Thursday, April 29, 2010

Another foray into the world of Pen and Ink drawings.........

I've done a few of these in previous blogs, but they never cease to impress me...
Tonight I received an email from Jean-Marie Guivarch from France who occasionally sends me examples of pencil sketches he has made at motorcycle events in Europe...three of them follow....
Then I've scanned in some drawings from "MotorCycling" in 1936.....
I acknowledge the copyright for the images to Jean-Marie and to Mortons Motorcycle Media, holders of the "MotorCycle" and "MotorCycling" copyright.
Left click on the images to enlarge.....







Monday, April 26, 2010

A selection of miscellaneous small photos I've aquired over the years.....

Over the years I've collected small photos...what do I mean by that...well the size that came from Kodak box Brownies etc, around 30 x 40mm, perhaps 45 x 60mm, often sepia toned. 
Who took them or "owns" them is a mystery.....although on reflection the last two were taken by Ulsterman Barry Sewell and others of his pics feature elsewhere in my blog.
Left click on the images to enlarge....
George Himing rode in IOM TT 1927-32 on Zenith,Montgomery, AJS, Rudge and OK Supreme.
Leo Davenport, wins the 1932 Lightweight TT on a 246cc New Imperial.
















Italian Omobono Tenni, 250 Moto Guzzi, 1935 Lightweight TT, IOM



Evening practice, IOM TT 1938, #3 Putt Mossman, OK Supreme, #29 A.R.Foster AJS

1938 IOM TT races, #12 S.A. Sorenson 249cc Excelsior, #29 J.C. Galway 249cc Excelsior, Lwt TT.


Unknown, likely during the 1926 IOM TT and at Governors Bridge hairpin.

BMW Rennsport outfit, Ulster GP 1954.


Geoff Duke, 493cc Gilera/4, Scarborough, Sept.1953

Monday, April 19, 2010

A visit to the IOM TT races through the eyes of an overseas enthusiast.....

The TT races were always high on my agenda to visit as I avidly read "The MotorCycle" and "MotorCycling" when they arrived into the shelves every week ( well as they came by ship in those days, sometimes there was none for a while then three or four arrived together) at Omodie's Motorcycle Accessories in Sydney from early in the 1960's....
A dream that was to eventuate with my overland ride to Europe in early 1974.
http://velobanjogent.blogspot.com/search/label/Travel
Two weeks in the IOM for the TT in both 1974 and 1975 went a long way to satiate my thirst........
I took colour slides and spent some time recently scanning them into digital images and realised the differences with film camera then and digital cameras today... The quality of my photos gives me some angst, but then I did take photos and want to share some with you over several blogs.....we'll journey from London to Liverpool and board the ferry with the motorcycles craned aboard as they had been done for nearly 70 years previously....
Some touristy bits and a few racing and associated items....
Come back in time with me to those days.....
Left click on the images to enlarge them... 




Above....Pumping out petrol from motorcycles about to be loaded onto the IOM ferries at Liverpool, a practice that had continued for around 70 years by the AA/RAC...just leaving enough for you to ride to a petrol station in Douglas.... 
Below...shots taken on the ferry, the IOM Steam Packet companies "Snaefell".


At the pier in Douglas, IOM Steam Packet ferries unload...



On the promenade at Douglas in the evening....


Setting up camp...Jim and Val Day from Australia at Bray Hill camp ground. Judy and I took a room in a guest house as others have done in the past...

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Perusing some pre WW2 BMW and Steib sidecar catalogues.....

The following are some catalogues from my collection I re-discovered when searching for another item and I'm sure they'll prove of interest to some. The focus is on the Steib sidecar catalogue from 1939 with some excerpts from 1936 and 1939 BMW catalogues, featuring the motorcycle most likely to be attached to the larger Steib, the BMW R66.
I start with a photo of a genuine Steib badge as fitted to the postwar S500/501 sidecar and my ownership of it is an interesting tale.
If you search my blog you'll find reference to my overland motorcycle trip to Europe from Australia in 1974. 
While in Tehran, Iran, Judy and I camped in the Gol-e-Sar campground and to my amazement there was a Steib sidecar standing alone in the ground, no motorcycle attached and with a pile of house bricks supporting it where the motorcycle would normally be. Alas no photo of it was taken. Inquiries revealed it had been there for some years....
I removed the nose-cone badge that you see and the fittings to attached the sidecar to a motorcycle and we took these with us when we left to travel westward. I did note a small bracket made of angle iron, welded to the rail around the sidecar and assumed it was to hold a one gallon oil or petrol/gasoline tin and fitted by a previous owner.....
Bad weather with late snow forced us back to the camp ground a week or so later to await better riding conditions  and I saw the sidecar was now gone..... seems they had removed it to a dump in the interim....
Living in London a little later I accompanied a friend to Liverpool to collect some BMW parts he had purchased from a chap living there...the conversation went to my trip...the fellow said he had set out in 1968 with friends to ride to India. He had a BMW R60/2 with Steib sidecar and produced photos. To my amazement there was the welded bracket...you guessed it, it was his sidecar!!
Seems the sidecar was filled with food for the trip and by Iran was empty and the unladen sidecar was considered a nuisance and removed in the Tehran camp ground.... they rode to India and returned to the UK...
Small world eh?
Left click on the images to enlarge.

1939 BMW catalogue, selected items, English test.



1939 BMW catalogue items, German text.

1936 BMW catalogue, single sheet, German text.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Keith Bryen, Continental Circus privateer and works Moto Guzzi rider in the 1950's continues with more photographs.....

I've featured seven blogs so far of Australian Keith Bryen's racing career and am currently in 1957, however Keith also included a folder with his own racing photos titled "Photos of other riders and bikes of the past"....time to have a peek into it and run these in this and future blogs....
Left click on the images to enlarge....
Dickie Dale at Silverstone Circuit, 1953.....
At the Belgium GP, Spa-Francorchamps, 1953

1953 at the Belgium...L to R..Tony McAlpine, Sid Willis, Vivian McAlpine.... you see if you can identify the rest!
At the Belgium GP, 1953..left, Gordon Laing....
Dickie Dale, 350 Moto Guzzi....
Jack Ahearn and Jack Forest....
Arthur Wheeler, Ulster GP, 1957...
Ray Amm, Sid Willis, Tony McAlpine, Keith Bryen, 1953 on the road in Europe between race meetings...
Bob Mathews of Ireland....

Friday, April 2, 2010

Pen and Ink engine drawings and the odd cartoon.,....

If you follow my blog you'll know I'm partial to pen and ink drawing from the Motorcycle and Motoring press and cartoons from the same source...haven't had any for a while, so this is a small offering...
Acknowledgments to Mortons Motor Cycle Media and the copyright holders of any items used...
Left click on the images to enlarge them... then click a second time on the enlarged pic to further enlarge it and let you read the text....
This item published in 1953 in The Motor is intreguing....because I'm unsure if it went into serious production...
A British 500cc 4 cylinder racing engine from J.A.P....H'mm...










While on the subject of J.A.P....their V twin 1100cc offering for 1950....
The Waycott-Goulding sidecar chassis used on Stuart Waycott's ISDT 595cc Velocette outfit in 1938.
Finally and I hadn't planned to use it this time....an evocative photo of the P & R Williams 3 day trials team in early 1950's, left Alan Burt and right Ron Kessing...the weather looks ugly judging by their riding gear....both keen Velo men and both riding AJS's!!