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1 A monthly publication of The Vintage Motorcycle Club Johannesburg, South Africa. Volume 32. No 01. January 2017 CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE: The past year has been an interesting journey. From a world, country, society and club perspective, we are seeing changes that could not easily be predicted. A lot of these changes were caused by political upheaval which has impacted all our lives. For me, the biggest shift comes from the younger generations with their passion and reliance on instant gratification, super technology and expectation that the world owes them more than they get. This is having an effects everything, but for the VMC it perhaps has a more important impact. Our club, and in fact the entire community of historic vehicle clubs, needs to accept the appearance of the new generation traits and work towards making them part of our world. We have to attract new members. With the trend of social media and the new instant connection to the world of technology, we need to be a community in touch with ourselves. The committee wants to improve the way communication with and between members. To achieve this, we will do a survey of member’s access to or preferences to communicate over the various social media channels. While this happens, we can’t neglect or forget that our old machinery needs to be kept in working order. With the upcoming Pre-DJ in February and the 104 th running of the DJ itself in March, I hope to see as many as possible machines on the road. I wish everyone who has already entered for these events every success and I expect the 2017 DJ to be a huge success for the organising committee. As the sun draw water on the ever aging 2017, wish you all a year blessed with good health, strong family bonds and awesome friendships. May each and every VMC member experience a fantastic, trouble free motorcycling year ahead. Ken

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Page 1: A monthly publication of The Vintage Motorcycle …A monthly publication of The Vintage Motorcycle Club Johannesburg, South Africa. Volume 32. No 01. January 2017 CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE:

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A monthly publication of The Vintage Motorcycle Club Johannesburg, South Africa.

Volume 32. No 01. January 2017

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE: The past year has been an interesting journey. From a world, country, society and club perspective, we are seeing changes that could not easily be predicted. A lot of these changes were caused by political upheaval which has impacted all our lives. For me, the biggest shift comes from the younger generations with their passion and reliance on instant gratification, super technology and expectation that the world owes them more than they get. This is having an effects everything, but for the VMC it perhaps has a more important impact. Our club, and in fact the entire community of historic vehicle clubs, needs to accept the appearance of the new generation traits and work towards making them part of our world. We have to attract new members. With the trend of social media and the new instant connection to the world of technology, we need to be a community in touch with ourselves. The committee wants to improve the way communication with and between members. To achieve this, we will do a survey of member’s access to or preferences to communicate over the various social media channels. While this happens, we can’t neglect or forget that our old machinery needs to be kept in working order. With the upcoming Pre-DJ in February and the 104th running of the DJ itself in March, I hope to see as many as possible machines on the road. I wish everyone who has already entered for these events every success and I expect the 2017 DJ to be a huge success for the organising committee. As the sun draw water on the ever aging 2017, wish you all a year blessed with good health, strong family bonds and awesome friendships. May each and every VMC member experience a fantastic, trouble free motorcycling year ahead. Ken

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Upcoming Events

Please send any event info or comments to the Chairman, the Editor or any committee member. Contact details are available on the last page of Kickstart.

Calendar for 2017

February 2017 March 2017

5 February CMC Club Meeting CMC Germiston 5 March CMC Club Meeting CMC Germiston

12 February CMC Pre DJ Rally CMC Germiston 10 – 11 March DJ Commemorative Run VVC

25 February Summer Rally POMC 19 March Swap Meet Piston Ring

27 February VMC Club Meeting VVC Club 27 March VMC Club Meeting VVC Club

April 2017 May 2017

2 April CMC Club Meeting CMC Germiston 4 – 7 May Jaguar Simola Hillclimb Knysna

23 April Century Run VMC 7 May CMC Club Meeting CMC Germiston

24 April VMC Club Meeting VVC Club 19 – 20 May Fragram Natal Classic CMC Natal

22 May VMC Club Meeting VVC Club

From the Treasury Subscription increase Unfortunately, due to the sliding value of our currency, it is necessary to review subscriptions from time to time. While we would like to retain our subscriptions at a constant level for as long as possible, it is now necessary for an increase. In view of this and due to the pressures experienced by many pensioners, we have included a discount. The new fee structure, applicable from 1st July 2017 is as follows: Joining Fee R50 Full membership R300 Country membership R220 Discount for over 70’s 50% Discount for over 80’s 100% Family membership (no discount applicable) R20 Discounts only apply to members with at least 5 years of continuous membership. If you qualify now for a discount or will shortly qualify, please send me your ID number or birth date. This can be done by email to [email protected] or via SMS to 082-650-9880.

