John Newby of Unity Spares
Many motorcycle enthusiasts will be sad to hear of the death, just before Christmas, of John Newby, one of the founders of Unity Spares.
After some years as a merchant seaman, John set up in the motorcycle trade from an old Co-op shop in Rochdale, hence the company name of Unity. This was in the 1950s when British bikes were still very much in daily use. In partnership with Peter Lee, Unity grew, successfully transitioning into the classic era we now know.
In the pre-internet days of the 1960s, Unity had a worldwide reputation and market for their Triton and other ‘specials’ parts. In the 1970s they became custodians of the Manx Norton manufacturing rights, before passing them on.
John was a keen motorcyclist who rode classics old and new, from Velocette to Benelli. One of his machines was a Gold Wing sidecar outfit fitted with car wheels and leading link forks by local sidecar ace Roy Smith.
In his later years John was also a keen fell runner. With his running partner they would quite often be the only entrants in the veterans’ class. As John liked to say: “Well, one of us is going to win”.