Avon centenary films - Manx Norton at Castle Combe

Avon Tyres discovered a collection of films whilst hunting through archives for classic promotional material to help celebrate the firm’s 100 year anniversary of motorcycle tyre manufacture.

Having unearthed the films, Avon’s Global Motorcycle Sales Manager Graham Matcham said “we saw that it gives a unique window into our past” and was keen to have them digitised in order to share the recordings of an age where helmets were optional and a tweed suit was the test rider’s preferred choice of protective clothing (as seen in this video).

In this film we see Avon tyres being tested at a bumpy Castle Combe on Geoff Duke’s Manx Norton. Note the crew dressed for the occasion in shirt and tie and the classic method of getting the Norton on to the paddock stand.