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1948 Isle Of Man TT
In the 1948 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy festival Harold Daniell, lap record holder since 1938, failed to finish the 1948 Senior TT on his Norton, and victory went to Norton team member, Artie Bell, the flying Ulsterman. Norton dominated, taking the first three places, losing fourth to Geoff Murdoch's AJS, and then filling the next four places. There were thirty three Nortons in a field of fifty six. Artie Bell also came third in the Junior TT with Freddie Frith taking the flag for first place, and A. R. (Bob) Foster coming second, both on Velocettes. Maurice Cann won the Lightweight with his DOHC 250 cc Moto Guzzi, followed by Roland Pike on a Rudge. Three ''Clubman'' races were again included, for the second year, in the festival with the ''Clubman Senior'' race allowing entires of bikes up to 1,000 cc engine capacity. Later in 1948, at the FICM (later called FIM) meeting in London, it was decided there would be a motorcycle World Championship along Grand Prix lines. It would ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isle Of Man TT
The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world as many competitors have died. Overview The Isle of Man TT is run in a time-trial format on public roads closed to the public by an Act of Tynwald (the parliament of the Isle of Man). The event consists of one week of practice sessions followed by one week of racing. It has been a tradition, perhaps started by racing competitors in the early 1920s, for spectators to tour the Snaefell Mountain Course on motorcycles during the Isle of Man TT on Mad Sunday, an informal and unofficial sanctioned event held on the Sunday between Practice Week and Race Week. The first Isle of Man TT race was held on Tuesday 28 May 1907 and was called the International Auto-Cycle Tourist Trophy. The event was organised by the Auto-Cycle Club over 10 laps o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Simpson Trophy
Jimmy H. Simpson (1898–1981) was a British motorcycle racer. Simpson spent many years as a works rider, first with AJS and later with Norton. He was one of the most successful riders before World War II. Career Beginnings Simpson was the elder brother of novelist John Hampson. In 1922, he took part in the Isle of Man TT for the first time. He competed in the 500 cc Senior TT race on a Scott and retired after half a lap with damage to his motorcycle. Works rider for AJS (1923-1928) In 1923, Simpson moved to AJS. His first TT for them was the 350 cc Junior TT and despite setting a new lap record for his class, he fell whilst leading the race by over a minute. In 1924, Simpson took part in both the 500 cc Senior TT and the Junior TT and finished neither race. That year, the European Championship was held for the first time, at the Circuito di Milano in Monza, Italy. Simpson won the 350 cc race, becoming the first European champion in that c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Omobono Tenni
Tommaso Omobono Tenni (July 24, 1905 – June 30, 1948) was an Italian motorcycle road racer. Nicknamed The Black Devil, he was a multiple Italian Motor Cycle champion, who raced to 47 victories for Moto Guzzi from 1933 till 1948, the year he died from an accident during practice for the Swiss GP. Early years Omobono Tenni was born in Tirano, Lombardy. When he was 15, his family moved to Treviso, where he began an apprenticeship at a motorcycle workshop. At 19, he opened his own workshop and began his racing career. His first victory was in 1924, at the end of his teenage years. It was not until 1931 that members of his local club contributed so that he could purchase a Velocette 350 with which he finished in third place at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza followed by a victory at the Grand Prix Reale of Rome. Moto Guzzi In 1932, he won a race at Rapallo against Moto Guzzi's star rider, Pietro Ghersi. His performance earned him a spot on the Moto Guzzi team for the 1933 seaso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Brett
Jack Brett (17 June 1917 – 29 December 1982) was a British professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Brett was born in Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire, Northern England. He competed in the Grand Prix world championships from 1949 to 1960. He won his only world championship race in the 500cc class at the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix, riding an AJS. He was a two-time winner at the North West 200 race in Northern Ireland and finished on the podium four times at the Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world .... Brett completed the first-ever 100 mph lap of the North West 200 circuit in 1957. Motorcycle Grand Prix results (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) References {{DEFAULTSORT:Brett, Jack 1917 births 1982 deaths Sportspeople fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Doran (motorcyclist)
William Doran (, 12 November 1916 – 9 September 1973) was an English professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Born in Tottington near Bury in Lancashire, he started racing in 1946, ''Motor Cycle'' w/e 15 September 1973, p.33 Accessed and added 15 December 2014 finishing in twenty-third position in his first Manx Grand Prix and placed second in the 1948 Senior TT race on private Nortons. He became a works AJS rider from 1949, winning the 1949 Belgian Grand Prix on an AJS Porcupine, until his retirement after suffering a head injury in a serious crash in August 1953 at Rouen. His best season was in 1951 when he won the Dutch TT and finished the year second to Geoff Duke in the 350cc world championship. Doran won two Grand Prix races during his career. Doran had part of the Isle of Man TT course named after him. He was proud because, at the time of dedication, he was the only living recipient with a named section. He crashed during a Thursday evening practice for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triumph Engineering Co Ltd
Triumph Engineering Co Ltd was a British motorcycle manufacturing company, based originally in Coventry and then in Meriden. A new company, Triumph Motorcycles Ltd, based in Hinckley, gained the name rights after the end of the company in the 1980s and is now one of the world's major motorcycle manufacturers. Origins The company was started by Siegfried Bettmann, who had emigrated from Nuremberg, part of the German Empire, to Coventry in England in 1883. In 1884, aged 20, Bettmann had founded his own company, the S. Bettmann & Co. Import Export Agency, in London. Bettmann's original products were bicycles, which the company bought and then sold under its own name. Bettmann also distributed sewing machines imported from Germany. In 1886, Bettmann sought a more specific name, and the company became known as the Triumph Cycle Company. A year later, the company was registered as the New Triumph Co. Ltd, now with funding from the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company. During that year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincent Motorcycles
