Bert Le Vack and JAP - Page 4
Although Bert had a formal engineering training, the amount of knowledge and skill that he had managed to acquire was quite staggering. His expertise as a fitter was unparalleled and he later became renowned as a blender of potent fuels. He kept to himself and preferred to work in his own workshop within the Tottenham factory, behind closed doors. To assist him he had two skilled mechanics, one of whom, his former business associate, Sid Moram, he had brought with him. He also had a boy assistant and a frequent visitor in the form of Vivian Prestwich, who shared his love of racing and his enthusiasm for tuning engines.

He was a quiet spoken man, who went his own way and found it difficult to make friends. In a short feature about Le Vack in Motor Cycling, the late Dennis May recounts how Le Vack came home from work one evening to find his house full of relatives and an impromptu party in full swing. Rather than intrude, he let himself in quietly, crept upstairs and went to bed undetected. This, more than anything else, sums up the very nature of the man - a quiet, unassuming introvert who richly deserves his place in the pages of motorcycling history.

Le Vack's first appearance at Brooklands under the JAP banner took place during the First BMCRC Members Meeting of 1922, held on Saturday, 8th April. Riding a new 980cc sidevalve Zenith JAP, he finished second to Claude Temple's Harley Davidson, relegating Kaye Don to third place on his Indian and thereby splitting another potential 1-2 for the American twins. This marked the first appearance of the KTC engine, designed by Val Page. It retained the KT-type bore and stroke dimensions of 85.5 x 85mm, but featured improvements in the form of aluminium alloy pistons and larger valves, the latter of which necessitated the use of 1-inch diameter exhaust pipes. A single camshaft operated the four valves and the 'fircone' valve caps were a distinctive feature. This engine was first announced officially at the 1921 Olympia Show. At this same meeting, E.B. Ware drove his 1098cc Morgan-JAP in the 600cc - 1000cc 3-lap Passenger Machine Race, to finish third - a somewhat unusual and lowly position for him.

As the year drew to a close, it was apparent that the British-made big twins were offering a more than serious challenge to the American twins that had made the running in the larger capacity classes for so long. But the smaller, single cylinder JAP engines were having to face up to quite a serious challenge from Blackburne, even the new sports engines with their large diameter valves and ports. The ohv Blackburne design had the edge over the sidevalve JAP in some speed events, although this situation was due to change in favour of theTottenham factory, as following events will show.

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