If you didn’t believe spring had sprung,then turn to the back of this issueand takealookatthe diarylistingwehavefor this month. Despiteaddinganextra page to the list, we have still struggledto include all of the events forMay.I am sure thereare some we missed –pleasesend in your showorevent details earlysowecan be sure of addingthemtothe diary–but we have includedwell over ahundred, spanningeverythingfromlarge shows to weeklybikemeets Ihavetaken the decisiontoadd bikemeets to thediary because, with the days nowdrawing out and the evenings becominglonger, Iknowmanyofyou just likean excuse for arun outand because you maynot be awareofmeet ups that arejustafew miles down the road. Iknowlastyearthat I frequently foundout aboutalocal meetdaysafter it hadhappened! Tese arealsonot onlyagood excuse for aride with arefreshing shandyatthe end, butachanceto meet people who ride completely diferent machinesfromyours –and vice versa.
Anyone who rides aclassic motorcyclefnds themselves (whethertheylikeitornot)inthe position of beinganambassador for thosebikes.While perhaps yourfriends and club mightbe able to instantlyidentify what you’reriding, there area lot of newbikers, whether new by age
or by experience,towhomclassic machineryissomething of a mystery. While youmight geta little vexedatbeingasked again and again: “Whatyearisit?”,look upon everyinteractionasachance to persuade folk of the joys of older motorcycles and turn them from the wicked path of brand-new bikes and, whisperitlow,electric vehicles!
Of course Isay that last bit with my tongue in my cheekbecause I as much as anyone am interested in progress and newadvances,but Ialsorealisehow importantitis to getanew audience interested in classic and vintage motorcycles and to promote what youngpeople would call a‘scene’.
KenHallworth,the founder of OldBikeMart,realised that too or he would not have startedand thrownsomuchtime and energy into developinga new title.Tis July will seethe 40th anniversary of the publication of the very frst OBM and, as Iamsuresome of youwill recall, it wasa somewhat diferent beastfromthe one youholdinyour hands today. But, likethose modern and electric bikes of whichIjust spokerather disparagingly, OBM hasevolved over theyears while still keepingthe heartofsoulofthose frst issues.
Ialsoknowsome of you have been with OBM from the very start and Iwould love to hear from you with your impressions and
Herewehave alittle indication of how things change. While on astroll through past photographs, Icame across this image from the mid-1960s.I think it is from the Dublin Boxing Day Trial in Slade whichalways attracted some imaginative fancy dress costumes. However,I doubtany competition these days would consider it acceptable to have marshals dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan!
memories of thoseearly days and howyou feel OBM haschanged in the last four decades.Itwould be grand to have some recollections in ourJulyissue from the very people who have kept the faith with this wonderful little newspaperoverthe years. Ifeelveryprivilegedtohave my name listedamongthe roll call
of editorsand IhopeKen would have approved of what OldBike Mart hasbecome
As we mentionedinthe March issueof OBM,the last bikeridden by Dave Myersinthe fnal series of Te HairyBikers’ much-loved cookeryprogrammes went up for sale at H H’sauction at the ational Motorcycle Museum at the end of March.
As if anyone needed reminding, Dave and his best mate i King roamed the worldonmotorcycles, driven by aloveofthe road and of cooking. Teirpassion for both,along with theirdown-toearth, cheery personalities,not to mention theirclearly deep friendship,broughtthem millions of fans.When Dave succumbed to cancer in ebruary 0 4, many people whohad neverevenmet himfeltthattheyhad lost afriend. When the hammerfellatthe H H lassics’auction, theB A old tar hadraised , 00 for ancer are orth ancashire outh umbria, hildline
Hand Te Instituteof ancer esearch.TeB A wasboughtby i Harrison, afriend of Dave’s and we hopethatheenjoys it as much as Dave did.
JamesHewing, ational Motorcycle Museum director, said:“Dave spread so much joy, it wasanabsolutepleasure to be involved in the auction of
his belovedB A old tar.It’s aunique piece of motorcycling history whichI’m sure will continuetobring happiness whereveritgoes.”Amen to that.
HClassicsauction o ersadiverse mi
Althoughthe most high-profle lot at H H lassics auction held at the ational Motorcycle Museum at the endofMarch was, of course, thelateDaveMyers’B A,the sale wasa splendidly assorted mixofmachinery. However, it wasparticularly interesting forthe number of motorcycles ofered with no reserveand foran impressive showingofmorethan 40 vintage scooters. oppingthe small-wheeledpile with aprice of , 0 (includingbuyer’s premiumof ) wasa espaDouglas 0 uper print with the original engine and almostall theoriginalpaint.
Butwhatcaughtour eyewas a DaytonAlbatross,a marque built in orthActon between and 0 and notedatthe time forits quality. At thetime it wasdesignedtoappealtothe more refned scooterbuyer and
waspitched againstthe luxury machines producedby erman manufacturersHeinkel,Maico and undapp. nfortunately, it didn’t appeal to that buyerand, rather sadly, didn’t appeal to today’sbuyers, with the hammer comingdownat 0. Tat seems rather abargain fora machine whichis 00 complete,the rare cc model, thoroughly original andhas amileage of whichis believedtobeaccurate. Asecond Dayton Albatross of thesameyear failedtosell.
Alsocomingina little under market price wasa 4 HarleyDavidson W 4 which sold for ,000 on the block (the end price with thebuyer’s premium was , 0).Tis 4 wasnotable fornot beingamilitary issue machinealthough the current icecream vanliveryisa matterof personal taste.
eorge Brough
ight erhaps thecurrent market is soft even for traditional top money machines like this Brough Super SS 0.
Butwhatwedoconsidertobe abargain wasa B A aul Dunstallcaf racer.Tis A 0 uper ocketwas converted into acaf racer in the 0s and has also undergone an expensive restoration. o us,anoriginal turn-key period caf racer forjust agnat’s whiskeroverthree grand seems cheap. erhapscaf racers arecurrently outoffashion aHarley-Davidson H 00 portster whichhad been converted usinga lotof partsfrom ed Max peed hop sold for 0 lessthanthe B A andthe hammer priceprobably doesn’tevencover thecostofthe aftermarketparts ftted. ikewise, a riton went to anew home for 0 including thebuyer’s premium.
Broughsreallydisappoint at auction anda Brough uperior 0 was, as they say,
‘fresh to the market’, beingofered forsale for the frst time in years. Alovelymachine which runs well, we stillexpectedittoexceed 4 , 00 which wasthe price includingthe buyer’spremium, meaningthatthe hammer came down at under 40,000. However, oneBrough uperior whichwas always goingtoattract attentionwas the auction’s star,a 0Brough 00,not simply becauseitwas aBrough anda 00, butbecause it was built for and riddenby eorge Brough himselfinthe 0 M dinburgh rial. estored by ony ripps in 0, it wasone of just 00s builtin 0, but, of course, the real appeal wasthatitwas tailored to eorge Brough.Ithas been on displayatthe ational Motorcycle Museum butisnow goingtoa newhome for 4 , 00 includingthe buyer’spremium
Hairy BikerDave yers BS old Star
Dave swidow, iliana, encouraging on bidders at the sale.
This 1966 espa Douglas SS90 Super Sprint sold for 1 , 0, making it the most expensive scooter on the day.
This Dayton lbatross is 100 complete and original, yet it realised well under 1000.
