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THE BEST ACTION IN TRIALS AND MOTOCROSS

Dirtbike CLASSIC

#49

ISSUE Forty-nine Winter 2018

LEGENDS

FARLEIGH

ON THE HILL

HAWKSTONE PARK

VETS MXoN INTERNATIONAL ACTION

N49 2018 US$15.99 Aus$14.99 NZ$18.99 UK£5.50

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PLUS TRIBSA MOTO ASPES MONTESA AT 50 WORKS HONDA AN EXPERT’S COTA

AN HOUR WITH: BRAD LACKEY

DIEGO BOSIS’ APRILIA

IN BALANCE

Hiding in plain sight Sometimes the obvious is clear to all around – except for the one who needs to know...

I

’d be surprised if I’m the only one who has missed the glaringly obvious until it’s pointed out or another unrelated task reveals what should have been clear from the outset. Thankfully such incidences are rarer than they used to be, or maybe I’m at that age where I can’t remember them. The reason for the subject of this issue’s column occurred when putting the battered remnants of the project Triumph together quietly one evening.

Things have moved along quite rapidly after many years of little or no change and the need to free up bench space for other work caused an extra flurry of activity.

Triumph engines are not particularly complicated so few problems were envisaged and those that were likely to arise were expected to have been caused by the length of time this project has been on the go and the number of house/workshop moves it has had to contend with. Ergo, these problems were confidently expected to be of the ‘now which box did I put that in’ or ‘is that on the shelf here, or in the storage facility or my mate’s garage’ sort of scenario. A late game plan change to assemble all the bits I have on hand and then acquire the bits I haven’t sort of speeded things up and I admit some bits which rightly should have gone to the scrap bin have found their way back on to the bike. Before you all start writing in there is no intention to use the motorcycle with these bits but rather they serve the purpose of having all the boxes emptied and a way will be seen to progress with new bits… the gearbox sprocket is one such part which shouldn’t be anywhere near a motorcycle, talk about hooked teeth…

We all know, or should know, such a sprocket would make short work of a new chain so it’s lucky I don’t even have an old chain.

SUBSCRIPTIONS There are a variety of ways you can continue to get your hands on Classic Dirt Bike in the UK – the easiest of which is to become part of our subscriber community. See page 40 for details.

❝…my intent had always been to use

stronger forks in this project as the Triumph ones are 32mm diameter stanchions…❞

As this rebuild is documented regularly elsewhere in the magazine and our sister publication The Classic MotorCycle, I don’t intend to go too deep into the bike in this column as well, suffice to add the component parts were all arranged on various parts of the bench so they could go into their respective places – the swinging arm spindle greased and ready to drive in through the lug, spacers and shims ready, then the gearbox cluster and other components which go to make the gears sorted. Little disruptions such as the absence of the correct length studs and screws were sorted by rummaging in the box of old fasteners. Even the fact the selector plate wouldn’t line up with the rollers on the selector forks at first became obvious under inspection and was quite easily solved – two cogs were the wrong way round on the layshaft and had been since the bike was stripped. Once the cogs were put in correctly the cluster verily jumped into place in the casting and we even had four gears engaging.

Missing from the project and again something obvious is one half of the Triumph forks. This is less of a problem than it may seem, as my intent had always been to use stronger forks in this project as the Triumph ones are 32mm diameter stanchions and even John Giles was quoted as saying they could wilt a bit. There are a couple of sets of BSA forks to hand though and with 35mm stanchions they’re much tougher.

Okay, it means a different type of front wheel will have to go in the bike – the spindle mounts are knock through on the BSA but clamp up on the Triumph but that is fairly obvious and a spindle isn’t hard to source or make for that matter.

Work progressed upwards on the engine

and the little plastic trays which have so long been a part of this Triumph’s existence were emptied as parts were fitted to the engine. A rocker box was assembled from the bits which had once been inside it, a new spindle was needed because the old one was long gone, oil was pumped through the drillings and all seemed well in the world. I elected to not put the pushrods in place nor their tubes as the head was already sitting in place, bolts fingertight. So, I thought I’d just put the rocker boxes on the head and screw them up finger-tight too. On the smaller unit engines the rocker oil feed comes into the engine via a thin tube with a banjo fitting on either end. The rocker bolt has a relieved section to allow the oil to flow into the box itself and this bolt slides up under the head and forms a third fixing on the front of the casting… or it does if the lug on the casting is there…

The exhaust box fitted as it should and once I find the domed nuts it will fit in place no problem but the inlet one is missing the vital bit on the head. It should have been obvious to me but it wasn’t. In my defence, where the lug had been was completely flat, so has at some point been cleaned up with a milling machine as no trace of the original lug is there.

