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Pietro Kuciukian – The Team Manager and more

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Words: Trials Guru & Pietro Kuciukian

Photos: Giulio Mauri/Valenti Fontseré; Bernard Schreiber; Jimmy Young; Iain Lawrie; Pietro Kuciukian.

With assistance from: Bernie Schreiber

Pietro Kuciukian

Pietro Kuciukian was a name well known on the world trials scene in the 1970s and 1980s. He was born on 18th January 1940, and is an Italian writer and surgeon. Being of Armenian descent, Pietro is also the president of International Committee for the Righteous of Armenians and Co-Founder of ‘The Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide’ Committee. He collaborates with the Armenian Genocide Museum in Yerevan and is the founder of the ‘Memory is the Future’ Committee, a project to sponsor Armenian cultural projects.

Armenia is officially known as the Republic of Armenia, it is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south. [1]

But of course the trials world knew him as the team manager of the SWM world trials effort back in the 1980s. Kuciukian is rated by 1979 World Trials Champion, Bernie Schreiber as ‘the greatest of all time team manager’ and that is praise enough! We bring you this interesting article on Trials Guru, as we believe it is important to preserve, given the contribution Pietro Kuciukian made to the sport of trial at world level.

Yorkshireman, Martin Lampkin had trouble pronouncing Pietro Kuciukian’s family name. (Photo: Giulio Mauri/Valenti Fontseré).

Known to his riders as ‘Piero’, in the UK, readers of the weekly motorcycling newspapers perhaps struggled to pronounce his family name when reading of Piero in the motorcycle press reports, it is pronounced: ‘Koo-choo-kee-an‘. The late Martin Lampkin in particular had great difficulty with the pronunciation and jokingly called him ‘Coo-ca-choo’.

Trials Guru: Piero, where were you born and raised?

Piero Kuciukian: “I was born in a small town in northern Italy called Arco and I lived there until I was twelve years of age. I then moved to Venice, where I studied at the Armenian College there.”

TG: What was your first motorcycle?

PK: “When I was eleven, I drove my first motorcycle, it was a Lambretta 125cc scooter belonging to my mother. No driving license was required to ride it, but when I came back home after a few years in Venice, the Lambretta had disappeared. It turned out it had been literally buried in the backyard. With the help of a friend, I managed to clean it from the rust, and I disassembled it into roughly four thousand, two hundred pieces. When I re-assembled it, a couple of screws and three nuts were left over, but the engine still ran smoothly. It ran even better than before, since I reduced the compression of the cylinder head. The motorcycle became faster than the Piaggio’s Vespa 125cc.“

A young Pietro Kuciukian with his Lambretta scooter which he rebuilt after being buried in his parent’s garden.

TG: How did you get into off-road motorcycling?

PK: “After trying several enduro and cross-country motorcycles, which included Puch 125; Maico 400 and Ossa Explorer, I borrowed from my brother-in-law a Montesa 250 and I participated in my first regional trial competition. That one was the only true trials motorcycle, while the other competitors used modified versions of off-road motorbikes, such as Morini 125-175, Gilera, Garelli and so on. I then went on competing in national and international competitions for several years, until 1982. I cannot recall all the road motorbikes I bought in those years, but I do remember BSA, Honda, Kawasaki, BMW, Suzuki, Yamaha, even a two-stroke Jawa 350cc that I still own and that I keep in Yerevan which is the capital city of Armenia. I also rode a BMW Paris Dakar in a competition with Gaston Rahier who taught me how to drive on the desert sands.”

Pietro Kuciukian had a wide taste in motorcycles.

TG: How did you get on in competition, were you successful?

PK “I hadn’t particularly good results in competitions, and I thought I could win only if I had an exceptionally light trial motorcycle. So, I purchased a 250 Ossa, a certain quantity of titanium metal, which with the help of an engineer, Valentini who worked also for Ferrari, we created a chassis, muffler, titanium footpegs, transparent tank, titanium shock absorber springs and so on. From eighty-two kilos, we reduced it to around seventy.”

Kuciukian on his special OSSA in 1974.

“But I still didn’t win! I tried again with a Bultaco, reaching seventy-four kilos, but that didn’t help either. Even though I had also removed the springs from the front fork and replaced them with rubber tubes, turning it into an oil-pneumatic one; and also, nylon bolts, smaller wolfram flywheel, hardened titanium crankshaft and aluminum footpegs.”

The very special titanium framed Bultaco Sherpa used by Pietro Kuciukian in 1975.

TG: Did you have any unusual motorcycles?

PK: “I had imported a Honda TL250 from Canada in the 1970s, I met with Sammy Miller to lighten it, and on that occasion the president of the Italian Motorcycle Federation was also there, and he asked me if I wanted to help the first Italian factory interested in building a trials motorcycle? Until then, the prerogative of Spanish motorcycle manufacturers. So, I went to the SWM factory in Rivolta d’Adda where I met the owners Sironi and Vergani, to whom I promised to help them if they put me in charge of their Trial project, but I proposed doing that for free, in order to remain free from contracts.”

Pietro Kuciukian signed the world’s best trials riders for the SWM World trials effort. Left to right: Luciano Mangano (SWM mechanic); Bernie Schreiber; Martin Lampkin; Danilo Galeazzi; Dario Seregni (SWM mechanic), photographed at the SSDT in 1982 having won the manufacturer’s Team prize.

“On the first day at the factory when they asked me how a trial motorbike should be designed, I replied to the engineers that it had to be ‘low when seen from the top’ that meant with a low center of mass. and ‘high when seen from the bottom’. That meant high enough to overcome the rocks and obstacles. They thought I was crazy! Together with myself, SWM hired also the Italian champion Giovanni Tosco and my personal mechanic Dario Seregni who always followed me throughout the years.”

TG: How did you go about forming a trials team?

Pietro Kuciukian preparing to start in the 1978 Scottish Six Days Trial at Fort William. The machine is a 125cc SWM.

PK: “I signed contracts with the absolute best riders of that time. This included Giovanni Tosco, Danilo Galeazzi, Gilles Burgat, Christian Desnoyer, Charles Coutard, Bernie Schreiber, Martin Lampkin, Timo Rysy, Thierry Michaud, Bernard Cordonnier, Matteo Romeggialli, Gino Sembenini and John Reynolds.”

Frenchman, Thierry Michaud was one of Pierto Kuciukian’s SWM contracted riders – (Photo: Giulio Mauri/Valenti Fontseré)

“My plan from the very beginning was to win the World Championship, which happened after just five years with Gilles Burgat. I myself tested all the prototype motorcycles.”

SSDT action with Pietro Kuciukian on his special 125cc SWM – Photo: Jimmy Young, Armadale, Scotland.

“The first was a SWM 125 with which I competed in the Scottish Six Days Trial in 1978. This was in order to finish the event; I used a compressed enduro engine and I kept the tyres at around 10 psi to avoid having punctures. I finished the event in 140th position, but I was proud to finish it, while more than two hundred riders dropped out before the end.”

Englishman John Reynolds was one of Kuciukian’s SWM signings, seen here on ‘Grey Mare’s Ridge’ in the 1978 Scottish Six Days Trial – Photo: Iain Lawrie, Kinlochleven.

TG: What happened after the World Championship victory?

PK: “The owners of SWM, after the successful victory of the Trial World Championship in 1981, built a new, larger, and more expensive factory, but also decided to manufacture mopeds, this was at a time when the interest rates reached up to twenty-four percent. SWM then went bankrupt, my team was left without money. I tried to ‘sell’ it to Aprilia, to the Castiglioni brothers, but no one was prepared at that time to support a team that cost around five hundred million lire, or about $500,000 per year. So, I took the job on myself, I founded the new ‘Team KK’ in 1984 with the hope of placing the entire team in another company. This unfortunately didn’t happen, and I had to let go of all my riders, who at the time between seniors and juniors numbered around fifteen. Team KK lasted about a year.“

The KK Team logo, KK being an abbreviation for ‘KuciuKian’

TG: Was there a positive outcome for you running the trials team?

PK: “For me, the SWM experience had been a fantastic opportunity to travel the world, meet new people, have all kinds of experiences. This of course included injured riders to be taken to hospital, others to be freed from police stations, contracts to be signed with importers, settling small disputes, organizing events, sometimes even hypnotizing some riders, treating the injured or sick ones, dealing with legal issues and so on. So, my experience in SWM has overall been a positive one and I am grateful to this day to its owners, Sironi and Vegani who unfortunately passed away a long time ago. Because I am a doctor, rumours spread that I drugged the riders. In an indoor race in Bologna my rider Galeazzi fell and broke his leg, he was taken to hospital and the next day he showed a kind of delirium. Dr. Costa of the Mobile Ambulance accused me of having drugged my pilot Galeazzi. So, I ran to the hospital in Bologna and explained how, after a bone fracture, a ‘fat embolism’ can occur and can reach the brain, affecting it for a brief period. That was the reason for Danilo having this delirium and after a day, Galeazzi recovered and began speaking normally again.”

Danilo Galeazzi was a flamoyant rider, contracted by Piero Kuciukian to ride SWM. (Photo: Giulio Mauri/Valenti Fontseré)

“At the beginning, Charles Coutard didn’t manage to control the front wheel uphill and overturned. He said that the engine was too powerful. So, we ‘softened’ the engine by changing its parameters for the six following months. Charles finally gave up and asked me to do what I wanted on the engine. I had the rear swingarm lengthened by 2.5 centimeters. Charles said: ‘Finally I no longer pull the bike over my head; the engine is now very sweet’.

Old friends from the sport. Left to right: French journalist, Jean Louis Bernardelli; Charles Coutard; Piero Kuciukian; Gilles Burgat and Bernie Schreiber at Ventoux in 2011.

“A rider of mine was, at the time, a very nervous person; I myself had to follow an ‘autogenic training’ course and to become a teacher in this technique. Then I applied it to my rider who managed to calm down within a few months. Immediately afterwards he left my team to join a competitor.”

“The 1979 world champion Bernie Schreiber, winner of the 1982 SSDT, signed up for my team. He had moved from the bankrupt Bultaco to the Italjet brand and then he won three times the second place in the world championships. I have a friendship with Bernie that has lasted for almost forty-five years.”

TG: What was your most disappointing moment?

PK: “My biggest disappointment was during the World Championship in Switzerland when a new motorcycle, the SWM Jumbo 350 was stolen. It had been designed specifically for Martin Lampkin who wanted a more powerful motorcycle. I followed the route to observe the controlled areas.”

The SWM ‘Jumbo’ 350 was specifically developed to suit the riding style of Martin Lampkin.