This BS has been in caf racer trim for more than 0 years.
sworks-preparedSS100
c e umb e n i e o returnsto s or
Thetrade stands and auto umble arealways popular
Te Ashford lassic Motorcycle Jumble is back this pringBankHoliday (Monday, May ).Tanks to itshardstandingvenue that is allunder coverat Ashford ivestock Market, there’s no need to worry aboutthe unpredictable British bank holiday weather
Te Amos Hall oyer will hostthe usual mixof privatelyowned classic, vintage andveteran machines,alongside club stands o encourageyounger ridersintothe classicscene, the ext enAward –and cash pri e –will once again
ndy arks, winner of the 0 ext enaward, with his orton International.
be presentedtoarider under40years of agewith apre- 000 machine. astyear’swinner, Andy Marks, impressedthe judges andscooped the pri ewith his orton International that he restored himself orrestorers both young and oldthere will be the usualarray of classic motorcycleparts,tools, accessories andbikes on ofer in theautojumble pecialisttradersand service providerswill also be on hand to sharetheir knowledge and advice Workshop clear-outstalls areavailable at just
Some of the machinery on display at last year sshow.
(whichincludes entryfor twopeople) making it a greatway to shift surplus spares.Tepopular free bikemartreturns too, givingvisitorsachanceto display andsell complete motorcycles.Tere’sno charge to usethisarea just takeabikeand your entryticket. orthosewishing to show their own machine(s), entryisnow open to allpre- 000 bikes –
oinggreen at Brooklands
Back in OBM we broughtyou newsofthe ustain lassicrange by oryton, the frst publicly available sustainable fuel for classic vehicles.Te ustain lassicrange allowsownerstouse aplant-based petrol in classic vehicles without anymodifcationstotheir engines
with three types of fuel initially available.Terange is uper with at least renewable contentand amultifunctionaldeposit control additivepackage to reduceexisting deposits uper 0 with at least 0 renewable(both with an octane number of andabio-ethanol
WEEBLE’SWORLD
OneMan andHis Dog
visit www.elkpromotions co.uk/show-your-bike to fndout moreand book your spot
Te Ashford lassic Motorcycle Jumble takes placeatthe livestock market at Orbital ark, Ashford, Kent 4 0HB–just of the M 0atJunction 0 0a.Tere’sfreeparking and well-behaved dogs are welcome e r e t e OBM d atesopentothe public
content of lessthan ) and acing 0 whichisdesignedfor performance and racinguse and hasa 0 O rating o,tolaunchits eteranand intageMotorcycleDay,the Brooklands Museum conducted atestwith thefuelbeing used in sixdiferentclassic machines At theend of ebruary,the half do enmotorcycles took to the trackusing the bio-based petrol which is made largelyfrom wastefeedstocks.
at 0am,and entryprices arefro enfor the ffth year running, meaningadults payjust (accompanied under- s go free). arlybirdtickets are available for entryfrom am andare still only 0. ickets canbepurchased online or paid for on the gate by card or cash ickets,stall bookings andall other details can be foundat www.elkpromotions.co.uk
The bio-based fuel that was recently tested at the Brooklands useum.
Andjust like that,the warmer weatherwas upon us andthe dynamic duo could fnally chillinthe open airand start planning
theforthcoming summer of adventures. Two-wheeled therapy was on thehorizon.
nlike standard pump petrol, the ustain lassic vehicle rangecontains no ethanol,thus avoidingissues with old-school rubber seals,plastic tanksand fuellines.
After asuitableamountof testing(whichwesuspect
meansridingaroundhavinga goodtime!) it wasreportedthat all sixbikes ranfaultlessly with no need for anymechanical changes.
Tere is of course one drawback :atpresent the ustain fuel costsaround three times as much as regular unleadedpetrol.
Twoofthe machines taking part in the trial.
n the right on a19 0
KD is ulie Diplock, head of lk romotions who has ust launched anew ouTube channel called intage Bike Bird. n the leftis Brooklands otorcycle Team member areth emberton on the 19 BS B 1- he built during lockdown.
oo ne smotorc c ein ustr stor
We have reported in recent OBMsabout the trancheofmotorcycleshops that have closed in the last fewmonths,a sadroll call to whichthe name of Blade amahain windon hadrecentlybeenadded.Tus it’s apleasuretobeabletoreportonabusiness that is notonlygoingfromstrength to strength butisone of theoldestmotorcycle shops in the nited Kingdom.
Harry omas frst starteda motorcycle shopin lay ross in 4 and when his son Bill wonhis frst 0ccworld championship in it wasrenamed Bill omas Motorcycles td. Afamilyrun frmfromthe outset,the businesshas seen many diferent chapters over theyears.One of the very frst Hondamaindealersinthe country, it has alsobeenamainagent for orton, riumph, B A, ambretta and uch amongothers.
Bill’s son, im, spentmanyyears at the helmofthe businessbefore retiringthree yearsago whennew custodians of the businesscame forward in the formofDavid ander,his partnerDonna andalsoDavid’s son am
Davidsays: “I’vebeencoming heresince Iwas and amwas a aturdaylad when he wasstill at school. ow at theheady ageof 4Inaturally knowthe business quite well as you would expect! When im announcedhis retirement, we hada vision to take thebusinessforward sellingand
servicingall kinds of classicbikes from 0 to 0. Butmorethanthat, we wanted a ride-tovenue andsmall museum,where people could just comeand enjoybeing around classicbikes and other like-minded enthusiasts. o that end, Donna‘scaf has proved pivotal in ourplans and we have gained an inevitablereputation, even in the winter time when youcan sitinand enjoy Donna’shome-cooked food by the log burner to warm back up again!” incetakingoverthe business, David hasseenitgrowand nowemploys four mechanics,eachofwhom is aspecialistin their feld.
Bill omasMotorcycles canbefound at High treet, lay ross, hesterfeld 4 onthe edge of the eak District which is itself motorcyclingnirvana,and is open from Wednesdayto unday Te shop canbecontacted on 0 4 or fndout more at www. billlom smotorcycles.co.uk
33rd Scottish Classic Motorcycle Show
Ayr lassic Motorcycle lub is pleasedto announce that the cottish lassic Motorcycle how will take placeon aturday, June 4. Tisyear’sevent will be the rdshowand will, as usual, be held in the rincess oyal unction uiteatAyr acecourse. uestofhonour will be ex-motorcycleracer Alex eorge.Alex is athreetimewinner at theIsleof Man and wasa familiar face on the rand rix circuitduringthe 0s During theshow, Alex will be relivinghis career, tellinganecdotes and meeting fans At previous showsthere have been morethan 0
bikesondisplay,fromthe early 00sthrough to the 000s.Terewill be a parade of bikes and classic racersagain this year In addition, anumberof traders, includingthose representing modern marques, will also be present, providinga very enjoyable and interesting show. ntryhas been held at 0 foradultswhile under s getinfree.
All exhibitors,clubs andtraders whoare interested in attending areasked to contact the showsecretaryfor further detailsatshowsec ayrclassicmc.com or visit www. yrcl ssicmc.com formoreinformation.
This year sguest of honour, lex eorge, aboarda amaha in the 19 ssen 0.
Some of thestock of Bill omas otorcycles.
David ander,owner of Bill omas otorcycles, alandmark in lay ross, Derbyshire, for almost 0 years, with partner Donna who runs the shop scaf .