Vincent Motorcycles was a British manufacturer of motorcycles from 1928 to 1955. The business was established by Philip Vincent who bought an existing manufacturing name HRD, initially renaming it as ''Vincent HRD'', producing his own motorcycles as HRD did previously with engines purchased as complete assemblies from other companies. From 1934, two new engines were developed as single cylinder in 500 cc and v-twin 1,000 cc capacities. Production grew from 1936, with the most-famous models being developed from the original designs after the War period in the late 1940s.'' Classic Bike'', September 2002, ''The Vincent Story'' – Timeline, by ''Dave Minton'', pp.27–31 Accessed 17 September 2014 The 1948 Vincent Black Shadow was at the time the world's fastest production motorcycle. The name was changed to ''Vincent Engineers (Stevenage) Ltd.'' in 1952 after financial losses were experienced when releasing capital to produce a Vincent-engined prototype Indian (''Vind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Imperial Motors Ltd
New Imperial was a British motorcycle manufacturer founded by Norman Downes in Birmingham, between 1887 and 1901, and became New Imperial Motors Ltd in 1912, when serious production commenced. New Imperial made innovative motorcycles that employed unit construction and sprung heel frames long before they became commonplace, and were moderately successful in competition. The 1920s were a financially successful decade, enabling the innovations of the 1930s that fought decline. New Imperial suffered financially from the sales-destroying Great Depression of the 1930s, and then the founder died in 1938. New Imperial was sold, and sold again, and then ended production in late 1939, its former facilities subsequently serving the needs of a nation at war. Before First World War The history of New Imperial, founded by Norman Downes, goes back to the early days of the bicycle industry in Birmingham. From 1887 New Imperial made bicycle fittings and, later, complete bicycles, possibly af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Drinkwater
Reuben Thomas "Ben" Drinkwater (13 February 1910 – 9 June 1949) born in Rochdale,''Isle of Man Examiner'' pp4 dated 17 June 1949 Lancashire, England, was a railway signalman and motorcycle racer who competed in the Isle of Man TT races and the Manx Grand Prix. After riding in the 1946 Manx Grand Prix, the first post-war event on the Snaefell Mountain Course, Ben Drinkwater returned to race in the 1947 Isle of Man TT, finishing in third place in the controversial 1947 250 cc Lightweight TT race won by Manliff Barrington. While competing in the 1949 350cc Junior TT race, the first ever race of the new FIM World Championship, Drinkwater collided with a bank trying to avoid a fellow competitor near Cronk Bane farm, close to the 11th milestone marker post, and was killed. The distinctive S-bend corner on the Mountain Course near to the accident location was renamed "Drinkwater's Bend"''Motocourse History of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Races 1907-1989'' by Nick Harris pp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Excelsior (Coventry)
Excelsior, based in Coventry, was a British bicycle, motorcycle and car maker. They were Britain’s first motorcycle manufacturer, starting production of their own ‘motor-bicycle’ in 1896. Initially they had premises at Lower Ford Street, Coventry, and 287-295 Stoney Stanton Road, Hillfields, Coventry, Warwickshire before moving to Kings Road, Tyseley, Birmingham in 1921. Originally a bicycle company making penny-farthings in 1874 under their original name: Bayliss, Thomas and Co, they later sold bicycles under the names of Excelsior and Eureka and changed the company name to Excelsior Motor Co. in 1910. In the early years of motor-bicycle manufacture they used Minerva, De Dion, MMC and possibly a Condor 850 cc single but went on to produce a wide range of machines with engines from most major manufacturers. In 1914, they offered a JAP-powered twin. A deal to supply the Russian Imperial government with motorcycles ended with the Revolution and Excelsior wound up with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Oliver (racer)
Eric Staines Oliver (13 April 1911 – 1 March 1980) was an English motorcycle racer best remembered as four-time Sidecar World Champion administered by the FIM, riding a Norton. His passenger in 1949 was Denis Jenkinson. He is also remembered for his innovation, being the first sidecar competitor to use a dustbin fairing, rear suspension and the first to adopt a semi-kneeling riding position. He was also an accomplished solo racer and continued to ride a 350 Grand Prix bike while racing a sidecar. Oliver made a surprising appearance in the 1958 Isle of Man Sidecar TT race on a standard Norton Dominator 88 with a Watsonian "Monaco" road sidecar with Mrs Pat Wise in the sidecar, finishing tenth ahead of many specialised race machines. Oliver's last TT appearance was in the 1960 with passenger Stan Dibben but they had a bad crash in practice with Oliver breaking his back in two places and Dibben was nearly decapitated. Both men decided to retire from racing after this. Oli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leslie Graham
Robert Leslie Graham (14 September 1911 – 12 June 1953) was a British motorcycle road racer who competed in the 1930s and 1940s. He won the inaugural Grand Prix motorcycle racing 500 cc World Championship in 1949. Early Career (1929–1939) Les Graham started racing at Liverpool's Stanley Speedway on dirt. In 1929 he entered a race on the Oswestry Park Hall circuit, riding a second hand Dot-JAP, and came second to Henry Pinnington on an AJS. For the next few years he raced a succession of Rudge hybrids with varying success. In 1936 he managed to purchase a near new 250 cc OHC OK-Supreme cheaply, because it had dropped a valve. He rebuilt it, and entered it in the 1936 Ulster Grand Prix. After completing a lap of the Clady Circuit, the big end seized. He rebuilt it for 1937, and entered Northern Ireland's North West 200, and lead the Lightweights for a while until he came off. He remounted, joined the field, and was running third behind a couple of Excelsiors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
