From our Old Bike Archives – Issue 88 – first published in 2020.
Story: Peter Laverty and Bill Irwin • Photos: Bill Irwin, Elwyn Roberts and OBA archives.
The HRD/Vincent story has been very well documented, especially the post-war machines. However less is known of the pre-war racers, especially the TT models which used the new engines designed by Phil Irving for 1935. These days, the TT models are rarer than a let-off for a speed camera infringement, but one such machine, with carefully documented history, resides in New Zealand, now owned by Bill Irwin in Nelson.
In their TT debut in 1935, the new 500s finished 7th, 9th and 12th in the Senior TT against formidable opposition from the likes of Norton, Moto Guzzi, Velocette and NSU. It was a remarkable performance by such a small company, and the post-race sales rush provided much-needed capital for the new range of singles that included the limited production TT Model. The TT was supplied in two forms; as a race-ready Senior class mount stripped of all road gear, or as a roadster with oil-bath primary drive, a muffled exhaust system, and a kick starter. The factory specifications stated that the racer was identical to the successful 1935 TT machines except for the ‘gearbox and the substitution of aluminium for electron in certain castings. Standard equipment included a 4-gallon fuel tank, 1 gallon oil tank, duralium mudguards and stays, special brakes, straight through exhaust pipe, TT carburettor and magneto, and a ‘heel and toe’ gear change pedal. List price was GBP£98/0/0, with a Brooklands silencer an extra £2 and a dynamo lighting set for the roadster at £5/10/-.
Bill Irwin takes up the story. “This bike (frame number TTR 1122, engine number TTC 32) was purchased new by Ponty Fitzgerald, a garage owner in Wellington, New Zealand. He imported the bike himself and I note on the Works Order that it was shipped to Galbraith and Grant who were wine merchants, so I guess it was some sort of mate’s arrangement for cheaper shipping.
“The bike has the deep scroll mouths around the frame forgings as per 1935 and the only other bikes I have seen with the same oil tanks are all early ones so the frame was made well before the engine. Phil Irving observed the plate welded across the top of the gearbox plates and said that this was done in the Isle of Man. Vincent were making only about 100 bikes per year and refurbishing trade-ins of other makes so I assume that they wouldn’t have wanted to waste a good frame. It was a practice bike for the 1935 TT before it was rebuilt with a new engine for sale in 1936.”
The HRD was supplied with a kick starter on the Burman BAPH gearbox, an Amal TT 34 carburettor and a BTH TT Racing magneto. It was despatched from the factory on 28th July, 1936. For the seventh running of the NZ TT at Waiheke Island (in the Hauraki Gulf, accessed by a short ferry ride from Auckland; the competing motorcycles were sent by barge and hoisted on and off) on 29th January 1937, H.C. “Ponty” Fitzgerald, described as “a crackerjack from Wellington”, was one of 19 riders to face the starter. Other notables included Len Perry, Jack Dale and American Orren “Putt” Mossman, who was world famous as a stunt rider who toured the world with his troupe that included his sister Dessie. Ponty apparently led for the first few laps but didn’t finish the race, which was won by Alf Mattson on a Velocette. Ponty must have blown the motor as it was later sold in 1939 to Les Albrecht in pieces. Les (a German who worked in the jewellery factory N. Blaxall & Sons in Wellington) shipped the engine to the factory for repair but it got caught up in WW2 and wasn’t returned until after the war, along with a bill for thirty pounds.”
In a letter written by Graeme Greenfield in 1984, more details emerged. “The engine arrived back in Wellington on 15th June, 1945 and was taken to a garage in Hawkstone Street where Dick Lawton reassembled the bike. Quite a few parts were missing so Dick had to make them. It was registered to Les Albrecht on 23rd July, 1945 in Wellington. At Les’ first beach meeting he found it difficult to ride as he had lost an eye in an accident at the factory. Dick Lawton took over and won the next three races giving an amazing display of controlled braking with both wheels locked and steering on a straight line on the sands. Apparently Dick Lawton was working for Sutherlands & Wilkinson at the time and waving his magic wand over Ariels which were well ridden by Kevin Bock. Les had also got married and his wife was not keen on him racing so he sold the bike to Kevin Bock from Upper Hutt. When Kevin sold his Ariel and bought the HRD, Dick refused to prepare it any more, so Bock took it to Horrie Young for tuning.” Kevin Bock confirmed some other details, “Chain case (primary) was as per the Comet, Smiths Chronometric speedo and tacho, the speedo with a fixed tube, ran on petrol or alcohol”.
I believe that new cases were fitted as they are in stronger Y alloy which was only used on Vincent competition engines after 1937. The Y on the case castings identifies them as Y alloy. The bill was 30 quid – about 8 weeks wages in 1946. The bike passed through a number of hands, including Gordon Preddie from Christchurch who used it on the road until 1952, after which it was stored. In 1972 Tim Parker saw it advertised with a PO Box number. He quickly found a PO Box directory and was able to make contact with Gordon Peddie and beat all of us other Vincent enthusiasts to the draw. He paid 450 pounds for it which was seven times what I paid for my Rapide in 1965. Gordon had paid 150 for it in 1950. Tim rode it every year at Pukekohe for many years, and he also contacted all of the previous owners of the bike so it now has a folder containing many old photos and the history of the bike from new.”
Tim Parker noted his experiences with the TT Model and said in a letter, “Back in the good old days, the NZ section of the Vincent Owners Club hosted Phil Irving and it was my pleasure that he stayed with me for a couple of nights. At this time the rebuild of the TT Replica was almost complete and we were able to study it at length. His opinion was that it was all about as it should be and that because of a peculiarity in the swing arm pivot (the team modified some at the Isle of Man that year) he thought it was one of these machines. Apparently they took more bikes to the TT and then on to the Belgian GP in the early part of each season and then cut back to a smaller number for the rest of the year. The ones not required were sent back to the factory and set up for supply to customers. Frames were numbered but engines were only done at the time of despatch, and this one looks like the numbers were done with the exhaust pipe in place. I have been told that the despatch book shows the detail of this machine in red ink (the only one that does), and nobody knows why.”
Tim sold it to Kevin Grant who found the handling “scary” and didn’t race it. A look at the wear pattern on the front tyre confirmed that something was wrong. “Ken McIntosh identified the main cause of the handling problem. Tim had used 6mm alloy to make new engine and gearbox plates. Alloy is 3 times as flexible so these plates were 4 times as flexible as the correct 5/16” steel plates. A badly twisted frame with cracked tubes didn’t help either. The bike handles beautifully now. I sold Kevin a Ducati TT2 racer and bought the TTR about 4 years ago. I thought it would need just a cosmetic tidy up but the more I delved the more I found to do. I was fortunate that Neal Videan and Rodney Brown were building their A-twin replicas in Australia and could supply many of the parts. A clever model maker friend made a new oil pump from scratch as the old one was knackered. Major work included new frame tubes and a complete engine rebuild with correctly aligned bottom end and straightened conrod. It is a great bike to ride.”
West Coast wonders
Ian Boyd, former cray fisherman based at Jurien bay north of Perth, is one the world’s most prolific collectors of all things HRD and Vincent, from two-stroke marine engines, the Picador aircraft engine, to motorcycles from the company’s beginning to end. Included in the collection are a TT Model, similar to Bill Irwin’s, plus a real jewel, the ex-works model ridden by Ken Bills in the 1935 Senior Manx Grand Prix. Little is recorded of Bills in that event, other than that he retired on the second of six laps with engine troubles.
