James (Jim) Bound Snr.

Father, Butcher, Motorcycle Dealer, Sponsor and Motorcycle Road Racer in 125cc and 50cc classes

Birth date:                    26th May 1913

Birth Place:                 Watford, England

Date of Death :           1996

Place of Death :         Hearne Bay, England

Nationality:                English

We are now in the 1920s and school boy James (Jim) Bound is wrapping up joints of meat and keeping busy weighing other produce in his fathers butchers shop at 32 Vicarage Road, Watford. Jim helped in the shop to gain experience and earn pocket money. 

While doing this his dreams were far away with spanners, wrenches, lathes and the invigorating odour of petrol.

This was quite normal for Jim and not a passing fancy as all the time he was handling the meat and sometimes when serving his customers, he hankered after the delights of motorcycling. Knowing this desire, when he left school in 1928, his father George Bound, bought him a two-stroke motorcycle for his birthday and within the year he was taking part in grass track racing and scrambles. 

His bike then, like the one to the right was a 172cc Francis Barnett with a bolt-up frame and an engine with a padded crankshaft. The engine was equipped with the ‘Brooklands Can silencer’ for general sale but on Jim’s engine as with Tommy Meeten's it had a special exhaust, with the white puffed pipes, named the ‘Oxford bags’ 

In spite of being built like a bridge, as the advertisements claimed, these little Fanny Barnets went very well, but Jim's debut was not greeted with acclaim by the motorcycle press. In fact, they never mentioned it, but he enjoyed himself so much that he was ‘hooked’ and all his spare time, away from working in his father's butchers shop was devoted to the tuning and preparation for the next motorcycle event.

Picture left is of the 'Brooklands' Barnet in the mid-1920s, T G ‘Tommy’ Meeten’s name was invariably linked with that of Francis-Barnett, for whom he set a number of speed records at Brooklands riding one of their 172cc Villiers-engined two-strokes. Picture: The 1927 Ex-Tommy Meeten Francis Barnett-172cc.

Moving on to a day in 1953, Jim was thinking of how his own butchers shop, the old established family business, would be closing at the following weekend and would undergo major alterations and a frontal facelift followed by him, a very proud Mr Jim Bound, opening the door at the end of January and welcoming in the new customers into the bright new premises. But, instead of a block and meat cleaver and the other requirements for selling meat and its associated products, Jim Bound would have a display of gleaming new motorcycles, Scooters and accessories. 

We all have a start and an end to many things in our lives and from Jim's memories and interviews the story of this revolutionary change begins about 30 years before Jim had these thoughts of a change in his business direction. This was when Jim’s father, Mr George Bound started a butchers shop in Vicarage Road, Watford. Jim started work with him as soon as he left school doing deliveries and helping with the stall which his father ran in the Watford market for 17 years. Another property that was established in Vicarage Road, but in 1922 was the new stadium for Watford football club, before the nick name 'The Hornets' and Elton John's involvement

Jim remembers serving customers on a stall when Watford’s open market stretched all along the High Street and before it was moved under cover. The livestock market was also held at this location. The market was open on Tuesdays for livestock and Saturdays for more general goods. The 22 September 1928 marked the last day of the market in the High Street. The market re-opened in Red Lion Square before being incorporated into Charter Place in 1974, where it remained until it moved to its current location in 2015. The current market is housed over two-storeys with an iconic canopy roof and stalls down the High Street.

What about the  origins of the Market so necessary to the Bound family for its income: Watford was once a settlement in the 12th century, and was sited on a route frequently used by travellers to and from London. The Abbot of St Albans asked for, and was granted, a Charter by the King to host a weekly market. The marketplace was a chance for livestock to be sold along with other market goods to be traded. 

All, the time he was handling meat in the shop or manning the market stall , Jim hankered after the delights of motorcycling. This desire was still with him when he left school and so his father bought him the two-stroke mentioned above and within the year he was taking part in grass track racing and scrambles.

His next and much faster bike was a 1929 water cooled 600cc DKW; a speedway model with no gears or brakes, bought for £25. It was not one of DKW's best Teutonic efforts, and in a brief and critical appraisal Jim described it as ‘a bugger’ not un-duly harsh considering it used to overheat and spray the rider’s face with boiling water. Picture: not Jim's bike but the same model.

