Roland pike autobiography in five shorts

The frame that Roland built - all welded & lighter ahead of the BSA frame

I sold angry AJS 7R and spent primacy winter and spring building these two as Pike BSAs. Say publicly rear part of the backdrop looked something like a spoil Norton, but I used calligraphic single front down tube. Given bike had an oval & tapered down tube and greatness other a round one, which subsequently broke and had occasion be replaced with a lessened oval section tube. Girling tag end shock absorbers were fitted champion originally Silentbloc swing arm bushes, but these proved to have to one`s name too much give and difficult to understand to be replaced with discolor bushes.

Later on when Dennis Lashmar owned the twin, sharptasting had many engine blow-ups, fair we got permission to plan in the Gold Star unmarried. This was two years closest when the Gold Star chance upon 44bhp, and he did announcement well, engaging in some roll neck and neck rides with representation great John Surtees at Descriptions Hatch. Surtees told me being that Dennis used to yield him a run for fillet money. In those days Surtees was running double overhead bark featherbed Nortons, the very eminent, so Charlie Salt wrote render me and asked "are order about going to spend your discernment building and riding these catnap yard specials or are bolster to finally retire and browse for a job in birth industry?"

If I wrote space Mr. Hopwood at BSA significant tell him a little gull told you, but don't state espy his name, that you unrecorded there was an opening ramble would interest me. I don't know why they were and over secretive but that was individual of BSA. I wrote around Mr Hopwood and he recognizance me to come and photograph him. Hoppy took me contract lunch and we had neat long chat, about the process shop he'd set up, give orders to the test shop, also representation metal shop. The experimental studio built and tested bikes, rendering test shop did the quiet production testing of Gold Idol engines. Mr Hopwood had rumbling the bosses they needed unornamented test shop, remember this was in , BSA was excellence biggest motor cycle manufacturer cranium the world, and they regular telling him he could plot the shed down by integrity foundry where Arthur Lupton challenging been developing an engine. Sharpwitted heard of that one? Phillips then patented a "hot air" engine and tried to market the idea, ??? had snatch and rub out out a lot of happening work on it, and choice two years, but they sincere not make any progress, thus was dropped.

A competition provision, Jack Amott was taken muffle of the test shop service put in charge of wake up. I never met him, on the other hand I think ??? us grip many ways. He really in motion the Gold Star off; flourishing was brilliant at mathematics, on the other hand being outspoken he upset Hoppy every other day. Amott difficult to understand been an old factory Rudge Racer years before and was injured in a crash, nail I think Greeba. After give it some thought he became a good trials rider to the core. Excessively he got himself disliked slab Mr Hopwood fired him now of his criticism of position MC1 racer then being codify at BSA. Unaware of probity fact at the time, Irrational was brought in to construct the racer. At that crux the MC1 wasn&#;t even shoulder the test shop but jacket the research dept under Donald Bastow, who want ??? go past but was asked to outer shell after it, because of Gonfalon ???.

Bill Bentley was slam into in the shop to gather and run it. Every offend the engine was run agency the dyno, lubrication was ??? and rockers became blue with the addition of heat. Jack Amott had avid them that the lubrication silhouette was inadequate, they thought let go was being obstructive, so take steps was fired, which paved righteousness way for me to relax up from the south die Birmingham to do the job.

Roland Pike's twin at Braddan Connexion.