Autumn 2024 issue of Classic Dirt Bike **FREE 20 PAGE PREVIEW**

GOING SPARE

BIG BEEZER

KENDAL CLASSIC

Dirtbike e Grasstrack backup

#72

Fettling a Gold Star

Showground scrambling

CLASSIC

ISSUE Seventy-t w

Autumn 2

o 02 4

RARITY RE REDISCOVERED ANCILLOTTI COMES FULL CIRCLE

WORKSREUNION BSA factory team pairing at Alvie

PLUS

ARCHIVE: BELSTAFF CENTENARY CELEBRATION

IN IAN BALANCE BERRY

Golden memories History records fixed starting points which become The Date When It Happened, whatever the ‘It’ may be. But such dates may not be the actual first time.

A

nniversaries are all around us; some are more personal than others, but they are important to us on a variety of levels. Problem is, the official date of something isn’t always the actual date of the very first time. For instance, 2024 marks the centenary of scrambling’s official beginning and we will be running our own celebration of this momentous occasion in issue 73. But while 1924 was the first time a publication referred to a race over rough terrain as a ‘scramble’, undoubtedly such things would have occurred before. This led me to wander through the darkest reaches of my own mind to my beginnings in motorcycle sport. So, can you recall exactly when you became interested in motorcycles and/or motorcycle sport? Was it a momentous occasion accompanied by the chiming of a clock bell akin to Big Ben in Westminster or much more low key and only afterwards was the realisation of a lengthy involvement in motorcycling? Personally, my official involvement in trials riding as opposed to observing a section started in 1974 when I just sneaked in under the wire between Christmas and new year to be a trials rider.

I’d previously had a selection of what are probably regarded as field bikes which I rode round the outer reaches of a grandparent’s garden and through a bit of waste ground outside it too. These bikes were bought from a local-ish saleroom – Pattinsons, in Crawcrook if you’re in the North East – one in particular, a Villiers-engined somethingor-other and either a scrambler or trials bike, cost £10 and I must have annoyed the neighbours something chronic on it.

Looking back now, 1974 was the 50th anniversary of scrambling. I wouldn’t have known so at the time and in any case, I was

SUBSCRIPTIONS To ensure you always get your copy of Classic Dirt Bike in the UK, become part of our subscriber community.

See page 42 for details.

❝…Dunlop introduced its safety welly – or Wellington boot – these were cheap, waterproof and easily washed off…❞ focused on being a trials rider and this was my ambition… still is, I suppose. It would also have been the 10th anniversary of Jeff Smith’s world championship now I come to think about it, which makes 2024 the 60th anniversary of his win. Along the way of this personal golden anniversary of motorcycle sport there have been a lot of changes in motorcycling. For instance, in 1974 the British motorcycle industry still existed and parts of it were riding high on the previous year’s successes at the USA ISDT. This wasn’t to last though and while Triumph managed to hang on a bit longer, the rest of the industry was soon to be consigned to the history books. One area where the UK still excelled was trials riding talent and for 1974 Malcolm Rathmell would be crowned de facto world champion in trials, though his official title was European champion despite the series having rounds in the USA and Canada.

As I personally made my start in trials riding, I can confidently say there were three similarities between myself and the European champion. Rathmell was still Bultaco mounted in 1974 and my first actual proper trials bike in 1974 was a 250 Bultaco Sherpa… it would be nice to find another example of it, a model 91 as I recall. It came with a full Belstaff Trialmaster suit, jacket in black but trousers in red for some reason.

Looking back those 50 years I seem to recall there were others who rode in such a red/ black combination too… perhaps it was a North East thing? Coincidentally, we’ve an archive feature in this issue celebrating Belstaff’s sartorial centenary.

The final similarity between myself and Malcolm Rathmell came in our choice of footwear. For years the Army surplus stores provided motorcycle sport footwear in the form of ex-paratrooper boots popular in

scrambling, or knee-length Navy boots for trials riders. Then Dunlop introduced its safety welly – or Wellington boot – these were cheap, waterproof and easily washed off after a trial and didn’t need anything else doing to them. They had a steel toecap, a steel plate arch support, decent grips and ribbed shin protection. As the NCB was big purchaser of these boots for coal-face workers, suddenly miners gained a lot of friends. Almost everyone – from world champions to new clubmen – wore these wellies until the advent of leather boots again from manufacturers such as Alpine Stars.