Logger Purchase We have a new batch of loggers in stock for sale to members. Due to an unfavourable exchange rate, the price has increased. These will be sold to members either at a subsidised price for first time buyers or at our cost price if this is a second logger purchase. Prices are: First time buyers R500.00 Normal price R750.00 Please refer any queries to me at [email protected] Peter Vlietstra

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Past Events

2016 Ride in Memory.

Once again the meeting place was at Founders and a small group of intrepid motorcyclists turned up to ride in memory of those fellow riders who are no longer with us. It was pleasing to see two young couples who are not members join us for the first part of the ride as far as Bapsfontein. Please come back and ride with us again as we need you guys to join in with us! The run to Bapsfontein was very sedate and the only highlight was an immaculately prepared JAWA which started to show early signs of being a challenge! The tank appeared to have only a passing relationship with the frame and that could have been a warning of what was to come. All who set off from Founders arrived at the rendezvous with the Pretoria contingent and after a brief exchange of greetings and instructions on the route we set off for Cullinan. The leaders were quite well on the way when it became apparent that the Jawa had “failed to proceed” owing to a battery that wasn’t receiving charge and subsequent failure of the spark. It has been reliably reported that despite the use of lengths of barbed wire (apparently common practice behind the old iron curtain!) as jump leads the JAWA had cried enough. Half an hour later our secretary Ian Storer had a pillion passenger when the support group of the JAWA arrived at breakfast. Even Hamish Morrison’s amazing skills had fallen short of the JAWA’s needs and that is saying something. Anyway the good news was that all made it to the breakfast and that is what mattered. The Lemon Tree did us proud and were quite happy to split bills and take care of everyone so the event was a great success. I am convinced that Ric, Mike and so many others were there among us and look forward to this years event. Maybe we should look at a slightly different route although that was quite acceptable. The big challenge is to get more participants and our drive for younger membership must be stepped up considerably this year. Ian Holmes

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2016 Fairest Cape Tour [As experienced by Douglas Watson, David Watson & Richard Austin] Having enjoyed this event in 2012 and 2014 plans were made to do a father and son ride on similar BMW motorcycles sounds simple but in fact with Douglas living in Durban and me in Roodepoort – in order for us to ride together we had to meet somewhere either way it was going to be a long ride there and back. Due to a number of complications the plan had to be modified one BMW required some attention and there was no practical solution to getting up and running in time for the event and due to work commitments Douglas would have to return by air directly after the event. The new plan was to trail my BMW to Durban for Douglas to ride while I was to enter the event in his 1972 MGBGT - this required us to persuade Richard Austin (residing in Bloemfontein) to join us in Durban and be the navigator for the event – and at the end of the event drive the MGBGT back to Durban. Douglas leaving by air I would need to ride the BMW home via Durban. This was becoming a daunting task for two senior citizens. But we had entered and it seemed a shame to cancel at the last moment – so throwing caution to the wind we set off in convoy from Durban at 14:00 Thursday with the car packed to the hilt, making for an overnight stop just outside Kokstad. We got there via some ten kilometers of dirt road and in light rain. The overnight stop was good and fairly economical – they were experiencing a power failure! This meant going into “Town” in search of supper KFC came to the rescue. Friday saw us on the road at first light en route to Port Elizabeth where we planned to spend the night with Richards’s son - traveling via East London. The road surface was in good condition which was more than could be said for the “driving” we had to contend with. Going through former Transkei towns like Mthatha, Idutywa and Butterworth was challenging to say the least. The scenery in the area was great, if any one doubts the size of the population in RSA using this route will show you where a large majority of them live! At this point following the BMW I noticed that the LHS tail pipe seemed to wobbling side to side we signaled a stop and sure enough the weld on the mount was tearing off (I thought BMW would be better than that the pipe was only 33 years old {poor quality}) We made running repairs with some steel wire secured the pipe to the foot rest mount and all was well. After a lunch stop in East London Richard contacted his son and asked if he knew any one in PE where we could get the exhaust properly repaired? He said there would be no engineering shops open on Saturday morning and in fact most places close in the afternoon even in East London. He did say he knew someone in East London that owed him a favour – sure enough he called back with directions to a workshop on the outskirts of East London who were closing but agreed to wait for us. We finally found the place (thanks to GPS) and we took the pipe off and had the mounting bracket perfectly welded back stainless steel welding – excellent job we had to insist that they take some payment. Eventually they allowed us to pay for a case of beer. We set off for our second stop in Port Elizabeth and arrived with no further problem. Richards’s son and his wife took us out on the town and we saw a number of quaint restaurants, pubs and bistro’s where there seemed to be a great vibe and holiday spirit. Saturday we set off for our final stop in George where we were hosted by long time family friends of mine. Great braai prepared for us. Some good chat before turning in to be up for the last leg to Goudini near Worcester. We arrived at Goudini just in time for scrutineering and handing out of the route schedules and got into the accommodation. Bit of a rush to get to the competitors meeting. All the competitors got together for a braai where salad and rolls were provided by the organizers and some time was spent renewing acquaintances and meeting some new friends.

