OEC, ZENITH, AND THE STOLEN RECORD

In a funny twist of lingering history, the FIM book of Motorcycle Land Speed Records notes that on 6th November, 1930, Joseph S. Wright took his Temple-O.E.C. (Osborne Engineering Company) with supercharged JAP 994cc engine to 150.7 mph down the rod-straight concrete pavé at Cork, Ireland. The 1930 record was a significant advance on the Ernst Henne/BMW record of 137.58mph, achieved only weeks prior at Ingolstadt, Germany, on a supercharged 750cc ohv machine.  But in this case, the history books are all wrong.

150 MILES AN HOUR ON A MOTORCYCLE!

 (Click on the image above to see the film from the Record attempt)
The O.E.C. was an unusual motorcycle, using 'duplex' steering; an OEC trademark, although not all of their bikes used this system.  The advantages of this arcane steering system on these early motorcycles was great stability at speed, plus the possibility of front wheel suspension which didn't alter the steering geometry when compressed by bumps, giving totally 'neutral' steering under all conditions.  In practical use, the OEC chassis was reported to be very stable indeed, although resistant to steering input!  So, while potholes and broken surfaces brought no front wheel deflection, neither did a hard push on the handlebars...perfect for a speed record chassis actually.

A pair of machines was present at Cork that day; the OEC which had been prepared by veteran speed tuner Claude Temple, and a 'reserve' machine in case it all went pear-shaped.  The second-string machine was a supercharged Zenith-JAP, of similar engine configuration to the OEC, but in a mid-1920s Zenith '8/45' racing chassis.  Zenith at that date was technically out of business, so no valuable publicity could be gained for the factory from a record run, nor bonuses paid, nor salaries for any helpful staff who built/maintained the machine.  While Zenith would be rescued from the trashbin of the Depression in a few months, and carry on making motorcycles until 1948 in fact, the reorganized company, with its star-making General Manager Freddie Barnes, never sponsored another racer at Brooklands or built more of their illustrious special 'one off' singles and v-twins, which did so well at speed events around the world - from England to Argentina!

Joe Wright had already taken the Motorcycle Land Speed Record with the OEC, back on August 31st at Arpajon, France, at 137.32mph (see top photo with news story), but Henne and his BMW had the cheek to snatch the Record by a mere .3mph, on Septermber 20th. That November day was unlucky for Wright and the team, as the Woodruff key which fixed the crankshaft sprocket sheared off, and the OEC was unable to complete the required two-direction timed runs to take the Record.  As you can see in the photo below, the engine mainshaft drove the supercharger as well as the primary chain/gearbox, and was a one-off for which there was presumably no replacement, with probably no time for repair in any case.

Supercharging a v-twin motorcycle is a difficult business, as the compressor blows fuel/air mix at a constant rate into a shared inlet manifold for both cylinders, but as the cylinders aren't evenly spaced physically (as they are on a BMW, for instance), one cylinder inevitably gets a much bigger 'puff' of built-up pressure.  Figuring out how to accommodate a different charge for each cylinder led to all sorts of compromises, from restricting the inlet port of one cylinder, to the use of different camshafts/compression ratios/valve sizes for each cylinder, in an effort to keep one cylinder from doing all the 'work' and overheating.  It was an imperfect science, as supercharging was still relatively new to motorcycles, and only a handful of blown motorcycles were truly 'sorted out' for racing or record-breaking before WW2.  Typically, these had flat-twin or four-cylinder engines, with even intake pulses!  (Although, of course Moto Guzzi, typical of their genius at the time, had a lovely 250cc ohc blown single-cylinder which worked a treat).

With the OEC out of action, and FIM timekeepers being paid by the day, as well as the complicated arrangements with the city of Cork to close their road (and presumably police the area), a World Speed Record was an expensive proposition, and the luxury of a 'second machine' (above) was in fact very practical...although this may be the only instance in which the second machine was of a completely different make.  Imagine Ernst Henne bringing a supercharged DKW as a backup for his BMW; simply unthinkable!

But, such was the English motorcycle industry at the time; several very small factories (Brough Superior, Zenith) competed on friendly terms for national prestige the in record books, while the largest makes (BSA, Triumph, Ariel), nearly ignored top-tier speed competitions such as the Grands Prix and Land Speed Records.