Bill omas aboarda oto u i in the 19 6 TT
This month MickPayne highlights a orthcoming mother anddaughter tripinaid o the Headway charity whileremem ering the mammothTeamKatyadventureo 10years ago.
en yearsago my late partner and Iset outonthe sidecartrip of alifetime,morethan 000 miles andfve months around Britain, and I’ve just heardofasimilar charity trip by sidecar.
laire olstonand herdaughter will undertakeajourney by 0 oyal nfeld Interceptor 0 and Watsonian quiresidecar outftover asternextyear. Te big diferenceisthatKateand Isoldup and travelledowing to hersufering from earlyonset Al heimer’s andwe hadanopen-endedtimetable,while laire and usie’s trip will be ftted into busy lives
eam Katy was(very successfully) collectingfor the Al heimer’s ociety, whereas the olstons’charity of
choice is Headway, supportingthose that have sufered braininjuries, be it by accident or medical issues laire losther father to brain cancer. Tis is to be their frstextended trip and theyare gettingthemselvesusedto travellingonthree wheels.
Te outft actually belongsto afriendof lairethoughshe has unlimited useasthe ownerisno longerabletoride. lairesays: “I ride up to ondon to takeher outoncein awhile.” hehas been ridingsolosfor some time,often undertaking trips on small capacity machines and is a memberofa acebook groupcalled ‘ mall Bikes, BigAdventures’ . olong periodsspent at moderatespeedsis nothingnew, althoughthe physical aspect of ridinghighdaily mileage
uraccommodation was
on an outftwill be diferent. Kate and Iusedoutfts on aregular basis so undertaking abig trip wassimply moreofthe same
eam Katy did visit John o’ roats and and’s ndbut took avery circuitousroute alongthe way. Tis includedthe then new orth oast 00 andmuchofthe coastof ngland and Wales.Itwasn’t the frst time I’dundertaken what is nowthe 00–backinthe 0s Irodeitin the harnwood uper port of Jim D’Arcy.Tis wasinaid of Macmillan urses andstartedand endedatthe cottish Motorcycle how with an overnightin len evis.( adlythe second daywas marred by thedeath of oneofthe solo ridersina freak accident.)
eam Katy’s accommodation varied from campingtohotels, includinganunusual nightin orkshirecamping with atan’s laves M ,and took in afew rallies en route. ederation of idecar lubs and M iders lub beingacouple of organisers,amemorable rallywas ulm ale idecar lub’sWatchet Weekend in omerset.Wetookthe Jawa elorexto ynmouth viathe infamous orlockHill,the steepest A-road in the K.Althoughmodern vehicles have taken thestingofthe incline away,itstill hadthe Jawa’s frontdiscglowing on the descent. We took the toll road back!
Another steeproute wasthe BealachnaBaroadtoApplecross where we spentafew lovely nights in aglampingpod at the camp site and walked to the remainsofanIron Agetower calledabroch,aswell as the shortstroll down to thepub However, unlike laireand usie, our trip wasfortunateinnot really having atimetable.Teirswill,bynecessity, be much shorterand within time restraints.Tey have afundraising page setupalready and donations canbemade at www. ust i in . com by searching‘ -JO idecar hallenge aster ’ .I hopetofollow theirplanningand preparation in a futurepiece. ood luckladies
The olston ladies arelooking forwardtotheir charitysidecar ride next year
This was our Team Katy out t on the 00 in Scotland in 01 .
often basic but this glamping pod at pplecross was luxury!
o records that day,but we droveonthe hallowed sands of endine Beach.
Kate at eist oint on theIsle of Skye
arked beside Derwentwater in the ake District.
u u i C200
Steve Cooper looksatthe street scram ler that came to these shores y accident
o, as we all know, street scramblerswerenever sold in the K,right? Well, whywould acompany do that when we Brits have alwayshad areputation for beingaconservativebunch when it comes to buying motorcycles? ery few teenagersofthe 0s and early 0s ever haddreams andaspirations of ridingour machines acrossthe arid plains of the south west of Americaoremulatingthose that did. o be quitefrank, few hereevenknew about such lairyadventures. And yetahandful of u uki street scramblersapparently plotted up in Blightybackin the day. Te storygoesthat the British u uki dealers were sellingdecentvolumes as the winging ixties tickedbyand demand wasregularly outstripping supply. o,when acargo ship happenedtobeinthe vicinity, the storygoesthat it wasreroutedtoan ast Anglian port ( elixstowe, HarwichorIpswich)where numerousbikes were unloaded.
In amongstall those 0 uper ixes, 00 Invaders
and niftylittle tiddlerswas a small cacheof 00s which were erroneously unloaded.
Imagine rockinguptocollect yourbrand new 00 u uki twin one aturday morning to fndyou’d been foisted of with a tingray?Whether that handfulofcustomers were happyand impressed or mifed and angryhas, unfortunately,beenlostin the mists of time.
Te 00 tingray was atwo-year-onlymodel basedheavilyuponthe 00 whichitself onlyran, dependingonmarket preferences.Designedand builtasasmaller brother to the hugely in uentialand popular uper ix - , the bike (marketedinAmerica as the Invader) ofered a claimed hpand topspeed of some mph.Atjust kilos fuelledupand ready to ride,the 00 wasa little pocketrocketand potentially as fastasmanyBritish 0s or even 00s
Te model proved to be popularinmarkets likethe Kwheremotorcycles of 00 cee-cees or lesswere notablycheaper to insure and tax.Justlike amaha’s
comparable 0 00 range, few who sampledthe bikefound it lacking. tyled very much in the uper ixvein, the bike changed little over its lifespan, other than the tank whichlostits separate chrome panels to be replacedbyasimilarly shaped tank with spray paintedsilverpanels.One curiousdiference between its peersand the Invader tingray wasthe lack of a self-starter the amahashad dynastarts and the Hondas hadseparatestartermotors. u uki presumably didn’t seethe need forfttingthem butstrangely laterdid on the whichwas the 00’s replacement.
Tatthe 00 tingray existedwas agiven pretty much mostof u uki’ssub 00s road machines also came in street scrambler format. Te high braced ’barsand necessary cables were all that waschanged on the frontend and the motor received abash platesecured to the frame’s downtubesvia tacky if efective -bolts.Once again, the main distinguishing facet and stand outfeature
wasthe exhaust system pswept pipes protectedby capacious slottedchrome covers immediatelydrewthe eyewith the tailpipeoutlets fnishedatarakish angle It wasthe quintessential street scrambler makeover, deliveringmaximum visual impact for minimum fnancial investment. And once again, the American targetmarketlappedthem up.Asthe kids mightsay –winner,winner,chicken dinner!
Butwithin three yearsthe 00 tingray,prettyasit was, washistory.By (or at the very latest), the bikewas of the production lists. u ukihad movedonto pastures new and wouldn’t be sellingstreetscramblers ever again And then, just as the tingray wasbeing pensionedof, the frmcame outwith another motorcycle that sportedhighpipes and raised bracedhandlebars. Te tingermight not have been sold as astreet scrambler,but everyone knew that waspreciselywhat it was. We’ll have to have a look-see at that in afuture issue, won’t we?
Therearen tmany ikes within this column sremit that don tsport a it of chrome plate hereand there. ven if you re lissfully and happily smirking at the fact your or is remarka ly free from the lingystuff, think on. our fork stanchions arehardchrome plated. nless you run agirder-forked machine, somewhere on your motorcycle therewill e asmidgeonofhard chrome think damper rods on your shock a sor ers, for e ample. Add in any decorative chrome and, until very recently,wewerepotentially staring at a ouston, we have apro lem situation.
