Okay, this is a new publication from Panther Publishing and will be launched at the Classic Mechanics Show at Stafford on 17th - 18th October 2015.
Written by the late Norman Vanhouse (with a foreword by Jeff Smith), it's the tale of three "randomly selected" 500cc production BSA A7 Star Twins that entered the 1952 ISDT, then took the coveted Maudes Trophy. The narrative follows the daring exploits of the oily and muddy snow-bitten riders (Vanhouse, Fred Rist and Brian Martin) through Austria, Germany, Denmark and finally to Oslo, Norway for the flying quarter mile tests (at over 80mph on average). The bikes then returned to the UK having covered 4,958 miles. [More...] It's 102-years old, and Charterhouse Auctions reckon it will make between £50,000 and £60,000 when it goes under the hammer at Netley Marsh Eurojumble on the 4th - 5th September 2015. Specifically, it's a 1912, 3.5hp, 592cc (600cc), single-speed, sidevalve single and is one of the rarest motorcycles in the UK—and not exactly as common as muck anywhere in the world. [More...] 
It might not be news to a lot of folk, but it's news to us (and news to all the Triumph dealers we spoke to). We've just been on the Triumph Motorcycle website looking for our nearest dealer, only to discover that Triumph charges 7 pence per minute for the privilege of talking to said purveyor of its products using the website-supplied number. Here's how it works. You go on the Triumph site. You aim your pointer at a drop-down window called: DEALERS. You punch your postcode into the necessary field, and then a list of local dealers pops up. You dial the supplied telephone number, and as you wait, you notice that calls are being charged at 7 pence per minute, plus your normal landline or mobile phone rate.  Alternately, you could look up the dealer on the web and obtain their own business number (as opposed to the number Triumph offers) and call them direct. Most direct calls are charged at the ordinary national rate. Some calls are freephone (or at local rate). But as far as we can tell (and our explorations weren't exhaustive) no one charges for the privilege of chin-wagging about buying a new bike (or buying spares or booking a service) except Triumph Hinckley.
Penny pinching? Or no big deal? You can decide that for yourself. But this thrifty news comes just a few months after we posted a story revealing that John Bloor, Triumph supremo and house builder to the washed and unwashed masses, has become a billionaire over the past year (see April 2015 Sump). Naturally, we did contact Triumph Motorcycles looking for a response, but nobody suitable was available. However, if we do get some feedback, we'll be sure to post it, no charge. There was the old British Telecom slogan that read: It's good to talk. Well, when you call a Triumph dealer via the Triumph website, you can see why. Could it be that it's just a question of time before we're charged for the privilege of merely entering a Triumph showroom? Makes you think. Update: We've just received a response from Triumph explaining that the 7 pence per minute is not being charged by them, but by British Telecom. ? And why? So Triumph can record conversations between the customer and the dealer and thereby check (a) that the dealer is "on message", and (b) that the customer's needs are being addressed. And naturally, the information is also used by Triumph to gather general feedback on its product and services. Does all this sounds a little sly and crafty? Maybe that's putting it too strongly. But certainly, you'd think a firm like Triumph would fund its own intelligence gathering operations rather than pass the cost onto its customers. Note that before you connect with a dealer via the Triumph website, Triumph (sorry, BT) does warn you (according to UK law) that conversations are being recorded. Actually, the message reads: "Please note that some calls are being recorded for training purposes". Training purposes, huh? In practical terms, this strategy probably works. But in public relations terms, it probably does more harm than good. And wouldn't it be easier to simply hard-wire GPS transponders, microphones and lie-detectors into the bikes? That would gather a lot of useful information. In an age of rampant and wily data gathering from the likes of, say, Google, YouTube, local councils, MI5 et al, we can live without our favourite motorcycle manufacturer climbing on board this overloaded bandwagon. — Dexxion At the moment (Tuesday 21st July), Cheffins is fielding just 14 bikes at its forthcoming Cambridge Sale which takes place this Saturday. There's nothing much to get too excited about here, but the 1969 650cc Norton Model 18 Mercury (Lot 704) might fire someone's motor.  The Mercury and the Norton SS were the last of the Dominator line. It's said that just 750 examples of the Mercury were manufactured, allegedly to use up excess stock. Indeed, the engine number of this bike carries the "SS" prefix (18SS/129302/P). The letter "P", incidentally, is said to refer to Plumstead, or Plumstead-built.
