hullangel 0 Posted September 11, 2003 Talked to both Eric Boocock and Ian Cartwright about the first rider on a Weslake, and they both said ..........Gordon Kennet. He only lived 2 mins away from factory, and helped in the development. So Weslake made him first works rider...........Hope this helps....... :-o Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Steve Magro Posted September 16, 2003 :-o Gordon Kennett and Weslakes: In December 1975 I saw the British Lions in Sydney, with all of their bikes on show. Gordon Kennett definately had a two valve Jawa, as did Chris and Dave Morton. John Davis, Peter Collins and captain Chris Pusey were all Weslake-mounted, while Dougie Wyer used a Swedish ERM 4 valve conversion. All of which may explain why Australia were walloped by 6-1 !! So if Gordon was a Weslake works rider before this tour, I would like to know why he reverted back to the trusty two valve, because by late '75 they were clearly obsolete. For the majoity of the test series the only Aussie to use a 4 valve was Phil Crump, who used a Street 4 valver. cheers Steve Magro http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~stvmagro/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hullangel 0 Posted September 19, 2003 Bumped into Dave Jessup the other day. he told me that it was Chris Louis who was the first to ride a wessie. I seems they gave him one to do a grasstrack meeting at Lydon, and nobody could catch him. and as he didn't want to give it back , he became the first rider to use a wessie in speedway..................unless anybody outhere knows different. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevehone 3,427 Posted September 19, 2003 doubtful considering he would have been 5 or 6 years old..... :roll: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sandman 0 Posted September 19, 2003 a five or six year old on a wessie sounds reasonable to me, maybe 50 hp and havent you ever heard of a child prodigy? 8) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hullangel 0 Posted September 20, 2003 OK sorry i meant his dad John........ :roll: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sliderphil 0 Posted May 26, 2005 Whatever happened to these machines, are they still around? any riders use them? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I will be campaigning the 2005 Canadian speedway season on a nice example of an Antig chassied Wessie. I love the old girl, and for our short circuits, there's no real disadvantage. Check out my website for more info Regards, Sliderphil http://www.sliderphil.netfirms.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyM 1 Posted May 26, 2005 Looking back there are certain riders that seem to be at the start of a new trend due to their success with a certain machine - eg. Egon Muller with the GM and Neil Street/Phil Crump with 4 valves. Who was ther rider who started the trend for Weslakes in the first place? Was it Peter Collins? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> PC was certainly among the first batch of riders to use 4-valve Weslakes at a time when the majority of riders were mounted on 2-valve Jawas. And by gum, did it make a difference! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rusky 113 Posted May 26, 2005 OK sorry i meant his dad John........ :roll: <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm sure John was the first. I seem to remember there being an article in the speedway mail with a picture of JL on his Weslake at Hackney. I think it had a bicycle speedo mounted on the handlebars, which looked a little bizzare if I remember. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tsunami 10,219 Posted May 26, 2005 A couple of years ago there was a guy riding a Westlake at Reading in the second half when we were visiting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pudding 0 Posted May 26, 2005 i ride a weslake on the beach @ mablethorpe , its by no means the fastest but niether am i Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TigerTom 0 Posted May 29, 2005 I will be campaigning the 2005 Canadian speedway season on a nice example of an Antig chassied Wessie.I love the old girl, and for our short circuits, there's no real disadvantage. Check out my website for more info Regards, Sliderphil http://www.sliderphil.netfirms.com <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thats funny, I will also be riding a Weslake at Paris Speedway Canada in 2005. We should have a weslake race! Wait a minute we are! At the Dean Benscics Memorial meeting four of us will be racing in a Wessie only race. Long live the old girls as they sure are a pleasure to ride. nice smoth power band and more than enough power for us old lads to have between our legs!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TigerTom 0 Posted May 29, 2005 i ride a weslake on the beach @ mablethorpe , its by no means the fastest but niether am i <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Pudding, just go have fun!....nice to see another old girl still running and being used for pleasure! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Malcolm 0 Posted May 29, 2005 (edited) The first Weslake was raced not in speedway but on Oct 20th, 1974 at Lydden, a grass/chalk surfaced track by Don Godden. The Hagon Shocks showroom has one the last complete factory bike Tig perry was involved in, a SOHC laydown grasser as raced by Martin Hagon. Two bikes were built, Lee Cross had #2 and crashed it. I have the engine from #2 here in California after being re-built at Antig. Antig still have spares for the Weslake, and when I was there new engines too. Go to my website too see a new engine and a laydown pushrod owned by David Perry. http://xtremesport.org Weslake today http://home.adelphia.net/~aeroengine/Weslake.html Edited May 29, 2005 by Malcolm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Splatty 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Did I hear or read recently that Weslake (or was it Godden?) is producing a new engine which will be tested and eventually used by Sir Kelvin? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
