Sam Hewitt

A window into a little-known world before websites

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Sam Hewitt

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27th February 2019

Many of them give the impression that riding around the world is an easy affair.
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Marking its territory

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Sam Hewitt

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27th February 2019

I promised I’d send you a pic of the ’38 overhead valve Norton that came my way at the weekend: its history is unknown but it’s a local (to me) bike and has a tax disc from 1969, so maybe the reg number will be recoverable? It is reasonably complete and came with a number…
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Fred’s great escape

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Sam Hewitt

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27th February 2019

Having undergone the ‘ruination’ of a BSA C-15 and creating his very own Shuttleworth Snap, Fred Austin was busying himself attending shows all over the north of England. The bike caused great interest at every show that he visited, with showgoers being highly delighted and amused at what they saw, even having their photo taken…
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Treasure find on Spain tour

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Sam Hewitt

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27th February 2019

While traversing his way around Europe on an entirely inappropriate machine for international touring, Stan Bates stumbled across an impressive collection of machinery in a Spanish warehouse. Although this astounding collection isn’t open to the public – and consequently we’re not going to give any clue as to its exact location – it does give…
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Tinkling the Ivory?

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Sam Hewitt

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27th February 2019

I came across a photo of my dad when he was in the army, sitting on a Calthorpe Ivory (I think), registration DYT187. Looking on the DVLA website, I was surprised to see it still registered. I would love to find out who owns it now and share the photo with them. I wondered if…
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All hail the dmw

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Sam Hewitt

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27th February 2019

I have been a regular subscriber to OBM for the last 25 years and always look forward to the copy dropping on my doormat. I was very much enjoying the excellent article by Pete Kelly on the Villiers 2T engine and, to my great surprise, found a picture of myself riding my 250cc DMW Dolomite…
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Warming your bones

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Sam Hewitt

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27th February 2019

In a direct contradiction to John’s winter riding across Europe, Stuart Bennett travelled to the warmth of a museum in Spain. Next time you holiday on the Costa Blanca, and you tire of the sun, the sand and the sangria, why not leave the coast and venture a few miles (or kilometres) inland from Benidorm?…
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Riding home for Christmas

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Sam Hewitt

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27th February 2019

Following the editorial in issue 403, John Hersevoort recalls how he used to wrap up for winter trips over 50 years ago. I’m 69 years old and have been riding motorcycles since 1967. I ride all year round and have always done so. The Friday before Christmas, I had to collect a crankcase that had…
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Merlin Sidecars

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Sam Hewitt

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16th February 2019

This month’s piece on sidecar builders was going to be H for Hedingham, but sadly, although I am sure they are in some form of manufacture, I am unable to source much information. For this reason I’ll skip to M, and Merlin Sidecars will be featured instead. Now I know Merlins aren’t going to be…
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The Mike Hanson Collection auction

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Sam Hewitt

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16th February 2019

Sledmere House, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, plays host to DAH Auctions on March 2 as they have been asked to auction, without reserve, the collection of veteran and vintage motorcycles that were collected and owned by Mike Hanson. The collection majors on early and rare machinery from the dawn of motorcycles through to…
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Sam Hewitt

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