Hesketh Owners Club members recently converged on Easton Neston, family seat of the Lord who conceived the bikes as patriotically-produced all-British V-twins. The reunion featured the oldest and newest of the breed
EASTON NESTON has a special place in the hearts of Hesketh fans, but the last time the owners club met there was when Lord Hesketh sold his country pile in 2005. So a reunion was well overdue. The stately home is currently owned by Russian-born fashion entrepreneur Leon Max, who was positively enthusiastic when a motorcycle get-together was suggested.
Ten riders and 11 bikes made the trip (organiser Dave Sharp brought two), though in true Hesketh fashion there were a few reliability issues – two bikes had to be trailered because of oil pressure problems, and one only just made it after the oil light came on.
Eight of the bikes were 1982 V1000s – the 992cc Weslake V-twins with four-valve cylinder heads similar to those used in Hesketh’s F1 cars. The first V1000s were built at Easton Neston but most came from a specially-built factory in Daventry.
However, there were several remarkable products of Easton Neston on show. “I own the first and last Heskeths built – the original prototype, which I bought as scrap in 1988, and a Vulcan,” says Dave Sharp.
The Vulcan was a mooted 1200cc model mocked-up in 2003 that never made production. “I fancied a project, so I bought the frame, bodywork and a donor engine from Mick [Broom, long-time Hesketh engineer] in 2016. We bored it out to 1200cc and used the original crank he’d intended to fit in the Vulcan.
“But standard Heskeths cost £12 15k – they’re fabulous to ride and there are fixes for all the issues, including the notorious top-end oil leak.”
The Hesketh owners had the run of the place and took pictures in front of the main house (above), and also outside the stable block gates – the very spot where Lord Hesketh and his driver James Hunt posed with their 308C race car in 1975. heskethownersclub.org.uk