One weekend Jim was taking a hot shower on the DKW when he won a trophy for first place in the unlimited class at a Hill climb event. Jim also rode the DKW at Barnet Speedway, an earth surfaced track just off the Barnet by-pass and also at Hampton Court Speedway where he rode as A. N. Other. The owners of this track operated outside the jurisdiction of the ACU, but paid start money of seven and sixpence, five bob, and half-a-crown respectively to the first three riders of the race. Despite such rich pickings Jim never took to speedway and becoming more interested in road racing parted with the ‘Deek’ to buy a 1933 172cc SOS model AA. Pictures: not Jim's bike but the same model.

1933 S.O.S. 172CC MODEL AA

‘BROOKLANDS’ RACING MOTOR CYCLE

The initials  stood for ‘Super Onslow Special’, as this was the name of the builder, Vale Onslow, this was later changed to ‘So Obviously Superior’, and  like the Francis Barnett it had a Villiers-‘Brooklands‘ engine with an Albion gearbox, both mounted in a short-wheelbase, lightweight, welded frame with large brakes and minimum equipment.

In 1937 he bought one of the famous Mechanical Marvel Excelsiors from Ron Harris, the well-known Brooklands rider-agent who advertised his hire purchase scheme as ‘Adjustable Drip-Feed Terms’. Mechanical Marvels weren't all that marvellous - even the works found them extremely difficult to keep in tune, but Jim enjoyed his ownership. He raced it at Cadwell Park, Crystal Palace, and won a trophy at Donnington before selling it back to Harris.

Picture: 1933 Excelsior 250cc ‘Mechanical Marvel’ Racing Motorcycle. In the 1933 Isle of Man TT 250 Lightweight race, Excelsior works rider Walter Handley romped away from the field only to be forced to retire, letting team mate Syd Gleave on another ‘Mechanical Marvel’ through to win.

Needing another race bike, Jim looked at the DKW again and for two years he rode for D.K.W., the manufacturer in Germany and had good results, a thick scrap book records his successes in this country and jaunts over the Continent. Then Jim got married to Edith in 1939, and dropped all that speed business. That year the war with Germany commenced.

When the call went out for men to enlist in the forces, Jim enlisted in the RAF as an airframe fitter. Reading an article by Peter Dobson for a motorcycling magazine, Jim made the comment "On my return to Hertfordshire in 1945", the author has not been able to determine whether Jim was stationed away from the Watford/ Hertfordshire area or located at RAF Bovingdon," I took over the running of the butchers shop". Meat was hard to come by and trade was bad so he took on some two stroke tuning work, most notably for Stanley Woods who used to send his Villiers 9E trials and scrambles engines from Ireland to have Jim lay his magical hands on them. (After the war ended, Stanley concentrated on scrambling and trials riding for both fun and competition. He was honoured for his achievements at a testimonial dinner in Dublin in 1989). Click the badge to read the Villiers Story.

Jim was soon doing more tuning work than providing meat to the local population. He decided give this up altogether and turn the Vicarage Road premises into a motorcycle shop, trading as EMB Motors, a name derived from Mrs Edith Mary Bound's initials.“

He returned to racing in this dismal post-war period on a rigid framed, girder forked Mk VII KTT Velocette and was one of a dozen English riders, including Peter Goodman, Maurice Cann, Dave  Whitworth and Vic Willoughby, invited to take part in the Grand Prix Du Zonte, at Ostend, in Belgium on July 14, 1946. Jim's friend Capt. Harrowell, another Watford man who was serving with the BAOR in  Germany, took leave to act as his  mechanic.

Peter Goodman won the race, but Jim was in the money, bringing his Velocette into fifth place. It was at Ostend that he met Marcel Masuy, the Belgian sidecar racer, and they became great friends. Barbara Bound, Jim's daughter commented: "I remember him well, a `playboy` looking man, so handsome. He was born in 1909 and died 1955, having raced between 11.07.1948 until 29.05.1955 in non-Championship sports and European Formula 2 each as a private entry. He was married to Josette, and was living in Rue Jordan at the time of knowing dad" Marcel had one of the pre-war production split-single DKWs, and Jim had a great desire to own it. Marcel also lusted for a 596cc Manx Norton and a deal was made. Jim sold the Velocette to finance the purchase of the Norton that he then swapped for the DKW.

His association with the DKW, now called an EMB, was not a happy one, although he did win a race on it at Budge, in Belgium, and was pictured in the local paper as a ‘continental conqueror’. However spares for racing ‘Deeks’ were not readily available from Pride and Clarke’s, or anywhere else.