A review of several months of photographs clearly show the lug is missing and yet what is glaringly obvious now had been missed for goodness knows how long. Luckily I have a cylinder head which is scrap but has lugs and fins on it to replace the missing items.

My welder will be pleased...

WINTER 2018 | 3

Regulars 03 In Balance

Captain Obvious is a UK advert character who points out the obvious to hapless souls… He was needed in the workshop.

06 News, views and reviews

If it’s happening, going to happen or happened then this is where we get it in…

16

18

You need…

… a works bike in your shed. Why? Not just because we say so, but so you can revel in its glory – first is a works Honda MX.

…you also need…

… a works Aprilia trials bike to keep it company in the secure part of the shed.

22 Super Profile

We take an in-depth look at Montesa’s Cappra MX model developed from Kalevi Vehkonen’s works model.

40 Subscribe! Subscribe! Subscribe!

As CDB is subscription only you’ve either subscribed, nicked a mate’s copy or seen us at a show. If it’s one of the latter two subscribe here.

34

52 Dicko’s view

The elder statesman of trials journalism relates the life and times of the Spanish and Italian motorcycle factories.

61 ’cross words

That Mr Berry knows a thing or three about MX, which is why we give him a page here for his views.

72

Dirt Talk

What’re you talking about in the CDB world? We’ve a packed letters page this time.

82 Moto memories

Suspension was the area of engineering interest for the MX world in the Seventies. Three inches of movement wasn’t enough… more was needed.

On the cover Nick Haskell was at Farleigh Castle for the Vets, read the report on page 62.

4 | Contents

54

Features 11

Developing ideas

An expert wants to win and maybe a bike made for the average rider needs a mod or two… we look at a trick Cota

28 From the archive

It is 50 years since Montesa made their appearance on the UK scene – we look at a few Montesa things and chat to a name or two.

34 Creating a legend

11

Putting a Triumph engine in a BSA frame makes a… Beezumph… hmm that name is taken… how about TriBSA…?

66 An hour with…

… Brad Lackey the American superstar, all-round great guy and guest of honour at Drumlanrig.

76

76

Small but perfectly formed

Moto Aspes made high quality machines but they’re quite rare. We spot one in the wild.

22

Events 54 This sporting world

We’re in Cumbria, Northumberland too and the legendary Hawkstone Park for a MX, an enduro and the Hawkstone Legends.

62 Anniversary time

Farleigh Vets MXoNations is 10 years old this year. Nick Haskell enjoyed the sunshine, the atmosphere and yes, the racing.

Technical 43 Welding

There are many reasons to contact a welder...

44 Rebuilding to ride

Rapid progress has been made on the bits of our Project 90, a lot of them are in and where they should be.

66 WINTER 2018 | 5

DIRTNEWS

Fabulous at 50!

Brace yourselves, as you’re about to read an unashamed spot of trumpet-blowing for Classic Dirt Bike… Who are we kidding? It’s not just one trumpet parping away, it’s a fanfare of brass band proportions.

Yes, the 2019 Hagon sponsored Classic Dirt Bike Show on February 16/17, 2019 will coincide with the

50th edition of Classic Dirt Bike magazine! Ta-da!

For over 12 years we’ve strived to bring you the best from the Classic Dirt Bike world and witnessed our scene grow exponentially, to encompass not only the traditional classic world of thundering Fifties fourstrokes but the newer twinshock and Evo bikes

We love dirt bikes at Classic Dirt Bike magazine.

coming under our mantle.

How do we do it? Because we’re enthusiasts – we love the whole gamut of offroadness… be it trials, MX or enduro, solo or sidecar, we’re there.

As ever at the Telford International Centre – the show’s home for many years – there will be three massive halls packed with trade stands, club displays and private entries as enthusiasts put their machines on show.

There will be stage interviews throughout the day, prize presentations from several of the series we feature in the magazine and oh, so much more. Details are still being finalised as we go to press, but we understand both trials legend Dougie Lampkin and MX star John Banks are to be guests at

the show in February.

The Lampkin name barely needs any introduction and to give even the briefest overview of Dougie’s achievements would take a considerable number of pages; to also do the rest of the family justice would take up a few issues.