In the event, Wright did indeed set a new Motorcycle Land Speed Record with his trusty Zenith (above, setting the record, quite clearly on a different machine than the OEC below) at 150.7mph, although the press photographs and film crews of the time were solely focused on the magnificent but ill-fated OEC, as Zenith was out of business and OEC paying the bills.  Scandalously, all present played along with the misdirection that the OEC had been the machine burning up the timing strips, and the Zenith was quickly hidden away from history, a situation which still exists in the FIM record books!

Photographs from the actual event show the Zenith lurking in the background (above), while Joe Wright poses on the OEC, preparing himself for a blast of 150mph wind by taping his leather gloves to his hard-knit woolen sweater, and wrapping more tape around his turtleneck and ankles to stop the wind stretching them, and dragging down his top speed.  His custom-made teardrop aluminum helmet is well-documented, but the protective abilities of his wool trousers and sweater at such a speed are dubious at best...but there were no safety requirements in those days, you risked your neck and that was that.  Nowadays, when any young squiddie can hit 150mph exactly 8 seconds after parting with cash for a new motorcycle, Wright's efforts might seem quaint, but he was exploring the outer boundaries of motorcycling at the time, and was a brave man indeed.

The record-breaking Joe Wright Zenith was a rumor for decades, becoming a documented story only in the 1980s via the classic motorcycling rags, the whereabouts or existence of the Actual machine known only to very few.  I've had the great pleasure of making the Zenith's acquaintance, it does still exist, and is currently undergoing restoration, to be revealed when the time is ripe.

As the OEC also still exists and is in beautiful restored condition, a meeting of the two machines is almost a certainty, at the right event.  If motorcycles could talk, I bet the Zenith would have something to say to the OEC...

'SUPER KIM'; THE DETAILS

Gernot Schuh has kindly answered some of my technical questions regarding the modifications to the J.A.P. KTOR engine in what was formerly a normally aspirated, racing 1925 Zenith. The first incarnation was surely built under the supervision of Freddie Barnes himself, who personally oversaw all of the 'big gun' racers which exited his factory doors.

While we don't yet know the early history of Super Kim in England, it's useful to recall that this small company holds the distinction of more Brooklands 'Gold Stars' (for a lap over 100mph during a race) to its name than any other. This Zenith was originally built for a purpose - going fast, preferably faster than any other machine available at the time. Thus, it is no coincidence that the Sigrands chose a Zenith (over say, a Brough Superior, MacEvoy, etc) to bring home to South America; the Zenith had the reputation as the Fastest Machine You Could Buy for track racing in the 1920's. George Brough may have claimed differently, but the records at Brooklands tell the tale. Zenith was the Bomb.

Some technical notes (my words combined with Gernot's here):

The bore and stroke of this monster are 94.9x120mm, giving 1700cc, with a compression ratio of 6.6:1. Combine this with the blower's nominal delivery volume, this would give a corrected compression at maximum revs of 15.8:1 !

How can this work, especially with the carburettor setup, which we found to be for petrol rather than alcohol? The 'racing' cam timing holds the clue; the supercharger's efficiency, combined with extensive valve-overlap from the engine's unblown racing days. An 8.8mm valve lift on both exhaust and inlet valves at maximum 'bump' leaves about 4mm of valve opening at TDC! The incoming charge, blown past the partially open valves, would theoretically keep the exhaust valve in particular just a bit cooler, helping it survive in the very harsh combustion environment with such a high C.R.

The gearing pencils out for 260km/hr @ 5000rpm (156mph) in third gear. Wheelspin above 120mph probably would keep the maximum a bit below the theoretical top speed. Super Kim uses a three-speed Sturmey-Archer 'Super Heavyweight' gearbox, one of six ever built for record-breaking, and I believe, the only on not in use on a Brough Superior. Was it originally specified thus from Freddie Barnes? We don't know yet, as we don't know whether the machine was purchased new from Zenith, or in 'used' condition after a few seasons at Brooklands.

At maximum revs of 5000rpm, the piston speed is 20m/sec, a figure typically recommended as safe for racing in the engineering literature. The extensive piston drilling is a relic of 'Teens and Twenty's racing practice, when lightness was a premium (especially during the days of cast-iron pistons!), and engine revs were fairly low. Such drilling was also typical on connecting rods, and just about any other moving part in the engine! By the 1930's, as metallurgy improved, such 'cheesework' became obsolete and unneccessary. The pistons in Super Kim are clearly made in-house, as they're of a design I haven't seen, although it's possible, with such a large bore, that they came from a car.

