Tributes from Team S Equipe

Arthur Francis was a very kind and generous friend, always good fun to be with.

The period picture shown here depicts Norman and myself with Arthur; it was taken at Snetterton after we had just won the 12-hour event. The bike was an SX200 ‘S' type which he had loaned us. It was the start of a very long and happy relationship.

Arthur loved speed and I remember he had a Fiat 600cc car which he managed to fit a Ford Cosworth 1500cc engine into. He said it was the fastest car away from the traffic lights in Watford.

He was an adventurous, clever businessman, but liked to be in the background; he was never the one to stand up and make grand announcements and enjoyed being with small groups of people he knew – socially, the local pub was his preferred choice and where many a decision was made.

One of his proudest moments was designing and seeing the success of Team S Equipe. I will never forget when we were practising on Druidale on the IoM; he kept telling us: “Keep your throttle wide open.”

Arthur, you were a great friend and will never be forgotten. John and Georgie Ronald It was with great sadness that we heard of the passing of Arthur, my mentor during the Sixties and a dear friend – there were an awful lot of memories to recall.

We met up in the evening after work, halfway between Nottingham and Watford, at a little pub on the A5 near the Watford Gap Services, to plan our next scootering campaign and schemes that never got off the ground; there were many of these meetings.

Chris reminded me of one of Arthur's encouraging recommendations when practising on the Druidale: “Keep the throttle on the stop and just crank it over a bit further” (never quite sure how I was supposed to do that when the silencer was already rubbing on the ground). Then there was the time he put a towbar on the back of my Fiat 500 and encouraged me to tow a large heavyweight double bike trailer plus Lambrettas back to Nottingham; I never got out of third gear all the way up the M1, stopping numerous times to let the engine cool down. Also the time Arthur resprayed my Vega in a day; I arrived at the Watford shop on Saturday morning with the Vega in the back of the Fiat, in pieces and ready to be sprayed, with primer coats applied; we left it under the heaters and went for a liquid lunch (as normal) once the topcoats were applied, returning home in the evening with a red Vega in the back of the Fiat.

Arthur, the scrapes you got us into – like the time we nearly sank at sea off the Cornish coast; but we would not have missed it for the world. Thanks for being our friend. Christine and Norman Ronald