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Kawasaki Celebrates 70 Years Of Making Motorcycles

By General Posts

In September of 2023, Kawasaki Motors celebrates its 70th anniversary of making motorcycles, first making its forays into the motorcycle business in 1953. After the end of World War II, Kawasaki produced motorcycle engines under the name of “Kawasaki Machine Works.” Since then, Kawasaki has continued to Let the Good Times Roll and has strived to share “Fun to Ride” motorcycles with our customers around the world. Today, Kawasaki motorcycles are sold in more than 90 countries and regions.

To commemorate Kawasaki Motorcycles’ 70-year anniversary, a special exhibition will be held at Kawasaki USA Heritage Hall in Foothill Ranch, California as well as Kawasaki Good Times World in Kobe, Japan starting in September 2023. The display will focus on the history of the motorcycle business in the U.S. market, which marked a major turning point in Kawasaki’s overseas strategy. It will be the first in a series of events to commemorate this special anniversary.

Working toward upholding our mission statement of “Working for the happiness and joy of all those whose lives Kawasaki touches,” Kawasaki aims to keep moving forward and growing into the future.

(Press Release)

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World War II Rider Beatrice Shilling, OBE

By General Posts

by Jason Marker from https://www.rideapart.com

With a simple, thimble-shaped washer, this pioneering woman gearhead saved the lives of countless RAF pilots in WWII.

During the Battle of Britain, the Royal Air Force discovered a glaring problem with its Rolls-Royce Merlin-powered fighters—the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire. See, that generation of Merlin was fitted with dual-choke, updraft carburetors built by the S.U. Carburettor Company Limited. These worked just like your regular updraft carb and were great in level flight. Problem was, you see, that fighter planes don’t spend a lot of time in level flight.

Any negative-G maneuvers, such as pitching the nose down sharply in a dive, would cause the carbs to flood and the engine to cut out. Not exactly what you want in your badass, high-po, Nazi-killing fighter. RAF pilots figured out pretty quickly that they could perform a quick half-roll before diving in an attempt to counteract the flooding, but this only worked so well. It also introduced a delay in the RAF boys’ maneuvers that provided ample opportunity for the fuel-injected Luftwaffe fighters—especially Willie Messerschmitt’s legendary BF109—to either blow up the RAF planes or run for it as the situation allowed.

The RAF needed a solution to this problem, and fast. Enter one Beatrice Shilling.

Humble Beginnings and Early Career
Beatrice Shilling was born on March 8, 1909, in Hampshire, and raised in Surrey. Her parents were butcher Henry Shilling and his wife Annie (née Dulake). She was, by all accounts, a peculiar young girl for her time. She was obsessed with Meccano, a model-building system similar to an Erector Set, and even won a prize in a national Meccano-building contest. She spent her pocket money on tools, knives, and pots of glue, and, the fact that most concerns us here at RideApart, bought her first motorcycle at age 14. From that instant, Shilling knew she wanted to be an engineer.

Shilling left secondary school at 17 and apprenticed under legendary electrical engineer, sister badass, and Women’s Engineering Society founder Margaret Partridge. Partridge, who knew quality when she saw it, encouraged Shilling to pursue further engineering education. Following her mentor’s suggestion, Shilling then enrolled at Victoria University of Manchester where she studied electrical engineering—one of only two women enrolled in the program. She graduated with her Bachelor’s in electrical engineering in 1932 and promptly pursued a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Unfortunately for her, Shilling graduated and entered the workforce in the midst of one of Britain’s worst recessions at that point. She kicked around from job to job, struggling to make ends meet, until she landed a spot as a research assistant at the University of Birmingham. There she worked with Professor GF Mucklow studying forced induction, especially supercharging.

In 1936, Shilling was recruited by the Royal Air Force’s research and development arm, the Royal Aircraft Establishment. Her first job at the RAE was as a technical writer working in the Air Ministry’s technical publications department. Her supervisors quickly realized her talents were wasted writing Spitfire owner’s manuals and pilot checklists, and she was transferred to another department where she did R&D on aircraft engines.

On November 1, 1939, she was promoted to Technical Officer in Charge of Carburetor Research and Development (a job I wouldn’t wish on anyone after years of tinkering with carbs myself) and, eventually, to Principal Technical Officer. It was in that role that Shilling developed the answer to the RAF’s stalling Merlin issue. Before we get to that, though, we have to talk about motorcycles.

