22-24 April, 2011 AHRMA , Willow Springs, Ca. I raced Mike Bungay's 350 Aermacchi and Gary Roper's '51 Velocette MAC. The Aermacchi is a well developed street bike motor in a one off racing chassis that bears some resemblance to a Ducati TT 1/2 trellis frame. Mike lives in Sacramento and I've ridden this bike many times. The Velo has a rigid rear end with telescopic forks and 21" front and 19" rear wheels. The MAC model is 350cc but is running in a 500cc class, Class 'C' foot shift. Gary and I don't know how we are related, but there must be some wandering gene there somewhere that must go back to Sylvester, inventor of the steam motorcycle. Gary lives near Ashland, Or., and came with his son John. Fri. I did a half day of practice, going out first on the Velo. It vibrated like crazy and I decided it was geared too low/short. But, the good news was that it shifted fine after having a reverse camplate and close ratio gearset installed since the first time I rode the bike at Miller M/S park, last Sept. I then went out on the Aermacchi and decided it was geared too short, also. While Mike was changing the gearing, I noticed the swing arm was cracked, so that bike was finished for the day as we arranged to get it welded over night. I went out again on the Velo with one more tooth on the gearbox sprocket and it was better but I thought still too short. It was a bit hard to tell as the bike has no tachometer. I also ran Ron Halem's 500 Goldstar to shake it down and evaluate it prior to it going to the Isle of Man for the Classic Manx GP where Kevin Murphy will ride it. Sat. practice, I rode the Velo with yet another tooth on the G/B sprocket and it seemed good. The Aermacchi, with welded up swing arm and taller gearing initially seemed good, though I decided the front wheel was out of balance/round and on the last lap it started running funny, sort of surging. Turns out the front tire was out of balance and the intake manifold was very nearly broken off all the way around. Off to the welder again. For Saturday's Class 'C' race, there were four entries Fred Mork on a Garden Gate Norton Manx, Ted Van Doorn on a Matchless G80 and Ken Genecco on a Vincent Comet. I got a good start and led for the first 3 laps, but then the clutch started to slip and Mork came by. I was able to nurse it to the finish in 2nd. On the Aermacchi in 350GP, I got a good start and led initially behind Ralph Hudson leading Formula 250 on a TD-3 Yamaha. First, Dave Crussel came by on his 350 Kawasaki Bighorn in F-250, then Jim Neuenburg motored by on Fred Morks short stroke 350 H-D/Aermacchi. Jim went on to lead overall briefly before Crussel got back by him. I got ahead of Hudson when he ran off the track, but he recovered and passed me back. The front fairing bracket on my bike broke almost immediately allowing the fairing to bear against my left hand and clutch lever. It wasn't a huge problem, but was distracting as was the fact the my leathers started to unzip. I finished a distant 2nd. Fixing the fairing bracket wasn't a big deal but, on the Velo we found the the gearbox adjuster bolt had broken, allowing the rear chain to pull the G/B back making the primary chain tight as a banjo string. Gary had no spare, so we had to weld it. This involved indexing it so the thread lined up, beveling the ends, welding it straight, grinding down the weld and finding a 7/16" X 26 tpi die to cut thread over the weld. Amazingly, it came out beautifully. The clutch, however, was wasted an a call went out to Tom Ross in Riverside, who owns a MAC. Tom drove up to Willow Sun. morning and helped install the necessary clutch parts. In Sun. practice, the Aermacchi started backfiring on decel, and I told Mike to look for exhaust leaks. Sure enough, a bracket had broken off, taking a chunk out of the pipe. Back to the welder. We clearly have a vibration problem. I didn't get to practice on the Velo as it took all morning to install the clutch and primary drive, but I was able to do one 'scrub lap' on the warm-up lap of the first race of the day. Again, in the Class 'C' race, I got a good start and led into turn #1 and continued to lead all the way through the last corner on the last lap when Mork motored by my 350 with his 500 for the win. In the 350GP, another good start and and I led briefly overall when Hudson ran wide in turn #3. Hudson came back by, then Crussel on the Bighorn. At the end of the 2nd lap, Neuenburg motored by, but I was able to pretty much hang with him untill the 6th lap when my Aermacchi made a bad noise and I stopped. Mike takes these failures in stride, is undaunted, and is determined to find some more power. Gary has big plans for the Velo, also. A good event despite the wind, which is always a nuisance at Willow, but probably the worst I've seen it.

