A bit of "ad hoc miscellania" from DQ........

This blog is a bit of motorcycling miscellania that should prove interesting......
Left click on images to enlarge....
When the automobile first arrived on the scene, they had really no dashboard and primative instruments.
The three following photographs are of what you did in 1910 to tell the time while you were driving...remember you were out in the open, suitably rugged up for an English winter and access to your watch was pretty difficult.
You purchased the brass holder, screwed it to the firewall, slipped your watch into it and fitted the cover over it....
The watch incidently is a 1918 Waltham.....
















































I had an email from Barrie James in the UK...he'd just purchased a Dodkin "Special" from Geoff Dodkin, who had built it in his retirement.
Geoff Dodkin was the well known London Velocette dealer in East Sheene.
When he took delivery of it in February this year, 2009, Geoff produced a special clock which he gave to Barrie and mentioned that I had given it to him sometime in the 1980's...I then recalled building it in my shop...both are pictured below....









































Always time for a cartoon.....























This little Smiths booklet comes up on auctions from time to time and is well worth having...
A few pages from it follow.
Of interest because they tell you how to determine the speedo ratio of your motorcycle and compare it to your speedometer. Only Smiths speedos had the instrument ratio on the dial, and even then not on prewar ones. It is the three or four digit number following the dial code.
Examples are 1600, 1584, 1610 etc, or 900, 1000 if a kilometre version....
Japanese motorcycle speedos are ALWAYS 1400TPKM or 2240 TPM.





































































Finally, I often get asked after the name of my business.... KTT Services..... well I was and still am a KTT enthusiast, although I no longer have one...
The logo I un-ashamedly "pinched" from the 1959 edition of "Motor Cycling" Sports Road Tests....
The car was my then 1970 Rover 2000 TC.
















This was taken a while back...


































































Did you look closely at the dial behind the rider, who incidently is the late John Griffiths, a "MotorCycling" road tester and journalist aboard the Veloce factory licenced Venom Clubman, licence number SOX-631.
SOX-631 appears on road test machines a lot...Vipers, Venom Clubman, Venom with Steib sidecar and so on...
It indicates 100mph a figure that was held in "awe" at the time....
But the dial is a 120mph version, altered by the art department at Temple Press to show 100...look where the 60 is halfway down the dial...

Harry Beanham, a view from DQ.......

Harry Beanham is an Australian motorcycling enigma and his story has been told in Jim Scaysbrook's excellent bi-monthly publication "Old Bike Australasia" by Peter Smith in issue no.7, April-June 2008 together with others in the Beanham family, for there was more than Harry in the motorcycle trade.

Harry's brother Robert started Modak Motorcycles in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, Victoria in 1930 and his son David Beanham continues it today with assistance from his mother Jean.

On Harry's death there were numerous auctions of the enormous amounts of tools, machinery, motorcycle miscellania and motorcycles from his estate and from these auctions, Harry's photographs, photograph albums etc passed in interested peoples hands, myself included.

The Vintagent , Paul d'Orleans, on his blogsite has offered two blogs on Harry and his ABC motorcycles.

I attended the auction spoken of by Howard Burrows who contributed one of the stories of Harry's ABC's on Paul's site.

http://thevintagent.blogspot.com/search/label/A.B.C.

But what of my relationship with Harry?

I said he was an enigma...I never ceased to be amazed at the interests he had...he played saxaphone, well, as a young man. He had a great interest in photography and told me of how he submitted his photos into contests run by the photographic journals of the day, winning prizes of photographic materials which allowed him to continue his hobby.

He frequented all sorts of auctions throughout his life, making shrewd purchases for subsequent resale.

He was a lifelong member of The Vintage Motorcycle Club of Australia (NSW) and was generous in donating a sizeable percentage of funds to the club when they auctioned some of his bikes and parts in the 1980's. He often was seen at their club rides in the 1970's on a HD, but shunned company unless he took a shine to you.

I recall in the early 1970's on a visit to Munroe Machinery in Chippendale, Sydney, we spoke of a news documentary on Sydney TV one Sunday evening and during this particular one, reference was made of a large collection of glass plate negatives taken during 1895-1910 by Charles Kerry a Sydney photographer. Mention was made that half the collection was missing and then Harry revealed that he had it, having purchased it in 1942 for about $88 in todays money.

