Quasar Motorcycles Ltd. is once more a legal entity as the trading name under which new owner Patrick Smith hopes to design, manufacture and sell replica Quasars powered by modern motorcycle engines.

We wish him every success with the project.

This years gathering of Quasar owners and enthusiasts will take place in Hastings over the week-end of Sept. 11/12^th.

The Agenda is as follows :-

This is an agricultural and historic vehicle show with a decent number of trade stalls selling tools, parts and stuff.
From here we're moving on to the Six Bells at Chiddingly for lunch.

(Chiddingly is just North of the A22, turning off immediately after the filling station forecourt at Golden Cross).
I hope to see you there.

Janet Newell with Voyager, Mark Crowson & Chris Baker with Phasar.

Photos Courtesy of Ian Kew

This year was the tenth anniversary of Malcolm’s death and many of his friends, family, and supporters were invited to his former home at Heddington to mark the occasion. It was a rare opportunity to meet up and chat to many of the people who’d been involved in Malcolm’s various projects over the years. The weather was good, the company congenial and the hospitality was warm.

Rather than take my Quasar I took my latest project, which was one of Malcolm’s last creations, built as a MkII Quasar with Hub-Centre Steering and a big-bore Suzuki GS1000 engine and subsequently converted to a Phasar.

It was it’s first public outing and proved to be supremely capable of providing comfortable, long distance transport at motorway speeds while returning close to 60 miles to the gallon.

Photos of the event are available courtesy of Ian Kew at http://www.apcf98.dsl.pipex.com/MM04/index.htm

We had a couple of fine days at Beaulieu in June, sharing the ‘Best Feet Forward’ club stand with an interesting collection of radical 2-wheelers. The Dutch ‘Carver’ tilting 3-wheeler, (as featured on Top-Gear), was also present.

Photo of Nick Roche at Beaulieu Courtesy of Paul Blezard

Photos of the 2003 event under events, 

TVV 400W, which was exported to South Africa in the 80’s, has finally made it back to the UK and is in the hands of a new owner.

Colin Farrow’s Quasar, TWS 631T, has be returned to it’s original specification and sold to a new owner, Len Purnell. We congratulate Mr. Purnell on his purchase and hope that he’ll soon be startling the residents of Bristol with it.

I recently took the Quasar and Phasar along to this event and received a surprising amount of interest.

The organisers have suggested that they’d be happy to allow us free stand space at future events should we wish to put on a Quasar/FF stand. If anyone else would like to join us on such a stand do let me know.

I recently visited the new Sammy Miller Museum at New Milton in the New Forest in order to meet up with members of the local Bond Bug owners club who had been rallying on the Isle of Wight.

Of prime interest was the stunning fully-enclosed FF built by students at Imperial College London in the early eighties. This is a very impressive piece of work, but a long way from being a completed vehicle.

Sammy later told me that, in his opinion, the amount of work and the re-engineering required to make it roadworthy means that it’ll probably never be attempted.

The standard of restoration on the bikes exhibited was very high and the collection includes many unusual bikes, rather than the rows and rows of ‘standard’ models seen at the national motorcycle museum.

Simon Frankau, (who’s owned his Quasar since march 1981 !), Ian Kew, latest owner of one of Royce Creasey’s ‘Voyager’ FFs, and Brian Walker, (aspiring Quasar owner), were also there on the day and we had a surprisingly good lunch at the museums restaurant.

Govert Gerritson of Rotterdam is involved in salvaging a Quasar, (FHR 941W), that had been abandoned.

GAM 901W had been stored for nearly 15 years in a very damp lock-up and had deteriorated to a very poor state when we first saw it at the end of 1999.

Since then it’s been stripped completely and powder-coated, a new, mildly-tuned, engine has been assembled, and the re-construction is well advanced.

For Christmas 2003 we actually took the Quasar, (in it’s ‘naked’ state), out of the workshop and rode it up and down the road for the first time, a real red-letter day !

Work on the electrics and instruments is nearly completed, then we’ll be able to re-fit the body, sort out all the lights, washers, wipers etc. and take it in for an MOT.

The degree of stamina and perseverance needed to see this job through to completion deserves recognition.

Well done Simon !

It is with great regret that I have to inform you that Nick Roche died suddenly from a heart attack in December at the age of 43. Nick was a great quasar enthusiast and his warmth and humanity will be missed as much as his moral support and technical know-how.

Nick’s funeral was a memorable event, with the coffin being carried on a motorcycle sidecar, followed by Paul Blezard and myself riding matching red Quasars and followed, in turn, by a cortege of bike-riding friends and well-wishers.

Photo Courtesy of Paul Blezard