I last did a post on some of these in July 2010, so another is long overdue.
I'm a great follower of the skill of pen and ink drawings to illustrate magazines....not so common these days....
Of course the copyright for those I'll use is now held by Mortons Motorcycle Media in the UK, the owners of the now defunct "MotorCycling" and "The MotorCycle" .The first one shows a part of the special frame made by Doug St.Julian Beasley in the UK in the early 1950's...obviously influenced by the newly seen Norton Featherbed frame, Beasley made frames predominately for Velocette engines and the KTT in particular.
The illustration, above, was in June 1951...
In 1953 the Australian rider Sid Willis accompanied another Aussie, Tony McAlpine on a European tour...riding as part of "The Continental Circus".
Sid took one bike, a rigid framed Velocette 250, with his converted 1936 ex works DOHC Velo cylinder head and cambox fitted and making a 250cc.
It went very quickly in the first few European races they went to before the IOM TT, but the handling on the cobblestone parts of the circuits restricted him.
When in the UK they sought out Doug Beasley and he made a frame for Sid.
The photo below shows Sid ( RHS), Doug Beasley (centre) and Tony (LHS) working on the bike in Doug's workshop.
Then below it, Sid in the IOM TT.
He finished 5th in the Lightweight TT, the first privateer home.
Why don't we have a look at Doug himself in the IOM TT...photo taken by S.R.Keig, the Douglas IOM photographic studio. Taken in June 1952. Doug retired during the race.
Phew, I got a bit carried away "photographically" above...back on track DQ..lets look at some more "fillin" drawings...
1 comment:
Love these "fillin" pictures! While useful in the Fishtail West, they look great on this computer. Thanks for sharing your great finds. Lanora
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