Looking back through the past 50 years of motorcycle sport brings to mind how it has changed: for us schoolboy trials riders in 1974 there were no capacity limits, no need for a helmet either. The scrambling scene was a little more controlled with a 125cc limit and the need for protective clothing but it still was a much more innocent time. Scrambles paddocks were not full of motorhomes, lucky riders had a van, most used a car and trailer. Trials would often start just along a roadside rather than having to park in a field and so on. Change was coming, of course, and it is always inevitable as developments come into play and I’m probably not the only rider who says: “It was better when…” which is one of the reasons for classic sport’s popularity – but we don’t refuse the benefits of modern technology as we prep our classic bikes, do we?

Here’s to the next 100 years…

Autumn 2024 | 3

Regulars 03 In Balance The world of off-road motorcycles has been part of the editor’s life for half a century. There have been some changes along the way.

06 News and views There’s lots going on in the off-road world. As best we can in a quarterly publication, here’s the news.

18 24

42 Subscribe How to make sure your copy of CDB drops through the letterbox, regular as clockwork.

50 Dirt Products A selection of bits and pieces which will help you go faster, stay faster longer and improve your gear changing as well as stopping when you’re fast enough.

60 JD’s view Thinking up a name for your latest creation must have been fun for manufacturers. Some created iconic names… others didn’t.

72

Dirt Talk Lots of talk about dirt bikes in this issue, some surprises, some revelations and some praise too.

82 Moto Memories The 1978 500cc MX world championship series started off with a demonstration of domination by the reigning champion… Nick Nicholls caught Heikki Mikkola in the Swiss GP.

38

4 | Autumn 2024

44

Features 10

Innovative excellence Based in the Italian renaissance city of Florence, Ancillotti strove to combine innovation with excellence. Check out the company’s PSV250… we think it succeeded.

18

Really Tidy Single The more minimal the machine, the more difficult it is to stand out from the opposition. Roger Taylor managed it with his RTS grass bikes.

52

24 From the archive – Belstaff centenary Right alongside motorcycles and the people who ride them are the people who clothe them… an invitation to Belstaff’s centenary bash prompts a look at bike-wear.

34 Archive extra What happens to legends when their era is over? They carry on and create new stories… GOV 132’s afterlife.

38 Works inspired Ken Sedgley set to and created a Greeves, inspired by one he rode as a team rider for the Thundersley factory in the Sixties.

44 Workshop time Sometimes being in the workshop is a time of pleasure and relaxation, other times it’s a source of frustration…

52 Gold Star Bikes once considered too long, too low and too heavy for trials can be, with thought, made into very nice machines.

75

Bopping along Works rider and works machine reunited in Scotland. We look at Tony Davis’ old works B40, Tony was there too.

Events 62 A right old scramble

62

Westmorland’s county showground hosts some fine scrambles… we went along.

66 Alvie adventure We went to Aviemore for the Highland Classic Two Day Trial – BSA Edition.

On the cover Ancillotti was an Italian family firm with a reputation for excellence and innovation. As the MX world went monoshock the company produced its PSV250. A chance conversation led to this particular machine finding its way back to the family of the original Ancillotti importer… an even more chance conversation led to it appearing on the cover of CDB.

Autumn 2024 | 5

Want to tell us about a forthcoming event, or have any other dirt bike news to share?

Email CDBEditor@mortons.co.uk or track down the editor at a dirt bike show or event.

The Hagon Shocks sponsored Classic Dirt Bike Show 2025 How long do you reckon Hagon Shocks has backed the Classic Dirt Bike Show?

Six years? Five years?

More? Less? Would you take a stab at 11 years?

If you did you’d be bang on, yes Hagon have been behind the ‘must do’ show in the dirt bike world for 11 years. In common with many institutions which have a full and official title The Classic Dirt Bike Show has become known to the off-road world by its location and enthusiasts will simply say “see you at Telford?” when talking with their friends. The reference being the Telford International Centre in

Shropshire where the show has resided for the largest part of its life. Within the halls enthusiasts know there will be the best of all eras of dirt bikes in a variety of disciplines. In the halls and outside in the autojumble they will find inspiration for future projects, parts and spares to finish current projects, or even new projects to start again because they’ve just finished the last one and it is on show in the private entries for the current show. Speaking of the current show which will be 2025, the date to look out for is February 8/9… see you at Telford.

Will your rebuild be here in 2025?

Show sponsor Martin Hagon flanked by guests Yrjo Vesterinen (left) and Neil Hudson (right)

Anno domini calls time on works rider There does come a time when the realisation perhaps you’re not going to be making an attempt on the classic sports scene arises. Problem

Fully rebuilt and ready to go… Ken Sedgley’s TFS.

6 | Autumn 2024

is you’ve built a bike which is a pretty good facsimile of the one your factory built for you when you were in their works team… and it’s in the

shed… teasing you. Such a situation arose with Ken Sedgley, more latterly known as Silky Sedge – The Silkolene Man for his involvement with Silkolene Oils but the lad was a top rider in his day and part of the Greeves works team.

