CATEGORIES

MR BATCHELAR'S SCRAPBOOK PART 1

ONCE IN A WHILE A PACKAGE GETS PUSHED THROUGH THE LETTERBOX OF THE BSH EDITORIAL ORIFICE, AND ISN’T, FOR A CHANGE, A BILL, OR A DEMAND FOR SEXUAL FAVOURS FROM TOP SUPERMODELS – IT’S SOMETHING FAR, FAR BETTER (OR AT LEAST FAR LESS IMAGINARY).

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST NEW SKOOL

OF ALL THE CLASSES IN THIS YEAR’S CUSTOM CHAMPS, ‘NEW SKOOL’ WAS THE ONE I HADN’T A CLUE AS TOWHAT WAS GOING TOWIN. THE BIKES IN IT – TOMMY’S XS650 FLAT-TRACKER, STEVE’S INSANE TURBOCHARGED CAFÉ RACER, JESSE’S 250 VIRAGO FLAT-TRACKER RACER, AND BEN’S DIMINUTIVE SIDECAR OUTFIT – WERE ALL SO DIFFERENT, SO ECLECTIC, THAT I COULDN’T WORK OUT WHICH ONE’D TAKE TOP HONOURS.

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST CUSTOM

PICKING THE WINNER OF THE BEST CUSTOM CATEGORY IN THE 2020 BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS WAS SOMETHING I REALLY WOULDN’T’VE RELISHED DOING AS ALL THE BIKES (DANIEL’S IRONHEAD, GRAHAM’S XS, MARK’S TRIKE, AND MATT’S SPORTSTER) WERE ALL SO DAMN GOOD THEY WERE ALL, IN MY EYES, IN THE RUNNING. THE JUDGES, THOUGH, WERE UNANIMOUS IN PICKING MATT’S.

EVENT: HAYLING ISLAND BIKE NIGHT

I’M SURE IT’S NOT JUST ME, BUT ANY EXCUSE TO GET A FEW MILES UNDER THE BELT’S A GOOD ONE THE WAY THIS YEAR’S BEEN GOING, SO GRABBING THE OPPORTUNITY OF A DRY THURSDAY I HEADED DOWN TO THE REGULAR HAYLING ISLAND BIKE NIGHT, AS ADVERTISED ON THE BSH FACEBOOK PAGE.

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST ENGINEERING

WE KNEW ‘BEST ENGINEERING’D BE A HARD-FOUGHT CLASS ‘COS THE WINNERS WERE ALL SO GOOD (TONY’S TOTALLY ONE-OFF VICTORY, NICK’S SUPERCHARGED HARLEY RACE BIKE, AND JOHN’S COMPLETELY HOMEMADE SINGLE), BUT THE WELL-DESERVED WINNER WAS DUSTY JOHNSON’S MONSTER-WHEEL EVO’.

EVENT: ROUTE 11 TRIUMPH DAY

ONE SUNNY SUNDAY MORNING I CALLED IN AT ROUTE 11 CAFÉ ON THE NORTHBOUND CARRIAGEWAY OF THE 11 NEAR ATTLEBOROUGH IN NORFOLK, BECAUSE THEY WERE HAVING A TRIUMPH DAY.

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST PAINT

OF ALL THE CATEGORIES IN THIS YEAR’S CHAMPIONSHIP, ‘BEST PAINT’ WAS THE ONE I THOUGHT’D GIVE THE JUDGES THE BIGGEST HEADACHE AS THE FOUR WINNING BIKES WERE ALL ABSOLUTELY AMAZINGLY PAINTED. I, PERSONALLY, HAD IT DOWN TO TWO, AND SO I WAS QUITE PLEASED WHEN VIC AND LIN, PAUL, DUTCH, AND MURRELLS PICKED ONE OF THEM – CHRIS LINDSAY’S S&S, PAINTED BY GUS AT MUDDY BEACH CUSTOMS.