Around 100 Mercurys remained in Europe. The rest were exported to the USA. Some have since been repatriated, but it's not known exactly how many are still out in the wilds. Norton reckoned the Mercury was good for 47bhp. That's a little exaggerated perhaps, but there's no arguing about the lustiness of these surefooted twins. Features include; capacitor ignition, a single Amal carburettor; and a featherbed frame. Colours included Atlantic Blue and Quicksilver. This example is said to be original aside from "the chain guard and a few caphead screws". A V5 is offered. The estimate is £3,000 - £4,000. 
Also on offer at the sale is the above 1911 2-3/4hp Royal Enfield Model 160. This bike has on a number of occasions tackled and completed the Pioneer Run, but was dismantled in 1970. Recently, however, it was reassembled but hasn't been started. The vendor reports that the engine turns, "but feels tight". The engine is a 344cc V-twin from Motosacoche. The carburettor is from AMAC. The lights are acetylene. And it looks like a two-speed all-chain model (but you'll need to check this if you're interested). A V5, V5C and old style continuation logbook is present. Before bidding, you might also want to consider the following: In July 2009, Bonhams sold a Model 160 ("Slim Jim") that was restored in the 1950s, but looked unrestored. The engine in the frame was not the original, but the original unit was supplied. The bike fetched £15,525 including premium. In 2011, a similar Model 160 (to the Cheffins bike) turned up at Silverstone Auctions with an estimate of £14,000 - £18,000. But it didn't sell. In 2013, the same bike (not merely a similar model) made an appearance at Historics of Brooklands' June sale. This time, the estimate was lower at £12,000 - £16,000. But it still didn't sell. The bike currently on offer at Cheffins (Lot 700) carries an estimate of £9,000 - £11,000. The registration number is: AF 607. 
And if that doesn't float your boat, you might consider Lot 712 which is a 1914 770cc Royal Enfield Model 180 running a JAP V-twin. See the image immediately above. The bike has been restored. www.cheffins.co.uk — Big End This news item is going to upset more than a few hardened Matchless men. So if you see one crying, do what you can to console him, please. They're a sensitive bunch. As you can see, the famous Matchless brand takes another step towards unashamed gentrification with these new Speed 1899 sunglasses priced at just under three hundred quid. The lenses are offered in "violet", but shouldn't that be "rose tinted"? We generally nick our eyewear from Boots the chemist, or buy it wholesale from Machine Mart, which is why we're struggling to understand why anyone would pay that much dosh for a pair of shades. Except that some folk like to show their friends and fashion rivals exactly how much they're prepared to shell out for trendy eye bling. So that's probably the explanation right there. 
▲ New Belstaff Roadmaster jacket. Priced between £300 and £600 (depending on how much you want to be seen spending). If being mistaken for a Hollywood A-list celebrity isn't your thing, you might not feel comfortable in one of these. The Matchless brand is currently owned by the Italian Malenotti family. They first bought Belstaff in 2004 (2005 according to some sources) and opened a dozen or so stores across Europe and remanufactured the famous waxed cotton jackets with trendy new cuts. Franco Malenotti had, however, been working closely with Belstaff since 1996). In 2011, after the financials went west (said to be due to over expansion), the Malenotti clan unloaded Belstaff onto Harry Slatkin and the Labelux Group. So who's Harry Slatkin? Well, he's an American entrepreneur who launched the Slatkin brand and successfully positioned it up there (or down there) with the likes Ralph Lauren and Christian Dior. He's since made a lot of money flogging perfume and other smelly essentials to the stinking rich. The Labelux Group, incidentally, also owns the Jimmy Choo brand (if that means anything to you). Belstaff, which pioneered wax cotton jackets, is historically associated with the likes of actors Steve McQueen and Peter O'Toole (as worn in the movie Lawrence of Arabia). In recent times, Belstaff is more commonly associated with actors Brad Pitt, Hilary Swank, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp. 
