Jim Pickering on one of his Drayton creations – Photo: Chris Sharp
The trials world was saddened to hear of the passing of Kidderminster’s Jim Pickering on October 4th 2018, best known as the man behind the ‘Drayton’ brand special framed machines that have come to dominate Pre’65 classic trials over the past few years. Jim bravely fought cancer which did not preclude him from riding in trials, the sport he loved.
A talented engineer, always full of enthusiasm and advice, Jim was a regular competitor at classic events countrywide and was overjoyed when Scotland’s Gary Macdonald was the first Scotsman to win the Pre’65 Scottish in 2017 on a Drayton Triumph.
John Moffat of Trials Guru said: “I bought a frame kit from Jim to house a spare BSA B40 motor I had lying under the bench. He could not be more helpful with advice. He was a very friendly, open gentleman who I enjoyed very much conversing with when we met. He will be greatly missed in the sport.”
Trials Guru send it’s sincere condolences to his widow, Jayne and the Pickering family.
Jim’s funeral will take place on 18th October, 2018 at 15.30 hrs at the Wyre Forest Crematorium. The family have requested casual dress code with jeans acceptable. Please, family flowers only. Donations if desired, to West Midlands Air Ambulance & Millbrook Suite , Kidderminster Hospital.
A young George Gage with his original Yamaha in the 1980s
Oban trials enthusiast, George Gage is a joiner by profession and started riding trials bikes with a TY250 Yamaha. The bike disappeared many years ago, but he wished he had kept it as many enthusiasts of the sport do!
George Gage gives the 250 Yamaha a thorough test at the Inverness Club’s Paul Kilbauskas Trial in September 2018 – Photo Fin Yeaman
It comes as no surprise then that when Scottish trials dealer Garry Coward of Highland Leisure Sport had sourced a similar machine, George had to have it.
George was unlucky to develop Testicular cancer which then spread to his lungs, which resulted in 3 months of chemotherapy treatment. George Gage is a cancer survivor.
Goerge takes up the story:
Garry Coward sourced the bike for me, he knew where the machine was as he had serviced it for a customer for some years. The owner had the bike from new and bought it from an old motorcycle dealer in the Highlands. The owner moved overseas, so the bike came on the market. I bought it with the intention of using it unrestored, but this soon changed when I started working on it. Before i knew it, the Yamaha was stripped and the frame was getting prepared for painting.
Much work was undertaken on the well used machine
George began work and did the following tasks:
– resprayed the frame and had the metalwork tidied up
– lowered the foot rests
– rebuilt the forks with magical suspension upgrade fitted
– electronic ignition fitted
– new reeds
– new dellorto carb and rejetted to suit
– modified the airbox
– full stainless exhaust
– engine rebuild
– new plastics
– seat base professional rebuilt and original foam kept
– seat recovered
– new rear nitrogen shocks
– top yoke cut and angle changed slightly
George told Trials Guru:
“I had many bikes growing up but this was the one bike I regretted selling, I gave up riding trials bikes and got distracted by fast cars and other teenager distractions.
“I want to become a better rider and I believe the Yamaha can help me and will give great fun along the way.”
“I have no intention ever selling it and hope my daughter will continue to use it.”
George, we here at Trials Guru wish you many happy hours on the TY250. Thanks for sharing your story with us.
The Richmond Motor Club has now released the start times and rider’s numbers for their 2018 Scott Trial which starts at Feldom Lane, Richmond on Saturday 13th October at 09:00.
Remember to buy your souvenir official programme, priced at £5.00 it is regarded as a Scott Trial essential. 88 pages of trial informtaion, detail, map, where to see, articles and rider list, the proceeds all go to local charities.
The annual Scott Trial, the toughest one day trial in the UK, kicks off at 9.00am on Saturday 13th October, 2018. Main sponsor this year is Riverside Quarry.
The ‘must have’ official souvenir programme will be on sale from Saturday, 29th September. It carries the full 2018 entry list, articles on local riders with Scott history, landowners and where to watch guide by the ‘Scott Sage’ Bruce Storr.
You can get your 88 page copy from the usual local outlets or get a copy online via the Richmond Motor Club website. (www.richmondmotorclub.com)
Price in the shops is £5.00 and online £6.50 to any UK postal address.
Local stockists include:
Brookes and Victoria Road Petrol Stations; CJ Tennant, Richmond; Neeps & Tatties, Richmond; Smith and Allan, Darlington; Piercebridge Farm Shop; AG Bikes, Low Row. Plus all the usual Reeth outlets.
Remember, all proceeds go to the local ‘Scott Charities’
Over the next few weeks we will be ‘freshening up’ some of the pages on Trials Guru. This is due to articles having become ‘time-bound’ as they were written when an event was just run and is effectively dated.
We don’t go in for a lot of trials reports on here, we leave that to the motorcycle press and other websites to cover. Reports are only relevant at the time.
For example we don’t carry all the results of the SSDT other than the podium as the official SSDT website already has downloads available for some of the results.
