Sunbeam TT90
As a companion piece to Alan Cathcart’s article on John Summer’s Sunbeam Model 90 in the May 2021 issue, here’s an account of living with and using the same machine, in 2018.
The title of this piece pays homage to the series of articles entitled ‘Overhauling a Seven-year-old Thoroughbred’ published between 1934 and 1935 in The Motor Cycle by its editor Torrens (Arthur Bourne), then owner of the subject matter, it being a rather special 1927 Sunbeam Model 90. The thinking behind this piece now though stems around an idea, which evolved in early 2018, to use and enjoy this same bike in as many informal and organised events as possible, in a short period over a few summer months. The plan was to experience first-hand how a nonagenarian sporting thoroughbred would perform on today’s roads.
Firstly, a little bit of history about this particular Sunbeam: At the beginning of 1927, Ralston D. Dunlop, a gentleman Scottish solicitor and amateur speed man, arranged with the Sunbeam distributors in Glasgow to obtain for him a Model 90 for that season, with the provision “it must be a good one.”
According to a letter written by Dunlop to Bourne in November 1941, Graham Walker personally took matters in hand regarding the preparation of the bike, with the final ‘workover’ provided by George Dance, just before he left Sunbeam. Registered ‘GD6247’ (a Glasgow number, not Kent as erroneously recorded in the May 2021 article), the motorcycle was believed to be one of the fastest ‘90s’ in the country at the time, featuring a 2in inlet valve, 9:1 compression ratio and a twin float bowl AMAC 10TT25 carburettor.
In July 1927, Dunlop and the Sunbeam took part in the Scottish Speed Championship held on St Andrews beach, where they won the three-lap Unlimited Race, beating rivals including Jimmie Guthrie. In 1928, Dunlop had further work undertaken on the Sunbeam, which included raising the compression ratio to 10:1, but by this stage things weren’t going well with the machine and for whatever reason, he decided to sell it on.
The second owner was a chap called Leslie Stiles, who used the bike with some success in local events in the Middlesex area. It was then the turn of Torrens to own ‘GD6247,’ buying the bike in February 1932, and, after writing the articles, did very little with the bike, although he intended to fully rebuild it when he retired; however, by 1973 he concluded that arthritis had got the better of him, and it was again put up for sale.
Subsequent owners have included Johnny Thomas and later Bill Page, who both undertook work on the bike to bring it back to full use, before it later became part of the Anthony Blight collection of sporting
Sunbeams, then was acquired by current owner John Summers in 2002, who kindly agreed to loan the machine to me.
In the spring of 2018, plans were made and after a busy evening or two of submitting online entries and sending off cheques, etc, ‘GD6247’ and I were booked in to take part in many of that summer’s VMCC and MSC&R (Marston Sunbeam Club and Register) major events. Other than various outings to Brooklands, including the Motorcycle Centenary Meeting in 2008 and taking part in the Jersey Speed Festival in 2009, it is fair to say that the bike had not covered a substantial mileage during the previous 10 years or so. With the plans now in place, some time was spent going through the mechanicals and making sure that everything was tight, correctly adjusted and with fresh oil and petrol in the tanks, a few miles were then clocked up with a some local ‘shakedown’ rides. This not only served to ensure that the bike was okay, but also that the rider was also up to speed!
I mentioned earlier some of the technical specification of the bike when owned by Dunlop and this is broadly the same as it is today; the exception being that the bike now uses a slightly smaller AMAC 15TT25 instrument, although the original larger carburettor is available for use and in store, should it be decided to return it to that specification. One other factor for the rider was that the lack of kick
starter required a bit of refamiliarisation in the technique of successful starting. So, everything was ready and in mid-April, the bike was loaded onto the trailer for the first proper event of the season, the MSC&R John Marston Memorial Weekend.
Setting off from the British Ironwork Centre near Oswestry in the company of other ‘Beamers,’ we headed for Llandudno through some scenic, but unfamiliar territory. After a coffee stop at The Ponderosa on the Horseshoe Pass, just a few miles further down the road, we were met with a detour to the route due to roadworks and it was shortly after this that the nearside footrest broke, leaving my left leg dangling in mid-air! Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Malcolm Webster appeared and with his help, a temporary repair was carried out which allowed me to continue and on to Llandudno.
