Tiny TT treasure
It’s June 8, 1962, and on a glorious Friday morning, 33 riders have come to the start line of the ultra-lightweight 50cc TT race.
It was the first time for the ‘tiddlers’ around the 37¾mile Mountain Course and the huge crowd anxiously waited for the flag to drop and for the action to get under way.
The field was full of world-class stars on an impressive line-up of factory machines; four eight-speed four-stroke Hondas, then, from the two-stokes, four Suzukis and five Kreidlers, sporting a staggering 12 gears. These were all specially prepared works offerings but filling up the rest of the entry was a list of privately prepared machines, comprising of a Dot, a solitary Benelli, three specials, a Tohatsu and no fewer than 14 Italian Itoms.
The rider of one of the little Italian two-strokes had created a lot of media interest, as Beryl Swain was the first female to be granted an entry in one of the world’s toughest and most dangerous races. That June day also saw this month’s featured machine come to the start line, although, sadly, through the
