The two major English motorcycle magazines from the early 1900's up into the 1970's, "The MotorCycle" and "MotorCycling", ran many as did the French magazine"MotoRevue"...
All great resources....
Relax with me as we wander back in time.....But before we launch into the drawings, a photo I like a lot...
The original was in poor condition as you'll see by the bottom LH corner...
Two Aussies hard at it on home built 250 DOHC Velocettes...#31 is Les Diener on his newly built 250 DOHC based on a pushrod MOV and still in a rigid frame...hard on him is #15 Alan Burt riding the Waggott 250 DOHC Velocette based on a KTT engine and again in a rigid frame..taken at the races in Mildura, Victoria on the NSW/Victoria border, but unsure when...DQ will have to do some research and correct this post....
1 comment:
Well, I cannot add to the date when Les raced the original Eldee in the MOV frame, but I can possibly find out.
However, I can tell you that Eldee2 was also briefly in Les' second rigid MOV frame just after he built the engine. It was only in that frame briefly, to test the engine. Soon after he mounted the new engine in a 1953 Featherbed, much modified of course and having no need of two 250s, he sold me the rigid MOV... if you check the following link you will see a shot of the Eldee2 in "my" MOV frame and a later shot of the MOV in my living room...so proud was I to have one of Gods bikes!...Haha!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pih3jjgvtmk73oh/4ALGqiRlF8
It turned out this particular MOV has a long racing history of it's own. Les bought it from Peter Westerman not long after Les retired. Not long after I got it from Les I had it on a trailer on the way to a race meeting and stopped off at a Deli. When I returned form the car this rather excited and animated gentleman was babbling:
"That's my bike! That's my bike!"
It turned out his name was Tom Medlow and indeed the bike had been his, back in the 1950s.
He told me a bit of the story, but as I was in a hurry to get to a race meeting I foolishly failed to get his contact details.
Then, Les died....and a while later
his wife Audrey gve me his workshop diary...and in it was detailed the MOV...along with the design and development story of Eldee2.
But I did note an entry where Les noted that as he was checking the machine over after he purchased it, the gears in the 'box were some that he'd made for Tom Medlow...as were the cams. So Les knew of it's history, I just wish I'd found out more before he left us.
Eldee 2 is now in New Zealand owned by Phil Price and is being raced currently by Chris Swallow, sone of Bill. In fact Bill is in NZ right now...and raced a mate's Domi last weekend.
So, I know that Les is looking down and smiling...seeing his creation being raced in anger and with considerable success over the channel.
Anyhow, I did not intend to write a novel, I must to bed! ... but I'd love to see more pics of Les, he was a great man and a great friend indeed.
Greg Summerton
gregss@bigpond.com
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