Motorcycles and Motorsport
Now, all that airplane stuff is fascinating, but you all are here to read about motorcycles, right? Don’t worry, I got you covered. As I mentioned earlier, Shilling got her first motorcycle, an unnamed two-stroke job, at the tender age of 14. The first thing she did with it was teach herself how to tear down and rebuild the engine. From there she got into modifying her own bikes, and, like any good gearhead, trying to figure out how to make them go faster.

Throughout the 30s, Shilling raced motorcycles while pursuing her engineering degrees and working for the RAE. She and her all-woman—or nearly all-woman, the information is a little sketchy—team campaigned modified Nortons at various tracks throughout England. In 1934, she set a speed record at Brooklands by lapping the track on a Norton M30 with an average speed of 101.85 mph. She was one of the few riders who’d achieved this, and one of only two women—the other being the formidable racer and adventurer Florence Blenkiron.

For this feat, she was granted the British Motorcycle Racing Club’s prestigious Gold Star Award and bragging rights for the rest of her life. There’s also a story that comes up whenever discussing Shilling’s Brooklands lap that she refused to marry her future husband—fellow racer, rider, RAE employee, and RAF bomber pilot George Naylor—until he matched or beat her lap. Apparently, he eventually did, because the couple was married in 1938.

After The War, Shilling and her husband traded in their motorbikes for racing cars and spent some years tear-assing around the U.K. These cars were, of course, heavily modified by Shilling in her home workshop. Throughout the late-40s and early-50s, Shilling and Naylor raced a lightened 1934 Lagonda Rapier and an Austin-Healy Sebring Sprite. In the 60s, they upgraded to an Elva 200 Formula Junior car. They weren’t the best racers on the circuit, but to paraphrase Les Claypool, they never did win no checkered flags but they never did come in last.

Miss Shilling’s Orifice
So, back to Spitfires. The shortcomings of the Merlin’s carbs were well known, and much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments went on among RAF pilots, technicians, and engineers as they tried to fix the problem. As the RAE’s Chief Technical Officer for Carburetor R&D, Shilling was in the perfect position to do something about the flooding Merlin carbs.

She developed a small device—A brass thimble-like affair with a hole in it that eventually evolved into something like a small washer—that restricted fuel flow through the carburetor. This kept the carbs from flooding under negative g-force maneuvers and made sure the boys in the RAF had all the reliable power they needed constantly on tap. Sir Stanley Hooker, head of supercharger development at Rolls-Royce, called it “Miss Shilling’s Orifice” and the name stuck.

While it may sound odd to our ears here in TYooL 2023, Hooker’s name for Shilling’s restrictor plate is a lot more complimentary than other names people, primarily fellow engineers and RAF brass, had for the device. Most of those—Miss Tilly’s Diaphragm, for example—either referenced birth control or found ways to be derisive. The RAF pilots loved the device, however, especially since now they could keep up with the German fighters without the constant risk of falling out of the sky. Miss Shilling’s Orifice, officially called the RAE Restrictor Plate, stayed in use until Bendix developed the pressure carburetor—an early style of throttle body fuel injection—in 1943.

Denouement
For the rest of her life, Beatrice Shilling continued messing around with engines. She retired from the RAE in 1969 and died in 1990 at the age of 81. I could probably write another two or three thousand words about her here, but I’m already pushing it with as long as this story is. There’s so much more to tell about her, and I only scratched the surface.

For example, I glossed over the constant sexism, obstruction, and disrespect she received from colleagues throughout her career. I didn’t get to talk about her work on the Blue Streak Missile, her becoming an Officer of the British Empire (OBE), or a dozen other interesting things about her life. Another time, perhaps.

If you’d like to know more about Beatrice Shilling and her many shining parts (and why wouldn’t you?) you should dig through my sources and follow your nose. If you’re feeling really adventurous, you can try to find a copy of her biography Negative Gravity: A Life of Beatrice Shilling written in 2003 by Mathew Freudenberg. It seems to be long out of print and the only copy I found was offered on Amazon for the eye-watering price of $1,227 Yankee dollars. If you can find a cheaper copy of it anywhere, let me know.

The Flying Wrens: Sisterhood of Motorcycling Heroes

By General Posts

All-Female British dispatch riders of WW-II

Originally, the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) was formed in 1917, during WW-I.

Riding on narrow British roads in all weather conditions can be a dangerous enough occupation. Doing so around the clock during WW-II with the German Blitz going on around you required steel nerves.

