Why I Volunteer

After all the endless debating of Jimmy Saville, care homes and other serious matters, I thought I’d post a thread on here about something very dear to me.
Those of you who know me will know that I spend an unreasonable amount of time at a small airfield in Bedfordshire where I help, with a close knit team of friends to maintain and restore the motorcycles.
This brings me great joy, in a World where quite a lot of time I feel out of sorts and out of time.
The thought therefore does occur that perhaps more of us should give a little volunteer time to something.
Let’s face it, it’s better than the cr*p on the telly these days.
Although The Shuttleworth Collection is mainly known for being one of the premier aviation collections in the World, it also contains an extremely important vehicle collection. Some of the Edwardian cars and motorcycles being as historically important as the early aeroplanes.
However, and in the spirit of being completely self-obsessed.
Here are a few of my favourite Collection machines.

First.
1904 Aurora.
Built in coventry and generally thought to be the last surviving product from that company.
No brakes, no clutch and no suspension.
Probably built as a board or oval racing machine.

Second.
1903 Marot Gardon quadricycle.
Built by the Marot Gardon cycle company in the Rue de Brunel in Paris.
2.25 hp De Dion Bouton engine. Again no clutch, but has brakes on the rear wheels.

Pictured here with an equally rare Marot Gardon tricycle from 1900. The tricycle was a visitor to the collection and was first vehicle home on the 2011VCC emancipation London to Brighton run.

Third.
1924 Triumph 550 cc SD.
Again built in Coventry with a 550 cc single cylinder side valve engine and kicks like a belligerent mule.
In the twenty years between the Aurora and SD, things like clutch, brakes and gears had been introduced, making riding more refined and less nerve wracking.

Below, one of the many wet days in 2012.

Fourth.
1900 200 cc Singer.
Possibly the most important motorcycle in the collection.
This machine was built at the very point in time where bicycles and motorbicycles spilt apart and from then on had diverging lines of evolution.
All the mechanical parts are contained within the aluminium back wheel.
This machine is currently undergoing an almost complete rebuild but should be out and about for the 2013 season.

Thanks for looking.
Andy