The powers that e have een gradually tightening down on dangerous processes which use to ic or no ious chemistries. Thishas een driven jointly y adesiretoprotect workforces from undue e posure to hazardous materials and the need to protect the environment. imply put, any plating process that seeks to preserve or protect metal does so y using an electroplated coating designedtolast andthis will utilise something sometimes referred to as having iopersistence
ome may remem er the anning of cadmium plating which was un uestiona ly poisonous. radually there s een amove to outlaw chrome as well, mainly due to the ase material shorrendously hazardous nature, its potential to cause certain cancers and its une uivocal potential for serious pollution. That sunless the chromium o ides used arehandled and processed in a responsi le manner. nrealitymost reputa le companies have always done their est to mitigate e posure and waste ut the authorities in urope, America and Australasia wanted to an chrome plating outright,endof,fnito enito, etc. This was happening morethan adecade agoand ehind the scenes it all got alittle heated with automotive, aerospace, medical industries and others countering that they simply couldn tfunction without hardchromeplate.
hat ensued was an awful lot of chest thumping, posturing, point-and-counter-point arguing,fnger waving,etc,until the users and legislators sat down and had meaningful discussions. rom there inthe at least anindependent ody was set up and those involved in the chrome plating industryinvited to contri ute with input from the and A. Theend result is that those that who areregistered stakeholders don tyou hate that gli phrase can nowuse the acknowledged to ic he avalent chrome. Thereisnow an offcial consortium that has access to the material theyneed. At present there saseven-year agreement in place as of last year so we regood until . uring that period end users are eing encouraged to fnd alternatives, ut ased on research to date no oneis holding their reathonthis one. ne -funded project apparently did deliver apotentially via le solution ut what works in aresearch facility doesn talways transfer well to an industrial environment.
o, what does this ultimately mean for us andour fork legs ell, o viously the costs to industrywill rise no surprise there,then which will automatically e passed on to us. e t is fnding afrm to take on the jo . istorically this has een ajo carried out ynumerous small frms operating out of lock-ups on ack streets, ut theywill no longer in theoryatleast ea le to purchase the chromium o idestheyneed. nless these guys arepart of the consortium, they just won t ea le to operate simples ,asthe meerkats say n the end the process operators won thave their health put at risk and the environment will have one less pollutant to deal with oth have to e good news, surely The knock-on effects for anyone needing forks or damper rods refur ished arethe increased costs and longer lead times. f you reinneed of this service, call your intended supplier and ask how long it slikely to take. estorations and refur ishments re uirestrategy and if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.
The stand-out featureonthe T 00 Stingray was the exhaust system.
The T 00 was avariant of the T 00, a beautifully restored196 example of which is seen hereand, at timeofwriting,iscurrently available for 9 from Bill omas otorcycles in hester eld, Derbyshire.
Su uki billed the model as the street scrambler you could take anywhere and this advertising brochurere ected that.
Thestreet scrambler version of the T 00 is still relatively affordable on either side of the tlantic. This smart machine sold for 9 0 at ecum s as egas auction in anuary 0 .
publicity shotofthe timeshowing arider,asthey say giving it the beans .
ne of the oys of the Classic Dirt Bike Show is that, lacking sidestands, anumber of the bikeswerepresented in mid-air , as it were. or those of us with creaky backs and the ever present worry that if we bend downwemight notget back up again, this is areal boon! This very smart ickman etisse atchless was on the olden alley lassic stand.
ark amplee s19 Wasp T 6 with its mighty 1000cc Wasp engine. This out t was once campaigned by Terry ood and is still regularly raced. nd it doesn tnormally look this clean and shiny! The Best Sidecar awardwas another accolade for ark, who won Best in Showatthe Classic Dirt Bike Showin 0 with his Hedlund Wasp out t.
riginally designed by the late im ickering around aBS Bantam, Drayton rames now offers machines using other engines, like this beautiful Tiger uband, behind it, aTriumph twin. The stylish ripped nion ack over metal paint scheme on the ub is the work of Dave ddisat lakey s ustom aint Studio and is the nishing touch to alovely little motorcycle.
ClassicDirtBike o
Supported once more y long-term sponsor Hagon Products, thecountry stop o -road ike showtook place in the smart surroundings o the Tel ordInternational Centre.The not uitesosmart ohn Mi lton wastherewiththe ever dapper ames Robinson takingthe photos.
or ahundred years, trials and motocross –ortrials andscrambles as most of us morematurefolk still say–has been one of the most accessible two-wheeledsports in this country. o pursue mostforms of road racingor drag racingseriously tends to requiredeeppockets,and certainlytotakeittohigher levels
Butsince motorcycles frst took to the road, there’salways been someone prepared to taketheir machine of theroad, whether that’s delicatelyand acrobaticallyflteringovera tree trunk or down aditch or goinghell for leather around afeld. In fact,the trials world hasbeenresponsible for producingsome of the best female ridersinthe world–
you mayrememberfromthe article on Marjorie ottle in OBM4 that,when theA efectivelybarredwomen from road racinginthe 0s,that lady took up trials (along with contemporaries like ouie Ball and dyth oley) and became one of the fnestcompetitors of the frst half of the 0th century,starting aroll call of talentedfemale trials riders. Another advantageoftrials is itslongevityasa sportfor riders. Whereasscrambling tends to be alittle tooharsh on the older physique, many trials ridersare still competing at an agewhen some of their softer peersare wondering on a undaywhether they cantakethe excitementofa new episodeofTeAntiques oadshow. lassictrialsis
morepopular than ever,while classic motocross is every bit as excitingasitwas in the days when Dave Bickers and Jef mith ruledthe likes of Hawkstone ark, arleigh astle and Matchams ark (get yourself alongtoaround of the AM A lassic Motocross hampionship if youdon’t believe me).
Hawkstone ark is still one of the mostpopular and toughestmotocross courses in the countryand with a meetingbeingheld there on the unday of this year’s la i irtBike how,that probably accounts for the showbeingquieter that day than Ihad expected. Iwas told, however, that aturdayhad been absolutelyheavingatthe elfordInternational entre
so Iwas quitegladI’d opted for the second of the twodays. It alwaysamusesmethat the country’spremier ofroad showisheld in asmart purpose-built exhibition hall with apropercar park and hotels nearby,whereasthe majorclassic motorcycle events areindraughty buildings with parkingon afeld that, after rain, can be pretty treacherous. Ten again, if likemanyof-road devotees,you spend much of your time on muddycourses, the sheer civilityofthe elford International entre is very welcome aturallythe majority of this showwas given over to the trials and motocross fraternity, but, of course,thereare more sports coveredbythe catch-all
term of of-road, andthere were also enduros and even a few sprint andrace bikes to be found. (Te otton stand, for example,had abeautiful racer amongits trials and scrambles iron.)
Istopped by the Wasp stand to gawk at acouple of the sidecarcross outfts, both of whichI believe are currentlyracedinanger.While motocross mightbea tough sport, attachinga chair to a ’crosser suddenlymakes riding the solos look likeanamble in the countryside. ou need to be both ft and strong to be apassenger in this sport and, havingbrie ytried it many yearsago,Ican confrm that even in my youth Iwas neither! Iswear thereare bits of me that still ache at the
memoryofthatexperience art of the joyofthe la i irtBike how is coming acrossmachines that Ihad almostforgotten. ake the Morini amel on the ed Marley Hill limbstand. Back in the day, the amel 00 and the BMW 0 were abit of a revelation –two-cylinder road bikes which were just as happy of-road. ButBMW wasbetter at marketingits machine whichisprobablywhy the amel sold so badly. Tiswas the frst example I’dseenina longtime Iknowtime moveson– and seeminglymorequicklyas the yearspass– butI was still alittle taken abackto fnd that thisyearisthe 0th anniversary of Beamish u uki.Tis marque
ne of the pleasures of this event is seeing mar uesthatare moreobscureortoday mostly forgotten. Back in the19 0s Swedish company onark was pretty successful in off-road competition, so much so that it entered an eight-man team in the 19 ISDT. ight riders started eight riders nished alleight won a old edal, which is aremarkable achievement. roduction ceased in around 1960 but resumed in 196 with 0cc schoolboy scrambler models and a1 cc in 19 0. That year and the following a onark won the 0cc Swedish motocross championship.This 19 ISDT S1 is uite araremachine, for onark ceased motorcycle manufactureagainin19 6.
