Under The Hammer - ex Jimmie Guthrie, Francis Beart Manx Norton

It's not very often that such a fine racing motorbike comes up for auction. Actually, I guess that every year, there are plenty of significant racing motorbikes that sell at auction, but when you're a Norton guy, like myself, there's not many of this level.

Bonham's Auction House will be wheeling this machine up onto the stage in Las Vegas on January 8th, and some rich snob is going to shell out an astronomical amount of money for it. Last year, a Beart Manx sold for just over 100k, and set a record for Manx Norton's at auction. Rest assured that I personally think these bikes are worth that money, and my snide comment about some "rich snob", is simply rooted in jealousy. It'd be great if a normal guy like myself could someday have a chance to own such a piece.

I won't bore you with the details about the bike, as Bonham's does a great job describing it in their listing, which you can find here: Beart Manx

I pulled a couple of their fine photos because I truly love how this bike looks sans fairing.

And of course, that absolutely stunning petrol tank, which was nicknamed "Sabrina". If ever there was love at first sight, this is what it'd look like. And when her name is Sabrina, well, I don't think I need to say much more.

So many details in this machine, it's pretty mind blowing. The extremely lightened rear hub, frame and even the rear brake pedal. The front brake has a very interesting set up on the actuating arms, and they looks as if they engage pulling in towards each other. There's also an adjustable bracket that acts as a positive stop on the actuating arms. I could literally pour over this bike forever and never lose interest.

Ian Kennedy

Ian Kennedy is easily one of the least known figures in 1960's British aftermarket cafe racer lore. Names like Paul Dunstall and John Tickle, tend to come to mind when thinking of such things, but make no mistake about the impact that Ian made on the world, with his assortment of cast aluminum bolt on goodies.

Shown above is one of his top yokes. A real thing of beauty in my humble opinion, and I'll tip my hat and show praise to Ian and others that really went out of their way to design, cast and machine such amazing pieces. He helped to create a cottage industry and these things carry a real romantic memory for guys like myself that are either building, restoring or customizing old British motorbikes.

Other than to show respect to Ian, this post is also to inform any loyal follower of my blog, that the story hasn't ended. In some senses, this is only just the beginning. Without getting too long winded, the story starts with my incessant quest to find one of these top yokes for a Norton Dominator that I'm building. Of course, a search like that, takes a long time, and yielded no result. About a year ago, I met Chad of Shop 102 after a trip to Barber Motorsports Park, and we instantly hit it off. He paid a visit to my garage and we talked about all sorts of vintage motorbike topics. Upon my mention of Ian Kennedy, he randomly confessed that he knew a gentleman with the same name, and had been hired by Ian to do some weld repairs to a featherbed frame. Low and behold, it was indeed "The" Ian Kennedy. So I instantly asked if Chad could enquire to see if Ian had a top yoke that he could / would sell to me. After a couple of phone calls, Ian produced the top yoke pictured above, but broke the news that it was his last and only yoke, and was slated to be mounted on a Norton he was building, hence it was not for sale.

But neither Chad or I were content with that, so we spoke with Ian further, and he agreed to loan that last yoke to us, in order to create a new set of castings and granted his permission for us to reproduce a small run of them. If you could imagine our excitement at such an opportunity!

Fast forward a short time more, and we've gotten everything set up to have these cast and finished machined, exactly as they were originally. All of the work will be top notch and done by a firm that's well versed in exactly this same sort of endeavor. There won't be any backyard castings or other such foolish work. We know that these need to be true to the original, but also manufactured to be used. So to cut to the chase, Chad at Shop 102 is now taking pre-orders for these yokes. We need to get 20 of them preordered for the production to commence. It's a break even affair after the tooling, set up and parts are paid for. And it'll likely be a 1 time production run. So if you've been searching for one of these, or just want to get in on a once in a lifetime opportunity, don't waste another minute. Go to Chad's website and place your order today:

Buy Now - Ian Kennedy top yoke

As you'll see, the price is set at $265 which includes shipping if you're in the lower 48 states. All buyers are welcome, but there will be a nominal additional shipping charge in order to get it to you.

Also, please note that this yoke will fit standard Norton forks that take the later 7 3/8" (center to center) yoke. Standard Norton fork legs, with the standard taper. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to email me, or Chad.

