VMCC Castle Acre Run

 Sunday dawns and I'm up early to get to the start of the Norwich & District VMCC Castle Acre Run but first, it's a trip on the W/NG to deliver the TS125 tank:

With the tank back on the MZ, son Tom starts the freshly oiled & fuelled SQ4 that he will ride today. I'm on the modern Interceptor, just for a change. 

First stop is at the start of the run, for tea, a chat and to sign on. Lovely barn conversion and outbuildings:

At 11:00, we depart for the 37 mile trip to Castle Acre, following the Tulip route sheets. I make the mistake of relaxing at the back of a line of two bikes who miss a turn and I have to double back, messing up my calculations. We arrive eventually, and I'm not last, though I expect to find Tom and the SQ4 there already. He's not, and it turns out he's stopped to wait for me, witnessed by the missed calls on my phone. He turns up a few minutes later and we have lunch.

Two portions of loaded fries and a chat later we wander out to look at the bikes, and do some more chatting...

The rest of the section will take another 37 mile run back to the start, but since that would be in totally the wrong direction for us we say our goodbyes and head back to North Norfolk.

Totals for the day - 130 miles for me aboard two different bikes; about 100 of those on the Interceptor. The SQ4 is going really well and uses negligible oil, and consumes fuel at 50 mpg!

Have to take it a bit easier next time.

VMCC Blakeney Run

 Sunday brings the first VMCC run of the year, the first of many I hope. The W/NG is at son Tom's house with a dead speedo, so the first trip of the day is to go down there, meet up and replace the speedo cable.

That done, it's off to the start point at Spooner Row just outside Wymondham via a petrol stop.

We arrive on time (for the first time!) and sign on, grab a cup of coffee and are welcomed by the crowd falling easily into chatting about our bikes and where we have come from. One or two remember us from Letheringsett 2022 and from a Blue Sky run I did on my own a few years back. At 11, we set off for Blakeney, a 40 mile trip through the Norfolk countryside. Tom leads, as both bikes have route rollers now:

Tom leads that is until his speedo cable snaps again at 7 miles into the run, 27 miles into the day. Tulip sheet navigation is tough with no speedo! I take over, and we arrive safe and sound at Blakeney Quay, for coffee and a burger from Birdys Bakehouse, and very nice it was too.

Tom shares my enthusiasm for Scott motorcycles:

We are joined by one of their owners, who gives us a guided tour of their eccentricities:

There are some more pictures here, on the Norwich Section VMCC website.

Tom and I part on the way home - he's riding the SQ4, as there is a lot of oil coming from the rear of the top end of the W/NG and the speedo needs fixing again. That's 85 miles - hardly fault free but neither of us stopped unexpectedly.

Bring on the next one!

VMCC Letheringsett Run

With not much railway stuff going on and the events calendar rapidly diminishing, son Thomas and I took the opportunity to attend the Norwich & District section VMCC run to Letheringsett. We'd wanted to do another trip out together this year, and I'd wanted to do a VMCC run, so it was the perfect opportunity as it's the last run (but one) for the 2022 season.

The start was at Spooner Row, so I needed to get to Tom's and then to Spooner Row in time for a 10:30 start. 

This would have been fine, had I not done 60 miles on a partially full tank the day before, getting my hair cut.

I ran out of fuel.

We stopped just outside Wymondham, and despite pulling the reserve tap on I couldn't get the W/NG restarted. I checked the carburetter drain plug and there appeared to be fuel, so out came the tools. The points were opening, and judging by Tom's yelp there was a spark at the plug, so what could it be?

Well, turns out, having removed the float bowl top to find no fuel, the reserve tap doesn't pass liquids. Sloshing some over from the timing side had us going again, back to the nearest petrol station and onto the run.

I'd not used Tulip sheets much, and the route roller was on the SQ4, but we made it to the end with only two or three mistakes - not all of them while I was in the lead. One time, I was convinced I was lost on a lonely road; I stopped to confess to Tom that I was lost, only to find 4-5 old bikes behind him...

Still, we made it in the end, stopping at the water mill which was grinding flour and selling tea and cake.