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Event Day #1 The 49 entrants a mixture of motorcycles and cars set off at 1 minute intervals in good weather along a route that took in the most wonderful scenery in the Ceres area – lunch stop at Ceres and then over the famous Bains Kloof pass with spectacular views round each turn – as the field worked their way back to Goudini. The scorers down loaded the information from each logger and the individual results were printed immediately (one of the advantages of the virtual marshal system) the day was a long one. The competitors were left to their own devices in the evening – we opted to get supper in Worcester (Goudini restaurant closed very early? Strange in the light of the event) Then it was turn in for an early start on day #2 Event Day #2 There were some withdrawals for day #2 mainly due to mechanical problems – the remainder set off and followed another route through more beautiful Cape scenery and eventually up and over Bains Kloof pass in the opposite direction from day #1 carrying on through Franschhoek – Hellshoogte pass – the lunch stop was at Alle’e Blue a posh restaurant in the area. Then on the R45 towards Villiersdorp / Grabouw T Junction this route took us past the Theewarterskloof dam which was clearly suffering from the drought (claimed to be only 50% looked a lot less in comparison with previous years) Left at the T and through Villiersdorp en route to Worcester and Goudini after 8hours and 51 minutes 32 seconds another long tough day enjoyed by all who love this particularly beautiful part of the country. Back at base the results process again and prepare for the prize giving dinner. Richard and I were disappointed in day 2 as We felt we had fared much better than day one (correcting some errors that were made on day one) However this was all to no avail as our logger lost contact with the base station after the first few controls. There was no indication that it was not functioning as it sat on the consul between us lights flashing in the same way as they had on day one! Not that we were in line for any prizes – but we were trying to improve on day one’s effort. It looks as if we may need a back up unit? In future I believe all the serious contenders have a back up unit in case one fails. The prize giving dinner was excellent (in spite of our table collapsing – causing the candelabras to capsize splashing hot wax everywhere) the staff reacted quickly and recovered the situation without too much fuss. The food was excellent good value as was the music. The finisher’s awards were given individually allowing the person to have a short introduction so every body got to know each other better. The next day Richard and I were looking at a very long drive/ride home when our luck changed a friend agreed to take my BMW back to Roodepoort – allowing us to share the driving of the MGB at least to Richards’s home in Bloemfontein. After a good nights sleep I set off for Durban. Spent two days with Douglas then trailed his BMW back to Roodepoort to sort out the starting problem that kept it out of the event in the first place. One last little story when I was about 30 km out when (now alone in the MG) got caught in a traffic pile up and the car stalled refusing to start – I have a special recovery plan with the Automobile Association for just such eventualities. I gave them a call – they took my number and said they would call back which they did after about ten minutes. The operator asked me for some details the usual where are car make model etc. all went well until we got to make 1972 MGB-GT WHAT! Please get out if it is safe and look for a name on the like Ford or Opel or Toyota and get back to us!! My cell battery was about up when suddenly the traffic began to move again I managed to get started and made it home. An hour later the AA contacted to tell me their pick-up vehicle would be there in less than ten minutes – I had a difficult job calling them off – without being too rude. The last straw was ten minutes later they phoned me again to say the call had been closed. Shortly after that I got a sms to rate their service – really!! David Watson

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BMW and MGB-GT at overnight in George on the way down to fairest Cape

