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Nolan Woodbury
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Moto-Euro Classic: The Black Hole
Written by: Nolan Woodbury
Moto-Euro Magazine   http://www.moto-euro.com/
06/16/2008 - 10:06 AM
Charlotte. NC
 
Stripped of its glossy bodywork, the F1's polished, Spondon-made alloy chassis comes into full view. (Photo: Larry Williams) ยป More Photos

I was preparing an old family recipe the other day, one that required that the meat be diced into small chunks; a tedious chore. But, by using an old miner’s trick my mother taught me years ago—vigorously shaking the pan while chopping— the larger bits magically rise to the top, thus allowing a shorter path to the more enjoyable mixing and simmering process. It's the same when studying the long, storied journey of England's motorbike history; a few shakes are all it takes to bring the big stories up. And while the rich flavor provided by Vincent, Triumph and BSA certainly makes the dish more appealing to the masses, a few tasty morsels have managed to fall through the cracks. And while the next few pages will dedicate themselves to one such story, allow me to assure you that grandmother's goulash turned out splendidly, providing another parallel for Moto-Euro's well-versed readership to chew upon.

Before John Bloor rode in to save the day, it was generally believed the last production model to bear the Union Jack was Triumph’s T140 Bonneville, which by 1983 was nearing the end of its long production. And while the Bonnie faded into the same mist that claimed its once proud
brethren, it wasn’t the finale; due to a series of small, almost unperceivable cells carried on during these “midnight hours” of the Brit-bike industry. The seeds that begat Norton’s oft-forgotten F1 Sport—the true and rightful usher to the pre-Bloor boom—were planted by one such movement, working under the corporate umbrella of Manganese Bronze. When director Dennis Poore managed to add the BSA moniker through the purchase of Triumph to form Norton Villiers Triumph (NVT), more was assumed than simply the oily remains of the Small Arms Empire. Although the last production Commando left the line in 1976, a mostly slumbering NVT formed a skeleton crew that was kept busy with a project code named P41; a Wankel-engined prototype inherited by NVT through BSA, who had purchased rights from NSU to develop and manufacture the engine for motorcycle and related applications one year before Poore’s 1973 buyout. Funded by a government grant, Project P41 was fed by the prospect of adding fresh blood to Britain’s aging two-wheeled military and police fleets. That promise, and much more, was realized before it too succumbed beneath the weight of a dissolving industry.
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