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This is the home of the Iceni CAM Magazine - a free e-magazine about Cyclemotors, Autocycles, Mopeds ... and more. It was launched on 15th April 2007 and the most recent four issues can be downloaded here. (Copies of earlier back numbers are also available.) For non-computerised folks, printed copies are available at 99p per edition; we can accommodate mail order too at £1.50 per single edition or £6 for a year's subscription.
It's an e-magazine all about cyclemotors, autocycles and mopeds that carries road test & feature articles, rally reports, free adverts and other assorted information. Although we are an independent production, we have strong ties to East Anglian Cyclemotor Club and also to the New Zealand Cyclaid Register.
We are based in East Anglia, but are by no means limited to that area. Much that appears in the magazine is of universal appeal. We welcome contributions, whereever they are from, and are also happy to help to publicise any events for cyclemotors, autocycles and mopeds.
We publish four times a year and the publication dates are synchronised with key events in the EACC calendar: the Radar Run, the Peninsularis Run, the Coprolite Run and the Mince Pie Run. It's purely an enthusiast production, and all produced on a tiny budget. Nevertheless, we think you'll be pretty impressed The free downloadable version will be posted on this website on the same day as the printed version goes on sale.
All the issues of CAM Magazine that we've produced have been very well received. Thank you all for your comments; they are much appreciated. Several of you have also made donations, which has helped enormously in keeping Iceni CAM going.
There are TWO files to download to get the latest copy of the magazine and they are both available now on our Downloads Page.
Green Machine was one of those articles that seemed to have been sitting in the can for quite a while, and there were probably times that a few of us began to wonder if it might ever get presented at all.
The article actually started as a single feature when we completed a road test and photoshoot on Surrey-based Mike Daborn's nicely restored PC50 OHC way back in May 2007. The initial idea was to put this out as a stand alone feature, but it never quite seemed to find a slot in the programme, so remained only as a file of rough draft notes.
Some time later as Alan Course in Cambridgeshire began progressing his P50 restoration towards completion, the idea occurred that the possibility of these two models together might make an interesting main feature due to the two models sharing a derivation of the same OHC motor.
Deciding this was the way to go, further development of the article was held over pending completion of the P50, however securing this bike for road test fell through for technical reasons, so the feature was packed away again in big box of mothballs, until such a time as another P50 might turn up.
Mike Daborn must have begun to wonder if his PC50 feature would ever appear!
Salvation finally came in early 2009, when Jim Stuttard from Lincolnshire acquired a smart P50 that didn't go, and it came through the workshops for sorting out. A deal was done, that when we got it running, we could have the bike for feature, and Jim would also sponsor the article, so with the second roadtest and photoshoot now secured, it was just a matter of working a main slot into the forward programme.
Its window was pencilled in following the Lido feature Back to the Future, until we actually got there, and the New Zealand epic World's End had leapt from nowhere, right to the head of the queue.
Because the research trip to the far side of the planet was such an ambitious project, with so many variables that could stop that article dead in its tracks, Green Machine was nominated as backup in case the Springer Gadabout feature mightn't work out.
World's End became largely written in draft along the way in NZ, and we knew that article was definitely going to run, even before the return flight touched down, back at Heathrow. With Green Machine again held over, the notes were sidelined yet again, till after edition 13 went out at the Radar Run on April 11th.
This left just two weeks before Danny & Dawn flew out to the Mediterranean, so a research pack was prepared, and from these notes, the text file drafted in Cyprus, to come back as a practically finished article on 5th May.
At the close of play, there added up a lot of work to present the final package. Though getting it to publication took such a long time, costs were pretty negligible, since both bikes were delivered and collected by their owners. Since the original PC50 photoshoot was so way back, this was shot in 35mm, so film, developing and digital conversion accounted some £7.50, but that was pretty much it!
There were times we all wondered if Green Machine may never get published, but as the Cypriots say, argá, argá - slowly, slowly!
In a very similar saga to Green Machine, the Moto Morini Corsarino Pasta-Blaster feature had been sitting in the can for a similarly interminable period. The bike was lent for feature by Charlie Chatsworth from Wivenhoe, Essex, then roadtest and photoshoot completed way back in summer 2007.
There just always seemed to be other features to present first, or it didn't seem to fit in with the programme, or wasn't the right material to balance the particular magazine content - basically just any excuse to avoid tackling the extremely difficult research background on another obscure Italian bike!
Having started our support feature Italian bike sequence with the Moto-Guzzi Motoleggera back in January 2010, then the Motobi April 2010, it seemed like we were really running out of excuses to ourselves not to bite the bullet and finally get on with the long awaited Corsarino Scrambler feature, so finally committed to present this article in the end link of Not an Egg.
