Dave

Was that you on The James May program with the Meccano motorcycle on the Isle of Man ?

Job

email (option): Jonnyob1@googlemail.com

Yes mate :-) they cut all the witty comments I made and just used me for my
good looks.:-)

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

How did you find it on the casting couch. Did you get the part in the Lawrence of Arabia remake ? I wouldn't bank on getting to ride the Brough though !

Should that read Shock, Horror on the Telly?

They chatted to us for quite a while and we had to sign a release to say they could use the footage... then they use about 3 seconds of it. :-(

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

thats the way it always seems to be. Could I just ask a question. I saw the programme on telly like everyone else. I need to be honest i am not keen on Top Gear or the threesome. I thought that the design of the bike was really skilled and inventive. I felt having an empty sidecar was a bit of a cheat. but what i cant understand is why James May is made the centre piece (except for making it bankable) when the real effort was the designer of the bike and the team who repaired it.
is it just me??
all best for now. ps they should have just used green bits and made it a dr's bike!!

email (option): peter.beresford3@btopenworld.com

Sadly, that's how television for the masses is made - they have to include some stupid stuff to keep Joe Public interested, so there's no room for anything other than suferficial information. Not too sure how much time Oz Clarke actually spent in the chair, probably not a lot!
Thank goodness the other two TG 'stars' weren't there to blow it up as it crossed the finishing line!
And on that bombshell...
Scorp.

email (option): wm20atscorpionvideo.net

Also starring in the December issue of 'Back Street Herpes' magazine ('Rock and Bike Fest' report).... ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Yes Ian, well spotted. I only went to a few events last year, with all the troubles and things I had to sort out, but seemed to get "found" wherever I went. That did make me laugh, I entered a standard bike into a custom bike show and won a prize



But back to the meccano bike, I guess James May had the idea to do it in the first place as he seems to have a thing about his childhood toys and doing what we'd have loved to do with it if we could have. Now he's a TV personality it gives him the clout to be able to do it.

The bloke who built the bike was Simeon Oakley and all the credit should go to him. I was with some mates from 3D motorcycles who were racing a Triumph T150 Trident in the Formula Classic TT race. James May's crew were in the next tent in the pits to us. Here's the bike being unloaded from the van.





The meccano motor set up was a work of art, 96 small electric motors bundled together and linked by a flimsy chain. If you watched the program you'll see that they didn't have enough power to do the job so they used a golf buggy motor fixed to the back.



James May did get his hands "dirty" as he was lying under the bike tightening up all the nuts and bolts the day before his run. He didn't have a sense of humour when I said "I hope you're wirelocking all those nuts"
instead he started to tell me how each one was a nylock nut... Yes I could see that..!



Anyway, more importantly, my mates bike, riden by Gavin Lupton, came 1st in it's class and 2nd in the race by 0.004 of a second They were gutted to lose by 4 thou of a second. Like he said, if the transponder had been on the tip of the front mudgurad they would have won..

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk