Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 56 Autumn 2020 i Classic Dirt Bike

Rickman enthusiasts celebrated the marque last year at the Sammy Miller Museum in Hampshire and a very successful day it looked too, with all sorts of Rickman models being displayed and ridden. Plans were being made for a bigger and better happening in 2020 until the pandemic called a halt. However, with restrictions easing the decision was made to run the event as a purely ride-in thing. So if you’re a Rickman enthusiast or owner, then the day to be at Sammy’s museum is September 27, 2020. Directions for the museum are on www.sammymiller.co.uk…

Almost on our print deadline the editor’s own club were allowed to run the Baa Classic at Edmundbyers in County Durham. With a half-day opener trial on Saturday, the 90-strong entry were nicely warmed up for the 11-mile cour se on Sunday. Taking in typical northern moorland terrain the sections were reminiscent of those we rode on in the Seventies and earlier. There were two routes through sections and few, if any, hold ups as riders travelled the course in small groups as per ACU instructions. The trial, the first in the North East Centre, marked an easing of the lockdown and hopefully the beginning of a return to normality.…

If you like the idea of putting a Pre-65 bike together for the Scottish trial, the club have eligibility guidelines which cover all sorts of things, but basically ensure the components on a bike are Pre-65 or of the type. Frowned on are tubeless tyres unless there’s a tube fitted, foreign carburettors on British machines and one or two other things. The club do have a get-out clause in as much as they’re happy to discuss any differences to the criteria provided you can prove it was done in the day.…

The Challenger runs, and runs quite well, but anyone involved in old competition bikes can appreciate the build is only half of the job – it’s the settling in and fine tuning which can, and does, take time. Simone told me she’d ridden it at a South Coast Scramble Club meeting and it showed promise. Meeting up with people who are familiar with the engine at The Classic Dirt Bike Show in 2020, arrangements were made to do some extensive tuning, then the pandemic hit so the Challenger has remained in the workshop until the situation eases. However, Simone confirms the bike has plenty of power and the gearbox copes with the stresses very well.…

It seems as though every feature I’ve written for any magazine recently – be they motorcycle or woodwork orientated – has kicked off with a similar theme… this pandemic and its effects on life as we know it. Sadly, this magazine is no exception, but as this is being written we are seeing signs of a return to some form of normality. With a few projects on the go and an inability to scour the show and autojumble scene for bits and pieces to keep some momentum up on the official tasks, there’s been a chance to look at some other bikes in the workshop. My BSA B40 for instance has been growing more incontinent with every passing day and the cables which Venhill made for me during the course…

1. Absolutely bootiful Okay, so we race old motorcycles but it doesn’t mean we have to wear old kit. I mean, you’re not going to pump cash into your bike and then go out on the track in worn out DR boots now are you? Advances in riding kit mean more protection for the rider, which is good as we need to be able to go to work after the race meet. These Gaerne MX boots are built to a high quality, provide protection to the rider’s feet, ankles and shins while allowing important movement and ‘feel’ so the rider knows what’s happening to his bike. Not cheap, nothing is these days, but cheaper than a new foot… What are they? They’re the latest MX boots from Gaerne Where d’you…

If the idea of riding a two day trial on Jersey appeals to you, then the easiest way to get there is to go through Fairfield Motorsport, who will handle all ferries and hotel bookings for you. It’s a few months to go until the 2021 event but hopefully all restrictions will be sorted by then and the Fairfield Motorsport website www.fairfieldmotorsport.com has regular updates on travel times and requirements. Very basically, ferries leave from Portsmouth and Poole and one should allow for travelling over on Friday and back on Monday.…

Well, at least we hope we’re sorted for Stafford! There’s no doubt this has been an exceptional year for all the wrong reasons, kicking off with the weather playing havoc with the Classic Dirt Bike Show at Telford – but at least the show went ahead. At that time we didn’t realise a much worse situation was about to develop and a couple of weeks later the country was in lockdown, as not just the UK but governments worldwide battled a viral pandemic. Events were postponed at first, then cancelled or rescheduled for later… the Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle Show at Stafford was an early casualty as Government edicts on gatherings meant it was no-go for the show. Postponement to a few weeks later turned into a few months as…

The owner of this Challenger, Simone Cunningham, recalls watching her older brother belting a selection of old motorcycles around a farmer’s field in her native Kent and being desperate to join in, though at six or seven years old she was a little too young to handle the 350 Matchless being used in those days. “I’d sit on the roof of an abandoned car and watch them as the sun melted my Caramac chocolate bar. As a family we would visit local grasstrack meetings where the smell of Castrol R and grass being baked onto hot engines left an indelible mark on my memory.” It is fitting Simone’s working life revolves around other machines which made an indelible mark on many people’s memories, especially in the skies over Kent. “I’ve…

When the talents of riding and engineering are combined in one person look out for something extra special being created. We’ve come across Northern Irish lad Harry Stitt before in these pages, generally speaking he’s making one of Cecil Pearson’s Team JAP MXers go around a scrambles track at a fair pace. Harry isn’t just a good rider he’s also a good engineer and is rapidly making a name for himself as a frame builder. When Team Fleming wanted something very special for their project CZ it was, to Harry they turned, and what a job he did. The frame produced is a thing of beauty in its own right as well as being part of a fabulous motorcycle.Says Harry: “John sent a frame or two over for me to…

