Mallory Park VMCC test day - 8th April 2011

Some very sunny images of the recent test day at Mallory Park with NSU 250 Sportmax Replica and 500 ES2 'Green Meanie'. The fantastic weather and brand new surface at Mallory provided the perfect opportunity to put some miles on both machines in preparation for my inaugural race later in the season.

The nimble, lightweight NSU proved itself as an extremely capable track machine, (hopefully like the rider in the near future) diving into turns and remaining very stable at higher speeds. Wearing new Avon Roadrider track tyres the strong little 250 was very stable under braking and encouraged ever higher cornering speeds as my knowledge of the track improved.

There were all sizes and ages of machines present, including this pre-war Velocette 350 I'm chasing into Edwine's.

This shiny beast was built by the very highly skilled Mike Pemberton of Pushrod Performance. Beginning with a 1960 Norton 99 Dominator frame, the bike uses a 350 crank, short stroked with an alloy 500 barrel. Combined with belt primary drive, a rather special piston and you have quite unique machine. Nick-named the Green Meanie (a drop of green paint was used to achieve the frame colour), I see it as something of a streetfighter from the 60s...

Pushrod ES2 Manx Norton

Built up by Mike Pemberton of Pushrod Performance this smartly prepared road racer features a full race spec pushrod 490cc ES2 engine. The bike is owned by Sue Stelfox.

Norton 500T Special- Back on the road again..

Although not exactly a road racer, this 16H based 500T certainly pulls like one! The light weight, rigid construction including trials exhaust and push rod 500cc single makes for a surprisingly rapid machine.

Acceleration is brisk and one thing you must remember when out riding on tarmac is to dodge the bumps in the road! Or maybe just let a few Psi out of the back tyre..

Put together by pushrod specialist Mike Pemberton, I rode the bike last weekend and was amazed at the power on offer. The riding position with it's rear sets and wide bars feels slightly strange at first but suits the rugged nature of the bike.

Last year I entered the bike into the The Arbuthnot Vintage Trial where I was thrown from the bike thanks to a hidden ditch in the long grass. The impact with the ground snapped the front brake lever and chewed the valve lifter cable, but after much cable trickery (who knew cable housings were so bloody strong?) the 500T special was ready for the road and green lanes again.

After an enjoyable half hour stint carving up the local country lanes my bruised knee and dented pride were all but a distant memory.

Pushrod Performance Nortons

Mike Pemberton of Pushrod Performance wakes up the neighbours with his two custom made Norton road bikes, the Norton Supermoto and the Poor Man's Manx.