The Baron of Bairnsdale
For three generations, the Baggs family name has been attached to the Funeral Directors business in Bairnsdale, East Gippsland, Victoria. Honess Frederick John Baggs, known to one and all as “Buffy”, was the second of the generation and the business is still run by his son Stephen.
Early in life, Buffy’s interest in motorcycling was severely hampered by a lack of funds, but as the financial situation improved he began to seek out rare and interesting machines, particularly Nortons, and he now has an excellent collection that includes some extremely desirable machines. Around 2005, he spotted an ad for an ex-works 350 Norton, for sale at just NZ$4,000, so he snapped it up and the famous machine was shipped to Australia. On a subsequent trip to England he was able to purchase a quantity of ex-works Norton spares, which encouraged him to not just refurbish the 350, but to create a 500 from the same year. The 1953 season was a watershed in the history of the illustrious Norton concern, since it marked their last year as a works-entered team before being swallowed up by Associated Motorcycles which also owned AJS and Matchless. The 350 purchased by Buffy is believed to be the actual machine ridden to victory in the 1953 Ulster Grand Prix by Kiwi Ken Mudford; his first and only GP win and also the first-ever for a New Zealander. Mudford defeated the works AJS 7Rs ridden by Scot Bob McIntyre and his fellow New Zealander Rod Coleman. It was a great weekend for the Anzacs, with Victorian Ken Kavanagh winning the 500cc Ulster Grand Prix, held for the first time on the 7.5 mile Dunrod circuit in Northern Ireland, also on a works Norton. The change of venue was in response to complaints about the notoriously bumpy and hazardous Clady circuit, which had been the venue for several years. In 1950, Mudford had won the NZ Grand Prix, the final race to be held on the Waiheke Island road circuit, on a 500cc Grand Prix Triumph, and thereafter set his sights on an international career. A member of the NZ Isle of Man team in 1951 and 1952, Mudford’s time in Europe lasted just three seasons, from 1951 to 1953, while Kavanagh went on to further victories, including the Isle of Man TT in 1956 as a member of the Moto Guzzi team. With the Norton works team broken up, the 350cc ridden by Mudford in Ireland returned home with him at the season’s end and was given to White’s, the Norton agents in Auckland, where it was proudly displayed. Subsequently, the machine was sold and passed through several owners before arriving a Tommy McCleary’s shop in Christchurch. Many years later, McCleary offered the Norton (and a racing NSU Sportsmax, which was sold to Sweden) for sale. The ex-Mudford 350 has a number of features unique to the 1952 and 1953 team bikes, such as the magnesium gearbox, twin leading shoe rear brake, oil-cooled exhaust valve with its own mini oil cooler incorporated in the oil feed to the cambox, and special rear shock absorbers. Save for the gearbox, the 500 that Buffy has recreated is virtually identical to the 350, and together, the pair form a tangible link to the Mudford/Kavanagh team from the victorious 1953 Ulster GP.
The two special Nortons are only part of Buffy’s mouth-watering collection. In his expansive shed are around a dozen other motorcycles, including a matched AJS 7R and Matchless G50, acquired from Bob Coleman in New Zealand. The shelves in his well-equipped workshop are crammed with Norton frames, tanks and other components. On another bench sits a very impressive line up of four short stroke Manx engines, with a long-stroke 500 nearby. Clearly, there are many projects to be completed, or even begun, and Buffy and his group of local mates have, between them, a brains trust to permit that to happen, in the fullness of time.