Archive stuff

Not bike related but more from my late father’s archive, a trip to NW states and Canada for the 86 Expo.
I wonder if the Victoria Clipper is still ferrying tourists around the harbour. And just across the border, what a line up planned for the recently opened Tacoma Dome. However, nothing has changed much - Ozzy cancelling a show….
 

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Exmoor beast said:
At the first press launch at Brands, Heskeths employed an ex Norton racer/ test rider to give it its first official blast..
when asked what he thought “ Engine sounds like two skeletons wanking in a dustbin..”
The motor was originally drawn by Ron Valentine of Weslake, then the Heskeths F1 blokes mucked about with it, it was a bit of a mess. The sock was an oval section cam chain tunnel that floated, mostly in oil, between head and cases.
The design was then sold to Excelsior/ Victory then Indian- I imagine they started again.
Click to expand...

That`s interesting ....I wonder if the Norton ex test rider was Norman White , or Dave Rawlins ......... I didn`t know about the Excelsior / Victory / Indian connection ( but then there`s lots of things I don`t know ... ! ... ) ........ Always thought the Hesketh looked a bit of an ungainly lump ...... Was there a faired version called the Vampire , which improved things a bit ....... Also remember seeing , in the ILOC LVV magazine , I think , a "framed " Hesketh , maybe Spondon or something like that , with nice bodywork , which looked great .........

Just shows what could have been done styling wise with a bit of effort , although I believe the original styling was done by John Mockett , and he seems a good guy , so I won`t criticize too much ........ There was an interview with Mockett recently where he said he wanted to lower the frame rails , I think , when first working on the bike , but Bubbles had already ordered hundreds of giant size batteries , so the frame had to stay as it was ............

I think " production " was eventually taken over by a Mick Broom ? , in a seperate workshop near Daventry , where he attempted the sows ear / silk purse thing , with up rated spec engines ........ ( going by memory here , can`t be bothered to look it all up again ..... ) ......
 
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Early July 1970 ........ In the 1980`s Honda copied this idea for the 50cc Stream ......... Honda UK were considering importing it , and one was brought over for them to try ........ The chap who tried it out in London traffic said it was one of the most unstable things he had ever ridden .......and this was the 50cc version restricted to 30 mph ......... apparently there was a Japanese home market 80cc version which would do over 50 ............ At tickover the front hinged half would sway gently from side to side in time with the engine ( a bit like a Moto Guzzi , except not as bad ) ........

Jochen Rindt and Chapman pictured here at Brands for the British F1 GP , which Rindt won ......... Seven weeks later he would be killed at Monza during practice for the Italian GP ........ He opted not to fasten the lower half of his seat harness , so as to quicken his exit from the car in the event of a fire ....... unfortunately this meant when he collided with the Armco , he slid forward in the seat and suffered severe neck injuries .........

The only F1 driver to become Champion posthumously .......... the only other driver who could have caught him points-wise in the remaining rounds would have been Jackie Ickx ....... but Ickx didn`t manage to do that , so Rindt became F1 Champion , although he was dead ......

At the end of the season , runner up Ickx presented the Trophy to Rindt`s widow , Nina .......

I seem to recall that the year when the TT was first run over the Mountain Course , a Royal Enfield rider crashed within a few yards of the finishing line ..... he was killed in the crash , but his dead body continued down the road without the bike , eventually crossing the line , thus gaining him third ( I think ) place in the official results ........

Going back to Lotus at Monza , I think it was the previous year when Rindt and Graham Hill both crashed their Lotuses ( Loti ? ) within yards of each other at the same spot on the track ..... Hill crashed first , got out of his car , and then watched as Rindt did exactly the same thing a few yards further up the track ......... There is a picture of Hill standing looking down at Rindt , who was still in his car with his face covered in blood ........ not as bad as it looked ........ he just hit his nose ......

It seems Rindt was not altogether happy with the Lotus fragile reputation , suspension breakage was thought to be responsible for the Monza crashes ....... although things had seemed to have improved by 1970 , and the type 72 ........

In one earlier episode , after mechanical failure caused a crash at one circuit , Rindt apparently left the car , walked back around the circuit to the pits , entered the Lotus garage , and shouted at the mechanics / team ......... " If that ever happens again , and I live , I`ll kill the fu*king lot of you ....." .........

His relationship with team boss Colin Chapman wasn`t always as it appears in the photo above ........

Bernie Ecclestone was Rindt`s business manager at the time .... after the fatal Monza crash , Ecclestone was spotted walking back to the pits carrying Rindt`s crash helmet .......
 
