SMILIN' JACK

 

 "Smiling" Jack Barnes with his '47 83" Knucklehead Hillclimber. Photo from early 1980s (Iron Horse Magazine). 

HILLCLIMBING PART 4, FAST FORWARD.

 

"The year 2007 - Hell fire I'm 50 years old for goodness sake, Do something for yourself for a change ! The hour glass of life is emptying slowly....
I started having one of those crisis moments..........
I need to Hill climb again......just a couple........just to relive the 'craic' . The pressure wont be there, nobody will know me, I can thrash the hell out of the bike but don't need to go 11/10ths......it will be a nice weekend away dear !..
But lets just go back another year to 2006 for a moment. I had being taken with the idea of sandracing at Mablethorpe. Hey, I could do that.....so an old bike was found. A Kawasaki Z250....sprayed up with Dulux door paint it looked pretty damn good. Second visit to Mablethorpe to 'just check out the opposition' I saw a couple of guys fall heavy..Hum, maybe a bad idea......theres no bouncing on the sand. Just a speed reducing thud...
So, the Z250 was there in the garage, an ideal hillclimb tool for an old chap like me.
Couple of fresh tyres and I entered the first round of the Welsh Hill climb championship at Margam Park. (For whatever reason all the NHCA rounds seem to be south so a trip to Wales it was.)
Shock - Horror - Probe - I won the class !!! Either the Welsh guys had had a heavy beer night or they weren't up to the job, either way I had a win in the bag....
Now, I was having a real mid-life crisis.....I knew there was no way that old Z250 was ever going to repeat that again.....but I knew also that I could mix it with the best in Wales....
I needed my YZ Special .....I'll race the old girl again...Just think of these numbers.
I was 25 years old when I previously raced. I was now 50. Yes, twice the age !
The YZ was now at least 25 years old......elegible for Vintage !  it had to be done.
I did what I needed on the YZ. Special to pass scrutineering . 2 x new racing tyres, new air filter (the old one was crumbling in my hands) new spark plug, new front pads...No restoration allowed, no I wanted to almost drag it out of the garage and race. The tank showed its age with the discolour from the Castrol R, the stains of burnt oil from the exhaust and slight rusting on the frame.....the slight crack in the swingarm (that I hid with a sticker) It really looked the part to slip under the radar and spring a suprise ..
Second round in Wales - Win. Attached is a photo of my first start after 25 years. boy it blew me away.....the acceleration I wasn't prepared for....what a buzz to be riding this bike after so long.
Round 3 - Win.
Round 4 - Win
Now, memory slightly fails me, but I believe all rounds were to count. I only needed to be placed in the last round....No big deal.....a safe ride would do...
Then I did a stupid-stupid-stupid thing. 2 weeks before the last round I broke my collarbone messing about racing mates in a field buggy.......
The biggest comeback since Mick Hailwood won the TT was in tatters. I couldn't repeat it the next year, the whole numbers game of returning - winning - retiring 25 years - 50 years etc wouldn't stack up the same.
I so wanted to say - See you in another 25 years guys !
But it was not to be.....
It's over for good this time....I think
Attached pictures of Dulux Z250, YZ Special start, race prep 2007."

The end ? i'm not convinced, i recon Ian could be out there again yet, he still has his bikes.
  Huge thanks to Ian for taking the trouble to write and send me these memoirs and remember to check out the Vintafaker

IAN'S HILLCLIMB MEMOIRS PART 3

 

"So, The end of 1980 I was disappointed with the unreliability, and to be honest the blown CB72 was hardly the lightest thing in town....the quick guys in the smaller classes were using modified Greeves MX stuff. Time for a rethink, and to dig deep in the pocket.
A brand spanking new 'last years model' YZ250G was spotted at Bavins Motorcycles in Diss. The hunt for a Yamaha MX was brought about by reading an article in a magazine about a new single cylinder road race class. This class was being dominated by modified YZ250E models. The best were modifid by a chap called Andy Barr. A call to Andy resulted in him modifing my G model to a similar spec. This involved alterations mainly to the steering head angle. I then sourced my own RD front end to compliment the mods.
This was from an RD400E. The rear suspension we modified ourselves by fabricating a bracket to alter the mount point and thus reducing the movement. Michelin race tyres were also fitted along with another homemade seat and reworked footrests and levers.
1981 season - after learning how to ride the bike a few good results were achieved. I was knocking on the door, final placing in the 250cc championship -runner up...... I just needed more power, or experience ? (the Michelin tyres were soon dumped in favour of Dunlop KR124s which I used from that day).
Before the 1982 season started the motor was stripped and the barrel taken to Terry Beckett tuning. He also supplied a modified expansion chamber end....This was a lot shorter than the original and exited just behind the leg...
Man ! that bike flew now........but it was difficult to ride, far too peaky.....so we recut the expansion chamber and re-attached the original end cone and silencer.
Oh, yes.....now we were talking. I guess it was pushing out about 45BHP.
The 1982 season for me was superb, I had good opposition from a guy called Barry Gartside who rode a Stephens tuned X7 and we were breaking records nearly every meeting. I finished the season as 250cc champion and O/All champion too. I was well pleased.
1983 and 1984 seasons also resulted in class championships..
The motor did have a tendency to seize in the early days and it was thanks to a tip from Lee Bros in Sowerby Bridge that resulted in a cure. 'Castrol R is the best oil you can get don't be using this pre-mixing 2 stroke stuff' was the tip. Sure enough, it worked although I always had my hand on the clutch on long straights......!
The pressure at the top is far greater than the pressure getting there...and being beaten after so long would have been hard to swallow. Like a boxer you need to know when your time is up. Starting a family for me was a good point. So, I retired. Occasional local outings for a couple of years but no championship chasing. I was done !"