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Visit to the Kickstart Club in PE My wife and I were very fortunate in having our holiday at the sea in Port Elizabeth this past festive season and one of the highlights was being invited to attend the monthly meeting of our equivalent club the Kickstart Club there. Now I have been a member of Kickstart for many years since the 80’s in fact so it was really great catching up with the chaps there again. Like us they meet at the premises of the Eastern Province Vintage Car Club and have a monthly social get together and this is what Sue and I attended. They meet on a Wednesday evening and after the notices and announcements are dealt with by the Club Captain and Chairman the evening is a social time of catch up. The club is much smaller than ours having only around fifty members but it was great seeing nearly half this number at a social meeting! Imagine if we could ever get half our members to a function! They have regular monthly rides somewhere apart from their organised runs which are a run to somewhere and spending a night away sometimes. I am sure there are some ideas there for us to pick up on. Of course the surrounding roads and places to visit offer a lot as there are some really pleasant overnight stop over venues within 120km of Port Elizabeth. Add to this some really good motorcycling roads and scenery and you have a recipe for great motorcycling. Of course they face the same challenges as we do like finding new blood for the committee and getting folk to organise events etc. but they do have a good idea, which I am sure that they wouldn’t mind our copying. They have a position on the committee known as the Club Captain for the year and I understand that this role is to ensure that events are organised and to encourage participation. I am sure that we could benefit by considering a similar role in our club and am waiting with great excitement to see how long the queue of volunteers for this would be!!! It is always good to see other clubs in action and there is always something that we can learn from others so I was most grateful to my friends there for the hospitality they afforded Sue and I and look forward to doing it again one day. Ian Holmes.

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Some Notes on DIY Bowden Cables Motorcycle clutch, brake and accelerator cables are often called Bowden cables, named after the inventor and holder of the first patent. The issues with getting your cables made by someone else is that they don’t always fit and have to be returned for adjustment, the additional hassle and delay to your project and sometimes the cost. These issues are overcome if you make up your own cables. In addition, if you are set up to do this, it is also easy to repair a cable, or to quickly make an adjustment if your first attempt does not fit. For years, I had limited success with making my own cables, particularly cables that were subject to high stress. I would flair the wires in the ferrule before soldering them, then three weeks later, they would pull out of the ferrule and I would ride home without a clutch. The trick is to make a “birdcage” at the end of the wire. This is best illustrated by looking at the Youtube clip : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_273vfLLa8. If you don’t know how to do work Youtube, ask one of your grandkids. This clip also shows the best way of soldering the ferrule, by dipping into a solder bath. I use a pipe socket for a solder bath. One end is plugged and I hold the square end of the plug in a vice, heated with a gas blow torch. I made my own bird caging tool, using 2 pieces of brass clamped together in a four jaw chuck and drilling between the butt joint. All the required hardware can be bought from Flex & Drive Cables (Pty) Ltd, Tel 011-830-0330. I use not too flexible 2mm wire for brake and clutch cables, and 1.5mm flexible wire for all the other cables. Peter Vlietstra

SAVVA Technical Tip 116 - Getting that shine back I pulled a car out of the garage after giving it six months rest and was very aware that over the 30 years of its existence the original white paint had taken on a “yellowish” glow. I was also very aware that no amount of polishing would bring it back to life regardless of what the directions or claim to fame the packaging on the polish tins say. The only way was to strip the top gunk off and re-polish it with a good wax – as the body shops and used car dealers do. This can be a D.I.Y. task and done by hand but a far more civilized method is to use a fine burnishing compound (often called tooth paste by the trade) and a slow speed buff fitted with a foam pad. This is a messy operation so it’s best to park in the middle of the lawn and either wear old cloths or go naked. Modus operandi: Wash the car to remove dust particles that can scratch the paint surface, then, spread some burnishing compound on the panel you are about to attack, wet the foam pad by dipping it into a bucket of water and keep it wet by occasionally dipping it in the bucket, go over the surface one panel at a time at a slow speed. Once all the panels have been compounded the car can be washed and a final coat of good quality polish applied. Try to use good wax rather than the liquid “quick fix” stuff. The above has always been a problem for us DIY types as multi speed electric buffing machines

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are very expensive, however, some manufactures have recently introduced smaller lighter variable speed DIY versions at a much lower price. The professionals would obviously prefer the fancy heavy models but being an amateur I prefer the lighter DIY unit as they are easier to use.