In the company of the other Sunbeam riders, the long legs of the ‘GD6247’ were coming to the fore and the bike felt comfortable and relaxed at about 55mph or so, on the main road sections, although at this speed there was still plenty more on tap, if needed. Braking was found to be quite acceptable, provided a reasonable distance was kept from the vehicle in front, but as with any vintage motorcycle, you make sure that emergency stops are, at best, avoided…
Riding back to Oswestry the following day after our overnight stay, I stopped for fuel as we were leaving Llandudno along with three other ‘Beamers. However, once we set off again and approaching some busy junctions, I took a wrong turn and managed to not only lose my riding companions, but also my way as far as the route map was concerned. No matter, I thought, I will just keep going, heading roughly south-east, which was the plan that I followed. I did not see another Sunbeam and to this day, I have no idea really which route I took, but I managed to get safely back to the British Ironworks without further incident. In total, 141 riding miles were covered on the bike, over the weekend.
Back home, the repairs to the footrest were carried out as well as some further adjustment of the throttle action, before I was happy with the bike again. A further couple of local rides out were made before the next scheduled event, the VMCC Central Lancashire Section’s Flat Tank and Girder Fork Run. Always a good Sunbeam turnout on this one, fellow Marston riders included John Coxon,
Alex Graham, Sean Kelly and, of course, the redoubtable Mr Archie Beggs. This one is a local ride for me; the start being only a few miles from where I live and it takes riders through the scenic heart of Lancashire – the Trough of Bowland. The Model 90, however, was not really best suited to the narrow and sometimes quite bumpy roads that at one point caused the rear brake rod to become detached, however, this was easily fixed with a quick roadside repair.
A coffee stop in Dunsop Bridge was followed by the slightly straighter and quicker roads over Waddington
Fell, where on the descent into Waddington village, I was passed by Archie, which made me smile. Riding ‘GD’ is certainly an exhilarating experience and one that seems to really connect you to the machine. The ‘Bullnose 90’ has always been, in my opinion, the epitome of the vintage motorcycle; it just looks so right and so purposeful. The feeling that you get from riding such a sporting Sunbeam is a delight and with a handful of throttle and on the right road on the right day, there really is nothing better.
My next long ride out was truly unplanned and yet it turned out to be one of my most enjoyable journeys of the summer. On a fine, sunny day in late May, I set off from home at around 6.30am. The bike was fuelled up and I had
my usual small bag of tools over my shoulder, but my only plan was that I’d head north up the A6 and just see where I got to.
At that time in the morning, the roads were quiet and before too long I’d passed through Lancaster, heading towards Kendal and The Lakes. Enjoying myself and with the bike running beautifully, I pressed on up the A591 and through Windermere, Ambleside and Grasmere, eventually making it to Keswick. Picking up the A66, I continued north and westwards, eventually stopping near Cockermouth for a fuel stop and a cup of tea. The bike was really on song and it was nice to see people turn their heads as they heard and saw me ride past. I was truly loving this.
Back on the road again, I decided to make for the Cumbrian west coast and began then heading south, reaching as far as Ravenglass, where I then made an impromptu left turn back inland, on through Eskdale and up and over the Hardknott (one in three) and Wrynose (one in four) Passes. If anyone has ever ridden these passes on a motorcycle, you’ll be aware that the road is bumpy, narrow, very steep of course and very twisty and it can be quite difficult if you are forced to stop on one of the hairpins. Due to the gradient, should you have to put your leg down to steady the bike when you come to a halt, it at first feels like there is no ground under your feet! On ‘GD,’ however, with its low saddle height, this was not a problem and after making sure I had waited a little before setting off on the first climb to ensure that I had a good gap to the traffic in front of me, the Model 90 took the ascents and descents easily in its stride.
In the midst of that splendid scenery and with the road now heading for Coniston, I then followed a southerly path through Grizedale Forest before calling in at the very wonderful Lakeland Motor Museum at Newby Bridge. I did get told off though by the lady in reception when I came out of the museum, for parking the Sunbeam too close to the main entrance, which to get there had involved pushing it down a short pedestrian pavement – sorry!