As for John Banks, BSA works MXer, former British champion, top GP star, top runner in the Grandstand Television Scrambles series, successful business man… just listen to him on stage…

So, the 2019 Classic Dirt Bike Show, sponsored by Hagon Shocks, is tuning up to be the fanfare which heralds the start of the season and you need to be there.

Advance tickets are available now by calling 01507 529529 or via Classicbikeshows.com.

Obituary: John Holmes Westmorland Motor Club’s John Holmes passed away at the beginning of October 2018, aged 79. The talented Cumbrian bike builder had been known in more recent years as the builder of successful specials which riders such as Tony Calvert took to victory in events as prestigious as the Pre-65 Scottish. Much of John’s work was accomplished in a quiet way utilising hacksaws and files on materials sourced from such unlikely places as Hillman Imp or Volkswagen cars.

His talents didn’t stop there as he constructed frames

6 | Dirt news

from oval tubing, as did the Honda factory, when making his own version of an RTL Honda. This talent for making things had tended to overshadow his earlier riding career which included winning three Scott spoons and being counted as one of only nine British finishers from 77 starters in the super tough Manx ISDT of 1965.

John’s funeral was held at Beetham Crematorium, Milnthorpe. Our thoughts go to his wife Maureen and daughters Kate and Lisa.

First Leven Valley Two Day Trial The popularity of twinshock trials bikes is growing at a rate of knots and September 2018 saw the first running of the Leven Valley Two Day Trial in Kinlochleven.

With one lap each day, no road work, the trial brought out all manner of twinshocks to do battle in the Highlands. As Bultacos bounced through rocky streams, Montesas managed the mud, Hondas hopped from bank to bank… Okay I’ll stop now… overseeing the action was Sammy ‘the Bultaco Man’ Miller who first took to the Highlands on a Bultaco in 1965 when he won the premier award for Bultaco – their first win but his third.

The trial was pitched just right, the sections sensible and there were lots of smiling faces throughout the weekend. Look out for a full report next issue.

Aaron Graves, 2018 Pre-65 champ.

2018 AMCA/Classic Dirt Bike British Classic Motocross Championship

Davy Coughlan and Stephen Murphy wait to be flagged-off by Sammy Miller.

Miller’s Museum

In the world of motorcycle sport, Sammy Miller’s name is legendary, not only a world class trials rider but a top GP road racer and ISDT gold medallist. Add in his development work which altered the course of trials riding and there’s a pretty full package. But there is also the other side of Sammy, that of motorcycle restorer. His museum is, or should be, on the ‘must visit’ list of every motorcycle enthusiast. It is packed full of all sorts of machines from the dawn of motorcycling to the golden era and beyond. There are ordinary road machines, exotic race machines, development models and the dirt bikes too. Helpfully the Sammy Miller Museum produce a glossy 26-page A4 guide to exhibits and what else is on the site. The guide, which costs £4.50 on site, can be posted out for £7, Contact the museum on 01425 620777 for your copy.

It’s been a hectic year for the CDB backed scrambles series as riders charged up and down the country to events across the UK. There were six rounds, 12 races and two champions and everybody in the series, not just the winners, performed extremely well. The level of competition was keen, very keen at times. By common consent it was entertaining and there was a noticeable improvement in the riding standard of a number of riders.

The 2019 programme was set to be decided at the AMCA AGM in November and the presentation of the 2018 awards (down to 6th place) will hopefully take place at the Telford’s Classic Dirt Bike Show in February.

The final positions in each of the two championship categories look like this: Pre-65 (1) Aaron Graves (2) Lewis Bell (3) Gene Womack (4) Will Bateup (5) Liston Bell (6) Joe Chell

186 points (champion) 167 152 148 109 83 (Best Pre-60)

Pre-74 (1) Kris Winder (2) Chris Chell (3) Ashley Wilson (4) Greg Speed (5) Jos Goddard (6) Trevor Calderwood

204 (champion) 157 152 107 102 70

Moidart Peninsula 10th anniversary and Gwen White Memorial Classic Road Run 2019 The 10th Moidart Peninsula Classic Road Run will take place on Thursday, May 2, 2019. Open to motorcycles made before 1979, the run attracts classic and vintage machinery to the Scottish Highlands. Former James trials star Mick Dismore is this year’s guest of honour.

