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

Times gone by

Many of these bikes, if the motorcycling scene in my own home town was anything to go by, never saw anything more extreme than road dirt but an enduro – be it a DT, IT, PE, XR or any other combination of letters that Japanese manufacturers cared to use – was the bike to have if you wanted to look cool. I can understand it and I reckon anyone reading this can too – the off-roady look is much better than the head down-arse-up style of the pseudo racer.

Anyway, whatever the benefits of the style, the main thing is there are likely to be dozens, if not hundreds of these bikes still floating around or stuffed in sheds, garages and the like, just waiting for an excuse to be used as they were designed for. Now there is such a way to use them, it’s called Vinduro – OK, I’m not going to spoil it for you, there’s a news item in this issue which you’ve probably read by now and there will be a bigger feature in the next issue on Vinduro’s inaugural event in Northumberland at the end of September.

The enduro scene is a relatively new one in the UK, despite the success of British riders in the ISDT from 1913 onwards this sort of competition didn’t really catch on here and there were less than a handful of events for our ISDT team members to compete in for training purposes. Even those that did exist were classed as ‘trials’ rather than ‘enduro’ as, of course was the ISDT until the 80s.

On a personal level being so focussed, obsessed would be a better word, on trials riding I almost missed the start of the whole enduro explosion. It wasn’t until becoming involved in the organisation side of the sport and then occasionally invited to attend North eastern Centre ACU administrative meetings – where all the area clubs would gather to discuss events, protocol and the minutia of running a sport – that I was in a circle where enduros were being proposed and discussed.

The connection still hadn’t been made in my head between the ISDT – an event I’ve regretted never trying – with the likes of Mssrs Peplow, Giles and Heynes thundering around the forests of Europe on Triumph twins, which is partly the reason a ’61 650 Triumph appeared in the garage 30 years ago – and the sport of enduro. A change of job brought me into contact with a lad whose name is lost in the mists of time but used to ride a KTM, possibly a 175 one, in to work occasionally. The idea of doing an enduro began to appeal however, at that time the disposable income to have an enduro as well as a trials bike wasn’t there and the mono shock Yamaha was just on the scene which meant a whole new level of the feet-up game and that my Bulto would be retired from general use… for a year or two at least.

Apart from a brief dalliance with a Fantic 200 and a chair, I sort of went from the much more traditional Bultaco into the heady arena of mono suspension and what a revelation it was. Suspension advances continue to make the whole off-road experience easier – so sections and courses are stiffened up to compensate.

Certainly in the trials world ordinary pre-65 club sections are much stiffer than those of national events before 1965. It’s not just suspension that’s improved but tyres too though the two have to go hand in hand for the most benefit. As I typed that last sentence a though occurred – yes, I do have them now and again – it would be an interesting comparison to take an absolutely standard, catalogue correct, genuine pre-65 bike and fit it with the grippiest of modern rubber then pit it against the trickest of the modern pre-65s fitted with a four ply tyre from the 50s. There will be some traditional sections still out there, sections that were in use in the actual pre-65 era where we could see the difference tyres actually do make.

Perhaps the same exercise could be done with a scrambler too. The only stumbling block to this fantasy test would be getting a hold of some genuine pre-65 tyres in useable condition – enter Dr Who… a character in a time travelling sci-fi show, popular on UK television for those readers maybe not familiar with the name – as tyres do deteriorate even in storage unless Dunlop have a supply stored in a hermetically sealed capsule somewhere? I know there are tyres still available for the restoration market that are to the style and dimensions of original fitments but, mainly they’re made with all the advances of modern technology and the effect wouldn’t be the same as a truly original version.

The ‘tyre’ scene is an interesting one even without the old versus new thing, there’s the tubed versus tubeless argument. Some organisers allow it some don’t and I’m not going to come down in favour of either point of view. With both types requiring different rims a rider either has to have two sets of wheels or stick with one or the other for everything. I stick with tubed as the pre-65 Scottish regulations demand I use them and I’ve just filled in the entry forms for 2011.