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Photos
of Manx Demo with NOC at Brackley
Bike Festival - 21/8/11 |
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Article
Update : 24/08/11 |
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Following an invite from Martin Maynard, who with a small band
of similar minded stalwarts of the Norton Owners Club, do a
great job promoting our favourite silver brand, i.e. - the Norton
single; I was asked if I would like to help fly the Manx flag,
by demonstrating as many Manx Nortons as possible at the forthcoming
Brackley Bike Festival, held on the 21st August - and as an
added incentive, I was told they would like us to try and make
as much noise as possible!
This yearly bike event takes place in the centre of the small
town of Brackley in Northamptonshire, and is massive, with almost
every kind of motorcycling gendre is some way catered for. As
well as the different motorcycling stands and areas - which
included club stands, demo's, and the chance to test ride a
number of modern motorcycles - including Ducati's and Royal
Enfields, there was even a fun fare and many none-motorcycle
stalls there for the rest of the family - apart from anything
else almost every kind of food stall you could imagine was there.
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Martin
Maynard with a line of Manx Nortons. Mine are number 6 and number
8. Martins doubleknocker is no 69 - any reason for that number
Martin? |
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Although
not as many Manx's as had originally been planned were available
for the demo, I would estimate we still had about 15 Manx and
Racing International's on display in the afternoon |
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Although
not really the type of meeting I would normally attend, I have
to admit it was an impressive affair, and by early afternoon it
seemed that the enitre centre of the town was heaving with people.
What was really nice to see was the sheer diversity of people
walking around. As well as large groups of all the expected motorcycling
genders (particularly the custom bike brigade, who I assume helped
create the meeting originally), what I really liked to see were
all the other none motrocycling social groups there - groups of
teenagers, older people, and particularly the amount of families
out for the day, who looked like they had probably never been
to a motorcycle meeting before. All mixed in with the hardfast
motorcycle fraternities, but all looking to be having a good time,
and with the weather being so good it, the event has a really
good laid back atmosphere.
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It
was also nice to have Graham, who now helps me part time doing
the online catalog orders, come along for his first Norton meeting.
I noticed on the day that both Graham, who is on the right,
and Martin seem to have a soft spot for doughnuts! |
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As
for the actual demonstrations - well we had been asked to come
along and make some noise - no problems in that department! the
centre high street had been cordoned off and there was an approximately
300 yard length of road, where through the day different types
of motorcycle demonstrations were shown, including some pretty
amazing stunt demonstrations and modern race bike demos.
Unfortunately, I do not think the organisers had taken into consideration
that our old Manx racing bikes do not have any turning circle,
and unlike modern bikes, cannot find neutral, as the clutch is
really only used fo getting started off the line. Also, there
was quite a convaluted route through to the demo area, so by the
time many of us got there, our clutch's were already dragging
- and a few runs each just added to the strain. I gave best on
the 1938 bike after about 5 or 6 laps, by which time both the
bike and I were well and truly overheated! |
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Waiting
to go out for our first run . . . engines already getting hot! |
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I
ran my 1938 Racing International in the first event.
Here I am getting a push from my old grasstracking mate Manuel
Hughes.
Manuel, who used to be a regular VMCC champinship winner on
his JAP engined grasstrack bikes, lives very close to the town
of Brackley, and came to say hello |
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This
photo gives the perception of a large wide road, but the turning
areas at the end were actually very narrow, and our bikes struggled
to get round, with their limited turning circles |
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And
the other end was not any better . . . |
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As
you would expect, the majority of bikes we were demonstrating
were Featherbed Manx's |
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But
we had a couple of exceptions - as well a my rigid, there was
this 1940's Gardengate Manx, with its distinctive large capacity
petrol and oil tanks |
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Unfortunately
for me, the demo area did not prove long enough for me to figure
out if my latest cylinder head surgery had been successful,
as I was not able to hold it on full bore for more than a couple
of seconds, which was a disappointment |
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But
at least we made lots of the right sort of noise. Like me, this
bike was probably the noisiest - 128 db, notice little kid in
background! |
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The
bikes were left out after their runs and seemed to get a lot
of attention from spectators used to more moderm machinery
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This
late Featherbed was not with us, but in one of the main display
areas. I think it is actually a Molnar Manx and went well |
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Other
Interesting Stuff
Our first session was put on quite early - about 11.00am, so
we had chance to have a breather before going out for a second
session in the early afternoon, which gave a chance to go round
and look at some of the other bikes arriving and some of the
other demos. There was a very sprightly demo put on by the early
Jap bike racing brigade - I confess I did not see it, but it
sounded good! There was also some interesting Cafe bikes there,
with many of the owners looking just right for propping up the
coffee bar at the Ace Cafe - who, of course, also had a stall
there! For me the nicest cafe racer I saw was a very nicely
put together Norvin, with all the right bits, including unchopped
Vinnie twin engine, TT carbs and Manx hubs. The owner knew his
stuff and told me that, like me, he was second generation Vinnie
and the bike had been in the family a long time. Anyway - it
was close enough a Norton, so demo'd with our mob in both sessions.