He wanted it donated to a "useful" museum...I arranged it and there were 3500 glass plate negatives in all, the Macleay Museum in the grounds of Sydney University has them and they are referred to as "The Beanham Collection".

We got on well together.....

Stories abound.... but more for another day....

Let me share some of Harry's photographs that I have with you....

Left click on the images to enlarge....



The first one is Harry on one of his Harley's in 1932.















































Another of Harry's great interest in motorcycles was the LE Velocette of all things and there were approximately 38 auctioned off after his death...

Sydney was awash with LE's.....

Harry's daughter Pam sits on an LE in the grounds of their house in Wollstonecraft, Sydney, with Harry and his wife behind.

Harry had Allparts Motorcycle businesses in several capital cities in Australia, including Sydney's motorcycle "hub", Wentworth Avenue and Adelaide's, Flinders Street and Melbourne's Elizabeth Street..

The Sydney shot is in 1931, the Adelaide one in the 1960's by the cars in front.

He traded under other company names...Gearco, Munroe Machinery, Allgears, Camco...

Then he used his camera when he went touring, both in NSW and into Victoria...

Allen Burt, another Aussie privateer in Europe.....

I'm fortunate to have some of the personal racing photographs of riders from the special era from 1950's through the 1960's...I've mentioned Allen Burt before in this blog...a friend who I was involved in his care in the last years of his life to earlier this year when he passed away. I mentioned he was a bachelor, although I considered he was married to racing motorcycles!
I often took photos from his home to his nursing home residence and we'd discuss them and I'd pencil details on the back. Regretably I never did them all, but that isn't going to stop me showing you more... if fact you may be able to help with a possible place and date... fingers crossed...
Left click on images to enlarge...
I've published this before but is shows the two great mates, on the left on the P & R Williams supported ex works Velocette, Bob Brown and sitting on the other P & R's supported bike, an AJS 7R is Allen Burt. It's at the Mt.Druitt circuit, on the western outskirts of Sydney in 1953. Standing in the centre on the left is Les Slaughter a succesful rider in Australia, with Eric McPherson, another ex international from an earlier era.
Bob and Allen, members of the Western Suburbs MCC sailed to Europe in 1955 to collect new AJS and Matchless racers. Sadly Allen's crash during the TT practice of that year meant it wasn't until 1958 that he returned again to re-contest the GP's of Europe as a member of the Continental circus.



















In the pits somewhere in Europe, Allen in dirty white overalls in front of the converted bus that he and Bob Brown used as transport, looks on as an unknown rider makes adjustments to his machine...any ideas who? Tommy Robb..?























During the Junior TT, 1958, Allen at speed on a 7R AJS down Bray Hill (G.V.Neale photograph)


















At the bottom of Bray Hill... (G.V.Neale photograph)



















Prior to the TT in June, riders often contested lesser known meetings in Europe to garner much needed start money and hopefully some place money to assist in funding their years racing. These several photos are at Laxenburg, Austria 27th April 1958. Allen is rider #78 on a 7R AJS and following could be Tommy Robb #30 by the large shamrock on his helmet...photo credit Artur Fenzlau, Vienna, Austria.
Since I made up this blog I've had an email from Abraham Rehorst who suggests the rider #30 behind Allen may be Ladi Richter who was the Austrian 350cc champion in 1959.
Thanks Abraham....
















Allen at the same meeting and judging by the changed riding number, #81, is using his Matchless G45 in another event, likely the Senior race. The weather looks decidely unpleasant for racing.... Photo credit Artur Fenzlau, Vienna, Austria.
























This shot is where ??? It is Allen Burt by his helmet...he's on his G45 Matchless....

A "Mixed bag" from DQ...some interesting photographs....

