Stuck in the middle

A row of motorcycles on white plinths flanks an exhibition wall at this year’s Isle of Man TT. The machines include RS250 and RS125 Hondas, a 1000cc Padgetts 2012 Honda Fireblade Superstock racer and, also from Padgett’s, an ex-John McGuinness Honda CBR600.

And then – somewhat incongruously – among the plastic covered modern machinery sits a 1923 250cc Blackburne-powered Rex-Acme.

I put it there – smack bang in the middle of the show – because the story of this machine is one of intrigue, promise and ambition. What’s more, it is extremely rare: this Rex-Acme finished third in the 1923 Lightweight TT with a speed of 49.53mph and a finishing time of four hours, 34 minutes and 20 seconds.

So at this year’s Bennetts/Rachael Clegg exhibition at the TT, the centre of attention was an elegant, exquisitely pretty, vintage Rex-Acme.

Beetle-black and slightly sinister-looking, the machine features umpteen levers, dummy belt-rim brakes, a sprung single saddle and an outside flywheel engine in full working order, after being restored for the 1907 TT re-enactment in 2007. Its paintwork is in mint