“The bike didn’t start well, I had to push it to start the engine. Our Jumbo was never found, even after the theft was reported to the police. After six months, I discovered that there were two thousand trial motorbikes in the USA unable to be sold, whose engine couldn’t be started.”

The SWM ‘Jumbo’ was designed specifically for hard riding Martin Lampkin, seen here on the left, with Bernie Schreiber and Pietro Kuciukian (far right)

“In the meantime, Bernie Schreiber and I were invited to organize a trials school in Tokyo by a well-known Japanese motorcycle company to teach local riders some specific riding techniques. The engineers asked us many questions, which we didn’t answer. After the disappointment of the theft I suffered, I had my total understanding.”

TG: What was your main occupation?

PK: “I was a doctor, a dental specialist and I still am. In 1984 I continued to work every day as a dentist. So, I had to dedicate my evenings from 8pm to midnight every day, working with SWM, and several weekends for trials and regional competitions. Moreover, I used to spend twelve weekends a year following the world championship, in which I participated on motorcycles as race team manager, I had a FIM license. But I also worked as an official reporter for the Italian monthly magazine ‘Motociclismo’ for which I published around one hundred and twenty articles.”

“I then published the first book in Italian language on trial riding techniques in 1979. The title was ‘Trial and Moto-Alpinism’ through the publisher Longanesi. It was a real success, thirty thousand copies sold with three editions printed.”

TG: Tell us what you regard was your most memorable achievement?

PK: “My greatest satisfaction as a race team manager was when Gilles Burgat won the World Championship in 1981. At every round of the world championship the Michelin truck was present, the technicians took the temperature of the air, the ground, the tyres and at the next event they tried a new tire compound for the only motorcycle that did not have Pirelli tyres, that of Gilles Burgat of my team who also won the world championship with those tyres. I always wonder if the snow tyres that we use in winter today for cars, might to some extent, have come from Michelin’s trial experience with my team at that time?“

Pierto Kuciukian’s sidecar outfit in 1982.

“As a rider, my greatest personal success occurred in the last round of the Sidecar Trial Championship in Monza, in the parabolic curve track section. No crew managed to pass that section, not even Giulio Mauri, my main competitor, and most capsized. I had modified the front end and the suspension of the outfit. We developed a lever which blocked the suspension at the bottom and top. I won the Sidecar Trial championship in 1982 by ‘tweaking’ the sidecar. It was the only year that a sidecar trial championship took place in Italy. We had also built a trial motorbike with dual traction: front and rear, which I had assigned to the German rider, Felix Krahnstover. I thought of adapting it to my sidecar, but then the idea was abandoned.“

Bernie Schreiber samples the double drive SWM.

TG: What are your thoughts on trials motorcycle construction?

PK: “I had always thought that trial motorcycles should be ‘as simple as possible exercise equipment’ and therefore didn’t need a tank, a saddle, or mudguards. So, I had an exceptionally light ‘special’ model prepared for the indoor competitions and assigned it to Bernie Schreiber. Bernie was the forerunner of the modern trial riding techniques, and he first introduced the ‘aerial curve’. Furthermore, he was one of the very first trials riders to perform on artificial obstacles.“

Bernie Schreiber was one of the first riders to be successful in indoor trials, seen here on the SWM ‘Special Indoor’ machine developed by Pierto Kuciukian.

“It can be said that he was the founder of the indoor trial. By designing the ‘special indoor’ SWM model assigned to Bernie, I think I was to some extent ahead of my time. Today, saddles, large tanks and enveloping mudguards have disappeared.”

The special SWM ‘Indoor’ trials machine instigated by Pierto Kuciukian.

“The project should have continued with a rear mono-lever and front suspension without springs, hydraulically connected and electronically controlled, but SWM no longer existed, and my interest was turning towards Armenia, of which I then became honorary consul, after a stint as a pilot of gliders and motor-gliders which gave me other satisfactions.”

Few trials books have been reprinted, Piero Kuciukian’s book, ‘Trial e motoalpinisimo’ was reissued three times.

Trials Guru: It is without doubt that Piero Kuciukian has been a major influence in the sport of motorcycle trials within what is now referred to as the ‘Golden Era’ of the sport. His contribution to machine development, new ideas, innovation and of course team management is significant.

Cartoon drawing depicting Pietro Kuciukian as a professional dental surgeon, operating on an SWM. Photo supplied by P. Kuciukian. (Artist: Yann Renauld – Moto Verte Magazine) [2]

Testimonials by riders who were contracted to Pietro Kuciukian:

Giovanni Tosco:

Giovanni Tosco on the early SWM.

“Piero Kuciukian and I made friends for the love of the Trial first with the OSSA, and always for the love of the Trial. Kuciu managed to get two hardened regular riders, Sironi and Vergani to build a trial motorbike, which then gave them great satisfaction. At this point he became a great general manager for the racing team. In these few words, I condensed all the greatness of my great friend Pietro Kuciukian.” – Giovanni Tosco, Torino, Italy (Four times Italian National Trials Champion).

Gilles Burgat:

Gilles Burgat, 1981 World Trials Champion (Photo: Giulio Mauri/Valenti Fontseré)

“I met Piero for the first time in the suburb of Milano in the small town call Rivolta d’Adda. This little town was where the SWM factory had the reparto corso, Racing department for SWM trial. Charles Coutard was their pilot for the world championship,  this was in 1977. SWM was looking for a young lad to ride there 125 trial, I was sixteen at that time and Piero Kuciukian called me to come to Rivolta to try there motorcycle. I immediately fell in love with the SWM and I signed a contract and rode for them the next four years. Later, I won four French championships, one world championship and the famous Scottish Six Days Trial with them and with Piero as the manager.

Piero shared his time between his job as a dentist in Milano and managing the SWM trial team. At that time, I can say Piero was scaring me a little bit, I was still a teenager! He understood that and he managed me in a discreet fashion, always there for me to give me good advice for my races and my career. He was great for me, always looking at the bigger picture.

Until now, if I go to Milano, I try to meet Piero and I think I can consider him as my friend. Piero and his wife Anna Maria are truly a great couple, very smart and classy and wonderful people. Piero is a man of passion and I am happy he was passionate about trial.

During and after my trial career, Piero came to my house in France many times, for family events or just for a visit.  He was always a very good inspiration with his smart comments.

He is a wonderful man.” – Gilles Burgat, France. (1981 World Trials Champion, three times French National Trials Champion and 1981 SSDT winner).

Charles Coutard:

Charles Coutard with Pierto Kuciukian

“For me, Pietro Kuciukian is not only a friend, but also the man who inspired the Swm factory to produce a trials bike! He’s a very learned and intelligent man who has put all his qualities at the service of Swm and Trials.

I don’t think I’d have left the Bultaco factory if it hadn’t been for Pietro’s involvement in the SWM adventure! His confidence and kindness enabled me to endure the difficult period of fine-tuning to become a bike capable of winning a world championship!

I put Pietro on the same level as Don Francisco Bulto in terms of human qualities and passion. Thanks to him, I rediscovered the same feeling of a big family that I had at Bultaco!

Many thanks again to him, whom I hold in the highest esteem.” – Charles Coutard, France (8 times National Trials Champion of France).

Bernie Schreiber:

Pietro Kuciukian and Bernie Schreiber in 1983 – Photo: Giulio Mauri/Valenti Fontserè.

“Piero Kuciukian and his lovely wife, Anna Maria have been dear friends for 45 years. I was very fortunate they took me into their Milan home like a son shortly after joining SWM. At twenty-two years of age and competing all season on Italjet in 1981, I found myself at the lowest point in my trials career that resulted in sixth in the world.”

Anna Maria & Pierto Kuciukian

“I had lost confidence in the product and felt mentally destroyed after my results. Gilles Burgat just won the World Championship title on SWM with a proven machine and excellent team. Shortly after the season ended, several rumours broke that Burgat was moving to Fantic for the 1982 season opening a factory rider position at SWM.”

“That was seen as an opportunity being based in Italy for the past eighteen months. Piero and I spoke, we discussed conditions, a bike test was organised and a deal was agreed to join the factory team with Martin Lampkin and Danilo Galeazzi for the next two years. Piero was not your typical team manager or Italian to be honest and he played many roles at the factory and with his riders. We quickly became close friends and within a short period of time, I was living in Milan with all the support needed to win events and Championships again.”

Bernie Schreiber with Pietro Kuciukian in 2025.

“Piero was like a European father mentor to me and we could talk about everything from trials to philosophy. His experience, approach to issues and way of thinking changed the course of my life in so many ways. I am ever so grateful to this day for our friendship. We travelled the world together throughout Europe, Australia, Japan, Americas and eventually I learned the Italian language.”

Pierto Kuciukian has always maintained meticulous records and reference work – Photo: Bernard Schreiber.

“1982 was the best season of my career under Piero’s SWM leadership. We didn’t repeat the world championship victory of 1979 which was my main focus, but finished second in the world winning two world rounds and ten podium finishes. The SSDT was not in our agreement, but Piero pushed hard for my appearance in 1982 and after unfriendly discussions we finally agreed. Best decision I had ever made and can’t thank him enough. It’s difficult to imagine being a Trials Legend without winning the SSDT. Other victories were accomplished that year by winning indoor trials, BBC Kickstart, American Championship, British world round all the while working on my book ‘Observed Trials’ with Len Weed.”

SWM action, ridden by Danilo Galeazzi – Photo: Giulio Mauri/Valenti Fontserè.

“1983 was another good year on the new SWM Jumbo. We managed to finish second in the world championship for the third time and also won the American Championship. In 1984, SWM had financial issues, but Piero maintained the team under ‘KK Trials Team’ of which we entered as privateers with an SWM. That was really our last competitive year in the sport and we finished third in the Championship with two World round wins.”

Piero Kuciukian continues to impart knowledge and Bernie Schrieber continues to listen!

“Thank you, Piero, for not only teaching me about trials but also about life. Your wisdom, advice, and mentorship had shaped my character and taught me important life lessons that I carried with me to this day. Your belief in my potential, even when I doubted myself, has been a constant source of motivation through the years. Long live the G.O.A.T. team manager and friend.” – Bernie Schreiber, Zurich, Switzerland. (1979 World Trials Champion, 1982 SSDT winner, Four times American National Trials Champion).

Pietro Kuciukian is a Trials Guru VIP ‘Trial Legend’.

‘Pietro Kuciukian – The Team manager and more’ is copyright of Trials Guru.

Bibliography and source recognition:

Wikipedia [1]

Cartoon artist: Yann Renauld from Moto Verte magazine [2]

Apart from ‘Fair Dealing’ for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this article may be copied, reproduced, stored in any form of retrieval system, electronic or otherwise or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, mechanical, optical, chemical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author as stated above. This article is not being published for any monetary reward or monetisation, be that online or in print.

