Born | Ilford, England | 3 October 1931
---|---|
Nationality | British (English) |
Career history | |
1953-1954 | Harringay Racers |
1955-1956 | Wimbledon Dons |
1957-1961 | Leicester Hunters |
1962-1963 | Oxford Cheetahs |
1964-1965 | West Ham Hammers |
1965 | Poole Pirates |
Individual honours | |
1954, 1956, 1959, 1962 | British Grass Track Champion 500 cc |
1954, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 | British Grass Track Champion 350 cc |
Team honours | |
1955, 1956 | National League winner |
1956 | National Trophy winner |
Alfred Joseph Hagon (born 3 October 1931[ citation needed ]) is an English former motorcycle speedway rider who later competed in Grasstrack. [1] He manufactured off-road competition frames, forks and other components, later developing into the production of shock absorbers, specialising in modern-replicas of the traditional Girlings used as original equipment and replacements for historic motorcycles.
Over a 12-year career in Speedway, he rode for six teams; Harringay Racers, Wimbledon Dons, Leicester Hunters, Oxford Cheetahs, [2] West Ham Hammers and Poole Pirates. [3] He was part of the league winning Wimbledon Dons team that won the 1955 Speedway National League and the 1956 league and cup double. [4] He later found regular success when competing in Grasstrack.
When riding in Grasstrack, Hagon started to develop a racing machine, with the assistance of Essex motorcycle dealer and competition sponsor Tom Kirby, creating a lightweight bike powered by a JAP engine. In 1958, he established a business building speedway and grasstrack bike frames in his mother's garden shed, but progress was interrupted in 1960 when he went on tour in Australia with the England national speedway team. He represented England on four occasions. [1] [5]
On his return, the business transferred to Leyton, East London. This proved successful with his bikes in good demand and he retired from racing in 1965 to concentrate on the business.
However, Hagon had become involved in sprinting, appearing at the first International Dragfest in 1964, [6] [7] on his lightweight JAP-engined bike.
Hagon's approach to weight-reduction included a custom-made frame also containing the engine oil, his own grasstrack front forks and brake intended for lightweight category machines, dispensing with the gearbox and seat, and avoidance of a supercharger, resulting in a wet weight of 235 lb (107 kg). For the 1964 Dragfest, a competition against Americans who were using large capacity, double-engined machines – he fitted oversize pistons and cylinders to take advantage of a maximum engine-size dispensation by the ACU, raising the J.A.P. engine's capacity from 996 cc to 1,100 cc, and the power output from 84 bhp to 91 bhp, compared to a blown Vincent's 130 bhp. [8]
In July 1967, riding a purpose-built sprint-bike powered by a supercharged V-Twin 1,260 cc JAP engine, he became the first rider to record a sub-10 second time with a one-way-only 9.93 performance at Duxford for the 1⁄4-mile distance. This was a strip-only record, as for official recognition of world and national records two qualifying runs have to be completed in opposite-directions within one-hour, to negate the effect of wind, with an average time resulting. In October 1967 he achieved an average time of 9.95 at Elvington, Yorkshire. [9]
He followed that by setting a long-standing record of 9.432 at 153 mph at Santa Pod.[ citation needed ] In 1968 he became the first British rider to complete a flying mile at over 200 mph (206.54 mph) at RAF Honington.[ citation needed ]
Hagon's base from 1960 was a former stable block in Leyton, London. Specialising in wheel-building and accident damage repairs, he purchased the former Girling suspension operation in 1985, including the stock, manufacturing tools and drawings. He did not purchase the rights to the Girling name, instead naming his products as simply Hagon. [10]
Hagon, married with two children and five grandchildren, lives near Waltham Abbey in Hertfordshire.[ citation needed ]
His son is Martin Hagon and grandson is Sam Hagon (both speedway riders). [1]
Brough Superior motorcycles, sidecars, and motor cars were made by George Brough in his Brough Superior works on Haydn Road in Nottingham, England, from 1919 to 1940. The motorcycles were dubbed the "Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles" by H. D. Teague of The Motor Cycle newspaper. Approximately 3048 motorcycles were made in the 21 years of production; around a third of that production still exists. T. E. Lawrence owned eight of these motorcycles and died from injuries sustained when he crashed number seven; the eighth was on order. Moving forward to 2008, vintage motorcycle enthusiast Mark Upham acquired the rights to the Brough Superior name. In 2013 he met motorcycle designer Thierry Henriette and asked him to design a new Brough Superior motorcycle. Three months later a prototype of a new SS100 was shown in Milan.
Vincent Motorcycles was a British manufacturer of motorcycles from 1928 to 1955. The business was established by Philip Vincent who bought an existing manufacturing name HRD, initially renaming it as Vincent HRD, producing his own motorcycles as HRD did previously with engines purchased as complete assemblies from other companies. From 1934, two new engines were developed as single cylinder in 500 cc and v-twin 1,000 cc capacities. Production grew from 1936, with the most-famous models being developed from the original designs after the War period in the late 1940s.
J. A. Prestwich Industries, was a British engineering equipment manufacturing company named after founder John Alfred Prestwich, which was formed in 1951 by the amalgamation of J. A. Prestwich and Company Limited and Pencils Ltd.
Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models were produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc four-stroke twins. Matchless had a long history of racing success; a Matchless ridden by Charlie Collier won the first single-cylinder race in the first Isle of Man TT in 1907.
The Honda CB450 is a standard motorcycle made by Honda from 1965 to 1974 with a 444 cc (27.1 cu in) 180° DOHC straight-twin engine. Producing 45 bhp, it was Honda's first "big" motorcycle, though it did not succeed in its goal of competing directly against the larger Triumphs, Nortons, and Harley-Davidsons in the North American market at the time. As a result, Honda tried again, leading to the development of the four cylinder Honda CB750 that marked a turning point for Honda and beginning of the "superbike" era of motorcycles.
HRD Motors Ltd was a British motorcycle manufacturer in the 1920s. It was founded by Howard Raymond Davies. He had worked in motorcycling, and had raced with some success in the mid-twenties, but often not finishing due to unreliability. This inspired him to build a reliable performance motorcycle, using the advertising slogan "Built by a rider". Others also aimed at a similar market, like George Brough of Brough Superior motorcycles.
Motorcycle Grasstrack is a form of track racing which typically, in its current form, takes place on a flat track consisting of two straights and two bends usually constructed in a field. It is one of the oldest types of motorcycle sports in the UK with the first meetings having taken place in the 1920s.
The Cotton Motor Company, was a British motorcycle manufacturer of 11a Bristol Road, Gloucester, and was founded by Frank Willoughby Cotton in 1918. F.W. presided over the company until his retirement in 1953. The company was reconstituted as E. Cotton (Motorcycles) Ltd, and traded until 1980. The marque was later resurrected in the late 1990s by a business which manufactured replicas of earlier machines.
Rudge Whitworth Cycles was a British bicycle, bicycle saddle, motorcycle and sports car wheel manufacturer that resulted from the merger of two bicycle manufacturers in 1894, Whitworth Cycle Co. of Birmingham, founded by Charles Henry Pugh and his two sons Charles Vernon and John, and Rudge Cycle Co. of Coventry.
OK-Supreme was a British motorcycle manufacturer from 1899 to 1939 located in Birmingham. Grass-track racing versions of the machines continued to be available until 1946.
The motorcycle sport of racing includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.
Blackburne was a trade name of Burney and Blackburne Limited a British manufacturer of motorcycles from 1913 to 1922 at Tongham near Farnham, Surrey. They were also a major supplier of engines to other motor cycle and light car makers and continued to make these until 1937. Burney and Blackburne also made small aircraft engines.
Peter Williams was a British former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle road racing from 1966 to 1973. He also competed at many levels on home short-circuit races. He raced many times on the Isle of Man TT course from 1966 to 1973. His father was Jack Williams who ran the Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) race department. Williams trained in mechanical engineering and introduced via racing alloy wheels, an innovation which is commonplace on today's road bikes, and was also an early pioneer of solo-motorcycle disc brakes.
Herbert 'Bert' le Vack was a motorcycle world speed record holder throughout the 1920s and earned the nickname the 'Wizard of Brooklands' for his exploits at Brooklands.
Zenith Motorcycles was a British motorcycle and automobile manufacturer established in Finsbury Park, London in 1903, by W. G. Bowers. Automobile manufacture only lasted from 1905 to 1906. The first Zenith motorcycle was the 'BiCar' of 1903, based on Tooley's Bi-Car design, which was purchased by Zenith for its own production. The BiCar was a unique design with hub-center steering and a low-slung chassis with the engine centrally fixed.
Chris Vincent was a British motorcycle sidecar road racer who was very successful in short-circuit (tarmac) racing in the 1960s and early 1970s. He entered Grands Prix using BSA, BMW and URS engines. He also rode solo motorcycles, particularly in the smaller race classes and production-machine categories.
The featherbed frame was a motorcycle frame invented by the McCandless brothers and offered to the British Norton motorcycle company to improve the performance of their racing motorcycles in 1950. It was considered revolutionary at the time, and the best handling frame that a racer could have. Later adopted for Norton production motorcycles, it was also widely used by builders of custom hybrids such as the Triton, becoming legendary and remaining influential to this day.
The Dunstall Norton was a Norton motorcycle made by Paul Dunstall, a specialist tuner of the 1960s and early 1970s twins originally using some parts from Norton's Domiracer project when the Birmingham factory was closed in 1963. In 1966 Dunstall Motorcycles became a motorcycle manufacturer in its own right so that Dunstalls could compete in production races, and set a number of world records before sales of the Dunstall Nortons declined in the 1970s consistent with the demise of the British motor cycle industry and a corresponding rise in Japanese imports.
Colin Jordan Seeley was a British motorcycle retailer who later became a motorcycle sidecar racer, motorcycle designer, constructor and retailer of accessories. In 1992 he was involved in running the Norton Rotary race team.
Don Vincent Godden (born 13 November 1936 - 28 May 2011) was a Motorcycle rider who competed in Longtrack and Grasstrack Racing. He competed in twelve World Longtrack Championship Finals and won the title in 1969. Don's son Mitchel is also a successful Longtrack and Grasstrack racer, as is his grandson Cameron.