Trev Deeley – Revisited

I previously wrote about the Trev Deeley motorcycle collection in Vancouver, and shared the fact that I was disappointed with the new set-up and location. Bevin Jones of the Trev Deeley team sent me a very nice note in response to that post asking me to give them another look , so when visiting Vancouver this past week for my step mother’s funeral, I decided to give take him up on his offer.

The new Trev Deeley motorcycle exhibit entitled “End of Empire” is about the British motorcycle industry and its rise and fall – I first need to say that it does have a nice range of machines on display, and as always the level of restoration/preservation is first class. It would have been nice to have a few more examples of older bikes – the display is weighted toward the 1960’s and 1970′’s – but overall it is great value for the money as they still only ask for a donation rather than charging some outrageous admissions fee. My personal favourite, the Scott Squirrel, which is a twin cylinder, rotary valved, water cooled 2-stroke built in 1929 was on display. It was well ahead of its time from an engineering perspective and in many ways may have been the inspiration for the Suzuki Water Buffalo’s that I like to work on, as Scott did develop a three cylinder 750cc water cooled 2-stroke version of the Squirrel just prior to World War II.

Its a pity that as of this writing, the Deeley web site still hasn’t been updated to show information about the new display, even though its been open for about three weeks. As was the case the last time I visited, we were pretty much the only people there which is really nice, but it also may mean a lot of folks are missing out on seeing a great exhibit due to a lack of proper advertising. It is also worth mentioning that the machines on display are not behind glass or mounted so far away that you can’t really seee the details – each bike is very accessable. 

One bike of note was the twin rotor Wankel powered 1992 Norton Commander seen to the right- this is one of two that was imported into Canada out of a total of 253 built, and I’d only ever seen photos of this model previously. It will be interesting to see what the new Norton company manages to produce as there have been a number of false starts to date – hopefully this time they are successful !

Bottom line – although I still personally prefer the old display and location, Deeley are to be commended for putting on another good display which folks should try to check out if they happen to be in the Vancouver area.

Calgary Motorcycle Show

Well, the weekend has come and gone and I spent yesterday (Monday) just puttering around the house after four solid days at the Calgary Stampede Grounds in the Roundup Centre where the 2009  Calgary Motorcycle Show was held. This is a travelling  show that visits several cities at this time of year, providing a welcome break from the winter blahs, and while I haven’t seen the final attendance figures it was a very busy place in our corner of the building.

The local Rocky Mountain chapter of the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group (CVMG) had a large number of vehicles on display ranging from a 1935 BMW through to a 1983 Suzuki Gamma, and as Suzuki was featured this year, we had good selection of this make on hand. Front and centre on the RMS CVMG display was Wade’s immaculate and all original 1972 GT750 seen to the right. Also on display was Fred’s 1976 RE5 rotary together with a cutaway of the engine which we (mainly Janice actually) cranked over by hand for hours. It never failed to attract a lot of attention as you really need to see it operating to appreciate just how different an engine design it is, and many people are not aware this type of engine was actually ever used in a motorcycle. It was also very interesting to watch people’s faces as they walked around our display – clearly seeing these older bikes brought back a lot of memories for many people, and you constantly heard parents telling their kids about how they’d had one just like one of the ones on display. The other interesting thing was the number of folks who had been given their father’s or grandfather’s bike which had been sitting for the last who knows how many years in a garage or shed, and who now were looking for information and help to get them running again. Possibly a few of these will be on display next year !

Getting the bikes to the show for all of us was not a lot of fun on Thursday as it was -15 C and snowing, but everyone chipped in and helped each other to unload and push the bikes through the snow in the parking lot and into the Roundup Centre.  Fred set the record for most trips, but I think the one that came the furthest was the absolutely beautiful 1951 Vincent Black Shadow owned by a club member north of the city. Perhaps one of the biggest concerns (other than having an accident) was the amount of slop and road spray there was for those of us using open trailers – after the hours of shining and polishing, the last thing you want is slush, sand and salt spray all over your pride and joy ! Fortunately the cover I had worked well, and I had only a small amount of tidy-up to do once I’d unloaded.

My own contributions were my 1974 GT550, and my project bike with the burgundy tank seen to the left, and which a few of the members call a GTS750 as it is a GT/GS hybrid. For me personally, completing the project was the culmination of six months of very satisfying and rewarding work, and the perfect tonic as it took my mind completely away from cares, pressures and concerns of my former employment, and allowed me to fully disconnect and move into retirement mode.  All in all, it was a great experience, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s show.

Next on the agenda is to get the GT550 running and also do some work on my Yamaha YA6 along with the other usual household items – I suppose at some point I may consider looking for a part time job of some sort, but at the moment I’m not sure where I’d be able to find the time !

A Good Day !

Well – today was slightly more notable than most for me as a) it was my birthday, and b) I finally finished my GT750 Suzuki project bike ! I did a small photo shoot out in the -15C weather and the heaps of snow piled at the front of the house and (not that I’m in any way biased of course)  I think  it looks OK. As an added bonus, it also runs although till some of the snow melts, I probably will not be driving it too far.

It will be on display at the Calgary Motorcycle Show this coming week – perhaps I’ll see you there !

 

Additional photos can be seen here.