He recalls those days fondly and says being part of Greeves works squad was spot on for him. This was part of the reason for building a machine inspired by those times, with a few modern touches too.

In retrospect Ken feels he’s unlikely to ride it so has put the 1965 24TFS model up for sale. In the first instance to find out more, drop Ken’s son Neil an email at neilsedgley@ live.co.uk

Mortimer hosted a brilliant start to the Twinshock Sidecar Charity Series with 19 teams entered in the series. The first round brought a lot of heat, not just through the weather but also through the many battles throughout the pack.

Mortimer saw team Keane/Wolff head into the lead for the series with Eastall/Mead and Breacher/ Breacher right behind them.

Keane/Wolff achieved two wins on race day, with the Breacher/ Breacher combination claiming the final win. There were many battles throughout the event with Chell/Chell, Millward/Millward and Mallows/Dunkley having a fight for 4th.

The second round of the series went to Narberth, which once again hosted a great day, unfortunately with fewer attendees. The teams which did attend gained more points allowing a reshuffling of the series lead. By the end of the day series leaders were the Marshall team, with Carter/Carter-Millis right behind them, both teams have stayed consistent so far.

There was one unfortunate DNF on the day, despite heroic efforts to push the bike over the line they

were classed as non-finishers. Five teams managed to score points in this round meaning Keane/Wolff dropped down to 6th.

The third round took place at Abbeycwmhir, hosted by the Mid Wales club. This round allowed there to be another change in leaders, as Carter/Carter-Millis managed to claim the top spot with Millward/Millward right behind them in second. Marshall/ Marshall are now lying in 3rd, Turner/Higgins in 4th and Chell/ Chell in 5th. The penultimate round will be at Llanthony on the September 29, 2024. This is a club that has always been supportive of sidecars and we hope the entries will reflect that.

The series organisers say “We would like to thank all our sponsors who have supported the series, AJP Stainless, Carters of Vowchurch, Golden Valley Classic MCC, Three Counties Classic Motox Club and S & J Chell Groundwork,” adding “so far we have managed to raise £1650 which will be donated to the top five winning teams’ charities.

We hope to continue raising more money for those charities by the end of the series.”

Pic credit Emily Bell

Brilliant start to sidecar charity MX series David Keane/George Wolff chasing Graham Eastall/Dan Mead.

Team Breacher in the woods.

Team Marshall, the current series lead.

Sealey power tools upgraded to brushless motors No doubt about it, cordless or battery power tools have revolutionised the way many trades and hobbyists work. There’s no dangerous power cords to trip over or damage and be electrocuted for a start, two attributes

which on their own would be enough.

Without the need to plug anything in means no fighting over power sockets, there’s never any where you need to be anyway. Development of these tools continues and Sealey

has just launched its new brushless motor battery tools, this ups the performance of already good tools to a new level. Go have a look at Sealey’s tools at www.sealey.co.uk

Make your power tool choices here.

Autumn 2024 | 7

Gordon Leonard Jackson 1931-2024 The world of motorcycle trials and its associate world of car trials are mourning the passing of Gordon Leonard Jackson aged 92. It is perhaps inevitable when being the subject of such a famous photograph as the one of his historic ‘dab’ on Grey Mare’s Ridge in the 1961 SSDT the image has defined his career. However Gordon was so much more than ‘just’ this picture, the winning ride in 1961 was actually his fourth win in the SSDT. A Man of Kent, Gordon was born north of the Medway, where the Jackson family ran a fruit farm and, apart from a brief hiatus with a 500T Norton early in his career and a Greeves when he was semi-retired he was dedicated to AMC machines having been loaned a 500 by the factory for the Southern Experts Trial.

Gordon’s trials career began in the rigid and teles era and carried on to the final gasp of the British industry when AMC created the superb 350 AJS for his final SSDTs. Initially though he considered himself a ‘500’ man and his first actual motorcycle was a 500 Norton… when he was nine! There was a parental feeling perhaps this was too big a motorcycle to begin on and a swap deal was done for a much smaller machine.

As part of a factory with a major interest in off-road there was a chance to use some of the faster machines on odd occasions and Gordon happily tackled scrambling and was part of the ISDT squad too. In an earlier interview Gordon admitted the ISDT hadn’t been the most positive experience for him with a split fuel tank in his first one and broken forks in the second and he’d suggested to AMC perhaps he’d stick with trials. He did say in retrospect he should have stuck in to the ISDT a little longer.

