Does anyone know the whereabouts of the famous Joe Ryan "Fireplace Nortons", a Manx stable so grotty looking, that it was christened thus by rival teams?

Old Joe used to lavish tuning precision and extreme attention to friction loss upon the bikes he ran, but cleaning and flash paint jobs were very definitely not a priority!

I heard a story that he once sacked a rider for washing the bike! Another legend has it that the works Nortons were trounced by Joe's machines.

Last I saw one, Sam McClements was racing it at Sligo, going like the clappers.

I believe both Sam and Joe are both passed on now, but I would love to know what happened to the machines, and learn more about their race history.

Yes a famous bike that was.I remember seeing Sam coming over the schoolhouse hill on the Temple circut leading, and well up on one wheel, a real tidy machine,wonder where it is..?

I think you'll find they were called "Fireplace Nortons" because Joe Ryan was a fireplace maker, not because of their looks.

Quite so Colin.

How're you going?

Im fine,Larry, but cant wait for next season. What about you?

OK, probably due to the fact that I haven't laid a spanner on it since I came back from the Pre-TT at Billown in June!

Still, I suppose I'd better start . . . . . .

Fancy Billown again next year, after the Tandragee -- now there's one you'd enjoy, seriously!

Also, if it runs again, this Madeira caper should be good crack.

Then again, a certain person is making noises about the Grossglockner Hillclimb in Austria - all 18 kilometers of it!!

Dream on . . . . . . . . . but you should think about Tandragee in May. It's a good road circuit - probably the best here after Dundrod.

Ive got a video from Big D of Tandragee last year and it looks brilliant. Ill be on the same 125 as this year, but possibly also a different bike as well, one which I got turned down on at the 2000 MGP cos the MMCC Committee seemed to take an instant dislike to it, but which is now MCUI Ulster centre registered, it just requires finishing off.

Would that be the Bulto then?

See you there!!

Sorry Colin,I forgot.

Presume you'll want a guided tour, at the usual fee???

A guided tour would be quite welcome, if you're going to be there, and, yes, it is a Bulto, but not a 250, but a 350, (a "proper" one, not an AJR replica)owned by Bill Murray, dont know if you'll remember him from the Manx late 70's /early 80's?

Why don't you two go in the chatroom, and then you can talk to each other "live"? Go on...give it a go..All the chatroom gong would be delighted to see you.

Chatroom "gong"?

Sounds a bit noisy to me . . . . . . . .

OOps! Well, yes, we are sometimes a bit noisy in there. Usually its Huw huws with that Norton of his, and we did have Ian Lougher's 125...
Drop in sometime...the Bulto or even better, an Aermacchi, would be very welcome.

Helen, the 'Macchi was a good few years ago now -- but I can do you a BMW on open meggas and, if SACU rules permit, will do at East Fortune next June . . . . . . . . . .

I'd better be nice to Harry Grant & Co then! Incidentally, Harry was the guest of honour at the recent Kirkcaldy Club dance. A lovely man, reticent about his own achievements, but with a wonderful history. Jake will be highlighting it in the forthcoming book about the Kirkcaldy Club.
I'll make sure details of this book are posted when it is ready.

Helen - same Harry Grant who did the TT all through the 50's, and rode Dundrod as well?

Yes, that's him.
Harry is a quiet, gentle person, who scrutineers at our meetings here, and I am sure most of the young guys have no idea who he is! He must be much older than he seems, too.
I never saw him race, so he had retired by 1966, I think.