For me it was also a good opportunity to have a a chat with
Patrick Walker, who was there with his Works Norton setup -
his doubleknocker engines looked excellent, and he had also
bought his own singlecknocker - a lovely pre-war racing Gardengate
350 |
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Lovely
Norvin really looked the part, with all the right bits.
The ultimate Cafe Racer |
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Patrick
Walkers late 1930's 350 looks just right in front of his 'Works'
van and one his DOHC engines |
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Patrick
sat on bike, talking to another Manx owner (whose name unfortunately
I did not catch) |
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A
'Works' DOHC engine, that Patrick manufactures - it looked a
very professionally made piece of kit |
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Very
nice pre-war Model 50 350cc, spotted in the vintage bike section
close to our own area |
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.
. . .and in the same car park, a nicely presented Featherbed
350 provided an interesting comparison |
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Purposeful
'Working' Manx, which is being ran in the Lansdowne series and
owned by the gent talking to Patrick above |
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This
early 16H flat tanker looked like it had been ridden to the
event and made a lovely comparison to the JPS Commando sat behind
it |
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Swopping
allegiance! Trying out fellow Manx owner Brian Glover's other
love - his replica Honda 250 1960's racer - lovely bike |
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Second
Session
We ran a second session in the early afternoon, and for this I
switched over to my 1955 doubleknocker. This bike is not really
any quieter than my 38 bike - not really sure why both these bikes
are so loud, but even for Manx's they both seem to have a certain
crack about them.
Anyway, again we were ushered into the stretch of High Street
that was been used as an arena, and again we all did some short
blasts and made the appropriate noises, which hopefully gave the
crowds a good insight into what a racing grid sounded like before
the modern world of noise meters became a necessary evil.
The one gripe I think we would all have is that, again, the organisers
had not considered the turning circle these old racing bikes need,
and therefore it was difficult to turn the bikes round in the
small space provided. This added to the high gearing most of us
had, meant for the the majority of us, within a few runs, clutch's
were dragging badly and the bikes were becoming very difficult
to ride.
For my own part, I had forgotten how high the gearing was on my
doubleknocker and consequently I was having to give an awful lot
of clutch slipping and revs to get away cleanly, and was probably
doing 70mph in first gear! After about 6-8 runs of doing this
my clutch was totally shot, with smoke coming up from it and almost
no drive at all! I am told it sounded and looked good, but it
turned out to be a very expensive day, with the need to replace
two sets of clutch plates!
Apart from that though, a really nice day, and although not my
normal 'bag' it is an event I would wholeheartedly recommend you
visiting next year |
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Starting
my 1955 doubleknocker for the second session. Phil who is pushing
is another Manx owner who bought his beautiful 1934 race Inter,
which had been in his family for many years |
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By
the afternoon session the crowds had started to turn up - and
by mid afternoon the town centre was packed |
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Big
Vincent cafe racer on open pipes made a nice addition to our
group |
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Another
of our NOC group, on his doubleckocker with upswept exhaust |
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Yours
truly, slipping clutch and making noise with open megga |
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. . and that is what a fried clutch looks like. This was taken
15 minutes after I stopped, when we poured some water on it
to see if it had cooled down yet . . . evidently not! |
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