This variable speed buffing machine was purchased for just under R1000.00 and a tube of “tooth paste” at around R100.00 . The pads don’t last long so buy a couple of replacements also at around R100 each.

Shield polishes, which we used, come highly recommended.

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Amazing What You May Find In Someone’s Barn Hello Vroom-vroom fans, Had dinner with this retired Danish Engineer the other night and in conversation he mentioned that he used to be the only Harley restorer in NSW at one time. When he retired he had 53 Harleys which he auctioned off plus another 50 odd that required restoration which he sold to a single buyer. He said he still had a bit of stuff lying around and I asked could I come across sometime and have a look. He hobby farms across the road from my daughter and I previously sent photo's of his beautiful home and the park like gardens he developed and built all by himself. Well he has this huge barn full of the normal crap guys who live on farms accumulate. I suppose because they always have so much space. First thing I came across was a 1927 350cc single which was known as the "Pup " because it sounded like pup-pup-pup instead of boom-boom-boom. The bike is absolutely complete and would be an easy restoration. He says he sold it to a guy in Malaysia a few years ago for A$ 7000 but the guy never came to collect it so it just stands there gathering dust. Next surprise was an original 1988 Chev Camaro which unfortunately stood outside in the sun for a couple of years. My grandson, who like all Australians, is V8 mad was beside himself. He is determined to buy it and restore it but being only 17 he has a bit of a mountain to climb. Like all these old guys who accumulate stuff, Kel, the 75 year owner is not sure if he wants to part with it, as he may want to restore it one day, just after the pigs have flown. Scratching further, I come across a whole pile of old bike wheels, mudguards and frames plus who knows what else. A little further down is an immaculate 4 cylinder Nimbus and a concourse War edition Harley plus side car. Unfortunately I must have deleted this photo by mistake and as the bike is all covered I don't want to worry him by asking him if I can do another photo. Then another Harley rolling chassis and a huge collection of side cars. I have given all the tools and special equipment a miss as you can see this at Bathurst anytime you like. Thought you guys might enjoy a little change from early Australian history. Regards, Tony Barlow

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HARRY WESLAKE AND SWIRL

While Leo Kusmicki utilized the 'Squish' combustion chamber to great effect on the Norton Manx in 1950, the theories behind his work were certainly well-known in theoretical engineering circles. He was in fact breaking no new ground technically, but had a knack as an engineer of putting the theory he taught at the University of Warsaw into effective practice - a rare quality in an academic. Tugging at this thread of engine development, we bump into two Giants of combustion theory who also had the capability of translating research into devastatingly fast motorcycles and cars. Kusmicki's 'uncle' in this regard must be Harry Weslake (above and below, behind riders), who began his career tuning motorcycle engines for Brooklands racers, using the theories of Sir Harry Ricardo, who we'll meet later.

Harry Weslake was a child (b.1897) of relative privilege whose father was the director of Willey & Co., manufacturers of gas meters. As a young man, he became obsessed with motorcycles and adept at riding and modifying them. His first mount at 16 was a Rudge which he set about improving for competition in his local Exeter hill climbs, by fitting an NSU two-speed gear hub to the crankshaft (below). Thus, his appearances at competitions often resulted in embarrassment to

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older and more experienced riders. Weslake became notorious for his fast riding style, and should be considered certainly a Veteran Café Racer!

The Rudge used a unique carburettor, the 'Senspray', which had several good ideas, but required the constant manipulation of two levers to give good performance. Harry's first patent in 1914 was an improvement on the Senspray principles, and led to his production of the 'Wex' (Weslake EXeter - see below) carburettor after WW1.

The Wex was certainly one of the best performing carbs available in the late 'Teens, requiring only a single lever to operate, and gave significantly better fuel economy with a cleaner gas flow, which also happened to boost power. Soon the Wex could be seen on all sorts of competition machinery, including Sunbeams, Brough Superiors, and Zeniths. George Brough (below, with 'Spit and Polish', which used a Wex carb - note Harry behind GB), in his usual effort to have that something 'extra special' from his parts suppliers, insisted at one point that Weslake personally road test SS100s fitted with the Wex carb, to see for himself how the machines performed.

