Baron’s Speed Shop
Baron’s Speed Shop is a labour of love celebrating all aspects of motorcycles and motorcycling life. As much as it is a business, Baron’s Speed Shop is also a temple. From one-off custom-builds and ground-up restorations to routine servicing, maintenance and supplying parts – Baron’s Speed Shop caters to the needs of those devoted to motorcycling.
![Dick built this motorcycle collaboration with ACE Classics for Kevin [last name needed]. A 1954 Triumph Tiger 110 built from the ground up, it was looking good at the Goodwood bike meeting in 2010 for a rostrum finish but the magneto packed up.](https://b2696908.smushcdn.com/2696908/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/18.jpg?lossy=1&strip=1&webp=1)
![Baron’s Speed Shop took a bike to Bonneville in 2013. Peter Allen approached Dick after he was recommended to him. Peter supplied a set of crankcases, Dick supplied everything else. The crankcases came from a 1960 Thunderbird, the crankshaft was made up of standard components with a heavier flywheel. Harmon & Collis cams with gas flowed heads were installed in a frame from Factory Metal Works in North Carolina. The bike was sponsored by Amal Carburettors who supplied two brand new Grand Prix carbs. [add something about times / speeds / accomplishments]](https://b2696908.smushcdn.com/2696908/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/7.jpg?lossy=1&strip=1&webp=1)
Dick Smith
Dick Smith founded Baron’s Speed Shop in 2005 as a part-time enterprise. He was already working as a bike mechanic at ACE Classics and MCS in Leytonstone, where he honed his skills over seven years. In 2012, Dick went full-time with Baron’s Speed Shop and he’s never looked back.
But if you ask him to look back, there’s no doubt that Baron’s Speed Shop was always going to happen, Dick was born to build motorcycles as certainly as geese fly south in winter.
My father was a motor engineer and my older brother, Ken, built motorcycles. Back in those days, we would find and fix up motorcycles we’d find on scrapyards and dumped in fields. As a kid, I remember Ken taking me out on his bike and having me operate the throttle.”
My first bike was an Excelsior two-speed with girder forks that I found on a rubbish tip when I was 14(check age is correct). At 18, I started my formal training as an engineering apprentice. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but also got my knuckles wrapped by using the workshop for my own projects when the boss was out. Motorcycles have been my passion all my life and my profession ever since I could first earn a living with a spanner.”