A Lap of the TT course on a 1928 Shuttleworth Snap

Teeth chattering, eyes watering, piles forming, I’ve just swallowed my 7th fly and I’m slightly aroused by the vibrations going through my groin. I’ve just come out of Quarry Bends and I’m heading down the Sulby Straight, flat-out on motorbike which was built in the same era as the first TV, and I’m rattling around like a skeleton having it off in a biscuit tin. The Arctic conditions have frozen my brain so as I steam into corner blurry eyed at full chat, I can’t remember which lever to pull in order to lower the revs, change gear and stop myself from being a dent in the wall.

No such luxuries as a twist grip on this fossil, because I am doing a lap of the Isle of Man on a restored 1928 Raleigh, Shuttleworth Snap replica, last seen being ridden by George Formby out of ‘No Limits’. I’m wearing a pudding basin crash helmet, flared leather pants and a pair of thick goggles. I look more like I should be fired out of a cannon rather than trying to recreate a bit of vintage biking comedy.

The initial idea was great, the 1st mile or so was interesting to say the least and I even enjoyed the attention I was getting for the few miles or so. That was until an idiotic car driver tried taking my picture on his mobile and nearly ploughed me into the back of a parked bus. Yes, I’m doing a lap on a Shuttleworth Snap dressed in all the attire and when I’m not thinking about levers, gears, levers, throttle, levers, traffic, I keep thinking to myself, how ever did I get into this?

Like most daft things I do, this idea was drummed up over a few Jack D’s, this time with my new Isle of Man course tutor ‘Mad Milky’ Quayle. Having learnt that he had built himself a George Formby ‘Shuttleworth Snap’ replica, got the period clothing including a pudding basin lid and the bike was a runner, that was me, signing up for a lap of t’old TT course. I was only later to learn the bike had 3 gears, levers not a twist grip, self timing ignition and they all had to be selected by hand.

Only a true Shuttleworth Snap fan would go to such extremes as ‘Milky’, it had to be as close to the real thing as possible in his eyes so a 1928 bike was not good enough. It had to have a side valve, forward facing mag, split petrol tank as well as be made in 1928. With his prize money from his 2nd place in the production 1000cc TT in 2000, instead of taking his wife on holiday, Milky set about finding a original classic bike and couldn’t believe his luck when he found an almost unused 1928 Raleigh under a dusty sheet in the corner of a shed in Newcastle somewhere.

Once back in his garage, Milky set out to build the 225cc machine which pushes out an almost mind boggling 2 ¼ hp, into the flying Shuttleworth Snap, complete with go-faster rudder an all. Every night for the next few months the machine was stripped and rebuilt, finally firing into life and making its public debut at the historic TT re-enactment rally in 2007.

After getting changed in the middle of Douglas and messing about posing for the camera, it was soon time to shut up and drop the clutch for what was to be a hectic lap while mixed in with the regular daytime Manx traffic.

Now this bike is old and they didn’t have throttles back then as we know them nowadays, they had a lever which you have to manually open and close. They had another lever for the ignition advance which you have to set and sometimes change depending on the conditions, another lever for the hand change gearbox, levers for the front and rear brakes, which were about as good as an old push bike and finally a clutch lever which luckily did work and got me out of a few near scrapes over the next 2 hours.

At first it was almost too much to take in; levers everywhere and my hands were never on the bars let alone my eyes being on the road as I tried to keep up with the whole procedure. Milky’s voice was ringing in my head ‘don’t blow it up or crash it!’ and I felt quite quickly I was out of my depth. Finally I reached 3rd gear and vibrating my way towards maximum revs only to suddenly realise I wasn’t going to get through those changing lights and the next thing I’m shitting myself and heading straight towards the side of a blue transit van.

Clutch, brakes and feet down I some how got though the 1st set of lights to the amazement of the car drivers around and also myself, only to meet another set of lights ½ mile further down the road. Two mini round-abouts and some road works later and the fun is definitely over and already I want to pull in and walk.

These bikes are hard work and take all of your concentration to keep it all running smoothly, let alone think about thrashing it. But back in’t good old days that’s just what they did on little more than dust roads and probably between shifts down’t pit, Alex Bennett won the 1928 junior TT with an impressive 68.65 mph average.

When you weren’t worrying about levers and on an open piece of road and away from traffic lights and speed humps, the 1928 Shuttleworth was a pleasure to ride. It was nimble, the engine was responsive, had a comfy riding position, was slim and light, in fact it was probably a little beauty in its day.

My lap was tough and showed me that back then, men were men and bikes were complicated death traps that will vibrate you to bits while giving you piles. Never again I thought as I hobbled into the hotel bar picking flies out of my teeth, a few JD’s later and my friend ‘Mad’ Tim Reaves is daring me to be his passenger in his sidecar…. sounds good to me!

Jamie