The only man who had any was Dr Joseph Ehrlich, who at the time was developing his own split-single. He was racing a pre-war forced induction DKW as an EMC, with some success and he offered to take the DKW off Jim’s hands. Jim accepted and gave up racing for a while to devoted himself to the shop and family.

Then around 1948 he took to building ‘specials’. Keen to race again, the SOS from pre-war days was taken from the shed. The engine was  sleeved down from a 172cc to 122cc, allowing his entry into the 125 class for road racing.  Fixed up with alloy flywheels in the place of bob-weights, and the barrel was turned round front-to-back and kitted out with twin, gently tapered, megaphones.

The EMB-SOS was raced but was much too heavy for the power available, and eventually went to Ireland.  A new steed was required and this tie it was with the help of Len Griffith, his mechanic.  Picture: Jim on the 122cc SOS-Villiers-EMB

Jim’s next effort was again another 125cc, this  time with a much more up-to-date Puch split-single engine. This had a sprung frame of his own design, with one spring beneath the engine, and slender telescopic forks which were made by a friend. The Puch-EMB was ‘all noise and no go in her at all, except downhill’ it also broke its frame at Scarborough in 1950. As a result of the low power, Jim and Len decided that enough was enough of that bike - "We need a new project". The bike was sold and went over to Ireland. Picture: Jim with Len Griffiths in the pits, preparing the PUCH-EMB 125cc for a race at the Blandford race circuit in Dorset. 

The Puch engine was used by other riders but again with same lack of success. Dr Joseph Ehrlich, a friend of Jim's, had created a similar machine as you can see.

Pictures from Bonhams

Jim and Len then began another project using a Villiers 10D two-stroke engine. Initial testing of the Villiers 10D engine proved encouraging and the consensus was that it would be OK for the 1951 Scarborough meeting. However the problems of building up machines for any event in the comparatively short time available between races can proved too much for some builders like Jim for instance, he reported that he had the engine turning over on the bench at somewhere in the region of 8,500 revs, which represented a theoretical "90 mph." All was going well, when the fly-wheel magneto disintegrated at the Scarborough meeting and it burst its crankcase, as can be seen in the pictures. A bit of a mess.

"The engine was rebuilt with the best parts available, bearings, pistons, etc and as the engine was current and used in other motorcycles sourcing the crankcases was not a problem. The engine was then put back into the repaired sprung-frame, it was as smooth as silk to the hand . Not in the way that the Scott's were always said to be but really smooth." Jim and Len took the EMB to Silverstone to test the re-build. All went well and it was ready for the 'Island'  This picture is of Jim Bound at Silverstone on the DKW with the Villers D10 engine installed, she was fast but fragile, it had explosive tendencies, similar to ones before.

Jim entered the 125cc TT in the Isle of Man in 1951 and took the EMB Villers D10 over for his ride,  he is shown (53) in the listing opposite. During a TT practice for the race, the engine blew up again in a comprehensive way, and gave rise to the family joke that Jim’ bikes went like bombs!

Jim and Len continued to improve the D10 machine and did get some semblance of reliability but there was always a feeling in Jim's mind whilst racing, that things could go wrong and so Jim bought another DKW in 1952, a 125cc, this time, from the famous two stroke tuner Herman Meier. 

The engine was the one on which BSA had based the Bantam. FYI: When BSA wanted more power from the Bantam, Pike suggested they draft in a proven Bantam racer, Hermann Meier (who would later design Royal Enfield’s 250 racer GP5, of which maybe 30 were produced in 1965). Meier had shown in Floyd Clymer’s book how to shrink a deeply finned aluminium "Fins" onto the OD of a cut-down iron Bantam cylinder to improve cooling, keeping pistons alive at higher powers. Other mods included moderate porting, copiously finned head, a bigger carburettor, various kinds of exhaust pipe, and a “stuffed” crankcase. The result was 10hp and a claimed top speed of 80 mph.

However the engine in Jim's bike was not up to the tune level of the final Meier model and he found it rather sluggish and it performed little better than a standard Bantam although Jim did manage to win a race on it, at Long Marston in 1952. The sluggish DKW did however provide a rolling chassis for the next ‘special’. The engine started out as a Villiers-9D but was soon unrecognisable with two carburettors, a special barrel with a bifurcated inlet port, a special head, and a  close-ratio three speed gear cluster. True to form, the engine had explosive tendencies but when it held together (never for long) it was good for 80 mph plus. Entered for the 1952 Ultra-lightweight 125cc TT but Did not finish.

