Now

Jacqueline Bickerstaff at the Banbury Run with her Léon Bollée and passenger "Fearless" Ros Snelson

Not all members of the have left this mortal coil and one of its number is the highly respected Dr Jacqueline Bickerstaff. It’s difficult to know where to begin enumerating Jacqueline’s accomplishments; she is a qualified engineer (PhD) and member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. She has worked mainly in the field of radar and navigation (e.g. designing GPS microchips), with a number of technical papers and patents to her name. Phil Irving of Vincent fame was her proposer for membership of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. She is an internationally recognised authority on Vincent HRDs, is president of the owner’s club and has published an excellent book on the marque “Original Vincent Motorcycle. The Restorer’s Guide to postwar singles and twins”. Her own Vincent with the recognisable number plate PUB335 has covered well over a quarter of a million miles with Jacqueline at the helm.

Jacqueline with her long distance HRD Vincent, PUB

She also restored a dilapidated 1926 HRD on which she subsequently toured extensively as far as the USSR, and including Vincent Owners’ Club International rallies in New Zealand and Canada.

Jacqueline with her 1926 HRD in Budapest, 1986 at the front of the British entries in the "Parade of Nations". At that time Budapest was still behind the Iron Curtain

She still finds time in her busy life to write a monthly column for RealClassic magazine click here under the pseudonym PUB and has probably forgotten more about classic motorcycles than most will know.

Old motorcycles slow down and break down but with a sufficiently capable enthusiast or restorer they can be brought back to life and run again almost better than when they were new.

Old motorcycle riders also slow down and break down; they find those 1950s machines too heavy or their legs, for some reason, refuse to kick a kick start as they once did. These old classics too can be restored to an extent but being better than new is largely beyond the current capabilities of medical science. Eventually they reach the point where they fail the ultimate MOT and no longer appear on the DVLA of life. However all is not lost and there are now a plethora of motorcycles that are light and don’t require kick starting, instead being provided with an electric start. The new BSA’s, Triumphs and Nortons may not originate from Small Heath, Meriden or Bracebridge Street but they appear to be reasonably well built, functional and somewhat resembling their forebears. It will, of course, be may years before the earliest examples are more than 25 years old and thus VMCC eligible but they provide a means for older motorcyclists to continue to enjoy their hobby.

The future is somewhat more complicated and less easy to resolve if we want to have a Northampton VMCC for another sixty more years. The obvious answer is “Youth” and a recent article in the Vintage & Classic Motorcycle captured this point of view as espoused by none other than Club founder C.E. “Titch” Allen OBE BEM and Graham Walker, motorcycle racer, journalist, broadcaster, and the father of legendary Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker. They said “The march of progress has robbed youngsters of the thrills we knew in overcoming difficulties which they will never experience … encourage them to assist in overhauling vintage models, which are the physical materialisation of our dreams. We have a tradition to pass on. Now is the time to develop in the riders of today and tomorrow that respect and understanding for the machines which made the modern motorcycle … giving invaluable first-hand insight into the development of the motorcycle as well as teaching them the use of hand tools.”

Much of this is true now as when it was written but the “march of progress” has now become a stampede. Geopolitics, conflict in the Middle East and climate change all mean that use of hydrocarbons, as a means of producing motion, are likely doomed. The internal combustion engine whilst not yet dead is undoubtedly doomed too and will be replaced with electric, hydrogen fuel cells or some as-yet undreamed of technology. The new generations who we must recognise as Millennials, Gen Z, Gen Alpha etc., if we are to believe it, are only interested in video games and social media, unlikely to be able or want to “assist in overhauling vintage models”. Is the classic motorcycle scene doomed too?

BSA Electric Special

If history tells us anything interest in the past never dies – we are still making films about ancient Greece and Rome, museums are full of technology from earlier times. The London to Brighton run for cars and the Epsom and Brighton run for veteran motorcycles are keeping classic vehicles on the road and generate massive interest. As such it is likely classic motorcycles will be running until the last drop of petrol is used. That being said we must be open to new ideas and the purpose of this website is, in part, to in some small way encourage young people to have an interest in Northampton’s heritage of classic motorcycles and, perhaps, help continue it into the future. We should also consider other means of communication with younger generations – Facebook is perhaps passé for the younger generation and Northampton VMCC may have to have a presence on Instagram!