The Reason I’m A Petrol Head.

I got my passion for motorbikes from my late father whose birthday was yesterday, so I thought I’d do a post on his racing days.

My dad was a genuine petrolhead with a passion for motorcycles.
He started drag racing in the early ’60s with a bike called the ‘Silver Flash’ progressing on to his HRD/Vincent powered ‘Speedway Special’ where he won various class wins. Apparently, he was a bit of a drag racing ‘Celebrity’ at the time.
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In the mid 60’s he started to build a Chevy V8-powered BSA as the British rival to E J Potter, the legendary Michigan Mad Man.
It won the A-Class championship 3 days before I was born (20th August 1967) at Santa pod.
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The frame was its week point and over the winter months it was replaced with a modified Sunbeam frame, the engine was highly tuned and was now running on methanol (apparently “well over 400bhp”) with a direct drive that turned the rear wheel at 104mph at tick-over. To get more grip the motorcycle rear tire was replaced with a car wheel using a cross-ply tire from a RR Silver Cloud.
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The new bike would return to Santa Pod in April 1968 to set the UK A-Class record.

The journalist Steve Robson reported, “when Les fired it up, it was the most amazing sounding bike in the world!”
He was sponsored by Castrol & Lucas which in those days meant free oil and tune-ups - that's it.
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Later he entered the Brighton speed trials. They had recently relayed part of the road and there was a large bump just off the centreline.
The bump made his bike swerve to the lef and he hit a bus stop at such a pace that it exploded (the piece of concrete in the photo is the largest bit remaining).

He stumbled to his feet and threw his glove to the floor as he had broken his fingers (and a hairline fracture to his ankle) and was rushed to hospital.
The Speed trials continued and the same thing happened to the next guy Ian Ashcroft, but he was not as lucky as my father and he sadly lost his life. The speed trials came to a halt and was canceled.
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In the meantime, my mum (with me, as a baby in her arms) rushed to the hospital and was stopped by the press who had seen the accident.
They told her about the fatality and because of my dad throwing off his glove, incorrectly reported to her that he had lost his hand.
She obviously freaked out at this information and gave my father an ultimatum. It was his family or his bikes.
He never raced again.
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30 years later, I rode to his house on my new Ducati Monster and asked if he wanted to try it. He’d not been on a bike since the accident.
It took a bit of persuading, but he eventually jumped on and started it up. He then span the rear wheel (generating balls of smoke) popped a wheelie and shot up the road…. It never left him.

 

I don't have any info about his bikes, I’ve contacted the Vincent club as they only made 70 x A series rapid twin engines, so hopefully, someone might have some info.