Not having looked at the Corsarino notes for several years, and rather optimistically and conveniently 'remembering' that much of the research and note preparation had already been done. Imagine the horror when Danny looked up the file, and in fact found that very little had been done at all - so another frantic scramble to prepare another research pack, and another text file to urgently draft together in Cyprus.
This certainly wasn't the last of these Cyprus 2010 drafts either. There another two major articles came out of this 'working' holiday, so watch for those to appear later on.
The Morini article incurred fuel costs of £20, and dating so far back, was also shot in 35mm, so another £7.50 for film, developing and digital conversion.
Sponsorship became credited to John McCartney in Bolton, as thanks for a non-specific donation.
The cut-down Wisp feature had been hovering in the background for quite a while, knowing that several of these things were around in various forms, mostly non-functional, incomplete or dismantled. The only working one for many years was Robin Cowling's 'Samter' at Suffolk Wheels, which we'd long said we wanted to do a feature on sometime, but again, never really got round to doing so.
The prospects started changing in summer of 2009, when Paul Nelmes 'donated' (aka dumped), a load of Raleigh Wisp and RSW16 rebuild leftovers round at the workshops. This pile of junk included remains of the ex-Richard Berry 'Old Yellow' garden Wisp, the parts to reconstruct it, and still enough bits to make up a second machine, that was to become 'Dragon'.
"If you don't want it, then I'll just take it on to the tip!"
Well, you can't be throwing stuff away if you know that something can be made from it, can you?
Though the amount of time and effort put in over the following six months was probably disproportionate for the two little bikes that resulted in the end, the actual costs were very low, just a few pounds for each bike. Both were finally completed over the first week of April 2010.
Colin Clover's 'Speedway Wisp' was only incidentally spotted when we were testing some other of his superb collection for feature (more of those appearing shortly). Outlining the cut-down Wisp article plan, Colin duly restored his own machine, and then there were four - the same number of bikes as the previous SIM feature!
A presentation structure based upon a home-made-SIM theme began to materialise, and with nothing planned for the 'oddball second support' slot after Plan Z, we made an impulsive decision and committed with the link at the end of the Zorplan feature.
Appreciating the Zorplan text file went to editing for edition 13 only just before the end of March, and considering that only one of the little Wisps was complete and working at the time, this was a bit of a gamble that everything could be pulled together.
Much of the text had been worked together before the end of April, so it was then just a matter of getting all four bikes together for brief test pace and SIM-stylee photoshoot in May.
Our Wisp photoshoot mirrors the SIM one
Les Gobbett of the Leicester Enthusiasts sent in a sponsorship for "Any Raleigh article", but we don't imagine this is quite what he had in mind! Sorry Les, but the devil inside made us attach your credit. We'll make it up later with something more suitable.
These production notes were also largely drafted together during the 4hr return flight from Cyprus - all busy, busy, busy!
An unforeseen effect of introducing a certain Welsh place name into the text, was finding this word was too long to fit into the usual column width, hence a slight adjustment had to be made. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (58 letters) may be the longest town name in Europe, but there is an intermediate halt to the 9-hole golf course on the Fairbourne & Barmouth narrow-gauge steam railway, recognised as the world's longest station name: Gorsafawddachaidraigodanheddogleddollonpenrhynareudraethceredigion (66 letters), though nobody actually lives there.
And there's a further set of production notes to add...
It's easy to pin down when Mopedland 6 started, it began in April 2009, right after the previous Mopedland 5 was published. Peter Vaughan sent a letter from Devon, with a note written on the back of a genuine, 1950s' Lynmouth postcard.
Just finished reading IceniCAM number 9, and thought I'd send appreciation in a more tangible & practical form than some text in cyberspace. Hope you can use it perhaps on a trip to Mopedland (where it should go further than 21st century England). If the morning haze doesn't descend and open the space-time warp-hole, then just put it towards a feature on anything pre-1960.
Calling back to thank him for the accompanying donation, he said how he thought we might appreciate the old postcard, almost like Mopedland-on-Sea!
Just one of many, many calls following the publication of Spectacles, it's funny the things that stick in the mind... like words... like a postcard...
Much acclaimed as "the best one yet", Spectacles was always going to be a tough act to follow, but it seemed like no time at all before the many Mopedland fans were knocking on the door asking after number six - and the answer is always the same. You can't force these things, they have to come in their own time, they have to be right, and they have to be good enough or they just won't run. For every Mopedland published, there are three or four different drafts that go in the bin.