The Matchless name and rights were bought in 2006 by a Greek consortium. That outfit paid just £45,000, but their plans for world high class fashion domination soon fell as flat as the current Greek economy. The Malenottis stepped into the breach and decided that they could do for Matchless what they hadn't entirely been able to do for Belstaff (but the family did make a huge killing on the Belstaff sale; said to be around €110 million). So okay, on the one hand you can't blame a firm for trying to make a few quid. These iconic heritage acquisitions keep folk in gainful employment, and they help ensure that the international money river doesn't silt. But it's disappointing to see the famous Flying M brand go the way it has gone. Meanwhile, we can keep in mind that Matchless was in fact making motorcycle clothing way back in the 1930s. So there's something of a genuine tradition there. The Malenottis, incidentally, are busy developing a Matchless Museum to showcase the brand and their range of trinkets (more of that when we hear about it). To their credit, the motorcycle connection is very real. The Malenottis have been known to straddle the odd motorcycle or two. And last year they announced plans for a new Matchless Model X, and even released some computer generated mock-ups. The firm is based in London, England. We don't know at what stage is the Model X project. But if and when the bike finally arrives, chances are that most of us won't be able to afford it anyway. As for those Matchless sunglasses, Franco Malenotti launched a Belstaff range of eyewear back in 2004/2005 when he bought the company. So he's treading familiar boards here. See Elvis Presley found alive on the moon (Sump September 2014) for more on the Malenotti family and their ambitions. — The Third Man Over the years, we've seen a lot of weird things done to BSA Bantams. Chops. Bobbers. A cafe racer or two. A number of very proud rat bikes. One with a Honda engine. Another with a Suzuki engine. Etc. But we can't remember having seen a diesel BSA Bantam, which makes the above example our first. It came our way via a Sumpster named Rod from Chorley in Lancashire. Presumably he's got a surname, but we haven't got a hold of that yet. No matter; it's his motorcycle that we're interested in (no offence, Rod), and this is a very interesting motorcycle. The engine displaces 125cc. It runs on chip fat. It returns around 180 miles per gallon. It has a V5C (overseas Sumpsters read: registration document). It's classed as a historic vehicle. And it doesn't need an MOT (Ministry of Transport test). So there's little to do but ride it and show it off. [More...] We're supporting the Brighton Speed Trials as much as we reasonably can these days. Why? Because the event has been under threat in recent times, and we want to help ensure it remains a permanent annual fixture.  You can read the back story in Sump August 2014. But for now, just remember that the trials take place on Saturday 5th September 2015. The racing will start at around 11.30am. The venue, as ever, is Madeira Drive.
We're advised that the Brighton Speed Trials is thought to be the world's longest running motorsport event. The distinguished Brighton & Hove Motor Club are the organisers, but the motorcycle entries are handled (by invitation of the B&HMC) via the Sprint Section of the VMCC. Machines from the early 1900s to the modern day will be ruining the atmosphere and spreading a cocktail of carcinogens along the English South Coast. But we wouldn't have it any other way. The only other event that weekend that we've (so far) got on Sump's listings is the Eurojumble at Netley Marsh. Netley's okay, but we recommend the Speed Trials. See you there. www.brightonandhovemotorclub.co.uk www.vmccsprint.co.uk vmcc sprint on facebook — Girl Happy There are three new limited edition 500cc Royal Enfield Bullets headed for production. Two models are destined for the Indian home market, and one is destined for export. The Bullet immediately above will be marketed as the Desert Storm model. It's aimed exclusively at the increasingly affluent Indian consumer. Just 200 will be manufactured. The Bullet immediately below will be marketed as the Squadron Blue model. It's also aimed only at the Indian consumer, and 200 will also be built. We'll get to the third option presently. [More...] The image above, apparently, is a real X-rayed rider astride a real X-rayed Matchless motorcycle. It's a piece of artwork by 53-year old British artist Nick Veasey who gets his kicks by snapping away at the innards of pretty much anything. Bikes. VW Beetles. Typewriters. And the odd Boeing 777. We're advised that he works in some kind of ex-Cold War bunker in Kent. A derelict radar station or something. Because the rays are so dangerous, Veasey has created a studio using 4-inch thick lignacite blocks. The floor is made from "radiation absorbing concrete". The door of his studio is made from steel and lead and weighs around one ton. Hospital X-ray machines apparently use about 100 kilovolts and take picture with a 0.2 seconds "shutter speed". Veasey’s box of tricks operates at up to 200 kilovolts and emits x-rays for as long as 20 minutes. 