People

First Trial Legend Announced

Continuing our ten year celebration of the Trials Guru website, the limited, special edition light grey VIP caps, called ‘Trial Legends’ have been produced.

The very first recipient is in the good ole US of A, he is very well known in trials circles in the States, from Muskogee, Oklahoma – the man who has put so much into motorsport for over half a century – JON STOODLEY

On the smooth but very powerful 370 model JTR (Jordi Tarres Replica) Gas Gas of 1997 at the Frank Raines Trial

Jon’s cap will be shipped to him shortly, he has been a supporter of this website from the very start and allowed publication of his ‘Letter From America‘.

John Moffat, Trials Guru website operator said: “Jon Stoodley has been a huge supporter of Trials Guru website since it started in 2014 and we are always happy to feature his ‘Gearhead Alerts’ articles on here. It is without doubt that Jon is indeed a legend in trials. He is so enthusiastic about the sport and is always so encouraging and positive. I just wish there were more Jon Stoodleys in the world of trial!”

JON STOOLEY, we salute you!

The limited edition and exclusive Trials Guru VIP – ‘TRIAL LEGENDS’ – cap.

News

Trials Guru VIPs – Trial Legends

Following on from the Trials Guru VIP red caps and the very limited ‘VIP Winners’ white caps, there is to be awarded another limited edition, exclusive light grey cap for ‘Trial Legends’. The big question is: “who might that be?”

The limited edition and exclusive Trials Guru VIP – ‘TRIAL LEGENDS’ – cap.

The VIP promotion was to celebrate ten years of the Trials Guru website, established in March 2014 and it has gone down a storm with those who have been gifted a specially commissioned red cap and of course the exclusive white cap of which only 10 were issued to ‘VIP Winners’.

To celebrate further, those many of those who received caps have supplied photos of them wearing the cap and many with their favourite motorcycle or trophies in the picture!

For more details on who is a Trials Guru VIP, go to the VIP Club page.

Trials enthusiasts the world over have been delighted to open the little box with their special cap inside.
People

Bill Hartnell with Mike Naish

We introduce you to another stalwart of the South West Centre. A man who was seen by many in local events helping out and observing. In national events as a Steward and the ACU Centre Board as the Finance Officer. A man who has had much experience in trials both locally and nationally, experience gained before many readers were born. A man who carried on in his chosen sport for most of his life with enthusiasm and a good natured approach.

Bill Hartnell – Interviewed by Mike Naish

Bill Hartnell observing at the Knill trial in 2008. Photo: Mike Naish

Words: Bill Hartnell and Mike Naish

Photos: Ken Haydon; Mike Davies; Mike Rapley; Mike Naish (Main Photo: Ken Haydon)

Mike Naish: Are you a West Country lad Bill? and how did you get into motorcycling?

Bill Hartnell: “I was born in 1942 in Taunton and have spent most of my life in Somerset. The only family connection with bikes was an Uncle who was a Despatch Rider in the second wold war. It must have been about 1958 when I regularly saw Vic Vaughan, who lived in the next road- returning home on a Sunday night on his James trials bike covered in mud. I got to learn a bit about trials and thought it looked like a good sport. We used to go and ride our push bikes in push bike trials until I was old enough to get a motorcycle. I went to watch the Taunton Clubs’ Blindmoor Trial on my push bike and I was hooked.”

“I bought my first bike when I was sixteen in the May of 1959, a 125 James which was followed by a James Cotswold scrambler fitted with lights and road tyres, registered as JFX698. I got it from Pankhursts, it was probably the most unreliable bike I’ve ever owned.”

MN: Which was your first Trial?

BH: “My first trial was a Taunton Invitation Trial in the summer of 1960 on the James and I finished, although well down the list. Later on that year I did a deal with a rigid 1953 Francis Barnett Trials, OHO791 which had originally been owned by Bill Martin. I bought it privately and saw Bill’s name in the logbook. It wasn’t an ex factory bike and I often wonder where it is now?”

Bill Hartnell’s Francis Barnett OUO791

“I entered my first trial proper in December 1960, the Quantock Cup Trial run by Bridgwater Motor Club and was amazed to win the novice award. Several riders at that event have become lifelong friends, Joe Oaten, Mike Palfrey, Doug Williams, Richard Partridge and several others. The event was won by John Richards on a 500T Norton, possibly the last rigid win in this centre for an Open to Centre event.”

MN: How did you progress in trials? Was it from instant success to greater things?

 BH: “Well not really. My next event was Taunton’s Edwards Trophy Trial with retirement at the very first section! I often pass the old section now, long overgrown, and have a wry smile. I was footing in a marshy part and my knee caught the petrol pipe and snapped it. My third trial was a Chard Motor Club event on the old Windwhistle scramble course. I came last.”

“However progress was made slowly with the Barnett being changed for a 197 Greeves as rigids were now out and later I had a 250 model. The first Greeves I looked at was a 250 ‘Scottish’ model in Pankhurst’s Motorcycles in Taunton, it was 235BDV, after much thought decided to go for it. Imagine my anguish on arriving at the showroom, chequebook at the ready, to see it being wheeled out of the front door and ridden away. However, as a result Geoff Westcott and myself, he was the lucky purchaser, became good friends.”

“Transport in those early years were either ride to the event, carry the bike on a Sidecar or later on I had a Ford van and later an Austin A40 pick-up. I often shared transport with Joe Oaten or Mike Wyatt who also lived nearby. The trouble with sharing with Joe was he habitually was first to finish and when I got back he was always loaded up, changed and raring to go home.”

“I remember in October 1961 riding the Barnett to a Crediton trial at, I believe, Newton St Cyres. The plan was to ride to the start, remove the lights, change the engine sprocket to lower the gearing and change it all back at the finish to ride home. Tools, spares and extra warm clothing being carried in a back pack. Unfortunately late in the trial the clutch started to slip and the journey home, the last miles in the dark, was both slow and hazardous with every slight incline becoming a mountain to climb. But we made it, but only just.”

MN: Did you venture outside the SW Centre?

BH: “I met with John Pym early on in my career, he had bought a Triumph Tiger Cub trials, and we travelled together on occasions. We even strayed over the South West centre borders from time to time in to the Wessex and Southern centres taking in a few regional restricted and national events. Remember, these were the days of large entries in nationals, all riding the same route. At events like the Kickham, Knut, Perce Simon, West of England and Lyn Traders, it was not unusual to see non-experts, now called clubman, and even novices in the entry list. In fact novice awards were given.  We gained our experience and skills the hard way in those days.”

“Come 1965, further updating of machinery was necessary, but new was out of the question for a poor government employee.  I had joined the Civil Service in 1959 at the Inland Revenue and worked mainly in Somerset but I did have a spell in London for a time.”

However, Pete Turner who used to scramble and lived in Uplyme, was working for Tim Pritchard at Westbury Motorcycles and heard of my dilemma.  He rang me to say they had a 1962 Greeves TES MkII for sale. This was previously a factory supported bike ridden by Peter Valentine and just out of the workshops.  Peter had done a deal to ride semi-factory for Cotton. Enough said, the TES was mine for £129 and of all the bikes I have owned it was definitely my favourite.  First time out at the Beggars Roost at Easter resulted in a first class award. Several others followed including the Lyn Traders.  Dave Chick and I even went to the Scott Trial a couple of times but we never finished even in later years with Montesas.”

Beggar’s Roost action with Bill Hartnell on his Greeves.

1968, a looming marriage forced the Morris 1000 van and Greeves to go and it was not until 1973 that I managed a comeback initially on a 125 Saracen which I purchased from Dave Chick and then a 250 Montesa purchased from John Scott at a Yeo Vale grass track at Easter, 1973.”

Bill Hartnell, Montesa Cota 247 mounted in 1973.

“A succession of Montesas followed until giving up again in 1983. I did have one ride in 1984 but later that year I sold the bike. My interest in enduros was awakened in 1982 and my first event in the February of that year was the Broadhembury Club’s ‘Brass Monkey’ event which I rode on a Yamaha DT. I stopped riding enduros in 1987 shortly after injuring my hand, which meant I had difficulty with writing whilst it was recovering, much to the annoyance of my bosses at the Inland Revenue.”

On the Otter framed BSA in 2005.

“It was not until 1995 that I returned to Trials, competing on a Bultaco in club events and an Otter framed BSA B40 for long distance events. It was largely due to Dave Chick’s enthusiasm that I took up the long distance and Sammy Miller trials. I found them good events where the emphasis fell mainly on enjoyment, and I made many new friends and renewed some old acquaintances such as you Mike, after many years.  Sadly, they seem to have become more competitive and less fun in recent years.”

Somerton trial in February 2008, Bill Hartnell aboard a 325 Bultaco.

“I now find although semi-retired that time is at a premium mainly due to club and centre administration duties and I find it quite ironical that I have a shed full of bikes and the best riding gear ever, but little opportunity to get the wheels turning.”

MN: How did you get into the organising side of things?

BH: “My brother and I joined Taunton Motor Cycle Club in about 1960 and were soon out to work. I think I joined the committee in 1962 and have been there ever since doing Secretary, Treasurer, Clerk of the Course, and Secretary of the Meeting over the years. My latest spell as Secretary of the Club came about in 1994, following the previous Secretary’s sudden resignation at the AGM. It was only as a short term stop gap of course!”

“Although I had attended centre board meetings at odd times over the years, I had never been really interested or involved. However in about 1993 there were complaints about clubs not sending representatives to board meetings and I rashly said I would attend each one and represent Taunton.  Once there, it was a short step to management committee, Vice Chairman and then the Chairman.  Following the sad and sudden demise of Centre Treasurer, Mike Sanders in October 2000, I took over as Treasurer, on a purely temporary basis you understand.”

MN: What have been your favourite bikes?

BH: “Obviously the Greeves, 277AMW which later passed on through Harry Foster’s hands and had a Triumph engine fitted. It is still out there or so I am led to believe. Anybody know of its whereabouts? Also my first proper trials bike-the rigid Francis Barnett.”

Bill Hartnell on the Greeves, 277AMW – Photo: Ken Haydon

MN: What is your favourite trials and sections?

BH: “In the early days obviously our local big events, the West of England, Lyn Traders and Beggars Roost. There was nothing as great as a warm Whit Sunday up on Exmoor at the Lyn with sections like Shallowford, Farley Water and Big Bank. The Otter Vale ‘Presidents’ sadly was never one of my favourites. In more recent years after my third rebirth so to speak, it was the long distance events.”

Bill Hartnell in a long distance trial on the 350 BSA B40.