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Gordon Cobbold, a die-hard Sunbeam racer in the early 1920s, pulled Weslake into the world of track racing at Brooklands, asking Harry to tune his engines and sponsor his machines to retain Cobbold's amateur status. Weslake quickly became an indispensable figure for serious racers, and plenty of Vintage-era photographs from that hallowed track show him standing behind a victorious motorcycle which used a Wex carb. In short order, John Marston, owner of the Sunbeam factory, contracted with Weslake to tune their competition engines. In 1923 he was given three 500cc OHV Sunbeam engines to tune, and while externally identical, he found their power output varied by almost 20%. After giving some thought to the matter, he decided to investigate what must be a logical reason for these differences. Previously (and for many years to come actually) factories tested their supposedly identical production engines, sending the best ones to the competition shop, the worst to their 'cooking' road models, without ever investigating systematically the reasons why such variation should occur. And this is where the family business comes in; remembering the testing facilities at Willey & Co which measured the volume of gas metered by coin-slot pay devices, Weslake reckoned that it would be very useful to measure the volume of fuel-air mix which passed through his motorcycle cylinder heads, to see if there was any correlation between the volume of gas passed and their power output. [And for my US readers; in England it is common to pay for your cooking/heating gas via a coin meter on your gas line... no meter readers or mailed-in bills; if you don't pay, you have no gas!]

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Weslake quickly found a positive correlation between the 'good' and 'bad' Sunbeam cylinder heads, and how efficiently they moved a given volume of gas. His hastily set-up test rig (see above) soon saw considerable action testing other cylinder heads, and remained in continuous usage right into WW2. The Sunbeams he tuned using gas-flow tests were shortly gaining plenty of Brooklands 'Gold Stars' (for laps at over 100mph during a race), and winning TTs and GPs across Europe. Weslake experimented endlessly with shaping inlet and exhaust ports, and within a short time was the foremost expert on cylinder head tuning in the world.

Such talents do not go unnoticed, and Weslake was soon approached by W.O. Bentley himself to 'see what he could do' with some troublesome engines. His results were so spectacular, regularly gaining 20%-40% power increases, that Bentley too used his services to tune their racing 4.5 litre and 6.5 litre engines. Thus, in 1929, four Bentley engines which were Weslake-tuned gained the first four places at the LeMans race, and won again in 1930. His services were soon in demand for designing cylinder heads for various automotive manufacturers, including A.J.S., Austin, Wolseley, and S.S. (later Jaguar). Weslake kept his hand in motorcycle development as well, and in the late 1930s encountered Joe Craig of Norton at an Earl's Court Motorcycle Show. These two no-nonsense gents took an immediate and intense dislike for one another when Craig, notorious for his biting sarcasm, made a 'remark' to Weslake about his prowess with automotive tuning. Whereupon Weslake proceeded to relate all the relevant tuning details - cam timing, inlet bore, valve size, compression ration - of a new Works racing Norton sitting beside them on a plinth, after only a quick exterior observation. Craig was visibly shaken that the tuning 'secrets' of his unbeatable racer were so easily summarized, and despite their personal animosity, Craig hired Weslake in the late 1940s to help improve gas flow characteristics in the Manx engine, which included reshaping the inlet and exhaust ports, and improving the turbulence of the fuel/air mix into the combustion chamber. At this point, Weslake must have worked with Leo Kusmicki on the development of the new 'Squish' engine for the 1950 Manx. Their methods differed, and Kusmicki, the former academic, knew that Weslake's 'testing rig' should theoretically be unnecessary, since gas flow characteristics could be calculated mathematically. Of course he was correct, but a computer had yet to be invented which could provide results as quickly as Weslake's experienced hand at port-shaping. That 'John Henry' moment would not come until the late 1980s!

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Kusmicki and Weslake worked in parallel again on the Vanwall racing project (with Sterling Moss, above). Tony Vandervell knew Weslake since the 1930s, as Vandervell had been one of the Brooklands 'boys', racing (of course) a Norton at the track with good results. Thus, when the Vanwall F1 team was formed, Weslake was hired to modify their Ferrari cylinder heads. When Tony Vandervell hired Kusmicki to design a British engine for the Vanwall, Weslake was on hand to help shape ports and look after cylinder head design. In a curious side note, while Vandervell was a Board member at Norton’s, he 'took' Kusmicki's design for the four-cylinder, water-cooled DOHC racing 500cc Norton engine with him when he left the Board, during the A.M.C. takeover of Norton in 1955. This design was expanded and used in one of Vanwall F1 cars.... so in effect, the legendary 4-cyl Norton engine WAS built, only in a 2.5 litre form.