Let's all put our money where our mouth is and make this project a reality.

And lastly, a very special thanks to Ian Kennedy, for being a top notch bloke, a pioneer in aftermarket parts and an all around solid human for granting permission for this project to happen.

Dave Roper # 7

I don't have many heros, but the few that I hold in that regard, are very special. Dave Roper is at the very top of the list, and rather than going into much detail, I'll just let you enjoy this short video that's recently been released. If you like old racing motorbikes, then do yourself a favor and research Dave Roper. He's a very humble guy that's turned more laps on old racing machines than just about anyone I can think of.

Watch the video here:

Dave Roper # 7

Motoblot Chicago 2014

Previously, this was the Mods vs. Rockers show, here in Chicago, and had expanded this year to a semi new format, under the name Motoblot. I'm unsure as to why the change of name, but perhaps it was to broaden the scope of participation. I'm glad that they changed the name, since the motorbikes and scooters that used to show up to Mods vs. Rockers, simply didn't represent anything from that era in history. I just don't think there are that many people in Chicago that own those genuine types of machines. Or, if there is, they simply don't come out to this street fair type event.

The show includes a motorcycle show, hot rod show, music acts and even a pin up girl contest. In all honesty, it seems like they're trying to cram 10 pounds of shit, into a 5 pound bag. The whole thing seems more like Motorcycle Halloween, then it does a proper motorbike show. Again, anyone that's followed along with my blog, surely knows that I'm a fairly harsh critic, but I feel the responsibility to give my opinion. There will likely be a ton of posts online and thru social media, telling you how great the show was. This isn't one of those posts...

It strikes me as odd that winners of the motorbike show, get a trophy, while the winner of the pin up girl contest, gets $1000 cash. Maybe they should put that $1000 up for the winner of best in show in the motorcycle event. Perhaps then, people will take it seriously and bring out some nice bikes. It seems everyone these days has to go with the "sex sells" mentality and as long as they've got tits and ass, then the show is a success.

I attend these events to see some nice old bikes and hopefully mingle with like minded enthusiasts. Unfortunately, there's very little of those things going on here, and it's more about people dressing up like rockabilly motorcyclists. I could drove on for hours and hours about the whole thing, but what's the point. I feel like I'm already bringing them too much attention by even posting this. So here's the photos that I shot, of anything that seemed cool to me. Everything else wasn't of any interest.

Plenty of Italian bikes in the crowd, and while I'm not a Guzzi fan, these two V7 Sports, sure were nice.

Bitsa Parilla 250cc Gran Sport that was ridden to the show. It was quite loud for a small displacement single

1959 Pre Unit Triumph with nice Buco hard bags

Side Valve Triumph

You don't see swept back pipes on too many Triumphs, so these were a nice surprise

My buddy spent the past year and a half building this Lambretta, and this show was the maiden voyage for it. It ran flawlessy, with a fully built 200cc motor, 5 speed conversion and dropped bars.

This guy was hand painting the back of a helmet for someone. I stopped and had a quick chat with him.

A couple of interesting featherbed Nortons. This one an Atlas with Dunstall 810 cylinder

Rickman hub with disc brake. I asked the owner about this nice front brake set up, and strangely he had no idea what it was. Sort of a shame. I'd gladly take it off his hands since he doesn't know enough about it to even enjoy it.

Modern Adventure bikes are just about the polar opposite of what I'm into, but I long for a BMW GS. It's ugly and beautiful at the same time. And I know I'd have a pretty damn good riding experience with such a machine.

Road America + AHRMA + Rockerbox = ?