“Of course the Neil Westcott, Wyegate, Frank Jones and Tour of Islwyn. Sections like they used to be. Downscombe (Beggars Roost and Exmoor) Pant Glas Steps (Wyegate).”

MN: Who were your most admired riders?

BH: “In the early days Bill Wilkinson, Greeves riding on learner plates and British Experts win is obvious to me.”

Bill Wilkinson who won the British Experts on ‘L’ plates on his 250cc Greeves – Photo: Mike Davies

“Locally, Bill Martin who in the early 60s was certainly our best local South West Centre rider. I never knew Bill in the early days, but in recent years we often have a good natter. Great company.”

MN: How do you see the sport of trials now?

BH: “I am pleased to see at last some riders becoming more involved and putting back into the sport, but sadly although interested in the ground works, nobody seems to relish the paperwork side of the ACU which is becoming ever more complicated and time consuming. As an exercise it would be interesting to work out the average age of the current centre management committee.”

MN: Any targets for the future?

 BH: “Keep on enjoying our wonderful sport and the company of all involved, the friends and characters involved also to try and find time to ride more often.”

MN: What were the best Times?

BH: “1970’s with Montesa’s, at last a reliable low maintenance bike and sections still rideable for Mr. Average.”

Bill Hartnell on his 247 Montesa Cota – Photo by Mike Rapley

MN: What would you like to see?

BH: “A return to sanity in Pre65 Trials. It ‘s probably too late, but as a start limit suspension travel, as AMCA do for Classic Motocross. I cannot remember Ariel’s and Cubs in 1965 with nine inches of fork movement.”

MN: Any interest in other branches of off Road sport?

BH: “Not really, but back in the 60s I used to go up to Thruxton for the 500 mile production race. It was good to see bikes basically as you could buy them being raced like Dominators, Bonneville’s and Venoms. I followed speedway with Exeter Falcons and the occasional grass track mainly because of the spectacle of the sidecars. Motocross has always figured with regular trips to France with Chris Payne for some of the big meetings in the late 90s.  All the local meetings over the years when time allowed. I had a go myself in 1963 on a 350 BSA. It proved unreliable and I ended the season sharing a 500 Tribsa with another neighbour, Mike Wyatt. I quickly realised I lacked the necessary temperament to both compete and enjoy.”

Bill Hartnell – Photo: Mike Naish

Bill Hartnell put a lot of hard work into the sport. Being Secretary of both Taunton MCC and SWCTA as well as Centre Treasurer, running the Classic Three Day Trials, and heavily involved in the Two Day.  Observing and stewarding in many other events as well as working a couple of days a week. It needed a well balanced person to achieve all this. Please read this article as a tribute to a true enthusiast of the sport. – Mike Naish

Footnote by Mike Naish:

Sadly Bill Hartnell passed away in January 2015. Bill’s description of his long ride home from Crediton to Taunton in the dark when his clutch was slipping reminded me of an incident relayed to me by the Francis Barnett works rider George Fisher when I interviewed him many years ago for ‘Off Road Review’ magazine.

George had entered the Llamborelle Trial in Belgium in October, November time.  He set off from Bristol on his 122cc Francis Barnett with his haversack on his back, no works transport in those days, to ride to the trial near Brussels. Having crossed the channel, no roll on – roll off ferries it was winched aboard, he set out from Ostend but the big end started to rattle. By the time he had finished the trial, with a major award, the big end was about to give up the ghost, and George had to entice a tow back to Ostend with a local lorry driver, at the end of a tow rope. Eighty miles with icy roads with darkness falling and no lights with a dead engine. George said it was a nightmare and I could see him visibly shudder at the recollection. This was probably in 1953 or ’54 because I know that in 1956 he had moved to Triumph to ride and promote the new 199cc Tiger Cub and he shared a works van with John Giles and Gordon Jackson. That year he won the Llamborelle.

Another era, but history records that Derek Cheeseborough rode his little James up to Scotland from Torquay, completed the SSDT, and at the end of the Special Test in Edinburgh, after the run from Fort William, he changed his handlebars over, then rode through the night to be home again on Sunday. This was to be ready to be back at work in the Bank on the Monday morning. Not a feat I would care to emulate, in excess of two thousand miles, but then Derek was his own man and still is.

Bill Hartnell with Mike Naish is the copyright of Trials Guru and Mike Naish.

Credits: South West Centre ACU Gazette, where this article first was published by Mike Naish, 2008.

More interviews with Mike Naish HERE

Apart from ‘Fair Dealing’ for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this article may be copied, reproduced, stored in any form of retrieval system, electronic or otherwise or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, mechanical, optical, chemical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author as stated above. This article is not being published for any monetary reward or monetisation, be that online or in print.

People

Mike Hann chats with Mike Naish

Words: Mike Hann & Mike Naish.

Photos: Mike Naish; Linda Ashford; Glenn Carney; Mike Rapley.

This is a profile, which dates back to 2007, of one of the most pleasant riders you would ever wish to meet. Enthusiastic, courteous, friendly, always willing to lend a hand. Somebody who encouraged young riders to take up the sport; an organiser, co-ordinator and course plotter. A rider who at sixty-six was the oldest rider in the South West Centre, and performing well at that. Who could have a bad word to say about a real genuine gentleman? Mike Hann.

Mike Hann (325 Bultaco) – Photo: Mike Rapley

Mike Naish: Have you always lived in Dorset, and how did you become interested in motorcycles?

Mike Hann: “I was born in the small Dorset village of Leigh near Sherbourne in 1941. My grandparents and parents were very keen motorcycling families and my father was an excellent engineer. He had been in the Royal Signals during the war and was captured by the Japanese in Singapore. During his captivity he was made to work on the Burma railway. I did not see him until he came home after the war when I was seven years old. He was an enthusiastic motorcyclist but all his bikes were road going models.

Every evening all the local bikers would gather at our house, drink tea and coffee, maintain their bikes and of course all the talk was about bikes, so I suppose it was inevitable that I would become interested. I saw in them a great sense of comradeship and I was learning lots from an early age.”

“When I was about thirteen, along with Badger Goss and Tony Chant, we joined the legendary grass tracker, Lew Coffin as trainee assistants at his parent’s place at Pond Farm, Hillfield. We worked five days a week for no money because Lew said it was ‘training’. Lew had a spare stock bike which we used to share at grass track meetings. Badger was useless as a mechanic but as you know he became a world class competitor joining first Cotton and then Greeves. My father and I looked after Badger’s machinery in his early days.”

“Tony was excellent at both grass and scrambles but he used to annoy Lew by going out at ten o’clock at night to see his girlfriend. Lew reckoned that if you were going to be dedicated to bikes there was no time for anything else. I enjoyed my time with Lew, he taught me a lot.”

MN: Apart from the odd grass track, what was your first competition bike?

MH: “At fourteen, I joined Yeo Vale and Somerton Clubs and very soon became involved in the running of events which I still am today. In 1957 I purchased my first scrambles bike, a 250 Greeves that was followed through my scrambling period by a succession of Husqvarna and Maicos. In 1958 I started work as an apprentice motor mechanic. This enabled me to afford to start scrambling which I did until the mid 70s when it was motocross.”

Mike Hann struggles to control his wayward 250 Greeves at a South West scramble.

MN: Any highlights you want to share?

MH: “Reaching good ‘Expert’ status.  Scoring two British Championship points at a South Molton British Championship round and winning a support race at a Farleigh Castle World Grand Prix in the 1960s. After a short engagement of ten Years, I married my wife Evelyn. It cost me seven shillings and six pence, thats thirty-seven and a half new pence.  She was a farmer’s daughter, excellent value for money, because we also gained three family farm venues for trials which we still use today. Not bad hey?”

Mike Hann aboard his 400 Maico in 1974.

“It was in about 1973 that I had an unfortunate crash in a support race at a winter TV Grandstand meeting. It left me with a nasty broken leg and thigh damage. I missed half of a season being repaired and as much as I tried I could never quite get back into it. It was no longer enjoyable. This coincided with a new daughter and I had started the garage business at Bishops Caundle. Before that I had worked for ten years at Yeovil Technical College teaching motor vehicle maintenance. Common sense and family advice prevailed, motocross ceased and the magical world of trials began.”

Mike Hann guns his 250 Husqvarna.

                                                                                                 

MN: So how did you start your trials career?

MH: “I met up with my long standing friend Keith ‘Ringo’ Ring and then started the long uphill climb up the trials ladder. Although good riders made it look easy we both found trials a lot harder than we first anticipated. Our local heroes at that time were Martin Strang, Geoff Parken and Hedley Ashford. They seemed to win an event on about ten marks lost and we took simply ages to get under one hundred marks. Remember, no dual routes in those days!”

Mike trialling an early model 10 250cc Bultaco Sherpa.

MN: How did you find trials compared with scrambling?

MH: “Right from the very beginning of my trials it was the sense of help from others and the general friendliness of everyone which was very apparent and different from motocross-which is still very true today. As I have already said we found trials at the start very difficult, but after quite a long time we eventually worked our way to ‘Non Expert’ and then ‘Expert’ status. Because I am living in Sherborne Dorset, I am officially resident in the Southern Centre ACU but right from the very beginning I have always considered myself a South West Centre person. I always loved my scrambling days as much as anyone but the magic of the trials world is absolutely the tops with me which of course includes all the people within it.”

Mike Hann on a Bultaco riding ‘Ruby Rocks’ – Photo: Mike Rapley

MN: You have competed the SSDT a number of times?

MH: “Yes, our Yeo Vale chairman in the early days was the well known Percy Butler. We all admired his dedication to the club and the South West Centre; he was admired by all who knew him. This was with the exception at some of the South West Centre board meetings because when Percy was there you knew it was going to be a long evening!

I always remember Percy saying to me “Son, thee can’t call thee sell a trials rider till thee have ridden and finished the Scottish Six Days Trial”.

Mike Hann tackles ‘Fersit’ on his 240 Fantic in the 1984 Scottish Six Days Trial.

“Yes Percy” I replied, “OK, if that’s what it takes Percy, then that’s what it will be”. Well I tried to make entries in 1976, through to 1979, but all were refused as the event was full up. Then in 1980 that special Edinburgh letter said ‘YES’ riding number 180. What the hell have I done now I thought, as the realisation dawned? There was no backing out and I really did not know what I was letting myself into.  That was the start of ten superb Scottish Six Days that I rode in with enough good memories to keep me going for ever. It included two retirements and I can never thank Percy enough for urging me to enter in the first place.”

The Fantic 301 of Thierry Michaud at the 1986 SSDT – Photo: Glenn Carney

MN: What about your bike dealership?