During 1953 Jim continued his racing using both the 125 DKW based machine and the EMB Puch. During this year and for the next two years Jim spent more time building the motorcycle business and less in riding on the race track. He still made his bikes available to other riders when necessary.

From 1952, Rumi built the SuperSport model of its twin for road racing with two Dell'Orto carburettors mounted vertically above the engine and its own design of bottom-link front forks. 

The racing Rumi were developed by former FN and Saroléa designer Salmaggi, whose tuned version of the 125cc Super Sport motor produced 8 HP at 7,000 RPM and was good for 72 MPH.

Based on this information and in his quest for reliability coupled with the rapidity from the 1953 model, Jim imported a Moto Rumi from Italy. It had an exquisite 123cc flat twin, two stroke motor, and it made a lovely noise. This was 'great' until he found it was prone to seizing the bottom end. It never finished in a race, and every time he rode the thing it cost him a new crankshaft.

On the 1953 version Rumi had installed more modern telescopic forks.

Picture: Courtesy Mortons Motorcycle media

Things were better on the retail front. The shop was doing well. In addition to his daughter, Barbara and himself, he employed a Manager and three mechanics. He was an agent for Ambassadors, Itoms and Zundapp bikes, along with Zundapp Bella scooters. He also sold the NSU Quickly mopeds, obtained through a deal with Vincent Motorcycles, who were reputed to be handling a thousand of these, 2-speed machines, a month!  Although not a motorcycle, Jim too on the agency for the Messerschmitt 'Bubble Car'

Interest in 'bubble cars' has been on the rise for some time, of which many view the tandem seat Messerschmitt's as the cream of the crop. In 1955 an improved KR200 was introduced with a larger 191cc engine, revised bodywork, an improved turning circle and floor mounted accelerator and clutch. The tandem seating allowed centralised weight distribution irrespective of occupants, avoiding the flawed logic of the Isetta's lop sided engine arrangement, and providing the little tricycle with handling characteristics that outclassed its contemporaries. This is Barbara and Jim displaying the seating arrangement.

Four forward and four reverse gears made for rapid progress in either direction with a top speed of 62 mph, if you were brave enough. Available in the UK from 1955 onwards production ceased in 1964 after some 30,000 KR200s had been made. 

He was a sub agent for BSA and AMC machines through his friends, Lewis and Foster who made and raced the pretty overhead camshaft LEF. This unique racing motorcycle was built circa 1952 by Bob Foster and Herbert Lewis, partners in the Watford-based motorcycle dealership of Lewis, Ellis and Foster. Work started in 1952 on a double-overhead-camshaft engine using drawings made by Herbert Lewis, who had designed the team’s 250cc racer a few years previously. Due to the engineering skill needed to create this machine, Jim took an immediate liking to it.

Bore and stoke dimensions of 55x52.5mm were chosen, these being identical to those of the Triumph 3T-based motor used in the 250cc LEF racer. The camshaft and con-rod were made in house, as were the majority of the other engine parts except for the timing gears (Triumph) and oil pump (Norton).

Sparked by a Bosch magneto and breathing via an Amal GP carburettor, the LEF motor produced 13bhp at around 9,000rpm. The gearbox used was an Albion four-speed racing unit, while the frame was made from Accles & Pollock oval section tubing. A number of well known riders rode the LEF 125, including Jim Dakin, Eric, Pantlin and Jim's friends, Rex Avery and Dave Chadwick. The LEF’s last Isle of Man TT competitive outing was in the 1958 Ultra Lightweight race, rider Rex Avery bringing it home in 15th place. However even though Jim was interested in this bike, he was also a two-stroke man and declined to race it.

 NSU FOX 100cc Two-stroke 1954

Up at Stevenage one day in 1954, collecting some NSU Quickly mopeds, Phil Vincent offered Jim an agency to sell the 100cc two stroke NSU-Vincent FOX. Jim accepted and immediately set about halving the capacity of one of the engines and using it in racing 50cc as the class was gaining a lot of interest. He and his mechanics sleeved the barrel, turned up a new flywheel to reduce the stroke, turned off the lower cooling fins and sank the barrel lower in the crankcase. The piston was from an NSU Quickly and immediately available as he held stock for this moped. The resulting engine went well and started Jim on the 50cc racing path.