Seems to us that there must be cheaper, safer and more interesting ways to earn an artistic crust, like cutting a sheep in half and displaying it in formaldehyde, or revealing the sordid contents of your unmade bed, or just chucking a few dozen bricks on the deck. But if you can't suffer for your art, do you deserve it? No, we don't know either. If you want to see more of Veasey's inside out high-tech, high-risk blueprints of the world, you'll need to go to Geneva and check out the M.A.D Exhibition. M.A.D is an acronym of Mechanical Art Devices. The exhibition is called X-Ray. If you're interested, you can try the link below, but note that it worked for us only intermittently. Note too that the gallery is also represented in Taiwan. If you want a framed pictures of the Matchless & rider (841mm x 594mm) it will cost you 4,450 Swiss francs. Alternately, you can lure some fool on a Matchless to a hill in a lightning storm and maybe ... well, you get the idea. The press release doesn't specifically give us much info on the Matchless rider, by the way, but the website tells us that he was already dead. It's a sick world, baby... www.madgallery.ch — Big End This one caught our eye this evening (7th July 2015) while we were trawling eBay, and it might interest someone else out there in Sumpland. You can read for yourself what the seller has to say (and the grammatical errors and spelling mistakes in the listing ain't ours. Okay?): "this is my 1964 Triumph bobber, i built it a couple of years ago and have not ridden it more than 100 miles since putting it on the road, i owned this 25 years ago and it hasnt been on the used since then ..unfortunately and regrettably i need to sell it now to finance my recording studio.......
500cc twin unit, 4 1/2 inch stretch 2 1/2 drop on a factory metalworks hardtail, original frame loop, dna springers 4 inch under and another 2 inch with reversed rockers. aluminium inverted levers, custom leather solo seat, 3 mm steel base , pill oil tank, stainless parts/ nut bolts all over. powder coated frame etc powder coated wheels/ hubs with stainless spokes, 21 front 16 rear..new avon speedmaster tyres. fuel tank was never finished but i liked it as is slightly polished. motor is 1960 5ta and has had new pistons, starts first time and runs well, sparx alternator electrics/ battery eliminator, french art deco aluminium lights, speedo never connected, new bushes and bearings throughout the gearbox, i have ribbed rear fender but has never been fitted, rides nice but it is how you would expect a rigid with springers to be. never been showed and ive been asked to have feature on it but never got round to it....clean as a whistle barhopping bobber ready for the summer....new mot before purchase tax free....any questions please call 07941846245
pleaes note this wont be available to view or purchase before june 30th as im away at Glastonbury all next week." The price is £5000, which is a little steep for our pockets. It's a classified advert, so there's no bidding. Just offers (presumably). The bike is in Southampton, Hampshire. The seller's name is "hoovervillegal". His feedback score is 258, and it's 100% positive. 
If you like the sound of this pint-sized speedster and fancy a little haggling, go check eBay now and make your play. The 500cc Triumph twin engine is a little gem, and on a lightweight bike like this, you can still have plenty of reckless fun. And who the hell needs lights, mudguards and mirrors anyway? You pay your money, and you take your chances in this life. Are we right? — Girl Happy Chances are that most Sumpsters won't know who Chris Squire is, or was. But some will. Chris Squire was the enduring bass guitarist of the British progressive rock group, Yes, and one of its founder members. More than that even, he became the lynchpin this prodigiously creative combo; an outfit that suffered numerous line-up changes since its formation in 1968. Squire was the constant factor in a complicated musical equation; and was an engine of prog rock creativity. And now he's gone. 