What we are most interested in is bringing you articles and photos, facts and figures from the sport.
So we will be withdrawing and amending some postings within Trials Guru so that the content is less time-bound and is more relevant to readers finding out more about our sport or help those remember how it used to be.
We are always looking for interesting stories and photos from the world of trials, ancient and modern.
This story is regarding the Scottish Six Days Trial.
Here is a photo taken by Ray Foulds, a trials and motorcycling enthusiast from Glasgow, Scotland who was happily taking photographs at the 1961 Scottish Six Days Trial. He managed to get to the top of the Grey Mare’s Ridge group and positioned himself just beyond the section ends cards. Ray Foulds rode trials, was a Glasgow Mercury MCC member and was also an active member of the Glasgow Lion MCC.
We are not sure in which order riders attempted the section, but what we do know is that Gordon Jackson, who carried number 166 on the factory AJS, lost his solitary one mark at this section. The famous ‘Jackson Dab’ was captured for posterity by the late Peter Howdle of Motor Cycle News and the image is the intellectual property of Mortons Media, having bought the rights to the photograph some years ago.
If you look closely at the photo of number 164, George Noble on his 500cc Royal Enfield, you will see the young observer, David Johnston (second person facing camera from the left) from Edinburgh watching George’s progress to the ends cards feet on the rests. Peter Howdle is on the right wearing an anorak, crouching with camera still in hand, the very camera that took the famous Jackson photograph.
The observer, David Johnston emigrated to Canada some years ago.
Now a Canadian citizen, David Johnston originally from Edinburgh was the observer in 1961 to debit Gordon Jackson’s score with the famous one mark! Here is David in 1972 riding the SSDT on his 169cc Greeves/Puch Pathfinder.
For those interested in the location, the hill on the left is ‘Pap of Glencoe’ and the Loch Leven forms the background to the shot. The section is located high above the village of Kinlochleven.
Who was George W. Noble?
George was a farmer from the village of Skirling, near Biggar in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was also the brother-in-law of George Hodge, the seven times Scottish Scrambles Champion. George Noble was a regular first class award winner in Scottish trials. His son George Noble junior was a Scottish Motocross champion and rode for Mickey Oates Motorcycles on a 500cc Kawasaki. The family farm is called ‘Galalaw’ and was used by the Edinburgh St. George club to run the annual Evening News Trial from 1977 – 1990.
What of the machine TFS500 – the 500cc Royal Enfield?
This was indeed an interesting machine, registered in Edinburgh in 1959, it was built from parts by Bell & Small in Broughton Place, Edinburgh, who were Royal Enfield sub-agents of Alexanders. A similar machine of 350cc capacity was built at the same time. The Royal Enfield was ridden in the SSDT twice, the first time was by John N. Clarkson in 1960 and then by George Noble, Clarkson’s cousin as seen in this article in 1961. The machine was subsequently owned by A.M.L. ‘Laurie’ MacLean from Haddington. In the 1980s it was bought by Willie Dalling, who became clerk of the course of the SSDT, but the registration documents had been lost by previous owners and the registration number was suspended.
For more information on the Scottish Six Days Trial go to our SSDT Page.
The story of the ‘BSA that Alf Rode‘ has been updated with fresh information and new photographs of the bike that has a great deal of SSDT history.
The latest news is that the very bike may be at next years Scottish Six Days Trial as a tribute to local man Ron S. Thomson, 60 years after it was first ridden in the SSDT in 1959!
It is noticeable at certain times of the year, not much new material is posted on Trials Guru website. There is a good reason for this, annual holidays and a general lack of new articles and material coming forward. It happens!
However, the website is actually crammed with interesting stuff that you may not have seen yet, have you looked or just passed by?
Try out our INDEX to see what is held in our pages and articles, you will be surprised!
We have recently undertaken to rebrand (if that is the correct phrase) Trials Guru to reflect what it really is… ‘It’s All About Motorcycle Trials’.
Taking note of comments from our readers and followers, we also decided that the menu banner at the top of the page had become rather too busy and confusing, so we have introduced a simpler format with fewer titles and some drop down menus from the headings which are:
Drop-down headings: Photographers; Riders; Major Events; Features; Regional Sport & Manufacturers.
The ‘Index’ facility is proving really popular.
Hopefully this will enhance your Trials Guru experience and enable you to find articles, features and all sorts of trials information easier and quicker than before, especially if using a mobile device.
After four years of Trials Guru on the web, we have decided to change our headline slogan from “Photos from the sport of trials” to something more aligned with what Trials Guru is about… “It’s All About Motorcycle Trials” and that of course includes electric trials as they have a ‘motor’.
Still Trials Guru, the independent, not for profit website which is recording the history of the sport from the start to the current day.
Trials Guru, made by trials riders and enthusiasts, for trials riders and enthusiasts!
The Premier Trial Website – Recording the History of the Sport 'Established 2014'
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