Overall weight dry is 215kg (473lbs), which is really light for a Land Speed Record machine of this capacity; weight per se isn't a factor in top speed, only acceleration, and in fact, greater weight is an advantage in keeping the motorcycle stable, with both wheels on the ground, and helps minimize wheelspin. Having ridden rigid-frame racers at well over 100mph, I can attest that they aviate! A little avoirdupois certainly couldn't hurt, unless there is limited space possible for a straight-line run - a point completely relevant to a speed record in Argentina, which has few roads (or beaches) capable of a full-throttle, multi-mile record attempt. Quick acceleration might have been essential if only 3 or 4 miles of smooth straightaway were available.

During his rebuild, Gernot replaced the half-time pinion in the cambox, and the right-hand main bearing, and all the ball races in the drive side, along with the chains, tires, valves and springs, ignition cable, and about a dozen smaller parts. The camshaft and roller followers were refaced. All of this work took 320 hours, which includes 120 hours of deep cleaning and rust removal!

Asked if there were any surprises, Gernot says, "Suprises? The capacity, sure. Hmmm....and the twisted history, that is absolutely fascinating to me. That there is contact with the family. And so much appreciation for my work."

And how does it SOUND? "Like a tractor on drugs; on revs, it lets out a ROAR..." He adds, "The most important thing is: it runs, despite so many experts, who claimed it would not, and looks more like a racingman's hot dream. The inspection showed that it was used, at least for testing. There were traces of use on the cylinder walls, oil carbon here and there, and in the gearbox there was heavy wear between the mainshaft and the tubular shaft where the sprocket sits. This odd plate, that clamps the gearbox at the pin, were the kick start was once located, was not part of the original design."

To this I would add my own story with Super Kim. I was first introduced to photographs of the bike at Jay Leno's garage, 18 years ago. The seller, Hector Mendizabal (r.i.p.), claimed it was a Brough Superior, and it clearly wasn't, but we didn't at the time know what exactly it was. A bit of research on my own revealed it to be a highly modified Zenith, but the asking price was over the top at the time. By coincidence, I purchased a BS SS100 engine from Mendizabal a year later, and the Zenith came up again, still over-priced. I purchased the machine 11 years ago from the man who actually posessed Super Kim, for half the original price, after a tip-off from a Brough-owning friend in Germany.

I was warned at the time by 'experts' that Super Kim was a fake, a lash-up, a South American piece of trash, not worth the money, and that I would surely be defrauded at best, possibly shot at worst! I've spoken on this site before about the 'aura of fraudulence' around machines from South America, which hovers in the mind of North American and European bike collectors. That mindset persists to this day, and is evidenced by Gernot's own comments above regarding 'doubting experts'.

When I attempted to sell Super Kim 9 years ago, I was met with the same resistance, doubts, and scare talk. One Austrian fellow backed out of a signed purchase agreement, after being told by such an expert that the machine was basically worthless! I am fairly certain he regrets his decision nowadays... given that the last big-twin Zenith with racing history (unsupercharged) sold for $325,000.

F.W. 'FREDDIE' BARNES

Frederick W. Barnes was perhaps the most famous 'forgotten' motorcycle manufacturer in Britain; his Zenith motorcycles were among the fastest motorcycles in the world for a time during the 1920s, and held the majority of speed records at the Brooklands racetrack in the 1920s.  F.W. Barnes (the 'W' was likely William, after his father William Henry Barnes - his mother was Emma Siddall) was born in Stretford/Didsbury, Manchester, around 1877. He was the second child of five, with two brothers and two sisters. By 1901, at 23, he was living in Leeds and working as an 'Engineering Draughtsman'. By 1906, he was living in Surbiton, where he was married in that year. There is little biographical information available about Mr. Barnes, but we do know about his time with the Zenith marque, with a few anecdotal gems from those who knew him during the heady Vintage days at Brooklands, when Zenith was simply the 'make to have' if you wanted a Gold Star.

The Zenith story began in 1905, with the introduction of 'Tooley's Patent Bi-Car' at the Crystal Palace Show, an interesting machine with hub-center steering and rear suspension. F.W.Barnes, M.I.A.E., was hired as chief designer in 1907, and immediately penned a more orthodox motorcycle with Druid forks and a sidevalve engine, called the 'Zenette', as the company had become the 'Zenith Motor Works' in that year.

The 'Gradua' belt-adjuster system can be seen here from 1912.

