Gus Kuhn 1924
Page updated 20-Jul-2015

March 29th Saturday: "The Southern Scott Scramble was to be held in the vicinity of Camberley Heath and Bagshot Heath. ... There was also talk about extrovert Gus Kuhn, a Velocette rider who was very familiar with the Camberley Heath. The previous year he had won a Camberley club-promoted speed hill climb there aboard a single with a tireless, studded rear wheel. On this day he would stick with tires." [Thanks to www.racerxill.com/pdfs/scramble.pdf for this information]

June 25th: Gus competed in the Ultra-Lightweight (up to 174cc) TT on an Omega but did not finish. "Conditions not favourable. A very large crowd" [Times 26/6/24]

August 4th: Gus played in a motorcycle football match at Camberley as well as 'surf riding'. Gus won both the Solo and Sidecar Trick Riding events, incl driving his Velocette from the sidecar! "It is quite certain that nothing quite like the Motor Rodeo organised by the Camberley & Dist MC on Bank Holiday Monday has ever before been witnessed in this country. The first game of football, in which the acknowledged champions, the Middlesbrough & Dist. MCC were matched against the home team, was, of course, a rather one-sided affair, as the Camberley players suffered grievously from lack of practice. However, after a few minutes they began to shape very well, and as time went on it was obvious that two of their representatives - Gus Kuhn (Velocette) and W Julian (Levis) were as good as anyone on the field. Middlesbrough led by four goals to nil at half-time, while in the second half Camberley scored one and their opponents three more". [Motor Cycling 13/8/24]

October 18th (Sat): The American Hill Climb. The Camberley & Dist MC organised what is called the American Hill Climb. There was a large attendance of spectators, and though possibly on this occasion the event did not quite come up to expectations, nevertheless it is perfectly obvious that it is a type which is likely to become very popular. The hill chosen for the event was totally covered by heather. It seemed as though it was the resistance of this heather which caused the failures, which amounted to about two-thirds of the entry, rather than the steepness of the hill. Gus Kuhn circumvented the traction difficulty by takig off his tyre and fitting the rear wheel with special stud. Unfortunately, this threw too much strain on his driving chair, which simply broke every time he attempted the hill. [The Brooklands Gazette, Nov 1924]

November: "His most successful competitive year so far and practically at an end, Gus won the Principal Award - The Thompson trophy - for the best performance in the South Midland Centre's Thompson Cup Trial held over a very interesting course on Camberley Heath. He was riding his 249cc Velocette, and was the only finisher below 250cc. Gus also won the Captain's Trophy awarded for the best performance by a Camberley Club member. By now his ever-growing collection of Trophies and Medals was quite a large one - justifiably, a treasured one too." [Cyril May]

December, Boxing Day: London - Exeter – London Trial. "The Famous Annual Event run in a Hurricane. Some Exciting Incidents. It was very hard to keep a solo machine on an even keel. Gus Kuhn, of course, was quite unconcerned on his Velocette." [The Brooklands Gazette, Jan 1925]

Read more of Gus Kuhn in 1924 in Part 5 of the Gus Kuhn Story by Cyril May: 1924 THE BEST YEAR including the Colmore, Victory Cup, ACU Stock Machine and London-Edinburgh Trials, etc. The rest of 1924 is included in Part 6.