The bikes used were mostly small, single-cylinder affairs, built specifically for military use.

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Rare 1901 Triumph Motor Bicycle to Make First Public Appearance in 84 Years

By General Posts

by Florina Spînu from https://www.autoevolution.com

Salon Privé Week, now in its 16th year, will once again highlight the best of the automotive and motorcycle worlds. Any car enthusiast and motorcycle aficionado will drool at the most incredible supercars and classics and alongside the rarest motorcycles.

Triumph will also take part in this year’s series of events and will create a buzz with a rare sight: its first motorcycle ever built. What began in 1886 as the Triumph Cycle Company has become one of the most recognizable of all motorcycle brands, with iconic models including the Speed Twin, Bonneville, and the famous Thunderbird 6T ridden by Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.”

Siegfried Bettmann and Moritz Schulte, the company’s founders, started out making Triumph-branded bicycles, but they gradually extended production to include motorcycles as well. That’s how the company’s first “motorcycle” was born.

It was a bicycle fitted with a 3/4hp 172cc Belgian Minerva engine. The machine had no clutch or gearbox, and the rider could adjust the rear chain with the use of a rear band brake and an eccentric crank. The Triumph motor bicycle was introduced in September 1901 for the 1902 season. The brand’s reputation for quality and durability was well established by the outbreak of WWI, which eventually led to substantial orders for military use.

The rare exemplary will be on display at on the South Lawn at Blenheim Palace as part of the Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance. Its appearance represents a unique opportunity for visitors to see this historic motor bicycle ( which is the forerunner of all subsequent Triumphs) in public for the first time since 1937.

On September 1st, Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance will include two classes: Exceptional Motorcycles and Exceptional Competition Motorcycles. Allen Millyard, a well-known motorcycle builder, will be back this year with his Kawasaki Z1 Super Six, a masterfully crafted bike based on the Z1’s double-overhead-camshaft four-cylinder engine.

World-class bespoke motorcycle builders Thornton Hundred will be among the ones showing their latest designs on the South Lawn. The 202 hp ‘World’s Fastest Bobber’ and a 2021 Triumph Bonneville Bobber Black, both debuting at Salon Privé, will be among the British company’s offerings.

PRESS RELEASE
Salon Privé Week is renowned as being a celebration of two-wheeled machinery as well as four, and this year Blenheim Palace will host the world debut of a unique and hugely significant motor bicycle. Over the course of its long and illustrious history, Triumph became one of the most recognisable of all marques thanks to legendary models such as the Speed Twin and Bonneville, while screen icon Marlon Brando famously rode a Thunderbird 6T in The Wild One.

Having been producing bicycles at its Coventry factory since 1889, Triumph moved into the world of motor bicycles at the turn of the 20th century and was a pioneering force in the burgeoning British motorcycle industry. Siegfried Bettmann and Moritz Schulte were responsible for the design, which used a 3/4hp 172cc Minerva engine from Belgium. A rear band brake was employed, and an eccentric crank to enable the rider to adjust the rear chain. The Triumph motor bicycle was launched in September 1901 for the 1902 season. By the outbreak of The Great War the marque’s reputation for quality and reliability was well established, leading to substantial orders for military use.

The example that will be on display at Blenheim Palace as part of the Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance is the very first Triumph motor bicycle ever made and actually dates from 1901. Its appearance represents a unique opportunity to see this historic motor bicycle – the forerunner of all subsequent Triumphs – in public for the first time since 1937.

The prestigious Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance presented by Aviva takes place on Wednesday 1 September, and will feature two classes – Exceptional Motorcycles and Exceptional Competition Motorcycles. Previous class winners have included renowned motorcycle builder Allen Millyard, who has claimed multiple Salon Privé awards. His exquisite Honda SS100 V-twin is a previous Best in Show winner, and in 2019 his Velocette MAC V-Twin received the Most Spectacular Motorbike award from the event host, the Duke of Marlborough.

Millyard will return this year with his Kawasaki Z1 Super Six. This beautifully engineered machine uses a six-cylinder engine that is based on the standard Z1’s double-overhead-camshaft four-cylinder unit, and uses original Kawasaki parts. Everything else on the motorcycle is standard, giving a subtle end result that looks like something the factory itself could have produced.