Weslake's accomplishments in the motorcycle and automotive industries are simply too numerous to mention, and range from LeMans-winning D-type Jaguars to Gurney-Weslake GP cars, and special engines for the Weslake-Metisse racer (below), with four-valve cylinder heads(above), which became popular tuning accessories for Triumph twins (and was the basis of the Triumph 8-valve TSS model). Not to mention the Weslake speedway motorcycle which took several World Speedway Championships in the 1970s.

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I cannot recommend highly enough the Jeff Clew biography of Harry Weslake, ‘Lucky, from which much of this information is taken. In my opinion, this work is Clew's masterpiece; completely readable and compelling from start to finish, sufficiently technical to satisfy the connoisseur, with a personal narrative fascinating enough to read in one sitting. Which I've done four times. Hopefully the library will manage to obtain a copy of the Jeff Clew “Harry Weslake” biography in the near future.

IMPORTANT NOTICE Dear Valued Client We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your valued support. The SAVVA scheme has grown rapidly over the past year and we thank you for your support and referrals received. In dealing with more cover requests, we have established one area causing some confusion amongst our Clients, i.e. the definition of Club Use. We have therefore taken the time to review our policy wording to rectify this uncertainty. We hereby give 30 days notice to amend the Club use as set out below. The amended wording will be effective 1 August 2016 for existing clients and immediately for new clients.

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CLUB USE / USE 1 Any activity by a recognized club affiliated to SAVVA or not affiliated, including displays,

rallies, fun runs, processions, club meetings and journeys to and from such events, hire for weddings/matric dances and the like, but excluding: speed trails, circuit racing, off road events and hire for reward. Display beyond the immediate supervision and control of the Insured.

Being taken for repair, restoration or maintenance under own power or by trailer provided this is not done in peak traffic time.

Occasional journeys of a purely social and pleasure nature but excluding to and from a place of business, employment or education institution and business use.

We thank you for your kind co-operation in utilizing your Vehicles within the new perimeters, reflected above. Kind regards FNB INSURANCE BROKERS Classifieds NB! only remain in for 3 months then must be renewed FOR SALE: 1978 KZ 650 – fully reconditioned, registered and licenced – R35k negotiable 1978 KZ 650 – only 10 000kms – R25 negotiable 1978 KZ 750 Twin – (rare) – R30k negotiable 2002 Derbi Senda trail 50cc as new 50kms - R12 negotiable 2002 Derdi Senda trail 80cc as new 50kms – R14 negotiable 1992 KMS 200 trail registered but needs new main bearing – R6k negotiable Please contact Roy on 082 373 4716 Ducati M900 1995. Motorcycle in excellent condition. Lots of carbon fibre. Rear sets and special speedo cluster. R 45,000.00 Contact Ken Fox on 071 434 5060 Lathe with thread cutting gears, chucks, dial gauge with magnetic stand and cutting/turning tools etc. Chuck diameter +- 20cm, Bed length between centers - +- 45cm Price – R 9,500.00 Please contact Mike Lang – 082-8211826 Restoring your bike? Classic Restorer offers VAPOUR BLASTING SERVICES. We clean aluminium, brass, and copper parts using VAPOUR BLASTING method. It’s a gentle, water based, non-destructive process for aluminium cylinder heads, engine blocks, gearbox casings, carburettors, etc. Professional, British made equipment is used. There is no excessive metal removing, no blasting material embedded on metal surface. Just a smooth satin finish. Call Janus Gruska from Classic Restorer for details: 081 065 8275 (Benoni) or email [email protected] Eddie Kirkwood has a selection of spares for mainly British bikes which he needs to dispose of. Go to "Spares for Sale" on Blogger website: http://britbikecapetown.blogspot.co.za/ 082 568 4913

