LESTER HARRIS

A life well built

FIRST BIG STEP

After years working in an old mushroom shed, the move to the Marshgate Drive factory in Hertford showed how far Harris had come. Lester is in the foreground welding, with brother Steve welding just behind.

THE MAGNUM LANDS

Harris made the first Magnum in 1977 and used it as the centrepiece of their marketing (this shot is from the Racing and Sporting Show at the Horticultural Halls, London in 1979). Sales were enough to inspire development of the Magnum 2.

HECTIC DAYS

By the early 1980s, Harris were frantically busy, building race and road bikes, plus performance parts and promotional machines – this is the Crossbow Equipe Harris Kawasaki GPZ550 SLR that featured in the Crossbow calendar.

WORLD SUPERBIKES

Lester was charged with creating, then organising and managing Suzuki’s 1996 factory World Superbike team, running the latest GSX-R750. He employed James Whitham (above), John Reynolds, Peter Goddard and Kirk Mccarthy.

BRITISH SUPERBIKES

When Honda launched the V-twin SP-1 superbike in 2000, they asked Harris to run the BSB team and develop the bike. Sean Emmett (#6 above) was lead rider, but Harris also gave a chance to a fast youngster called Shane Byrne...

THE WCM SAGA

In 2003 Harris teamed with WCM to make a Motogp bike with a modified Yamaha R1 engine. Dorna initially agreed the plan, but the FIM banned it till late in the season when the engine used enough prototype parts to comply with Motogp rules.

OWNED BY ENFIELD

Harris have worked with Royal Enfield since 2008, and took a key role in the design and development of the latest Continental and Interceptor twins. Enfield were so impressed they eventually bought Harris Performance in 2015.