The magazine for fans of classic and twinshock trials, motocross & enduros

A bit on the side

Ron’s motorcycling career has seen a fair bit of success but, true to form, he’s happier discussing the ‘fun’ he’s had on the way rather than his wins. A lot of this fun has come through riding in sidecar trials and one of his Ariel outfits was on show at the Bonanza. Ever ridden, or perhaps ‘driven’ would be a better description, a sidecar? Once upon a time it was fairly common and most motorcyclists if not confirmed ‘chairmen’ would be able to climb on and operate an outfit. It sort of declined a little towards the end of the 50s but, in the sporting world at least, the sidecar scene remained fairly healthy in trials, scrambles and grass tracks.

My own introduction to the world of three wheels came one Saturday afternoon in a mate’s motorcycle shop in Blandford Street which, if you’re not from Newcastle area, is just off Westgate Road. Said ‘mate’ – Steve Robson – enjoyed some help from Fantic importer of the day Roy Carey and went a long way to popularising the phenomenal little Fantic 200 in North East trials. Anyway, this particular Saturday I’d called in to pick up a set of Bulto forks from a bike Steve was breaking and while he was dealing with a phone customer I mooched around the showroom looking at the bikes he had in. In the centre of the shop was a Fantic 200 almost like any other except it had a sidecar attached to it.

It looked a smart machine, lovely and red and gleaming with, I think, an Otter chair. “Who’s going to ride this then?” I asked when Steve was off the phone. “You and Jimmy (McKeown) are...” was the reply, “your first trial is tonight at Castleside Quarry.” I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when in the North East for my dad’s funeral and I caught up with a few people I’d not seen for some time. My dad was from that 50s club era when you rode anything in everything and he also set me on my path to trials riding. As is the way with funerals, the conversation turned to personal recollections of events involving the deceased and in my dad’s case this involved a certain amount of sidecar sport.

The conversation moved on to the Saturday evening youth trials that suddenly contained a sidecar class and my recollection on it was dad had about half an hour to instruct two solo trials riders in the gentle art of working together as a sidecar crew. Bear in mind it was 30 years ago but I also seem to recall the decision as to who drove and who went in the chair was made after 10 fraught yards and a particularly volatile argument between Jimmy and I. With that settled, we tried some sections, my dad left shortly after muttering something like “I’m not stopping to watch this.”

We survived and went on to do a couple of year’s worth of occasional trials, nothing too serious but we had a lot of fun and what’s more there’s photographic evidence to prove it. As rummaging through a box of pics at my dad’s place unearthed probably the only picture of Jimmy and I in some kind of harmony on the outfit, OK, so we weren’t moving at the time but that’s a minor detail. The unearthing of the picture set me to wondering if, 30 years on, the outfit still exists? Perhaps it’s tucked away in the shed somewhere or in a dealer’s back stockroom or maybe it’s still being ridden. If anyone knows about it, I’d like to hear from them, not that I ever owned it but it was a fun time.

Speaking of fun in trials I had to miss the annual Mortons/Poachers Pre-65 club bun-fight known as the Press and Trade Trial this year. The Press Trial has been around for donkey’s years, it started in the 30s and has enjoyed highs and lows of popularity – if the entry list at this year’s event was any indication, it’s currently on a high. Among its many quirky features the Press and Trade Trial is the only event that I know of where blatant cheating and skulduggery is not only allowed but actually encouraged. The whole idea is not to take things too seriously, except in one area, of course, the support it gives for the two nominated charities that benefit from the entry fees, bribes, auctions and donations. These charities – the TTRA and Air Ambulance – are worthy causes that we’d miss but hope we never need the services of. Anyway, the way to success in this event is often to strike out at a tangent and take things to the next level as it were. It occurred to me, as I chatted to Ron about sidecars and reminisced about the Fantic outfit that perhaps if that outfit still exists it would be a giggle to try it in next year’s Press and Trade Trial.

Tim Britton
Editor