When we were all there, there was probably 25 bikes including this 1952 SQ4 Mk1 we had followed, and been followed by, on the run:

We stopped for more food in Holt, on the way home.

More pictures from the VMCC Norwich & District Section website here.

Model A - an introduction

You can't have too many bike projects. I may have too many bike projects, but when a new one comes along sometimes you can't afford to pass it up. Since I have got to know Ariels I have developed a love for the singles through my splendid W/NG, so when this 1930 Model A - the last year of the 'Black Ariels' came up I couldn't say no. More to the point, my wife was very encouraging too, so the deal was done.

Here she is. She's called Agatha.

A Model A is the most basic of the heavyweight single range, which means she has the 557 cc side valve engine, with a 3 speed hand change Sturmey Archer gearbox and the slim mudguards with no valance. She has no steering damper either, and she has the slim 300-20 tyres at both ends. However, her first owner, Mr James Johnston of Leightnie, Lethnot by Brechin who first registered the bike as a 5.5 hp Ariel on 15th July 1930 seems to have specified the chrome tank when he bought it from Duncan's of Brechin.

You can see from the map that she's not widely travelled.

It had been dispatched from the factory on the 26th May 1930, and has the original engine and gearbox. You'll note he also specified the Lucas electric lighting option (£5-10s extra), and he spent an extra £1 on the chrome plating option - the handlebars are chrome plated under the twist grip, not nickel plated:

Did he buy a horn? We don't know. He didn't buy a speedo.

I used Moving Motorcycles to bring it down from Scotland, and very good they were too; good communication, well handled and well packed.

It's pretty complete, apart from the front mudguard (that one is from the late 1940's) and the rear stand. I have the brake pedal and it's rod, the gear change and front brake rods and one of the footrests:

There are a lot of fatigue cracks in the primary case and in the rear mudguard, but nothing we can't fix:

Unusually, she has a BTH magneto. This is non-standard, and dates from the 40's so I think this is a period replacement.

VMCC Machine Examiner

Registering an old machine that has lost it's V5C, or which has been out of use since the DVLA computer system started in the 1970's is a pretty straightforward process and involves either one of the one-make clubs or the VMCC. The DVLA, upon payment of a small fee will issue a registration number to a bike providing it's frame and engine numbers can be shown to be legitimate to that make and model, usually by consultation of the original factory records.

Once the club has located a machine in the record, usually by frame number, they ask a member to witness the number by visiting the owner of the machine and verifying that the number is or appears to be original to that machine - i.e. that the number is correct to the factory record and that it has not been stamped by an unscrupulous villain trying to pass an A10 Gold Flash off as a Rocket Gold Star.

The VMCC maintains a register of these 'Machine Examiners' and they are asked to go and witness candidates for re-registration local to them - there are a network of Machine Examiners all over the country.

Today, it was my pleasure to visit Tony to check the numbers on his 1929 Scott TT Replica:

Of course, this is really an opportunity to go and have a natter with like minded folk and look at some wonderful machinery. I've not had a chance to have a proper look at a Scott before, other than in a museum. Tony know's his Scotts and a good few other vintage machines as well, and he showed me around the various interesting design details these wonderful machines are endowed with.

Then he started it up... I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't a 90 year old bike that sounded like a '70's Yamaha. I didn't video Tony's bike, but these are two examples from YouTube that give you an idea:

Thanks Tony. I didn't see what all the fuss was about with Scotts before today, but now I am hooked. I can see why you look so happy.

Vintage Motorcycle Club Forum

Folks,

Another plug for the new Vintage Motorcycle Club forum, which is up and running at:

http://forum.vmcc.net/index.php

This is a great way to make contact with other vintage motorcycle enthusiasts the world over.

Mention Amelia's Blog when you sign on!

VMCC Forum

Folks,

I wanted to let you know that the new Vintage Motorcycle Club forum is up and running. Find it at:

http://forum.vmcc.net/index.php

This is a great way to make contact with other vintage motorcycle enthusiasts the world over.

Mention Amelia's Blog when you sign on!