Rick’s test takes a different slant this month. Rather than borrow someone else’s bike, he finally gets to evaluate one he built himself – a recreation of a 1915 500cc Brooklands racer, at its old stomping ground
Jeez! This concrete is bumpy! But then it would be. I’m finally realising my ambition to ride my 1915 Blackburne track racer at Brooklands race track, for which it was originally conceived. Concreting was in its infancy in 1907 when the track was built and the banked track was famously rough, but the engine is chuffing away comfortably – and I’m gripping the bars, trying to imagine just what it was like, racing motorcycles before the Great War.
Bloody good fun, I’d imagine! This may not be a comfortable experience – but it is a very vivid one. Despite the fact that all I’m doing is riding a featherweight single-speed bike with a very softly-tuned side valve engine. With few controls to operate, how difficult – or interesting – can it possibly be? As I crash over the broken concrete, I’m well aware that a Puch Maxi could leave me for dead. But this isn’t just about indulging myself in some mobile form of fancy-dress daydream. There’s something more – I think it’s about effort and reward.
The thing is, the Scarlet Runner was a ‘track bike’ at a time when the only proper racetrack was Brooklands – a flat, banked circuit in Surrey which, doubling as a motor industry test venue, enabled vehicles to be driven full-throttle for the entire lap. This leads to two problems for the owner of such a machine – making it go and making it stop.
I don’t mean it’s difficult to stop, so long as it’s not urgent. It’s simply that when you have neither clutch nor gearbox neutral, you can’t stop moving without cutting the engine – which means undergoing the trauma of starting again. As regards ‘making it go’, road bikes of the period generally had pedals enabling the rider to get going before starting the engine – or assist if the engine bogged down on a gradient.
Obviously, your one gear is a compromise between low enough to pull away and high enough to reach a respectable speed. Track bikes had no pedals, because you were pushed away from the start line by helpers – and once up to speed, you didn’t slow down till the finish.
But starting by yourself is different. The two-lever throttle control is sensitive; first you set the throttle lever to about ¼ open and the air lever about 1/8 which should be correct for starting – and you mustn’t disturb it. Then you start running alongside. With no clutch, the engine is always turning, but by holding the valve-lifter lever you can at least reduce compression to stop the wheel locking. Having slogged up t