But somehow that 'on-Sea' idea kept gnawing at the thoughts, until it maybe seemed there might be enough fragments to make a story work. Just a brief intro up to 'waiting for the coach', was drafted in New Zealand, to sit simmering for a month, wondering how to work it from there? Then one day, you just rise in the right frame of mind, turn on the computer, type for nine solid hours, and there it is! Just like all the other Mopedland tales, the ideas seem to juggle for ages, then done in a day!
Much of the content was imaginatively worked from the old Lynmouth postcard, with tiny fragments sampled from The Kinks and Al Stewart, and we'd been running electric bicycles and Lohmanns over the previous year, so that formed another element. Dawn did the proof read, and raised a smile at finding her own handsome Max puss purring in the text!
This time the theme looked toward nature and captured images of life, with the cyclemotor connection stitching the fabric together, and picking up the way that many mornings may appear to start the same - but are just a slightly different, which changes the whole day!
The story characteristically rushes toward the reader at breakneck speed, to be drawn along with the pace of tale, then even if you figure out it's another of the Mopedland series, you still have to read through to the trick at the end.
Andrew did the digi-tricky twiddles to adapt the postcard, and Max appears - well, as himself!
Max shows a relaxed attitude to his stardom
Once tipped off that Mopedland 6 was completed, series fan Lindsay Neill was in with the sponsorship again, to bring it on to publication.
At 18 pages, this copy of the magazine is equal in size to several we've produced before, but add in the four-page supplement to bring the totla to 22 and it's our biggest issue ever!
We've got a crossover coming, as the main feature follows a
link from the previous support item. It had to be arranged
this way since there worked out to be so much text content in
this feature that it had to be promoted to top slot. It's
about a remarkable Italian 50cc 4-stroke that
came out just after the war - but it's probably not going to be
about what you think it may be.
Something is coming... Out of the
Extraordinary!
The support feature comes back to old 19th century Britain for next edition. More often it seems to be grey and raining in Birmingham, but it not this time! It's a pleasant change to see A little Sunshine.
If we told you the third feature was doing a moped, you'd probably think the oddball theme had run out, but not so... Jack the Lad rides this sporty machine that doesn't have any pedals, but the law still classifies it as a moped! So how does that work? Anyone wishing to dispute this description - don't come to us! You might care to take the matter up with the Government. We can give you their address: 10 Downing Street, London SW1...
Well, there's this Website... we've put a lot of useful information here, and we're alwas adding to it. We have a directory of useful people to know. Information on local events: route sheets, maps, etc, are here as downloadable documents and, after each run, we put photos of the event on this website. There's also a market place where you can buy and sell mopeds, autocycles, cyclemotors and other related items
We have a discussion forum on Google Groups - you can get to that from our Contacts page or the box at the top of this page.
As each edition of the magazine is published, we add to our collection of articles. From Edition 3 of the magazine, we introduced another evolution. Previously, features in the articles section had reflected what appeared in the magazine, but you may now discover a bit of extra content has crept into some items as they've transferred to the website - you might call it "The Directors Cut". The problem with printed magazines is editing everything to fit page sizes and space, and there can sometimes be bits you'd like to include, but they have to be left out to fit the available space. The web articles don't need to be constrained by the same limitations so, although the text will remain the same, the 'Directors Cut' graphic in the header indicates the item carries extra pictures and bits that didn't make it to the magazine.
We also have an Information Service - if you want to know more about your moped, we can help.
Iceni CAM Magazine is committed to celebrating all that's good about the Cyclemotor, Moped and Autocycle scene in our area; researching toward the advancement of the pool of knowledge about cyclemotors, autocycles, old mopeds, and other oddities; and the publication of original material. We are a declared non-profit making production, though we still need to fund everything somehow to keep the show on the road.
The magazine is free on line, and the nominal price of supplying hard copies to non-computerised folks is pitched only to cover printing and postage. All advertising is free since we believe that the few people left out there providing parts & service for these obsolete machines do so as a hobby and an interest. This involves far more effort than reward, and they should be appreciated for the assistance they provide. Our Information Service is there to help anyone needing amnuals to help with restoration of a machine. We make a small charge for this but, again, we have set our prices so the just cover postage and material costs.
Overheads involve operation of the website, and particularly the generation of features. Articles like Last Flight of the Eagle can cost as little as £20 to complete, while others have cost up to £150 to generate, eg: Top Cat on the Leopard Bobby. With these overheads, you may be wondering how we get the money to keep it all going. So do we! But, somehow, it works, helped by a number of generous people who have sponsored articles or made donations to keep the show on the road.
