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The following memories come from Jim Dale in Scotland

2 :: He who waits

A few years ago I was active in the vintage motor cycle world, and going to events up and down the country I met some interesting characters.

This episode started a big event at Perth where I got talking to a Yorkshireman who was attempting to restore a late 20’s V twin BSA but was missing several large parts including the gear box and clutch. Now it so happened that Ian and myself had recovered a complete but rust eaten example from a wood near Newton Mearns and it was now taking up storage space. The upshot was that for the sum of £20 he could have the lot, and to this he agreed.

He was in a caravanette with kids2, and wife,+ bike and sidecar on a trailer. I was living away from home during the week, so made sure the bike was accessible, and he was able to call in on the way home and pick it up. He gave me £10 at Perth, saying that coming to the end of a holiday things were a bit tight, but promised to send on the balance as soon as he got home to Hull. No money arrived, but I did not forget him, and each time I bumped into a pal of his over the next 5 years or so, I made a point of raising the debt.

Time went on and a bus load of us travelled down to Manchester for the old bike show and autojumble at Belle Vue. I was making my way round the stalls with Don Riley a great Norton nut, and had just spotted and persuaded him to buy a genuine Brooklands Racing Lacey Norton piston, so he was delighted after I explained it all to him. Meanwhile two stalls ahead I spotted my £10 owing chum, and set off in pursuit. As I came up beside him his wallet was out and lo and behold a £20 note was being extracted to pay for his purchases. The stallholder never saw it, as my hand plucked it away and into my jacket pocket. The look on the face of the “tight one” was worth seeing, when he recognised me, and he spluttered that he had meant to send me the £10 etc and that I had taken £20 from him. That was all his spending money etc. I did quick mental sums, seven years, £10 owed, and turned to Don who worked in a bank. “How much should I give him back?” I asked. £2 quoth Don, so that is what he got.

His mate was enjoying the show, but we were busy and had a lot more stalls to cover.
Don got the story as we went, marvelling at the way it happened. All the cowboys are not in Texas. If you have patience, he who waits wins!

3 :: Travels with a sidecar.

I have had a thing about sidecars which is hard to explain. Three of the outfits I owned were very different animals, yet between them gave oily, rattly, fun.

The first had started life as a 650 c.c. Panther and double adult, but when I got her the top had been sawn off leaving a very large box indeed. in which rain water was apt to gather. but four drain holes fixed that. I worked in a factory where some people had a sense of humour, and came out one night to find a brush shaft and piece of red fabric arranged like a mast and sail in the sidecar. Very smart too she looked, so I left them there and drove home. H.M.S. Insufferable she was from that day on.
The Panther had several good and bad points built into its design. On the plus side there was the foot operated half compression device, a real vintage throw back, and very useful when starting up, and in snow or ice as part of the braking system. The sidecar wheel had it’s own brake, operated via a split rear brake pedal. The clutch and primary chain needed frequent adjustement, and because she had a twin port head, the left hand exhaust and the sidecar mountings made this an awkward chore. I blanked off the left hand pipe, she ran fine.

The second device grew out of a desire to have a sidecar for fun not necessity, so lights and other bits that would have made her legal? were not fitted. This was a 1947 O.H.V Norton in its turn inspired by “the instant racer saga” by Titch Allen in M.C.S. For the total outlay of £40 (1970 prices) I had an alloy mudguarded (ex a Morgan owner’s scrap pile) alloy barrel and cylinder head, racing B.T.H. magneto, girder forked (ex W.D. 16H) matt creosote finished paint job.

The side car chassis and wheel came from a local builder’s yard and were thought to be of a just pre war light weight sporting type, ideal for my job. The “Bodywork” was at various times, a couple of metal ammunition boxes, and /or one large wooden box originally for joiner’s tools. A couple of bits of tongue and groove provided the floor on the chassis and that was more or less it. A single saddle was fitted and a Gold Star pattern silencer happened to fit. It gave a lovely twang to the exhaust and in this form we set off for a glorious two week tour of the Scottish Islands with eight other companions. The sun shone and gradually the old thing assumed the role of “baggage camel” as more wellies and water proofs were discarded.