In addition the run will be dedicated

to Gwen White who passed away in August. A great supporter of the event, Gwen rode the ‘six-days’ in 1952 and in 1957.

Starting and finishing at Kinlochleven, it follows the old Thursday route of the SSDT, includes a ferry crossing at Corran, an opportunity to visit the

Devil’s Staircase section, a coffee stop at Glenfinnan and lunch at Strontian.

For an entry form email johnmccrink@googlemail.com or send a large SAE to John McCrink, Braeside Cottage, Grange Road, North Berwick EH39 4QT. Entries, limited to 80 riders close on February 28, 2019.

WINTER 2018 | 7

Onward and upward for Galloway MCC Galloway Motorcycle Club’s Classic Grand National MX at Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries has spurred the club on to greater efforts for 2019. With club members from all areas of the sport, their aim is to move this once great club forward and regain the prominence it had 50 years ago.

To promote this ideal, they returned to Drumlanrig Castle in August for the excellent Galloway Country Fair where they had a stand promoting all things motorcycling and launched their intent to organise trials.

With current Scottish trials champion Craig Houston and Dougie Lampkin, 12 times world trials champion, multi-winner of

Scottish Grand National 2019 The Galloway MCC’s classic event at Drumlanrig Castle has certainly captured the attention of the classic world and after discussions over dates with the castle (they have to fit all sorts of activities in during the season) the date for 2019 has been announced.

They’ve also upped the ante a bit too as a road run has been added. The event has been pulled

8 | Dirt news

forward to May and the road run will happen on Thursday 16th, the grasstrack will take place on Friday the 17th and the scramble will be on Saturday and Sunday 18/19th.

Registration for the scramble will be open in November via the facebook page Galloway MCC; www.gallowaymcc.com or catch up with club at the Classic Dirt Bike show at Telford in February.

the SSDT and Scott Trial wowing the crowds, the promotion was deemed a success, despite the weather Craig had to deal with.

Dougie seemed to be enjoying it just as much as the fans and afterwards both riders mingled, happily signing autographs and giving out posters. Superb! What a way for the Galloway Club to launch their trials intentions.

2019 looks like it’s going to be another busy year for everyone involved with Galloway MCC so go to www.gallowaymcc.com/blog for all the latest news.

You can visit the club stand, to find out all the dates and events for the coming year, at the Classic Dirt Bike Show, Telford, Shropshire on February 16/17, 2019

Jim Pickering loses cancer battle The trials world is saddened by the passing of Drayton Frames founder, Kidderminster’s Jim Pickering, who lost his battle with cancer on October 4, 2018.

Determined not to give in without a fight, Jim was riding pretty much right up until the end, as the rider/engineer had an indomitable enthusiasm for the feet-up sport. He developed his ground-breaking frames as a way to keep riding himself.

Perhaps the best accolade to

Jim’s work has been the number of successes riders of all ages have achieved on machines with his Drayton name on them.

But the best tributes to the man himself comes from the many riders who all say he was a great lad, always keen to help any fellow trials rider.

His funeral took place on October 18, 2018 at Wyre Forest Crematorium. Our condolences are with his wife Jayne and the Pickering family.

Huggy’s new webpage Huggy’s Speedshop’s new website www.huggysgoshop.com is just about ready to go live, the lads have been working flat out on getting it into shape and transferring stuff from the old one. Biggest part of the new site will be the shop which will be much easier to use and will show everything the guys do. Which brings us nicely to the stock, there’s lots of vintage MX stuff, new and high quality plastics for MXers and as this is being written a container of all sorts of spares and parts has arrived at their base and they’re unloading it right now. The website is due to go live at the beginning of December, just in time for those last minute Christmas presents…

Chris Myers.

Photographic memory?

There was I, trying to promote the Greeves championship which we’d been given the low-down on at Northampton Classic Club Ltd’s Woodford meet in April, and being out of the office I surfed our online service www.mortonsarchive. com for a suitable pic, which was all well and good until it went wrong.

“Let’s use a pic which hasn’t been seen before…” went the thinking and surfing for Dave Bickers up came an image of the legend at Shrubland Park on August 4,1958.

So far, so good.

The archive website uses unique codes for all the images, however trusting to memory, (big mistake), the code I used for the magazine brought up a photograph of FrancisBarnett rider John Clayton, in almost exactly the same spot.

Apologies to everyone concerned and also Greeves team man Alan Clough who pointed the error out to me at Kendal Revival. Above is the photo which should have appeared.