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rocketonarail said:
View attachment 82095

Early July 1970 ........ In the 1980`s Honda copied this idea for the 50cc Stream ......... Honda UK were considering importing it , and one was brought over for them to try ........ The chap who tried it out in London traffic said it was one of the most unstable things he had ever ridden .......and this was the 50cc version restricted to 30 mph ......... apparently there was a Japanese home market 80cc version which would do over 50 ............ At tickover the front hinged half would sway gently from side to side in time with the engine ( a bit like a Moto Guzzi , except not as bad ) ........

Jochen Rindt and Chapman pictured here at Brands for the British F1 GP , which Rindt won ......... Seven weeks later he would be killed at Monza during practice for the Italian GP ........ He opted not to fasten the lower half of his seat harness , so as to quicken his exit from the car in the event of a fire ....... unfortunately this meant when he collided with the Armco , he slid forward in the seat and suffered severe neck injuries .........

The only F1 driver to become Champion posthumously .......... the only other driver who could have caught him points-wise in the remaining rounds would have been Jackie Ickx ....... but Ickx didn`t manage to do that , so Rindt became F1 Champion , although he was dead ......

At the end of the season , runner up Ickx presented the Trophy to Rindt`s widow , Nina .......

I seem to recall that the year when the TT was first run over the Mountain Course , a Royal Enfield rider crashed within a few yards of the finishing line ..... he was killed in the crash , but his dead body continued down the road without the bike , eventually crossing the line , thus gaining him third ( I think ) place in the official results ........

Going back to Lotus at Monza , I think it was the previous year when Rindt and Graham Hill both crashed their Lotuses ( Loti ? ) within yards of each other at the same spot on the track ..... Hill crashed first , got out of his car , and then watched as Rindt did exactly the same thing a few yards further up the track ......... There is a picture of Hill standing looking down at Rindt , who was still in his car with his face covered in blood ........ not as bad as it looked ........ he just hit his nose ......

It seems Rindt was not altogether happy with the Lotus fragile reputation , suspension breakage was thought to be responsible for the Monza crashes ....... although things had seemed to have improved by 1970 , and the type 72 ........

In one earlier episode , after mechanical failure caused a crash at one circuit , Rindt apparently left the car , walked back around the circuit to the pits , entered the Lotus garage , and shouted at the mechanics / team ......... " If that ever happens again , and I live , I`ll kill the fu*king lot of you ....." .........

His relationship with team boss Colin Chapman wasn`t always as it appears in the photo above ........

Bernie Ecclestone was Rindt`s business manager at the time .... after the fatal Monza crash , Ecclestone was spotted walking back to the pits carrying Rindt`s crash helmet .......
Click to expand...
Honda bought the rights as opposed to copy it and they were imported to the UK,we sold them and they weren’t popular- probably expensive. Honda always trying to tempt non motorcyclists like the did with the Cub.
 
rocketonarail said:
That`s interesting ....I wonder if the Norton ex test rider was Norman White , or Dave Rawlins ......... I didn`t know about the Excelsior / Victory / Indian connection ( but then there`s lots of things I don`t know ... ! ... ) ........ Always thought the Hesketh looked a bit of an ungainly lump ...... Was there a faired version called the Vampire , which improved things a bit ....... Also remember seeing , in the ILOC LVV magazine , I think , a "framed " Hesketh , maybe Spondon or something like that , with nice bodywork , which looked great .........

Just shows what could have been done styling wise with a bit of effort , although I believe the original styling was done by John Mockett , and he seems a good guy , so I won`t criticize too much ........ There was an interview with Mockett recently where he said he wanted to lower the frame rails , I think , when first working on the bike , but Bubbles had already ordered hundreds of giant size batteries , so the frame had to stay as it was ............

I think " production " was eventually taken over by a Mick Broom ? , in a seperate workshop near Daventry , where he attempted the sows ear / silk purse thing , with up rated spec engines ........ ( going by memory here , can`t be bothered to look it all up again ..... ) ......
Click to expand...
I went to the Heskeths estate to see a fuel injection man- next door ,Mick Broom was assembling Heskeths from a barn and also importing monkey bikes . They had a robbery and the took the Chinese monkey bikes and left the Heskeths!
I also remember lots of NOS Heskeths stuff at the Twickenham graveyard bike breakers- Dennis must have bought it from the receivers- piles of clocks and tanks . Quite sad for me as this was the great white hope as a schoolboy who loved Britbikes, and just missed them.
 
When the Hesketh was launched I did speak to Bubbles about buying one as my patriotic duty to buy British. Rather glad I didn't given all the failings of the bike, so continued with buying dodgy Laverda triples instead. Later on I visited MickBroome, I was living nearby at the time, when he was ‘developing’ the bike as I seem to recall his attempts to build a race bike.
 