How long does it take to research, produce, and get these feature articles to press? Well, up to two years of preparatory research in some cases, where little is known about the machine or its makers, and where nothing has been published before. Then, collating all the information and interviews, drafting and re-drafting the text, travel and photoshoots typically account for up to 40 to 50 hours to deliver the package to editing.
There are many examples where these articles have become the definitive reference material for previously unpublished machines like Mercury Mercette & Hermes, Leopard Bobby, Ostler Mini-Auto, Dunkley Whippet & Popular, Stella Minibike, Ambassador Moped, Elswick Hopper Lynx, and many others.
We're committed to continuing to produce these articles, because we believe it needs to be done, and we've got a proven track record for achieving it. Nobody else has done it in 50 odd years, so if we don't do it - who will?
To whet your appetite for what's ahead, here's an updated list of machines with developing articles for future features: AJW Collie, Ariel 3, Ariel Pixie, Avanti Super City, Batavus Go-Go, BMG Mosquito, Bown 98 1F, BSA Dandy, Busy Bee cyclemotor, Coventry Eagle Trade Auto-Ette, Cyc-Auto (Wallington Butt), Cyc-Auto (Villiers), DKW Hobby, Dot ViVi, Dunkley S65, Dunkley Whippet Super Sports, Elswick-Hopper VAP MIRA test prototype, Excelsior Consort, Excelsior G2 autocycle, Garelli Como, Garelli Eureka, Garelli Katia, Gilera RS50, Hercules Corvette, Hercules Her-cu-motor, Honda Chaly, Honda CT70 Dax Monkey Bike, Honda PC50 ohc, Honda SS50, Huzhou Daixi Zhenhua, James Comet 1F, Kerry Capitano, Kawasaki AR50, Koolgachet E-cycle, Leopard B6, Lohmann cyclemotor, Mercury Grey Streak, Mobylette AV78, Motom 60S, Norman Nippy Mark 2, Norman Nippy Mark 4NVT Ranger, Phillips P36X motorised cycle, Phillips Panda Mark 3, Powell Joybike, Presto Mosquito, Puch Magnum X, Pyramid E-scooter, Rabeneick Binetta, Solifer Speed, Sun Autocycle, Sun Hornet, Sun Motorette, Suzuki Sportsman M15, Tailwind cyclemotor, Triumph Tina, Vincent Firefly, Yamaha FS1E.
The working list changes all the time as articles are completed and published, and further new machines become added - so as you see, there's certainly no shortage of material.
Readers have probably noticed a number of the articles collecting sponsorship credits, and we're very grateful for the donations people have made toward IceniCAM, which certainly assures we're going forward into another year. We don't need a lot of money since IceniCAM is a declared non-profit making organisation, and operates on a shoestring (and we'd like to keep it that way) - run by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts.
It's easy to sponsor an article by either picking a machine from the forward list, and we'll attach your credit to it, or simply making a donation. There is no fixed amount, it's entirely up to you, and however large or small, we're grateful for any contribution to keep the show on the road.
If a vehicle you're interested in seeing an article about isn't in the list, then let us know and we'll see about trying to add it in the programme, but we do need access to examples - perhaps you have a machine you'd like to offer for a feature?
See the Contact Page for how to: Subscribe to the magazine - Chat to fellow readers - Make a donation - Sponsor an article - Enter a free advert - Submit an article yourself - Write a letter to us - Propose a machine for feature - Offer your machine for test feature - ...
Villiers 3K moped engine - new mag flywheel cover badges are now available from Mopedland/Chainmail at £4 each. The original Villiers badges were printed on aluminium plates, which over the years have become very prone to falling off and getting lost, to the point where few machines can be found still wearing the badges today. Replacements have been unavailable for a considerable time. Obsolete Engineering has now manufactured these badges as a printed domed decal, which faithfully reproduces the original artwork. They are self adhesive, and simply applied by peeling off a backing tape and sticking in place.
The badge is sized approximately 2" × 1 5/16" to fit in the 3K engine magneto flywheel cover recess. Order them from www.mopedland.ukfsn.org
Note - these are not suited to the later 3K/1 engine version, which has a larger recess of 2 1/2" × 1 5/8". There is a possibility that the 3K/1 badge may be reproduced later.DVLA has changed form V5c - the registration document or "log book". The new ones are immediately obvious from the bright red panels on the front.
First things first: the old versions are still all valid; you don't need to do anything. Apart from the colour, the main changes are:
A "This document is not proof of ownership" statement on the front. This isn't really anything new - they're just making it much more noticeable.