By 1961 combining working life as a farmer and a sporting life as a top trials rider was becoming increasingly difficult as trials had expanded from a winter sport to all-year-round. The break finally came after the 1962 SSDT and his famous AJS 187BLF went back to the factory. There was still a competitive edge to ‘GL’ and the sport of car trials seemed to slot in with farming as it was mainly on in the winter when the farm was quiet. He switched from two to four wheels and in doing so became unique in trials by winning a British championship in both disciplines.

As the classic sport movement gained pace Gordon was a welcome visitor to trials events big and small, as well as performing guest of honour duty at the Pre 65 Scottish Two Day Trial. There was a chance to ride 187BLF again when the Edinburgh DMC invited many past winners of the SSDT up to Fort William for a celebration parade and arranged glorious sunshine for it too.

Moving on from the farm in Kent, Gordon went west and spent a number of

8 | Autumn 2024

Gordon Jackson on the freshly restored AJS he won the 1961 SSDT on.

Probably the most famous motorcycle trials picture of all time… Jackson’s dab.

Pressing on in the 1955 ISDT in Czechoslovakia, he was not to finish as his forks collapsed.

years in Devon before moving to France where sons Drew and Ross had been living and working. It is Drew who tells us his dad passed away in hospital near

where they lived and stresses the level of care Gordon received while in hospital was exemplary. Our thoughts and condolences go to the family.

US Bikes Top Speedway Sale After the closure of Ian Patterson’s speedway museum the contents were sold off on Friday and Saturday July 5/6, by H J Pugh and Co., of Ledbury, Herefordshire.

Friday was confined to smaller items, including 356 lots of race bibs, Saturday was reserved for the bikes, over 100 all in immaculate condition, whilst JAP-engined machines of the Fifties and Sixties dominated it was pre-Second World War machines which commanded the higher prices with the top money going for a 1927 Indian at £55,000, second highest price but a long way behind went to that iconic turning left machine, a 1978 Harley-Davidson XR 750 at £19,500. Both prices are plus 12% buyer’s premium.

Topping the sale, a 1927 Indian which realised £55,000.

An iconic HarleyDavidson XR750 flat-track racer went for £19,500.

From grasstrack to off the beaten track

The Fizzy was available in a variety of colours with blue being one.

Grasstrack and speedway racer Phil Ranson has a bit of a track record with doing oddball things. He entered his first ever grasstrack race without having ever been to or seen an event before as an example. When we chatted to him at Telford during the CDB show last February he hinted he was toying with the idea of riding from London to Istanbul. No problem we said, what you going on? Big Beemer? Japanese adventure bike from one of the major factories? “Oh no,” the lad said, “something much better… a Fizzy!” Now for people of my generation the Fizzy or Yamaha FS1E Sports Moped launched the two-wheeled career of many a youngster and they are Phil Ranson’s trip will be a bit longer than an average grasstrack race.

rightly regarded as an incredible machine… but as first choice for a trip which includes a channel crossing, several European countries and a scaling of the Alps – on the roads thankfully – into Croatia, on to Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, then Turkey and finally Istanbul we wondered if he’d lost his sanity. Turns out most people who know him had said the same thing but all added he is likely to do it. The project met its first difficulty before setting off on August 20, his machine is too small a capacity to use the motorway or Dartford crossing. “Woolwich ferry is the way forward,” he explains. Good luck Phil is all we can say and hope it’s nothing to do with methanol fumes from his grass racing.

Autumn 2024 | 9

Family connection A chance comment at the gym brings a rare Italian MXer almost full circle.

Words and pics: Tim Britton Media Ltd

O

f all the unlikely subjects to weave into a sentence, grouping ‘Italian renaissance city, Northumbrian village and MX racer’ are probably three of the most unusual – but they only need one more word to connect them. If it sounds like one of those infuriating word games so beloved of the Sunday supplements, which some people seem to do so easily yet exasperate me, think again; the connecting word, name really, is Ancillotti.

How does the connection work? Well, Ancillotti made MX motorcycles using a variety of engines in well-designed rolling chassis of its own. The company was based in Florence, an Italian renaissance city, and the final link in the chain is the UK importer was based in a Northumbrian village. Just how did a Northumbrian village become the Ancillotti epicentre? The tale is taken up by Keith Martin, who is enjoying the rare July sunshine as we photograph this superb example of Ancillotti’s monoshock MXer.

10 | Autumn 2024

Above: Initial thoughts of racing this superb looking machine were discounted as it turns out to be very rare.

He says: “In 1981 I was a director at Bowman’s Agricultural Sales along at Haydon Bridge and had to go out to Florence in Italy to visit one of our animal husbandry suppliers and, being a motorcyclist, I checked to see if there were any motorcycle people close by.” The upshot was Keith paid a visit to Ancillotti and agreed to be the UK importer for its MX machines. He fondly remembers those times and reckoned they dovetailed nicely with the ATV and quads he was selling to the farming community in the North East of England.

