CLASSICRACERPEOPLE
54 ClassicRacer
The250cc Pottsengine wasnot put into
aconventional Norton Featherbed frame.
Bellshill’swizardwith aweldingtorch, Alec
Crummie,along withCharlie Bruce, made a
smaller and lighterversionof aFeatherbed
frame.Theframe wasmade usingone and an
eighth inchdiameter Reynolds531 tubing and
theswinging armfabricated out of 16 gauge
Accles andPollocktubing.The mainframe
wasoffully weldedconstructionand was
considerablynarroweratthe rear beneaththe
seat tubes. In effect it wasaslimlinedesign
of the Featherbedframemanyyearsbefore
Nortondecidedto do the same.
Thefront downtubeswere splayedtoclear
theoutsideflywheel of the250 engine and
overall the framewasconsiderably shallower
in depth.
Theframe wastobefitted with leading link
Earles-style frontforks madeat Bellshill.
Thenew fork idea camefromCharlie Bruce,
whohad been using leadinglink forksonhis
VelocetteMOV forsome years.
ThePotts 250used astandardManx
Laydowngearbox.Theoil tank usedwas
aone-offdesignedtogivespaceto the
carburettor bellmouth. StandardManx Norton
wheelswere used,initially onlythe front
brakeplate wasfitted withatorque linkage
that allowedittofloat.Anothermodification
to the frontbrake wasthat the operating
mechanismwas movedforward of the front
fork to clear the fork link.Theseat forthe 250wasmade at Bellshill and wasupholstered in
waterproofhorsehidebyBob’sfather.
Thepair(350ccand 500cc)of1954 Manx
machines thatBob hadbeenusing during
1955 were soldatthe start of 1956.The
500cc madeits way to GeoffMontyfor
BobTurnerto ride, the350ccgoing to Eric
Bowers forAlastair King.Furtherrecognition
of the importance of the Pottsteam came
fromNorton, whosupplied themwiththe
replacementbikes;apair of 1955 ex-John
SurteesWorksNortons.Joe himself had also
been workingon producing somefaster Manx
enginesforthe biggerclasses and would use
biggerbore andshorter strokeengines.The
500c would have abore of 90 mm and the
350cc one of 78mm.
Theracing seasoncommencedtowards
the end of Marchwith ameeting at Brough.
The250cc racewas first and whatadebut
forthe newsteed–awin by overhalf alap
fromTedFenwickonaMoto Guzzi.Further
successfor the Pottsteam wasgained in
the 250cc class, due to Charlie Bruce riding
to asuperbthird on hisVelocette MOV. Bob
also went on to win boththe 350ccand the
‘Brough25’ 1000cc racesand set fastest laps
in all threeclasses.Whatastart forthe new
racing stable!
On EasterMondayatrip down to the
Oulton National provedequallysuccessful.
Again Bobwon the 250ccclass, oncemore
backedupbyCharlie Bruce on his MOVinthird. He completedanother cleansweep
withvictories in the 350cc and500cc
events. In mid-AprilBob went to Snetterton
whereJohnSurteeswould be presentwith
theWorks MVs.Inthe 250cc and 500cc
class therewas agreat battle between
thePotts machines andthe MVs, but
ultimately Surteeswon both, with Bobnot
farbehindin second.The 350cc class was
adifferent matter,with Bobvictorious.The
SilverstoneSaturdaymeetingwould be
another chanceforBob to face Surteeson
the MV.Hedid not have the Potts250cc
forthe smallest classand he hadtoretire
the 350ccin hisqualifying heat duetoa
waterloggedignition.In the 500cc final Bob
finished secondtoSurtees onceagain.
Towards the end of April there were
apair of Scottish meetings at Errol and
Charterhall. Boband thePotts machines
took acleansweep of the 250cc, 350cc
and 500cc classes at Errol, CharlieBruce
on hisspecial MOVbacking up Bobinthe
smaller class with acreditable second
place. At Charterhall,Bob waswinning
againin both the 250cc and500cc classes,
but missed outonthe 350cc dueto
aretirement.
Due to the disappointment of losing
the lead in the JuniorTT of 1955 when
comingintorefuel,Bob waskeento
be able to complete theTT non-stop. In
orderto do this thePotts teamdecided
to fit pannier fuel tanks to Bob’sManx.
ThePotts Manx wastobefitted with
twopannier tanks, eachwith acapacity
of 2½gallons. Giventhat the mainManx
fuel tank carried4½gallons, it meant that
Bobwould be carryingoverninegallons
of fuel as he headeddown BrayHill for
thefirstlap of theTT!Thepannier tanks
on theSenior bike were to be emptiedxAbove:BobMacwiththeGeorge
Jacksonfibreglassdustbinfairing
fittedtohisPottsmachine.Right:McIntyreroundingthe
hairpinatOliver’sMount.052 PottsMcIntyrePart two_SEP.indd 54 31/07/201709:35:07