From there on it was an uneventful ride home, but as the roads were by now getting busier, I was thankful for that. ‘GD’ had performed faultlessly, although I’m not sure that the same can be said for the rider, as 223 miles in one day over and through some of England’s most picturesque countryside on a rigid, vintage sporting motorcycle, did leave me with a few aches, but nothing lasting. What a day to remember though – blooming fantastic!
Next on the list was the MSC&R/VMCC Bamburgh Run, up in Northumbria. If you haven’t yet ridden in this one, add it to your calendar and do so; it really is a wonderful event and very well organised by Mike Coxon and the team at VMCC Reivers. I chose the longer route and in the second half of the run, after the lovely tea stop (worth going just for the cakes!), I found myself riding in company with John Coxon on his ex-Archie Beggs 1928 Model 90. On the southern loop of the course, we managed to ride through a huge cloud-burst, which those on the shorter route had somehow missed, but the roads soon dried out and it did nothing to detract from a most enjoyable experience held in a very beautiful part of the country. ‘GD’ was one of three ‘Bullnose 90s’ in attendance on that day and completed the 84 mile route with no problems.
Following the completion of the Bamburgh Run, we left the start/finish location in Etal village and with ‘GD’ in the back of the van; we headed north and over the border, spending the Sunday night near St Andrews.
You will recall me telling you about this bike winning the Scottish Speed Championship in 1927 on St Andrews beach, with Ralston Dunlop in the saddle? Well, I thought it would be a nice idea to take the bike back to that
very beach. There was no fuss and we had not courted any publicity; I just thought it would be interesting to take the bike onto the sand and take a few photos and so that is what we did, on that rather blustery Monday morning.
I hadn’t planned to fire up the bike, but surprisingly, I managed to start it on the sand (no kick-starter, remember) and enjoyed a couple of blasts up and down the beach, before calling it a day for fear of attracting any unwanted attention. It was great fun though and nice to reunite the bike with the scene of its former victory, although it was an absolute swine to push the bike off the beach in the soft sand. A thorough washing off and cleaning after arriving home, was the order of the day.
Just a week later, it was off to Banbury for the run. I have ridden Banbury quite a few times over the years, but for some reason and I don’t know why, but this particular one just didn’t gel with me and I can’t say that I really enjoyed it. Not the bike’s fault and indeed ‘GD’ ran faultlessly, ‘romping’ up Sunrising (why do they always ‘romp’ up there?). There was a bit of a mix-up with the route directions in one spot that caught a few people out, me being one of them. The weather wasn’t particularly great either, but maybe it was just because I was on my own on the day, but it just wasn’t particularly enjoyable.
After a couple of rides up to Lancaster University on the bike, where I work, it was time to get loaded up again and head off to the MSC&R Annual Rally. The weather was nice and warm and with two good, long ride-outs on each day along with some good company, it all added up to the usual excellent club event and more than made up for Banbury. ‘GD’ even made it into the ‘Sporting Sunbeam’ marquee.
The next organised event on the calendar was the
VMCC North East Section’s Golden Era Run for pre-1931 motorcycles. Starting and finishing at Elvington Air Museum, near York, sadly this event turned out to be the summer low-point for ‘GD.’ The ever-cheery Geoff Brazendale was present and along with an eclectic collection of machines and their riders, we set off from the start in what were pretty wet and horrible conditions. Nevertheless, I had on my fluorescent Gore-Tex jacket and trousers (not very ‘period costume…’), so away we went thinking, no matter, let’s make the best of it.
The halfway brew-stop was a little hectic with everybody having to cram themselves inside the cafe out of the rain, dripping everywhere!
However, apart from my route map slowly disintegrating in the increasingly sodden conditions (turning it over and keeping it in one piece was a major exercise), all was going well until the throttle started sticking again, which was not good on the wet roads. Then, disappointingly at about 40 miles into the route, I came to a T-junction and on setting off, found that I had no drive. The clutch cable was intact, but I could not get the engine to transmit its power to the rear wheel.