The very first example of the Italian machine Keith imported was a Hiro engine version and, in an almost fairytale debut, North East scrambles champ Keith Tindale won two races at the Iveston scramble on the new machine. Ancillotti was up and running in the UK. This winning machine was a twinshock but the world was about to change and monoshock rear

Ancillotti

Above: Though the exhaust was damaged a little it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, given its routing which is clear here.

Below: It takes quite a bit of work to achieve this sort of finish.

suspension was on the way in. Ancillotti was pretty quick off the mark with its single-shock machine; this one is an early example and a 1982 season machine but probably made in 1981. It is a 250cc model with a Moto Villa engine – prior to the Villa, Ancillotti had used Sachs, Minarelli, Tau and Hiro engines too. By a quirk of fate the Ancillotti has come full circle and is owned by Keith’s grandson Alex, who was told about the bike by the lady who runs his fitness class in the market town of Hexham. When asked why teenager 

Alex was at the gym, he said he was keeping fit for motorcycle sport. The instructor said she had a dirt bike of some sort in the barn and wondered if he knew of anyone who might want it.

Alex persuaded his dad Paul to take him along and see what the bike might be. Says Paul: “Of all the bikes it could have been, and I was convinced it would be some sort of wrecked road bike, my jaw dropped to the ground when I realised exactly what it was.” Mind you, it wasn’t in the condition it is now when Paul and Alex saw it. “It looked as you might expect a well-used dirt bike to look,” grins Paul. “If it hadn’t been an Ancillotti and we hadn’t had the family connection to the make we would have walked away from it.”

With the bike back in their workshop and Keith on hand with the PR material he’d kept, the bike was identified as a PSV250 MX. It soon became clear this was a bit of a rarity in the UK and Mr Martin senior

12 | Autumn 2024

Above: Ancillotti was noted for its high finishing spec.

Below left: Some motorcycles have parts which looked tacked on as an afterthought.

The PSV250 exudes the air of being the result of much thought... except where the airbox is concerned.

Below right: Creating plenty of ground clearance while having a sensible seat height is not an easy task.

couldn’t recall exactly how many he’d imported but the number wasn’t huge. When the Martins did more investigating, it turned out the bike was a rarity in Italy too. This sort of changed the focus of the bike as Paul and Alex originally wanted to build the bike to race – both dad and lad are involved in the north-east motorcycle sport scene – and instead the rarity of the model and scarcity of parts almost dictated the bike would become a showpiece.

Querying the model name with the lads, I managed to work out for myself the ‘250’ bit was the capacity but the ‘PSV’ bit was lost on me. Turns out it’s a two-part reference to the innovative suspension and the engine supplier, so, the ‘PS’ is Pull Shock and is written on the swinging arm too while the ‘V’ is for Villa, who built and supplied the model’s engines.

Villa’s engine was quite an advanced-spec 250 twostroke single producing 39bhp as it revved to 8600rpm and needed all its six gears to keep the power on

Ancillotti

Engines were made and supplied by fellow Italian marque Moto Villa.

Having the rear damper mounted where it is makes for a long swinging arm.

the boil. This neat engine unit, with Ancillotti in the castings, was housed in the company’s own steel tube cradle frame with a pair of 40mm diameter Marzocchi front forks soaking up the bumps at the front. The rear however has an almost vertical shock connected to the main frame at the top but using a linkage system to connect the bottom of the unit to the swinging arm and this works in tension or when pulled, hence the term ‘pull shock.’ The high spec continued with the swinging arm being of alloy square tube to save weight – the bike weighs in at 98kg or 216lb – and a Corte Cosso rear suspension unit. Ancillotti used Grimeca drum brakes to build the wheels; front one is 125mm diameter while the

Below: The front forks required stanchions rechroming and new seals as well as the spindle rethreading.

Below right: Springs to hold the pipe in place mean it’s quick and simple to detach.

Rethinking the airbox meant a different inlet was needed and one from a Cagiva gave the correct result. The Bing carb has been cleaned and serviced.

rear is 140mm. Plastics such as the tank, panels and front number board would have originated from UFO, which still lists Ancillotti mudguards.

As ever with a rebuild it pays to have a plan of action and for Paul this meant rebuild to use but retain as much originality as possible. First bit of the bike to receive attention was the engine, always an unknown quantity with a barn-find motorcycle. Paul  was expecting to unearth a catalogue of horrors

Autumn 2024 | 13

Top left: Part of the model designation is ‘PS’ for pull shock.

given the bike’s appearance but he was pleasantly surprised to find the internals in reasonable order.