MH: “From 1980 to 1990 I was a Fantic trials main dealer. I loved every second of it but it took up lots of my time and in reality it was difficult to keep going with the main garage. Sadly when my parents passed away a tough decision had to be made, the garage earned my bread and butter and the bikes didn’t, so regrettably the Fantic Agency had to go.  I have to say that during those ten years the Fantic importer Roy Cary and his wife Helen were absolutely fantastic. For example in 1981 a spectator stole my riding jacket at the top of Pipeline, having put it at the ‘ends cards’ prior to riding the section. Mrs Cary was there and insisted I use her own coat to continue the event. That was beyond the call of duty. Following this I have been privileged to take part in six Pre65 Scottish events in total, with a variety of machinery, and once again my good friend Jack Coles allowed me to use his beautiful 500 Ariel, a machine which I rated as perhaps the best bike I have ever ridden.” 

Mike Hann on ‘Pipeline’ in the Pre65 Scottish Trial on the 500 Ariel HT5.

“In fact I did actually own it for a short time but a long standing back injury incurred a few years prior made riding the Ariel continuously a very painful exercise, so Jack had it back.”

Mike Hann, seen here on a 240 model, will always be associated with the Italian Fantic marque, having ridden and sold them for many years at Bishops Caundle.

MN: Do you run any road bikes?

MH: “I love the older bikes and am a very keen member of the Dorset Vintage Club and sometimes take part in their club runs on my 1929 BSA 350.  My brother Rodney, a retired policeman is chairman of the Vintage Club and in my capacity of car and bike MOT testing I get my oily hands on some very exotic machinery which I really enjoy. I consider myself lucky to be able to compete in the South West for fifty two years continuously and above all still very much like to get up early on a Sunday morning to meet the Yeo Vale gang and centre friends and enjoy another good days sport.  I am often asked ‘What are the highlights of your trials life?’ and my immediate reply is ‘Every Sunday’.  I am not afraid to admit that no one enjoys their sport more than I do.”

Mike Hann on a 1921 Sunbeam 1000cc vee-twin taking part in the Banbury Road Run.

MN: What do you think of the Pre65 scene?

MH: “My father was often Clerk of the Course for the Yeo Vale trials and I was helping him one day when he said to his helpers ‘Let’s get the Experts to ride over this part of the fallen tree and the rest of the entry over this lower part’.  That was the very beginning of the dual sections and now of course many times a triple route. In the sixties and seventies when single route sections were the norm you very rarely saw competitors over forty years old, but look at us now with multi route sections, we are all catered for which perhaps is the best and most sensible thing to happen to our sport.”

TALMAG Trial action from Mike Hann on a Matchless.

“One side of our sport which really saddens me is the mad mad world of Pre65 British bike trials, you could write a whole book on the subject. But when you have a section of people spending £12,000 building up an exotic engineered super bike and then entering it in a Pre65 event when the original cost was £300 it is a complete sad joke. The premier event is obviously the Scottish Pre-65 Two day and you could correct the situation overnight if you gave the awards to the competitors whose machine is in the correct spirit of the pre-65 movement.”

MN: And what of the future?

MH: “At sixty six and feeling sixteen you certainly appreciate much more all the things we take for granted. We appreciated our fortunate health, also the massive amount of club work, the observers, the help and support from my wife and family. Every Sunday I am riding Evelyn is running the garage forecourt. A customer recently asked me what I am going to do when I retire from the Garage. I said I would like to be a professional Trials rider and to be sponsored by my wife. She said that she had been doing that for years. In all a happy appreciative South West Centre rider whose favourite day of the week is Sunday. All the best to everyone.” – Mike Hann

Mike Hann entertains during an ‘Up Memory Lane’ gathering organised by the SWCTA – Photo: Mike Naish

This interview took place in November 2007, so the dates and ages will have change considerably. – Mike Naish

Trials Guru Post Script: When Mike Hann rode the 1980 Scottish Six Days with riding number 180, an enthusiastic parc ferme marshal when calling out the numbers in the morning, when he came to Mike’s number he called out in a loud voice “One Hundred and Eightyyyyy” in the way they do at darts competitions. This happened every morning with people laughing. Mike had to ask what the joke was!

Mike Hann (Fantic) at the Somerton Classic Trial – Photo: Linda Ashford

‘Mike Hann chats to Mike Naish’ is the copyright of Trials Guru and Mike Naish.

More interviews with Mike Naish HERE

Apart from ‘Fair Dealing’ for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this article may be copied, reproduced, stored in any form of retrieval system, electronic or otherwise or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, mechanical, optical, chemical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author as stated above. This article is not being published for any monetary reward or monetisation, be that online or in print.

Obituaries

Don Howlett 1933 – 2024

Don Howlett, former director of Comerford’s Ltd of Thames Ditton, the Bultaco importers and multi-franchise motorcycle dealers has passed away, aged 91 years of age.

Howlett was a major player in the importation to the UK of the Spanish brand of off-road motorcycles from 1972 until 1984.

Don was a keen scrambles rider and also rode in trials. He competed in the 1963 Scottish Six Days on a Greeves. Comerford’s motto was ‘Ride them on Sunday, sell them on Monday’ which reflected the sporting involvement by most of the employees.

After the demise of Comerfords as a motorcycle and car dealer, he formed ‘CI Sport’ with Stuart Miller, this business was the importation division of Comerfords, originally called Comerfords International, hence the ‘CI’.

Don Howlett had been ill for some time, his funeral took place on Tuesday 3rd December at St. John’s Church, Old Malden, Kingston Upon Thames.

He leaves a widow Chris, son Paul and daughter, Louise.

The Comerfords riders and supporters in the 1963 Scottish Six Days Trial, Don Howlett is on the far right of the photo.
People

Brian Trott by Mike Naish

Brian Trott passed away in November 2015 aged 88 years, but he left his mark on trials in the South West corner of the UK and also further afield. He was well-known to all competitors in that area for his enthusiasm and dedication to the sport of trials and to motorcycling in general. It is no exaggeration to say that he lived for the sport of trials riding. This article was the result of an interview in 2007 on the occasion of Brian’s 80th birthday for the South West Centre ACU Gazette. Mike Naish shares the life of a dedicated trials rider by re-publishing this interview.

Words: Mike Naish & Brian Trott

Photos: Mike Rapley; David Cole

Brian Trott on a 247 Montesa Cota – Photo: Mike Rapley

Mike Naish: Where were you born Brian?

Brian Trott: “I was born at Hawkchuch near Axminster on 10th June 1927. The family moved to Harberton near Totnes when I was eight. My Dad was a gamekeeper and he got a job at the Dundridge Estate. No pay, but it was a lovely life. We dined well and enjoyed life. I picked up some of his expertise because I am very close to the countryside. It seems our family have either been in game-keeping or mechanics. I went to school in Harberton Primary and then later in Totnes.”

(Historical note: Dundridge House and estate was built by the Luttrells of Dunster castle in the late 18th century and by the late 1800’s had been acquired by Sir Robert Harvey of Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry fame. The property remained in the Harvey family until shortly after the Second World War and was most recently used as a training facility for air traffic controllers)

MN: What was your first interest in motorcycles?

BT: “It was whilst I was doing my apprenticeship here in Totnes. The company was WH Jordan a Morris cars and BSA agent at the top of the town. The motorcycle was in a garden not far from here. The lady had it jacked up with a belt on it fixed to a tool bench, I showed so much interest in it she gave it to me. I took it apart and took it back to Harberton on a pushbike bit by bit. I got it going and ran it for a couple of years.”

“My next encounter with bikes was in the RAF which really started my lifelong passion with motorbikes. It was very strict training which is where I got my machining experience. I had been in the Air Training Corps up at RAF Locking near Weston Super Mare on Ansons, so I was accepted into the RAF and I did three years as a fitter 2e (Engines) working on Harvard’s with Pratt & Witney radial engines in Egypt that was in 1945. That was my first real association with motorbikes. When I got there they asked me what my interests were.  I said motorcycling, so they sent me for some despatch rider training at a camp in Ismailia just outside Cairo. I met a man called Ivan Kessell from Cornwall, he was involved in speedway. They arranged a speedway match between the RAF and the army and they put me on a 350 WD Matchless. In our spare time, and as part of the training, we would get these bikes ready for the next meeting.”

Brian Trott on his early Villiers Specials.

“When I came out in 1948-49 I got a job with a tractor company, Reed & Company, a Ford distributor. I ran the agricultural side. I had a brilliant life with a mobile workshop and travelled all over the South West on the farms, I loved it but I had a bad accident with a tractor. The caterpillar ran over my pelvis and smashed it up it affected my bladder amongst other things. I was in Torbay Hospital for a year. Luckily I met a good surgeon who came to Torbay and he did a good job on me. In the early fifties I was a member of Dartmouth and District Motor Cycle and Light Car Club. I rode a couple of grass tracks on a Velocette GTP with an outside flywheel at St Annes Chapel Bigbury with Dickie Bird Ellis, then I rode a 197 James in scrambles. I bought it off of John Crook Motorcycles. It had been a rigid model but I put a swinging arm on it.”

1960s photo of Brian Trott on his James.

“Pat and I got married in 1954. I carried on in local scrambling riding a 250 BSA then a 500 Triumph converted speed twin. That wouldn’t half go, I had quite a bang with it at an Otter Vale scramble and it came right in half.”

“I had an accident on a Tiger Cub at a Devonport scramble over the border in Cornwall. I injured my knee and was out for the rest of the season. Of course in those days you rarely went to the doctor with these accidents you just waited for them to heal naturally.  I started trials when it was better, to get me fit for the next scramble season, but I liked trials so much I never went back to scrambles. It is a lovely sport and it has a lovely lot of people, that’s what I liked.”

MN: How did you get to events in those days?

BT: “We took the front wheel out and hitched the forks behind the rear bumper of our A30 car and tied it down, took the rear chain off and towed it that way. One day we went to the Isle of Man towing the bike, a Tiger cub, on the back wheel in the usual way. We were flagged down by someone at Tewksbury who said there was a fire coming out of the back of the bike. We looked around and couldn’t see anything wrong so went on our way we thought they must have been seeing things. We were stopped three times by people saying there were sparks coming out of the back of the bike but we could not see any thing. When we got to the IOM and we went to put the chain on, at least ½ inch of the swinging arm was gone, it had been worn away by the side knobbles on the tyre which had been deformed by the speed we had been going.”

“In fact when we got home and had a piece of plate welded in we had more clearance.”

MN: What bike did you start trials with?

BT: “Well it was nearly always BSA Bantams, it’s the bike I become most associated with and really I was the man who stated the bantam scene for trials. If only I knew then what I know now it would have been even greater. Although when I went to work at John Crook Motorcycles, I had sponsorship from Greeves along with Alan Stevens and Ian Crook through the shop. I probably rode Greeves for ten years. I used to normally get first or second class awards in local trials.”