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WANTED: 18inch Borrani Aluminium Rims please contact Pierre Cronje 072 513 9432 Velocette MOV/ MAC / MSS webb Girder forks please contact Brandon Jarvis 082 410 8828 Velocette MSS gear box or parts thereof please contact Brandon Jarvis 082 410 8828 BMW R26 or R27 to purchase and/ or spare parts. 083 326 4911 Gawie Norton racing type oil tank to fit slimline frame Rod Thomas 031-762 1509 / 073 365 6494 Alternator type primary chaincase for pre-unit swinging arm Triumph. I need two inners and one outer. Will buy or have parts to swap. Tony Dodsworth. 082 742 1742 or 011 453 2688 To fit BMW R50 : 2 x Bing 1/24 Carbs complete pair or 2 x 1/24 Bing Housings (blocks) OR 2x AMAL Carbs (pair), same size as above Contact Trevor Jones – (082) 416-4650 Triumph Tiger Cub T20 engine and any spares Contact Pierre Cronje 072 513 94532

British Bike Spares, Specialising in classic British bike spares supplying parts from Wassell, the biggest new classic bike part wholesalers in the UK, has been purchased by Gavin Walton from Mike Lang. All the stock has been moved from Benoni to Springs on the East Rand. Gavin’s intentions include enhancing and growing the business, web basing it to provide on-line browsing and ordering and shortening the time between import orders and delivery at a competitive rate. Gavin’s details are: 74 Phoenix road Selcourt Springs 1559 Home 011 818 4055 Mobile 083 408 4296 Email [email protected] (this will change in the near future to [email protected] ) Please call to enquire or make an appointment to see him.

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PARASKY

“The Skylight Professionals” Established 1981

TEL: 011-626-2970 FAX: 011-626-1420 [email protected] www.parasky.co.za

SKYLIGHTS: COMMERCIAL & DOMESTIC

+ Staircases + Patio & Balcony Enclosures

+ Balustrades + Walk-ons

+ Gazebos & Architectural Features For us – the sky is the limit!

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RESTORATION and other SERVICES Full restorations. Pierre Cronje does these as well as wheel lacing and building. Call him on 072 513 9432. Ultrasonic cleaning call Henry Watermeyer on 084 800 8862. Raw honey for sale. Remember Caroline is the honey queen – you can buy her various types of honey at the club meeting for the bargain price of R50 per jar or [email protected] Petrol taps Enots flat-slide type, made in brass to your order. In sizes 1/8”, 1/4” and 3/8” BSP as well as Rally boxes made to your order with handlebar mounting brackets plus mountings for the rally plate and three watches. Trevor Fraser on 013 656 3063 or 076 591 5560. BMW Speedometers Ben Vandenberg has a large stock of old and parts. He is willing to pass them on to anyone running a speedo repair service or is planning to start one. His contact number is 021 712 2661. Restoration and other services. Gravel Man Services offers full service of all BMW boxer twins (old and new). Accident damage repairs and restorations. Please contact Markus Watson on 083 602 3503.

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THE VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE CLUB P O Box 782835 SANDTON 2146 South Africa www.vintagemotorcycleclub.co.za COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Ken Wiggins Chairman [email protected] 011 793 7138 083 256 1949

Ian Holmes Vice Chairman [email protected] 011 793 7304 083 646 3089

Pieter Vlietstra Treasurer [email protected] 011 793 4841 082 650 9880

Ian Storer Secretary [email protected] 072 727 7382

Kevin Walton Club Dating Officer [email protected] 082 891 8399

Rob Pattison-Emms

Committee Member / Events

[email protected] 011 849 5180 082 891 2869

Dave Watson Committee Member [email protected] 082 551 5147

Chantal Madgwick Committee Member / Editor

[email protected] 083 708 3522

Brandon Jarvis Committee Member / Assistant Editor

[email protected] 011 907 3000 082 410 8828

FEES PAYABLE (up to 30th June 2017) Joining Fee R50.00 Annual Subscription R260.00 (R130.00 if joining after 1st of January) Country Member R190.00 (R90.00 if joining after 1st of January) Family Member R20.00 (i.e. spouse and minor children) Fees will increase for the year starting 1st July 2017 CLUB ACCOUNT DETAILS Account Number 1970259841 Nedbank Sandton Branch 197-005 Please use your name and surname as your reference when making a payment CLUB MEETINGS Meetings are held every 4th Monday of the month (except December) at The Vintage and Veteran Club (VVC), 3 Athol Oaklands Road, Oaklands Johannesburg, at 20:00. The opinions expressed in KICKSTART are not necessarily those of the Committee or the Editor.