Good old Blackburne does it again!

Well, we made it…

Changing the magneto wasn’t the only job on my list before the Ixion Cavalcade last weekend. Ever since it has been on the road I’ve put up with a comedy ringing noise as the primary chain brushes the enormous, gong-like outside flywheel. It happens because the taper fit is worn and successive lapping-in operations have moved it too close to the chain.

Nick marks reveal where the chain has been rubbing the flywheel

Now obviously, to some eyes my Blackburne’s condition is a disgrace and it should be restored. I’m prepared to stand my ground on this but admittedly it undermines my position if there’s an obvious (and audible) sign of it needing mechanical attention. Besides I was getting fed up with sounding like the Trumpton Fire Engine on its way to a shout. Since I have another flywheel, I decided to swap it over.  Relief at overcoming all sorts of last minute palaver involving sprocket sizes, woodruff keys and chain-versus-belt tension rapidly turned to horror as I spotted a huge crack in the well of the rear brake vee-rim. Groan… given that the brake is a block that works by wedging in the rim, such a crack means no brake! The bicycle type front brake is no compensation either…

Corrosion has made an already thin rear brake rim even weaker

The rim is pretty frail so I decided to weld a strip of steel across it to reinforce as well as repair it. Too late for a test ride I loaded the bike into the van ready for the run the next morning, hoping that all would be well.

The Ixion Cavalcade celebrates the life and works of Basil H Davies who under the pen name ‘Ixion’ wrote for the Motor Cycle magazine from the turn of the century up until his death in 1960. Ixion had an uncanny ability to make his humorous descriptions of Edwardian riding completely timeless. His ironic style cuts through the perceived sobriety of the times to produce a vibrant picture of young men acting up on motorcycles, just as they have done for generations since. For his ‘day job’, Davies was a priest and Bexhill-on-Sea was for some time his parish. The event is based at his former church, St Barnabas near the seafront, and the pleasant run for pre-war machines around the Pevensey Levels, where Ixion himself rode, is the brainchild of Dave Masters of the Sunbeam MCC. Dave has written the life story of Ixion, who managed to maintain his anonymity for his whole career in the motorcycle press. For copies of his book, ‘The Fiery Wheel’. Contact   

The Blackburne was the tenth oldest bike on the run and I’m pleased to say that it pottered round in fine style; although there was one problem. Looking down at a junction, I was disturbed to see petrol spewing from the carburetter. Uh-oh. A quick flick of the tickler made no difference, so it didn’t look like a sticky float…maybe the fitting on the fuel tap had worked loose? But it didn’t feel like it to a gloved hand… I turned off the fuel tap and rode till the engine started to splutter. Examination revealed that the copper pipe had cracked almost completely through. I usually carry a bit of rubber pipe to cope with this situation, but not this time. Luckily my friend Noel Whittall was following and he presented me with a piece from his toolkit. Noel has covered huge mileages on his own belt drive Triumph Model H so he can be relied upon for a decent toolkit. In fact, speaking of books, Noel has produced a wittily-written record of his experiences in two small volumes, “A Stupid Thing To Do” and “An Alpine Thing To Do.” Well worth a read…

Blackburne at rest on the Pevensey Levels

That aside, I had a lovely ride. The Blackburne is pretty full-on from the saddle. It goes very well, especially compared against others of its age. But even when working as they should, the brakes were designed to stop at the rate of a horse and cart not an ABS-equipped modern motor, so it pays to keep half an eye open for the softest place to aim in emergency! I need to have a look at the steering next; unexpected corners are navigated in ‘thruppeny bit’ (or 50p piece) style and I have learned that you must have predictable steering if you have no brakes.

By the look on the riders’ faces, the two ‘adventure bikes’ coming the other way seemed to realise that their adventure was rather tamer than mine. For them, a 40 mile ride is little more than a warm up lap, for me it was a true adventure and that’s what these older bikes are all about. Pitting yourself against an unpredictable machine in a challenge to get where you’re going makes the journey more important than the destination.

Back at the finish there was time to have a look round at all the other bikes, my favourite was Dave Blackwell’s NUT vee-twin, what a cracker; a big rufty-tufty old bus in older-restoration livery.

1927 700cc NUT vee twin

So that’s the Ixion Cavalcade over for another year; time is moving fast. This weekend we’re off to Brooklands (Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 0ON) on Saturday for ‘The 1940s Relived’ event and then maybe back there on Sunday for the Rudge and Scott display. I’d like to take the Martinsyde – which is obviously neither a Rudge nor a Scott but it did circulate the Brooklands Outer Circuit in 1939 and may wish to rattle the windows of the clubhouse again…

Toodle pip, Rick