SAMMY MILLER MUSEUM

Sammy Miller is a genuine motorcycling legend having successfully raced for the factory Mondial GP team in 1957 (placed 3rd in 250 championship and 4th in the 125 class), before changing sports to trials, riding for Ariel the following year. He then won 11 consecutive British titles, 2 European titles and 9 gold medals in the ISDT. In 1964 he was employed by Bultaco, then by Honda in 1977, to develop their trials bikes. Along the way he started to collect significant motorcycles. After several moves his collection found its present location in New Milton, Hampshire in 1990. It houses over 400 bikes, of which all but four run. The collection is notable for the large number of prototypes and extremely rare models, including race bikes, that are on display.

One example is this 1935 Scott Model 3S of which only 8 or 9 were built before the outbreak of WW II. The 986cc water-cooled 2-stroke triple had many interesting features including a novel oil system where one pump increased/decreased the oil supply depending on the twist grip position and a second pump returned the oil to the sump. The motor made 40hp and propelled the 222kg machine to a top speed of just under 160kph.

By Phil Aynsley

SAMMY MILLER MUSEUM

Location: New Milton, UK

Open: 7 days a week

Website: sammymiller.co.uk