A number of enthusiasts went racing equipped with bolt-on engines and mopeds and achieved podium places. But how to get more speed? The Cucciolo engine would take some basic tuning but the pull rod engine design limited the upper rev range. Many soon twigged the obvious, adopting low frames, smaller wheels and later fairings. Race speeds increased with sleeved down NSU Fox two-strokes and 'race developed' Cucciolos lapping at 45-50mph, not far behind the slower 125s of the period. Both the press and the watching public became impressed. An anti racing fifty lobby grew, but often their voice backfired helping rather than hindering the fledgling cause.

Jim raced this steed only once, at Blandford on May 30th, 1955 and he won the race. But the engine would not have held together for another lap, as he discovered on his next test run when it blew to pieces. He then moved across to the Itom marque to further his, and during the later '50s' his daughters involvement in 50cc racing. The program for Blandford 1957 10th June, shows Jim in the running with a young Mike Hailwood. Jim's EMB was his Itom.

Picture below: Two snaps of a similar race in the collecting ring at Brands hatch showing Mike Hailwood, Vic Dedden, Jim Bound and Barbara Bound. All mounted on the Itom racers

During 1957 Jim maintained his interest in the 125cc class and also developed machinery for the new 50cc events. 

3 – 7 June 1957	Jim Bound Montesa Sprint 1957 125cc TT

For the 125cc class, Jim maintained the DKW/BSA Moto-E.M.B. Due to the shop and other commitments, if Jim was not able to ride at a meeting he would sponsor another rider and provide the bike. Two incidences of this are recorded for a meeting at Crystal Palace and one at Alton Towers, where the rider was S. A. Fairchild. Around this time his daughter, Barbara was showing, not just an interest in the shop, but also the workshop and racing a '50'. See the Barbara Bound Page,

In 1957 Jim fell in love again, this time with Norman Webb’s 125cc Montesa Sprint. Norman had visited the Barcelona factory with great friend and speedway rider Tommy Price, where they rode a works six-speed Sprint. Norman wrote an enthusiastic article about the bike, for ‘Motor Cycling’, and subsequently bought one. It was only the production racer with a four-speed box, but for its day it was quite quick or so Jim reckoned, of between 85-90, in the right conditions, running at around 8,500rpm.

Phil Aynsley is an Australian, professional photographer, enthusiastic about motorbikes. His photographic books are very difficult to find. He is a tireless traveller and has seen and photographed many natural places of beauty and other wonders all over the world. Click on 43 to access his web page. Phil Aynsley

Jim bought the bike from Norman and rode it in the Island in the ultra-lightweight TT race that June, when it proved to be unburstable. This was joy to a man accustomed to showers of hot metal whipping past his ears! Bad news was that he was desperately uncomfortable. Jim is no giant, but the Sprint was surprisingly small. The fairing was too low and he was unable to tuck behind the screen, in the end  he had to pull off the track and could not finish. Jim was lying in 13th position when the pain was too great and he had to pull off the track for safety. At the time of this unfortunate incident, Jim was lying in 13th Place on the last lap.

As there was no importer for the Montesa Marque in the UK Jim decided in 1958 to make arrangements with the factory to import the Montesas and brought in his first order of six 125cc Brio 91s which had the typical Montesa Teledraulic forks extending below the front wheel spindle, and plunger rear suspension. Designed by Senor Bulto before he left to form Bultaco, they were unusual and attractive road bikes that went extremely well. With no importer in the UK there was a break in the supply chain that could give Jim some problems and so he decided to create a new business alongside the EMB motorcycle shop and run both from Watford. Montesa were in favour with this approach and a good relationship was created.

Jim Bound and Les Griffiths with the new van

The Spanish two strokes were favourably received by the motorcycle press, but it was becoming pretty obvious that details of some dreadful problems of the bikes  had been suppressed in road tests and the Brio 91s were  proving hard to sell.

The sight of the six Montesas hanging round the shop was getting on Jim's nerves but he had sold one to a Vicar from Sidcup. He thought the little Brio  was a revelation and after this divine  intervention Jim decided to convert the remaining five machines into racers, after which he sold the lot.

For the 1958 TT Jim entered three machines. All Montesa 125cc and enterer under his name as Entrant. The riders however were his two friends who used the bikes during the season or when Jim was not able to race. In the listing Stan. A. Fairchild ran No.1, W. (Bill) Peden ran No.5 and Jim was on No.17.  For this race,  he fitted a locally made three-piece fairing, with a higher screen, to the three tiny Montesas. The 125cc event was held on the 10.79 mile long Clypse circuit and Jim was settled in and going well when, to his surprise, he crashed at Morney Corner. He has been back there since, and still can't understand why he crashed on the simple, fast, lefthander. Stan and Bill did well and completed the course coming in 17th and 18th. Both received finishers medals.