My season so far

I've raced my 1946 Moto Guzzi Dondolino and my 1970 350 H-D Aermacchi at four venues so far this year. I started at Virgina Intl. Raceway in a WERA event. This was the first time I'd had the Dondolino on a track and I had a lot of teething problems as one expects from a new bike. Slipping clutch, oil leaks, and finally in the race, front brake failure. Luckily, I had enough room to get it slowed down (it has a great rear brake). The turn out was very light and I had an easy win on the H-D. From V.I.R., I drove to Savannah, Ga. to race at Roebling Road Raceway in AHRMA's first race of the season. I spent the practice day fixing all these niggling problems with the Dondolino and didn't get it on the track, but ran it around the paddock at the end of the day. The next day, the Dondo died on the first lap of practice--no spark. I found the button on the magneto end of the high tension lead had come off and thought that must be the problem. But, after soldering it back on, still had no spark. I was ready to believe the magneto had died, but Al Hollingsworth kept futzing with it and after a while, there was spark. I started the race with no practice on the bike and Alex McLean on Bob McKeever's cammy rigid Norton gapped me. But, after a few laps I noticed I was closing on Alex. About the time I pulled along side him, he squirted away and the Dondo started running poorly again. If I gave it much throttle, the motor would cut out. I was able to nurse it to the finish, though, ending up 2nd. I was able to win the 350gp fairly comfortably on the H-D Aermacchi.

Again, I suspected the magneto on the Dondo, though I wondered about fuel feed also, but I didn't find anything wrong with either. The next day, it ran fine for both practice and, in the race, I got the hole shot and led the first lap. But, at the end of the straight starting the 2nd lap, Alex came flying by and pulled steadily away. Again I finished 2nd, but well clear of the others in the class. And, again, I won the 350gp.

When I got home, I discovered the throttle wasn't opening all the way and I ordered a throttle with a bigger barrel from Jon White at Prova. And, I ordered a bigger rear sprocket when I learned the next circuit on the calendar, Motorsport Ranch in Cresson, Tx., was quite short. I drove to Roanoke, Va. where I loaded my bikes and gear into Eric Mercer's van and trailer and we continued on to Tx. Practice went well in hot conditions and I felt I got a fair handle on this tricky little course. But, I totally blew the start of Sat. Class 'C' race on the Dondo as I thought I was in gear but wasn't when the flag dropped. By the time I got it in gear, everyone was gone. Keith Martin at Big D cycles had built a very fast rigid, pre-unit Triumph and his rider, Ryan Ambrose, is 27 yrs. old and brave and knows the track intimately. Ryan's fastest lap was 4 secs. faster than Alex or me, and I finished a distant 3rd. In 350gp, Paul Germain got the hole shot on his very well developed Yamaha DT1 powered racer and gapped me a bit, but I reeled him in and was able to pass for the win. Sat. night a cold front came through and it was 30 degrees colder Sun. than Fri. or Sat. We were warned that the track got slippery in these conditions and, for that reason, I skipped the first round of practice Sun. morn. I did 3 laps on the Dondo, and it seemed fine. Then I went out on the H-D and on the first lap, instantly lost the front end in a quick right. I tumbled a good deal, but the bike didn't and wasn't in bad shape; didn't even break the windscreen. I had to clean a lot of dirt and replace the throttle cable, but was able to kick it straight for the race. First I was out on the Dondo and this time, Ryan blew the start when he missed the 1st to 2nd shift, and I grabbed the lead. On the 2nd lap, Alex with Ryan in tow, came by, but I got them both back in traffic. Ryan then gathered it up and disappeared in the distance. Alex and I went back a forth a bit before he slowly crept away. Again I was 3rd, but we put on a good show. I was very tentative in the 350gp having crashed in practice and Germain again gapped me. After a few laps, I was picking it up and closing on him. Then I saw a few raindrops on my faceshield and I backed right out of it. That same lap, Germain crashed exactly where I had. He was far enough ahead for me to have time to slow right down, but I still tucked the front end, though I was able to save it. Then someone else crashed in that corner and they red flagged the race. Scoring reverted to the previous lap, so Paul won it, but at a great cost as he broke his thumb and pinky and had a deep gash on his right hand.

I got back home Tues. night and the next day decide to race at Summit Point, W.Va. in a WERA race that weekend. At first I thought I wouldn't race the H-D Aermacchi as I had some crash damage to repair and my front tire was very worn. But, then I realize I had a new front tire and took it with the two bikes on Fri. to Summit. I did a practice on the Dondo and it seemed fine, but didn't get the 350 out what with changing the tire and gearing during practice. It showered some and the track had plenty of wet patches when we started the 500gp race on the Dondo. I worked my way into the class lead but then Rich Midgely came by on his CB 350 Honda. I was definitely sliding on my skinny 21" tires in the wet and Rich had the advantage there, but I had motor on him and we went back and forth many times. He dove under me into the final turn and held me off for the class win. Good stuff. It rained some more before the 350gp and I went out on a very wet track with a front tire that hadn't turned a lap. I tiptoed around initially, but started to gain some confidence and worked my way into the overall lead. Then, on the 6th of 8 laps, I tucked the front end and fell on the same side as at Tx. But, this was a much slower corner and, again, I didn't break the windscreen. Midgely inherited the lead and copped another win.

I've had a couple of weeks to catch my breath, then Wed. I fly to LAX to race at Willow Springs on the weekend. There I'm racing Mike Bungay's 350 Aermacchi along side Ari Henning on another of Bungay's Aermacchis. I'm also racing Gary Roper's (we haven't figured out how we're related, if at all) 1951 Velocette MAC.

Click the Oliver Godfrey tab above to see the developing story of the first Mountain Course TT champion.  The new Indian Racers tab is where we are trying to fill in some information about the rest of the Indian team.

Indian racer will commemorate 100th anniversary of historic Isle of Man Tourist Trophy win

Barely 100 years have passed since a team of Indian motorcycles swept the first three places at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, and now another Indian entry is set to commemorate this historic victory of the first and only American brand to win a TT race. 

A replica of the special 580 cc Indian TT model V-twin has been built by Canadian entrant Peter Gagan and on Friday, June 10, 2011 it will lead the centenary parade lap for historic machines. The rider will be Dave Roper, the first American ever to win an Isle of Man TT. Roper has a lifetime of achievement in vintage racing, including more than 20 AHRMA national championships as well as his win of the 1984 Senior Classic TT on a G50 Matchless.

Roper will be first of 26 starters in the “Milestones of the Mountain” parade lap, leading such legends as Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read and current TT star John McGuinness. They and their famous machines represent highlights in the history of the Tourist Trophy  in the 100 years since its adoption of the full 37.73 mile Mountain Course. The TT was first held on a shorter course starting in 1907.

The Indian factory’s star rider in the 1911 Senior Tourist Trophy race was Canadian-born board track legend Jacob DeRosier, supported by three local riders from England and Ireland. In the event, though, DeRosier suffered tire failure and was disqualified for accepting outside help while Oliver Godfrey, Charles Franklin and Arthur Moorhouse swept the first three places.

Their mounts were special machines built at the Indian factory in Springfield, Mass., to comply with TT rules. Single-cylinder machines were limited to 500 cc displacement while twins, which operated less efficiently with the atmospherically-opened inlet valves which were common at the time, were given an 80 cc advantage. Chief engineer Oscar Hedstrom adapted a 680 cc Indian “little twin” with a smaller cylinder bore and added a two-speed transmission from the company’s 1,000 cc “big twin” to cope with the demands of the hilly Isle of Man course.

None of these special machines survived intact to the present day, but fortunately about 10 years ago Peter Gagan located a 580 cc Indian racing engine in England. It may have been from one of the original TT machines but the records that could verify it do not exist. Working from his home in White Rock, British Columbia, Gagan constructed a replica using a 1911 Indian frame and transmission. No drawings of the TT bikes exist, so the frame modifications and exhaust pipes had to be fabricated according to photographs of the originals. The machine bears Godfrey’s race number 26.

Gagan has a lifetime of experience with early motorcycles, having been a member for more than 50 years of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America, of which he is past president. He has also served as president of the Antique Motorcycle Foundation and was founder of the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group.

Gagan and his team are eager to hear from potential sponsors of this historic return to the legendary Isle of Man. They can be reached at petegagan@blaze.ca.

Please note also the Paypal link elsewhere on this page to help Dave Roper with the considerable expense of attending this historic event.