“The engine was totally stripped to make sure,” he says, “and I was delighted to find it didn’t need anything mechanical doing other than to paint the cases and reassemble everything with new gaskets and seals.” As far as the electrics were concerned the original MotoPlat ignition was checked over and only needed cleaning for it to go back on. It was the same with the carburettor, a Bing 54 type and this got the sonic-bath treatment to clean all the drillings and passages out. It is possible to get service kits for Bing carburettors which include gaskets and O rings as well as other bits, so spares are not really an issue.

Top middle: The airbox can now be removed with the shock in position; this wasn’t always the case.

Top right: Wheel building was by Roy Thursby on Teesside.

Above left: SEM was silencer supplier to a number of companies.

What was an issue was the airbox at the rear of the carb… the shocker body goes through the middle of it… “I do wonder if this was a development model,” Paul muses, “there are a few things which you wouldn’t really do on a production model, if only for ease of servicing. I think it was a hangover from the twinshock days and as a temporary measure they mounted the shock through the airbox.” Had there been any need to change the air filter at a meeting in the old days the shock would have to come off to access the airbox. “At this stage I still harboured thoughts of riding the Ancillotti in races so wanted a different airbox arrangement.” After a bit of thought Paul created an inlet manifold from a Cagiva part and made a new airbox which could be fitted round the rear shock. “It’s not original but it doesn’t look out of the way, does it?”

On the subject of the shock unit, here the luck departed as it was in shocking condition – yes, I know… we can all groan – it could have been rebuilt, eventually, but Paul got Jono White at KAIS Suspension to sort out an Ohlins unit for the bike.

This was the easy part of the rear suspension; the linkage system proved challenging, though this wasn’t the word he used. “There are a multitude of rose joints in the linkages and there is no other option but strip, rebuild, fit in place then do it again… and again… until it works,” he tells us.

Front suspension in this era was starting to get bigger with more travel and the axle mount was further up the slider to allow for plenty of suspension travel without a ridiculous seat height. The 40mm

Far left: The engine has been stripped and checked.

Above: Both front and rear hubs and brake plates have been powder coated.

Left: New bearings are in both hubs, which are Grimeca by the way.

14 | Autumn 2024

Ancillotti

ANCILLOTTI, EMBRACING EXCELLENCE To condense around 80 years of Ancillotti into a few words for this feature some paraphrasing has to take place. As the 20th century dawned, Ernesto Ancillotti was busily creating motorised carriages in his engineering workshops situated in the heart of renaissance Florence in Italy.

His son Gualtiero joined the business and with a personal interest in motorcycles the Ancillotti business began modifying a variety of motorcycles. After the Second World War the American army left large numbers of

its military Harley-Davidson motorcycles in Italy. Ancillotti designed a rear suspension for these originally rigid machines and as rear suspension was extremely rare on motorcycles of the time, the company gained valuable publicity. In time Gualtiero’s sons Alberto and Piero joined the business and they turned to manufacturing their own motorcycle.

Outgrowing its city centre home, Ancillotti moved a mile or two out of Florence to a purpose-built factory in Sambuca Val de

Pesa. In common with many small European manufacturers, Ancillotti enjoyed the protection of import tariffs which allowed the home market to flourish; but the onslaught of the Japanese industry was too great to hold back and the Ancillotti motorcycle line ended in 1985.

Along the way there were some great times, with high-quality machines, and the name lives on in 2024 as Alberto’s son Tomaso manufactures superb quality mountain bikes for the downhill racing scene.

Pro-Taper levers matched to Renthal bars are a popular combination.

Above: The replacement fuel cap came from Italy… of course it did!

Left: Original number board could be reused.

Below: Providing the sparks is a MotoPlat electronic ignition.

diameter stanchions on these Marzocchi units were not bent but the hard chrome had to be replaced as it was flaking off. The rest of the bits were cleaned thoroughly and reassembled with new seals and fresh oil. A local suspension guy, a mate of Paul’s, rebuilt the forks and set them up for him.

An MX bike certainly lives life to the extreme and the frame can take a bit of punishment in the cut and thrust of the racing world. It isn’t unusual to find twists and other misalignment to the frame but here there was no damage at all to the cradle frame though the swinging arm has a small crack in it. Powder coating returned the frame to pristine and the search went on for an uncracked swinging arm. Though the damaged bit is still on in our pics, 

Autumn 2024 | 15

an undamaged one has been found and is awaiting checking before going into the frame. Initially the Marzocchi fork yokes looked good enough to reuse; the bottom one was, but when refitting the top one there was a cracking sound and a bit of alloy dropped off… so, the top yoke is a replacement rather than original.