In Feb. 1908, Mr. Barnes designed the soon-to-be-infamous 'Gradua Gear', a mechanism by which the diameter of the engine belt pulley could be increased and decreased by means of a quick thread, simultaneous with the alteration of the wheelbase (!), keeping the drive belt taut, via rods and levers and a slotted axle lug. The mechanism works thus; when the rider turned a handwheel on the tank top, the rear wheel was moved forward or back, while the engine pulley expanded or contracted, giving a 'gradual' change in the drive ratio. Thus, you had different 'speeds' without 'gears' (and Rudge used a similar layout with their 'Multi' system). Ratios between 3.5:1 and 9:1 were available, and while the change of wheelbase was undesireable, it wasn't a great issue at 1909 race speeds!

Freddie Barnes chatting with rival James L. Norton, founder of Norton Motors, in 1910, at Titsey Hill hillclimb - Norton won!

Freddie Barnes was always keen to compete his products, and the Gradua system gave such an advantage over all other single-speed belt-drivers, that his mechanism was banned from many events. This gave rise to the famous Zenith 'Barred!' trademark, and while the logo remained on all Zeniths hence (until 1949, when the marque ceased), the advantage was to last only until around 1912/13, when dual primary drives (Scott and Royal Enfield) and countershaft gearboxes (from Sturmey-Archer, Jardine, Moss, etc) began to arrive on the competition.

Photo courtesy Howard Webb, of Postcards Then and Now.

In 1909, just in time for the opening of the Brooklands racetrack, the Zenith factory moved to High Street, Weybridge (above), about half a mile from the track, and very close to the London and Southwestern Railway. Mr. Barnes himself became a track racer, and set the very first Test Hill standing-start record (18.63 sec, averaging 12.89mph!) on March 29th, on a 3.5hp Zenette-JAP. On the following Jan.3, 1910, he pruned 3.02sec from his record (on a 3.5hp Zenith-Gradua-JAP) and averaged 15.4mph. He continued to shave time from the Test Hill ascent over the next few years, but by 1920, when the Brooklands track re-opened after WW1, such climbs were irrelevant as gearboxes and engine power made even steep hills a doddle (plus, the sharp crest at the top of the Hill makes for spectacular flying leaps above 20mph).

Barnes didn't contain himself to the Test Hill, though, and personally won quite a few events at the track during 1909-1914, using his own machine of course, usually in good company, as his customers filled the leaderboards as well. Barnes set records in 350cc, 500cc, 750cc, and 1000cc classes during this period, although by 1913 he seems to have concentrated solely on sidecar racing, using 488cc or 988cc JAP engines.  The photograph above shows Barnes at the helm of a 986cc Zenith-Gradua-JAP, having won the sidecar handicap race on April 2, 1913, at 60.92mph, with Sam Wright as passenger, in that lovely wicker 'slipper' sidecar. His engine uses two carburetors (which look like B&Bs) - Barnes was the first to experiment with two carbs on a v-twin.

The British War Office held a trial at Brooklands (Jan. 29th, 1912) with an eye to using motorcycles as military machines, and set an 'ideal' target of a 45mph flying-start lap of the track for a 500cc engine. None of the machines were able to meet the goal (clearly they snatched a figure from the air), but Freddie Barnes came closest on his 493cc Zenith-Gradua-JAP, at 44.2mph. As an aside, the 350cc target of a 40mph lap was met by Gordon Fletcher on a Douglas (at 42.8mph) - and Douglas machines were used extensively during WW1. Both the Zenith and the Douglas were successful in timed runs up the Test Hill for the military examiners. (No mention is made of why Zeniths are invisible during WW1, though).

In 1912, big Zenith-JAP 988cc v-twins (as seen above, this machine ca. 1914) began appearing in the Brooklands laurel circle, often with a sidecar attached. Barnes was a regular maker-and-breaker of the 1000cc hour-record and winner of speed trials. By 1913, the list of competitors using the Zenith marque continued to grow, while Freddie Barnes began to drop from the winner's lists, perhaps ceding best to his clientele. His motorcycles remained at or near the top in the 350cc-100cc capacity classes, while using engines from several makers; JAP, Green, Precision, Blackburne, Bradbury, and MAG.

1912 Zenith with Green watercooled 500cc engine; the 'dimpled' surface is the radiator attached to the cylinder barrel.

Between 1914-1919, the Zenith factory was used for war production, and there is reference to Barnes' military service in WW1, but there is currently no information on what they produced during this period, or if Barnes was indeed away in the military.

