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Motorcycling Memories
by Jim Kentish
MOTORCYCLING MEMORIES Chapter 1
We often mock people who refer back to the good old days, but there is
little doubt that the best days of motorcycling have been and gone.
Bikes have become so highly specialised that it is no longer practical
to race or compete in trials with the same machine you ride to work each
day. I can now celebrate 69 of motorcycling pleasure, so look back on my
motorcycling memories.
My involvement in motorcycling has had a big influence on my lifestyle.
Why motorcycles came in to my life at all I do not know. I knew no one
with a bike in my boyhood days and rarely saw a bike on the road in my
village. However at 13 I became hooked by occasionally buying a copy of
the weeklies, the Blue 'Un (Motor Cycle) or the Green 'Un (Motorcycling)
and clipping the coupons for manufacturers catalogues. I had a complete
set and knew every British model by heart. In those days our two
weeklies were well edited magazines with a good mix of articles from
touring to sport, technical reports with drawings, and club news. One
day Mother pulled into a filling station and in front was a motorcycle
for sale, I fell for this 1922 Omega two-stroke and in due course it was
mine for 30 shillings (£1.50p Ed). The price was too high, it often
refused to start, but when it did I rode it around the garden and when
it did not, I learnt my first lesson in mechanics.
At 15, whilst at boarding school, I acquired a 1923 Grand Prix Morgan
three wheeler for £5 and arranged with a local farmer to keep it in his
barn. With the aid of friends it was rebuilt over a period of several
school terms and was then driven around the private farm roads. One
Sunday a house master saw us whilst out for a walk. The balloon went up
and so did I, before the headmaster, who threatened me with expulsion.
Such spare time activities are encouraged today; some 15 years ago I was
asked to give the 6th form a slide show on motorcycle touring. In the
course of this I met the chaplain who, surprise, surprise, owned a BMW
K100 and later joined IMTC!
In October 1933 I got my first driving licence, that little red book. I
obtained it by simply filling in a form 2 weeks before my l6th birthday
on which I stated that I had read the Highway Code and enclosing a five
shilling postal order. The open road was mine, no speed limits, no
parking restrictions, or other nonsense to hinder me on my first real
road bike, a second-hand New Imperial 150. Looking back on restrictions
imposed on motoring by politicians and do-gooders in the name of safety
appals me. However, man is an adaptable creature and there is no good
letting restrictions spoil ones enjoyment of motorcycling as it did for
some who gave up riding when helmets became compulsory. Born in 1917
during the First World War and in which my Father was killed, I grew up
just in time for WW2, There were times when I thought I was unlucky in
my timing. On reflection I can find much to be thankful for as far as my
motorcycling goes.
The good intention of starting with a small capacity bike soon wore thin
on the gutless little machine so Mother agreed to finance a Morgan JAP
1000, and I must say my time with the Morgan was enjoyable. It was with
that that I first entered competitions in the form of the 1935 ACU
National Rally gaining a gold (painted) plaque. In 1995 as a 60th
anniversary of the first event I did it again, once more achieving a
gold plaque. Where are the "all rounders" today? those who enjoy all
forms of motorcycling from the TT to foreign touring.
By 1937 I had a desire to have a large capacity bike and to take part in
some form of competition riding, so after a short period with a 350
Norton, I achieved my ambition in 1938 with the arrival of a new Vincent
HRD Rapide. I felt war was inevitable sooner or later and I was in a
hurry to achieve something on this wonderful bike. I just loved it. My
Rapide was the 21st to be made and Phil Vincent phoned me to say my
engine was to be built on a certain date and would
 I
like to visit the works and see it put together. Assembly was in wooden
garden shed with a bench each side, so 2 engines could be built at the
same time. I used the Rapide to ride to work, to enter the ACU Rally and
Motor Cycle Club (MCC) long distance trials. I had been thinking of
racing, but when it happened it was more by accident than design. I knew
no one in track or road racing and had no experience, additionally I was
working in a London theatre as an assistant stage manager. The only day
off was Tuesday so Donington and other distant circuits were out of the
question, but there was Brooklands near to London..
1938 Vincent HRD "Rapide" Series 'A'
(engine No. V1021, frame No. DV1522), only the the 21st Rapide ever
made. Won two races at Brooklands and achieved a Gold Star for a lap of
106.65 mph in September 1938.
MOTORCYCLING MEMORIES Chapter 2
I joined British Motor Cycle Racing Club (BMCRC better
known as Bemsee. Ed), then based at Brooklands, as spanner man for a
friend who had a real race bike, which the Rapide was not. However a
girl entered my friends life and he never entered a race. Annoyed at the
prospect of wasting the £2 subscription, I read the club rules and found
a number of benefits enjoyed by members.
One of these was the free use of the track on week days
when not in use. Tuesdays off seemed not such a bad idea after all, so
to Brooklands I went. Permission to ride granted at the clubhouse, I set
off on my first lap of the famous circuit. It was great fun and I did
many laps, on one I raced an express train along the railway straight
with the train driver waving from his cab. On returning to the paddock I
was met by a stern faced man with a stop watch who announced he was the
Dunlop rep, and having inspected my half worn road tyres proceeded to
deliver a lecture on the stupidity of riding at racing speeds on "those
things". He informed me that I had been lapping at over 100 mph, which
surprised me as I had not looked at the speedo. He ended by suggesting
that I buy some racing tyres from him and enter a race as I had winning
potential. I entered a race and did win gaining a Gold Star badge for a
lap of 106.65 mph. Thus I had started my racing career. However, I did
have a problem or two. I had no friend to help me and Saturday race days
was the busiest day at the theatre with a matinee and evening
performance followed by late night work preparing for a dress rehersal
on Sunday. I managed to disappear after setting the stage for the
matinee, ride to Brooklands, compete in two races, and get back to the
theatre in time for the evening performance.
The Rapides' handling on Brooklands was excellent thanks
to the spring frame, most of the Brooklands track bikes at that time
were rigid. I was able to lap consistently fast by taking the shortest
course at the bottom of the banking which was also the smoothest. This
surprised the old hands who learned special lines to avoid the bumps on
their rigid frame specials. Such was the magic of the Rapide and this
bike, DUR 98, is still going strong in the ownership of a Vincent Owners
Club member. I sold it late 1939 as Phil Vincent offered me a racing
version for 1940 to try for a double Gold Star (120 mph of which only 2
have been awarded) but this was not to be as war started, and after that
there was no more Brooklands. By now I had bought an Ariel 4 for road
use.
Just before war was declared, I went to the Ulster GP, a
247 mile road race run on the old Clady Circuit, to do pits for a friend
riding an Excelsior 250. I was hooked on the idea of roads racing, but
this had to wait until the 1947 Manx GP when I was getting a bit old to
start road racing and was in poor health following war service. But in
1948 I entered for the Ulster GP and won the Govenors Trophy open
handicap and the 350 handicap. That year the Ulster was the GP of Europe
so all the works were there. It was run in the worst weather conditions
a G.P had ever been started in. Races were not stopped in those days. I
was thrilled to win the Govenors Trophy but it was because so many
retired or fell off.
Early in 1939 I joined the Territorial Army Military
Police as a motorcyclist. Sir Malcolm Campbell, the famous record
breaker, was commissioned to recruit a company of skilled motorcyclists
to controll the convoys of the newly motorised 1st London division TA.
He recruited riders from Brooklands and other clubs and became our CO.
We soon became known as the Bluebirds, a name not recognized by the War
Office. What fun it was to start the war in an uniform motorcycle club.
During the first months of the war we used our motor cycles 'on the
strength'. This was the time of the phoney war and whilst stationed in
London I did various duties. One was Railway Transport Ofiicer at St
Pancras Station, standing with the ticket collector checking leave
passes and I lived in a waiting room and kept the bike on the platform I
also operated speed traps in Hyde Park on D.Rs and did evening foot
patrols in Hyde Park with supper in Lyons Corner House after. The unit
moved to Eastbourne and was issued with army BSA and Norton machines. To
show this lot off at a generals inspection a display team in which I
took part was rehearsed doing all the usual tricks. After it was over we
discovered that doing the jumps had bent the forks as wartime metal
quality was poor. We still had our own bikes with us and on Sundays when
traffic was light we held impromtu speed trials on the straight main
road across Pevensey Levels between Eastbourne and Bexhill. Some good
times were made especially by the big Vincents and my Sergeant's blown
BMW which he had entered for the Manx GP in Sept 1939. My Ariel was not
competitive but in an attempt to top 100 it went into a tank slapper and
threw me off. I was only wearing army overalls and no helmet. Next day
on parade Campbell asked me why I was moving uneasily. "Had a fall Sir
and am a bit bruised." He tactfully moved up the line. Having the use of
our own bikes, petrol consumption was higher than military use on the
army bikes could justify. After a few months in Eastbourne I was
instructed to advance the mileometers on each army bike by 500 miles to
balance the petrol account. After this we had to reduce pleasure mileage
on our own bikes. We used to do training runs line ahead, two abreast at
quite high speeds with Campbell in the lead on his Triumph Speed Twin.
He seemed to think that other road users should know of his presence
leading his boys and give way. One day we met someone who thought
otherwise and the resulting avoiding action left army bikes all over the
road. Campbellalso made us welcome at his home and we were shown the
Bluebird cars and boats by his well known racing mechanic Leo Villa. We
also saw teenage Donald ride his bike around the drive. Eventually Sir
Malcolm was posted to another job and many of us to other units and so
the "Club" broke up. After the war we had reunions;
I went to a Royal Signals unit as a Despatch Rider (DR)
in Cardiff as an interim on the way to a commission. The unit had
requisitioned civilian bikes and the only spare one for me was an AJS
990 vee twin long wheelbase sidecar model without sidecar. I was told it
was not suitable to ride solo and I had quite a job convincing th CO
otherwise. I got he bike and was assigned the Cardiff to London run. No
Severn Bridge then. There were no army fuel points on the route, so I
was allowed to carry a 2 gallon can. Most of the contents were dropped
off at home for my next leave on the Ariel. Petrol was by now dyed to
stop illegal use and I was given a tip off to hide the Ariel as checks
were being made. In due course I was commissioned and one duty of a
newly commissioned officer is to attend a court marshal under
instruction. The case was a Royal Signals Sergeant on a petrol charge.
All the tricks of the trade were revealed in proving he had dyed petrol
in his civilian bike. Interesting!. I left the Ariel at home after that.
MOTORCYCLING MEMORIES Chapter 3
In the early part of the war I purchased a number of
veteran machines to save them from the scrap
metal drive then in pro- gress. My favourite was 1902 Peugeot Min- erva
which I rode in Pioneer runs after the war. It had' wood- wheel rims
with alumin- ium beads which were slightly warped, and the brakes were
push bike type stirrup action. They were useless so I wore old army
boots to act as brakes. I regret selling this collection but it was
necessary to get into road racing. I was released from the army in March
1946 after 6 months deferred released command- ing a German POW unit in
Italy on repara- tion work. I found them a nice lot who did not want the
war any more than I did. I was in poor health and had no bike. I was
eager to get into competitive motorcycling,
especially road racing, but my poor health was
a handicap as these big events are a strain.
 Jim
Kentish on his 1902 Minerva
on Brighton sea-front
after the 1952 Pioneer Run.
My first purchase was a BSA B32 350 that was used in
trials and later, with the addition of a spring frame given to me by the
works, for the International Six Days trial for 1949 in Wales. In this I
won a Gold Medal and was in the winning Sunbeam Club team. Two others in
the No.2 team were Murray Walker, the commentator, and Ray Petty the
race tuner. Next I bought an 1927 Alvis 12/50 for £20 to tow the bikes
around on a home built trailer. My first racing bike was a 350 Manx
Norton which had been worked on by Francis Beart. It started me in road
racing and gained me a Replica in the 1947 Manx GP. That same year I
joined the Sunbeam Club and met Ralph Venables and started assisting him
in organising events. I think all competitors should give some time each
year to helping their club
organise events. For 1948 I was allocated by AMC one of
the new AJS 350 7R race bikes for the TT.
However I was unlucky or stupid in my first TT
because in practice I dropped it. I was not hurt, but the bike caught
fire. I dragged it off line before the tarmac
caught fire creating a wall of black smoke for
the following riders and the marshal never gave them a flag. Musthave
been frightening but not dangerous. I was heartbroken, it was the most
beautiful 'bike I had set eyes on and now it was a charred ruin.
But thanks to Jock West the bike was restored
by the works to new condition and in a few
weeks I was racing it in the Ulster G P which that year was the G P of
Europe with all the works riders. I won the
Governors Trophy open handicap and 350
handicap in the worst weather conditions that a 240 mile GP has ever
been run. About this time a regular visitor to my home was young
Mike Hawthorne, later to become world motor
racing champion. Yes, he started as a keen
motorcyclist.
The
winning Sunbeam MCC
team in the
1948 Welsh International Six Day Trial.
From the left; A A
Saunders, Jim Kentish & Ron Woolaway.
The North West 200 in Ulster opened, the season in 1949
having been cancelled the previous year
through lack of petrol. Rationing was still in
force and I had major problems running the car and trailer to meetings.
I was entered in a Bemsee club team of three.
I knew one of the others but the third was
unknown to both of us. He was Geoff Duke, a Norton trials rider
having his first ride in an international road race as a private
entry. The works team was there so Geoff had
to be content with winning the open handicap,
but after this race everyone knew who he was, arid I was well satisfied
to come second to him in the handicap.
I was again looking forward to the TT and determined to
make amends for my folly in 1948. The bike was
going well and I felt good. Fate struck again
and just before I was due to depart for the Island I was rushed
to hospital with acute appendicitis. The doctor said I would be
fit to ride my bike again (thinking on the
road) in six weeks. That would be just in time for
the Dutch TT. I could not afford to take the car to Holland so I
rode the race bike from the Hook to Assen with
a food can in the megaphone to silence it. The
European GP's at that time accepted private entries on the
understanding that start money would only be paid if you
qualified in practice and they put up
qualifying speeds if they had too many entries! Sometimes
the unfortunates who failed to qualify did not have enough money
for the return ferry fare. The public road
circuit at Assen was partly paved with bricks,
a new experience.
I did not start road racing until the advanced age of 30
but I was able to obtain an International
Competition licence simply by convincing the
ACU that I had enough experience and then I could get entries to the
big events. Not so easy now. In pre-war days my heroes were the
all rounders such as George Rowley. I never
wanted to ride in events every weekend as
there are other things in life. In post war years I took part in all
sorts of events and even when I received a
small amount of dealer sponsorship I was not
pressed to ride when I did not want to. There was a more relaxed
atmosphere then and not such a gap between professional riders
and private owners. Between these events I did
some small race meetings and trials and of
course road riding (but not foreign touring) on another bike. My
favourite circuit was Blandford Camp (MOD
property), in my opinion the best road circuit
in England and it was a road used by daily traffic through the military
camp. It was closed as being dangerous, but the real problem was
the type of rider entering who only had
aerodrome experience and was used to running
out of road in comfort. The art of road racing is to ride within ones
ability and know it. Also within the limits of the road.
 The
pre-Production Matchless, loaned
to Jim Kentish by the work
ridden hard during the 1950 Welsh
International Six Days Trial.
The event consisted
of about 200 miles per day over minor roads and cross country against
the clock. More than one minute late at any
check point and the Gold Award was lost.
My poor luck continued in the 1950 TT. I had two bikes
from a dealer who was sponsoring me. In the
Junior race I was going well within Silver
replica time when I overdid it at Braddon Bridge and knocked the left
footrest off by hitting the war memorial which in those days stood on
the grass close to the road. Three and a half laps holding ones leg up
without support is not an experience I want to repeat. I finished
exhausted with a Bronze Replica. In the Senior race I ran out of petrol
on the last lap trying to do 4 laps non stop (one pit stop only), a
great advantage if you can do it. Following the TT I had a ride in the
Dutch TT and the Belgian GP finish- ing in both. At the Belgian we
camped in the paddock next to some Swiss. On arrival they gave us some
black coffee and we preferred white, so my girlfriend, who was a dairy
farmer, got through the hedge to the next field
and obtained some fresh from on the hoof. I usually prepared the
bike for racing myself and the AJS 7R only needed routine maintenance.
Only once did it blow up whilst racing, a con rod broke at Creg-ny-baa
in TT practice and I was lucky not to crash.
In 1950 I entered the ISDT in Wales on a 500 Matchless
twin. This was a pre-production model loaned to me by the works to test
it in the hands of an ordinary rider. It did well and gave no trouble,
but I gained only a Bronze medal. Vandals had removed a vital route
marker and many took a wrong turning. In trying to make up time, I lost
it on a deep rutted track and ended up 20 feet below still on the bike
with the engine running, but it took some minutes to get back on the
track.
MOTORCYCLING MEMORIES Chapter 4
 Jim
Kentish on a 350A]S 7R at Hilberry in the the 1951 Junior 1T an the way
to a
Bronze Replica
For the 1951
TT my luck changed and riding the AJS 7R in both races I gained a Bronze
Replica in both Junior and Senior races with trou- ble free rides.
Replicas are awarded on a percentage of the winners time and Geoff Duke
was by now at his best so making replicas harder to get.
In 1954 I
did the ISDT on a 225cc James 2 stroke. At the time bikes were in such
short supply this was the only machine I could buy from stock in time to
make the entry for the trial. Less than 10 years later our whole
industry was in decline. The James tried its best to fall apart but
somehow I got it to the finish and gained a Silver medal. This was my
last competition. I used my annual holiday for this event having joined
Royal Enfield the year before as their sales rep for the South of
England. They would
not lend me a bike for my last ISDT or allow me any time off for road
racing.
However it
was nessesary for me to have a steady job.
From now on I spent the working week travelling between Ramsgate and
Penzance talk- ing to motorcycle dealers, some of whom were well known
in the sport. I enjoyed working for Enfield but only occasionally rode
an Enfield bike to visit dealers when petrol was short. Selling enough
bikes to absorb our production was easy and I did not have to work too
hard. Management of the British motorcycle industry was tired and out of
touch with the future market. They failed to invest and encourage new
design to secure the future. New capital would have been easy to raise,
and had new management and design brains been recruited from outside the
industry circle, Enfield and other makes could still be in business
today.
Each
November I attended the Earls Court motorcycle show, the annual and only
opportunity for our industry to show their new models to the world. It
was a lavish and well organised affair at which only manufacturers
exhibited, no retail sales being allowed. All manufacturers had offices
at the back of the balcony with hospitality for the dealers to visit, in
addition to the display stands. Here they met the area reps to discuss
stocking and placed orders for the new season. I found the most exciting
shows were the ones I visited as a youngster at Olympia in the 1930s.
Manufacturers were prepared to experiment and put new models on their
stands even though some were a commercial
flop. I remember such models as the Scott 3 cylinder, the AJS 'V' four
air cooled ( later to become the blown water
cooled racer), the Brough Superior "dream" flat four, the
Whitwood monocar, an elongated motorcycle with a 2 seat fore and aft
body and jockey wheels for stopping. Then of course the Vincent HRD
998cc Rapide at the 1937 show was a sensation. All very exciting but by
the mid fifties many of these names were just memories.
In the late
fifties we were not amused when some of our dealers tried stocking an
unknown foreign make called Honda. My instructions were to threaten my
dealers with loss or our franchise if they took
Japanese bikes into stock. What a way to meet competition,
and my faith in Enfield was shaken. Our Managing Director died suddenly
aged 72 and Enfield was without leadership at
a critical period. The family started selling their shares and the
company was taken over. The new owners sold a lot of Enfields freehold
property for development and leased back part of the works for
motorcycles, but this was the beginning of the end. I started to look
for another job and bought a share in a small business making yacht
equipment under licence from an American patent holder for the European
market. For the years that followed I was working 6 days a week and some
years had no annual holiday. By 1974 I had retired early following the
takeover of my firm by a big group. I decided to buy a touring bike and
go foreign touring, something I had long wanted to do but had put off
too long. I had also longed to own a BMW, so the two came together.
I had known
of the IMTC for a long time but when I applied to join it took so long
to become a member that the partitour I wanted to book for the 74 FIM
Rally was full. Dennis Hannon came to the rescue as he was leading a
camping party to the Rally and took me in his party. A year later at the
AGM I related this dissatisfaction and suggested the
appointment of a membership secretary to relieve the workload on
the treasurer. That was a silly thing to say,
for in a flash the chairman had asked the meeting to vote me into this
new post. It took my breath away as well as the others members of the
committee who were not consulted. The membership then stood at 198. I
soon found that IMTC was a real club for mature motorcyclists and was
worth giving a lot of time working for, so it became my retirement
interest.
Having
started racing at a rather advanced age. I was now doing the same with
foreign touring but I was determined to see a fair slice of the world
before I was 80 and this I have been lucky to do. I have visited all of
nearby Europe plus 10 other countries farther a
field and 6 visits to North America.
Also more recently, age 76 to 86 I have seen other parts not accessible
by motorcycle such as Spitsbergen and Greenland, Antarctica, the
Himalaya area around Mt. Everest but not
climbing it!. I must have covered about 200,000 miles on tour on my
various BMWs which have never let me down on tour. I have been lucky
too, having fallen off a number of times but never injured myself or
broken any bones in all my motorcycling life including racing.
MOTORCYCLING MEMORIES Chapter 5
 Feb
1975. At the start of Kenchington Trophy trial at Oakhanger, near
Bensham,
Hants. The new R90/6 only a month old
Being involved in long distance touring is just as
satisfying as com- petitions. To meet up with another touring rider
miles from anywhere and have a chat if only with a few words and sign
language is very satisfying. The wonderful sights I have seen from the
saddle of my bike have broadened my outlook beyond my wildest dreams.
Having time in retirement one thing that gave me satisfaction was
organising the fly / Ride type of touring to North America in the early
eighties. This activity took a lot of time and I carried full financial
responsibility and lasted 3 years. In this time a lot of members had
some wonderful touring experiences and we made a lot of American
motorcycling friends. One year I organised a group of 9 BMW riders from
within our party to enter for the BMW club of Colorado's rally near
Pikes Peak, 14,100 ft in the Rockies. The IMTC won the most man miles
award calculated from Vancouver B.C, much to the surprise of the
Americans. They could not understand how we got there from U.K. The
trophy is with other IMTC ones in the National Motorcycle Museum in
Birmingham and I understand has survived the fire!. These parties
stopped when CP Air (Charter) went into liquidation. Other charter lines
were getting freight licences more profitable than on board passengers
excess baggage (motorcycles). For this effort I was awarded the Jock
West Trophy.
During the late 'eighties and 'nineties I put in a
lot of mileage and many partitours some of which I lead. It was about
this time at the age of 66 I qualified as a scuba diver after learning
that 70 per cent of the earths surface was underwater. As part of seeing
the world I wanted to have a look. It is a beautiful and interesting
world and I now have several 'under- water' slide shows for those
interested to see.
Jim on his first partitour
to the USA in 1983
As a result of our Fly/ Ride tours in America we met
a number of American motorcycle enthusiasts who joined IMTC with a view
to visiting England and Europe on our partitours. My first partitour
mainly for American and Canadian members was of England in 1982 and John
Harrison (who later became the club rep in the USA) organised the party,
and I led it on arrival. This was foreign touring for them and we
covered a lot of the famous sights of England in 2-1/2 weeks from
Plymouth to Hadrians Wall. One memorable visit was to HMS Victory at
Portsmouth. I had to arrange every detail with the Flag Captain in
advance as this is a serving naval ship. The captain turned out to be a
keen motorcyclist, so he arranged for us to ride the bikes into the
dockyard and park in front ofVic- tory so he could see them from his
cabin porthole. We had to present our- selves at the dockyard gate at
eleven o'clock sharp as the guard would be expecting us. The convoy of
bikes in the dockyard caused quite a sensation.
Another partitour in 1992 I organised mainly for our
American members was to East Europe, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland. All
went well on this tour but there were a few amusing incidents. At
Budapest one in the party received a message that a dear friend was
seriously ill in hospital in San Francisco. He made arrangements through
the hotel for a flight to S-F and left the hotel before breakfast
leaving his bike in the garage and a message for me that he would return
and rejoin the party in a few days. 'Oh, yes! 'I thought, but he did
just that and all was well.
