Letters

After reading the article about the two Vincent riders in the August issue, I thought I’d drop you a line, as I also went on that rally on my Venom Clubman, which I still ride and have owned since 1961. I travelled Harwich to Zeebrugge to Berlin; Berlin was interesting, sorting passport and money out,…

Continue reading »

The Series A Vincent-HRD Rapide (as featured in the July 2020 top 10) . . . the first and probably the most enigmatic Vincent twin. Introduced in the late 1930s and with a production run of less than 100 machines, not many people would have ridden or even seen one of these handsome machines. “Oh…

Continue reading »

In 1952, I bought a 1932 Velocette GTP 250cc two-stroke for £9. We got it running and I rode it around in the adjoining field, getting used to the clutch and hand change for a while. My brother said it needed sorting out, so it got dismantled and refurbishment began. In 1954, while out on…

Continue reading »

In early June, I learned with sadness of the passing of Carlo Ubbiali at his home near Bergamo North Italy. As a young man, I saw Ubbiali ride in the Ulster Grand Prix. He won his first ‘Ulster,’ the 125cc event, on a Mondial in 1950 at the age of 21. His last UGP wins…

Continue reading »

As an occasional reader of The Classic MotorCycle (for which I apologise) and Douglas enthusiast, I am usually attracted by the cover picture, this time the classic Thunderbird on the August 2020 issue doing the trick. Having read the articles, I then thumbed through the pages and arrived at the ‘Day at the Races’ (page…

Continue reading »

With reference to the sprung-hub Thunderbird on the cover of the August 2020 issue. I remember back in the late 1950s, when I started racing, I met future Senior TT runner-up Joe Dunphy in the pits at Brands Hatch. Guess what he was racing? A sprung hub Thunderbird. I asked Joe what was it like…

Continue reading »

Just got my June 2020 issue and read the lovely article on Mick Andrews. I first came across Mick in 1962 when a neighbour and schoolteacher Mr Walton took me and a few other street kids to a trial. Our job was to help pull failed bikes out of the sections. The trial was the…

Continue reading »

With reference to the July edition of The Classic MotorCycle,page 98, ‘Godfrey’s last ride,’ I was sorry to hear of the sad passing of Tony Godfrey. As we know, Tony did make a racing comeback after his crash in the 1963 TT. I have two photographs in my archive from the Avon Trophy meeting at…

Continue reading »

The article about the Scottish Six Days Trial in the May issue brought back some happy memories. My wife and I went up to Fort William for the Scottish several times in the 1960s. First time was in 1962 when we travelled up on my 350cc AJS. Around 360 miles from Huddersfield is a long…

Continue reading »

Thank you for July’s TCM, another great read with lots of information for enthusiasts of all ages. I do like Martin Squires’ work, combining insightful drawings with useful background information; it’s a combination of skills unique in my 60-plus years of reading about bikes. I loved the piece about Ernie Barrett and his Phoenix-JAP racers,…

Continue reading »