Ralph Brickwood Memorial Award

Ralph Brickwood, originally from the UK, became a member of CVMG Montreal during the very early days of the section. He was active as a motorcyclist until his late 60’s, and amongst other bikes, operated a Gold Wing with a sidecar. In Road Racing he marshalled, and officiated at Mosport in 1967 for the first and only Canadian GP. He was a Trials rider, and our records show that he rode in the first year of CVMG Trials in 1989. He was last reportedly working on a Vincent Black Lightning project and brought many parts from the UK as "hand baggage". With his son-in-law Guy Martin he ventured into performance tuning of Ducati engines.

Ralph passed away in 1992, and his widow Phyllis proposed that an annual club award be inaugurated in his memory. This award was initially given for the best sidecar combination within the club, but it afterwards evolved to become a recognition “for conspicuous service to the club”.. The choice of annual awardee is the prerogative of the club president, who will usually consult with his fellow executive members. The award is nowadays presented at the club’s annual Xmas Dinner

The list of awardees:

The CVMG Montreal BSA Award For Indefatigability

The BSA Award winner is chosen annually by a select committee of members of CVMG Montreal, as a person within the club who has exemplified during the year the quality of indefatigability. This word has been chosen because it can be used for a multitude of different situations. It can mean anything from sheer guts and determination in the face of insurmountable odds, or it can mean obstinate persistence and bone-headedness against all common sense. It can mean tireless devotion to a cause, and it can mean relentless, even comical perseverance. In fact, it can be applied to almost anything. It is intended as a light-hearted, almost irreverent award given usually at the annual CVMG Montreal Xmas Party. Above all, it is not intended to cause offence, and therefore the recipient is carefully chosen.

The BSA Award derives its name from the more obvious Birmingham Small Arms motorcycle company name, and also from the phrase "Balls of Steel, with Attitude". A club member once met a BSA A65 Thunderbolt rider who had narrowly escaped bodily injury following a classic big-end seizure event that these models are particularly known for. He is quoted as saying "Anyone who rides one of those things had better have Balls of Steel!" (Andy Hall)

List of Winners :

2023 Gary Stewart, 

2022 Alex (Sr) Csank, While Riding down a quiet rural road in the Southern Quebec countryside in August 2021, Alex encountered two big farm pickups whose drivers had decided to pull over and have a chat thus blocking the road just in front of him. Hitting the binders as there was no place else to go, Alex hit the two trucks while going between them, sustaining serious injuries and losing his left leg above the knee, left kidney, and damaging lots of other parts of his body. He survived the wreck, spending almost a year in hospital and is now recovering well at home. Apparently, he was lucky that his 'balls of steel' held most of him together.

2021 Garth Weston, an enthusiastic and devoted section member since the beginning of the century, came out the worse off following a road incident near his home when a car driver thoughtlessly decided to test Garth’s reactions - and the brakes of his 1971 BSA Rocket 3 ! - by suddenly turning across the road in front of him. Garth was already nursing a troublesome knee, and suffered further painful knocks and bruises in a collision, plus severe front-end damage to his motorcycle. Yet with his indomitable and indefatigable spirit he managed to overcome his injuries to continue on throughout 2021 riding the other bikes in his stable to many club meetings, rides and events.

2020 Alex J Csank joined in 2018 and quickly set about re-energising the club’s Road Run schedule. He has busied himself in organising and route planning, and has also led many of our meeting and event rides, including History Tours, with his “Rubber on the Road” operation. He has put in place some group riding rules to improve safety during our runs, which have been well attended. Alex rides his own CB750, his girlfriend’s CB400, and Dad’s KLR650, but indefatigability is evident with his brave campaigning of a vintage 1971 BSA A65L Lightning, whose engine has so far miraculously remained intact - helped no doubt by liberal quantities of oil that disappear into its frame.