Pictures of top corner Gurston Down, the cattle grid leap at Withycombe farm in Somerset and Baitings Dam.

But we're not finished yet, in 2007 at the age of 50 Ian made a comeback. Read about it soon.

HILLCLIMBING 70s STYLE PART 2

 

"So, the quest was for power !
At that time one of the great drag/sprint racers was Mick Hand. He knew how to get a CB72 going. His bike - Little David was a giant killer. Now, I'll admit his engine internals were not of Honda manufacture, and way beyond our own shed building standard but Supercharging...now thats something we could have a bash at......Read a couple of library books and we were off.....no Google searching in 1979..
I managed to source a Rootes type blower of around 300cc. German manufacture and am to this day unsure of its originality. Modificatons to an old CB72 frame resulted in the blower sat behind the engine and drive being possible from the alternator side via V belt. It was all a tight squeeze and the intake manifold had a torcherous bend. An SU carb from a mini provided the carburation and stuck out at ankle level on the left side.... No float chamber on this one, the fuel fed direct into the main jet and flow was controlled by home turned needles......The inlet chamber was fabricated from a grease gun body with a blow off valve at one end. This was adjustable by means of tightening an old valve spring to form a tighter seal..
Unfortunately pictures are almost non existant....Riding not photography was our focus......shame really but attached is one during its build. The other is last bend at Gurston Down gunning for the finish.
As I said previously the blower drive was via V belt.....different pulleys were turned from wood (cheap) to experiment with blower speed. The V belt drive was the achilles heal of the whole project. Many times during runs would the belt grow to such size due to r.p.m that it would just fly off the pulleys despite a massive tensioning roller.
Additional methanol was carried in a reworked seat that had a tank moulded into the hump.
So, what did it achieve......?
Firstly it taught me reliability was the key to success. Travelling half way across the country to breakdown is not a good idea.
Secondly and possibly more important (although I wasn't aware at the time) . The bike was being campained at a time when the ACU tried to ban turbos and superchargers...It is due to it's presence that superchargers are allowed in motorcycle hillclimbing today. The NSA committee stood by me and the bike and overturned the ban. I believe turbos were banned.
So there you have it Peter.....The smell of the Castrol R, the burning of methanol, experimenting and making parts from scrap. Happy days but.....
Both Dad and myself knew we had run our course with making do and mend. He'd wait up half the night for me to return from racing in Cornwall only to learn I'd broken down.....blower belt again....Sorry Dad....
If I was going to succeed I needed power....but I also needed reliability too............."

There are some old cine films of Ians Honda at NHCA website.

Part 3 soon..

HILLCLIMBING IN THE 70's

 

Following a comment on my blog post about Sam's hillclimb bike Ian Hainsworth from Leeds mailed me to say he would send some photos of his old hillclimbing days in the 70s. People regularly promise things like this but it is rare that anything turns up. Blimey, within an hour i had to go to t'foot of our stairs as he had scanned the photos and written part one.

"Episode 1
The year was 1978......21years old I was......thought I was going to take on the world.
After many trips to Baitings Dam (Ripponden) to spectate I just had to have a go. I mean I was so fast and skillful on the road, i was bound to win !
A friend of mine was also interested and we decided to go 50/50 on an old YDS7. We spent a few months painting and generally tidying the bike up which included having the crank rebuilt and new seals. We then entered at Baitings. Man, we were well and truly thrashed.! Not only that but we soon learnt that bike sharing is a pretty bad idea...running out of class.....causing confusion for the organisers.....etc so I decided to convert one of the CB72s that my Dad and myself had accumulated over the previous few years since I'd bought my first one when I was 17 to pass my test on.
I guess unbeknown to me at the time Dad was teaching me to how repair parts, make what you haven't got and generally learn those engineering skills that are with me today. I shall be forever grateful.
The tank we fashioned from copper cut from an old hot water cylinder, the seat we made from sheet fibre glass stiched together with wire and then resined together.....the carbs were from the 305cc CB77 and the internal jetting and needles were Amal as we were running methanol and Amal sold suitable components. Sprocket blanks were turned on the lathe to suit different tracks. The cam was reprofiled to race spec (I can't remember by whom) and high compression pistons were also fitted to suit the fuel.
I raced it in that spec for a year. I was improving......But I wasn't winning.....
I needed more power !"