The seeds of Yes were sown in 1967 when Chris Squire was introduced to Jon Anderson, both of whom shared musical tastes and ambitions. Within a year, the band was created. Soon after, a deal with Atlantic Records followed. In 1969, the band's eponymous debut album was released. Within twelve months, Time and a Word followed. Other key studio albums (as differentiated from live albums) include:
Fragile 1971
The Yes Album 1971 Close to the Edge 1972 Tales from Topographic Oceans 1973 Relayer 1974 90125, 1983 Big Generator 1987
Check out the track listings on these (and later) albums and you'll see Chris Squire's name splashed liberally around as either a co-writer or co-musical arranger. His lyrical bass guitar grooves and driving riffs effortlessly underpin songs that, in their day, were seen by many as a little too clever and pretentious, but are now increasingly being recognised as musical masterpieces.
If you were motorcycling in the 1970s, stopping at pubs or cafes or clubs, Yes would have provided much of the soundtrack of your life. The band sold anywhere between 20 million and 40 million albums depending on which source you trust. By the end of the 1970s, the band had notched up eight consecutive top ten British and American albums. And looking back, Yes without Squire (or Anderson) was unthinkable. So okay, Anderson left the band in 1987 shortly after Big Generator. But Squire remained, soldiering on with a musical road show that was sadly past its best, but was by no means a spent force. He was born in Kingsbury, North West London, attended Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School (and was expelled for having long hair), and at an early age joined his local church choir. Most closely associated with Rickenbacker guitars, his musical heroes included bassist and former Beatle, Paul McCartney, and Who bassist, the late John Entwhistle. Squire also released a solo album Fish Out of Water in 1975, and was a member of the "supergroup" XYZ (featuring Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, Yes drummer, Alan White and Dave Lawson). 
In the 1970s and 1980s, Squire did more than his fair share of drugs and boozing. Later he was reported to have developed a well-stocked wine cellar at his mock-Tudor mansion in Virginia Water, Surrey. In 2005, Chris Squire's health began deteriorating, and he was replaced in the Yes line up. He died on 27th June 2015 at the age of 67, and is survived by his wife and five children. If you haven't listened to your old Yes albums for a while, or if you still haven't discovered this game-changing band, you might want to rectify that situation poste haste. Progressive Rock has finally come of age, and Chris Squire and his 1984 Rickenbacker bass is right there at the centre. — Dexxion ▲ Mr Roper played by Peter Vaughan. As an advert for the insurance industry, he's a one man campaign. Vaughan currently lives in West Sussex, not too far from where Smokescreen was made. If you're interested in classic black & white British crime capers (and why the hell wouldn't you be?) we can highly recommend Smokescreen (1964). It's on the TV in the corner even as we're typing these words, and it's a gem. Yes, there's at least one other movie called Smoke Screen, but that's a 2010 TV flick that doesn't come even close to the one we're eyeballing. 
Starring time-served character actor Peter Vaughan as Mr Roper, Smokescreen is the tale of an insurance investigator looking into the sudden death of a policy holder whose blazing car has motored off a cliff on the English south coast and hit the water below. Only, there's no body. So was the corpse washed out to sea? Or is there some other nefarious game afoot? Such as a £100,000 insurance fraud? Roper, with his bowler hat, briefcase, umbrella and ever-ready smile will sniff it out. And naturally, we soon discover that things aren't as they seem. 
