RealClassic – August 2019

(Nortonmodel 25 )whowasawardedthe
‘SusanMooreMemorialTrophy’forthe
youngestriderontheirfirstBanbury.Itwas
encouragingtoseethatthebeautiful 1922
16 HNortonandsidecarofDavidandJoan
Catton,whichhasbeenadmiredbyPUBin
previousyears,hasbeenrecognisedbythe
Banburyjudges,whopinneda‘winner’rosette
onit(the‘BestSidecar’trophy).
PerhapsbecauseAJSMarywasridingthe
Rex-Acme,someoftheotherlittleVilliers
enginedtwo-strokeswerenoticed,suchas
aLadiesmodelExcelsiorwithadropped
frame(theindustrytargetedwomeninits
earlieryears),andalovelylittle 1925175 cc
CoventryEagle.Bothappearedtousepetroil
lubrication,butnotsoAlexHubbard’s 1930
Panther 25 .LikeMary’sRex-Acme,thisutilises
theVilliers‘automatic’oilingsystemusing
crankcasecompressiontopressurisetheoil
tank.LikeMaryhehasahealthydistrustand
putssomeoilinthepetrolanyway.TheVilliers
enginedPanther 25 isnotableforusingup
thecompany’sexcessstockofframeparts
forthecommerciallyunsuccessful‘Panthette’
transverseV-twindesignedbyGranville
Bradshaw.Alex’sdaywaslesssuccessfulthan
Mary’sashisbikedidnotco-operate.
ThisyearPUBdidremembertheCassington
BikeNight,andwasfitenoughtogoalong
onthePUBVincent(whichisrunningfine),
togetherwithMoriniAlanonhisrecently
acquiredAJS 650 twin.Ithadbeenraining
alittleearlierchezPUB,buttheweather
improvedandeventurnedhotandsunny
forthegatheringitself.TheinimitableAllen
Millyardhadhishuge‘FlyingMillyard’V-twin
there,andapparentlyintendstorideittothe
forthcomingclassicrallyinOrkney–theman
isunstoppable.

Therewere,asever,allsortsofmachine

there,butinthespiritofa‘backofthe

magazine’competitionwitheditorFrankon

whosetastesinbikesisthemosteccentric

(ref.lastmonth’sShed),PUBhomedinon

alovelylittle 98 cc‘Prior’fromtheHercules

factoryinNürnberg(whodidnotmarket

theHerculesnameinBritainonaccountofa

separatecompanyalreadyusingthatname

here–generallyforbicycles).Anotherrarity,

atleastontheroadratherthanatshows,was

aSuzukiRE 5!

AnotherbiketotakeherfancywasaRudge

enginedspecial(butnota‘RudgeSpecial’)

withanalloytopendandturnedfrombillet

cylinderinapresumablyhome-spunrear

suspensionframefittedwithpost-warteles.

Justbeforeleaving,theownerofadelightfully

patinatedThunderbird,withperiodtouring

accoutrements,cameupandannounced

thathe(andtheT-Bird)rememberedthePUB

VincentfromyearsagointheStratford-on-

Avonarea.Whoa,thatwouldbegoingbacka

bit,ahalf-centurypossibly–doesPUBeven

wanttoremember?

ThisistheScottwhichbears‘HolderSpecial’onitstank

OneofthecompetingScottsborethis‘HolderSpecial’

scriptonitstank,whichpresentedapuzzle.MattHolder

wastheScottenthusiastwhoboughtthefirmpost-war,

andmade‘BirminghamScotts’,buttheywouldbetoo

lateforthe 1930 dateofBanbury.Sowhatisthestory?

This 98 ccSachsenginedPrioratCassingtonwasmadeattheNürnbergerHercules-
WerkeAGandhadnoconnectionwiththeUKHerculesCycleandMotorCo.Ltd

OriginalIndianChiefwiththeextensivemudguardcovernowcopiedbyvarious

cruisers,includingthecurrentIndianChiefofcourse...

I UGU 20 re b so ne: al-Cla ic.c .uk