A phoenix arises

I usually try to pick a different topic for these articles each month but I'm breaking that tradition to tell an amazing story that follows directly on from last month's "The Forncett Bikers". Those of you who read the extended article on the Forncett History blog, will know that Marjorie Thurston and Dick Sutton had many motorbikes over the years, but a couple of bikes appeared frequently in Marjorie's photo collection, and one of those was AH2192. 

I know nothing about vintage motorbikes, so I enlisted help with identification from a friend and previous contributor to these articles, Sinclair Glover. He, in turn, contacted a vintage motorbike expert and to my complete amazement he told me, not only that AH2192 was a Rex JAP V-twin made around 1912, but that it was still registered with the DVLA! So, here is the story of this remarkable bike.

Rex-JAP motorcycles were produced between 1912 and 1916. They were manufactured by the Rex Motor Manufacturing Co. in Coventry and fitted with high-performance J.A.P. (J.A. Prestwick & Co.) engines. Surviving Rex-JAP motorcycles are exceedingly rare and, because of their historical significance, they are highly sought-after. We don't know when Dick Sutton acquired AH2192 but, given that he was 21 years old in 1912, it's conceivable that he bought it from new.

Dick apparently sold AH2192 sometime after 1931 and the new owner was probably Henry Spurrell, a retired policeman who lived in Buttles Lane, Wacton, just two miles from Church Farm. Henry was living with a woman called Annie Thomas, who was 20 years younger than him, and they had two children, Ethel (b.1931) and William (b. 1936). In March 1960, just a few months before Henry died, AH2192 was registered to his son Willam. It seems likely that the bike was still in working order then, but before 1971 it was apparently dismantled and not rebuilt. William, who never married, died in 1984 and AH2192 remained in pieces until it was sold at auction in 2023. At that time it was in a sorry state.

However, the bike was bought by a very capable enthusiast and three years later it has been completely rebuilt and has been ridden in a number of Vintage Motorcycle Club events. 

Apart from some very minor changes, the motorbike is almost exactly the same as when it was being ridden around Forncett over a century ago and, as the present owner commented, "Marjorie would definitely still recognise the bike as it is now"!

With thanks to Sinclair Glover, Michael Cushion, Ian Cunningham (H&H Classic Auctions) and to the present owner of AH2192 without whom I could not have told this story.