Pre-65 Scottish It is that time of the year when classic trials riders’ thoughts turn towards the Highlands of Scotland and the Pre-65 Scottish Two Day Trial, which for 2019 will be on May 3/4.

Entry forms became available on October 1, 2018.

This annual spectacular of feet-upness takes classic riders along routes packed with the famous section names such as Pipeline, Caolasnacon, Cnoc a Linnhe, Garbh Bheinn, Cameron Hill, Mamore and Callert as riders strive to keep their feet up for the ultimate prize.

Download your form at www.pre65Scottish.com – see you in Kinlochleven.

WINTER 2018 | 9

10 | WINTER 2018

An expert’s Cota Casting an eye over Clive Smith’s Montesa at Alvie, we thought ‘This is a bit trick.’ So, we asked Clive to tell us about it...

Words: Tim Britton Pics: Nick Nicholls Collection at Mortons Archive/Tim Britton

I

n the Seventies, trials riders had pretty decent machinery to choose from to tackle their sport.

Thanks to the efforts of Sammy Miller, Mick Andrews, Don Smith and Gordon Farley the Spanish industry was the only major player in the feet-up game. Gone were the British factories and the Japanese were yet to take the sport seriously, okay, we’ll allow Honda produced some stunning works bikes and Yamaha seemed to provide Mick Andrews with a new development for each week, but for those of us at grassroots level the choice was Bultaco, Ossa or Montesa and I doubt I’m the only club rider to have owned and ridden on all three at one time or another.

Of the three marques, Ossa’s effort seemed to be the most low-key while Bultaco and Montesa had backed riders in all parts of the country where a local dealer, with assistance from either Comerfords in Bultaco’s case or Sandiford’s for Montesa, would

Above: It’s a nice looking motorcycle which seems standard until a closer look reveals all sorts of detail.

provide a bike and/or parts. Naturally, some of these riders were directly backed by the factory but Team Sandiford had a good number of riders under their banner to fly the Barcelona company’s flag. One such rider, Clive Smith, was doing sterling work for Sandiford and Montesa by being North West centre champion, best newcomer in the 1973 last pre-crash helmet SSDT and in a shock to the establishment he lifted the 1973 British Experts Trophy against the cream of the cream on a ‘standardish’ 247 Cota.

The choice of standardish is deliberate and I had the advantage over Clive for our chat as I’d read Bob Currie’s feature on the lad which was written in 1973 just after his Experts win. In the feature, Currie mentioned Clive’s Montesa had had the suspension position altered and I queried this with Clive. After thinking for a moment or two, he said: “Jim (Sandiford) was pretty keen on us riding standard bikes but wasn’t too averse to a modification or two if it worked. 

WINTER 2018 | 11

1

He actually did the mod to the suspension and it gave a much smoother ride with more travel and softer action. It was quite a popular mod in those days,” grins the retired agricultural engineer.

This brought us to discussing the 247 Montesa Clive rode at the Highland Classic – Edition Montesa trial near Aviemore in June this year. In the Montesa paddock Clive’s bike was attracting some interest with its ‘JAS’ logo. In answer to my ‘is that one you rode back then?’ question, Clive said no and qualified the statement by adding “the bike I’m riding now is similar to the 247s I rode then except it has all the modifications that worked on it.” He went on to say: “We were supposed to be seen on production bikes but we all had a few ideas on how to make our bikes handle or work better, I don’t think Jim minded too much as long as we weren’t too radical.” He paused and thought a bit before saying: “At least if he did mind he never said owt to me,” his face creased into the grin familiar to the Seventies’ trials scene.

It is likely this particular machine would have been frowned on at the time, as while standard at first glance, a good look at it shows some serious modification.

Though based on what Clive tried in those far off days, the Montesa also benefits from some modern thinking and a few things which he felt he’d not get away with in the Seventies. The basis of the bike is a 1973-75 model: “A pre-Ulf Karlsson 250,” says Clive, “I always preferred the 250 in reality as

2

1: A hacksaw cut through the frame behind the steering head steepens the fork angle. Yokes are from a late Seventies Montesa.

2: The latest NJB twin shocks take care of the rear end.

3: Apart from the ribs being removed the wheel hubs are standard.

4: This alloy block helps keep the footrests level when the pivot wears.

5: Breather pipe runs up under the tank while a reinforced rubber sheet protects the engine.

4

12 | MONTESA

3

it was a nicer machine for me.”

