Features

Former Greeves race series champion Greg Radley shows the 500 can go… By the beginning of the 1970s clouds were gathering for the British motorcycle industry and by the end of 1970 Royal Enfield and Velocette had gone, soon to be followed into mergers and eventual oblivion by all the great names. The hitherto successful…

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Les could well have graced the tarmac scene, he was certainly good enough. In an interview with Ralph Venables, published in The MotorCycle in September 1956, Archer admitted his season had started badly, something backed up by the reports of the first three events. Not that these reports were in-depth, as for some reason despite…

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To people with a special interest in Swedish half-litre four-stroke motocross machines from the late Fifties and early Sixties names like Monark, Husqvarna and Lito will sound familiar. These brands of bikes came in different colours but in many respects they were quite similar in their basic outline. Most typical was perhaps the fact that…

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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 he posed self-consciously with his 1966 Scottish Six Days Trial-winning C15 BSA. “No it doesn’t,” he said, “but I suppose it must be.” By finishing four marks ahead…

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It’s a pretty standard looking machine, but Chip did a few special tweaks to make his ISDE week easier. In 1980, Chip Howell, a San Diego-area motocrosser decided on a new goal, representing the USA in the ISDT. “I was working for Husqvarna and tried to qualify with a brand new 390OR and couldn’t get…

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It’s pretty radical even now – in the 1960s it must have really caught the eye. In the competition world the construction of a special used to be a reasonably common thing, the motivation for such a project being either not enough funds or dissatisfaction with the standard machine. In the case of the former…

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Though similar to GOV 132 there are subtle differences with the engine spec. Once Sammy Miller retired his Ariel-based trials bikes and went two-stroke, the machines were sold off and continued to be used at quite a high level. GOV 132 eventually came back to Miller and is in his museum in New Milton, but…

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Peter and Bill in action, is Bill lining up to pass Peter? CPOP is a three-day pageant encompassing absolutely everything that any self-respecting petrol-head could wish for. Not only can you view some of the world’s most iconic modern and classic cars and motorbikes but also see and hear them on the fabulous, tree-lined sprint…

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One of the European contingent who make this event so special is Cedric Mellotte with a pretty trick Yam. The legendary ex GP circuit, which has now earned the title, “The field of dreams” is once again drawing in the crowds as it hosts probably one of the biggest motocross events in the country, bar…

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A deviation from standard is the centre stand which Chris wanted on the bike – the originals didn’t have them, relying on a side stand only. “If I could have afforded one, then I would have had one,” says Chris Oliver as we chatted at Sammy Miller’s museum in Hampshire. What Chris was talking about…

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