Revill’s of Hathersage

I just had to post this lovely old photo that Richard Jones showed me at the autumn Stafford Show. Anyone here remember Revill’s of Main Road, Hathersage?

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I wonder how much business was brought in by “wringing machine” repairs? Later wandering around the show I spotted this 1935 Sunbeam 350 twin-port was up for grabs amongst the auto-jumblers paradise.

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It’s the same kind of ingenuity and inspiration that put men on the moon that gave rise to these next two creations.

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And of course John Phizacklea made sure of a couple of stunning Sunbeams on the Wilts club stand. The recently finished Model 3 sits well alongside John’s own trials spec. Model 9.

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One of the best machines at the show to my eye was this beautiful Rudge TT replica, tucked away in the corner of the VMCC stand. As far as I could tell it looks to be in a fantastic “as raced” condition complete with twin-floats, twin-fillers and cable operated damper. Just awesome.

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And finally, there were of course some two-smokes too….  One of my favourites was this beautifully prepared, late model RS250 Honda. Nice touches include the radial front brakes fitted to the custom-made fork bottoms. The equally gorgeous Joey Dunlop that features the single-sided swinger of the earlier model bikes can just be seen.

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RS250 ready at last

Departing from the vintage theme a little, the 1999 Honda RS250 rebuild is now complete and the bike is ready for careful running-in. It has basically had a much needed “proper” clean and full chassis and engine refresh including new crank and cylinders. Many thanks to Rob at Racing Lines for his patience and much-needed support. A new paint-job will be in place soon but for now we are running the old bodywork.

After a quick visit to Maxton, I’m trying a heavier spring as the one fitted seems more suited to a typical jockey-sized 250 pilot but in truth I’m too slow to really notice. Japanese Battle factory pegs and lever add a touch of bling as do the Samco hoses.