Hanks - On my knees. Birmingham born and bred Roy Hanks has been the face of Erdington’s Fred Hanks Motorcycles since the 1970s. His family also published the TT Special newspaper, while behind the scenes Roy was always active within the Auto Cycle Union, becoming an ACU Director in 1997. A position he still holds.
He is best known for his exploits on the track however, with the TT Sidecar Centennial being a case in point. 2023 marked the 100 years of sidecar racing on the Isle of Man and Roy competed in most of those meetings. Competing without break, from 1960 to 2016, across four generations of the Hanks family, from father Fred to granddaughter Jamie.
He remains the youngest person ever to have competed at the Isle of Man TT races and has been at the sharp-end of sidecar racing since forever.
He started racing alongside the BSA-powered ‘Birmingham Mafia’, survived the glory days of the Yamaha TZ750 powered rocketships, was a pioneer of the 350cc two-stroke outfits and was instrumental in developing the four-stroke F2 class, which was the basis for the 600cc machines we see today.
His achievements are too long to list, but the fact that he won the 1997 TT at his 59th attempt, long after most would have given up, tells you all you need to know about Roy Hanks. Racer, dealer, sports administrator, publisher and grandee of one of British motorsport’s greatest racing dynasties, Roy Hanks has done it all. And for a lot longer than anyone else!
Production Racers of the 1960s. There are plenty of books which cover motorcycle racing in the 1960s, but none on the most important class of them all. Production racing grew from humble beginnings, but it’s virtually all production racing now and it all started in the 1960s. This book explains quite how, by the end of the decade, even world champions graced the sport. Hailwood, Read, Gould, they all rode production bikes and Barry Sheene soon would too.
The class had teething problems along the way, with cheaters among the factory entrants, but the ‘scene’ rapidly developed and that development is explained through the voices of those involved. From long forgotten airfield circuits to the Barcelona 24hr races, from the 500-miler to the legendary ‘Hutch’ as the Hutchinson 100 was known. 16 two-page summaries also analyse the landmark road bikes of the period.
From the seminal Gold Star these range to the later Honda CB450, Triumph Trident, Ducati Mach I and Norton Commando, all of which featured in the production TT, once established in 1967. The TT more than any other event demonstrated just how meteorically production racing’s star had risen, and it’s all covered over 275 pages, featuring 350 images, 25 pages of race results and countless first hand stories and quotes.
Hailwood to Vincent. A list of classic competition machines from the golden age of British motorcycle racing is unlikely to include the BSA A65/50. Which is odd, as it won seven British National championships, a TT and the coveted American AMA No.1 plate among other titles. As Hailwood to Vincent recounts the lack of profile was partly due to BSA’s longstanding off-road bias, combined with a BSA-Triumph Group focus on promoting their three cylinder machines over the twins.
As a result of these factors much development of the A65 and A50 was carried out by BSA staff ‘out of hours’ with the American works team of 1970/71 similarly having to develop their own flat track machines to complement the big budget, works prepared, Rob North Rocket Threes. As the title implies this volume highlights the many competitors who made their mark on the BSA Unit twins, from Mike Hailwood’s landmark Hutchinson 100 victory to Chris Vincent’s many UK sidecar titles
It also includes contributions from all the members of the 1970/71 American BSA works team, but lesser known stories too. You’ll read of Graham Sanders heart breaking 2nd place in the 1970 European endurance racing championships , when he was barred from racing his A65 in the final round of the series at the Bol d’Or, as well as Alex Jorgensen’s titanic battle at the Houston Astrodome in 1980, where he defeated Freddie Spencer only to be piped at the post by Kenny Roberts. It’s all in Hailwood to Vincent
From The Other Side Of The Tracks. There are plenty of biographies by ex-sports stars, but few by their long-suffering partners. This book tips the balance a little, while shining a light on what it was like to perform in the dying days of the now mythical Continental Circus. Where the little guys …and girls… took on the stars of the works racing teams and won. Well, some-times.
It’s a fascinating read for fans of the glory years of Grand Prix racing and the Isle of Man TT, and takes the lid off what it was like to race as one of the many privateers.
“It is a beautifully written book which made me realise just how much our wives had to contend with whilst we pursued our chosen sport, often on the move and working in the most primitive of conditions.
What struck me most was just how close Sue and Clive’s relationship was and there's no doubting Sue’s flair for writing and lovely dry wit. With elements of hardship, failure, success, comedy and love, I can thoroughly recommend the book to anyone that has an interest in motorcycle racing, particularly back in the seventies and early eighties.”
– Charlie Williams. Ten times Isle of Man winner and TT legend
With a foreword by fellow privateer and 1980 350cc World Champion Jon Ekerold - the last such privateer to win a world title – Sue tracks Clive’s career from Bantam Racing Club to Grand Prix circus. Where, in 1980, MCN put Clive on a par with Barry Sheene as the Brit most likely to win a World Title. Neither did but that’s where the similarity ended. There were neither corporate sponsors nor works riders for Clive – besides an interlude with Armstrong – but there’s no resentment or envy in Sue’s book either. Only wit and warmth, though there are tears along the way too, From The Other Side Of The Tracks
Thunderbolts & Lightning. When it comes to books BSA’s twins are a neglected breed. There seemed a gap and Thunderbolts & Lightning now fills it. It’s also a little bit different from previous marque titles, in that it draws on interviews with eighty-plus ex-BSA staff and those directly associated with the machines. Along with period documentation, drawings and images, many of which you are unlikely to have come across before. Of particular interest to BSA enthusiasts will be the quotes and observations from staff directly involved, which start with Colin Washbourne and Ray Beach, the builders of the first prototype engines.
Contributors then included Chris Vincent and Peter Brown - both British sidecar champions as well as test riders of the original prototype machines in 1961 – through to Engine Development, Comp Shop, Sales, Drawing Office staff and more. All of whom played their part in shaping the machines’ history. Beyond the factory gates the views of dealers, owners-from-new and those who rode them professionally – the police, stunt riders and racers specifically – help paint a picture of the machines in context.
They all contribute to a three dimensional portrait of the machines, which goes beyond the normal cataloguing of year on year changes to brackets and washers - though there is plenty of that too. The headline stealing results of the racing machines also feature throughout and while there is more detail on that in Volume II – Hailwood to Vincent - for the road bike enthusiast, it’s all in Thunderbolts & Lightning