At a Slovakian hotel in a national park we were
staying 3 nights. The second morning at breakfast there was no toast or
jam, so I went to reception and made my displeasure known. They had to
phone higher authority, and the answer was that we had exceeded our
budget on the first day. The last days breakfast was a full one - and
they gave each of us a can of soft drink to take on the road in
compensation. Remember Slovakia had not long been a free country from
the Russians, and they were not used to tourists. The hotel had
previously been for officials with free holiday vouchers for good work.
When we were there the swimming pool was dry and the
tennis court had grass a foot high. Petrol stations as we know them did
not exist. The petrol pump was in the council road department's depot
behind a hedge. There was a 12
inch square sign with a picture of a petrol pump on it and under the
picture "200 metres". This proved to be a gap in the hedge which was the
entrance. The attendant was surprised to be offered money as only
officials had motor vehicles and they had vouchers.
Organising and leading partitours can give one a lot
of satisfaction to see your plans fulfilled during the tour and
especially on arrival home if the tour has run as planned with no
problems en route. I have been lucky with the tours I have led as they
have been trouble free, but some leaders have not been so lucky.
When a partitour accepts a new member of unknown
experience the leader should check that he has essential equipment at
the start of the tour. A tour I was on in France we had a (new) young
member. An experienced member lived near him and offered to ride with
him to the ferry and and for a couple of days in France to show
him the ropes. This he did but the new member seemed to think that he
was going to follow for the entire tour. In the centre of a small French
town the experienced chap lost him, so he waited, but to no avail, then
pressed on thinking that by then the youngster would have enough
experience to find his own way to the next hotel. But he did not know
that the youngster had not brought his route card with hotel details or
any maps. That evening the leader phoned the police, but no result. The
second evening he phoned the lads parents. On the third day a member of
the party found the lad sitting at the roadside, so the story had a
happy ending. We never persuaded him to tell us where he had been during
those 2 days. A rather similar thing happened on a tour I was leading in
Spain when an American member with his wife on her own bike got
separated in heavy traffic. She had no route card or maps. At the hotel
her husband was very worried, but in due course she turned up safe and
sound, they were both experienced touring riders, but the lesson is that
each motorcycle should have hotel details and maps .I think that more
members should realise that our club operates entirely on voluntary
labour and unlike some clubs who run sporting events with a paying gate,
we only have our subscription income. It would be nice to see more
people offering help towards running the club programme for the benefit
of their fellow members.
MOTORCYCLING MEMORIES Chapter 6
Travel agent had been running ordinary package
tours to Guatemala. Some trail riding enthusiasts including an IMTC
member asked him to organise a trip using rental bikes as he knew of a
bike rental place. I got to hear of this trip and signed up then
contacted some of our American members, so I think the party had 5
members in it. Guatemala is a beautiful and interesting country but is
not politically stable, suffering from periodic coups during which time
the gun rules. For a safe visit you need to choose a period of calm.
When I was there it was calm with a right wing
government supported by the USA. In Guatemala city (the capital) we
would wake up to hear gun fire.
We were assured that tourists were safe, it was only a few communists
being shot!
The rental
trail bikes had seen better days, but a mechanic rode
with the party to fix problems. He
certainly knew his wrecks. His services were in demand and he kept the
bikes running with the use of his tool kit, a heavy hammer, a roll of
wire, pliers and a screwdriver. One trail riding was a challenge,
traversing a washed out track to the summit of Volcano Agua (12.300
feet). Usually tourists do this on horseback and the locals made a
living from it. Only 4 younger riders made it to the end of the track as
manhandling the bike through washed out sections above 8,000 feet needed
good lungs. The rest of us ended up on horseback walking the last few
hundred feet to the summit. The view vas wonderfu11, there was another
volcano near blowing smoke and lava. that is a sight I will never
forget.