Brian Trott on his Greeves in a Moretonhampstead trial.

“I always felt I rode well when I went to Hampshire and rode in the Bluebeards and the Greybeards for over twenty years. I feel my best successes were there. I won the event in 1980 and 1981 and then had a bad crash in ’82. The winner Les Crowder, sent me the cup, said I deserved it more than him. There are some brilliant people in the trials world. The accident happened at Pepworth, I was in the lead on the 320 Majesty and I hadn’t lost a mark. Well on the course there was a part where two trees had fallen, they had been there for years and I thought I could jump them both, I was too cocky really. Well this time I just didn’t clear them; the back wheel just caught the end of the tree and sent me off sideways. There was a branch of a tree that had been cut off with a chain saw and it went straight in my mouth. I was in a terrible state with severe facial injuries, it cut an artery in the back of my throat. John Born was my hero who probably saved my life; he got me out of the woods and controlled the bleeding so that I could breathe. Jillian, Johns wife, drove me to Chichester Hospital where luckily they specialised in head injuries. The last thing I remember was going into the scanner then when I came around two or three days later my head was in a frame. I had screws to pull my face and jaw back out because all my jaw had been broken in four places and my teeth had been pushed back into my throat, which had cut the artery, I was in a hell of a state.”

Roger, Pat and Brian Trott.

MN: And did this not put you off riding?

BT: “No not at all, I went back and won the event the next year with ease, I still think that was my biggest achievement. I am sure it was the will to keep riding which helped me recover quickly.”

Brian Trott (247 Montesa) captured by Mike Rapley

“The surgeon who looked at my ankles recently after I had two x-rays, looked at me and said, ‘Brian your ankles are shattered and I’ll put the cards on the table. You have three options. You can keep taking pain killers, you can have then screwed and fused but you will never get a boot on because you will not be able to bend your ankle or I can put you in a mechanical ankle, there is a new on just come in from the USA.’ After we had talked for a while and established that he had a Bantam he said ‘I think we can fix you up Mr Trott. You are almost eighty years old but you have the body of a sixty-five year old and the mind of a twenty-five year old. What do you want to do with a new pair of ankles?’ I said I want to walk down to the pub and I want to ride in motorcycle trials, so he said OK. I said when can you do it and he said next week and eleven days later I had a new ankle, it cost me £10,000. I have been back to work and it gives me no pain. The surgeon said that my positive attitude had helped my recovery no end. Now I have the second ankle done and am waiting to get back on the bike so that I can help Roger mark out the Dartmoor two day trial in September.”

MN: When did you open your shop?

BT: “I was working for John Crook Motorcycles in Totnes, I worked for him for twelve years and he took on a new Ford car agency but they dictated that he had to give up all his other outlets in trials bikes, so I said in that case I’ll take it on. That was in 1979. I eventually became a five star Honda dealer. It was hard work but as a family we all worked together and it worked well.”

Brian Trott in an Exmoor Three Day Trial on his BSA Bantam.

MN: Did you ever ride outwith the South West centre, apart from the Greybeards?

BT: “I used to go to the nationals like the John Douglas and the Kickham and of course our centre nationals at Otter Vale and the West of England. I always went to the two day in Cornwall, the Tristan da Cunha and the Kernow. I also did the Jersey Two Day. One year I ordered a new bike, a 320 Majesty from John Shirt. They were going to bring the bike to the trial for me. Well they arrived late and missed the ferry; we could see John Shirt’s van on the Quay slowly disappearing. We saw the captain and he stopped the ferry and backed up back to the Quay so that they could board. There was no room for the van so they unloaded the bikes and the gear and pushed them in between the cars and left the van on the harbour side at Weymouth. Mick Andrews didn’t half give me some stick over that. I had some good rides on that bike.”

Brian Trott, Yamaha Majesty mounted.

MN: When did you start riding Pre65 trials?

BT: “I cannot quite remember the date but I did ride in the first South West Classic Three Day trial in 1983 and carried on from there. I did feel very guilty because I had built this nice little BSA Bantam and most others were on big bikes like Matchless AJS and Ariel. Trevor Compton was on his Panther Stroud, I remember and I thought to myself what am I doing up here with this lot it is not fair on them, and I mean they were a lovely set of blokes. Pre65 gave me a new lease of life not only riding but making Bantams, I specialised in them. We tooled up and they became quite a large part of the business. We made the frames and sold bikes to Doug Theobold amongst many. I suppose we made about twenty-five. We did the motors up, I would machine flywheels and attach them to pressed steel plates and balance them up to suit trials. We also made some Tiger Cub specials.”

Brian Trott on the Mamore Road, Kinlochleven with his Tandon. Photo: Dave Cole.

MN: You went to the Pre65 Scottish in 2006, did you enjoy that?

BT: “It was a marvellous weekend, I rode the Tandon along the Mamore Road with Dave Cole to see the sections. It was one of the most pleasurable weekends I remember. Scotsman, Jock McComisky arranged it for us.”

Brian with friends at an ‘Up Memory Lane’ gathering in 2005.

MN: And finally?

BT: “I have no regrets in my life I would do the same things again. Even my accidents, they make you realise that life is worth living and it gives you a positive attitude. I hope to ride a little Bantam engined James that I have built in some easier trials when both my ankles have healed. I always felt my best riding was done between the ages of sixty and sixty-two. I was very strong and this helped.”

Brian Trott (Yamaha) – Photo: Mike Rapley

“I have to give a lot of credit to my wife Pat who has supported me through my entire career and my times in hospital both in Cornwall Torbay and Chichester. She has observed and been with me at most of my events and I like to take this opportunity of thanking her publicly for all her support over the Years.”

Acknowledgements:

With thanks to the ACU South West Centre Gazette

‘Brian Trott by Mike Naish’ is the copyright of Trials Guru and Mike Naish.

More interviews with Mike Naish HERE

Apart from ‘Fair Dealing’ for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this article may be copied, reproduced, stored in any form of retrieval system, electronic or otherwise or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, mechanical, optical, chemical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author as stated above. This article is not being published for any monetary reward or monetisation, be that online or in print.

Obituaries

Gordon O. Mclaughlan passes

It is with sadness that we announce that the former AJS factory trials rider, Gordon O. Mclaughlan has passed away.

From Thornaby on Tees, North Yorkshire, Mclaughlan was one of the ‘Three Gordons’ AJS factory team comprising of Gordon Mclaughlan, Gordon Blakeway and Gordon Jackson. he was a motor dealer and owned Gordon Mclaughlan Motors, BMC and British Leyland agents.

AJS teamster Gordon McLaughlan seen here on his factory AJS 164BLL at the Colonial Trial in 1963 – Photo: Charlie Watson, Hull

Gordon was a member of the Middlesbrough & District Motor Club, a keen Scottish Six Days and Scott Trial competitor in the 1950s and 60s.

His last motorcycling event was the Scott Trial Reunion dinner, hosted by Sid Lampkin at the Kings Head Hotel on November 9th 2024, where he sat at the top table and conversed most of the evening with his friend, Arthur Lampkin.

A Brian Holder photo of Gordon Mclaughlan in the 1960 SSDT on Devil’s Staircase. Watched closely by SACU official Jim Birrell ( standing with camera) and Ralph Venables (seated, top left) – Photo couresy of Ian Harland

Gordon Mclaughlan’s funeral will be held on Friday, 20th December 2024 at 11:00 in St. Bedes Chapel, Acklam Crematorium, Middlesbrough, TS5 7HD and at Middlesbrough Motor Club thereafter.

People

Vic Ashford talks with Mike Naish

1 Comment

Vic Ashford was one of the South West Centre Officials. A man who helped to keep the wheels of our sport turning. A man who had dedicated himself not only to organisation and running of events for over fifty years, but who has represented the centre and his club as a works trials rider. He had a riding ability in his day that was equal to the top but he was also renowned for his organising of both trials and motocross. He arranged all the centre permits and was well known for his enthusiasm and good natured approach. He was of course that gentle Giant Vic Ashford. We also republish Vic’s obituary upon his death in 2012.

Words: Mike Naish & Dave Cole.

Photos: Dave Cole, Mike Naish, OffRoad Archive; Fred Browning, Mike Rapley. (Main photo Fred Browning)

Mike Naish: How did you become interested in Motorcycles Vic?

Vic Ashford: “I was born 1939 and raised on Wotton Farm near Denbury. We had sections on the farm that were used in the West of England National Trial, ‘Wotton Farm’ and ‘Cape Horn’ so I used to watch trials on the farm from an early age. My parents were not motorcyclists, but they had this mixed farm of one hundred and twenty acres and were content to let the trial come onto the farm land.”

MN: Take me through your early days and your first bikes.

VA: “I went to Denbury Primary School and then father thought it would be more use to me if instead of going to Grammar school in Newton Abbot I went to the Technical school in Torquaywhere I could learn about woodwork and metalwork as well as all the usual subjects.”

“When I was sixteen years old I bought a brand new James ‘Captain’ road bike from Freddie Hawkins. It cost £140 and Bill Martin who worked at the shop was assigned to help me learn to ride it. When I got to seventeen, I got a new James ‘Commando’ trials bike, again from Freddie Hawkins, it cost me £160. I joined the West of England Motor Club and rode about six trials on it, but did not particularly shine. I went to an Okehampton trial held on the firing range riding the bike there as we did in those days, but the bike broke down and Harold Ellis gave me a lift home in his van, which was the beginning of my association with him.”

MN: So did you move on to other competition bikes?

VA: “No not at first, I swapped the James in at John Green’s at Newton Abbot for a 500 AJS twin road bike. I was friends with Alan Dommett and we used to go and watch scrambles together on it. Because both our fathers were churchwardens, we sometimes had to leave the event before the end, so that we could be back in time for church, especially if the scramble was up in Somerset. Later I handed in the AJS and bought a Standard 10 van.”

“In 1959 when I was nineteen or twenty, I borrowed Alan’s 197 Greeves and rode in the Moretonhampstead Christmas trial and won the non-expert award and a week later I won the Pike Award for best novice in the Knill Trial, which upgraded me. I suppose this gave me the enthusiasm to ride again, so in June 1960 I brought a Greeves ‘Scottish’, it cost me £145. In 1961 I rode the Greeves in the Scott trial in Yorkshire with Bill Martin. It was a tough trial very hard going and I was pleased to get a finishers award. I started off and thought I would follow a couple of the works guys but I couldn’t keep up with them. I was going what I thought was quite quick across the moors when this little wiry guy came hurtling past me. When I got to the next section he was just going up it and I could see it was Dave Bickers.  Later on I heard this big four stroke behind me thumping away, then he passed me and it was Sammy Miller in top gear. That year Bill Martin got best newcomer on 150 marks lost on time and observation to Arthur Lampkin’s win on 56 marks lost.”

