Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 62 Spring 2022 i Classic Dirt Bike

❝ ... who can forget the pic of Joel Robert crossing the finish line with his Suzuki frame held together by the clutch cable, hope and very little else. ❞ Many years ago I was offered some bits and pieces of advice by older and wiser competitors in my chosen motorcycle sport of trials riding. This advice was along the lines of: “Three things which will improve your riding are practice, practice and more practice.” This advice was a surprise to me as I was hoping for an insight into some ignition setting or fancy attachment to bolt on to my bike which would propel me to stardom… To be honest I’m still looking for such a gizmo though after 48 years of riding perhaps such help doesn’t exist. In…

The Galloway Motorcycle Club is pleased to announce the launch of its Drumlanrig Offroad Motorsport Festival 2022 and delighted to confirm that guests of honour will be three motocross legends: Roger De Coster, Brad Lackey and Heikki Mikkola. The festival starts with a road run of 75 miles or so on Thursday, June 16 and funds go to Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance. Friday, June 17 There is a 50-mile run in the morning for classic bikes before Friday evening entertainment starts with a pipe band to open the event. Motorcycling action starts with a grasstrack. The cut and thrust of short, sharp heats and finals are popular with both riders and spectators and provide some close and thrilling racing. Sat/Sun June 18/19 Saturday and Sunday will see the Two-Day Classic/Twinshock…

Though not exactly common in the UK there were certainly more Sammy Miller High-Boy frames in use there than here in the United States. In fact my research after buying this Millerised Bultaco on an internet auction site turned up only two others in North America. I’d spotted the bike by chance on the auction site, there were no bids on it, so for a lark – I’d not got a project on the go at the time – I put in the minimum bid which won me the auction. It was only 100 or so miles away and when I went to see it the description was accurate so I paid up and came away with a well-used 325 Bultaco Sherpa which on the plus side actually ran. Also…

With a new year on the horizon, there’s always a bit of reflection on what has gone before. The archive at Mortons – CDB’s publisher – stores the bulk of what was in MotorCycle and MotorCycling, which were the UK’s premier motorcycling publications from 1902 to 1983 when MotorCycle Weekly fizzled out. The addition of Nick Nicholls’ Collection a year or two ago was a good thing as his colour image resource from many major off-road events is an important part of CDB. As well as pictures, slides, prints, negatives and line drawings from 80 years of motorcycling publications there are also 80 years’ worth of motorcycle papers on the shelves. Happening to have MotorCycle Weekly January to June 1982 open, and looking for something for another feature, it eventually…

It was quite appropriate for Neil Hudson to be invited along to the Hawkstone Legends meet as first of all – despite what the quietly spoken lad says – he is a legend and he’s done quite well at Hawkstone Park in the past. In his championship year he had to finish better than rival Georges Jobe at the British GP, held at Hawkstone Park, in order to keep his hopes alive. As we recorded in our last issue he did top Jobe and his title hopes were improved. This time his visit to the Shropshire track on August Bank Holiday Monday 2021 was less tense. He enjoyed seeing the latest in classic and twinshock machines and catching up with contemporaries also along for the weekend’s action.…

As this issue of CDB is out just before the Hagon Shocks-backed Classic Dirt Bike Show opens at the International Centre in Telford we had a quick look in the dirt bike shows file of Nick Nicholls’ fabulous archive now owned by Mortons Media Group. Looking back 43 years to the first dirt bike show at Bristol in 1979 – which had the snappy title Dirt Bike ’79 – our pic is of the latest from Wasp on display at the event. The MX outfit is a fine machine but didn’t make the show report in December’s MotorCycle Weekly so, 43 years on, this is what you could have been racing in 1979 if sidecar MX was your thing. If the chair stuff wasn’t your bag then there were plenty…

The timelines in magazine production can throw up some quirky situations such as this being written a couple of weeks before the Hagon Shocks-backed Classic Dirt Bike Show at the Telford International Centre, yet it is likely you could be reading it after the show when the magazine drops through your letterbox. Of course, you could have picked it up at the show, attracted by the KTM GS250 Enduro on the cover and actually in the metal on our stand and are reading it while enjoying a cup of coffee in the halls. After the pandemic-induced uncertainty of the last couple of years, when shows were postponed, events cancelled and not just our sporting life disrupted there were glimmers of hope of some normality. The first sign was confirmation that…

BSA’s 343cc B40 model, introduced in the early Sixties, isn’t the first choice of machine to build into a classic MXer; it’s too big for the 250 class and underpowered in the 500 class. Yes, Jeff Smith gave the 500cc riders a scare when he turned up with a factory-prepped B40 but most club riders weren’t of his calibre and none had a factory comp department behind them. The B40 did have the twin advantages of being a lot lighter than a 500 and hence a better power-to-weight ratio. A lighter bike means the available power has less to haul around and the smaller mass means it is less tiring for the rider. Such attributes were not lost on those outside the factory too. Eric Cheney for instance had recognised…

Rebuilding a motorcycle is easy. You buy bits and fit them together, once all the bits are in one bit, fill it with oil and petrol then go ride it, ‘simples’ as the annoying/cute – depending on your viewpoint – furry critter on the telly would say. The task is made even easier by long production runs of basic models in the British industry which mean a high degree of interchangeability in the parts department and the habit of the Japanese industry to ascribe a part number to every conceivable bit and provide schematics of where they should go… In the case of the latter I know what I would like to do with these schematic drawings as it is clear their producer has never had to use them to…

1. Brain Pal No doubt about it – motorcycle headwear has changed considerably since the early days and ReactiveParts.com told us its 6D’s ODS technology is an award-winning energy management system which reduces energy transfer to the brain during impacts. This makes the ATR-2, dubbed ‘Next Level Brain Protection‘, the safest MX helmet in the world, says the team at ReactiveParts.com, and that it’s the nicest fitting, best balanced, most luxurious MX lid on the market. And look what you get with it… a sleek helmet carry case, with pockets and extra room for carrying your gloves and visors to the track. Every helmet comes with an accessory pouch with spare screws too! Award-winning research. Award-winning materials. A no-brainer! Available in youth and adult sizes. The nitty gritty What is…

As ever with a delve into the Nick Nicholls collection at Mortons Archive a certain amount of sidetracking has to be accepted. In part this happens because the subject matter is of great interest to me but sometimes a search for one thing leads to another of equal interest. Just such a sidetrack was followed here while following up on Keith Jeffery’s works CCM which we featured in our report on Westmorland MCC’s CCM Celebration in the previous issue. Basically Keith has what’s been confirmed as a 1979 works CCM – there are certain features common to all works frames which help in such identification – with an interesting rear damper top mount. Or perhaps more correctly the frame tubing has an unusual layout. All well and good so far;…

The Toughsheet National Twinshock MX Championship moves into its 30th anniversary year, with a few changes. Chloe Hudson has taken over the reins as co-ordinator following the retirement of Geoff Shuttleworth and she has come up with a six-round series with a couple of new tracks on the calendar. As usual there are classes for all Twinshock riders, plus Evos, Super Evos up to 1996, and the ever popular Vets Over 40/50 on modern bikes. Registrations are now open to everyone, and you can get your form and IOPD licence form from Chloe by emailing chloehudson11@hotmail.co.uk Payments can be made over the phone by calling 07887 407590 after 6pm weeknights. Alternatively please visit the National Twinshock stand at the Telford Show in Hall 3 to get all your relevant paperwork.…

This stunning AJS caught our eye on the Car & Classic auction website www.carandclassic.co.uk – seems the classic scene is on the up. A recruitment drive by Car & Classic that will see its team double to 120 members over the next year highlights the breadth of new skills needed in the classic sector. With eight current vacancies spread across technology, marketing, sales and support roles, Europe’s largest classic and specialist vehicle marketplace is seeking expertise both in the UK and internationally. Recently, Car & Classic has appointed two new marketing assistants, who join a team of seven, and is still recruiting for three software engineer roles, legal counsel, product managers and – in line with the company’s international expansion – multi-lingual negotiators. A career page can be found here:…

Once the realisation their Gold Star was past its scrambles best had hit BSA, the search for its replacement was on. A couple of C15S models were prepped for Jeff Smith and Arthur Lampkin and they performed well enough for the concept to advance and the lessons learnt improved the standard model. There was no way the 250 C15 could go to 500cc but the newly introduced 343cc B40 might prove a better prospect. Comp shop boss Brian Martin prepared a B40 engine, dropped it into a 250 scrambler rolling chassis and went along to Red Marley Hill Climb where he pretty much cleaned up. This and other experimental outings boosted confidence in the 343cc unit engine and proved it could work well. Even though it gave 150cc or so…

The effect on performance of our older motorcycles forced to use modern fuel is a major topic of conversation in our scene. Comments such as ‘petrol ain’t what it was…’ and more graphically ‘this modern crap’s useless’ are common. There are, as ever, alternatives to pump fuel and racers have long used AvGas but as most engines on piston-engined aircraft rarely rev beyond 4000rpm so the fuel needed for them is developed to suit this rev range. Even trials bikes rev higher. A couple of issues ago we featured a new-to-us classic fuel from Classic Fuel Solutions. It is 105 octane rated – five star if you’re my age and can remember it – leaded fuel for older competition vehicles and seems to solve the problems we as a sport…

Reasons for becoming a motorcycle manufacturer range from spotting a gap in the market to being dissatisfied with what is currently available and certainty something better could be made. When the mainstream British industry began to implode in the Sixties and was either unwilling or possibly unable to fulfil a changing dirt bike scene as it focused on simply staying in existence there was certainly a gap appearing across the whole motorcycling market. The buying public were less keen on laying money out on what was increasingly viewed as a rehash of what had gone before and they wanted new ideas, better specification, reliability. History records it was the Japanese industry which provided the roadster needs of the market and eventually in the Sixties it would be Europe and Spain…

Enduro didn’t really gain popularity in the UK until quite late on and it wasn’t until the very late Seventies before it took off. Yes, there were events for enduro bikes well before this arbitrary period but in the main they were low key. It seems strange, to me at least, considering the case could be made to claim enduros are closer to the original sport of trials than the fancy arena stuff the feet-up game has become. Okay, the NE Vinduro Club has championed the vintage enduro in the North East of England for many a year and indeed the club introduced CDB’s editor to the sport 12 or so years ago. In the wilds of Northumberland the club have access to what is arguably the finest enduro land…

After a year’s delay due to the pandemic the 25th anniversary of the AMCA CDB British Classic Motocross Championship burst into life for the 2021 season. The Pre60 class was added to the Pre65, Pre68 and Pre74 machine classes to give all classic riders the opportunity to earn championship points and claim a national classic crown. This produced close racing in all classes over the six rounds with 14 different class winners across the 11 race series. After completing a hat trick of Pre74 wins in 2019, the last year the championship ran, Kris Winder was uncertain about completing a whole season on his Elsinore Honda. This gave an opportunity for honours to 2019 runner-up Keith Rice, Kristian Marshall on his CZ and former champion Chris Chell riding his BSA.…