I was one of the daft buggers who put money into the Hesketh project and also another British no hoper the KRM superstreak, a 350 four with unusual air cooling, not huge amounts of cash but lost it anyway, but the worse one was British Leyland, I bought a huge quantity of shares when they were about a quid a pop and lost that as well! not quuite the whole lot but cashed in when they were less than 20p

The Hesketh in LVV ILOC mag in a Harris frame was much belived mate Malcolm Cox, ask hi on facebook for pistures, am sure he will oblige.
CLEM
 
CLEMTOG said:
I was one of the daft buggers who put money into the Hesketh project and also another British no hoper the KRM superstreak, a 350 four with unusual air cooling, not huge amounts of cash but lost it anyway, but the worse one was British Leyland, I bought a huge quantity of shares when they were about a quid a pop and lost that as well! not quuite the whole lot but cashed in when they were less than 20p

The Hesketh in LVV ILOC mag in a Harris frame was much belived mate Malcolm Cox, ask hi on facebook for pistures, am sure he will oblige.
CLEM
Click to expand...
Mate of mine got rid of his Unipart shares, just before they became Carphonewarehouse!
I’ve not heard of KRM superstreak? Tell me more?
 
Exmoor beast said:
March 1987- Classic Reptile.
Click to expand...

Nice prices ........ Around the mid-eighties Windy Corner had a couple of Electronicas going for around the £3.5 mark ....... still a fair amount at the time , but ............ If only I knew then how prices would go ......... Not from the collect , hoard , and accumulate point of view ........ just the opportunity to get hold of one ........

Strictly speaking an Electronica would be `75 onwards , rather than `74 .... ? .....

BTW ...... Classic Reptile isn`t a reference to some dodgy Italian dealer selling ringed SFC`s is it ..... ? ........ If that`s the case I`ll steer clear ..... :) .............
 
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rocketonarail said:
Nice prices ........ Around the mid-eighties Windy Corner had a couple of Electronicas going for around the £3.5 mark ....... still a fair amount at the time , but ............ If only I knew then how prices would go ......... Not from the collect , hoard , and accumulate point of view ........ just the opportunity to get hold of one ........

BTW ...... Classic Reptile isn`t a reference to some dodgy Italian dealer selling ringed SFC`s is it ..... ? ........ If that`s the case I`ll steer clear ..... :) .............
Click to expand...
It’s interesting how in the same mag a veteran Douglas is asking the same money but now wouldn’t make a third of what an SFC does Today.I remember looking at a MG TC with my old man, I was eleven at the time.It was £3500- I told him to buy it but he thought we should get a for a family car..an Allegro. Joking aside, that Allegro towed me to hundreds of grass tracks so I can’t moan!
 
CLEMTOG said:
I was one of the daft buggers who put money into the Hesketh project and also another British no hoper the KRM superstreak, a 350 four with unusual air cooling, not huge amounts of cash but lost it anyway, but the worse one was British Leyland, I bought a huge quantity of shares when they were about a quid a pop and lost that as well! not quuite the whole lot but cashed in when they were less than 20p

The Hesketh in LVV ILOC mag in a Harris frame was much belived mate Malcolm Cox, ask hi on facebook for pistures, am sure he will oblige.
CLEM
Click to expand...

I was a Norton Challenge Supporter ........ sent a Tenner or something , and got a little white card saying " Challenge Supporter " in return ......

Probably the biggest Challenge of all was trying to get it to run properly.......... Heavy , slow , and with massive engine braking that would almost spit Croxford off whenever he closed the throttle ... ( which I guess he had to do now and again .... ) .......

I believe Croxford tried to race the Challenge at the TT ....... half way round the first lap of the race he found himself covered in oil ........ obviously something serious , so he pulled into a nearby pub and had a pint or two ........ came back out , looked at the bike and found it was just the filler cap that had come loose .......... so he bump started the bike at the side of the road , turned around , and continued on his way ....... The only ( and quickest ) lap of the TT course that the Challenge ever managed ........ Although it was later developed as the Quantel Cosworth and raced successfully at Daytona ..........

Have an exploded ( ha ! ) drawing of the KRM Superstreak by Lawrie Watts ....... will dive into the pile again and try to find it .... a little easier now they`re in year order ......... around 1980 I think .......
 
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rocketonarail said:
Nice prices ........ Around the mid-eighties Windy Corner had a couple of Electronicas going for around the £3.5 mark ....... still a fair amount at the time , but ............ If only I knew then how prices would go ......... Not from the collect , hoard , and accumulate point of view ........ just the opportunity to get hold of one ........

Strictly speaking an Electronica would be `75 onwards , rather than `74 .... ? .....
Click to expand...
I bought my Electronica in January 93. The equivalent of £8000. The going price at the time.
I'm not certain that in view of today's prices, their value has evolved much.

Electronica was 75 until the last batch in the spring of 76, with cast wheels.

Paul
 
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