for magazines. I recall reading an article he wrote around 1964/5 about the rapid developments in engine oils during and after World War Two. The pre‐war sludge and carbon build‐ups in engines had virtually disappeared due to modern additives. To solve carbon build‐up, some of the more expensive engines pre WWII had water injectors in their carburetors. The water turned to steam in the hot engine and steam cleaned the cylinder head and exhaust passages. Engines using castor oil were a thing of the past. PCV wrote authoritatively and eruditely. During the second war much work was done for the Admiralty working with famous yacht designer Uffa Fox and the lifeboat for downed pilots which could be dropped from aeroplanes and this evolved into PCV’s invention of the jet ski some forty years ahead of its time. And there you have Philip Conrad Vincent, an extraordinarily gifted man who was in many ways ahead of his time and yet, in other ways, a man of his time. I have always loved Vincents ever since I first read about them. I came close to buying Series C Rapide out at Riverstone in 1964. It was in a number of boxes and the owner wanted forty pounds. If I’d known about the owners club and parts availability this story would have a different ending. Perhaps this may help folks to understand why I bought my 998cc Carberry. Bruce Walker Gideon’s Story
A couple of weeks ago I was at Darling Harbour to watch the Big Yellow Duck come in, for
the beginning of the Festival of Sydney. As I walked through the free bike parking area in
Erskine St nearby, I saw the owner of a Royal Star standing beside his bike, looking most
upset. He had left his bike earlier in the day, with his front wheel chained to a fence for safe
keeping. When he came back at the end of the day, he found his bike still there – minus not
only the rear wheel, but the drive shaft as well. The front mudguard had been also stolen,
as well as the chrome side cover for his air intake. All of this in broad daylight.
This
bike
had
obviously
spent much time in the weather, as there was surface rust on all of the chrome…….. but
still, it was his pride and joy……..once. He was lucky it wasn’t a Harley. The fence attached
to
the
front
wheel
would
probably
have
disappeared,
too.
HOW TO KEEP CONTROL IN CORNERS In the last issue of the HUB we wrote about Counter Steering. The riders who are quickest through corners use counter steering without thinking about it. It’s an automatic reaction as most of our car driving is automatic. Only by practicing can counter steering become an automatic function in your repertoire of riding techniques. If you think counter steering is just about getting through corners quicker, you are missing the point. Cornering is a favourite part of motorcycling, for some, their most favourite of all riding, but it also where most mistakes are made. Consider this four step approach to cornering: SLOW down and adjust your speed before entering the corner. Entering a corner too hot, besides being very scary, is very likely the reason for many motorcycle accidents. You can run wide and hit an oncoming vehicle, you can apply the brakes mid corner and lose control/traction especially if you lock up a wheel through braking too hard and too suddenly. In some cases leaning the bike over too far can result in some part of the bike hitting the road and either digging in or causing the rear wheel to lose contact with the road. There are many scenarios. The rule is to brake firmly using both front and back brakes whilst still running in a straight line before the corner. You don’t always know what is there. There may be water across the road, leaf litter, gravel or an obstacle. LOOK and this means turning your head to look into the corner as far ahead as you can. This isn’t just turning your eyes, you must physically turn your head in the direction you want to go. Your motorcycle will go through a corner better because your whole body is following the lead of your head and the bike will be more responsive to that physical command. Additionally, you are getting to sooner see and process the new information as the corner opens up giving you more time to react. PRESS your handlebar as required in counter steering as you enter the turn. Push left to go left, push right to go right. This action initiates the lean that starts your bike going in the direction you want to go. ROLL on the throttle as you go through the turn. This should be done smoothly and steadily. It counteracts the natural tendency of the bike to continue slowing down and most importantly, the gradual acceleration helps stabilise the suspension and controllability as well as assisting in bringing the bike back upright as you exit the turn. In a very long turn maintaining a steady speed is probably the best course. The key to all this is to accelerate smoothly and steadily rather than hammering the throttle which can again result in loss of traction. Practice the four steps “slow, look, press and roll” until it feels natural and it will become automatic resulting in more relaxed and safer riding. (Special thanks to George Findley for supplying the HOG Magazine material on which these articles have been
based. The Editor)
