I bet yours is just sitting in the garden ...

[JayJay]

Pendine Success Again!

[Manky Monkey]

That seems to get everywhere. Journalists seem to love it.

[JayJay]

I know but I thought someone might be interested that he'd managed to rebuild and slightly increased his record.

[morrag]

Too ridiculous to comment!!

[Olds]

An event where to get a record you only have to turn up with something different. Shed, shopping cart, toilet !
A quote from a motoring publication...
"Straightliners Top Speed Weekend is similar to the famous Bonneville land speed events in the US only at a lower cost and more convenient for Europeans".
To compare this to Bonneville, beggars belief, but looks like a great bit of fun.

[Tony oily bike]

An event where to get a record you only have to turn up with something different. Shed, shopping cart, toilet !
A quote from a motoring publication...
"Straightliners Top Speed Weekend is similar to the famous Bonneville land speed events in the US only at a lower cost and more convenient for Europeans".
To compare this to Bonneville, beggars belief, but looks like a great bit of fun.

Land Speed Record attempts were made at various locations in the UK in the early part of the 20th century, including Salturn Beach in Yorkshire, Brooklands Circuit in Surrey up until 1922 and Pendine Sands in Wales in the 1920’s.

When Speeds got too high for the venues (not enough space), America became the place to go, with Daytona Beach being an early venue with first record being set in 1927 by Brit Henry Segrave.

When Daytona Beach became too-short (late 1930’s), the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah became the place to go to.


Back in the UK and 2013, a chap by the name of PJ (and some good pals) arranged a motorcycle speed event at the infamous Pendine Sands in Wales, the first Speed Event for decades, under the flag of “The Pendine Land Speed Racing Club”.

The 2013 Pendine rules and regs were (as memory serves) based around those of the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association). These are the folks who run Bonneville’s main event.

The idea being that anyone who had a hankering to ride at Bonneville could build and ride a Bonneville-eligible bike (that would pass tech inspection etc), and then ride it a speed on the sand (a loose surface and the nearest we have to the salt of Bonneville) to get a feel and have a shakedown. Once happy, and when enough funds to allowed, the bike could be taken to Bonneville.

As we move away from 2013, the bike side of things at Pendine is now with Straightliners, and as far as I’m aware, the regs still are still those (at least in essence) of the SCTA.

As all other Speed Events in the UK are on tarmac/concrete surfaces, Pendine offered/offers a unique experience of riding on a surface not too removed from the Bonneville salt, Pendine sand.

The BBC showed a two-part programme called Speed Dreams about UK riders/drivers preparing and competing at Bonneville in 2012, first shown in January 2013, and later repeated in Feb 2015.
A number of riders at the 2013 Pendine event had, and have since, ridden at Bonneville.

So, is the Top Speed Weekend similar to Bonneville, well for motorcycles ..............


http://www.saltburnbysea.com/html/speed-trials.html

http://www.pendinesands.org/the-world-land-speed/#.W6tUQE2ovIU

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pyjwj/episodes/guide

[Tony oily bike]

Shed & Buried (Shed and Babs)


Some old Babs footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRPVAWCcHyQ

[morrag]

Coincidently, my current project is an ex- Gordon Daniels MOV sprinter, his first comp. bike in 1960, a pic. of which is attached, Morrag

[minimutly]

Bob Berry lived in my village, his sister used to come to the pub...

[Tony oily bike]

Coincidently, my current project is an ex- Gordon Daniels MOV sprinter, his first comp. bike in 1960, a pic. of which is attached, Morrag

Interesting bike sir, it'll be nice if you could cover the project in Bike Tech please.

Guessing you're aware of the Sprint Section of the VMCC, who have a distinct penchant for the older bikes, and the NSA (National Sprint Association).

https://www.facebook.com/vmccsprint/

http://vmccsprint.co.uk/vintage_classic_modern_motorcycle_sprint_racing/Welcome.html

http://nationalsprintassociation.org/

https://www.facebook.com/sprinting.co.uk

[morrag]

I'll see how it goes Tony, indeed the whole project is quite interesting, provided old "straight up" machines are your bag! Gordon is a lifelong friend, and is fit and well to this day, he went on to win the senior MGP in '69, and later graced start grids with the likes of Hailwood, Ago, Read, and a host of other household, in those days, Road racing names. I have his original tuning notes for this bike, which was converted to swinging arm rear suspension, as you can see, in the early '50's, and has such niceties as KTT profiled cams, big valves, etc. and for a while was quite successful, but that's a long time ago now...ho, hum...reminiscing mode! ...Morrag

[the coppersmith]

Late 60's I had a Venom Clubman, hated the thing, pig to start, exploding clutch with all them silly little springs. However, wish I had it now, appreciate things like that now, big old single, I'm getting all nostalgic, better stop   

[morrag]

yep, had a Venom back then, myself. Like all Velo's a short low geared kickstart mech, was definitely not conducive to ease of starting! however the clutch could, with a little perseverance, and a large amount of persistence, be made to perform quite well, although having the ability to slip and drag at the same time, if treated inconsiderately. But for all that, with a single lung, that felt like silk when on the bugle, it was lovely....nostalgia, what nost........................