The Sammy Miller Museum
A Motorcycle Shrine With Some Priceless Exhibits

By Frank Hilliard



If you take a look at a map of Britain, you'll notice a small island off the south coast. This is the Isle of Wight. Just across the water on the mainland is the town of Lymington and a little further inland is New Milton. Remember that name, it's home to some of the most hallowed marques in motorcycling.

SAMMY MILLER is a legend in the motorcycle world, a road racer who established himself as one of Britain's premier trials riders in the glory days of the 1950s and 60s. As a works rider for the Ariel factory in Selly Oak, he single-handedly put the winged horse at the forefront of that unique branch of the sport. When Ariel was absorbed by BSA, he went his own way as a rider and dealer for the Spanish company, Bultaco.


The site he chose for his small shop was midway between Bournemouth and Southampton on the English south coast. In the corner of his showroom Sammy put some of the bikes he had raced over the years, including the legendary Ariel that carried licence GOV 132.

In time, the bikes in the corner began to take up more and more space as he extended his collection to include other notable motorcycles from earlier eras. This led to extensions and additions, and finally to the creation of the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum.

In the museum brochure, Sammy says creating the museum was more accident than design. "It's a hobby gone mad, but I get a lot of satisfaction out of the restorations we do," he says. "I've been successful in property and I've not blown the few quid I've made, I've put it into the museum." The 150 bikes that now make up the collection are arguably the best selection of competition models in the country. Unlike most other museums, they're all in working order. Most are run in public at one time or another, some show up in national vintage magazines, and occasionally Sammy demonstrates one of his favourites at vintage race meets. Like his bikes, the new museum building was also restored. Until recently a non-descript farmer's barn, it has been transformed into an attractive tourist site, with a bricked courtyard, tea room, shop and associated displays. Once inside the door, the effect is magical: Dazzling chrome and spotless paint gleam from scores of famous British, European, American and Japanese motorcycles. Some of these are one-of-a-kind and many are little-known, even by enthusiasts.




Pride of place has to go to this motorcycle, built by AJS just before the Second World War to take on the supercharged BMWs that were dominating the racing scene. The bike, a water-cooled, supercharged V-4, was the first to lap the Ulster Grand Prix course at over 100mph in 1939. It weighs 405lb. and has a top speed of 135mph. In the picture, you can see the radiator below the steering head. The round object below that is the supercharger and the large tank behind the gearbox holds oil for the dry-sump lubrication.

1947 498cc AJS "Porcupine" Twin
The "Porcupine" was to have been the AJS post-war racer, with a low centre of gravity like a Moto Guzzi. However, it was designed to be supercharged and when supercharging was banned, the Porcupine never lived up to its promise. The museum has the only remaining example of the original design, but even it is incomplete and can never be run.

1954 499 Horizontal-engined Norton
If you took the saddle-bag tank with the Norton logo off this beast, you'd have no idea who made it. Another version of the Moto Guzzi/Aermacchi look, this Norton racer was devised by Joe Craig but never completed. It shows some engineers were united in trying to lower the centre of gravity, even if it meant using "foreign" ideas.



1953 348cc ex-Works Norton "Kneeler"
The British also weren't married to the idea a motorcycle had to be ridden like a horse. This crowd-puller from the 1953 Earls Court Show, was fully enclosed and incorporated a unique kneeling control position, not unlike some modern office furniture from the 1990s. It broke the lap record at the 1953 North West 200 meeting in Ulster and was later used to establish 33 World long distance records.

1953 249cc BSA MC1
The MC1 was one of BSA's best kept secrets. It was a double-overhead cam 4-valve racer built in the Small Heath Experimental Department. Like some later singles, it took advantage of its multi-valve configuration to use two carbs and two exhaust pipes. Only one machine, this one, was made because factory management refused to let it race unless a win could be guaranteed. Again note the engine is mounted low and forward, like two other racers mentioned above.



This is only a brief skimming of a very large and interesting collection of working racebikes. There are also a full compliment of Gold Stars, Royal Enfields, Bultacos, Triumphs, Greeves and many others. Classic enthusiasts will note the Brough Superiors, Velocettes and even a Martinsyde. For more modern interests, there is a Yamaha TD2, TR2, TD1C and TZ; a 1963 Honda four, a 1963 125cc Twin Suzuki TR63, a 1967 125cc V4 Suzuki RS67 and a 1969 500 cc Kawasaki H1R. The list goes on and on, from a 1954 250cc NSU Sportmax to a 1937 250cc DKW to a 1920 309cc Redrup Radial.