Racing resumed at Brooklands in 1920, as the Vickers aircraft works in the infield made an attractive target for German bombers, and the track was badly damaged. Freddie Barnes returned to the races, but never again as a rider, instead assuming a new role supervising the use and tuning of his product. The years 1920-1930 were the heyday of the marque, and Barnes can be seen in many photographs, standing demurely behind the great riders of the day after victories with his Zenith 'Super Eight' racing JAP-engined ohv and sv racers. (In the photo above, we see Barnes behind T.R. Allchin's 996cc sv JAP racer, which has just set a two hours' record at 89.06mph on Sep. 6, 1924).

Herbert LeVack with his specially-prepared Zenith KTCY, prior to the requirement of 'Brooklands can' silencers when racing at the track.

On October 27, 1922, Bert LeVack made history by lapping Brooklands at 100.29mph on a 980cc Zenith-JAP (see pic above, and a most beautiful machine it is), becoming the first rider of a British machine to reach 100mph. LeVack was an employee of JAP at the time, and was their principal engine tuner and development engineer.

The JAP engine became THE British speed engine for the 1000cc class, and Barnes continued to develop chassis to accept the new iterations of this big v-twin. By 1925, the new ohv KTOR engine dominated Brooklands events, and Zenith machines held fastest-lap records for the duration of the Vintage years, beginning with J.S. Wright's 110.43mph lap on July 18th of '25. Joe Wright and his Zenith (pictured below) held the lap record at Brooklands for the next 10 years, which by June 1929 had reached 118.86mph, a speed which remained unsurpassed until 1935.

Freddie Barnes, left, with Joe Wright in 1925 at Brooklands

Dr. Joe Bayley, in his fantastic book 'The Vintage Years at Brooklands', raced at the track and knew Mr. Barnes (pictured above on the left), says of him; "A delightful personality, he was to be seen at almost every meeting, giving practical help and advice to all riders of his machines. It is worth noting that during the Vintage Years, the majority of riders lapping the Brooklands outer circuit at over 100mph rode Zenith machines."

In 1930, the economic debacle pushed Zenith in to bankruptcy, and a reorganized company emerged, which seems to have put paid to racing activities, and Freddie Barnes' name quietly recedes from Brooklands. Echoes of his glory days continued even post-liquidation, as Joe Wright used a supercharged version of his Zenith-JAP for new speed attempts. At Cork in Ireland on November 6, 1930, Wright gained the Motorcycle Land Speed Record at 150.7mph - read all about it here!

Information and photos from 'The Vintage Years at Brooklands' (Bayley, 1968), 'Bikes at Brooklands in the Pioneer Years' (Hartley, 1973), 'Brooklands Bikes in the 20's' (Hartley, 1980), and 'The History of Zenith' (Collan, 1988).

THE EVOLUTION OF ZENITH 'SUPER KIM'

Sometime after 1930, Roberto Sigrand's Zenith-J.A.P. KTOR became the subject of extensive modification, in a quest for a World Speed Record. The top photograph, taken either at a trade show or in Sigrand's factory (Aros Kim), shows the Zenith atop a display of the Kim factory products; cylinder liners, piston rings, etc - replacement parts for the motor trade.


The display states the machine is the holder of the South American speed record from 1930, that Roberto Sigrand was the 'pilot', and that the motorcycle was modified later mechanically 'entirely in their works', which included the addition of a compressor and twin magnetos. The text is obscured, but it seems to claim that in this new configuration, 'Super Kim' should be capable of 250km/h.
This figure for 'Super Kim' is optimistic, but not outrageous, as in 1937, Eric Fernihough took another J.A.P.-engined motorcycle ( a Brough Superior) to 273.44km/h (169.68mph).

On inspection of this machine in 2001, the bores, cylinder head and valves were entirely clean and appeared new. There was never a claim that Super Kim, in this guise, made a full speed run - I'll have to press the family for more details. It is possible that the machine was never used in anger in this guise. Certainly, it came to me identical in detail to the machine as in this photo, as if it had been stored for a long time (70 years).