When we say therewas something for everyone at the show, that snolie hereinthe private entries, machines ranged from a big aris-Dakar B W to aspeedway bike to a othmans Honda T triallie.
neofmyfavourite machines was ohn oung s 19 6 00cc 0sprinter,using a ong ive engine running on methanol and which has been clocked at 10 mph. nsurprisingly it holds many records at various sprints and tracks.
These two beauties belong to Sid rmrod. In the foreground is his 19 udge 0cc Sports which was converted for sprinting in the late 19 0s and raced by Den Bowman. Sidbought it in 01 to, as he says, save it from being converted back into ust anotherroad bike and was helped with its history by Den sbrother liffBowman, whose fabulous and intricate line drawings you will have seen in past B etters pages. Behind it is r rmrod s19 6 00cc Tri- ,using aspeedway ong our engine in aTiger 0 frame. Sid has competed successfully on both machines at many events, including the Hoghton Tower Sprint andthe Barbon Hill limb.
wander outside turned up this ichman etisse Triumph K tted with aT100SSengine and, lurking behind it, a rancisBarnett.
Back in the 1960s, therewereanumber of small volumeproducers of off-roadmachines, but ete ddy dmondson sDalesmanmachines wereamong the most sought after. ete died last ay but he was remembered with a tting tribute featuring this pair of Dalesman motorcycles.
iven that the man himself was one of the guest stars, it was appropriate that the last reincarnation of the ick ndrews eplica ames should be on show
fter the big heavy British iron of the1960s,the ontesa otawas arevelationwhenitwas launched in 196 . It was made even morepopularafter ames aan rode one in achase in the 19 lm reebie and the Bean. Those pricetags seem acheap pricetopay forbeing as cool as ames aan.
came from Brighton-based Beamish Motors whichwas runbyformer B Aworks rider, rahamBeamish.It washeand trials ace Brian owler who realised that the u uki 0 wasn’t goingto appeal to British ridersand, as Beamish Motors hadjust been sent 0 of the bikes to sell, the pair setabout modifying the u ukis. Teylengthened the frontmudguardwhich, in stockform, wouldclogeasily, andthen reworked the engine, loweredthe compression ratio, reshapingthe combustion chamberand fttinga heavier ywheel magneto. Along with other small mods,these transformedthe 0 –and therewas oneofthe original machines in the display of Beamish u ukis– and all 0 bikes were snappedup. raham Beamish then ofered to buyall the unsold 0 xactas (therewere hundredsofthem) and, as the model hadtanked everywhere, u uki wasquite
happytoagree.Te u uki wasfurther developed with anew frame designedand built in lightweight eynold tube by Mick Whitelock. It wasmarketedasthe 0 pecialand 00 were sold. Becauseofthat success, in an unprecedentedmove u uki gave Beamish Motors the worldwide manufacturing rights for u uki-powered trials machinesand alegend wasborn. Te impressive display at the showisone that oureditor,Blue, would have loved, havinglearnedtoride on aBeamish u uki. On thestage,the evertwinklyJohn Mc rink conducted interviews over the weekendwith fve-time I D winner Mick Andrews and raham oyce, the 00cc motocross worldchampion and winner of Honda’sfrst ever worldmotocross title. oungMrMc rink is amaster at gettingthe very best outof the show’sguests andthis was no exception to that rule.
Of course,aswell as the trade partsstands andthe autojumble,thereweredo ens of motorcycles on sale over the weekend. Te showorganisers told me of one chap who’d taken four motocrossbikes and sold all of them forgood money. Idoubt he wasalone to judgebythe interest being shown in bikes for sale.After all, of-roadsportsliketrials and motocross appeal to every ages,fromkids still in single fgures to their grandparents still eagertohavea go aking alookatthe reeves hallengeronthe owners’ club stand,completewith severalpounds of mud(the bike,not the owners),I brie y considered have agoat classicscrambles myself until Irememberedthat I’dbreak some part of myself and in these situations MrsMiltonis not asympathetic nurse. Buta nice pre- triallie Well, Icouldn’t do myself anydamageonone of those, could I?
It wasn tall motorcycles in the main hall was the intage as umps anufacturing ompany,a ottinghambased rm which makes reproduction petrol pumps with new uses. Whether patina d or shiny,you can have aplain petrol pumpor one that conceals atoolbox or afridge or adisplay cabinet or even one which acts as an charger
Therewereplenty of treasures on the reeves iders ssociation sstand,including these two riffons. The one at the front is in competition trim, while the one behind not only has lights and ametal aketank always awinning featurefor me but is road registered so theowner can have the best of all worlds.
nother lesser-known mar ue to many was SW whichstood for the rather unwieldyfull name of Sironi ergani imercate ilano and was founded in 19 1. or the next 1 years it made trials, enduroand motocross motorcycles, using asmall Sachs engine for the enduros and then tting otax unitsinits trials and later endurobikes. S went intoli uidation in 19 and the rights to its otax-engined Tornado was bought by rmstrong which turned it intothe military T 00and thensold the rights to that to Harley-Davidson in 19 6. s otax spares arereadily available and many other parts arebeing reproduced, it sagood choice for classic and twinshocktrials.
This 19 has had asympathetic rebuild andwas for sale. There was no price uoted,but, as the sellersaid,itwas a rareopportunity to purchase an originalBolton-built .
ick ndrews left regaling ohn c rink and fellow special guest raham oyce right with anecdotes.
The wd odgers always puts on an interesting display,but at the forefront of this year sstand for me at least was Dave Dave the ap Thomas smethanol-burning 9 cc awa ice racer.Itdoesn tget much madder than racing atout at 0mph on icewith spikey tyres!
ll manner of motorcycles werebeing offered for sale, and 0 would have bought you this rigid atchless.
ames obinson, editor of e Classic t rC cle,was rather tempted
nsurprisingly,this 1966 BS B ictor rand rix,owned andrebuilt by Trevor etrie, garnered alot of admiring looks, not least from me. s it came with achromed frame that was in very goodcondition,Trevdecided not to returnittofactory black,although once he goes classic scrambling this year he sgoing to need alot of utosoltokeep it lookingthisgood!
owthere samachine with purpose! However Kristian arshall is avery successful motocross rider so Ibet his 196 aico holdsnofearfor him. It rather terri ed me!
lthough B won six Swiss hampionships between 196 and 1969, the make remains oneofthe less familiar names in scrambles. B Ben ut otorrad named for oland Ben who developed and constructed the machine for works rider Hans- eter ut based its machine on aBS B 0 andthen aB engine withaB heavyweight crankshaft and acast cylinder barrel. B made the frameand even the wheels in either aluminium or magnesium and while it was successful, only 0 weremade.
cracking little Bantam,using aframe developed from thatdesigned by ob Homer and built by lan Whittonand aul ogers- idgard the namecamefromthe rst letter of their rstnames . ot only is it pretty,it sbeautifully made and put together.Iliked it very much.