Removal of the return slip to use if you scrap a vehicle. This is because, when scrapped, all cars, light vans and three-wheeled motor vehicles - excluding motor tricycles - must be taken to an Authorised Treatment Facility, who should issue a Certificate of Destruction (CoD). This is to conform with EU ELV (End of Life Vehicle) regulations. From our point of view, it's worth noting that not only are motor cycles not in the list, but there are also exemptions from ELV regulations for historic vehicles.
In the autumn of 2010, Miniatuurshop.nl will release four different Puch and Tomos models in 1:10 scale. They will be a Puch VS50, Puch MV50, Tomos 3L and Tomos 2L. Each version will be available in two colour schemes with a limited edition of 500 models being made in each colour. Bookings for these models are likely to be very fast. To reserve a model you can e-mail: . The models will be €49.95 each including VAT (19% in The Netherlands). Below is a list of the planned models:
Puch MV50 in black with chrome/red tank,
Puch MV50 in black with chrome/beige tank,
Puch VS50 in white with chrome/white tank,
Puch VS50 in black with chrome/yellow tank,
Tomos 2L in black with full chrome tank,
Tomos 2L in red with full chrome tank,
Tomos 3L in metallic gray with full chrome tank,
Tomos 3L in blue with full chrome tank.
Miniatuurshop.nl is
at:
Kievitlaan 29
9411HD Beilen
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 593 851233
E-mail: .
Now it's the main summer holiday season we'd like to apologize in advance if our responses to your queries aren't as quick as usual - especially during the first two weeks of August. If normal people can go on holiday, why can't we?
While on his way to attend the Peninsularis Run on Sunday 4th
July, Dave Evans was knocked off his bike. He's a bit
bruised and battered but is 'walking wounded' and was able to
make good his escape from hospital and visit us at Bucklesham
later that afternoon. Dave would like to thank all those
EACC and NACC members who have helped him and expressed
their good wishes - those who recovered his bike, visited the
hospital, ran his jumble stall and the many, many of you who have
'phoned and send cards to wish him well;
Thank you all.
DVLA has announced that new versions of forms V55/4 and V55/5 will be available from DVLA Local Offices from 21 June 2010. The forms have been revised to include four new data fields to enable DVLA to comply with EU Directive 2007/46/EC (relating to Type Approval). The old forms will cease to be valid on 28 June 2010. Read More on the FBHVC website.
Motor Cycles Made in Suffolk is a new book in the Ipswich Transport History series. We have collaborated with Ipswich Transport Museum to produce this 24-page booklet that describes the post-war production of motor cycles in Suffolk. You can buy a copy on-line (see our Books Page) or in person at Ipswich Transport Museum's Shop. Copies will also be available at several EACC events.
The articles from Issue 13 of the magazine are now all available as web pages - with the main three in 'Director's Cut' versions.
World's End: Phillips Gadabouts in New Zealand
Not an Egg: The Motobi moped
Essex Chapter Chatter reveals Pete Smith's racing career.
Plan Z: The Zorplan Shopper
Letters: feedback from last issue's Lido feature.
Today (23rd February) a mystery package came through the IceniCAM letterbox. No indication of who sent it or why. It contained copies of correspondence between Frank Brzeski and the committee of the National Autocycle and Cyclemotor Club Ltd, along with an article by Frank with the title "The Loneliness of the Cyclemotorist". This article was written to be published in Buzzing but the NACC Ltd committee refused to print it - hence the correspondence.
It seems to us that there are two issues involved here. Firstly, the content of the article itself, which is a thoughtful and well-written piece about the sorts of machines that the NACC Ltd should be encouraging. It's the kind of subject that often comes up for discussion in many clubs - and normal clubs seem to have no problem with their members discussing this subject.
Secondly, there's the issue of the NACC Ltd's refusal to publish it, which has far more to do with the turmoil still raging within the club ... and it's probably best if we keep well clear of that subject.
Frank has put the article on some of his eBay listings, so you can read it there.
To our anonymous informant: if you sent us that for our own amusement, then many thanks. If you were hoping we'd publish it all, then sorry, we can't do that unless Frank himself gives us permission.
Honda PC50 sprocketsHonda stopped supplying front sprockets for the Honda PC50 some time go and the stocks held by the main Honda parts suppliers in the UK have run out. ChainMail has stepped into the breach by producing a batch of these sprockets. These are made from super-hard metal and should last longer than the originals!
Older news stories are available in our News Archive
This page was updated on 28 August 2010