Some details; two lightened 'baskets' on the crankcase and clutch are milled steel, and support outrigger bearings for extra-long shafts on the crank and gearbox, necessary for the dual runs of duplex chain on the primary side. One chain went to the gearbox, which sits high under the seat, the second chain runs parallel and drives the supercharger, which sits below the gearbox. The frame is unmolested - Sigrand found a method of installing the blower which didn't require major modifications. The inlet tract emerges at the bottom of the machine, and branches to each side of the rear wheel, where a pair of twin-float Amac TT carbs feed the blower. The inlet manifold is an aircraft-style finned tube and incorporates a blow-off valve for excess pressure. I didn't measure the capacity of this tube, but for proper supercharger balancing, it must be equal in capacity to the engine size (1.1 liter). The supercharger also must be the same capacity as the engine, and this 'Garrett' blower looks identical to those used on MG 'K' cars, which have 1100cc engines - a likely source for this item.

Sparks were provided by TWO twin-spark Bosch magnetos, firing two different sets of plugs; a pair of 14mm plugs (Bosch ceramic, in black) on the timing side, and a pair of 18mm plugs (Bosch again, but with translucent Mica insulators - very pretty!) on the drive side. My thought was that these mags weren't run simultaneously; that one set of plugs were 'soft' and one 'hard', for warming up and open throttle work - one could switch from one magneto to the other with a kill switch. It would be extremely difficult to 'time' the two magnetos to fire at exactly the same moment, if they were indeed run together.

The gearbox is a 'Super Heavyweight Special Brough' item from Sturmey-Archer, one of six made for ultra-high-speed work (and meant for GB; I'm curious where Sigrand sourced this one!). Gear changing was accomplished with the rider's knee; a Norton 'dolls' head' positive-stop shifter has been grafted on the drive side near the petrol tank - when crouched over the machine, the rider's knee fits between the tank and the lever. Thus, upshifting is accomplished by nudging the lever outwards.

The rear brake looks to have been milled from solid, and is a 10" finned item with skeletal drum, heavily drilled for lightness, but clearly meant to work. The 'seat' is a simple steel sheetmetal plank, completely unsprung and unpadded. The footpegs are very near the rear axle, making for a loong rider's layout.
My intention was to rehabilitate the motorcycle without 'restoring' it, and take it to Bonneville for a flat-out run. Perhaps someday it will be resuscitated...

MORE ZENITH HISTORY; ROBERTO SIGRAND, OCTOBER 19, 1930

Igancio Sigrand, grandson of Roberto, sent a batch of photos from a visit with his grandmother, and what gems they are. A little back story; when I purchased 'Super Kim', the 1925 Zenith - J.A.P. supercharged 1,100cc racer, the machine came with a claimed history that Roberto Sigrand had purchased the machine from England in the late 1920's, and used it in solo and sidecar form to set several Argentine speed records, and that an attempt was made to take the absolute Motorcycle World Speed Record, but that no road was suitable for such an attempt in Argentina.
Indulge me a moment on my soapbox: During my ownership of this machine, the lack of documentary evidence substantiating the story of 'Super Kim', many experts cast doubt her provenance, regardless that the Zenith in itself is a remarkable piece of workmanship, and clearly had been a competition machine. Given the history of the Zenith marque (that big twins were built for racing), it seemed obvious that 'Super Kim' must have had a long and interesting history, and there seemed no reason to doubt the story that a 'Roberto Sigrand' had raced the Zenith and taken national records. Due to prejudice, and ignorance of the rich competition history in South America, an 'aura of fraudulence' hangs around the historic vehicles unearthed from an entire continent, as documentation can be fraught with distance, time and language difficulties. It's clear that a major hole exists in the literature on South American motorcycling, which must be rectified, as even this single event in October 1930 illustrates what a rich vein of history is waiting to be told.

It's remarkable when any racing machine has a full history, yet the story of 'Super Kim' is slowly being filled. Sigrand began to race the Zenith by 1930, as can be seen in the top photo from the October 19, 1930 issue of Nazon. At this time, the motorcycle was normally aspirated by a twin-float Amac TT carb - so clearly the supercharger was added after 1930, when a second Amac TT carb with twin floats was installed, on a branched inlet manifold. There is also no 'Super Kim' logo (Sigrand's goggles are draped across the tank), but what appears to be the sans-serif block script 'Zenith' logo. The Harley-Davidson leading-link forks with a front brake are already present (these aren't Brough 'Castle' forks - the dual springs give them away as H-D) - given the lack of a truly long and straight road for a speed test, the brake must have been necessary. Harley forks with a front brake first appeared in 1928 on the 'J' series twins, so this front end certainly didn't come from Freddie Barnes' workshop in 1925/6 (Zenith competition machines used heavyweight Druid forks, typically). Perhaps there is a story behind the need for a new front end (crash damage?), or the need for brakes made the choice of the 'J' forks a natural choice for a large-capacity machine.