▲ The inimitable Deryck Guyler and Peter Vaughan discussing the mystery man in the dogtooth check raincoat, while John Carson looks on. Guyler died in 1999 aged 85. Peter Vaughan (born 1923) and John Carson (born 1927) are still with us. The movie perfectly captures the atmosphere and optimism of the early 1960s, specifically that of another world far removed from Teddy Boys, Elvis Presley, The Beatles and the burgeoning Flower Power movement. There are great supporting parts from John Carson, Yvonne Romain, Glyn Edwards, Gerald Flood, and Barbara Hicks. But it's Peter Vaughan who carries the film with his portrayal of thrifty and tenacious Roper, ever much the mild-mannered British gent and insurance-claim ferret hot on the case. 
▲ Peter Vaughan is perhaps best known to UK TV viewers as hardman Harry Grout (Grouty) in the prison sitcom, Porridge starring the late Ronnie Barker. But he's got long back catalogue of movies. Born as Peter Olm, he was once married to the (also late) Billie Whitelaw. If you like his acting style, watch Smokescreen before you croak. Jim O'Connolly is the writer and director. The film was made at Brighton Studios by Butcher's Film Distributors; a lesser known outfit which specialised in low-budget productions. But in spite of what some say, this is no B-movie. And neither is it an A-movie. Instead, it's a nice little 70-minute celluloid creation that fits somewhere twixt the two. You'll particularly enjoy the location scenes in and around Brighton plus some memorable lines of dialogue including: "You know you've got mildew on this Betty Uprichard?" "Just thought it would be more economic to ring you on the cheap evening rates." "He lived up to his income, but who doesn't?" "What comes out of a woman's mouth isn't always what's on her mind." So what's that all about? Watch the movie and get to the bottom of it, copper. Between being born and dying, there aren't many more important things to do with your life than watch this much-overlooked minor masterpiece. If you're in the UK, the film comes around fairly frequently on the Movies4Men channel. If you live overseas, you're cordially invited to emigrate and watch it on our home turf. Seems that at the moment, everyone else on the planet is around here someplace... — Dexxion This one sounds a bit upmarket for us (here at Sump, we're just a bunch of boozy street urchins and scallywags). But no doubt some of you more discerning and sophisticated men folk will like the sound of the gathering. It's called The Mile, and it's organised by Robert Nightingale and Jonathan Cazzola (image immediately below, and we don't know which is which). These guys manufacture tool bags under The Malle brand. But not any old sacks. Rather they "initially set out to create considered and purposeful motorcycle bags that would out-perform any plastic nylon pannier – employing natural robust materials, simple mechanisms and design aesthetics that would be more appropriate for classic and custom motorcycles." Phew! 
We don't know why this particular dynamic duo used the word "initially". Maybe things have changed, but they haven't said as much. So we're treating that word as superfluous, as so many words are. They continue, "Some of our clients do not ride, but they want bags that are designed to meet the performance requirements of the ‘moto-lifestyle’, which will surpass their daily needs. Each Malle is crafted with full-grain leather, durable (military spec.) waxed canvas and solid welded brass hardware – they are built to last."  So much for the sales pitch. The event will take place this Saturday (4th July 2015) at Kefington Hall, Crockenhill Road, Orpington, BR5 4EP.
It's a "celebration of motorcycling, racing, custom machines, music, British motor-sports heritage and the British summertime. It's also a Gentlemanly race for the men and women who share our ideology." We're not sure if you can really call this fringe distraction an ideology, but we're not in jousting mood just now, and neither are we sneering at these guys. They've clearly got a serious itch, and they want to scratch it, and you can go and scratch yours with 'em if you're so inclined. Different strokes, etc. It sounds like it could be elitist fun for some. So if you're of a similar bent, and if you can deposit yourself in South East London on Saturday, you can see exactly what it's all about. The word Malle, by the way, is apparently derived from the French word for tool chest or travelling trunk. The tool bag design just above is the "John" model ("John" being American for toilet or lavatory). Consequently, the firm might want to take a second look at that moniker. Either way, it's asking a smoking £279. And we have to say, it's growing on us, especially when we can say, "Hey, we just dumped all our tools in the John again." Some sad people are bound to laugh at that. Anyway, have fun gents, and bring us back something in a doggie bag, huh? We get seriously peckish at the weekends. — Girl Happy 
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