Shortly before putting this outfit together, I had bought for £20 a well used, well very well used actually, M20 B.S.A. and sidecar. The elderly owner thought maybe 200-300 thousand miles, he wasn’t sure. In his shed he had a row of 5 Smiths speedometers along the window, and each was knackered at 50000 miles, I didn’t doubt it. Everything was worn: levers, saddle, carb. the petrol tank sides were polished through to the steel by his gripping it with the inside of his legs. The side valve engine seemed to be in reasonable shape and when I got home and lifted the sidecar box lid, I was confronted by a mountain of spare parts to keep her running, two gear boxes, one clutch, two magdynamoes, one petrol tank, two boxes with smaller items.

I looked at the spares with some sadness. The old guy I bought it from had had a slight shock, and I remembered his parting comment along the lines of “Oh aye Sunday, we used to go doon tae Cambeltown for the day, tae see her sister ye ken” Now from Barrhead that is nearly a 300 mile round trip, “or doon tae Stranraer tae read the Sunday paper ye ken”

Anyway I used her for an evening club run to Largs to take part in some festival, and nearly killed myself in the process. I had an urge to see what the old B.S.A. would do, and basically arrived at the foot of the Haley Brae going too damn fast. When I grabbed the front brake lever the most awful juddering started, a combination of slack steering head bearings, a front brake anchor plate which was loose in the bottom of the front forks, a set of girder forks with more play in them than was acceptable, while the back brake drum screamed in protest. Thank goodness the road was clear and I was able to do a left turn heading for Fairlie, which was not where I wanted to be! We had a couple of beers in Largs and set off home stopping at the Kilbirnie chip shop I’m afraid that I thrashed that old bike back to Kilbirnie unmercifully. At one point the wildly wavering speedometer read 60 and according to one of our clubmen who was following me” and waiting to pick up the pieces” .there were red hot bits of carbon being blasted out of the exhaust pipe which was itself glowing a dull cherry red when we stopped in Kilbirnie. I sold her to that same observant rider in the chip shop! I was going to blow her up if I carried on like that. She did not interest me as a restoration project, so Willie who really only wanted the sidecar for his son Alistair, gave me £20 and I flogged the spares. Willie told me later that the firework display was worth £20 and he had been laughing so much he had a job to stay on the road. So did I but for different reasons. Likewise the couple in the Morgan 3 wheeler whom I had passed during my 60+ spell of madness.( OK so it was a downhill stretch above Kilbirnie which I know well, and many is the time that Eric Oliver, Florian Camathias, or Freddie Dixon, have ridden with me) who were surprised when this “thing” went by in a cloud of smoke and sparks.

So that was the M20 of brief acquaintance. I did own one other bike for a similar time, which turned out to be wet and very windy. It was a one owner Ariel Leader, and because of all the panelling on the frame, she caught the wind badly. I had set off for Irvine for an M.O.T. but half way there was blown across the road when I came out from under a railway bridge. She had to go!
Another oddity which I ran as a solo but was more commonly seen in its native Denmark with a sidecar, very often of the tradesman type, was the Nimbus. The story of how I came by one in the first place has not really been told and is out with this narrative, so I will pass on to what the Norton was like to drive.

After the “chair” was properly aligned with the bike, which involves setting up for lean in/out (to compensate for the camber of the road), toe in/out, sets the angle of the sidecar to the bike, and is vital if good steering is to be got. Lastly fore and aft, or the relationship of the sidecar wheel spindle and the bike. Also known as lead in/out, it affects the quickness of the steering of the whole plot .
I must pay tribute to the skill of a late lamented friend, Willie Bates, who supervised the sidecar fitting session.

1 :: A very thin shoestring
2 :: He who waits & Travels with a sidecar
3 :: It'll have to GO !

