Making progress on Joe Potts’ Desmo

I thought I would share some pictures of the newly manufactured chassis for Joe Potts’ Desmo. The frame is a replica of the original 500cc Razorblade frame that Alec Crummie made prior to the start of the 1958 season. The frames are made to be ass authentically as possibly. The rotary tube swaging machine used to make the original tapering down tubes was even tracked down and used for the manufacture of the new tubes. Even the resin used when bending the tight radius tubes came from one of Joe Potts' friends who he built racing cars with.





 It should be noted that the frame has been made to the same specification that Bob McIntyre raced the original Razorblade from the Silverstone Saturday meeting onwards. Before the Silverstone meeting, Alec Crummie added two extra tubes running from swinging arm pivot to the top tubes in order to increase the frame stiffness. The original 500cc Razorblade subsequently had these tubes removed (but the original brazing can still be felt) when it was converted into a 250cc Manx by Archie and George Plenderleith.

The front brake has also been sourced for the Potts Desmo. It is just as Joe was going to fit into it – a 4LS Gilera unit that McIntyre brought back Bellshill. The brake has had the ‘Potts treatment’ in the same manner as he did to the original.

Gilera 4LS drum brake modifed in the same manner as Joe Potts