This S atchless 0 S machine was one of three built by the factory forits works team to compete in the 196 ISDT That year this particular motorcycle was ridden at rfurt by rthur Bates who won aSilver edal. In 1966 ick ndrews took it to the Isle of an but was forced to retire but in the 1966 ISDT in Sweden, in the hands of ohn ewis, machine and rider came home with a old edal. It snow owned by ohn Button.
or those looking for anew to them motorcycle, therewas plenty on offer
udged Best otocross was eter Saunders pristine 196 Hus varna 60 iking. This bike spent most of itslife in Hus varna sfactory museum and has never even been started I m not surehow Ifeel about that surely if amotorcycle has never once breathed life, then it s ust asculpture
or ahandful of years, oto illa wasa force to be reckoned with in scrambles. The rm was started by brothers rancesco and Walter illa rancesco was a ne rider and avery experienced engineer who had worked with Ducati, B ondial and ontesa, while Walter illa was achampion racer who won three 0cc world championship titlesfor Harley-Davidson. fter building road racers, they produced their rst motocross machine which was both agile and fast andavailable in arange of capacities this is a 0 . However, by the mid-19 0s,the tiny oto illa could no longer competeagainst the might and deep pocketsofthe apanese big four manufacturers.
Whi te Diamond Star Letter
ome t ou ts n o inions nte on rium
ome while ago had acylinderhead for my Triumph T overhauled ya long-esta lished and respected engineering company in uffolk This involved new valve seats, valves, refaced, etc and, crucially,new spark plug inserts.
The head sat on the shelf in my workshop for a out - years ut the day came when decided to ft it. All went well and atest ride proved the ike ran eautifully and, of course, was pleased had made the effort.
owever,on su se uent runs, a out ahundred miles since the new head was ftted, was awareofanoccasional misfre. found the tappets had closed up fractionally and thought this was the pro lem. ut some moremileage proved this was not the case and so the spark plugs weresuspect.
replaced the hampion plugs with and away we went, running great again. ro lem solved, or so thought, until, when taking the ike to alocal show,the misfrereturned. Then worse, on the way home one cylinder cut out and even worse, had taken all the tools from the T and put them in my T s kit, ut had not put them ack again Aonecylinder T and not even aplug spanner urther investigation and acloser look at the spark plugs revealed the spark plug inserts wereshort and did not go all the way to the ottom, thus leaving four or fve threads of the plug
open as can e seen on the picture. ow,having found this, my uestion is how likely is it to e the reason for the misfreissue y theoryisthat the tip of the spark plugs are ecoming overheated, ut it is just atheory t should e noted the pro lem almost always happens at low speeds, as in slow traffc, etc. amusing hampion or the e uivalent. ow, another theory is, if space the plugs with suita le copper or aluminium washers to ensurethe threads arenot e posed to com ustion, they perhaps might not overheat and, of
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ememberin o mit
was saddened to read of the passing of oy mith, ew alden motorcycle dealer,as reported in April s OBM As aloyal customer fondly remem er oy personally delivering my frst motorcycle, anew onda uperdream, in the ack of his small car-derived pick-up on acold and snowy e ruary day in , setting me offonmy motorcycling journey still riding today y condolences to oy sfamily and friends.
Keith Woolcott, Bedfordshire
course, this will defnitely prevent car on uild-up on the e posed threads.
s it worth trying a slightly hotter plug such as as the ike rarely gets opened up these days or information, have owned the ike for years and this issue only started with the replacement cylinder head. t has a oyer ignition with aspark that could kill adonkey and have every confdence the timing is correct. And so amopen to readers thoughts and opinions. The option to again remove the head and replace the plug inserts is really not on the ta le apart from the work, time and hassle involved in that, for the frst time in the past years it is now eautifully oil-tight
John Southall, Suffolk
Catchinguponsome old letters and remem ering old riends
m just catching uponsome
OBMsand reading o urrie stest on the A eagle reprinted in the i ty ears Ago ay feature. n that same article werereprints from the etters pagesand one was aletter from a e . ohn was replyingtoa complaint regarding toilet facilitiesat rands atch. ost olderreaders will remem er ohn as directorof rands atch for many years, along with wife Angela. met them over herea out yearsago,having retiredtosunny pain that sa it of ajoke as write this it s een rainingfor fvedays andisforecast to rainfor at least another fve days . They were oth doing charity work, as so many epatshave een doing ne ofthem was organising a weekly auction. tems supplied y people no longer wanting
The much-missed guest o honour at the Bee umph
was sorry to learnof Tommy o sdeath. Tommy was always very kind to me and generous with his time and advice. As the organiser of the T eezumph ally for some years, invited Tommy to the event and he graciously came and always had time for those wishing to talk. e would ride around adwell and o viously enjoyed himself, as we did watching him. ithout fail, afew days after the event, would receive ahand-written letter of thanks. Always with aphoto of thanks t was who should have thanked him which always did, and y letter too.
Atrue gentleman. Tony Page
useful items that could euseful to someone else. Angelawas a crackingly good auctioneer. ohn kept pretty much at therear and when discovered them othhewas very happy to talk ikes. Around asimilar timeasmall computer clu was set up at the same hotel whereAngelawas secretary treasurer and ecame a helper. ong since defunct now, ut Angela rang me witha computer pro lem which was happy to help. That was a out threeyears ago. emailed Angela last week and sent acopy of ohn sletterfromall those years ago. got no replyuntil today when heardfromAngela ssister-inlaw.They oth passed away lastyear, only ashort period apart,due to a sudden illness. ohn was . t was lovely to have known them oth.
JeffWaller
dding to the additives de ate
n reply to eter avies s uestion on fuel anuary amsure that you will get plenty of replies to this uestion, just as therehas een conversation since the damn stuff was rought in claiming to save the planet. ut if it helps, my two o sworth would e to pass on what was told on the T and y aperson once knew,who was very involved in the oil petrochemical industry or means very little and one would re uireachemistry set to tell the difference, ut what one should remem er apparently is that the num er that follows the ethanol of course only means that the fuel eing advertised contains no morethan that percentage of the
stuff. or e ample apparently sso moreoften only contains . The idea of deli erately running an engine out of fuel, rather than mechanically draining unspent fuel in the system, can cause damage to the engine further up the system. This could e plain eter slater starting issues.
As for additives, apparently you pays your money and takes your choice. ut my ac uaintance s advice was to not let any fuel stand for too long. f you intend doing so, storeitinanairtight container not the tank . r etter still, use the stuff and keep flling the tank up. ood for thought if nothing else. Farnz
ec ub t t s i i our n me s
not o n ou renot comin in
our anuary editorial rang afew ells with me. havenot had agood e periencewith clu s and theremay e many morefolk out therewho have had the same e perience
After got married didn tdo agreat dealofroad riding, ut was kept usy with the day jo and race machine preparation. owever,laterinlife this changed and ought a and my wife ue ought a T onda. joined the clu and we tootled offtothe clu s unday lunch meetatapu not far from home.
hen we arrivedtherewas a strange atmosphereand when asked mem ers where could fnd the clu secretary was told e snot here y aguy who immediately walkedoff. twas clear that we werenot welcome
ut we could not understand why ut at the ne t meeting found the secretary who rushed offmy en uiries y saying ou can join us ut your wife can t. Astounded, asked why ecause she sona onda, was curtly told. e left at once and cancelled mymem ership. y seconde periencefollowed ameeting with the secretary of alocal ranch of the who asked if was interested in ecoming involved to which answered no. e knew of my race ikes and suggested that ring one along to put on their stand at an upcoming ike show and to meet the gang to which agreed. n arrival he was not on the stand and ikes, which were almost all at tankers, were placed so that therewas no room for mine.
asked where should park it, to which was told to stick it where you like . have to admit that my early s production racer did not ft in with the rest of the ancient iron steeds, so put it eside the stand.
n his arrival the secretary managed to get the others to grudgingly move some ikes to get mine on the stand. Again, was like the prover ial atulence in aspacesuit and could not get away fast enough.
ve never een a le to decide if was unlucky with my e periences or lucky not to get involved with such an unfriendly unch. eedless to say,that was it for us and clu s and we never tried again, ut we still had many, many happy days of motorcycling.