Pictured below is young Oliver Godfrey, aboard #26 - this and other photographs were used in Gagan's restoration of the motorcycle to be ridden by Dave Roper.

Oliver Godfrey

Tim Pickering, one of the authors of the book "Franklin's Indians" and Chris Smith, of Motorsport Publications LLC ( www.ClassicBikeBooks.com ) have come up with this mini biography of Oliver Godfrey.

Oliver Godfrey – first TT Mountain Course champion

The very first winner of the Mountain Course TT, Indian-mounted competitor Oliver Godfrey, was born in London in 1887.    His dad was an artist, a painter but better known as an engraver, who seems to have departed for Australia prior to 1901. Mrs Godfrey had remarried by the time young Oliver won his TT.   He flew for England during WWI as   second lieutenant in the RFC (Royal Flying Corps), a good calling for a fast and fearless motorcycle racer.

Oliver would have been about 23 years old when he won the TT - after trying 4 times before, on a series of 726cc  Rex twins and a Triumph single. He raced the TT from 1907 through 1914, except 1912 when he had mechanical trouble at the start line.  All his TT appearances from 1911 onwards were aboard an Indian. In April of 1911, just prior to his big win, he was living with his mother and his step-dad's family in Finchley (northwest London) and was employed as a motor spindler.

Godfrey was one of five riders supported by the Indian factory to enter the 1911 TT, the other riders being a mixture of English, Irish, Scots and American in the form of Arthur Moorhouse, Charles Franklin, Jimmy Alexander and Jake De Rosier respectively.  These riders are profiled in a companion page in this blog.  The Indian team was managed by UK Indian concessionaire Billy Wells of the Hendee Mfg Co.’s London branch, and “technical advisor” was the great Medicine Man of Indian himself, none other than the Springfield factory’s chief engineer Oscar Hedstrom.

Although De Rosier and Alexander had drama with crashes, Godfrey simply rode consistently and well to finish the race without falling and just ahead of Charlie Collier (Matchless) who was second to cross the finish line.  Franklin similarly had a straightforward race and Moorhouse, although he did fall off once, was able to stay up with the race leaders.  Collier had misjudged his gasoline consumption, was forced to take on fuel at an unauthorised filling point, and so was disqualified which elevated Franklin and Moorhouse to 2^nd and 3^rd places.

Godfrey’s winning feat established a number of “firsts”, including the first ever clean sweep by a factory team, first TT win by a foreign manufacturer, first Senior TT win, first win on the Mountain course, and first Mountain course race record (though Frank Applebee’s Scott set the first Mountain course lap record).  In a rather upbeat TT race report reprinted in the 1912 Indian UK sales catalogue, Godfrey was described as “small in size, but a bunch of muscles and nerves and a magnificent rider”.

Godfrey failed to start in the 1912 TT, “Did Not Finish” in 1913, but was able to claim 2nd place in 1914. His TT record and other results at Brooklands Track in Surrey place him at the forefront of motorcycle racers in the pre-World War One period of competition. Godfrey was a partner with 1912 Senior TT winner, Scott-riding Frank Applebee, in Godfreys Ltd, motorcycle retailers located at 208 Great Portland Street, London W1.  This firm continued trading until the 1960s.  A 1920 magazine advertisement laid claim to experience in all aspects of the motorcycle trade “including winning the 1911 and 1912 TTs”.

When World War One broke out Godfrey joined up to be a flier. He earned his Royal Aero Club Aviator's certificate in a Beatty-Wright bi-plane at Hendon (which is now a massive RAF museum) in January 1916. The RFC used the Royal Aero Club for pilot certification through WWI - about 6300 wartime pilots were certified through that club. In the attached a photo of him, his flying certificate photo, the wires behind him may be the structure of one of those old bi-planes. 

Oliver Godfrey was posted to 27 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps which first arrived in France in March 1916 and by June was based at Fienvillers, 10 miles west of Albert in the Somme Valley and 15 miles behind the front lines.  Their “base” was simply a c
ow pasture for a runway, while the fliers and ground-crew all slept in tents.  The squadron was equipped exclusively with single-seater fighter scouts called the Martinsyde "Elephant" G100 (

http://www.apw.airwar1.org.uk/g100.htm ) - in fact, the squadron's insignia includes an elephant. The plane was nick-named the Elephant because it was big and slow to respond. 