 You may know Ian by his alter ego Albert Crackleport who you will find at the splendid Vintafaker blogspot. Compelling reading but keep your Yorkshire phrase book handy if you are not from these parts.

I already have part two, coming soon........

EVEN FASTER SAM

 

Behind every fast rider you will find skilled people building engines, fabricating parts and setting up the chassis, behind York's Sam Matthewman there is.....Sam. Invariably the class winner and often FTD at most hillclimb events, more development has gone into the old TL this winter to make it even quicker. Severe weight loss, bigger bore motor, new exhaust, new rear suspension, new bodywork the list goes on and everything done in house. Bike hillclimbing used to be mainly for the more nimble Supermotos, no way could you be competitive on a big sports bike on the narrow twisty roads but more than anyone Sam has changed all that.

He also has huge balls...

* Yorkshire Hillclimb championship kicks off at Olivers Mount Festival of Speed 4th and 5th May.

SALTBURN HILLCLIMB

 

Saltburn is a small town on the North East coast and for 12 years had an annual vintage hillclimb on the road up from the harbour. Unfortunately in 2004 some bright council office worker discovered that they did not have jurisdiction to close the road so it had to stop. The organising club have tried hard to cut through the red tape and get the event running again and this year succeeded, albeit untimed, in mid September. Hopefully next year it will be back to a proper meeting again.
 Regular EtR contributor Jon Court was there with his daughter as passenger on his Empire Star. The photos are courtesy of Ian Forsyth, lots more on his website,
also worth checking out Ians photos from last weeks Pickering War Weekend, Al and i went but forgot the camera ...

SHIT PANTS

I know we have just had one but.............
Sam Matthewman, yesterday. Fuck me

Update, Olivers Mount Hillclimb Wednesday, 1st o/all, new hill record.

AUTO 66 BIKE WEEK

Sorry forgot to put this on last week, Scarborough bike week started on Saturday with hill climbs at Dalby North tomorrow (19th) and Olivers Mount Wednesday and Thursday with the Barry Sheene race meeting at the weekend including the parade of 1000 bikes round Scarborough seafront on Saturday evening.  All the usuals will be at the hillclimbs including Fast Sam who was at Epynt last weekend.



Full details on Auto 66 club website

RED MARLEY BEST BIKE

...and Ralph.

MUDNESS

Travelled through the holiday mayhem down to Red Marley Hillclimb on Easter Monday, luckily Guy drove, i just slobbed out, ate jelly babies and drank Milo's warm Fosters. Courage and warm lager nearly got our man to the top (he did make it in practise) but in the end rain, a foot clutch and hand change together with the most knackered pair of knobbly tyres you have ever seen on a bike proved too much.
 You may find better and more informative reports of the day on Guy's, Renshaw's and Milo's blogs.
Ralph was top dog.

VINTAGE HILL CLIMB

Great old pics off the NHCA website.

NORTHERN MONKEYS

Sam "Fast" Matthewman and Stu "Big" Mills (although they are both big and fast) have been the pair to beat at local Hillclimbs for a few years now and for 2011 stepped up to do the full UK NHCA championship starting and ending at Hartland Quay in Devon.
Competing mostly on hills they hadn't ridden before they had a good year...

1st in the North Devon Sand Sculpture event in March

Stu finished 3rd in class and 8th overall.


while Sam was 2nd in class and 4th in the Outright Championshop


Sam at Shelsey Walsh.

LAYCOCK GRENFELL

Rob bought the Grenfell special in 1962 before he even had a driving licence. Driven and developed over almost half a century it has now passed down to George who has been using it for flathead V8 championship hillclimbs.

EXPLORING THE LIMITS

Big Stu takes a dump at Harewood hillclimb last weekend, by skilfully tucking his wild fat arse under the bike he managed to save it from any major damage and ended up with 4th overall in the top ten run off. Fellow TL000 (now unsupercharged) local Sam Matthewman was 2nd.
Both have been successfully competing in the British hillclimb championship this year, hopefully a report on here soon.
Great Hillclimb action photos by Cet.

VINTAGE OFF ROAD

Chaps enjoying the Great British outdoors on Great British singles earlier this year. Photos by Tim O'Regan and Gareth Buddo.

KILBURN HILL CLIMB

Turns out it was lucky i forgot my camera as Gareth Buddo (local professional photographer and all round top bloke) sent me these which are 100% better than any i would have taken