Despite my best attempts to try and effect a ‘fix’ at the side of the road in the lousy weather conditions, I realised that the only thing for it was to call for the support vehicle. That brought about the next problem in that I was in a natural hollow and had to walk about half-a-mile just to get a phone signal, but after about an hour’s wait I was picked up and ‘GD’ was transported back to Elvington in a trailer with another ‘casualty.’ Apologies as I can’t remember the name of my rescuer, but if you’re reading this, thank you.
Events like this really need the support and generosity of kind volunteers and helpers such as these. Fortunately though, things weren’t all bad and there was still some roast dinner left by the time I got back to the Mess Hut dining room at the airfield. The Golden Era Run really is a great event and I do hope that I can take part in it again in future years, when, hopefully, it will not be quite as wet in God’s second county…
So, back home and clutch fixed (it was so embarrassingly simple to cure, that I’m not going to admit to what was wrong with it!), the next outing would necessitate the purchase of some period-looking LED bicycle lights, front and rear. With my son Liam riding my BMW R1150RT and with me riding ‘GD,’ he and I set off from home at about 10pm on Thursday, August 23, to catch the overnight boat from Heysham to Douglas. It is only about 25 miles for us up to Heysham, but riding through Lancaster with the barking pipes of the Model 90 bouncing sound off the stone walls of the buildings, brought big, wide grins to both our faces.
Staying with friends near Ballaugh, we spent the next five days enjoying both the racing and riding around the Isle of Man with a good bunch of pals. I don’t know whether ‘GD’ has ever been over there before, but the bike now has a few, albeit untimed, laps of the TT course under its belt. Trips out to Peel and Jurby were also part of our schedule, as was a little photo-call by the Grandstand. Quite a few people were interested to see the bike and asked about it, but overall the majority of motorcyclists these days and certainly some of those on the Isle of Man, seemed to regard the hand gear-change and plethora of
“The plan was to experience first-hand howa nonagenarian sporting thorougbred would perform on today’s roads.”
handlebar levers on a vintage motor cycle, as something that should be avoided!
I mentioned the LED lights which worked fine on our trip over, but on the return trip in darkness, the ‘headlight’ seemed to die within a few miles and as such, the short trip back to Douglas for the ferry from Ballaugh had to be made by me being illuminated and seeing the way ahead, by a BMW headlight. The Model 90 gave me no trouble at all during our Isle of Man trip, with the exception of trying to start her on the metal, slippery vehicle decks of the MV Ben-my-Chree ferry. It was a good job Liam was there, to give his old dad a push-start.
And so to what turned out to be the last trip out of the summer for ‘GD6247.’ On one fine September day I took the bike up to the university again and from there after work, I rode over to the Classic Bike Night gathering at Wray, a village few miles up the Lune valley. This popular event mainly caters for British and Japanese machines from the 1960s and 70s, but taking along the Model 90, I was met with an appreciative audience and it was an enjoyable evening, although I had to leave in good time to get home before darkness fell, having by now discarded the LED bicycle lights.
The bike sat in the garage for another week or two, but with some fine weather forecast one weekend, I thought that one further ride out could be made before it was time to put the bike away for winter. However, after getting togged up and then pushing the bike off its stand, I quickly realised that I had a rear wheel puncture after seemingly picking up a screw in the tyre on my way home from Wray. So that was that.
In total, I covered just under 1250 miles in the summer of 2018 on that very fine 91-year-old thoroughbred motorcycle and as I hope I’ve impressed upon you in this piece, perhaps Banbury aside, I enjoyed every one of them. Clearly, with older machines you have to respect what they are and are not capable of, and treat them accordingly. You also have to keep up a regular checking and maintenance regime, but, as we all know, motorcycles like to be used and generally, they respond well to regular, sympathetic use.
I felt very privileged to have enjoyed this sporting Sunbeam over what was a pretty good summer. The bike was quick and handled well for a machine of that vintage, easily coping with typical ‘A’ road traffic conditions. A fine thoroughbred indeed.
Finally, I would just like to thank my good friends John Summers and Michael Ryan, without whose generosity and kindness none of the above would have been possible.
Note: This article was originally published in the Marston Sunbeam Club and Register’s magazine, Beaming. Have a look at www.marston-sunbeam.org for club details.