Telegram Sam

Time to start heading home today - well, as far as Chester anyway. But on the way, we made a detour to the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. They asked if we’d been before, to which I replied that I had, but it was before the catastrophic fire which destroyed a lot of the original collection. As that was in 2003, I’m guessing it was well over twenty years since I was here.
I know that they were only able to salvage, and restore, a small percentage of the original collection but there was certainly plenty to see today. Every bike was immaculately finished and presented, though the presence of drip trays under each one would suggest they still haven’t found a cure for the main problem with British motorcycles - they leak oil!
Talking of which, my photo is of Triumph’s most celebrated production racer, which won - amongst other things - five consecutive IOM TTs. But the name “Slippery Sam” has nothing to do with fancy aerodynamics. It is because of an oil pump failure in the 1970 Bol D’or 24 hour race, which covered the bike and its riders in oil!
The museum is well worth a visit, if only to marvel at just how many marques of motorcycle we used to make in this country. Whilst some of the bigger names still produce bikes - Triumph, Norton, Royal Enfield, etc - these are usually built overseas. In the case of Royal Enfield the company is not even British, as it is the Indian arm of that company which kept the brand going and eventually reintroduced it to the U.K.
However, one of the great names in British motorcycling has recently been relaunched. I refer of course to BSA who have gone down the Triumph route of producing a modern interpretation of one of their most classic bikes. The company’s aim is to eventually have the bike entirely built in the U.K. using only parts manufactured in this country.
They had one on display and I’ve got to say I’m tempted…