SNOC at Hayes Village Fair – 11th June 2023

Surrey Branch at the Hayes Village Fair on Sunday 11th June 2023

The Surrey branch represented the NOC at the Hayes Village Fair on a day of outstandingly good weather. The fair comprised of an abundance of craft stalls, as well food stalls on the playing fields of the sports club. The event was held at The Warren, which is the home of the Metropolitan Police Sports Club, in Coney Hall in the London Borough of Bromley. The event is organised by Susie Walkden, and her organising committee. Her event stewards and the organizing committee do an amazing job to make the HVF a very memorable and experienced event for all those that attend it.

This has now become an annual event for the Surrey branch to attend. Last year we managed to get nine bikes for our display, and this year we did better with ten bikes. . We had been asked, in the previous year, by the visitor’s who came to view our display, about the type of bikes that they were looking at. Therefore, this year our Chairman Phil Hannam suggested that we should add some sort of narrative to the bikes that we would have on display. This worked extremely well, as so many visitors could be seen reading the displayed sheets attached to our bikes.

The show equipment for all our club stands was collected by Robert Tuck, and I from Simon Smith, as he was not able to make it to the HVF event this year. Robert was on a Britbike forum, and an Englishman living in the USA, now visiting the UK, was asking if there was anything bike related going on that he could visit. To this question, Robert suggested the Hayes Village Fair. The gentleman then visited our stand, and he was wearing a yellow Commando T shirt. He owned a Norton Commando, and also an ex AFS Matchless G3, 350cc single.

At the start of the show, after we had set up our stand we had a visit from a young lad named Sammy with his grandmother. Sammy being only three years old was adamant that he wanted a motorcycle when he was old enough. He also wanted to be able to try on and wear one of our crash helmets, which I then duly obliged, by letting him wear my Bell Eliminator helmet. It was so good to see some one so young, who had that amount of enthusiasm for motorcycles.

Graham Holcombe and Bill Plummer arrived at 9.10am, to help us all set up the clubs gazebo, and all of our other equipment. The whole stand was set up, being a hive of activity was erected by 9.30am, with all the banners being put up, and displayed. As the day was so hot, the gazebo, and the chairs were somewhere to take refuge and in the shade to escape the heat, and the sun.

Those members that brought along their bike for our display included the following……..

Phil Hannam 1961 featherbed frame with a 1962 Manxman 650cc engine

Bob Mathews 1959 600cc Dominator

Matt Crighton 1972 750cc Westlake Triton

David Brown 1958 600cc Dominator café racer

Anthony Curzon 1958 600cc Nomad desert racer, or North American Scrambler

David Cooper 1932 500cc OHC International

Robert Tuck 1960 600cc Dominator Deluxe

Malcolm King 1973 850 Commando Roadster

Dennis Etheridge 350cc 1964 Navigator

Ken Rawlinson 650 Triton

While I am at these events that we as the SNOC branch support with my fellow club members, I like to get the human-interest stories about their bikes, and their rebuilds.

One of our members being one Matt Crighton who rode his Westlake Triton to the event. Matt explained that the frame was a Manx type that had been constructed from T45 tubing. The front wheel was a twin-leading shoe brake from a 1960’s Triumph. Matt built the bike from 2010 through to 2013. The engine is a 1976 Triumph T140 unit, converted to a right hand foot change. The engine has the Triumph E3134 camshafts, the barrel is standard, and the engine was a standard Triumph T120 unit, when first constructed by the previous owner. It has the standard gearbox ratios that now  incorporates a belt drive clutch. It utilises the twin carb head with two Amal concentric carburettors. The rear wheel uses the BSA, Triumph conical rear hub, with a Dresda swinging arm. Matt explained that Westlake bought 200 Manx frames from Reynolds tubing, and created 200 Tritons. That detail, as Matt explained, coming from the previous owner.

Malcolm King rode up from Cuckfield on his 1973 850 Commando Roadster to the HVF event. He had purchased the bike from Clarks Classis in Northfleet, in Kent, in September 2007, as a renovation project. The bike had, many parts missing, and it took Malcolm nearly two years to get it road worthy once more. The Commando is painted in black. Malcolm has owned the Commando for over six years, and he has added an Alton electric starter to the engine. This makes starting so much easier for him. There is a Tri-Spark electronic ignition, and a single 932 Amal concentric, which is now in place of the two standard 930 Amal concentric carburettors. There are updated Commando Mark 3 vernier isolastics engine mountings at the front and the rear, so this makes adjustment so much easier. He had to get a new Revcounter and Speedo, as it never came with these instruments. The engine has new piston rings, new valve springs, and all new gaskets. The rest of the engine was found to be in very good condition but with many parts missing Malcolm had to source many of the major parts, for the rebuild.

Dennis Etheridge from the Kent branch brought along his immaculate 1964 Navigator that was painted in Polychromatic Blue. He is the fourth owner of this bike, and it only has 15,363 actual miles on the original Smiths Speedo. He has had it for just a year.

The Surrey branch had a very memorable day, with so many visitors, who came over to look at our Norton display. The day being a very enjoyable event for us all. We had some of our other members come to see and be part of the team at our stand. These being Andy Neal, and John Summerfield. Andy is hoping to get his ex WD 16H up and running so that he can bring it along to one of our next events in the not to distant future.

Can I give a huge amount of thanks to all those that came along, and displayed their bikes and helped the Surrey branch put on such an awe inspiring and colourful display?

Anthony Curzon