BrooklandsSect ion VMCC. James andGreevestrials
bikes(leftfront)wererestoredbyJohn Burch.SimonWakefield, 1957 Gilera Super Sport(left), DavidWardand his
Mondial175TV (middl e) and IanSmartwith a1957MotoParilla Losso
Veloce .All enthused aboutsucce ssfullyfinishingarecentMoto Giro d’Italia.Dick Shepherd withthe
protot ypeBonnevillethat
oncegraced theoffice of
designerEdwardTurner.‘Sec ond gear and keep it pinned ’, provedto
be thetechn ique forgettingMartin Hirstand
hisV-twin Dart-JAP to thetop of Test Hill.Last minute clutchtrouble sstopped MarkLoxleyriding
this quasi-American-styleV-twinracebike.Kept be hindbars?
The Brails ford Race
Team’s re-creat ion
of Paul Smart’s
Tridentwithfactory
commissioned
RobNorth frame.nearWisbech, hefitted the engine from hisearlier bike.
Afterarace career,the bikewas sold on andregistered for
the road. Years later,Barry secured it,aswell as copyofa
localhistor ybookthat documentedthe bike'shisto ry.It's
rare that provenance is that good!
Forthis year'sMotorcycle Day, DickShepherd had
broughtthree T120 Bonnevilles as thechoice from his
considerable Triumph collection.The'Bonny' mayhave
its ownBritish motorcycle folklore (especially forriders
of acertainage) butDickpointedout th at the bikewas
very much tailored for Americanbuyers.They took no less
than 80% of thefactory' soutput.
Dickhas the original prototypeBonneville which,
after useasadevelopment machine,becameastatic
showpiece inEdward Turner's office.Therewas alsoa
1959 'Tangerine Dream'colour option enteredfor the
Thruxton 500by KingsofOxford (one ofStan Hailwood's
dealerships)and anotherThruxton version,a1960one,
supplied toHector Dugdale, and also ente redfor therace
that ga ve the model itssupplementaryname.
Lastyear,MarkLoxleyhad asingle-cylinderJAPquasi-
boardtrack special.This year,his father John and hehad
justfinishedaV-twinversion.Aquickroad testproved
that thebikeworked; unfortunately, ithadadispute with
the clutch and the problemcouldnot besorted intime.
Asuper bJamesV-twinoutfitwas parked awhile in
the clubhousepaddock.The1931 500cc 'Grey Ghost' C
model alsodispl ayed themanufacturer's brochure claims
of 'silence,smoothnessand thrillingspeed'. At £62.
(includingelectric lights) howcould you go wrong?
Sessions onTest Hill attracte dcrowdsofs pectato rs.
So closetot he action, it iseasy to seedifferentriding
techniques.Modern bikes fairlyrompupthe steepincline,
buthearing classic andvinta ge enginesworkinghard
is greatlyappreciated.There'sacommonwill to ur ge
low- powered, will-th ey,won't-they-make-itattempts
to succeed.When theygain thetop, it is inevitablyto
enthusiasticcheers.David Carpenterwasone such
recipientasheneededevery one of thesevenand ahalf
available horses to persuadewife Terri's 200ccMoto-
Guzzi Gallettooverthe top.Thecouple hadalsobrought
another less-commonGuzzifromtheir Sussex home,a
1953 Airone Sport, a250cc ohvsingle.
What's better thanbeing at Brooklands?Obviously,
ridingatBrooklands! All of the activedemonstration
sessions were popular,with afew laps of anoval laidout
on thefinishingstraight, or completingclimbs onTest
Hill while itwasopen forbusiness.Theseoccasions also
see themuseum bikesoutina ction.Anyone ridingin
eithertrack or Test Hill sessions hastoattend amandatory
briefing.Brooklandsmayhavebeenbuilt asatemple to
speed,but nowadays ,the concretesurface,laid so long
ago, is un even and often deceptively slippery. Eight
decades on, therecipe’s thesame,and itappears
Brooklandscanstill draw 'the rightcrowd'. End
THE CLASSICMOTORCYCLE|SEPTEMBER 2019 15
nds |MotorcycleDay