48 :OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA
submarine training which was completed on board
HMS Finwhale, a similar submarine to an Oberon.
The Finwhale had the propellers removed so no sea
time was available. It was during this period from
August to December 1981 whilst still in the UK, that
Jack called me and advised he had spoken with Eric
Biddle at the Museum and had arranged to
purchase the Manx 350 and Ariel Red Hunter.
“I was the go between in terms of purchasing and
shipping the bikes. Jack then wired funds to me for
purchasing the bikes, the Manx was first and the cost
was 3550 pounds and that was the first problem.
HMS Dolphin has a bank in situ and I joined the line
at the counter to draw out the required funds in cash.
Most sailors in the British Navy are not well paid and
those in front of me were drawing on average about
20/30 pounds for the weekend and as I got to the
counter, in an Australian accent, I said, 3550 pounds
please and the teller looked at me surprised, but
counted out 355 pounds for me and I said, sorry, I
want 3550 pounds. Obviously this had not happened
before for that amount of cash and the room went
very quiet and the teller looked at me very seriously
and said, ‘are you joking?’ to which I said no! It
became apparent that the bank did not carry
sufficient cash and that I would need to go into town.
I did this and was very nervous travelling by train to
Horwich with this amount of cash.
“I arrived at the museum and spoke with Eric and
the cash was handed over and Eric kindly had the
bike delivered to my mother’s house in Chorley
about 5 miles from Horwich. The bike was pushed
into the house and took up residence in mum’s
sunken bathroom were it remained prior to shipping.
“The museum itself was well organised and
was air conditioned to keep the bikes in pristine
condition. Eric advised that due to ill health, in
particular his eyesight, he was reluctantly selling
his beloved collection. I do recall there being a BSA
Gold Star there as well as other impressive bikes.
Eric also had probably one of the best range of
Norton spares of which Jack purchased some as
required for racing. Jack then organised further
funding sent straight to Eric to purchase the Red
Hunter Ariel, which like the Manx was delivered toto Australia. The ship the bikes were on caught fire
not long after leaving port and returned to port for
repairs, luckily with no damage to the bikes.
“In Australia, Jack was advised the shipping
container had arrived and he needed to come to the
wharfs to pick them up. On arrival, they were not
able to locate the container and Jack was advised
they would contact him when found. Sometime later
Jack was advised the container was now found and
the bikes available and again he went to pick them
up. Again, the same issue arose and Jack finally
twigged, the wharfies wanted money. After
providing $200, the bikes as if by magic appeared.
Unfortunately, the bikes both had damage to their
fuel tanks as the handlebars had been twisted
sideways to form a skinny profile to fit the crates.
The bikes were later fixed and Peter Scaysbrook rode
the Manx in Classic races with quite a bit of success.
One of the funniest things I have seen happen
with Jack was at Amaroo Park, with Peter. They
were getting the Manx 350 ready for a race and
they were pushing the bike to get it started to
warm it up, but the bike would not start no matter
what. The spark plug was removed several times,
fuel checked, and both Peter and Jack were
sweating profusely. Whilst pushing the bike back to
our camp, an old lady sitting in an old deck chair,
who obviously knew a bit about bikes shouted to
Jack and said, “Excuse me luv, if you take the plug
out of the carb air intake it will most likely start.”
Jack was furious as well as embarrassed but Peter
and I had a good laugh anyway. Later I worked for
Jack when he was employed at TRW and I saw this
as broadening of my knowledge in Engineering andSQUIRREL HOTEL
“Excuse me luv, if you take the
plug out of the carb air intake
it will most likely start.”
mum’s house and took up residence in Mum’s living
room as the bathroom was full. I remember my
brother-in-law Les saying he can’t even get in the
house with shoes on but “our Mick” can bring motor
bikes in. I took the Red Hunter for a ride with my
sister as pillion, as did a couple of the other
Australian sailors staying at Mum’s with me, and to
my surprise nearly came off when going to change
gear with my left foot, and found out the hard way
that bikes in those days had the brake and gear
shift on the opposite side than more modern bikes.
Shipping was done via my brother Bill, who was an
international truck driver for Pickfords and was able
to ship them from within his company. The bikes
were crated and shipped to Liverpool for the journeyWorks 350cc KTT Velocette, ridden by Les Graham
to win the 1951 Swiss Grand Prix.The Mk1 KTT Velocette known as ‘Roaring Ann’;
at one time holder of 50 world records and
ridden to 2nd place in the 1927 and 1928 TTs
by Harold Willis.1930 two-speed Scott Squirrel. 1929 Excelsior JAP 250 ridden at
Brooklands by Eric Fernihough.