Features

Though Jeff Smith was BSA’s superstar at GP level the factory’s support reached all levels of MX. How did they do it? With old team bikes, CDB checks one out. Team player There is a similar photograph to this, taken in the BSA comp shop, which features Graham Horne and his boss Brian Martin with…

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Part 1: Experiencing the ‘trail bike boom’ and riding off-road purely for the fun of it. Golden days in the Golden State A typical riding day in the Mojave Desert… Everyone who has ever ridden a motorcycle for the sheer pleasure of it has recollections of their own golden days – periods and places where,…

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The 48th International Six days Trial in 1973 was expected to be conducted with all the razzmatazz and over-the-top promotion that the American organisation hosting it could provide. Expected, but it nearly didn’t happen at all! THAT WAS THE YEAR…The ISDT that nearly didn’t happen Our Vase B team with, left to right: Dave Smith,…

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A stint as deputy manager for the Vase team in the 1973 ISDT gave Chris Oliver first-hand experience of the Triumph Adventurer based team bikes… handy when he came to build a replica. A Triumph of ingenuity A deviation from standard is the centre stand which Chris wanted on the bike – the originals didn’t…

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Speak to any EVO or Twinshock motocross fan and they will probably say the highlight of their season is undoubtedly the Vets MXDN at Farleigh Castle. 2015 Vets MXDN: Farleigh Castle One of the European contingent who make this event so special is Cedric Mellotte with a pretty trick Yam. The legendary ex GP circuit,…

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The Annual Cholmondeley – pronounced ‘Chumley’ – Pageant of Power takes place every June in the beautiful grounds of Cholmondeley Castle near Whitchurch in rural Cheshire where the Cholmondeley family have lived since Norman times. Cholmondeley Pageant of Power: Classic Scramble Demonstration Peter and Bill in action, is Bill lining up to pass Peter? CPOP…

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It was well known in the 1960s that Sammy Miller ran two almost identical Ariels –though 786 GON was often sidelined in favour of the more famous GOV 132. Miller’s ‘other’ Ariel Though similar to GOV 132 there are subtle differences with the engine spec. Once Sammy Miller retired his Ariel-based trials bikes and went…

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These days a monoshock or cantilever suspension system is considered ‘normal’, but in 1962 John Wilkinson must have caused a bit of a stir when he turned up at a scramble with this Goldie. Cantilever Beezer It’s pretty radical even now – in the 1960s it must have really caught the eye. In the competition…

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It started off as a nice idea when CDB was offered a totally original Francis-Barnett trials bike to feature. How many other comp bikes had survived unrestored, we asked, can’t be many surely? Maybe we’d get three or four out of the idea… seems there are more survivors out there than we thought. Anyway, just…

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In 1966, while England’s footballers prepared to write their names in World Cup history, a young Yorkshire lad was putting his on the JR Alexander Trophy. SID’S SCOTTISH… Tyndrum was a long old ride from Fort William and a tricky number to get right. “Does it feel 50 years ago?” I asked Alan Lampkin as…

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