Chater-Lea Copperknob

OF ALL THE MATERIALS ONE WOULD ASSOCIATE with a motorcycle, copper isn’t one of them. Small change, yes. Wiring, yes. Piping, yes (even the ancient Egyptians had copper plumbing systems). But not motorcycles. Yet, in the National Motorcycle Museum stands a machine whose lush plating glistens in Number 29 of the periodic table. And perhaps unsurprisingly, this machine – a Chater-Lea/JAP-engine hybrid – is a one-off hybrid that became known as the ‘Copperknob’. This edition of Machines that Matter explores the incidental history of the Copperknob – a machine whose existence is thanks to – of all things – a dare…

In 1928 former civil servant and latter-day garage proprietor, Ben Bickell, was set a personal motorcycle challenge at a grasstrack. This singular event confirmed his love for speed and, needless to say, the 33-year-old was soon afflicted with the racing ‘bug’. By the end of the year this one-off dare had become a