The second photo shows Sigrand running down the (dirt?) straightaway, the road to the town of Lujan according to the article, with his sidecar passenger crouched down (the top of his helmet just visible in the photo), although the Roberto is sitting upright, and thus must be at the end of his run. The sidecar is built in the 'Brooklands manner' - a platform with a curved wedge shape body, under which the enduring passenger would lay to keep out of the wind. Was the 'chair' with the machine when it arrived in Argentina? Or did Sigrand visit Brooklands to pick up the Zenith?

The third photo gives an overview of the track, again it's difficult to discern if the road is paved, and the quality of the photographs from this 78-year-old newspaper leaves many questions unanswered. There are certainly hundreds of spectators lining the course, extending into the distance, with one brave/foolish soul perched on the power lines... note the lack of any crowd control, and the proximity of spectators to the track. The Nazon newspaper mentions the event attracted 'much interest, and large numbers registered [to compete]'. Sigrand was the 'record-man in two categories; motorcycle, and sidecar.' So we must assume that the headline 'a speed of 'one hundred eighty-nine kilometers' (~114mph) refers to Sigrand's solo speed on the Zenith, which sounds plausible for a highly-tuned J.A.P. twin, running on alcohol.

The next photo shows Antonio Gerli, 'who fought Sigrand' - obviously his 'chief' rival on the day. Gerli also raced Lancia [Lambda?] cars in Argentina; a reference to him can be found here; unfortunately, he was killed two months later (Dec. 28, 1930) when his racing sidecar outfit collided with a horse cart dawdling on the track. Gerli's chosen mount is an Indian, a tuned speed machine with dropped handlebars and bobbed exhausts. I'm going to stick my neck out here and suggest Gerli's machine is a 101 Scout or Sport Scout, the 750cc sidevalve model which was actually faster than the 1200cc Chief model (and the H-Ds of the day), and which, when well tuned, could run as fast as 110mph (according to Rollie Free in 'Flat Out'). The '101' was renowned for being an especially well-balanced machine, both in weight distribution and power/handling characteristics [and are still a favorite of Wall of Death riders for their forgiving stability], and would have been a worthy rival of the Zenith, in a way never seen at a venue such as Brooklands, where Indians vanished after 1925, due to a crippling import duty (100%) imposed on US motorcycles. Thus, due to protectionist economic policies meant to favor English manufacturers, the whole course of international motorcycle competition and development was skewed - but that's a subject for another post!

Other machines racing on that day included this Moto Guzzi, which looks like a ca. 1929 500SS model, with 4-valve overhead cam engine, a small oil tank atop the petrol tank, and Brampton-style forks with small check-springs at the front. I have other photos of early ohc 4-valve Guzzi racers in South America during this period (a C4V in Brazil).

In the 750cc class, Garcia Lamas raced this Harley '45' sidevalve twin with spartan sidecar arrangement, although his passenger looks happy enough!

Back to the Sigrand family; at the bottom is a photograph of Roberto's father, Camilo Sigrand, after having competed in the 1922 Bol d'Or 24-hour race in Paris, 'on a motorcycle of his own creation'. The tank says 'Sigrand Debladis' - Ignacio mentions that this was a motorcycle marque produced by his great grandfather in Argentina between 1908 and 1916, and is wondering if anyone has heard of this make?
The engine of the D-S in this photo is Harley, the forks look similar to a Henderson with a large central spring and short trailing link. For 1922, this is quite a substantial and powerful-looking motorcycle...
Camilo Sigrand was obviously a dedicated motorcyclist, keen enough to build his own machine and enter a prestigious event. Camilo emigrated to Argentina around 1908, and returned to France to study engineering, 'as no suitable education was available in Argentina'.
I'm wondering if the Sigrand family purchased the Zenith new from Freddie Barnes? Or at least, after it had run a few races in a prior owner's hands - at Brooklands or Montlhery?

Does anyone have access to pre-1925 copies of Moto Revue? I'd like to find out more about the elder Sigrand...

AUCTION PRICE ZENITH - RECORDS FALL

Bonham's auction house held the sale of selected motorcycles from the Estate of the late Brian Verrall on Sep. 1st, and the most interesting machine by far was a 1927 Zenith 'Championship' model with a racing JAP '8/45' engine, and Graisley 'TT' model sidecar.

