SPARTON RACERS REUNITED
Barton Motors’ rapid two-strokes were the thorn in the side of works racers in the ’70s. Classic Bike brings the designer, rider and bikes back together at Donington Park for the first time in four decades...
Engineer, rider and two racing rarities, back together for the first time in four decades
Ihaven’t seen Barry for 40 years,” says Graham Wood, shaking his head. “I’ve not even spoken to him.” We’re stood on the Melbourne Loop at Donington Park, and the Barry that Graham’s referring to is Barry Hart. He was the man behind Barton Motors, whose fast, powerful Sparton racers lit up British racing in the mid to late ’70s with Graham at the controls. As we chat, two Spartons are extracted from a van and propped in the sun – the only works short-stroke 500 triple left, and the sole remaining 750cc Phoenix 4.
On cue Barry arrives, and the scene is complete. This is the first time the engineer, racer and bikes have been in the same place at the same time in 40 years. Not that you’d know: within moments the banter flows, bikes are examined, tales are told... and, unless I’m mistaken, there’s the odd watery eye. It’s rather moving.
As it should be, given what Barton Motors achieved in an all-too-brief period. While at college, Barry wanted to race his Yamaha and his friend wanted to race a Norton, but the Brit bike was lumbered
with a widely-spaced gearbox. Close-ratio aftermarket ’boxes used eight new gears and were expensive; however, they realised changing just two gears effectively gave Manx ratios. They could sell this ’box for half the price of full gearboxes, for a bigger profit. Barton Motors was born.
After graduating, Barry designed and made race bike gearboxes and engine parts for Japanese and Italian bikes. Clutches, barrels and heads followed, then he did a motor for Barry Sheene. “We built a threecylinder 350cc water-cooled racer for him, based on Suzuki’s GT380 road bike,” he recalls. “He tested it in practice at Brands Hatch, breaking the lap record – but his contract banned him from racing it.”
After Barry’s partner left the business, Barton Motors relocated to a small chapel
in Caernarvonshire and were joined by the late Graham Dyson. Development of the 350 continued, but then Yamaha halved the price of their TZ350, so Barry turned to the 500cc class. The GT bottom end stayed, but the bigger triple measured
60 x 54mm to give 485cc. Suzuki’s use of separate cylinders gave space for Barton’s liquid-cooled cylinders, with individual heads under a one-piece cover.
Using a chassis designed with Spondon in Derby, the bike became the Sparton 500. And it was fast. “We’d done a quick test at Cadwell Park and had issues, then went straight to the TT,” says Barry. “Our rider Martyn Sharpe was fastest through the speed trap!” The bike’s obvious pace meant plenty of bikes were sold, helped further when Barry’s 500s finished first and second at the Ulster GP.
More Suzuki work followed, including adding a ratio to the RG500 gearbox, turning Sheene’s 750cc triple racer into an 850 for him, and later making a 650 from his RG500 – after Suzuki said it couldn’t be done. Hart started on his own big bike in 1976, with the Phoenix 4 the result: a square-four, twin-crank 750cc two-stroke. Graham Wood was doing well on his own Sparton, so for ’78 was supplied a ‘works’ short-stroke Sparton 500 and the Phoenix. Like the 500, the 750 was fast – in a race at Donington, Graham outdragged Ron Haslam’s Yamaha TZ750 to win his heat. He’d have won the final too, were it not for mechanical mishap. The Phoenix also became a movie star – in need of sponsorship and support, Barry took the job of making the Silver Dream Racer for the film starring David Essex, based on the Phoenix. The story altered at the last minute, from a 750cc race at the TT to the British 500cc GP at Silverstone, meaning drastic changes – Barry finished a 500 version during practice for the race, welding up the exhausts at the circuit. The bike qualified, but the rider (Roger Marshall) had to do enough laps for the footage, and there were reliability worries. A few changes might have been reversed…
The imposing Phoenix here today is the last one. Five were built, this bike having frame number five, the only one with a
single shock; one to three were cut up ages ago, the National Motorcycle Museum fire ruined number four. And this bike’s said to have the Silver Dream motor...
Both bikes are owned by Colin Southall. “In the mid-1980s, Mike Newton had an idea to set-up the Forgotten Racing Club for bikes that weren’t eligible as classics. John Walker and I contacted him and got involved, as I had a 350cc Kawasaki A7R, but my best friend Phil Allen (later of Mikuni specialists Allens Performance) knew of a Sparton for sale – perfect for our era. I’m a joiner and the seller needed a door hanging, so I got it for £800.”
One of the later short-stroke bikes, the 500 was complete but needed work. Colin contacted Graham Dyson who rebuilt the motor, and after he’d got the fuelling spoton Phil won the series on it 1987. “I had always wanted a Phoenix, too,” continues Colin. “I’d managed to get an engine, which I was told was one of the last made – and Graham thought it was the one Silver Dream Racer used in the British GP. Then Phil heard from someone who’d seen the Allen’s Performance sticker on the 500, who knew of a Phoenix chassis and parts.
They made so few bikes, and it’s the only single-shock chassis. I couldn’t believe it.” When Phil passed away, Colin gave the Sparton 500 to his widow, but said he’d buy it back if she ever decided to sell. After 12 years, that’s what happened. John Walker had raced against it on his Seeley Suzuki TR500 in the ’90s and encouraged Colin to get both the 500 and the 750 running, then get them out and seen. After recommissioning and an engine rebuild by Mike Hemingway, the Sparton 500 was back on track at Donington with John at the controls. And it’s still fast. “John says
‘THIS BIKE’S SAID TO HAVE THE SILVER DREAM MOTOR’
it nice to see things from the front, rather than the back!” laughs Colin.
Getting the Phoenix 4 out is next. “It’s been fired up, but not ridden,” says Colin. “It wants modern ignition, and maybe Dell’orto carbs. We’re going to run it at classic meetings – I was worried about the suspension, that it sits low, but Graham Wood’s just told me that’s how it was.”
The bikes will return to Donington for the Classic Motorcycle Festival on August 3-5. John will be riding the 500 and, with Graham Wood in attendance, they hope to have the Phoenix on track – 40 years after it shot to the front at this very circuit. It’ll be great to see.
THANK YOU... to John Walker for getting everyone together, and to Donington Park for letting us play around on the circuit. See donington-park.co.uk to book tickets for this year’s classic meetings.