West of England trial in 1961. Left to right: Bill Martin, Vic Ashford and Ernie Short.

“I started to win regular awards on the Greeves and then I got works support from Francis Barnett.  Max King had talked to Hugh Denton of Francis Barnett and I was given a bike with the new AMC engine in it.

Vic Ashford aboard the factory Francis Barnett with the AMC engine. (Photo: OffRoad Archive)

This replaced the Villiers unit mostly used at the time. Later when Francis Barnett reviewed their list of riders for the Scottish Six Day the support stopped but I was allowed to buy the bike for £60. The first trial I won on it was a Taunton trial in February 1962.”

Vic Ashford body leans Max King’s 250cc C15 BSA, YOE388 which was one of the first production C15T models produced at BSA.

“Following the end of Francis Barnett support, Max King had spoken to the BSA competition shop and they had agreed to give me works support. While it was being sorted, Max lent me his own 250 BSA registered as YOE 388, the one that is featured in the second edition of his book Trials Riding.”

‘Trials Riding’ by Max King, Second Edition. YOE388 is on the front cover with Max King on board.

MN: How did you get on with the four stroke after all the lightweights?

VA: “Quite honestly Mike, changing bikes never ever bothered me, I would have ridden a five barred gate if it had handlebars on it! I had to purchase the bike myself from Benny Crew who, if I remember rightly, was at Wareham in Dorset. It cost £252 and was registered as TTK 7. It went to the competition shop at Small Heath to be fettled for the SSDT in 1963. To run it in I rode in a Dartmouth trial the week before, but I rode to Dartmouth via Launceston to put some miles on it. We went to Scotland in my Morris Oxford van. There was my BSA and John Poate’s Royal Enfield in the back, and a trailer with Roger Wooldridge’s Cub and Brian Slee’s 250 BSA. Roger gave me £10 for the trip I remember. I just missed a special first class award loosing 123 marks. Arthur Lampkin won the trial on 7 marks lost. After the Scottish, the bike went back to be fettled in the comp shop with a load of new bits. From then onwards until my support finished they sent me the parts in the post and I got them fitted down at Freddie Hawkins.”

Vic Ashford on his factory supported BSA.

“I rode in most of the Nationals, John Douglas, The Hoad, St David’s, Victory, Bemrose and of course our local ones, the West of England and the Presidents.”

MN : What did you ride after your BSA Support finished?

VA: “It was in 1967 that I sold the BSA to a guy in Cornwall and bought Roger Wooldridge’s old 250 Bultaco. I think Roger changed back to a Cub or BSA at that time. I rode it in the Knill and was runner up. I liked the bike, it seemed that you could do almost anything with it. I rode it with quite a few successes until 1969.”

Vic Ashford on the ex-Roger Wooldridge Bultaco Sherpa.

“The birth of my son, Jim was due, and my wife was in Torbay Hospital, but there was a West of England closed to club trial on in the morning, so I thought I would ride and then get down for the birth in the afternoon. Unfortunately I dabbed in fresh air, fell off and dislocated my collar bone. So I was in Newton Abbot casualty department whilst my wife was having the baby in Torbay. I went in later all strapped up obviously a bit sheepishly. I did not really ride in trials much after that although I did ride in a few pre65 trials for three or four years on a BSA. I have a Chinese trail bike which I use to mark out the ‘Moor to Sea’ trial. Before that I had a Serrow.”

Vic Ashford with his Yamaha Serrow – Photo: Mike Naish.

MN: Can I ask you firstly how tall you are and also about your riding boots, because I have this abiding picture of you hunched over your bike and always riding in Wellingtons?

VA: “Well I was 6’2½” when I was younger; I’ve probably shrunk a bit now. With regards to the boots I started off riding in fireman’s boots but one day I got the footrest stuck between the sole and the instep of my foot. And of course they were always leaking so I just used a pair of Wellington boots. At least it kept my feet dry.”

MN: Today you are well known for your Organisational activities, when did you start?

VA: “I joined the West of England Club in 1956 but I was most disappointed not to be voted on the committee that year, I had to wait until 1958 when I was nineteen. I have been on the committee ever since, forty-eight years, organising and running trials and scrambles. I have been vice chairman a couple of times, but I never wanted to be the chairman. I became Centre Permit Secretary in the early 1990s when Brian Staddon died and his wife wished to give up the post. I said I would stand in for a while until they got someone, and I am still doing it.”

Vic Ashford on his Bultaco, for many years a stalwart of the West of England club – Photo: Mike Rapley

MN: I know you are heavily involved in the Moto-Cross scene, and yet you have never ridden.

VA: “Not quite true Mike. I have always, from my youth, been interested in scrambles. Wilf Ellis, who was the scrambles secretary for the club, and I, visited all the national events and many on the continent as well. One year I visited eight of the twelve world rounds all over Europe. As for riding in scrambles, yes I did once ride at a meeting run by the Chard club at Windwhistle. As it happened I had trouble with my bike so I was loaned a 350 BSA Gold Star by Jack Williams and rode my three heats. Sad to say I finished last in two of them but in the last heat I made a supreme effort and just overtook a rider to finish last but one. I realised I was not really cut out to be a speed merchant, so that was it.  Today I manage the land at Whiteway Barton on behalf of the farmer and the club so that we can run the correct number of allowable events each year. This involves getting the track graded and maintaining the facilities.”

MN: What have you done career-wise? I believe you have a Fruit and Veg stall at Newton Abbot Market, have you done it for long time?

VA: “I worked on the family farm until 1963 when I bought a small holding of four acres in Denbury. On the farm Dad used to give me £5 a week pocket money so when I got married I said I needed a rise up to £20. We kept a few pigs and chicken and produced vegetables which we sold. Later I rented a couple of acres from Anthony Rew’s father to increase the amount of produce but it was a long hard day. I started the stall at the market in 1967 selling produce from local suppliers so I have been there nigh on forty years. Nowadays I just go out to the wholesalers at 7am to buy the days supply. Also I recently took over the greetings card stall when the owner retired so now I run the two.”

R. Bray (Montesa 348) from Newton Abbot being watched by Vic Ashford, Graham Baker and Keith Lee – Photo: Mike Rapley.

MN: And the future?

VA: “I intend to carry on in the market until I am at least seventy and in the motorcycle world as long as I am able. It has been a big part of my life.”

MN: One final thing. Vic mentioned that he started off by watching the West of England Trial at Wotton Farm so he knew the make up of the sections well. To give a flavour for those who do not know the sections, now no longer used, here is reproduced the words from the ‘Motor Cycling’ magazine for November 2nd 1961 reporting on the West of England Trial.

“Vicious opener for the eastern circuit was the Cape Horn-Wotton group, which involved dives into a hub-deep stream and up well-watered, slimy clay banks. Typical and consecutive performances were those of Arthur Lampkin (250 BSA), Gordon Blakeway (200 Triumph) and Jeff Smith (350 BSA). All used feet and throttle without hesitation, and on Wotton they kept going up the steep exit- where even some of the best men who tried other tactics were floundering before the end.”

“On Cape Horn, Smith became caught between the head –high banks and handed himself off- and was duly debited with a dab.  Immediately afterwards Brian Martin (250 BSA) footed where team-mate Jeff had lost his point; submerged rocks were the cause. Scott Ellis (200 Triumph) made a neat showing at Cape Horn as did V J Ashford (250 Greeves)”.

Winner that year was Johnny Giles (200 Triumph on 7 marks lost) best South Western Resident was Vic on a creditable 28 marks lost, beating such names as John Draper and Jim Sandiford amongst many others.

‘Vic Ashford talks with Mike Naish’ is the copyright of Trials Guru and Mike Naish.

Bibliography:

Motor Cycling, 2 November 1961.

More interviews with Mike Naish HERE

Apart from ‘Fair Dealing’ for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this article may be copied, reproduced, stored in any form of retrieval system, electronic or otherwise or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, mechanical, optical, chemical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author as stated above. This article is not being published for any monetary reward or monetisation, be that online or in print.

Victor (Vic) James Ashford

1939 – 2012

Obituary by Dave Cole in 2012:

It is with much sadness we report the death of Victor Ashford, the President of the West of England Motor Club who passed away on Monday 7th May following an illness, which was borne quietly, and bravely for quite some time.

Vic was an immensely popular man who was well known to sporting motorcyclists all over the country, along with customers who knew him as a Newton Abbot market trader for a great many years. He had two big passions in life one was the West of England Motor Club, the other was his Whist Drive Club, Victor drove around the local villages on Dartmoor picking up many of his whist drive friends before returning them again after a good evening out-all in the aid of charity.

As a Woodland, near Denbury lad, Vic grew up with motorcycle events taking place on his family farm, as soon as he was sixteen he purchased his first bike and a year later his first competition bike, he went on to become one of the finest and most successful motorcycle trials riders from the west country during the 1960s.

On joining the West of England Motor Club in 1956, Vic was very disappointed not to be voted onto the club committee until 1958. He certainly made up for the lost couple of years as his services to his club and the South Western Centre of the A.C.U., are now legend and it is generally accepted that without vast amounts of help from him, in many forms, along with the insatiable enthusiasm of Vic, the club would not have survived through some of the difficult times faced in years gone by.

At the end of last year Victor was presented with the very prestigious Auto -Cycle Union Medal of Honour, an accolade marking his outstanding contribution, and years of service to the A.C.U. and to motorcycle sport in general, an honour that was richly deserved.

Certainly Victor’s energy, commitment, dedication and determination will make him sorely missed by a great many people. Victor was a true ‘gentle giant’, a ‘giant’ in every sense of the word.

Our sincere condolences go to all of Vic’s family, especially sons Jim, Martin and daughter Jackie, along with sisters Sheila, Joan and Jackie plus brother Eric.

Rest in peace Victor and thank you for your friendship and hard work.

Dave Cole – On behalf of the entire committee of the West of England Motor Club.

Trials Guru: We thank Dave Cole for allowing us to republish Vic Ashford’s obituary.