Walkers in Tasmania And 50cc Motorbike Racing Between 1962 and 1983 World Championships were held for 50cc racing motorcycles. Unfortunately racing these tiny motorbikes in Australia didn’t take off. Laws in Europe are different and riding under 50cc mopeds is allowed from around age 14. In the UK young people are allowed to ride restricted power 50cc bikes at age 16. Once a lad or lass obtains a full licence at age 17 then the bikes may be derestricted from around 2‐3 hp to unleash their full 6‐8 hp. They look like miniature version of the bikes ridden by Rossi, Stoner and others. I find the image of a sixteen year old in coloured leathers crouched low over the tank grasping narrow clip‐on handlebars at 27 mph faintly amusing. It wouldn’t be hard to 1967 Suzuki Twin Developing 17.5 HP imagine what they are thinking. The racing scene in 1962 was very different with bikes developing around 12 hp and by the end of the 50cc era bikes were developing 20 hp – that’s 400 hp per litre!!! Speeds were up to over 190 kph (120 mph) and even by 1965 50cc bikes were lapping the Isle of Man at an average of over 80 mph (128 kph). With a bike weighing around 65 kgs the jockey needed to be small too. These were delicate machines not too far removed from model aeroplane engines with extremely narrow power bands and engines capable or revving to over 20,000 rpm. Some had 12 or more gears like a racing bicycle. Imagine trying to juggle all that and not break something? The two strokes from Suzuki initially dominated (Tohatsu was a player as well) and Suzuki introduced twins. Honda, not to be outdone started working on a triple!! Your average farm hen egg is about 50 ccs. Think about twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder in a three pot 50 cc bike?? Before someone started thinking about 50 cc V8s the world governing body of motorcycle sport pulled the plug and restricted 50 cc 1982 Van Veen Kreidler 50cc single Developing 20 hp racers to one cylinder and six speeds in the gearbox. It made for a slightly more level playing field between the Europeans and the Japanese and so all the Japanese companies in a body withdrew from 50 cc motorcycle racing. There were a mass of firms making 50cc engines in Europe especially in Italy with Garelli, Morbidelli, Motobi, Ducati and others. Derbi and Bultaco from Spain and Kreidler from Germany came to dominate and won most of the world championships between them after the departure of the Japanese. Engine sizes were increased to 80 ccs in 1984, before the category was dropped after the 1989 season. Jim Fruin’s 50cc Derbi Racer Amongst the great names were Angel Nieto from Spain who won 6 of his 13 World Titles on 50 cc bikes. Angel rode Derbi, Kreidler and Bultaco bikes. Stefan Dorflinger from Switzerland took home 4 titles 1982 ‐1985 riding Krauser, Kreidler and Zundapp. Closer to home, Hugh Anderson from New Zealand won two championships riding Suzukis in the early days and Jorge Martinez from Spain won 3 in the last days of 80 cc racing. The man who seems to have been around the longest and who is perhaps one of the best remembered name in tiddler riding was Hans George Anscheidt from Germany who won 3 titles riding Suzukis. Eugenio Lazzarini from Italy, Jan De Vries from the Netherlands and Ricardo Tormo, Bultaco mounted, from Spain each won 2 titles. Ernst Degner who stole and sold MZ’s secrets to Suzuki won the first world title in 1962, Ralph Bryans riding a Honda (the only four stroke to have won a title) from the UK, won in 1965. Henk Van Kessel from the Netherlands and Manuel Herreros of Spain each took home one title. Note that the Van Veen Kreidler is considered a separate make from Kreidler. I have always been interested in 50cc motorbikes although my height and weight precludes me from even contemplating riding one (let alone sitting on one – that would be a ridiculous spectacle). I remember being fascinated by the first Tohatsu 50 cc Runpet Sports bikes shown at the Sydney Motor Show around 1964. I’ve often wondered what happened to them. On our recent visit to Tasmania Cynthia and I stayed with our Ulysses friends Garry and Peggy Hardwicke at Georgetown. They introduced us to a remarkable chap named Jim Fruin. Although he lost the use of his right arm in a motorcycle accident in his early twenties, Jim has raced (yes, raced with one arm) and collected 50 cc motorbikes for most of his life. Now in his 60s Jim doesn’t race anymore but would loan out a bike for historic events to someone who he felt assured could look after his delicate, sensitive and easily breakable machines. In the Norfolk Museum in Georgetown are 8 beautifully restored bikes from his collection. Not all are 50ccs as in his garage he later showed me a racing 125cc Honda twin capable of 220 kph. The latest issue of Old Bike Magazine has a photo of a 50 cc racing Special built by his uncle and on display at the Historic Motorcycle Show at Ross last year (See photo above). I suspect the pride of Jim’s collection is his Van Veen Kreidler (below). When we visited his home he had a pair of OHV 50cc Motobi bikes being restored and many other makes under wraps. That he has achieved so much with just one arm is absolutely amazing. Garry Hardwicke told me that just occasionally Jim phones up and says, ”Can you come round ? I have a three‐handed job to do.” Jim Fruin’s 125cc Spondon Yamaha Racer Van Veen Kreidler Racer in Jim’s Collection A FEW SCENES FROM OUR CHRISTMAS PARTY