Bill Woolnough, Swanton Morley,Norfolk
Restoring an LE elocettetohealth
was always intrigued y the elocette , with its water cooling, shaft drive, low seating and scooter-like legshields. Agarage owner near me had an e -police version ut was not prepared to sell it to me. o found one at aclassic ike dealer and trailered it home. t turned out to e a well-worn e ample with a adly rusted frame. had to fa ricate alarge patch and weld it to the ottom of the pressed steel frame. Theengine was also adly worn, so had it re ored to y my local machine shop. The valve guides and seats werealso very poor and the machine shop owner allowed me to orrow his valve seat cutting tool.
The alloy legshields werevery tattyand
corroded so made my own replicas using new alloy sheet, which took some time ut was very satisfed with the result. then had the whole frame powder coated right lue y no means afactory colour, ut found it very attractive. had oth wheelsre uilt with new rims and spokes, and the sprung saddle professionally recovered. t must have taken me acoupleofyears to complete the machine at weekends and evenings, other projects permitting . After fnally getting to ride the machine found that it went perfectlywell ut was painfullyslow and frankly oring o, after covering around miles, sold it to a gentleman who never
Bursting the u le in the classic ike market
teve ooper s column OBM anuary really hit the nail on the head with regard to the current classic ike market. rices arecertainly taking a downturn, although many of the so-called classic dealers are still advertising at in ated prices as investments teve asks has the u le urst ery likely as the ho y is asically an old man sgame, and -year-olds reliving their youth. ut they arealso dropping offthe perch and the younger generation don tseem to have the same interests.
f course, many of the youngsters never rode amotor ike in their youth, with a ike licence almost as diffcult and costly to get as that for an , many skipped ikes and went straight for acar licence. or those that do have a ike licence and an interest in ikes, it will e for ikes that they rode this is not only ikes ut cars, lorries, uses, etc. o that s why s cars like the ord scort i
actually met, ut after receiving payment, he just collected the ike in my a sence. then sought another
project and ended up purchasing a at twin ral, ut that sanother story
Dave Massey
and the olf T aremaking silly money in auctions, and it s the same with the moree otic apanese ikes.
Another factor is that the younger generation arenot hands on. ack in the day,usoldies had mechanical skills, many doing engineering apprenticeships, and we fettled our ikes which wereour transport to get to work. These days it s all computers, the old skills aredying out. ust look at some of the social media sites, stupid posts asking asic uestions like hat spark plug do need teve mentions that spareparts arealso falling in price not from what have seen n fact, prices for parts have risen to the level that some owners of ikes, una le to get their asking price, are reaking them up and selling them as parts The high cost of parts is also making restoration uneconomical, resulting in the
fnished restoration costing far in e cess of the ike svalue. Another situation is that many ikes many raremodels arenot eing restored to their original spec. asket cases and shed fnds that arecoming up for sale are eing ought and restored as choppers, o ers or street scram lers and then offered for sale ack on the likes of e ay o will prices rise again n my opinion, no. ith the futureof -engined vehicles limited due to the ongoing save the planet legislation, we may fnd that in the not too distant future they will e totally anned from the roads, or petrol to run them diffcult to o tain as fuel stations close or change over to electric charging points. ersonally am not othered a out the price drop, and it may just may encourage frst time uyers to get on the classic vintage ike ladder
John Wakefield, Cambridge
was really pleased to see the item all a out urwins in OBM . artin recentlyre uilt a T for me in his home workshop in pping, sse , and Ann made me very welcome with acup of tea in the kitchen.
The re uilding was completed on the agreed date. artin kept me a reast during the re uild as to what was needed throughout the process and therewas another cup of tea on collection.
The engine ran perfectly, ut sadly my knees didn t have aknackered kicking knee, so you can see my advert in the classifed section.
hat alovely couple. have also found the spares side to e very helpful and cost effective throughout my uild.
amavery happy customer and morethan happy to recommend urwins to anyone.
Roger Brown, Kent
r assey s elocette, before,during and after!
artin and nn Baldwin. B
One man went to mow and go
hile rereading issue noticeda uery from a eter avis regarding which petrol to use. include my solution which he may fnduseful. irstly, it does not matter which fuel you use, all
unleaded is ru ish for older engines. run a oldie and the est that have come up with so far is ayter awnmower Additive - . t works atreat, the oldie starts frst or secondgoand even
egarding the letter in anuary s OBM from olin rown, m afraid he hasn t uite got his story right. erek hinn, an essenger and ick utler shared the rides on the egasus incent, not the egasus orton.
Three riders sharingthe machine didn tgive them too many rides so ick decided to uild himself asingleengined orton yclops which gave him an e tra ride. Then he parted from the egasus team and uilt himselfthe dou le-engined uper yclops , and very successfully,too. e came pretty close to eating T at netterton, even after pulling a ig wheelie offthe line. erek and an uilt and shared the rides on the egasus orton and helped as spannerman during this time - . appy days.
After uper yclops, ick uilt yclops , the lovely lown eslake -twin. hope this putsthe recordstraight.
Eddie Keightley, Renhold, Bedfordshire
almost has atickover with clu man cams that snot ad. o drain the tank and car for the frst application. Thereafter just add when refuelling. Stephen Dawe, Findon, West Susse . The lawnmower also runs much etter
Ma ton ramememories
rian richton swrite-up on on illiamsand his involvement with onda in the s rought ack memories of a rief ride on the rolling chassis he uilt to replace the onda designed monoco ue chassis for their ike.
Alas, when rode the machine the rolling chassis no longer held the -valve oval piston engine, which had een neatly replaced y a onda engine, presuma ly for competing y onda in the TT ormula class.
y ride, thanks to the generosity of the then owner amonn leere, took place one ednesday afternoon in at an open practice session held at netterton race circuit. The chassis was a revelation to measuptothat point had only e perienced racing converted road ikes.
The motorcycle shop that neverwent decimal
ood for lawnmowers and old Stars! was interested to read your recent correspondence a out the lo e shopin methwick. erhaps can fllinsomedetails. ur frst house in was atiny terraced dwelling in methwick cost a out a uarter mile from aterloo oad, and soon noticed the dusty unpainted e terior of the lo e.