Brian purchased this machine from Australia in 2001, and I was allowed a few glimpses as it passed through the hands of Steve Hazelton in Sydney, who had a popular website selling motorcycles at the time (I bought perhaps 6 machines from him that year, as the A$ was trading at US$.52!). I seem to recall Brian paying in the region of A$100,000 for the combination, which was 'market value' for the machine, full retail in 2001, which meant that Brian thought it was something special. I, too had a Zenith-JAP ohv monster at the time, so was keenly interested in the whole affair. It was rumored that Brian's bike had Brooklands history, but it wasn't until the (very beautiful) Bonham's catalog plopped through my mail slot that I found how extensive and well-documented was that history.

Blay's of Twickenham supplied the machine in April 5, 1927 to Roland Martin (see original invoices), who was given £45 in trade for his 1925 Zenith 680cc combination. Shortly afterwards, Martin purchased the Graisley 'TT' model 259 racing sidecar (built by AJS - the 'Graisley' name being the location of the AJS factory). From the catalog:

"Roland Martin was one of the few private owners who had their own workshop at Brooklands [note the shed in the second photo], and earned his living by preparing and tuning other people's machines for racing. He started racing solos, but his real love was motorcycle combinations, and the KTOR-engined Zenith represented just about the best you could buy for £140 in 1927"

The tiny Zenith marque was well-known as willing to build customised racing machines for use at Brooklands, and the Director of the company, Freddie Barnes, can be seen in virtually every period shot of a victorious rider and his single-cylinder or v-twin Zenith racer [see 'The Vintage Years at Brooklands' - which you should own anyway as it's simply one of the best motorcycle books, ever]. Brough Superior had a better spokesman in George Brough to tout their successes at Brooklands, but the Zenith marque holds the record for the most Gold Stars (over-100mph laps during a race) awarded to its riders.

Roland Martin made a few modifications to his racer, most significant being a pair of custom intake manifolds, which held a pair of Amac TT carbs with twin floats, to slake the prodigious thirst of the big twin engine during a sidecar race (these were changed in 1937 to Amal type 10TT36 carbs with single floats - perhaps the 'era' of the bike at Brooklands was finished, and these became the 'sports' carbs for road riding; Amac TT-type carbs have no throttle needle, and are essentially made for flat-out racing use, whereas Amal TT carbs have a needle and proper pilot jet and air screw to regulate low-speed running and idling).

The engine is a J.A.P. KTOR 980cc - the model engine being quickly identified by the exposed pushrods and rocker arms, as opposed to the later 8/50 engine with enclosed rockers and pushrod tubes (and 'JAP' or 'Brough Superior' cast into the alloy inspection cover). The motorcycle chassis is a full-cradle type, using hearth-brazed lugs at all the 'corners'; a single, curved front downtube meets a perpendicular cross member at the bottom, with twin rails running straight back to the rear axle. The 'catalog' Champion model Zenith used side-spring Druid forks, but this racer uses strutted Druid 'ES' (enclosed spring) racing forks, which have an extra brace bolted to the fork blades, for more lateral strength when pushing the sidecar around corners. Sparks were provided by a 'square' ML magneto, the best racing mag one could buy in the 20's.

The Graisley chair closely resembles the infamous Hughes 'TT' sidecar, but is a bit lighter and uses only 4 connection points to the motorcycle chassis, rather than the 6 of the built-like-a-bridge Hughes

The VMCC Register of Historic Machines lists only three KTOR-engined Zeniths; Verrall's bike, one in Austria, and (Bonham's claims) one in America, although that may have been mine (I haven't updated their registry - the bike is now in Liechtenstein). Thus, the auction represented an extremely rare opportunity to own a truly historic machine, steeped in Brooklands history. Perhaps that's why it just fetched around £180,000!

This represented a world record price at auction of a British motorcycle, but this record was shortly broken by another machine; a 1939 Vincent-HRD Series A twin which sold for £214,800....which is now stands at the highest price paid at auction for a Britbike (the record for any motorcycle at auction stands at $520,000 for the Cyclone sold in Monterey at the MidAmerica auction). In the 'also ran' (!) category was a 1938 Brough Superior SS100 which sold for a mere £163,200. The current economic climate hasn't dampened the auction market apparently, although it must be said that this was a very special auction, as Brian Verrall was such a well-known and respected dealer and collector, interest in his machinery and ephemera was high. The sale rate was a remarkable 100%.
For all the results, check the Bonham's website.