Last weekend I went with my brother and a friend to Mallory Park, for the annual VMCC showpiece. The last time we went was 6 years ago on the way home from a bike trip to Scotland, and it was great fun. This year’s event was a bit of a quieter affair, but still a great weekend.
Naturally, I had an eye out for XS650s and as luck would have it, one of the first bikes I got close up and personal to on an early wander was this Halco beastie:
We spent a lot of time in the paddock gawping at exotic machinery, and one guy had brought these beauties, which he said he’d built 13 years ago:
They got worked hard around the circuit! I don’t know what’s inside them, but they sounded very non-standard and the red one was a bit tricky to start, very hard to kick over. I asked the owner if he used xs650.com and just got a blank look back …. oh well …..
Saturday was road bike day, Sunday was race bike day and in the Past Masters area of the paddock there were all sorts of things going on. While John Cooper’s Rocket 3 and Agostini’s MV 4, among others, were being warmed up I noticed George Pooley working on one of the triples. He’d brought his Quadrent along
and we had a brief chat – it was difficult as the MV was deafening, my ears don’t work as well as they once did and there was a lot going on, but we asked about the V6
but it’s still not a runner. He said something about the conrods he’d welded up, and has some ones being made that he’s waiting on. It sounded like he’s been kept waiting for a long time. Hopes to have it all together later this year … he also said he made 3 sets of V6 cases and he’s changing the motor from belt- to gear-driven cams. Like you do. He said he can’t prove the top end until he’s proven the bottom end, which makes sense. FWIW I think he’s amazing, in the same mould as Allen Millyard.
Cooper and Ago did some laps, smooth as you like, and we were also treated to the Birchall brothers on an older BMW outfit someone lent them showing us how to do it. Love it.
Other stuff to drool over was a lovely Harley-engined Flying Merkel tribute and its owner also brought a gorgeous replica Cal Raybourn race bike. He could ride them too.
On the modern side, this one’s for gggGary’s pleasure – another to add to your collection, perhaps?
Next stop – Silverstone Classic next weekend! Yay! I love summer
Naturally, I had an eye out for XS650s and as luck would have it, one of the first bikes I got close up and personal to on an early wander was this Halco beastie:
We spent a lot of time in the paddock gawping at exotic machinery, and one guy had brought these beauties, which he said he’d built 13 years ago:
They got worked hard around the circuit! I don’t know what’s inside them, but they sounded very non-standard and the red one was a bit tricky to start, very hard to kick over. I asked the owner if he used xs650.com and just got a blank look back …. oh well …..
Saturday was road bike day, Sunday was race bike day and in the Past Masters area of the paddock there were all sorts of things going on. While John Cooper’s Rocket 3 and Agostini’s MV 4, among others, were being warmed up I noticed George Pooley working on one of the triples. He’d brought his Quadrent along
and we had a brief chat – it was difficult as the MV was deafening, my ears don’t work as well as they once did and there was a lot going on, but we asked about the V6
but it’s still not a runner. He said something about the conrods he’d welded up, and has some ones being made that he’s waiting on. It sounded like he’s been kept waiting for a long time. Hopes to have it all together later this year … he also said he made 3 sets of V6 cases and he’s changing the motor from belt- to gear-driven cams. Like you do. He said he can’t prove the top end until he’s proven the bottom end, which makes sense. FWIW I think he’s amazing, in the same mould as Allen Millyard.
Cooper and Ago did some laps, smooth as you like, and we were also treated to the Birchall brothers on an older BMW outfit someone lent them showing us how to do it. Love it.
Other stuff to drool over was a lovely Harley-engined Flying Merkel tribute and its owner also brought a gorgeous replica Cal Raybourn race bike. He could ride them too.
On the modern side, this one’s for gggGary’s pleasure – another to add to your collection, perhaps?
Next stop – Silverstone Classic next weekend! Yay! I love summer