They quickly figured out that this was not a good fighter plane, but it worked well as a bomber and a reconnaissance plane because of its long range, so they were deployed on missions up and down the western front to bomb and to reconnoiter.  

When the First Battle of the Somme commenced on 1 July. the squadron provided escort to other aircraft tasked with shooting down observation balloons, and was sent out to bomb German back area communications targets like railway stations and rail junctions.  Based on a list of the officers of the 27th Squadron through June 1916, Oliver was not on board yet - he must have arrived after the Battle of the Somme began, so his actual battle time at the time of his death couldn't have been more than 3 months, which might have been a good life-span for a pilot given the circumstances!

Bombing raids and reconnaissance missions were flown to places like Bapaume, Cambrai and Douai.  Their successes in bombing led to this becoming the squadron’s main role from 9 July onwards, and enemy airfields at Bertincourt, Velu and Hervilly were added to the list of targets.  The start of the Third Battle of the Somme on 15 September saw the squadron attack General von Bulow’s headquarters at Bourlon Chateau, followed by more bombing of trains around Cambrai, at Epehy, and Ribecourt.

In August 1916 the German Imperial Army Air Service was reorganized, and new “hunter” squadrons were created.  These became the pioneers of specialist fighter aircraft formations, soon to be universal.  The first to become operational was Jagdstaffel 2, formed at Lagnicourt.  On 27 August it came under the command of Oswald Boelcke, who was Germany’s top-scoring pilot at the time.  A young Manfred von Richthofen was among pilots hand-picked by Boelcke for the new unit.  By 16 September Jagdstaffel 2 had received enough of its allotted aircraft to commence operations in earnest.  For RFC units like 27 Squadron, the ir “honeymoon” period inFrance was definitely now over. 

It was during a bombing mission by six Elephants to Cambrai on 23 September that Oliver Godfrey lost his life.  He was most likely shot down by Hans Reimann of Jadgstaffel 2, who was himself killed in the same engagement.  The events of that day are described in a history of 27^th Squadron written by Chaz Bowyer:

"On September 22nd bombing raids were carried out on Quievrechain railway station.  One pilot, seeing that his bombs had failed to explode, proceeded to strafe the engine driver of a train attempting to leave the station quickly.  Later in the day, fifty six 20lb bombs were scattered in Havrincourt Wood, suspected of harbouring German infantry.  The following day 27 Squadron sent six Elephants on an Offensive Patrol over Cambrai, setting out at 8.30 am.  All six were attacked over Cambrai by five Scouts of Jagdstaffel 2 led by Boelcke in person - with disastrous results for the Martinsydes.  Sgt. H. Bellerby in Martinsyde 7841 was shot down almost immediately by Manfred von Richthofen (his 2nd official victory) while within seconds two more Elephants piloted by 2/Lts. E.J. Roberts and O.C. Godfrey were destroyed by Leutnants Erwin Boehme and Hans Reimann.  Recovering from the shock of the first German onslaught, the remaining three Martinsydes continued the fight despite being outnumbered and outclassed by superior German aircraft.  Lt. L.F. Forbes having exhausted all of his ammunition made one last defiant gesture by deliberately charging at the Albatros piloted by Hans Reimann, ramming the German scout in a near head-on collision.  Reimann spun to earth and his death in a crushed cockpit, but Forbes, in spite of one collapsed wing with aileron controls shattered, managed to nurse his crippled Martinsyde towards base."

At the time that Godfrey was shot down, Cambrai was situated quite some way behind enemy lines and so it is not clear what became of his body or whether, indeed, there was anything left in the burned-out wreck to bury. His memorial is Ref. IV. F. 12. at Point-du-jour Military Cemetery, Athies, near Arras.  Directions to the cemetery can be downloaded from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website (www.cwgc.org).

Godfrey was one of 252 crew and 800 planes lost during this 4+ month campaign; the RFC lost about 75% of its men in the battle. On the ground were some 750,000 casualties. Many of the pilots coming to France at that time were relatively inexperienced, deployed to replace downed airmen as fast as they could churn them out of the training schools.

When Godfrey’s estate was settled some 18 months later, his entire estate of 1475 pounds sterling went not to his mother but to Frank Applebee, Scott-mounted winner of the 1912 TT and Oliver’s business partner in Godfrey’s Ltd, the motorcycle dealership in Great Portland Street , London.