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST BUTCHERED CLASSIC

AS SOMEONE WHO IS, AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN, A FAN OF BIKES THAT GO FAST, THE BUTCHERED CLASSICS CLASS WAS ONE CLOSE TO MY OWN HEART, AND IT’S ALSO THE ONE IN WHICH I’D HAPPILY’VE VOTED FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE (ANDY’S SCHIZOPHRENIC LC, CARLOS’ VERY EIGHTIES GSX, STEVE’S UBER-BLING GIXER, AND RICHIE’S SUBLIME TDR) BUT, PROBABLY SENSIBLY, I’M NOT A JUDGE.

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER & BEST IN SHOW - BEST CHOPPER

WHEN IT CAME TO JUDGING ‘BEST CHOPPER’ THE WINNER WAS ALMOST A WALK-OVER, WITH THREE OUT OF THE FOUR JUDGES PICKING LAYLA LEATHAM’S BSA. I’LL LET HER TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT. N.

Time management

The engineering journey of a 24-hour race

The all-seeing eye

The role of the NASCAR crew chief is changing, thanks to the relentless march of artificial intelligence

Spring brake

Understanding damping ratios and the notion of critical damping

Power play

Incremental development is the philosophy in F1, and Mercedes has proved it’s at the top of the engine game

My gang

The GT2 class is taking off, with four manufacturers now building cars and more coming. KTM launched its offering in October

Engineering success

Dallara Automobili is a major player in global motorsport. Racecar spends an hour discussing the present and future with the company’s founding father

In a spin

Revisiting the perennially complicated problem of tuning the differential

Black Arrows

Racecar investigates how Mercedes has stayed ahead of the F1 pack in 2020, and how it intends to continue doing so in 2021

Endless summer

Japanese brake manufacturer sets new milestone in GT racing

Continuation Or Abomination?

The case for and against clones of historic racecars

Sparks to Norwich

Loco-powered services between Liverpool Street and Norwich came to an end earlier this year, although unlike the cessation of HST workings on the East Coast Main Line at the end of 2019, coronavirus meant there was no big farewell. David Russell looks back at 35 years of electric traction on the route.

£9 million awarded to heritage railways

Money from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund will help preserved railways get through the pandemic.

‘Late life' Class 31 locomotives

WITH Bachmann about to release its newly tooled Graham Farish ‘N’ gauge ‘refurbished’ Class 31/1 with cab roof headcode boxes as part of a new batch of six new Class 31/1 models in its winter release schedule, the diverse appearance of the class is given a photographic airing in this issue of D&E Files.

LSL's Midland Pullman breaks cover

THE much-anticipated first look at Locomotive Service’s Midland Pullman HST set occurred on October 30, when the blue and white train – styled like the 1960s diesel Pullman sets that ran between St Pancras and Manchester – was released from Eastleigh Arlington.

Will dual-modes be the new ‘standard' loco?

The drive towards lower carbon emissions could see an uprated version of the Class 88 become the new mass mixed-traffic locomotive.

Project Yamaha YZF-R1 5VY part 5: Where fuels rush in…

Final preparations for PB’s Spanish track test go awry with a mystery rich-running problem…

Last roar of the ‘Deltics'

For a short period in the final years of their careers, the Class 55 fleet was given one last chance to show just what they were capable of on the tightly timed ‘Hull Executive’ – as Paul Gildersleve, publicity officer for the Deltic Preservation Society, describes.

Project Yamaha TX750 part 7: Electric Avenue!

Our Mark sorts out any electrical gremlins with the TX and finds that the system was fairly advanced for the time.

Córas Iompair Éireann Class 121

To say that the brand new Murphy Models ‘OO’ gauge CIÉ Class 121 model was eagerly awaited by Irish railway modellers is an understatement: It has to be one of the most important releases of 2020 even though the class was relatively small, with only 15 locomotives being delivered by EMD in 1961.

TRIUMPHANT RETURN!

On the 30th anniversary of the launch of the first Hinckley Triumphs, we look at how John Bloor single-handedly revived the British motorcycle industry.

Colas HST power cars start work on test trains

WITH Direct Rail Services' Class 37s bowing out on Network Rail test train duties on October 8 after a decade and a half of operation, the venerable Type 3s have been replaced by Colas Rail VP185-powered HST power cars made redundant from East Midlands Trains.