BITESIZE

Our monthly collection of classic titbits

Our monthly collection of classic titbits

HE WAS AWFUL… BUT WE LIKED HIM

Dick Emery, ’70s comic and womaniser of 5ft 4in stature, was a serial buyer of new-model Hondas, owning one of each of the first CB750S, Goldwings and CBX1000S in the country (in ’69, ’75 and ’78 respectively), bought from Tippetts of Surbiton. Among the writers for the long-running Dick Emery Show, which aired from 1963-81, were Barry Cryer, Harold Pinter, Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman and Dick Clement. But readers with long memories will have made up their own minds as to whether even they succeeded in making Emery’s ‘Ton-up Boy’ biker character funny...

CUTAWAY KING

A cutaway illustration of Yamaha’s RD350 YPVS, probably by Yoshihiro Inomoto. Now in his late 70s, Yoshihiro has made a career of drawing 3D cutaway illustrations of cars and bikes. In spite of making most of his money from four-wheel commissions (bit.ly/inomoto), he prefers to ride bikes, owns no car and still has a ’70s Harley Sportster and BMW R65.

WOOLER THINKING

You think you’re familiar with every format of engine, and then you come across Wooler (1911-56), whose highlights including bikes powered by a two-stroke horizontal singlecylinder with a double-ended piston, and a 500cc transverse-four shaft-drive beam engine. Both featured distinctive headlights faired in with the fuel tanks, and the latter a frame which doubled as the exhaust pipe.

THEY DON’T MAKE PRESS RELEASES LIKE THESE ANY MORE

From 1978: “If three make a crowd, motorcycle ace Pat Hennen, 24, has no complaints as he takes a pair of Pets from London’s Penthouse Club on board his Suzuki in the West End today. The girls, Lonny Olsen, 21 (left) from Denmark and Brenda Chapman, 23, of Putney, were celebrating the announcement that Pat, from Phoenix, Arizona, is to be sponsored by Penthouse/rizla Racing in his bid for the 500cc World Championship this year. Pat, who rides for the Texaco Heron Team Suzuki, is currently leading in the championship.”

TO BE THIS GOOD TAKES AJS

One of the most successful over-the-counter racers of all time, the stance of the AJS 7R made its intentions plain. And thanks to a fundamental fitness for purpose and decades of refinement, the Boy Racer made good on its promise to privateers: take the fight to the factory boys with a half-decent chance of winning. Initially, the all-new 32bhp Phil Walker design trailed rivals on power, but by ’54 in factory form it was putting out 25% more, and the revised bike won the first two rounds of the world championship and the Junior TT, lapping 1.5mph faster than the nearest Norton rival.

CLOCK SHOT

1955 Peoria TT winner Ed Kretz, Jr shows unknown woman his clock.