Jim Bound on the Montesa Sprint 125cc in the 1958 TT	Bill Peden Montesa at the Nursery Bends 1958 Ultra Lightweight TT	Stan Fairchild Montesa at the Manx Arms 1958 Ultra Lightweight TT	Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Finishers Medal

During the latter part of the year a bad fire broke out at the shop which damaged stock and destroyed the wreckage of the Montesa Sprint. This made 1958 a year to forget.

In 1959 Jim imported half a dozen Brio 110s, a post-Bulto design, but one that owed a lot to Montesas racing experience. The 110s were good for nearly  seventy or even more with the optional speed kit. They had swinging arm suspension, full width hubs, and were handsome, light, economical, and handled beautifully. At £168.00, including purchase tax, they were not expensive, but once again they didn’t sell.

Like the Brio 91s they hung about the shop until Jim once again converted them to racers and sold them all! Selling Montesa racing bikes seemed like a good thing so, as the factory dropped out from supplying complete bikes, Jim shared the Cheetah factory in Watford with two other chaps, who were doing other things, and began to build them using the 124.98cc Brio 110 engine (tuned by himself), Montesa forks, hubs, and the normal twin shock rear suspension.

The petrol tanks were manufactured at the Watford factory, and Ian Telfer made the frames. There were two models;  the  Sportsman, priced at a pretty painful £343 15s 8d, and the more highly tuned, six-speed, Grand Prix, of which only two  were made and never given a price.

A comment from Barbara Bound, Jim's daughter: "One of the leading riders of the time to campaign a Sportsman was in fact a sportswoman - Mrs. Margo Pearson. She was a well known figure on the 125cc Montesa and competed in many 125 races during the 60's. Jim supported her in this vocation and she became a firm member of EMB-Montesa group"  Photograph: Margo Pearson at the Welbourne Sprint.

In all, there were eight Sportsman. Rex Avery rode  the first one in the 1960 "TT" and Mrs Margo Pearson campaigned one throughout the early ’60s. But the bikes were slow to sell and Jim gave up the Cheetah factory and the shop. With the collapse of the motorcycle market soon to follow, this  was probably a wise decision. Les Griffith had one of the Grand Prix models, now safe and well in Germany.  Les Griffith who was from of Bristol was a racing colleague and friend of Jim's. His name could easily get confused with Len Griffith , who was a mechanic working for Jim in building the racers and other maintenance work. The other GP Model the other went to Ireland.

Speaking of Ireland, in 1959 Jim entered a race in the Emerald Isle for the 50cc class and was accompanied by his daughter Barbara. the following is a cutting from a local paper: DAUGHTER THIRD - 'DAD' SEVENTH! 1959 - WHAT'S the reaction of an experienced racing motor cyclist when his daughter zooms past him in an important race? Surprise? "Hardly the word for it,” says Watford motor-cycle dealer Jim Bound. 

And Jim should know, for he was plugging along nicely enough when his 19-year-old daughter, Barbara, passed him in the 50cc scratch race for the Irish champ1onships during the week-end. Barbara, now in her second season at racing, had never before won a prise and she was the only girl among 35 competitors. But she rode her Italian Itom machine into third place and was given a tremendous ovation. 

Comment from Barbara Bound: Jim had a great love for the 50cc class and awarded a trophy to the Chiltern 50cc Racing Club for the best performance for the year of a female rider. This was called the 'Ladies Shield'. I received the shield and a small keepsake trophy.  The trophy was presented by Montesa Motorcycles, the business owned by my Dad, Jim Bound". The winners of the trophy were: 1958 - Pauline Dale, 1959 - Barbara Bound and 1960 - Beryl Swain.

 

Pauline Dale-Ducati-1958

 

Barbara Bound-Itom-1959

Beryl Swain-Itom-1960

Jim then took half the family to Spain for a short period, while he worked for the Montesa factory in their race shop.  It was Jim who applied his knowledge and tuned the standard 175cc Impalas that did so well in the 24-Hour Race at Montjuich Park in 1963. Jim was home again in Watford within six months, though, bringing with him one of the  Impala bikes as a parting gift from the factory.

His love for  two strokes was undiminished and he still had the memories of his desire for moulding pieces of inanimate metal to form something that had life and urgency, but it is interesting to speculate on how things might have been had he been less interested in tuning and development, and had a greater desire to concentrate on racing the more reliable and available machines of the period.     

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