The front end felt glued to the road, therewas no s uirming or e cessive diving on raking and the ack end was e ually confdence inspiring, allowing me to accelerate hardout of the corners.
nfortunately,the practice session did not last long as one of the ig ends let go, a not-uncommon pro lem with the onda engine, which was prone to the ig end shells spinning within the con rodathigh revs.
would e interested to hear from OBM readers who areawareof onda entering this machine in races with the engine installed and what results, if any,were achieved Also does anyone know what happened to this fnee ample of a a tonframed machine
Lindsay Norris, New ealand
r artin, the owner, lived alone three doors from my in-laws in andsworth ood and cycled the two miles to his premises on an elderly cycle with his lunch and paperwork in plastic ags slung on the handle ars. eedless to say,opening times and days wererather ar itrary
The neigh ours to his house had various gossip a out his odd ha its, i.e. apparently urying his takings ehind a ush
in his garden. There was also asuggested sad family history had there een asuicide y father-in-law had ought parts for his ikes there eforethe war and remem ered that the lo e had sold whole machines in those days, ut r artin gave that up in when hire purchase came in as he couldn tcope with the admin. is adherence to sterling was uite true. n an early visit asked if he had seen any valve covers for my A and he reached to the ack of the nearest shelf and pulled out anew pair d. hen asked a out the decimal e uivalent, he would point to agovernment chart pinned in the counter and say ou work it out e seemed to have alot of eitems and stocked up on universal ru er-covered wiring harnesses at d each, ut was not tempted y dispatch riders gaiters or lackout headlamp masks. e must have een in his late s when moved across to north-east irmingham in and called in less often. Then heardthat he had died around and the shop lay dormant ater therewas a suggestion that his son had arranged for the place to e cleared y aparts dealer and,when went past more than ayear later,itwas arren and chained up. or old time s sake salvaged one of the listered and faded signs from the frontage and passed this on to alocal friend when we moved south in . oes anyone have any further details
Adrian
Holden
em n o s e o is time
Back in the mid-19 0s the likeso reeves, Dot and BS dominated the scram les tracks o this country.But,as Michael Mee relates, one man dared to e di erent and turned outto eahead o his time.
Itip my hatinthe direction of teve ooperand his extensiveknowledge as regardsthe history of the Japanesemotorcycleindustry and indeed the informative articles he produces each month for OldBikeMart
However, Ireadhis fnal Made in Japanoferingof 0 4 with particular interest since it evoked specialmemories of atime when the sportof scramblingwas on the vergeof greattransition (although we were perhapsindenial).
In this article tevecovered the introduction of amaha’s D - –abikewhich amaha designated as a‘ treet crambler.’ But, of course, thereisa massivedivide betweena street scrambler and atruescrambles bike and, as tevecorrectlystates: “ amahaactuallypitched the bikeashavingdirtriding abilities toa degree at least.”
Butthe introduction of the D range wasa startingpoint for amaha as regardsits foray into of-roadmotorcycling.
Well, Ihavea friend who took that statementa few degreesfurther than Iwould imagine amaha ever intendedand in he actuallyracedsucha machine for awhole season on the rough and tumble scrambles circuits of ngland. And that includedtackling the legendaryHawkstone ark and its infamous hill,a hill once described by world renowned motocrossrider Don ickman as “beset and bedevilledwith rocks, snags,
ruts,steps and tree-roots –all the most dramatic dangers of scramblingshakenup and throwndowninone greatmenacingheap.”Hmm, doubtful if thetechnicians at amaha hadthis sort of treatmentinmind for their new baby!
The rst man on a apanese scrambler o,without further delay, let me introduce youtothe intrepid Keith Wheeldon who wasthe manatthe controls of that little twincylinder amaha duringthat momentous season. In doing so,Keith unwittinglywrote himself into themotocross history booksasthe frst rider to race aJapanese ‘scrambler’inthis country Most certainly, he is the only mantoeverattempt to take what wasprettymucha basic road-going amaha D -to the topofthe notorious Hawkstone Hill! owlooking at his 0th year on this earthfrmly and squarelyinthe eye, Keith is remarkable in the fact that he is still as lean and aslanky as he ever wasinhis racing days andstill ultra-keen and active in the worldofclassic motorcycling.
Tose racingdayswere honedinhis local ast Midlands entre of the A in thelate 0s and throughout the 0s where, campaigning a 0 reeves, he regularly locked horns with the likes of rnie reer, Alan lough, at amper, John Burton and
John ri ths,etc.Infact ,all the toptelevision ridersof that erawereeager visitorsto Keith’s astMidlands home patchsince the area sported such premium tracks as lifton, Kniveton, eversal and Ashover.
All thesevenues featured on the small screen in the heyday of scramblingand, fortunately for Keith,all of them were well within a 0-mile radius of his home town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire.
Indeed,beingthe typical clubman of that time, Keith regularlybanged’bars and shared thepaddock areaswith the best of them,a period in the sportwhereupwards of 00 ridersmight well appear in the race dayprogramme Happilyenjoyinghis weekend racing, it wasnever Keith’s intention to take the earthy worldofgoodold nglish scrambles meetings and giveita good old shaking up by thescruf of the neck Butthatispreciselywhat happenedin when Keith spiedwhathetooktobea rather unusual motocross machine takingpride of place in amotorcycleshowroom windowthat he happenedto be passingonhis wayhome after competinginanout-ofcentremeeting.
An impulse buy
Bright redand white livery, twin cylinders, twin carburettors,highlevel chromedexhaust pipes –this waslikenoother scrambler Keith hadevercome across beforeand beingyoung, eagerand motocross mad his cheque book took aferce bashingthe very nextday!
Te D - whichKeith
purchasedwas apparently imported into this countryby ondon-based dealersMonty and Ward,alongwith asister bike, whichisalsoofgreat interest and that we will takea look at later.
Alongside his rugged,raceprepared MD reeves,the amaha certainlylookedlikea groomeddandy.
ven to an untrainedeye, this bikehad theappearance of beingfar moreathome on a manicured stretch of armac, rather than the dips and dives and mudholes of the Kniveton scrambles circuit where Keith intendedtoraceitthe following weekend.
ince the bikewas already shodwith knobblytyres, preparation for the eventwas
asimple matter of changing the rear dampers, fttingwider footrests and boltingonA regulation number boards Ten it wasoftoKniveton whereKeith gleefullyunveiled the D . emember, thiswas andnaturallythe sight of such amachine acted as sheer magnetism to hisfellow competitorsand spectators alike.
In reality, though,the amaha’s shortcomings as ascrambler were aboutto dramaticallycome to light.
“ obehonestthe bike was hopeless,”Keith explained Despiteall its pre-race paddock charm, the amaha wasnot at allhappy in its attempts to negotiatesloppy Derbyshiremud andsteep
hills infestedwithrocks, clingingclayand slipperytree roots.Intruth,nor wasitlikely to be with its over-gearedfvespeedgearbox,low ground clearance,shortwheelbase and awful lowspeed pulling power.
Despitethis ill-fated debut, Keith hadnooption buttocontinue to pioneer the amaha through the punishing nglish scrambles season, since his trusty reeveshad by nowfound a new home and he hada diary full of prebookedrace dates. And one of thoserace dateshappenedtobean appointmentatHawkstone ark in hropshire, by far and away the toughestcircuit in this countryand, in the past,a popularvenue for the British 00cc Motocross rand rix Tiswas aperiodinthe sportwhen crowds ocked to the hropshirevenue in their thousands.But,inspite of aprogramme packedwith all the topBritish contenders of that period,ridingtheir workspreparedmachines, lowlyclubmanracer Keith Wheeldon and his D stole all the pre-race hype
ho is Keith heeldon uriousonlookerswere convincedthat the bikewas aprototype which amaha hadpreparedtotestona circuit in readinessfor a futureattackonthe 0cc World hampionships.Others were simply mystifedthat such amachine even existed –and just who wasthis Keith Wheeldon from Ashbourne?
Keith Wheeldon on the amaha DS - withwhichhefell in love. determined Keith competingonamachine that