The judging panel for the Concours d’Elégance includes some of the most respected experts in the motorcycle world. Writer and consultant Somer Hooker will be joined by broadcaster Henry Cole, historians Dennis Frost and Mike Jackson, along with former racer Steve Parrish. The Motorcycle Awards Ceremony will take place at noon on Thursday 2 September with judges, owners and the Duke of Marlborough present.

A new addition for 2021 is the introduction of a motorcycle parade to open the event on the mornings of Wednesday 1 September and Thursday 2 September. Entrants will start outside the show field, then parade through the grounds of Blenheim Palace and into place on the elegant South Lawn.

There will also be the opportunity for motorcycle entrants to take part in Tour Privé for the first time, on Tuesday 31 August. The 100-mile route will depart from the Great Court at Blenheim Palace and travel through the spectacular Cotswold countryside, with a luncheon stop at Grittleton House in the picturesque village of Grittleton, Wiltshire.

Elsewhere on the South Lawn, Thornton Hundred will be among the brands showcasing their latest designs. The British company’s line-up will include the ‘World’s Fastest Bobber’ – a 202bhp technological tour de force – and a 2021 Triumph Bonneville Bobber Black, both are a Salon Privé debut.

‘We’re thrilled to be welcoming the first-ever Triumph motor bicycle to Blenheim Palace,’ said Salon Privé Concours Chairman Andrew Bagley, ‘and there will be a real buzz around it considering that it hasn’t been seen in public for more than 80 years. With more exceptional motorcycles already being entered into the Concours d’Elégance, this year’s event is shaping up to be a memorable celebration of motoring in all its forms.’

Some of the world’s most famous brands have chosen Salon Privé as the perfect location for a global, European or UK debut, while a brand-new element for 2021 – Salon Privé TIME – will feature the world’s leading watchmakers.

With a programme that includes Ladies’ Day presented by Boodles on Friday, the Salon Privé Club Trophy presented by Lockton on Saturday, and Sunday’s Classic and Supercar event, all the elements are in place for another unmissable Salon Privé Week.

Numbers-Matching BMW R 11 Series 5 from 1934 On Auction

By General Posts

by Silvian Secara from https://www.autoevolution.com

Numbers-Matching 1934 BMW R 11 Series 5 Costs More Than a 2021 S 1000 RR.

We hope you’ve been consistent with your savings, because it’s time to put them to good use.

Online Auction at https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1934-bmw-r11-series-5/

In many ways, old-school motorcycles are a lot like fine wine; the older they are, the better. We’re all pretty thrilled about rides from the ‘70s and ‘80s, but that excitement tends to grow tenfold when you bring a pre-WWII bike into the equation. Take, for instance, the untainted 1934 BMW R 11 Series 5 featured in the photo gallery at the auction website.

Motorrad’s numbers-matching artifact – which was assembled during the final year of production for this model – can only be described as the two-wheeler equivalent of a precious treasure chest. In fact, we dare say this Beemer is to a moto-loving petrolhead what Sauron’s ring was to Gollum in the Lord of the Rings series (or something like that).

Odd comparisons aside, you’ll be intrigued to learn that Bavaria’s jewel is making its way to the auction block on Bring A Trailer. As you might expect, this bad boy is pricier than the vast majority of BMW’s modern machines, having fetched a generous top bid of $24,000 so far. If you happen to be sitting on a sizeable pile of spare cash, you may enter the BaT auction until Thursday, August 5.

Now that we’ve caught your attention, let’s take a minute to remind ourselves about R 11’s main specs and features. In this manner, you can get a clear idea as to what we’re dealing with here, even if this creature is more of a showpiece rather than a bike that’ll be ridden on a daily basis.

Within its steel framework, the Series 5 packs a four-stroke 745cc flat-twin powerplant that’s good for up to 20 hp at 4,000 rpm. The air-cooled mill comes with a single 24 mm (0.9 inches) Amal carburetor and a compression ratio of 5.5:1. Its force travels to a shaft final drive by means of a three-speed transmission, resulting in a top speed of 69 mph (112 kph).

Ural Phenomenon : the Incredible Sidecar Sub-culture Among Motorcyclists

By General Posts

Soviet Russian espionage during World War II, Nazi motorcycles, hacking, ancient resource rich Ural mountains, a defunct brewery factory, privatization – what have these things got in common? A legendary sidecar wielding motorcycle is what they all mixed together to create in the heat of world economy.

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A legacy of WWII is now an ambassador of goodwill and friendship across the world. We present two-part Feature Article on Ural sidecar motorcycles.