Surrey Vintage Vehicle Society caters for veteran cars, vintage cars & classic cars, as well as commercials and motorcycles.

London-Brighton Veteran Run: 
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2018 Brighton Veteran Run

The first Pioneer Run for veteran motorcycles manufactured before 1915, organised by the Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club, was held on Sunday 9th Feb 1930. The start was from the Aerodrome Hotel, Purley Way, Croydon at 11am. There were 77 entrants; George Brough was No.1 on the 1903 Dreadnought, originally built by Harold 'Oily' Karslake. Rudge entered their works riders, Graham Walker, Ernie Nott and H G Tyrell Smith on veteran Rudge machines. The event was publicised in the Motor Cycling journal (The Green Un) which brought thousands of spectators to the start (The Times newspaper estimated there were 100,000!), much to the annoyance of the local police who had been informed of the event, but had made no provision for the general chaos which ensued. For 1931 the start was moved to Tattenham Corner Railway Station, then in later years Tattenham Corner, except for 1954 when the run started from County Hall, London. The finish was at Brighton seafront on Madeira Drive. Things are somewhat different these days; the start time is 8am in an effort to avoid the Sunday morning traffic and in 2021 two major changes took place. Firstly, the run finished at Shoreham Airport (now named Brighton City Airport and the oldest continually licensed airport in the UK, with terminal building built in 1936), instead of the 'traditional' finish on Brighton sea front due to concerns for the safety of riders entering the fast A23 at Pyecombe on the approach to Brighton, and secondly, the run took place in early October instead of March as it has been since resuming after WW2 because that was the first opportunity to hold the run after Covid Pandemic lockdowns. >>

This would be my 8th Pioneer Run, and with the exception of a couple of light showers, I'd yet to experience a really wet run, until now that is, and this run really was wet! The rain tipped down as I fuelled the bike under an umbrella in the paddock and then wheeled the bike up to the road for a push start. The Triumph TT roadster has no pedals or kick-start so the bike has to be pushed with the valve lifter lever being used to reduce compression to gain sufficient momentum for the 500cc engine to start when the lever is released. 

My first attempt resulted in the drive belt slipping on the engine pulley due to being soaked, so a faster push was thought necessary, almost a run, caused the engine to fire instantly, with me desperately trying to scramble on board while careering down the road trying to slow down using the bicycle type front brake which produced no retardation whatsoever! >>

Panic over, I headed for the starting enclosure, noticing that opening the throttle lever to accelerate easily caused the drive belt to slip. I had taken the precaution of carrying a spray can of 'belt dressing', a sort of adhesive to make belts grip, which I had already applied but it didn't seem to be having any effect. 

As I was in motion I thought I'd press on, rather than stop and apply more of the spray on the belt and joined a small group of riders in the starting enclosure and was swiftly waved through by the Mayor of Epsom & Ewell and was on my way. Taking stock, I realised that the bike was a completely different proposition in heavy rain; the bicycle type front brake didn't work at all and the rear brake, a block of hard rubber operating on the drive belt rim, was barely operative - even with a bit of advanced notice to clear the rain water on the rim. >>

The engine stalled at the first set of lights but I managed to push start and headed for the A217 which was lined with veteran bikes already stopped and being either resuscitated or loaded into vans or on trailers, their riders or the bikes themselves having given up the ghost due to the extremely wet conditions. The first real test of the braking ability of the bike was approaching - Reigate Hill. Precautionary use of the brakes as I began teetering down the hill indicated that there was very little in the retardation department so I kept a good way from the vehicle in front which happened to be a fellow veteran riding very cautiously, then a trickle of water in my boots highlighted the folly of tucking my waterproof trousers inside and not over them, but I had no intention of stopping to rectify the situation. Leaving Reigate, the gradual rise of Cockshot Hill caused belt slip, almost bringing the bike to a standstill which was avoided by nifty 'footing' to maintain forward motion. >>

The A217 was awash with flooded sections but safely negotiated, as was the nightmare of Crawley with its multiple traffic lights and roundabouts. Would the bike surmount the rise up to Pease Pottage? Answer - no, coming to a standstill about 100 yards from the roundabout over the M23. I then dried the drive belt with rag as best I could and sprayed it with more belt dressing. Pushing the bike up to and across the roundabout, I attempted a restart but the belt still slipped. A faster push was successful and I then determined to ride to the finish without stopping if at all possible.  I avoided Leechpond Hill by taking a slight detour then entered the compulsory stop at Leonardslee Gardens just to get my number stamped without dismounting or stopping the engine and continued through Cowfold then Henfield and Small Dole. Passing the derelict cement works by the River Adur, I thought I had little chance of negotiating the rise on the roundabout up to the A27 but just made it, then turned left into the approach road to Shoreham Airport at which point the engine spluttered and stopped. >>

I could see the Art Deco airport building which was the finishing point, across the runway about ¾ mile away and tried to restart the bike without success so pushed the bike home to claim my finisher's medallion. Fortunately, or annoyingly, the rain stopped as I was pushing in and the sun came out just as I crossed the line!

This had been my hardest run yet, but I was elated to have finished. I wasn't going to quit due to the conditions or difficulty with the bike and was determined to keep going as best I could. Maybe that's the true pioneer spirit, at least that's what I was telling myself whilst riding anyway! It was surprising to see so many spectators braving the wet conditions to cheer on the veteran bikes and riders which was greatly encouraging. The trailer/van park was some distance from the airport building and two vintage buses provided a shuttle service for the tender crews taking them to and from the finishing paddock, which was a nice touch.>>

The number of entries was low this year, 154 were listed in the programme, about half the usual pre-pandemic number and there were seven late entries bringing the total to 161. Only 120 signed on at the start, probably as a result of the bad weather and 108 finished, which indicates that many of the machines seen receiving attention at the roadside were successfully resuscitated and made it to Shoreham Airport.

There were many interesting machines on the Run but the one that caught my eye, and won an award, was the 1902 Slinger, a one-off, three wheel, single track solo motorcycle. A most unusual machine made by W Slinger, Electrical Engineers of Settle, powered by a 500cc water-cooled De Dion engine mounted on a two wheeled bogie frame. It seemed to run and handle very sweetly but then it had chain drive which is immune to the problems presented by belts in wet conditions!