2019 Jules Lavigueur left his home in Montreal-Nord on his splendid 1968 BMW R69S, on a frigid, 2-deg-C early-November Saturday morning and headed westwards towards the designated Rubber-on-the-Road Ride rendez-vous chez McDo’s, in Dorion, QC. Meeting no-one there at the departure deadline, he dauntlessly continued onwards towards the November monthly meeting, in St-Zotique, QC. He was without the help of a windscreen on his motorcycle, and faced ominous black clouds above, a wicked windswept voyage all along Route 338, menacing blizzard-like squalls and strong headwinds. He eventually reached the destination bar-restaurant chez “Grand Man” hale and healthy, but severely challenged by Mother Nature. Jules wins this year’s award for indefatigability against fearsome climatic conditions, whilst demonstrating a true team spirit by riding his vintage BMW motorcycle to a club meeting.

2018 Satch Bedard, whilst out on a spirited test ride aboard his 1958 Royal Enfield 700cc Super Meteor restoration bike came within a hair’s breadth from suffering serious damage to his nether regions when an oil-starved big-end seized up, let loose various internal engine components, which then trashed a good part of the crankcase. Satch’s ride ended, like its namesake, in a brief flash of light in the heavens above and came crashing down to earth in a smoking ball of charred shrapnel. However, with characteristic indefatigability Satch is undaunted, has stayed true to RE, and has embarked upon a salvage and repair operation. We all look forward to see the bike up, running, and breathing fire again in 2019 !

2017 Bill Magnussen, one of the section’s earliest members, and a pioneer of the section’s Trials and Rally, has had a love-affair with Vincent motorcycles ever since his teenager years. He demonstrates indefatigability for his dedication and perseverance over several decades with restorations of these rare and unique V-twin machines – especially his third – as well as many other machines. Bill has always been enthusiastic with and active in club affairs, particularly with the C-plate issue, and the Ormstown Rally, for which this year he worked to attract many Vincent owners from far and wide.

2016 Danny Robillard and a buddy were riding their bikes together on a highway west of Montreal in August 2015 when they unfortunately collided. Danny came off, broke a wrist, suffered neck and shoulder injuries, and wrote off his bike. After hospitalisation and many months of rehab, he has managed to come through it all, and be active again on his bikes. Danny demonstrates indefatigability in being resolute during his recovery, and he has not been put off from biking. A friend suggested that a knock to his head at the time may be the reason for him letting go of a Triumph Bonneville recently.

2015 Steve Bakos was casually riding his 1957 Triumph TRW to an Ormstown area rally committee meeting in May 2013, when he ran over an unmarked trench dug across the road. He lost control of his bike and in a resulting accident suffered several severe and painful injuries, which have since been slow to heal. In 2015, after dismounting at the end of a physical therapy session on horseback, he fell awkwardly and suffered a further injury with a broken pelvis. Throughout these tribulations Steve has bravely and indefatigably kept up with club events and meetings, including rally work, and has also busied himself with the repair of his much-loved Triumph.

2014 Rick Collins has been a clubmate par excellence of the Montreal section for longer than most can remember, and for many years he has hosted meetings, organised rides, written innumerable CVMG News reports, served on the club’s executive and taken active parts in countless rallies. Rick wins the award for conspicuous indefatigability (subcategory pro-crastination) in managing to delay the rolling-out of his Rickman Honda project, eagerly awaited now by his clubmates for several decades.

2013 Brian Gage joined the CVMG in 2007, having been a member alongside his buddies Pete and Paul Reitel, and others, of the renowned Bedford Commando Platoon for many years. In recent years he has been prevented from riding by incapacitating back problems. However, with the help and encouragement of his clubmates he has this last summer been able to regain enough mobility to courageously venture out again several times on his beloved Norton, and continues upon the rebuilding of another Commando project bike. He thus demonstrates the essential quality of indefatigability, for in the face of adversity, he has not given up on his lifelong love of motorcycling. We hope this award encourages Brian during his rehabilitation.

2012 Pete Reitel has been an active, enthusiastic and loyal CVMG Montreal member since the section’s earliest days, and together with several co-clubmates, he forms the Bedford Commando Platoon in south Quebec. He secures the award this year for his indefatigability in finally realising a 40-odd-year old dream of owning the BSA A65L Lightning that his father once forbade him to have. Since 1998, Pete has been lovingly refurbishing and restoring a basket case 1969 Lightning project, and finally this summer, in spite of this model’s emasculating reputation, saw its engine breathe fire again. Pete has made his bike into a special high-revving variant, featuring a novel and unique 2-speed gearbox.

