I have a Reg Harris track bike, in fact I have owned two, not the Raleighs that he rode as a professionsl but track bikes made in his factory in Macclesfield during his short lived venture into bicycle manufacturing. When I told my Dad in 1963 that I wanted to race track and that I was going to build up a track bike from bits and pieces he told Norman Grattage, a close friend of Reg and the manager of Fallowfield stadium in Manchester, and Norman told my Dad that Reg was selling his personal track bike that he had made for him at his factory. This frame was super strong, had liners in the chainstays to accommodate Reg's extreme jump and had about a dozen Reg Harris transfers on it, and it was all Campag with a Campag inch pitch chainset, Campag large flange track hubs, Campag seat pin with Unica plastic saddle, a cheap Ambrossio stem and no name steel track bars, cheap Milremo pedals, Mavic track sprint rims and Dunlop No 2 tubs.
It is not widely known but Reg made his first comeback in 1965 as a reinstated amateur, many people have forgotten this comeback (including Reg), but because he had sold it to me, he had no track bike, so he asked for mine back and gave me another Reg Harris track bike as a replacement, which was also made in his factory, I will be bringing this bike to the Cirque. He was all set to win the Gran Prix of the City of Manchester at the 1965 Wheelers meet (he won his heats easily) when half way through the meet it started to pour with rain and the meet was cancelled. Reg rode one other meet that year and was beaten by Paul Jenner in the sprint either at Coventry (the Butts) or Herne Hill, this really put Reg's nose out of joint. Reg wanted a revenge match "omnium" (kilometer time trial, sprint, and flying 200 meter time trial) but Jenner chickened out and so Reg retired again, only to come back again for his famous win of the British pro championship in 1974 at 54 years old. The funny thing about this is that Reg never mentioned this first comeback in 1965 in his book "Two Wheels to the Top", probably because it left a sour taste in his mouth. During this comeback in 1965 Reg rode a lot with the our club (Manchester Wheelers)in club 25s and on the track at Fallowfield, my claim to fame is that I was his 4 minute man in a club 25 and he passed me at about 20 miles, he did a 60 minutes something and I did a 1:5:48 (I was only a schoolboy at the time and eventually my PB came down to 58:12). I used to train on the track with him as well (along with a bunch of other guys), doing bit-and-bit for lap after lap, it was marvellous. One day he arrived at the track to find me practicing track stands "what the hell are you doing" he said "practicing track stands" I said, "why don't you practice going fast before you practice going slow" he replied - wise words indeed.
Reg was never interested in trophies or nostalgia - only money, he sold everything he ever won, silver tea services, watches, all his bikes and trophies, it all meant nothing to him, I'll bet that as soon as he re-retired in 1965 he probably sold my first Reg track bike as soon as the wheels stopped spinning, I'd love to know what happened to that bike.
I have only ever seen 3 Reg Harris track bikes, the two I had and one ridden by Peter Gordon. Reg gave the bike to Peter so that he could advertise the marque for him, Peter was a very good rider (British Amateur Road Champion) and it wasn't unusual for good riders to be given bikes in the days before sponsorship so that the bike name could be seen around. Peter's bike, like the first one I had, was covered in Reg Harris transfers, top tube, down tube, forks, chain stays. For some reason Reg and Peter had a falling out and Peter put duct tape over all the transfers - it looked horrible, but I guess he achieved his goal of sticking it to Reg.
Brian Booth Toronto, Ontario Canada, M1V 2S8
.......__o
.......\<,
....( )/ ( )