Refurbishing the wheels involved having new spokes made, stripping the hubs out and meticulously cleaning them before powder coating brought them back to black. The original wheel bearings were useful only as paperweights so new ones were fitted and Teesside wheel builder Roy Thursby spoked up the wheels and Paul fitted Michelin Starcross tyres. For some reason, before the bike was laid up, a new chain and sprockets had been fitted and these were good enough to refit. So, once the brake plates had been powder coated and fitted with new shoes, the wheels could go back into their respective ends of the bike and the project was starting to look like a motorcycle again.

By the Eighties exhaust science had come a long way from the days of ‘if it’s loud it must be fast’ and pipe length and shape were now known to have more of an effect on performance than just sheer noise. Unfortunately for a competition motorcycle, getting the right pipe length often means having the exhaust in vulnerable positions where stones and the like can damage it. The lower part of the front pipe is particularly prone to damage and this one needed some repair but wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

One problem with machines of this era is the plastic parts such as mudguards and side panels.

These are items easily damaged yet not often stocked.

Paul used the yellow mudguards from the UFO range – not 100% the right shade but close enough and Ancillotti would have used UFO in the day. Side panels though were sourced, online, in France but by far the most work was the petrol tank. Though not leaking, it was gouged and scuffed as well as the fuel cap being damaged. “I tried all sorts of things to sort the tank; wet and dry abrasive paper, increasing grades, was the only thing which took out the gouges

The Martins (from left): Paul the restorer, Keith the importer and Alex the owner.

16 | Autumn 2024

Top left: Servicing the linkage system proved interesting…

Top right … but mating it to an Ohlins suspension unit was easy enough…

Above: … once all these rose joints were sorted.

but getting it clean was a problem. It’s okay now but only okay.”

The rebuild continued by fitting new cables and Renthal handlebars which in turn got Pro-Taper levers and new grips to finish the job off. Seat recovering and new graphics came from local firm EvoMX and local engineer Ossy Byers rethreaded the front wheel spindle and at last the bike was ready to try. “It does run and runs well,” Paul tells us, but adds: “So many people have advised us against running it as it is so rare. When people like Bill Brown say ‘don’t ride it’ you sort of pay attention.

Luckily, I do have another one…”

AUTUMN 2024 | 17

Talk about stark minimalism, nothing on a grass bike which doesn’t do a job.

Heir apparent There’s not a racer around who doesn’t carry a few spares to a meeting in case of mishaps. One way of carting them about is to assemble them into a bike…

Words and pics: Tim Britton Media Ltd

T

here seems to be an unwritten rule which affects time and work… if there’s lots of time then there’ll be nothing to do and things will run smoothly; however, if time is tight then everything which possibly can go wrong will go wrong. In the case of a motorcycle sports meeting the latter will often mean a frantic attempt to make the startline as something which broke in the last race had to be fixed. If nothing broke then there will be three or four heats between a rider’s last outing and the next race. This allows time for the bike to receive a leisurely once-over to confirm all is well, perhaps a wipe of the goggles and the number plate.

However, if the last race is finished with the bike sounding like a bag of hammers in an old oil drum, or the spokes all came loose, or something else, then you just know the next race will be virtually on the rear wheel of the one you’ve just been in. In such cases it would be nice to have a bike ready and waiting to jump on and away while the broken one is looked at by any other team members who might be handy.

It was just such situations which prompted John Shipley and Ray Morris to see about prepping a spare bike, a clone almost, of the race bike to have on hand should there be some issues on race day. The ideal

18 | Autumn 2024

Below: A big carburettor needs twin fuel feeds to ensure there’s enough methanol to supply the engine.

Above: This stunning machine is the result of a lot of hard work and attention to detail.

Right: Standard rims have stainless spokes lacing them to the standard TLM hubs. Nissin calipers have been stripped, modified, powder coated and fitted with stainless banjos.

scenario would be not to have to use it at all, but just in case then it is best to have both bikes as close as possible to each other in feel and set-up. This ideal received a boost when an RTS – Roger Taylor Special – came along and just needed a few tweaks to match it to the No.1 bike we featured a few issues ago.

There are some differences though, one pretty major one… the No.1 bike is built around one of Ray Morris’ frames while the ‘spare’ is an RTS frame.

RTS BSA grasstrack racer

The frame also carried RTS front forks with the rubber band suspension so often seen on bikes in this discipline and a system which works extremely well, has little to go wrong with it and is easily repaired. They are also much lighter than conventional forks, something which is of importance in the grasstrack world. Grasstrack bikes in general are extremely stripped down with nothing on them which doesn’t do a job. This ethos originated as races became shorter and began to emulate the speedway oval style of racing. Though there are events which have a turn or two and maybe a jump to contend with, the vast majority of grasstrack races are now on an oval-ish track where the bike is expected to turn left.

