I
f you’re wondering about the curious name, that’s because
the Big Knock was originally started as a diesel bike
only event although it now incorporates all manner of
alternatively-engined machines. The diesel engine itself
was invented around 1892 although it’s debatable who
made the first one; however, the patent that most people
know about was that filed by Rudolf Diesel in 1893. Although
used primarily in larger vehicles due to the physical size of
the engine (and those cars for which manufacturers made the
diesel powerplants small enough are now considered to be the
scum of the earth), as early as 1904 folk were squeezing diesel
motors into cycle frames.
Most people will be aware of the Royal Enfield diesel-
engined Bullet which the company introduced in the 1980s.
However, despite becoming the world’s biggest selling diesel
motorcycle (although, admittedly, there wasn’t a great deal
of competition), the model was discontinued because it
was notoriously emissions-unfriendly, woefully slow and
underpowered – even compared to a petrol Bullet – and
vibrated like a power hammer. But there are still several
commercial manufacturers of diesel bikes (most built around
the Royal Enfield platform), while the US Marine Corps has
for the last fifteen years used Kawasaki KLR650s retrofitted
with an engine designed to run on diesel or jet fuel.
But it’s the homebuilt specials that really capture the heartand are what the Big Knock is all about. The Kubota engine, as
used in many lawnmowers and agricultural equipment, seems
popular for many builders and one such machine even won a
prize at my own Bosun’s Bikes events earlier this year.
Held at the Bat and Ball, a Sussex pub famed (well, perhaps
‘famed’ is a little strong a word) for being the venue where
British Lawn Mover Racing began, in keeping with its
eccentric nature everything about the Big Knock is a little
quirky. For example, it seems to have actually started on
Wednesday with several mass ride outs visiting all sorts of
odd places (Stuart the organiser, like me, loves exploring the
Sussex and Surrey countryside, so the routes would have
been interesting) while many of the European visitors headed
home on Saturday evening. I was fascinated by the ingenuity
of the builds present, although I’m not sure my grandson was
quite so enamoured. However, he is young and impressed by
bling, for which I personally blame Yoda.
Diesel may be maligned in some quarters, but the fuel
consumption that some riders get from their machines is
remarkable. They compensate for what they lack in speed by
doing it all of a splash of fuel. There are rallies all over Europe
although the Big Knock remains the only diesel motorcycle event
in the United Kingdom. It is, as you will find by visiting the rally
or looking at http://www.dieselbike.net, another world of engineers,
eccentrics and inventors, and all rather wonderful for that.The Big Knock is now in its fifteenth year but, much to my surprise,
I realised that I hadn’t attended the rally since 2008. It was time for
a return visit
THE BIG KNOCK
WORDS & PHOTOS : BOSUNTHE BAT & BALL, WISBOROUGH GREEN, WEST SUSSEX
pTim rode his diesel bike up from the West Country but couldn’t stop
long – and rode back the same day. It probably cost him about 75p.36 | 100% Biker | issue 250 | http://www.100-biker.co.uk
EVENT FEATURE THE BIG KNOCK