Road Bikes with a Speedway Influence

For some unknown reason, speedway motorbikes have always evolved outside of mainstream motorcycle culture, and likewise, speedway still doesn't appeal to many mainstream motorcyclists, but I'm different, I don't wear dayglo leathers or Wulfsport pyjamas, I ride bikes that aren't fashionable and I love speedway!. In my last post I showed you the Yamaha XT that former Danish speedway rider Ernst Bogh had built using an old 1990s upright GM speedway engine. That post has led me to hunt out some more speedway influenced road bikes.... either based on the speedway style or using speedway components.

The functional and simplistic look of a speedway machine does have an influence on the custom scene, just compare some of the best looking Bobbers with the early dirt track bikes of the 1920s and 1930s and you will see a startling visual similarity. It's a look that I love though and from my recent Internet trawls, it looks like I'm not alone. I came across this bike on Chris Barber's Crossbreed Cycles website, unfortunately I haven't been able to contact him so I can only give you the information from the website.

This bike was built using an assortment of parts including a 1940s Matchless G3 frame, a Brooks bicycle seat, an upright GM speedway engine, Burman gearbox, Suzuki RM125 front wheel with a magnesium hub, and the rear wheel is actually a Husquarvana front rim with an alloy Bultaco hub. All efforts went into making this machine as light as possible, hence the choice of components, even the rear mudguard stays are hollow tube. This machine is road legal in the UK but for daylight use only. Chris says that 55bhp + 205 lbs dry weight = FUN!

Here's another road legal bike, a Triumph that looks just like a real dirt-tracker. We really don't see this look often enough on the UK scene, but I'm a firm believer in the simplistic "form and function" style - it's killer... and with the amount of potholes littering UK roads, the hard-tail back end really would be a killer!

Over at the Flakekings' blog they are currently trying to get a couple of vintage speedway racers ready for the street. Oh yes, you did read that correctly... road legal speedway bikes!!! As they say, the design and bare bones look of these bikes just can't be beat! I totally agree so keep stopping by the Flakekings blog to see how they're coming on.

FlakeKings Weslake project

FlakeKings Jawa project.



Finally on this post a Speedway Jawa Streetfighter from Finland which I found on the JL Meccanica blog.

1932 EXCELSIOR J.A.P.

This amazing bike is an original and genuine TT machine from 1932, as ridden by Roland Stobbart from Aspatria, Cumbria. The bike is an Excelsior B14 Racer with a special long distance return sump engine. The original J.A.P engine has since received some modifications though. The brothers were both of speedway stock and utilised some speedway parts and technology to make the engine more competitive. The barrel is a home-made item cast from low expansion alloy, bored out and fitted with a steel liner. The 80mm piston is a speedway item as is the cylinder head and all of the crankcase parts on the drive side. The parts on the timing side are all home-made items again, (please read the comments from Paul Ingham at the end of this post). The engine was set up to run on methanol (speedway style) via an Amal carb, and the drive to the rear wheel was delivered through an Albion gearbox. The engine delivered nearly 40bhp at 6000rpm

The bike has remained in the family ever since and when Roland died in 1981 it moved into Maurice's workshop. The bike continued to be used in anger and has been ridden in classic hillclimbs by Maurice's youngest son Stuart Stobbart. Maurice cared and nurtured this bike as if it were his own and continued to fettle it right up until his death in 2001 aged 87.

I called round to see Maurice one Sunday afternoon and was surprised to find him sat quietly in the living room. "What's up Mo, why aren't you in the garage today?". "I've had a wee fall lad, nowt to worry about". Apparently, he'd collapsed while carrying the engine across his workshop and like a mother with her baby he'd resisted dropping it in case it got damaged and held it on his chest until his wife got home from church. An amazing man and an amazing bike.

* The bike was once featured in Performance Bikes magazine but was incorrectly labelled as a 1930 Excelsior Manxman - (hence the caption on the photograph at the top of the post). Paul Ingham has since been in touch and corrected this error. The bike is from 1932 and is not a Manxman - the "Manxman" was not produced until 1934. Thanks Paul