Admittedly, I'm a fairly harsh critic of vintage motorcycle events, but I feel the responsibility to give a proper review of the events that I attend. Surely there will be some other posts online about the 2014 marriage of the AHRMA Vintage Motorcycle Races and the acclaimed Rockerbox street fest that previously happened in downtown Milwaukee, but this is my account of things. First off, the ticket price was steep, at $30 per person for the day. Last year it was half that price for the AHRMA event, and the Rockerbox event, was always free. So, right off the bat, I was pissed off and expecting a lot for my money. Cutting right to the chase, the swap meet was crap, but every year it's crap, so no big change there. The races and the paddock are always a good time, and I enjoy being able to get up close to the race bikes and talk with some of my favorite riders. The AHRMA portion of the event, was exactly as expected. Which in my opinion, is generally a good thing, as long as I don't have any expectations of finding any useful parts, and simply keep an open mind to enjoy the racing. It's gotten a little stale over the years, and it's basically the same crowd of racers, and the same bikes. I still have no idea why modern sport bikes race in this event. The AMA event was the previous weekend, so I beg for the organizer to look at excluding the sport bikes. It simply makes no sense to me at all. The Thruxton class, while modern, at least makes sense as a contemporary version of what the old bikes were. As for the Rockerbox portion of the event, it was a complete flop. A small parking lot section for the "bike show", and absolutely no feel of what Rockerbox is known for. No street festival vibe, no Fuel Cafe, and honestly, I don't think many people wanted to ride the hour or so from Milwaukee to Elkhart Lake. So it was a mere fraction of what the show used to be. And while I understand why it happened this way, I just feel like it was a complete failure. Lastly, I'm going to make a plea to all bike show organizers, to PLEASE stop hosting a "rat bike" class in the bike show. Nobody wants to see some cobbled together, rusty piece of junk with a tractor seat. It disgusting, pathetic and lazy.

As for everything else, I'll just share my photos with you. I only shot what was interesting, which honestly wasn't much. Hopefully you enjoy the photos more than I enjoyed driving 3 hours, paying $30 and feeling ripped off.

The McKeever's tent is alway my favorite. This year, they hung this great old Norton banner, with some very cool signatures

Larry Poons races this original Seeley framed Matchless G50 and a Ducati. This guy is doing it right, and it's always a pleasure to see him out there with some genuine machines.

This hand formed aluminum tank was quite cool.

John Thorndike officially apologizes to his petrol tank, for a crash that it suffered last season.

The owner wasn't around, but I believe this is a Summerfield 93mm bore Manx replica. Francis Beart paint job, and some very cool detailed bits throughout.

A nice Ducati single rolling chassis for sale

This Vincent and it's owner are from the Chicago area, and he puts a lot of miles on it. He restored it years ago and brought it back to life from very rough condition.

A nice Gliera in the Rockerbox show.

Harley Davidson CRTT racer, with original magnesium Oldani brakes

I've seen this Atlas special at the Rockerbox show. It's a bit of an odd set up and choice of parts, but the Evan Wilcox tanks are stunning.

 Hadn't seen this one before

Very cool BSA Goldstar racer with Norton Commando 2LS front brake and scoop extension.

Kenny Cummings was out in force with 3 Minnovation bikes. A Commando powered Seeley and 2 G50 powered Seeley's. I've shot tons of photos of his bikes, so this year, I wanted to have a look at just the swingarm adjusters. I'm working on a very special project of my own, and wanted a reference photo of the adjuster set up.

Framecrafters Triumph

Gas Cap detail of a Ducati Brio scooter that was for sale.

I have no use for a BSA tank, but this swap meet treasure looked great sitting there. Someone needed it, as I saw a guy walking around with it under his arm later in the day.

John Player Norton Commando

If you've followed along with the blog, it's pretty obvious that I'm a Norton guy, so I've saved the best for last. This 1957 featherbed International, is about as good as it gets when it comes to Norton roadsters. A special order bike that wasn't listed in the catalog that year, and still wearing all it's original bits, with the exception of the higher handlebars. I'll let that detail slide, since the rest of the machine is amazing!

This Norton was owned by Jerry Ficklin for several decades, and was recently purchased by a very fine gentleman, who was kind enough to let me talk his ear off for a good half hour. Jerry is a well known racer, and long time Norton enthusiast. I know he's gotten a bit older and has sold a few things over the past year, and while I'm sorry to see him part with it, It was also very nice to see someone new getting to enjoy it. 

I can't remember the guy's name, as I was so blown away at seeing the Norton and all it's glorious details, so if you're out there and happen to read this, please email me at works.moto@gmail.com

I'm sure that the event organizers will claim the weekend to be a huge success, and post an increase in the attendance, but I believe that's a misguided conclusion, and I truly hope that Rockerbox goes back to it's roots. I enjoyed the 2 events for different reasons, when they stood on their own. Put them together, and it all just comes up short.