When I come to do a new blog, usually I have a subject in mind...in fact I have a "Velobanjogent" folder in My Documents on my computer and within it are numerous other folders of varying titles containing photos for future use etc... well now I've whetted your appetite, like what?
"DOHC Velos", "TT and Manx GP", "Waycott 600cc SOHC Velo outfit","The 4 cylinder Velocette", more Keith Bryen and Allan Schafer photos to name some....
But this time I was taken by various pics, in no special order or detail as I assemble the next edition of the Australian Velocette OC magazine, "FishTailDownUnder" which you may recall I'm editor...so they form this blog....
Left click on images to enlarge.
This photo below is of a solid silver Velocette KTT Mk.8 engine. Made by a jeweller in New Zealand and presented yearly at the Classic motorcycle races at Pukekohe in February for the winner of the Velocette race. I remember winning it in I think 1981 on my Mk.8..foolishly I thought I got to take it home! But the best that occured was to look at it and eventually get my name engraved on a winners plaque...
Great "bit of kit" as they say.....
























Pictured below is Barrie James with Geoff Dodkin, former London Velocette dealer and one of GD's Velo specials, now owned by Barrie.....






































Barrie also sent this photo of the special 5" Velocette clock in a wooden plinth, given to him by Geoff Dodkin.
This brought back memories, for we built this clock in my shop in the 1980's and I presented it to Geoff in his motorcycle shop in East Sheene, London, UK. He's kept it all these years and it was nice to see it passed on to a Velocette enthusiast.
























This next cartoon tickled my fancy as they say...
When Australia went to metric measure in the 1970's, a small booklet was published on "Understanding SI metrification" and this cartoon illustrated it....
























In the late 1940s in Sydney a Velocette racer, Ted Carey, made his DOHC 250 Velocette engine on a 250 MOV pushrod engine, with a gear train a la MV.Benelli etc and of course Australian Les Diener and some others elsewhere in the world did likewise.
The engine has been owned by Sydney engine builder Malcolm Sullivan since the 1960s and with the recent interest in Classic racing fitted it into a variation of the UK Doug Beasley swinging arm frame...nice bit of kit...


















And finally...published by good friend John Jennings on his blog..."Private Owner Downunder, the story of a vintage Velo racer" ......(http://ozvintageracer.blogspot.com/ ), is this super evocative photo of a man and his machine, and yes I admit I'm biased, it's my old Velocette Thruxton...
Tony Keene, its next owner, astride it at the National Velocette Owners Club of Australia National Rally at Bundenoon, south of Sydney, in October 1986....
For the third time...." a great bit of kit"........

Factors Catalogues.... gold mines for information on accessories available in another era......

When we look at motorcycles and cars to restore, we can view the restoration from two aspects....
Originality...and here we usually "open a can of worms", for it really is difficult to state catagorically what was original for a model in a year of manufacture and what was not....
Let me explain....
Manufacturers, especially British motorcycle manufacturers generally had the works holidays in the August period of the year and took advantage of this time to introduce modifications, the production lines for new models etc, with the idea they would be available for their first public introduction at the November Earles Court Motorcycle Show, the model being destined to be available to the public in the following year.
Sales of course dropped off in the autumn( fall) months into winter, so it was a suitable time.
So often some of these new additions to a range found their way into showrooms earlier than catalogued and the general perception of the public.
These models were almost transition models, although never called as such by the Sales departments of the motorcycle manufacturers.
Back to our restoration comment above...
The other way to view a restoration is that it is period...that is, it had items on it that fit what was available to the public at the time.
Lots of people on purchasing a new or used machine alter it to their taste...it could be the fitments in your current new car of interior carpets, a mobile/cell phone etc... and in years to come, these would be viewed as not original, but they were period.
Factors catalogues....
These little gems, and I've a few to share with you, were produced as the catalogue of Motor and Motorcycle Accessory shops of the day....
Many were mail order oriented...
The UK, USA and where I live, Australia, all had them....
They pop up in secondhand stores, flea markets/auto jumbles, auctions etc and make a useful addition to your motorcycling libraries as a reference tool...and perhaps to convince a concours judge....
Left click on the images to enlarge....
The following is a 1924 catalogue for the Economy Auto Supply Co in the USA





































































J.T.Hampton & Co in the UK produced catalogues, small but thick!
This is a 1920 one.





























































Halfords, Pride and Clarke and Marble Arch Motor supplies were all UK suppliers....






























































































































































































































I've taken you through the period 1920 into the 1950's...but we shouldn't forget the arch, current mail order firm from motorcycling today....
You betcha...Domiracer Distributors Inc, also trading as Accessory Mart, from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. They cover motorcycling stuff from all over the world and most eras...