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		Brough-Superior Motorcycles 1902 - 1940 Scott Motorcycles
Click any LOGO at the top of the page to return to front page The following memories come from Jim Dale in Scotland 2 :: He who waits A few years ago I was active in the vintage motor cycle world, and going to events up and down the country I met some interesting characters. This episode started a big event at Perth where I got talking to a Yorkshireman who was attempting to restore a late 20’s V twin BSA but was missing several large parts including the gear box and clutch. Now it so happened that Ian and myself had recovered a complete but rust eaten example from a wood near Newton Mearns and it was now taking up storage space. The upshot was that for the sum of £20 he could have the lot, and to this he agreed. He was in a caravanette with kids2, and wife,+ bike and sidecar on a trailer. I was living away from home during the week, so made sure the bike was accessible, and he was able to call in on the way home and pick it up. He gave me £10 at Perth, saying that coming to the end of a holiday things were a bit tight, but promised to send on the balance as soon as he got home to Hull. No money arrived, but I did not forget him, and each time I bumped into a pal of his over the next 5 years or so, I made a point of raising the debt. Time went on and a bus load of us travelled down to Manchester for the old bike show and autojumble at Belle Vue. I was making my way round the stalls with Don Riley a great Norton nut, and had just spotted and persuaded him to buy a genuine Brooklands Racing Lacey Norton piston, so he was delighted after I explained it all to him. Meanwhile two stalls ahead I spotted my £10 owing chum, and set off in pursuit. As I came up beside him his wallet was out and lo and behold a £20 note was being extracted to pay for his purchases. The stallholder never saw it, as my hand plucked it away and into my jacket pocket. The look on the face of the “tight one” was worth seeing, when he recognised me, and he spluttered that he had meant to send me the £10 etc and that I had taken £20 from him. That was all his spending money etc. I did quick mental sums, seven years, £10 owed, and turned to Don who worked in a bank. “How much should I give him back?” I asked. £2 quoth Don, so that is what he got. His mate was enjoying the show, but we were busy and had a lot more stalls to cover. Don got the story as we went, marvelling at the way it happened. All the cowboys are not in Texas. If you have patience, he who waits wins! 3 :: Travels with a sidecar. I have had a thing about sidecars which is hard to explain. Three of the outfits I owned were very different animals, yet between them gave oily, rattly, fun. The first had started life as a 650 c.c. Panther and double adult, but when I got her the top had been sawn off leaving a very large box indeed. in which rain water was apt to gather. but four drain holes fixed that. I worked in a factory where some people had a sense of humour, and came out one night to find a brush shaft and piece of red fabric arranged like a mast and sail in the sidecar. Very smart too she looked, so I left them there and drove home. H.M.S. Insufferable she was from that day on. The Panther had several good and bad points built into its design. On the plus side there was the foot operated half compression device, a real vintage throw back, and very useful when starting up, and in snow or ice as part of the braking system. The sidecar wheel had it’s own brake, operated via a split rear brake pedal. The clutch and primary chain needed frequent adjustement, and because she had a twin port head, the left hand exhaust and the sidecar mountings made this an awkward chore. I blanked off the left hand pipe, she ran fine. The second device grew out of a desire to have a sidecar for fun not necessity, so lights and other bits that would have made her legal? were not fitted. This was a 1947 O.H.V Norton in its turn inspired by “the instant racer saga” by Titch Allen in M.C.S. For the total outlay of £40 (1970 prices) I had an alloy mudguarded (ex a Morgan owner’s scrap pile) alloy barrel and cylinder head, racing B.T.H. magneto, girder forked (ex W.D. 16H) matt creosote finished paint job. The side car chassis and wheel came from a local builder’s yard and were thought to be of a just pre war light weight sporting type, ideal for my job. The “Bodywork” was at various times, a couple of metal ammunition boxes, and /or one large wooden box originally for joiner’s tools. A couple of bits of tongue and groove provided the floor on the chassis and that was more or less it. A single saddle was fitted and a Gold Star pattern silencer happened to fit. It gave a lovely twang to the exhaust and in this form we set off for a glorious two week tour of the Scottish Islands with eight other companions. The sun shone and gradually the old thing assumed the role of “baggage camel” as more wellies and water proofs were discarded. Shortly before putting this outfit together, I had bought for £20 a well used, well very well used actually, M20 B.S.A. and sidecar. The elderly owner thought maybe 200-300 thousand miles, he wasn’t sure. In his shed he had a row of 5 Smiths speedometers along the window, and each was knackered at 50000 miles, I didn’t doubt it. Everything was worn: levers, saddle, carb. the petrol tank sides were polished through to the steel by his gripping it with the inside of his legs. The side valve engine seemed to be in reasonable shape and when I got home and lifted the sidecar box lid, I was confronted by a mountain of spare parts to keep her running, two gear boxes, one clutch, two magdynamoes, one petrol tank, two boxes with smaller items. I looked at the spares with some sadness. The old guy I bought it from had had a slight shock, and I remembered his parting comment along the lines of “Oh aye Sunday, we used to go doon tae Cambeltown for the day, tae see her sister ye ken” Now from Barrhead that is nearly a 300 mile round trip, “or doon tae Stranraer tae read the Sunday paper ye ken” Anyway I used her for an evening club run to Largs to take part in some festival, and nearly killed myself in the process. I had an urge to see what the old B.S.A. would do, and basically arrived at the foot of the Haley Brae going too damn fast. When I grabbed the front brake lever the most awful juddering started, a combination of slack steering head bearings, a front brake anchor plate which was loose in the bottom of the front forks, a set of girder forks with more play in them than was acceptable, while the back brake drum screamed in protest. Thank goodness the road was clear and I was able to do a left turn heading for Fairlie, which was not where I wanted to be! We had a couple of beers in Largs and set off home stopping at the Kilbirnie chip shop I’m afraid that I thrashed that old bike back to Kilbirnie unmercifully. At one point the wildly wavering speedometer read 60 and according to one of our clubmen who was following me” and waiting to pick up the pieces” .there were red hot bits of carbon being blasted out of the exhaust pipe which was itself glowing a dull cherry red when we stopped in Kilbirnie. I sold her to that same observant rider in the chip shop! I was going to blow her up if I carried on like that. She did not interest me as a restoration project, so Willie who really only wanted the sidecar for his son Alistair, gave me £20 and I flogged the spares. Willie told me later that the firework display was worth £20 and he had been laughing so much he had a job to stay on the road. So did I but for different reasons. Likewise the couple in the Morgan 3 wheeler whom I had passed during my 60+ spell of madness.( OK so it was a downhill stretch above Kilbirnie which I know well, and many is the time that Eric Oliver, Florian Camathias, or Freddie Dixon, have ridden with me) who were surprised when this “thing” went by in a cloud of smoke and sparks. So that was the M20 of brief acquaintance. I did own one other bike for a similar time, which turned out to be wet and very windy. It was a one owner Ariel Leader, and because of all the panelling on the frame, she caught the wind badly. I had set off for Irvine for an M.O.T. but half way there was blown across the road when I came out from under a railway bridge. She had to go! Another oddity which I ran as a solo but was more commonly seen in its native Denmark with a sidecar, very often of the tradesman type, was the Nimbus. The story of how I came by one in the first place has not really been told and is out with this narrative, so I will pass on to what the Norton was like to drive. After the “chair” was properly aligned with the bike, which involves setting up for lean in/out (to compensate for the camber of the road), toe in/out, sets the angle of the sidecar to the bike, and is vital if good steering is to be got. Lastly fore and aft, or the relationship of the sidecar wheel spindle and the bike. Also known as lead in/out, it affects the quickness of the steering of the whole plot . I must pay tribute to the skill of a late lamented friend, Willie Bates, who supervised the sidecar fitting session. 1 :: A very thin shoestring 2 :: He who waits & Travels with a sidecar 3 :: It'll have to GO ! Return to Readers news page E-MAIL