We now moved
location to the Lake Atilan area of Guatemala, and
was surprised to be told that the bikes were to be transported by
truck and the party by bus. Mary McFarland (IMTC) and myself insisted on
using the bikes (wrecks) possibly foolish, but using a section of the
Pan American highway, we had a pleasant ride
through lovely scenery without incident (guns
etc) and arrived at a very smart hotel on the shore of beautiful Lake
Atilan. Most of their guests arrive by helicopter on to the roof as they
do not think it safe to travel by road. After
touring the lake area by bike we visited the Indian Gathering and market
at Chichicastenango. It is colourful and crowded with Indians selling
everything from necessities to tourist souvenirs. In the centre is the
Church of St. Tomas,
built circa 1500. On the steps prayer men burn copal incense after which
they enter the Church with their client. We also visited the ruins of
Tikal, a Mayan city circa 300- 500 AD, in the tropical jungle of the
PETEN. This had to be by local aero-plane owing to distance. Tikal is
well worth a visit - the plane had to zoom the the airstrip to frighten
animals away before we could land.
In 1983 I
made a trip to New Zealand. I knew from my racing days Rod Coleman, the
well known AJS works road race rider, now the Suzuki importer for NZ and
he offered me two bikes at a low rental to tour his country. I asked
John Harrison the IMTC rep for USA to join me and we met up at Los
Angeles on the Air New Zealand flight to Aukland where
we picked up the Suzuki 750 fours, to tour both islands. A lot of
the NZ roads at that time were surfaced with loose river gravel. You can
be cracking along a good black top when you see a small notice saying
"METAL AHEAD". First time I encountered this I was wondering what it
meant, but not for long as suddenly I was fighting a skidding bike on
loose shingle. Another first for me was a
flight in a Cessna light aircraft fitted with skis for a landing on the
snowfield at the top of the Tamar glacier adjacent to the
summit of Mt Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. Another must see
area is Foord land at the southern end of South Island. This area is
spectacular, with Milford Sound in particular reminding me of Norway
with its deep fiords and steep sided mountains.
Another
wonderful tour full of interest was the Loften Islands and North Cape in
Norway with Lindsay Mickles, an American member. All
the islands are now joined by bridges or tunnels so riding is
easy. The southern most village of Loften has
the shortest place name of "A" pronounced ORE. They are beautiful
islands with fishing the main industry as the sea remains ice free year
round in spite of being 200 miles North of the Arctic circle. We were
lucky at North Cape, 400 miles deep inside the Arctic Circle to have a
clear night and bright midnight sun to take landscape pictures. At a
narrow bridge on Loften I was behind a camper van which stopped for
oncoming traffic. Without warning he reversed knocking me off and
damaging the bike. The bike was just rideable and I was only bruised,
so I pressed on with the tour (only 2000 miles to home!). The
Norweigen driver was a decent chap and paid for my repairs without
question. The following year I visited South Norway alone and had fine
weather. Speaking to a local he told me I was fortunate as last year it
was foul in the South. Lucky again.
In 1998 I
left my house after 39 years and where we had some enjoyable Mayday IMTC
camping weekends with everyone sitting round a blazing camp fire after
supper talking into the night. At 80 years of age, I decided to move to
a retirement home and sell the BMW K model for a new, lighter, boxer R11OO
as my knees were getting weak. This I really enjoyed and it came with me
to the retirement home which caused a sensation amongst the old folk. I
did quite a lot of touring over the next few years
including the club Millenium party in France and the following partitour.
Next year 2001 I organised and led my last partitour to the Czech
Republic and Austria and all went well with fine weather and a very nice
group. For this I was awarded the Jock West trophy for the second time,
a wonderfull end to my partitouring.
This can only be a brief account of my memories. The
following year my knees were getting getting worse, making it more
difficult to support the bike stationary. One day at a filling station I
got back on the bike, pulled it upright and my right knee gave way and
the bike fell over on top. of me . Very embarrassing. Soon after I was
told that I needed a replacement knee operation from which recovery at
my age would take 6 months, so I decided that the time had come just
short of my 85th birthday to sell the bike and give up riding after 69
years of motorcycling. It was a sad day when the dealer collected the
bike and I realized I might never ride a motorcycle again. In the house
I shed a tear, then had a large whiskey. Now I can only read Tourider.
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