Letters

What happened to my once-beloved ’Schmitt?

by

Sam Hewitt

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27th May 2017

My heart skipped a beat and I spluttered an expletive when I saw the photo of the Messerschmitt bubble car RTK 873 on page 40 of OBM (April) because I was once the proud owner of that very machine, a KR200, back in 1968/9 when I was 17 or 18 years old and lived in…
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Lovely artwork – but who really lived there?

by

Sam Hewitt

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20th May 2017

I refer to Douglas Orchard’s letter entitled ‘Another twist on Norton history’ about a hoarding in Hampton Hill, Middlesex, advertising a development ‘on the site of the house in which the Norton family once lived’. As a local resident and long-time Norton owner I was intrigued, because to the best of my knowledge James Landsdowne…
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More two-strokes that Royal Enfield built

by

Sam Hewitt

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20th May 2017

There were some sad omissions from the interesting article about Royal Enfield two-strokes (OBM April) because, between the 1920s and 30s, the firm made several other such machines using their own engines. Then in the mid-1960s Royal Enfield produced the GP5 two-stroke racer with an engine designed by Hermann Meier and a Ken Sprayson frame.…
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Over and out Webb’s Farm – those were the days!

by

Sam Hewitt

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29th April 2017

As I was sorting through some old trials riding photos the one below, showing a BSA C15 being manhandled out of a bog, brought a smile and an enjoyable memory of the sport in the late 1950s and early 60s. It happened after the clerk of the course marked out a reasonable section in good…
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Curly always had time for a chat

by

Sam Hewitt

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21st April 2017

I have just finished reading the article in OBM (March) about Classic Bike Shop in Redditch, the town where I was born in 1946. I lived just around the corner from what would eventually become M J Rogers Motorcycles in Clive Road. I first met Curly Rogers in 1965, when I went into his shop…
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Short Bantam ride felt like a marathon

by

Sam Hewitt

–

15th April 2017

The accompanying photo was taken 60 years ago, in 1957, outside my grandmother’s house in Dalston, north London, and I was very proud of myself after riding my recently-bought 1950 D1 BSA Bantam from my parents’ home in Mitcham, south London. The journey was a mere 12 miles, but it felt a lot more. I’d…
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The day Fred Marsh’s V8 breezed in

by

Sam Hewitt

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8th April 2017

It was with great interest that I read the article about the Marsh MR4 in OBM (February). I was at the 1976 TT when I was fortunate enough to meet Fred Marsh. I’d pulled in beside the Hawthorn pub to watch the day’s racing when I heard the wonderful sound of what proved to be…
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Prized poster will always remind me of Ken

by

Sam Hewitt

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25th March 2017

Your tribute to Ken Hallworth on page three of last month’s OBM was of great interest to me. I’m not exactly sure when it was that I first met Ken, but it was very early in my interest in classic bikes. I’d bought a Tiger Cub basket case (a frame, engine, two wheels and a…
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Wartime competition was fast and furious

by

Sam Hewitt

–

25th March 2017

Simon Warner’s recent article about the Bar-None Club was most interesting, and brought to mind memories of my father George Dudley. Born in 1921, he was a motorcycle-mad youngster and eventually raced Big-Port AJS and Excelsior-JAP machines on the grass at Layham’s Farm, Brands Hatch and others. He was a member of the OWLS (Oxted…
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The car the Roamer’s engine powered

by

Sam Hewitt

–

18th March 2017

I’m the editor of Freewheel, the bi-monthly magazine of the Rover Sports Register, a non-profit-making club that covers all Rover products from cycles to motorcycles and cars right up to the last 2005 models. One of our members has alerted me to the item about the Roamer, built around a 1920s 8hp Rover flat-twin engine,…
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