Blez Buys a Quasar
You know when you get a feeling about something, that maybe itıs got your
name on it?
Well, I got that feeling about Mo Simpsonıs Quasar.
After all, I was probably the only person, apart from Mo, who had ridden it
since he moved to the Isle of Man in 1985. I first rode Moıs Quasar in 1986,
when I did a lap of the TT course (thereıs a pic of me in it at the
Highlander that appeared in my story in Motorcycle Sport, and I last rode it
in 1998, when I got to the outskirts of Ramsey two up, before it conked out
with an electrical glitch).
When I heard about this Quasar coming up for auction at the Stafford
Classic Bike show I did some homework. I spoke to Ben Walker of Bonhamıs,
the auctioneers, I spoke to Mo himself and I spoke to Mark Crowson, the man
with more Quasars and more intimate knowledge of them, (probably) than
anyone else alive. As the only person who has actually sold a Quasar in
recent years, Markıs information was a crucial factor in deciding how much I
was prepared to bid. Whoever wrote the blurb for the auction catalogue had
also done their homework there was a good little summary of the marqueıs
history, along with a guide price of £5-£6,000.
After Andy Strang expressed an interest in the machine on the Feet
Forward
list, I got his number off Mark and phoned him the day before the auction.
As the owner of an immaculate Quasar already, I suggested that perhaps he
should let someone else buy this oneSAndy agreed, but revealed that heıd
already put in a remote bid of £5,177 (he couldnıt get to Stafford on the
day). I could have his bid, he said, but that put a minimum price on the
deal. I certainly hadnıt expected to get it for less.
I spent all of Saturday riding around London on a pre-production Malaguti
Spidermax 500 taking part in a Malaguti promotion and at the end of the day
I persuaded the importers that it would be a perfect test for the machine if
I were to ride it up to Stafford the following dayS..It certainly got
wellS..tested!
Auction Day
As lot 449, Ben Walker had told me that the Quasar was unlikely to come up
for sale before 2pm. I was up at 7am and put on my old OFfers do it laid
backı T-shirt for luck, complete with its drawing of the Quasar and Flying
Banana on the chest. With 160 miles to ride to Stafford I had intended to
leave home in London by ten at the latest, but somehow, by the time Iıd
faffed around fitting my GPS unit to the Malaguti and one thing and another,
I didnıt actually leave Ham until nearly middayS..I had arranged to meet
David Scott at his place just off the M42 south of Birmingham on the way to
compare his boot-equipped Pacific Coast 800 with the boot-equipped
Spidermax. I phoned him from High Wycombe to suggest that he go on ahead and
meet me at the auction. I reached the services at Hopwood Park on the M42 at
1.30pm, re-filled the Spider, grabbed a sausage roll and got back on the
motorway. Iıd already discovered that the Spidermax hated white lines and
bumps or braking, but it held a good line through the O50mphı bend on the M5
at 90.
I knew that the show was signposted from Junction 14 of the M6, but I
foolishly decided to follow an immaculate Laverda triple off the motorway at
Junction 13. I was correct in thinking that he too was heading for the show,
but incorrect in assuming that he knew where he was goingS.ıI should have
stayed on the motorway until Junction 14ı he told me at the traffic lights.
Fortunately the show was signposted from the outskirts of Stafford anyway,
so I followed them as quickly as I could, leaving the gently bimbling
Laverda far behind.
I arrived at the main gate at quarter past two, and with the agreement of
Gary, the ad man from Twist & Go, who was manning the gate, parked it right
there. As I took off my helmet, my phone rang. It was David Scott. ³Itıs all
right, youıve got plenty of time, there are still 25 lots to go². But by the
time Iıd walked to the auction at the far end of the main building, paid my
£15 for the catalogue (no catalogue, no bidding) and registered with
Bonhamıs, the auction was selling lot 441 just eight lots before the
Quasar. By the time Iıd said hello to Mo and Linda Simpson, taken a couple
of quick pix of me and them and the Quasar, it was time to wheel the beast
to the front of the auction room, although it was too long and unwieldy to
put right by the stage.
Just time to work my way towards the front of the audience to a place
where the auctioneer could clearly see me and my bidding number, and weıre
off! I had never bid for anything at a live auction in my life before, so I
was jumping in at the deep endS..I canıt even remember what price the
bidding started at, but I think it was about £4,000. There seemed to be
at
least four bidders apart from me, and with the price going up by steps of
£200, we were up over £5,000 in a matter of seconds. Fortunately most of the
bidders stopped soon after and I found myself bidding against a chap on the
other side of the room, to whom the auctioneer said, ³Come on sir, I know
youıre interested, youıve come all the way from Italy for this machine,
havenıt you?². Crikey! When we got to £6,000 Luigi (or whatever his name
was) hesitated. OIıll take £100ı the auctioneer said to him, helpfully. So
we continued. £6,100S..6,2 from me, 6,3 from him, £6,400 from me. At that
point, thank Christ, Luigi declined. Sold, to me, for £6,400. Phew!
Except of course, it isnıt only the hammer price that you pay. Oh no. As
well as taking 10% plus VAT off the vendor, Bonhamıs add 20% plus VAT to the
winning bid to take off the buyer, So that £6,400 was actually £7,528. A
substantial chunk of my inheritance. Iım sure my late parents would have
understood after all, they didnıt object when I sold an inherited piano to
finance my first motorcycle thirty years agoS..(But then we did still have
three others left in the house!).
It was still by far the most expensive purchase I have ever made, apart from
my house, and almost double what I have ever previously paid for a motor
vehicle!
Mo had very generously offered to deliver the Quasar to my house,
with
the help of his friend John, so having brought it from the Isle of Man in
Johnıs Transit, we then had to load it back in, complete with the
substantial hoard of spares including the fantastic Owrap aroundı panniers
and a spare pair of wheels, plus all the paperwork and a great archive of
articles, including some of my own! Before we loaded up, however, I had a
quick bimble around the grounds of the Stafford showground in the long and
low beast. Steering and balancing were no problem, but that gearchange! It
took me ten attempts to get it into second gear and I never did manage to
find neutral! Iıd forgotten how hard it is to pull the clutch in too a
real Charles Atlas affair. I stumbled across an immaculate black and gold
Hesketh and backed up the black Quasar for a nostalgic photo of the last
all-British motorcycles to be made in the UK before the re-birth of Triumph.
The following day Mo, Linda and John turned up at my place right on cue
and John gave me another demonstration of his superb metre-wide, fold-up
alloy ramp which made loading and unloading the 300kg Quasar a piece of
cake. I shall have to think seriously about getting one of them, plus a van
to bolt it onto of course! But first, I want to see if that bloody
gearchange can be made a bit more user-friendly! Then Iıll get the Quasar on
a dyno before starting a sensible but serious tuning campaign. And Iıll keep
you posted!
PNB
Huge thanks to Mo & Linda Simpson, John the van, Mark Crowson, David Scott
and Andy Strang for their help and support.