When I was strong-armed in to attaching an ex-Jack Mathews sidecar to my Can-Am, the only fitting missing was the top one near the steering head. All attempts to locate it failed so something was needed to do the job. I wanted the sidecar to be easily detachable, as the idea is to do a few sidecar events, such as a long-distance trial and then an enduro or two, to tick a few boxes, then the chair could go back to its owner. Audit CNC who are CDB advertisers and sponsor of various events in the off-road world, suggested dropping the outfit in and they would come up with something. They produced a neat block which bolts to the frame using existing holes where a steering damper fits when the…

❝ It was just brilliant to get out and enjoy a day motorcycling again. We've lost so much this year ❞ Well, first off you don't need me to tell you what a weird – but by no means wonderful – time we are currently going through. And you'll certainly need someone a lot cleverer than me to tell you what the future has in store. In reality, I doubt Nostradamus himself would have a clue what to predict if confronted with Covid-19. When we all eagerly turned out for the (excellent) opening KIA National Twinshock round, staged way back on Sunday, March 15, little did we know what lay ahead. All present revelled in a perfect sunny day at Fell Green, Bootle, on the Cumbrian fells, enjoying everything that…

Sadly, the 2020 series has been cancelled because of the pandemic. When lockdown started back in March I don’t think anybody expected the repercussions of Covid-19 to be so widespread and long lasting, writes Dave Gittins. With memories of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 still lingering (when we were able to resume a 'normal' programme in the July) I thought this outbreak might follow similar lines. How wrong I was! The first three rounds in the series – at Yatton Keynell (Bath); Newcastleunder-Lyme (Acorns) and Theale (Mortimer) were cancelled fairly early on, but I still had high hopes that the final three rounds (Kendal (Westmorland); Clun (Moseley) and Llanthony) would survive. I was wrong. First, Moseley decided that they wouldn’t run, while Kendal (the first of the final three) remained very…

In order to quantify these figures I have arbitrarily given a dual cut-off date for the classic era SSDT as pre-1965 and pre-1970, which gives either 18 SSDTs if you’re a purist or 23 SSDTs if you allow the latter date. However, since 1984 there have been 35 Pre-65 trials. In addition there have been 40 winners of 35 Pre-65 trials as there are a few years when there were ties. So, the figures add up like this: SSDT up to pre70 AMC 10 BSA 4 Bultaco 3 Ariel 2 Royal Enfield 2 Triumph 1 Greeves 1 Pre65 Triumph 20 Ariel 7 BSA 5 James 5 Royal Enfield 1 AMC 1 Cotton 1…

In the picturesque New Forest area of Hampshire, Belfast man Sammy Miller has made his home and as well as his business activities it is also the home of his collection of classic motorcycles. Naturally the trials world features highly but not exclusively in the halls as there are road racing, scrambling and ISDT machinery too plus some really tasty vintage and veteran road bikes as well. There is an excellent website www.sammymiller.co.uk with opening times detailed – there are both summer and winter opening times. The museum address is: Sammy Miller Museum, Bashley Cross Roads, New Milton, Hampshire, BH25 5SZ – tel. 01425 620777…

Such machines as pictured here rarely happen on their own and John Fleming was more than keen to tell us who had been involved in this project. As well as John there is Norrie Pattie and the man responsible for bringing them together is George Crichton, who they say is ‘team manager’ or ‘all his fault’ depending on your viewpoint. Turns out all three had known of each other but Norrie and John had never really met – one is MX focussed and the other is/was road race focussed – but the common denominator is George. “Aye, it’s all his fault,” they said. To say the following list of names were ‘of help’ is underselling it a bit, but a list is a list: Harry Stitt – frame – 07840…

From a repair shop started in 1934 by Hans Trunkenpolz, to a company who became synonymous with the world of enduro and MX, and on to the multi-national corporation it is today, has not been an easy ride for KTM. Trunkenpolz began selling motorcycles in 1937, began making his own in 1951 and was joined by Ernst Kronreif in 1953. KTM tried the ISDT in 1956, beginning a long association with this event for the Austrian company. At one time the UK ISDT team were KTM mounted. Sadly, the two principles in the company passed away in 1960 and 1962, and the company passed to Erich Trunkenpolz. Times were good in the Sixties and Seventies but a downturn in the Eighties saw reorganisation and in the Nineties KTM was divided…

For such a small island – Jersey is five miles wide and nine miles long – the biggest of the Channel Islands manages to host an excellent two day trial every March and finds a variety of terrain to test a rider’s ability. For 2020 the Jersey Classic and Modern Trials Club had to keep a wary eye on the global health crisis but managed to run the trial just before the country was locked down. Very much a social occasion as well as a competition the Jersey Classic and Modern Trials Club do their utmost to make all those who have made the trip from all parts of the world feel welcome. Outside of the terrific sections and scenery of the island one of the highlights is the Saturday…

The whole kit bike idea was to save a whopping tax bill on a new motorcycle, as much as 362/3% when MotorCycle’s man John Ebbrell was issued with his new staff bike in the early part of 1971. In theory, any manufacturer could supply their machines in kit form but the practice was limited to competition bikes mostly. Tax collection in those pre-VAT days meant anything sold would have a purchase tax added to the wholesale price of whatever was being bought. In the dark days of 1943 this was actually 100% on all goods. John did a quick bit of arithmetic on paper to arrive at a saving of £65 or thereabouts. Actually John would also have been working with the new-fangled decimal currency introduced a couple of months…