On Sunday 21st August 2022 John Young will attempt a unique challenge, the John O’ Groats to Lands End run, using a four cylinder “Triumph” motorcycle created by George Pooley.
At Kitts Green in the last days of NVT and Norton Triumph International in the mid-1970s a four cylinder motorcycle, the Quadrant, was created with crankcases from the three cylinder range from NVT and crankshafts previously used to test the feasibility of a so-called flat crank in the three cylinder engine. The Quadrant was road tested and reported on in the press around the time.
The National Motorcycle Museum has an actual Quadrant within its actual collection, displayed in Hall 2.
More recently, the inveterately creative engineer George Pooley, builder of a number of machines including a 1500cc twin-engined Bonneville-based special and a V6 consisting of two triple barrels and heads fitted to a common crankcase, built his own version of the NVT 4-cylinder machine, which he named the “Quadrent”.
At the TR3OC’s annual Beezumph rally at Cadwell Park in July 2022, John and George hatched a plan. George’s Quadrent has never done more than 80 miles in one trip. It is however regularly started and run. The plan is to test how the Quadrent would perform as a long-distance motorcycle. The ultimate test in the UK is the 837-miles JOG-LE run and this is the test that John will do on the Quadrent. Supported by a van and drivers, the challenge will take place on 21st August, starting at 4am at JOG and riding within daylight hours to LE.
En route the Quadrent will stop at the National Motorcycle Museum for approximately 30 minutes in the afternoon, to be united with the NMM’s Quadrant for a photo opportunity. The precise timing of arrival at the NMM cannot be predicted but you are most welcome to come along to see the spectacle!
There is no doubt that this is a huge challenge for George’s Quadrent. As far as we know the factory-produced Quadrant was never tested over such mileage in such a short space of time. In addition to testing the reliability of the bike to cover such mileage in essentially one journey, it will also challenge the rider with its standard Triumph seat and small fuel tank.
John will be taking his famous collection bucket to raise funds for the Donna Louise Hospice (https://www.thedonnalouise.org/), a charity in Trentham, Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, which provides specialist care for children and young people with life-shortening conditions.
Along the way John will have live positioning running so that you can follow progress in real time. Riders who want to support John are invited to tag long to accompany him and the Quadrent for parts of the route and to donate to the Donna Louise Hospice.
The exact route will be published shortly.
* Please note that there are 2 spellings for the Quadrent/Quadrant used:
The factory named it the “Quadrent” because it retained the family connection with the Trident (also ending “-ent”) and so that is what George has called his. The NMM machine is called the Quadrant.
Coventry Road
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