by Steven
Myatt
Once upon a time there was
a man with a mission to
make Norton’s big
twins really hum. And when
he’d done that he
moved on to other makes
too! Steven Myatt –
a customiser at heart –
looks at the career of one
of his heroes.
If and when you go out and
buy yourself a washing machine,
CD player, settee or touring
caravan you don’t
get it home, unwrap it,
give the packaging to your
children to play with, and
think, ‘Hmmmm, actually
I think I can improve on
that’. You don’t
take it apart to see how
it works, and then put it
together differently, convinced
that it will now function
more efficiently. You just
don’t. Or rather,
so long as you’re
not James Dyson you don’t.
So what on earth is it about
motorcycles? Is it arrogance?
Is it madness? Ordinary
folk like you and I –
who work hard for our money
and don’t spend it
without some thought –
have been buying motorcycles
for about a hundred years
… and then messing
about with them. It’s
not the same with modern
Japanese motorcycles of
course; they’re a
different thing –
a ‘consumer durable’.
For every post-War British
bike that was kept dead
stock for all its life,
there was another which
was adapted, modified, moulded
and re-engineered; re-invented
to be the way its owner
wanted it rather than how
the factory had envisaged
it.
There’s a gentleman
living in North Kent, in
his mid-sixties now, who
has enjoyed a successful
second career as a property
developer. His name is Paul
Dunstall – and that’s
one of the most evocative
names ever when it comes
to making British bikes
go faster, handle better
and look even more beautiful.
Paul Dunstall is up there
with Dave Degens and Gus
Kuhn, in the Premier League.
In 1956, at the age of 17,
Paul acquired his first
big bike – a 600cc
Domi 99. Great choice, and
a heck of a lot more interesting
than the 350 Velo he had
been running around North
Kent on previously. Paul’s
father ran a large scooter
shop, and he was already
working for his dad –
which rather explains how
he could afford such a big,
then-new bike at such a
young age. Ironically Paul
specialised in the moped
side of his dad’s
business. Still, the principle
is the same (well, just)
and as soon as he got his
hands on the Norton he set
about improving it.
The following year he decided
to go racing – an
obvious enough development
– and decided to stay
with Dominators. This didn’t
make life easy; few performance
parts were available for
the twin as the racers all
went for the big single.
So, Paul built his own Domi
racer, using a Manx gearbox
and Manx wheels (later he
went a step further and
dropped the Domi motor into
a Manx chassis).
He had his successes but
had to admit that he got
more pleasure and satisfaction
out of working on the bikes
than racing them, so he
went back to his workshop
– and no sooner had
he put the kettle on than
he was approached by Fred
Neville, who asked him to
build a Domi racer for him.
So Paul got to do what he
was best at and had someone
out there campaigning his
machinery.
[End
of online sample, you can
read the rest of this article
in the September 2003 issue
of Classic Bike Guide]
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