It is a daunting task to head up a club such as the Vintage Motor Cycle Club (VMCC)and there is no tick-box checklist to find the ideal candidate for the post. If there was, then it probably couldn’t be trusted, as what makes the club better is that all presidents have been different in their outlook. It doesn’t matter if the president is a relative newcomer to the old bike scene or an old stager like Mike Wills (sorry Mike!), enthusiasm and involvement in the club is paramount.
Catching up with Mike – by phone because of the pandemic currently changing the way society interacts – the retired urological consultant surgeon chatted a little about his background in motorcycling. “I was never encouraged or discouraged into motorcycling rather it was something we did, part of growing up I suppose.”
This immersion in the vintage world moved on from passenger duty to more active roles when a Christmas present of a 1914 Bradbury restoration project brought Mike to the nuts and bolts of owning old motorcycles. Though not old enough to ride the Bradbury on the road, he still has it… and a few more Bradburys too. “I’ve somehow been the Bradbury marque specialist for the VMCC for 40 years or so,” he adds wryly. Despite this affection for the Oldham-based firm, it was a maker closer to his West Midlands home area which provided transport for his motorcycle test. “I had to have a 250 to take my test on and a 1929 Francis-Barnett was just the job.” Yes, there are a couple of Francis-Barnetts in the Wills stable–a 1926 ‘built like a bridge’ model with a 350cc JAP engine and a 1935 Blackburne-engined Stag.
This story is from the August 2020 edition of The Classic MotorCycle.
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This story is from the August 2020 edition of The Classic MotorCycle.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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