Basis for the engine is the alloy B44 unit BSA but internally there sits a B25/C25 crankshaft and Thunder Engineering B25 con rod which is stronger than a BSA one would be after polishing and lightening. The B25/C25 crank is a forged one with bolt-on flywheels and has a plain big end rather than a roller one. What this combination does to the B44 engine is bring it down to 350cc. For the No.2 bike the lads have used a JE piston which can put up with the stresses and strains a grass engine is subjected to in a race.

There’s been a lot of attention to detail in the engine, with components chosen because the bike builders have experience with them and found them to suit their needs. Says John: “We prefer to use the BSA ‘S’ type cast iron oil pump because it just doesn’t fail.” This oil pump circulates Morris castor oil throughout the engine and to be extra certain the oil is in tip-top condition there is an oil filter plumbed into the system. Originally this was a Briggo filter but now is a Honda CB600RR one; the engine has no oil problems. As with most grass and speedway bikes the oil is contained in the frame tubes.

Further up in the engine the cylinder head is

Above left: Forks are RTS versions with rubber band suspension.

Above right: Exhaust pipe is underslung but higher up than the footrest.

Below: Though externally the engine is B44, internal alterations mean it is 350cc rather than 441cc.

fully sorted and uses BSA valves – the exhaust one is sodium cooled – and the springs are from the B25/C25. Particular attention has been paid to the rockers which are smoothed, polished and lightened to relieve stress so the B50 MX cam has as easy a time of it as possible to work the valve train. Feeding the dope fuel into the engine is the job of a massive 54mm Dell’Orto carburettor which breathes through a foam filter.

Inside a B44 gearbox would normally be four gears; a grasstrack racer rarely needs more than two so only two gears are inside the cases. In order to make sure the gear lever will only select the two gears fitted, the selector plate is modified. The gear cogs are actual BSA ones though fitted to an NEB shaft. This has the advantage of allowing an NEB clutch to be used as it fits on to a spline rather than a taper. This multiplate clutch was designed for the speedway world, has been a popular fitment in the classic MX scene and even, with a plate and some springs removed, fitted to classic trials bikes. The rest of the primary drive is pure BSA duplex and there’s no reason to change it as  it does the job.

Autumn 2024 | 19

It is clear from looking at this engine and its external appearance there are no oil leaks which means the breathing is spot on and no overpressurising happens as the engine is run.

Helping relieve internal pressure is a big bore breather tube exiting near the rear of the bike.

If the component parts of a grasstrack racer might seem pared to the bone and possibly not as strong as they might be, such a bike is as good an example of a structure and design providing strength. The front part of the frame holds the engine in a massive cradle formed from aircraft-quality T6 alloy plate. The cradle, which is an RTS component, also provides the mounting point for the swinging arm at the rear and extends up to support the subframe. Once the structure is completed and the fasteners tightened up the whole chassis is light, rigid and simple. Not so rigid is the right-hand footrest as it’s set to move as the rider moves about on the bike. A particular feature on grass bikes over, say, speedway ones, which look similar but aren’t, is rear suspension, which on this bike is provided by a pair of Hagon shocks. Probably riders were mightily pleased when rear suspension came in for a sport which involves racing on a surface which could and does cut up a lot during a meeting.

Okay, in order for the front and rear suspension to work there have to be wheels, one at each end. Grass

Above left: In order for the rider’s foot to reach the gear lever it is pivoted from the old kick-start position Above right: Just in case the bracket breaks, the safety wire will keep the silencer in position.

Right: Grass bikes have rear suspension… these are Hagon units.

ROGER TAYLOR RACING Grasstrack is a sport which hasn’t caught the attention of major manufacturers so the majority of constructors are smaller makers who can make a living from short runs of frames and components which the enthusiast could build into a machine themselves. Just such a maker is Roger Taylor, who started working for Selwyn Perry, the maker of Ansel machines – Selwyn’s brother Tig was the maker of Antig machines. Roger was highly active in all sorts of motorcycle sport from the early Seventies and recalls it as an exciting time for a young racer. When Selwyn Perry decided he’d had enough of the motorcycle industry and wanted to retire, Roger took up the reins and RTS was born.

The business still exists and is heavily involved not only in grasstrack racing but pretty much every discipline in motorcycle sport. Roger is generally flat out building or fettling the older stuff, his lad is tuning more modern machinery and as of 2024 the third generation is becoming involved in the business. Says Roger: “We try to be a one-stop shop for classic motorcycle sport.”

20 | Autumn 2024

Fuel tank is barely wider than the frame tubes and

holds just enough for a race.