2011 Martyn Clark, despite pure bad luck, perseveres in a bitter struggle to make his 1969 Triumph Tiger T100C reliable. For two seasons now, problems that started with excessive oil dumping, passed through electrical meltdowns, and continues with aggravating carburetion and ignition faults, have prevented him from joining in any of the club’s rides. At times grief-stricken by frustration, tempted to “pack it all in”, and subjected to derision for not having a “real man’s bike”, Martin has nevertheless plumbed the depths of despair to find the courage to continue. Throughout these trials he has demonstrated indefatigability, and it is expected that this award will encourage him on to achieve ultimate success.

2010 Pete McEwen has led the club as section president for nearly eight years since his election in 2003. With undeniable indefatigability in the face of personal prevailing winds and tides, he has engaged himself several times in the office, in addition to serving repeatedly as Rally Chairman and Salon de la Moto coordinator. He has been in the thick of each and every club event during that time in a managerial role, and unfailingly showed up at every section meeting. His interest in and knowledge of vintage motorcycles is par excellence and his volunteering spirit as a CVMG clubmate is indeed exemplary.

2009 Brian Henderson is a long-time Montreal section member with an impressive record of vintage racing over many years. At Mosport in August, he suffered a spill whilst racing and suffered a concussion and some injury. Just a few weeks later, demonstrating his indomitable and indefatigable spirit, he was in the thick of it, racing at North Bay and winning races again. He picked himself up, dusted himself off, and started all over again.

2008 Eric Pritchard is a founding member of the section and has been active in vintage racing for many years. He and his wife Ariane have hosted the annual Ormstown CVMG Rally for a total of 19 years to date. In 2008, Eric embarked upon a major AHRMA vintage racing campaign in the USA with his 250cc Ducati, achieving a total of 37 starts, 37 finishes and 14 podiums during 19 days of racing and 10 days of practicing. Throughout the year he managed to accumulate enough points for: 250GP Class - 3rd Overall (out of 64); 1st Best/West Cup; 4th Dixie Cup; 6th Mid West Cup; 350GP Class - 5th Overall (out of 39); 2nd Best/West Cup; 3rd Dixie Cup; 6th Mid West Cup. Eric acknowledges that his success is in part due to the invaluable assistance of several of his fellow CVMG-Montreal clubmates.

2007 Ken Murphy demonstrated supreme devotion and single-minded dedication to task during the restoration of his Triumph T140 “half-barn-find” project. Despite innumerable setbacks, tight budgetary constraints and mechanical disaster in a far-off land, he has persevered with the project when many lesser mortals would have given up.

2006 David Cronin has been an esteemed member since 1989, and is known for his expertise with and knowledge of BSA and especially Ariel models, for which he has been active in the AOMCC (Ariel Owners Club). His credentials are further secured due to the fact that he has personally witnessed the devastation that can be wreaked by the blow-up of a BSA A65 bottom-end. A 1970 BSA A65F Firebird that he was riding a few years ago (and still owns) “let go” in the classic traditional way, and David narrowly escaped serious bodily injury in the ensuing mêlée.

2005 Camille Dansereau has been an active and enthusiastic CVMG-Montreal member for many years. He has a long association with motorcycles and motorcycling, which continues today with riding, restoring and dealing in bikes. A great favourite amongst us for his wit and humour, he demonstrated conspicuous bravery as one of Reitel's Raiders during the 2005 ride to Vermont USA (see CVMG News (November 2005) Montreal Section report).

2004 John Gurr, the quintessential motorcyclist, an ace restorer and a long-time, active and enthusiastic club member, came out as top participant in the club's Vintage Riding Challenge effort, covering a total of 9674 km in the club's total of 74000.

2003 Earnie Mount can claim to be the most senior club member still actively riding a motorcycle. Earnie is also a WWII veteran, who played an active part in the D-Day Normandy Invasions as pilot of a Landing Craft.

2002 Gerry Marshall made a comeback to road racing after a prolonged hiatus, and did well. He risked life and limb, despite his advanced years.