George Harris bantam

Hi every one,
If I may open up a thread that was running eight years ago that has just been pointed out to me, the topic was concerning “the world’s fastest bantam” https://bsabantamracing.editboard.com/t1072p15-bonneville-bantams
I was privileged to be riding George Harris’s Bantam in the 74 TT and certainly did enjoy a 3 lap scrap with Bill Kirkwood on his Maico, if my memory is correct I believe Bill and I were no more than 200 yds apart for pretty much the whole race the whole race, of course the big problem on formula bantam with such a high first gear was the climb out of Ramsey were anything gained was lost but I guess that’s formula Bantam racing and I loved every minute.
The reason I have commented on this old topic is to defend any doubt on my enthusiastic comment and explain why I firmly believe that Georges Bantam was doing 110 mph at the bottom of Barrgarrow.
Firstly the Wednesday evening speed trap figure of 106mph recorded at the Highlander were recorded with strong headwinds I quote from MCN “strong headwinds slowed the 125cc Runners 3mph down on last year”, However the following day I asked a surprised George to drop a tooth on the rear sprocket as it was flat out long before the highlander which George did and it pulled it comfortably probably giving us an extra 1-2mph top end
At this point I would add this new short stroke water cooled engine was completely unknown as it had only been started up for the first time 10 days earlier and believe it or not I was only 9 stone in 1974.
Come race day the highest rpm readings on Georges bantam were always recorded at the bottom of Barrgarrow were it would always overran by 200 +rpm higher than highlander.
I believe this was due to the two mile flat out stretch from the Cronk- y- Voddy which is slightly down hill all the way through the 11th milestone, Handley’s corner down to the drop at the bottom of Barrgarrow with hedges either side protecting you from the wind.
That’s why I’m confident when I say Georges Bantam was doing 110mph at the bottom of Barrgarrow.
Thank you George!
Tony Jones

Hello Tony,
               That`s an interesting article you have posted. I have no doubt at all that what you claim is authentic, given the right conditions it is perfectly possible for a modern Bantam in the island to achieve 110mph, My question is, why after 8 years from the original thread do you feel it necessary or have been forced to defend your claim, given the passage of time and any obvious evidence to the contrary. Has some doubt, some where been cast upon the legitimacy of your performance, I'm sure that I am not alone in being curious as to any possible motive?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards, Trevor

Hello Trevor,
I can quite under stand you being puzzled as to why I have commented on a post from 8 years ago, however the post was only recently pointed out to me, my comment was motivated by the remark that "110mph was perhaps over enthusiastic"!
Yes it was a long time ago but I can remember George and I both being quite satisfied at the time with the information we had that his bantam was achieving 110mph, I am not defending it I am merely showing how we came to that conclusion and just wanted to share that information to show how we had arrived at that 110mph figure.
I am not talking about my performance but George,s ability to build a formula bantam engine to achieve those speeds 48 years ago.

regards Tony

Hi Tony, thanks for the reply.
              Of all the scenarios I had conjured up in my imagination the fact that you had no knowledge of the original post was not one of them, so that fact alone clarifies a lot. Don`t concern yourself too much about the doubters, after all there are still people who insist the earth is flat and Donald Trump is still president!
Yours and George`s achievements will be in the record books forever and no one can challenge that, Bantam Racing enthusiasts everywhere should applaud your combined success, I certainly do.
Notwithstanding all of that, there is one other notable Bantam performance that should be acknowledged and that is the Island performance of the Todd BSA as ridden by Fred Launchbury some 55 years ago, the precursor to what we know today.
My knowledge of the geography and topography of the Island is almost non-existent limited only to place names, so the locations mentioned are ephemeral at best. I`m quoting here from one of the letters George Todd wrote to my brother David and me about some his Island recollections of Fred and the bike, “On the run down to Brandish the revs went up to just over 10,500, so on the high gearing used, Fred`s speed must have been nudging 105 to 106mph”. George also reported that during the race the engine was periodically miss firing, the source of which, post-race, was eventually traced to a broken contact breaker spring, oh the joys of contact breaker ignition!
I think it is also worth recalling that Fred`s engine was D1 based, air cooled small fin barrel, with a 125mm long con-rod and 58mm stoke and running an ancient  27mm Amal TT carb, with a pretty elementary exhaust pipe. All of these obsolescent short comings are replaced in the George Harris engine, add water cooling and electronic ignition to the spec sheet. Of course this is the direction we have all taken in the continuing pursuit for yet more power and race winning potential.
I have always felt that the pioneering influence and performance of the Todd BSA is worthy of particular merit, and is a fine example of getting first class results from very unlikely beginnings.
Finally Tony, It has taken the skilled, technical engineering back ground of George and your fine riding skills to establish that indelible milestone in the continuing story that is Bantam Racing, and it is sad to reflect that those two influential and pioneering Georges are no longer with us.

Regards, Trevor.