Letters

Years ago, I had a Triumph 1911 Roadster, which was in a sorry state when acquired, and which I restored. A good while later, I started to make a brass model of it but only did the frame and tank as I did not have a silver solder kit, so the bits went in a…

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I have always enjoyed reading the AJS articles published in The Classic MotorCycle magazine over the years. The August 2020 edition about your father’s AJS, and how to identify with letters and numerals on the various models was very interesting. The June 2018 edition featured Bryan Lingard’s 500cc AJS R8, on reading this article again,…

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It was a complete surprise to discover my picture and Alan Turner’s article ‘A Long Call From Sussex’ in the November 2020 edition of The Classic MotorCycle (p36-38), as I’m the current owner of the featured AJS 18S, and have been so for about 50 years. The AJS has been a joy to ride and…

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It always feels a bit strange, suddenly coming across your own name in print (TCM, September 2020) and then seeing YC 2125! I remember it well of course, particularly that tasteful shade of purple chosen solely because I already had a black one and purple was in Valspar’s range of polyurethane paint. I had done…

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Having picked up the July issue of TCM, I got to page 88 and on seeing the BSA, I thought: ‘Wow, I have one of those.’ Well, it’s my wife’s. She gave me permission to purchase it and then she claimed it for herself… Typical. I also have a 1950 B33, 1948 B33 (my next…

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I very much enjoyed Richard Rosenthal’s article about airfield race circuits (July 2020 issue).I thought you might be interested in the attached photo which shows John Cronshaw – but not on a Gold Star. He is on my 750cc NorBSA at Carnaby – you can see the name has been altered on the fairing. John…

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Reading the piece about the Rickman brothers in the October 2020 issue, reminded me of a jaunt I made in 1960 to Beenham Park. A year earlier, I’d sold my Hornby Dublo train set for £30 in order to buy my form master Mr Pattison’s hand-made in Liverpool, James Fothergill bicycle. The cycle had 10…

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It was such a wonderful surprise to see the article about Ernie Barrett’s Phoenix JAP racers in the July issue. I knew Ernie from about 1952 until he died in the early 1970s. From 1954 to 1958 I was his racing mechanic. We went to many of the English circuits, the Isle of Man, and…

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A very interesting and enjoyable theme on old airfield circuits (July 2020). I also remember Perton, as mentioned by Bob Torrens in last month’s letters pages, but as a budding amateur photographer rather than as a rider. My last visit, in July 1964, was cut short as I was to meet a young lady for…

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With regards to the feature in the August issue, ‘Triumph’s best ever?’, about the Thunderbird, I had a sprung hub Thunderbird from 1951; definitely the best ever. Soon after I bought it I got called up for National Service in 1960, so the T-bird was already nine years old then. I paid £99 for it,…

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