If you were to fancy taking yourself and your wife on a 2,000 mile trip around war- torn France, would using a very small motorcycle be your first choice of vehicle? But that’s just what Dr. Bibbings did on an LE Velocette, with his wife on the pillion, setting out from Malvern in 1951.
Then, 71 years later, Dr. Bibbings’s son, Roger, also from Malvern, repeated it almost exactly on a very similar little machine, taking many photos from the same locations, but in colour this time. But then, other bold riders have also had adventures on those rugged little machines and their tales of many countries, with mishaps, solutions and interesting people they met along the way and are also to be found in this rather strange new book.
Review in ‘n/a’ – by Paul Elliot
Essential reading for any LE owner – or even those with just an interest in these fascinating machines. It is a great tribute to all those memorable LE journeys, but also to the many interesting people who owned them too. A long overdue book.
When writing Prose:
John Bradshaw’s professional life was spent working with and writing about mathematics and education. For seventeen years he was an editor for one of the Mathematical Association’s journals and also organised conferences and workshops. He has taught in primary, secondary and high schools and then in college and university. He now also offers some books that are actually intended to be fictional.
When writing ‘factual tales of fettling’:
John Bradshaw grew up surrounded by mechanical things and has not escaped so far. He has always owned wheels and currently has a stable ranging from an 1880s Cogent Ordinary bicycle to a 1990s BMW Z3 sports car, with examples of many things in between.
He was the Social-Sec and then Chairman of the Ariel Owners MotorCycle Club in the 1980s and then created and for a decade organised CycleFest, an international alternative cycle event.
He has written articles for a variety of cycling and motoring magazines. The restoration, modification and maintenance of cycles, motorcycles and cars, and then and writing about it, is nothing new to him, but the Morgan-Ariel Special is his first true creation.
Author: John Bradshaw
An innovative and self-made engineer, motorcyclist, and racing driver from Stafford, Jake’s creative work from the 1970s to the ’90s on his ‘TARKUS’ 3-wheeled hill-climbers and sprinters is uniquely chronicled in this new book, the first ever account of his Competition & Roadster Specials.
Author: John Bradshaw
The full story of the G.N. SPIDER, Basil Davenport’s legendary giant-killing hill-climber.
Author: John Bradshaw
In late August 1939, Hitler’s armies were poised to invade Poland, while in Austria the International Six Day Trial (ISDT) was underway.
Author: John Bradshaw
An account of the Rediscovery, Restoration, Research and Riding of an Ordinary Bicycle from 1988 through to 1991 with Subsequent Thoughts.
Author: Peter Henshaw and John Bradshaw
A disparate collection of desperate tales of woe, and occasional subsequent joy. It's actually a totally useless book, but comprised of true accounts of survived disasters collected over many years of attending Rallies, Treffens, Noggins and Trials around the world.
Author: John Bradshaw
A true account of the creation of a Morgan-Ariel Special. With inspiration and help from friends in the Morgan & Ariel worlds – plus many others – a 3-wheeler has been built in the vintage style out of many parts, mainly from Morgans, Urals and Ariels, hence its name: Muriel.
Author: John Bradshaw
A motoring tale of trials, tribulations, love, war and derring-do. So, it’s a novel book involving Morgan, Ariel, Fairey and diverse other machinery, as well as various MCC events, but also girls & dogs and – well, life really.