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It is an original Lyta. I visited the gentleman who made them on a business trip to England back somewhere in the late '80s, and had him make the one shown, plus a short circuit tank for a Manx I was planning to restore and race. His name was B.G. Hichisson, and he built the tanks in the "garden shed" in back of his home in Dartford. He gave me a great tour of the shop, and explained how he came to be in the business in the first place. He learned the trade in the service, Royal Air Force, I think. After the war, he started making tanks for race bikes, and rapidly became popular with racers, including some of the factories. He told me that when the demand for special tanks died down he'd quit for quite a while, but with all the interest in classic racing at the time, had gone back to making them again. He had patterns for tanks hanging from the ceiling with some very famous names on them. He welded them with an oxy-hydrogen flame, because it was a bit cooler flame than oxy-acetylene, and didn't have the yellow glare that makes gas welding aluminum so difficult. He was a really pleasant fellow, and I really enjoyed the visit. I really doubt if he is in business today. He'd be getting along in years if he was still around.There are several people now making similar tanks and calling them Lyta or Lyta Style tanks, but I wonder if the quality is up to the originals. They were really beautiful.Ken
It is an original Lyta. I visited the gentleman who made them on a business trip to England back somewhere in the late '80s, and had him make the one shown, plus a short circuit tank for a Manx I was planning to restore and race. His name was B.G. Hichisson, and he built the tanks in the "garden shed" in back of his home in Dartford. He gave me a great tour of the shop, and explained how he came to be in the business in the first place. He learned the trade in the service, Royal Air Force, I think. After the war, he started making tanks for race bikes, and rapidly became popular with racers, including some of the factories. He told me that when the demand for special tanks died down he'd quit for quite a while, but with all the interest in classic racing at the time, had gone back to making them again. He had patterns for tanks hanging from the ceiling with some very famous names on them. He welded them with an oxy-hydrogen flame, because it was a bit cooler flame than oxy-acetylene, and didn't have the yellow glare that makes gas welding aluminum so difficult. He was a really pleasant fellow, and I really enjoyed the visit. I really doubt if he is in business today. He'd be getting along in years if he was still around.
There are several people now making similar tanks and calling them Lyta or Lyta Style tanks, but I wonder if the quality is up to the originals. They were really beautiful.
Ken
