Classic Racer — September — October 2017

ClassicRacer 55

first, usingapump that wasactuated by the

rear suspension.Onthe 350cc bike thefuel

would be pumped using an AC pumpdriven

offthe inlet camshaft.The Potts250ccwould

not needpanniertanksfortheTT,due to the

shorter distanceof the Lightweightrace.The

panniertankswere tried forthe first time on

Bob’s500cc at the North West 200.

In the Senior classof the NorthWest, Bob

took an early lead but wasforcedto pull into

thepitsdue to aleakingpetrol tank. He lost

40secdue to this stop, so he startedto up

thepace and chase down theleaders.Bythe

last lap he had pulled back25secand would

have finishedsecond,but amistakecost

him anychanceof catchingBob Anderson.

He had seen aflag go out forthe 250cc race

and thought it wasfor him and by thetime

he realised it wastoo latetorestart. He did,

however, set anew lap recordof95.25mph.

Theleaking fuel tank had been causedwhen

apannier split duetoitfoulingon the engine.

At the Perthand DistrictClub’sErrol

meeting the followingday, Bobstilldid not

have thePotts 350Manx readysincehis

earlier retirementat Charterhall.For this

reason, in the 350cc classBobhad to ride the

Potts250. In therace Bobhad aclose duel

withAlastairKing on a350cc Norton.Bob,

on the250, tried slipstreaming Alastairand

wasevenabletolead forpartsofthe race.

Alastair just beat Bobintosecondposition. In

the 250cc class, Boband thePotts 250 were

victoriousfromCharlie Bruce(Velocette MOV)

and ‘Chappie’ Chapman (Excelsior). Bobalso

wonthe Unlimitedrace on aborrowedManx

Norton fromAlastairKing.

Theachievementsofthe Pottsteam had

not goneunnoticedby local Glaswegians.

This wasn’t just the noise fromJoe’s

dynamometer room,which could be heard

all overBellshill, muchtothe embarrassment

of Joe’sdaughter,who wasthen at thelocal

school.Theyhad capturedthe imagination

of localsin theBellshill area,which resulted

in ajolly bandof volunteers offeringtheir

servicestoJoe’s race shopatthe backof

hisfuneral parlour. Onesuchvolunteerwho

wasespecially usefulwasthe local Bellshill

policemanGeorge Jackson.Georgehad a

good knowledgeofworkingwith fibreglass,

atechnologythat wasrelativelynew in 1956.

This wasbeneficial as the Pottsteam wanted

to improve thedustbin fairing that hadcaused

severe overheating in the 1955 JuniorTT.The

panel beater at Potts’ created amould that

Georgeused tocreate afibreglass fairing.The

shape of the newfairing wasinitiallytested

on CharlieBruce’s Velocette MOV. Theteam

wantedto checkfor overheating andhad

tomakesomeadjustmentsto the cooling

apertures. Oncethe designwasperfected

on Charlie’s Velo,fibreglass and aluminium

versions were made.The newfairingwas

muchlowerand rounder than the 1955

version. It had araisednose,sotherewas no

longer theneed forducts to coolthe brake.

Theweightof the fibreglass fairing was

10lb,almosthalf that of the aluminiumversion.

Thefibreglassfairing didnot have anybonded-

on framing,but it wasreinforcedat the edges.

Thefairingwas to be attached tothe bikes

using alength of 1½in diametersteel tubing

clamped to thefront down-tubes of the frame

and there were twostubtubes,one on each

side of the forward engine plates.To couple all

four stubswithin the fairing,lengths of large

diameter rubberpipe were clampedby jubilee

clips.Thenew faringcould be fitted to allthree

sizes of PottsManx.

PriortotheTT BobwenttoOultonPark

forthe DailyHerald Britannia Vase meeting.

In the 250ccBMCRCChampionship he

wonand setthe fastest lap on the Potts

250, whichnow featuredthe fulldustbin

fairing.Healso wonthe 350ccBMCRC

Championship on the Potts350 Manx,but

In the BMCRCSenior Championship race

he couldnot beat Dukeonthe Gilera and

finishedinsecond position.

FortheTT Bobwas to use pannier tankson

hisSeniorand JuniorPotts Manxmachines

and had entered all threeclasses.TheJunior

PottsManx onceagainhad oil coolingfor

theexhaust valveguide.Anobjectiveof

practice week wastodecidewhethertouse

dustbin fairings on the bikes. After testing,

Bobdecidednot to use themfor the races.

This turnedout to be agood decision, as

the weatherwas very blustery, particularly

forthe Senior.The Potts250 wasgoing

well in practice and wasnormally about

thirdquickest, beatingmanyWorks bikes.

However, disaster struckfor the250 in the

final practicesessionwhen the connecting

rod failed,damagingthe cylinder barrel.The

enginecould not be repairedfor theraceso

Bobwas anon-starter.Joe kept thedamaged

250cccylinder barrel as asouvenir formany

years afterwards.

THEWEIGHTOFTHE FIBREGLASSFAIRING

WAS10lb, ALMOSTHALF THAT OF THE

ALUMINIUMVERSION.

052 PottsMcIntyrePart two_SEP.indd 55 31/07/201709:35:12