Rhodesian motorcycle legend, William Raymond "Ray" Amm, is born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia.
For the 1953 season Norton was developing a fully enclosed 350cc racing motorcycle on which the rider took his weight on his knees, rather than his feet, in order to get him lower and reduce frontal area. It was known as the "Norton Kneeler", and Ray Amm took to it with great enthusiasm; it would also be known as the "Silver Fish" because of its long slippery aluminium bodywork, but perhaps the best nickname was the "Amm Sandwich".
At Montlhery, a banked concrete track, south of Paris, Ray would record a new outright motorcycle record for the banked track, averaging 145mph, which for the mid-fifties was mind-boggling, hell, damn near heroic. At the time the fastest lap ever achieved on the French "Brooklands" was by a Grand Prix car at 147mph.
On a dull, overcast November day in 1953, Ray Amm, squeezed into the Kneeler and covered 133.71 miles in a single hour on the same Montlhery concrete saucer. That would be impressive on a current race bike running on a modern, high grip speed bowl. In the damp and danger of Montlhery in early winter, and with only 36bhp, the achievement was incredible.
Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk
On a dull, overcast November day in 1953, Ray Amm, squeezed into the Kneeler and covered 133.71 miles in a single hour on the same Montlhery concrete saucer. That would be impressive on a current race bike running on a modern, high grip speed bowl. In the damp and danger of Montlhery in early winter, and with only 36bhp, the achievement was incredible.
The Norton Kneeler is one of the center pieces of the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum, Bashley Cross Roads, New Milton,
Hampshire, BH25 5SZ
Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk
