Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 65 Winter 2022 i Classic Dirt Bike

IN BALANCE It can’t have escaped the notice of anyone in the UK there has been an ending to an era this year… actually this ending is probably recognised worldwide too. The particular era I’m referring to ending is the second Elizabethan era which happened on September 8, 2022 when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died after 70 years as constitutional monarch of the UK and Commonwealth. It is the nature of history to record eras by ascribing names to them and in the UK generally this has been the name of the monarch on the throne at the time. So as the Elizabethan era ends then the Carolean one begins – Carolean is apparently a derivative of Carolus or the Latin for Charles. To be of the second Elizabethan…

For most classic MX aficionados the Rickman frame is forever associated with saving the last gasp of the big British bike. The two brothers initially wanted little more than to improve their own bikes yet created a legend in their Metisse models. In doing so they allowed the private owner of a traditional big British scrambler to extend the life of their machine by slotting the engine, gearbox and primary drive into a well-thought-out, well-made frame. The rest was up to the private owner and how good they were or weren’t at keeping their engines in fine fettle. Few will not be aware that part of the thinking behind the original Metisse was to fit a more user-friendly engine into the Gold Star scramblers which Don and Derek were using…

I guess I’m not the typical Classic Dirt Bike reader as I’m in my sixth decade, have been riding motorcycles since my teens yet have virtually zero experience of riding off-road. While I’ve been riding on the road for many years, and have had a yearning to experience the dirtier side of life, it’s only ever really amounted to a little bit of gentle green-laning and some greasy campsites. So I’d decided things had to change and the only way change could happen would be if I actually bought myself a suitable steed. But what to buy? Classic Brit scrambler? Or lairy Vinduro two-stroke? Maybe even a finicky European trials tiddler? Well, as my motorcycling career started in the Eighties – with a grounding of a childhood spent on the…

Take a look at this PW80 Yamaha. It’s no different from many other PW80s: yes it’s a bit worn, frayed round the edges but it still serves its purpose and fulfils the brief it was given. It’s in the mag because it was there when I came out of my workshop, the lad who runs the vehicle repair business next to where my place is looks after it for the Allendale estate and there were family intending to visit, family who enjoy riding this little 80cc MXer so it was being checked over. It’s doubtful this little bike has ever been used in competition which in some respects is a good thing because it means it’s not suffered the hard use such little machines suffered as their young riders mixed…

First staged as recently as 2018 by the re-formed Kinlochleven MCC, the Leven Valley Two-Day Trial – restricted to twinshock, drum-braked machines – has very quickly become a must-ride weekend in the classic calendar. This year’s event, run on the weekend of September 24/25, was again superbly organised and for the full-house 250 contenders Saturday comprised a run out on the moors to Loch Eilde Mor and the Blackwater reservoir. It took in 30 sections – including Pipeline – in fine weather but the midges were hungry. Sunday proved to be dreich with low cloud all but obscuring the famous Mamore road down which the competitors were despatched to find 25 subs. With the usual excellent variety of machinery – including some superbly finished, shiny new-build Britshocks – it was…

DIRT NEWS With a history going as far back as 1913 it was almost inevitable there would be a clamour for a veteran and vintage class at the super-tough six-day enduro once known as the ISDT (but since 1981 it has been the ISDE). It was tried pre-Covid and deemed worthy of doing again so for 2022 in Portugal there was a four-day sub-contest within the six-day event. With the event’s heavy lifting done, the final day of competition in Santiago Do Cacem saw all competitors take to the track for the event’s final MX races. Italy’s Enrico Tortoli, Giorgio Grasso and Tulio Pellegrinelli all completed their respective races without incident or accident to claim a commanding margin of victory in the overall Vintage Veterans Trophy Team competition. Behind Team…

Were you there!? Did you see it? Such questions are asked after the fact when some extraordinary sporting achievement goes down in history. It doesn’t matter what sport is being talked about when these questions are gasped out by incredulous enthusiasts, who may or may not have witnessed the achievement themselves, it only matters such achievements bring the crowds to their feet and are recorded in the press of the day. Just such an achievement happened on July 4, 1976 at Dodington Park in Gloucestershire when 18-year-old Graham Noyce left the MX world in no doubt he was on his way. So, were you among the 15,000 jubilant fans who apparently leapt to their feet as Hampshire’s Graham Noyce hustled his Maico ahead of legend Roger De Coster on the…

Superheroes come in all shapes and sizes, their superhero skills are equally varied but one thing remains constant… they’re only needed infrequently, to save the day when all normal things fail. What I mean is you don’t call in your superhero of choice to handle basic tasks such as, in our world, undoing nuts and bolts as an example. It is once these tasks transcend normality and become problematic a superhero is needed. For me the superhero saving my workshop day recently was Angle Grinder which doesn’t come in a cape, or spangly colours, at least mine doesn’t – but like the caped crusaders of fiction it really delivered and was a ‘when all else failed’ saviour. What was I tackling which ended up as something only an angle grinder…

TEAM RESULTS EVO 250 OVERALL 1 Jamie Skuse2 Lewis Abbott3 Steve Bixby SUPER EVO OVERALL 1 Brad Anderson2 James Barnwell3 Paul Burn ALL 125s OVERALL 1 John May2 Tom Church3 Ben Griffith EVO OPEN OVERALL 1 Broc Tickle2 Michael Ogden3 Paul Johnston TWINSHOCK OVER 50 OVERALL 1 Willie Burgess2 Danny Scheers3 Howard Standfield TWINSHOCK UNDER 50 OVERALL 1 Luke Hill2 Matt Nash3 Martin Jones VETS MXDN FARLEIGH INDIVIDUAL OVERALL 1 Brad Anderson2 Broc Tickle3 Ryan Voase…

One of the best things about the classic scene in general is the variety of machines which come under its remit and it is true to say no two enthusiasts will have exactly the same tastes. For one enthusiast who will gush excitedly over a particular motorcycle there will be two more who exclaim “you like what?!?” and so on. Such disputes can go down as far as which model of a make is better than the others and it becomes even more fraught when off-road sport is chucked in the mix. Not all my long-time friends are as into off-road sport as I am and nearly 50 years on, they still look askance as I attempt to steer a motorcycle through difficult terrain. Where they went for the racer…

In the exciting and often brutal world of sidecar MX the attributes of power and flexibility are two of the main aims when choosing an engine to fit in the chassis. The make of engine tends to be less of a concern – though sidecarists were often working to a budget. A third consideration could be availability – or at least the availability of bits to rebuild with. Once the world moved on slightly from the traditional type of sidecar and the well-thought-out, purpose-made chassis such as Wasp were developed, pre-unit Triumph engines were popular then. As they became less competitive Norton’s Commando engines were introduced. Arguably a Wasp chassis can be created to take all sorts of power units as twins, triples and fours have been used in the…

Let’s look at the concept behind the International Six Days Trial. In the pre-First World War era there were a good number of long distance trials in the UK and elsewhere too. Many of these events were run over five, six and even seven days and had often seen special machines created with the sole aim of winning which, while important, did little to promote the products of the industry making these motorised bicycles. A proposal came from the ACU – Auto Cycle Union – for an event which would showcase the motorcycle and prove it was a viable method of transport rather than a novelty. It was suggested a team event with riders mounted on production machines would hold more value in the real world than would seeing a…

1. Fancy a date? Although this calendar is not strictly a dirt bike thing the proceeds from it go to a worthy cause – East Anglian Air Ambulance. Like all such safety things it’s something we’re all glad is there but hope never to need. Andy Tiernan, a name well known in the vintage bike world through his Andy Buys Bikes business, got involved in the air ambulance charity when his long-time mechanic/engineer Dave ‘Beret’ Berry lost his life in a motorcycle accident which the air ambulance attended. Andy commissioned a calendar to be produced in memory of ‘Beret’ and it is highly appropriate the superb artwork depicts various classic motorcycles. The images are by Mike Harbar, a Suffolk native living in Australia and reflect the passion Mike has for…

In the old days – we’re talking the Seventies here – trials, like hair, were longer and up in the North East Centre there were several events which were 20 miles or more over one lap. As such courses were the norm then, we youngsters had only one source of frustration as some of these courses included road work and we had to wait until we were 17 to ride them. The world changed, successive governments succumbed to safety pressure and it became harder to gain a motorcycle licence so trials courses shortened to reflect this. Enter the pocket handkerchief course which became the new normal… so when a course such as one used for The Baa – both classic and modern – opens up and becomes 11 miles or…

Write to us at: ClassicDIRTbike, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ. CDBeditor@mortons.co.uk Mentioned in despatches Although I was not involved with the Cheney BSA, I may be able to shed some light on how it came about. The clue is in the Army registration it still carries on its front mudguard. Military vehicles have for many years used the ‘two number-two-letter-two-number’ configuration and a block of registration numbers was issued exclusively for research and development vehicles. The letters in this block were always SP and denote a ‘Special Project’. The machines were therefore likely to have been procured through MVEE – Military Vehicle and Engineering Establishment – Chobham or MVEE Chertsey as it was more usually known when I joined it in 1981. I know from reports and photos…