Nigel Rollason
I was an apprentice at BSA Motorcycles from the age of 17 until 21 years
old.I built and raced a 498cc Matchless G80CS(R)in a Norton Frame and a 248cc DMW Hornet (Villiers Starmaker engine)in Club races for a couple of years.
I then sold both of these and bought a brand new SEELEY/METISSE 498cc which I raced in the 1968 Manx Grand Prix. I finished 3rd and also won the newcomers award at the tender age of 19 years old.
The BSA competition manager ( Brian Martin ) summoned me to his office one day and asked me if I wanted to ride the "works" Mead and Tomkinson BSA 441cc in the Thruxton 500 mile race.
I naturally said "YES PLEASE" and the rest is pretty well history now.
I raced the B44, and the B50 until 1972. I also raced the B50 lightweight in
the 1972 TT and finished 20th with handling problems caused by the back tyre.
The B50's were great bikes to ride but just a little bit different to the normal
production machines!!!!.
They were superb for scratching around twisty circuits for 24
hours and were economical on fuel. They would run for up to 2.5 hours
on 24 Litres of petrol at racing speeds !!!!
My own road bike, however, is a black Honda XBR 500cc , With Electric start,
12volt lights, Disc brake, 4 Valve head, Etc......It is what the British
500cc single would have evolved into. a cross between a Rudge, Velocette,
Matchless, AJS, Royal Enfield and BSA all rolled into one bike.
I now race offshore sailing yachts as well as Merlin-Rocket sailing dinghies.
I started sailing when I was 16 years old, and had a 21 year lay-off while I went racing motorcycles !!!!!!
Finally here is a video clip of me finishing the Plymouth to St Malo offshore race 2001 with my racing yacht 'REBEL'.
Nigel Rollason
This is what he does now 360Kb/12 Sek
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Classic Racer Spring 1990