In this he echoes Middlesbrough’s Rob Edwards and Swedish champion Karlsson, both of whom reckoned to prefer the 250 over the 310.

“When I got a direct factory ride I had to ride a 310 and its gearbox wasn’t a brilliant thing.” Montesa fitted the 310 – designated ‘348’ – with a six-speed gearbox and it had a reputation for slipping out of gear at inopportune moments. I suggested to Clive maybe the six-speeder was more for marketing purposes so the publicity machine could crow about it? “Could be,” he said, “I know I fitted the five speed cluster in my 348 after it jumped out of gear during a close-fought trial and I’m certain it cost me the premier award. I kept that mod to myself though Jim did wonder why I’d stopped muttering about the 348 gearbox. Mind you, once the later ‘White Wonder’ 349s came along, the gears had all been sorted and they were brilliant.”

Okay, back to the 247. The trials world was changing again in the Seventies and the old guard were retired and the new style was on the horizon, sections were getting more technical and the continentals were hopping and jumping around. Already Sandiford had played with the rear suspension mounts, something Montesa tried out too but Clive wanted a longer swinging arm with the mount closer to the back of the engine. The thing is the frame needs cutting away and remaking at the back in order to do this sort of mod. Now the pivot

5

This is what careful development looks like. As the owner says, a lot of mods were tried in the Seventies, just not all on the same bike.

CLIVE SMITH Clive Smith shocked the trials world – or the experts at least – when he battled his JAS Montesa Cota round the 1973 British Experts Trial in Wales and beat the cream of the crop. At the time, 20-year-old Clive hadn’t actually won a national trial but had met the qualifications for an Experts entry.

“I thought I’d thrown it away at the last group when the rear wheel went sideways and I picked up a five,” he admitted to MotorCycle’s Bob Currie who interviewed him after the win.

The Smith family were introduced to trials riding when Clive’s elder brother Raymond swapped a Triumph Speed twin for a Tiger Cub trials bike and, without actually knowing what a trial was, had been persuaded to have a go.

Clive himself soon took up the sport when he turned 16. That he began to do well was quickly obvious and when looking around for a new bike Jim Sandiford offered to back him on an OSSA. The OSSA was delayed, Clive rode a Montesa for a good while then the OSSA turned up; he rode that for a while but by the time the 1973 Experts came along, he was back on a Montesa.

The factory offered Clive a direct contract for a couple of years from 1974 until 1976. A downturn in Spain’s fortunes meant cutbacks, Mr Smith went to a Bultaco through Sandiford and rode this in the inaugural

television Kickstart Trial. One of the new White Wonder Montesas became available for him in 1980.

Asked if he’d always stuck to trials he replied: “I had a thought to try motocross at one time but didn’t, I was drafted into the British ISDT team on a KTM for 1974 and that was interesting.

I had a bit of an off and ended up having to straighten the back end of the bike with a scaffold pole. Then my hands blistered and I tried to carry on, but Ken Heanes stopped me after a couple of days.”

point is a few millimetres off-centre of the main frame tube rather than nestling on a plate welded into the area where the subframe joins it. With the original engine mount cut away Clive has fabricated a neat assembly which not only stiffens up this whole area but locates the engine too.

“I’ve moved the engine forward a little and tipped it down at the front,” he adds, as if it was something we could all do after tea one evening!

Is that it for the frame mods I wondered? “No,” there was the grin again, “I’ve steepened the head stock a little too and had to put a bend in the front downtube so the mudguard doesn’t hit it when the forks compress.” Put against such frame work the fact Clive made the swinging arm and positioned the rear dampers, NJB units, as per his 1973 machine seems almost easy, well easy for him. Oh, and while he was at it, he chucked the standard Metalastik bushes away and mounted the swinging arm on ball bearings, sealed but with grease nipples in for proper lubrication.

Up at the front end the forks themselves are fairly standard though they’ve been fully rebuilt and there’s been a slight modification to the cone at the bottom end of the damper rod.

“I put a couple of grooves in it which allows another half inch or so of fork movement.” There’s also a slightly different mudguard mounting which stiffens up the forks and helps prevent twisting.

This mounting is quite neat and uses the original brackets too. “I used later 247 yokes as the angle is slightly better than the early Seventies ones and the handlebar mounting is better for me,” he says. In the day though, Clive used a variable mounting point until he found a bar position which worked for him. 

WINTER 2018 | 13

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