People

George Atkins chats to Mike Naish

Words: Mike Naish & George Atkins

Photos: Mike Naish

George Atkins – Photo Mike Naish

Continuing the series of interviews with some South West Centre trials riders in the UK, this is the story of a man who was never content to let the grass grow under his feet. A person who was driven by a strong sense of adventure, culminating in wide variations throughout his life. Progressing through life as a Scamp, a Rascal, a Scallywag, a Raconteur, a Swagman and Lothario, he was excellent with banter, and Carpenter to boot; and that was just the first thirty years. In later years, an enthusiastic bike builder, courteous when it was needed, friendly, always willing to lend a hand. A trials organiser, coordinator, course plotter. A rider who at sixty plus years is one of the oldest riders in the South West Centre who is still riding modern, Twinshock and Pre-65 championship trials, and well at that.  Recently into goat and sheep midwifery. Throughout his life someone with a strong spirit guide becoming a Counsellor with healing groups, and a spiritual healer. Finally finding his Shangri-La described as a harmonious valley within an earthly paradise. But running throughout this life has been a single continuous thread, motorcycle trials. This is the extraordinary colourful life of George Atkins.

Mike Naish: Have you always lived in Devon and how did you become interested in motorcycles?

George Atkins: “I was born and bred in Exeter in 1951, my father was a retired Regimental Sergeant Major in the Devon and Dorset Regiment and went through both the first and second world wars, but he died when I was ten. I went to school in Exeter although I was never very focussed on school work and took a lot of beatings for not doing the work which I took stoically and never made a fuss, and so I couldn’t wait to leave and go out into the wider world, which I did as soon as I was able, at age 15. My best subjects were woodwork and metalwork and I suppose it was logical that I would start work in one of those activities.”

“John Stocker School advised me to go and work with my hands with carpentry and shop fitting. One day whilst I was up in Exeter town I saw Force and Sons so I went in the yard and asked for a shop fitting apprenticeship. After my probationary period I started my 5 year apprenticeship in 1966. Then as soon as I came out of my time I went self-employed working as a site Carpenter until 1974 when I went to Australia.”

MN: What was your first bike and how did you get into trials?

GA: “My first bike was a 150 James, Mike Thyer, my cousin through his father, Lesley, gave me a ride on a Royal Enfield Twin. I jumped on and being in short trousers with a high level pipe, I burnt the inside of both my thighs. He worked for British Railways and he came around one day when I was fifteen and said ‘there is a motorbike for you at the end of the coal yard in the last bunker. I gave a bloke 10 bob (50p) for it. He said there is something wrong with it because it wouldn’t turn over, but I will leave it to you to sort out’. So we pushed it home. The kick start went straight down to the floor without turning anything. The only tools I had was a hammer, a chisel and a flat bicycle spanner. I took the gearbox cover off and all the gearbox parts fell out on the floor. The main shaft was broken. So I went down to the quay where the catacombs were, and saw a dealer called Herbie Plane and said, ‘have you got one of these please? ‘Yep’, he said, ‘Two shillings (10p) to you’. I said ‘but you have a bucket full there!’ ‘All right’, he said, ‘1s-6d to you’. I managed to work out how it all went back together and relined the clutch plates with old cork bottle tops and got it going again.  I went to my first trial to watch with Mike Thyer, who had a DOT. There was a guy called Chris Pulman who worked at Warnes cycle shop in Exeter, who helped me build my first trials bike.  Chris let me ride his Norman in 1967.”

George Atkins on his 197cc James in 1967.

“We went down to Herbie Plain and swopped the road James for the James Trials bike with some extra money. I was fifteen at the time. I pushed it home from the Quay at Exeter. Chris Pulman said you will need to lower the gearing. I can get you a blank but you will have to find someone to hobble out the teeth. All I had was an egg whisk drill. To lower the gearing I made a larger back sprocket by getting the blank, and then I laid the old sprocket on top and marked it out and then drilled 1/8th diameter holes all the way round at a larger diameter by drilling by hand, then filed them out as well as the centre hole. It took me two nights to do. The chain did go a bit tight then slack as it went around but in principle it worked. Pridham said ‘What the f……! have you got there boy? He was very instrumental in my life as was Chris.“

“I used BR Warne shop a lot to get all the parts I wanted, I was always in there. After it was built I used to go practising up in Stoke woods at the weekend and nearly every lunchtime I would go down to a bomb site at the back of John Born’s shop and practice for ½ hour with John and then roar off back up the main high street past the Guildhall with a Peco exhaust pipe and everyone would look at me, it was great. I was sure it was with admiration.“

“In my first trial I rode the James to an Otter Vale event on other side of Honiton. I won the novice award in my first trial. I belonged to the Otter Vale club and I rode the bike to trials until in 1968 when I got myself a sidecar outfit. It was a 1947 M21 with girder forks. I rode both in the South West centre and sometimes in Cornwall after I got the sidecar going. I later got a Cotton 250. There was one in Ottery, a lovely bike but they wanted £100 for it. I was only an apprentice and couldn’t afford that sort of money. Chris Pulman said why don’t you go to BR (Warne) and ask him if he would sponsor you. So I went and asked him. He said I’ll tell you what, ‘I’ll charge you £10, and I’ll buy it and organise finance for you, and I’ll sell it back to you for £110’. So I did, and it was the first proper trials bike I had.”

Boxing Day 1971 at Thorns Cross on the five-speed Bultaco.

“I wasn’t interested in girls at this time I was too busy doing my apprenticeship and riding and maintaining my bikes, but when I was doing some shop fitting at Waltons, which was a big store in Exeter, I met Wendy who worked there in the store. I decided that I needed a car to take her out, and figured it would be useful also to use to take the bike to Trials. Geoff Horrell who sold cider in Stoke Canon and rode an HGH in Trials, had a Standard 10 with a spare 850 engine which he swapped to me for a sidecar body. I used the car with a trailer for the bike although the brakes were not a lot of use. When the 1000cc motor blew up I replaced it with the 850 version.”

George Atkins in 1971 on his Bultaco.

“I used to do Pigeon shooting with this bloke out the other side of Dunsford and he said you ought to see the fields in Australia, I’ll show you some pictures when we get home. Well three months later in August 1974 I was in Australia. Wendy and I went out on assisted passage for £45 for the two of us and all our gear.“

MN: Tell me about your time in Australia?

“We went to Brisbane and were met at the airport by the father of Tony Goldsmith, a trials rider who owned the riverside club and whose father was already in Oz. He arranged sponsorship and a flat for us and I was to carry on my profession as a carpenter, but there was absolutely no work for months so I started to train David Goldsmith, his son, to ride trials, and he ended up being the Australian champion. I got a sponsored ride with the Brisbane Yamaha shop riding a brand new TY250 in trials. They asked to see me through another rider, and said they would lend me a bike and pay my entry fee, but I had to get myself to events. I rode in Queensland at weekends, then we bought a caravan and hitched it up to an Australian made Holden car to work our way around Australia. We got north to Bunderburg and went to a sugar cane plantation driving a tractor and other jobs.  I helped to build some houses up there, and as it was still in Queensland I could still ride the Yam. Then we heard from an old friend that had come out to Oz for an extended stay down in Victoria. So we about turned 180 degrees around and drove all the way down to Shepparton on the banks of the Goulburn river in Victoria,  about 100 miles North east of Melbourne and put the caravan in his front garden. I did some work down there on a sheep station and built some houses as a carpenter for an architect -Stud walls, roofs etc. The Yamaha dealer had said that if I moved to any other state just go to the local Yamaha dealer and they would lend me a bike for trials.  So in Victoria I had a TY 175 –used to round up sheep with it. Then I blew the engine up when practising, going over a jump into water it sucked up a cylinder full when I didn’t open up correctly. I told them it must have been a fault with the bike. They said ‘Can you mend it? I said ‘Yes’, so they sent me a new Con rod and piston and I got on with it.  It was nothing to travel 200 miles to ride in a trial out there.”

“We decided to carry on around Australia so I decided to go to Western Australia towards Perth. I drove across the Nullarbor Plain towing the caravan but we had a few problems on the way-I had to change the clutch in a thunderstorm with rain running down my neck. The prop shaft univeral joint went so you couldn’t go more than forty miles per hour until we got to Bunbury, a coastal town 175 kilometers south of Perth. We parked in a caravan park and got some work. Then I went to the Yamaha dealer in Perth. The manager at Ken George Yamaha was an American guy who was in in charge, I got a second hand Yamaha until the sections and rocks got bigger and I then changed to a 350 Bultaco. I worked for Caterpillar as a parts and sales representative. It was good job and the first 6 months I turned over three and a half million dollars. I had a 7500 square mile territory and I was away from home all week. We decided to come back in 1979 because my mum had passed away and Wendy’s mum had not seen the two grandchildren. Phillip was just about one and Jennifer was just a baby.”

MN: What did you do back in the UK?

“When I got back I got a job with Stanley West with Alan Dommett with agricultural machinery for twelve months. Then I went working on my own with about 6 customers operating and servicing their equipment, cutting their grass, pruning roses and hedges. I did that for three years. I was back riding trials on a 347 Montesa then a Suzuki. My life has gone in phases throughout whether it was Trials or Australia or in healing.”

“After my marriage to Wendy broke up I was in a dark place for a while but it was like a door opened for me and I found that I was a healer. So I worked for 6 years as a healer by the laying on of hands and counselling. This was around the Ashburton area including past life regression. I ran a meditation group in Buckfast Abbey for a time. It was through this activity I met my second wife Kate. We spent twenty years together, I was working buying houses and doing them up and re-selling both on Dartmoor and the South Hams. It took about five years each and we moved on around the country. We moved to Scotland and bought a house, because Kate wanted to be near a spiritual community at Findhorn eco village near Lossimouth. I worked doing carpentry and kitchens. I didn’t  ride hardly at all up there although I did build a BSA B40 just before I returned back south. After about three and a half years we moved back and bought a house in North Tawton where Kate and I parted company. I went to live in Tiverton near my daughter and got a job as a carpenter and maintenance in a Taunton school and Joined the Tivvy club and the South West Classic.“

“Now here with Louise at the farm in North Devon I feel I have arrived at a perfect harmony, physically and spiritually after all my journeys and life experiences. It is as if this was always meant to be. I always felt that I had a very strong sprit guiding and looking after me and I believe they have brought me to this conclusion with spiritual fulfilment. Lou and I have been married for a couple of years now and we just enjoy life and work and trials together with the dogs, sheep, goats and hens. Not long ago I found myself on the Farm with one of the goats went into labour so I just had to get on with it and help-with Lou guidance on the phone.”

Colin Dommett, Dick Ramplee and George Atkins enjoy a natter at the 2012 Pre65 Scottish Trial.

MN: And what about the future, and also what are you most proud of in your trials career?

“I just love riding bikes whether it is road or trials so I’ll carry on riding while I can and whilst I am still enjoying it. Trials are like a huge family and it is really good fun, and that it what makes it so enjoyable. There are some really great people and many friends who we love to see at events.”

2010 – Pre65 Scottish Trial on ‘Camas-Na-Muic; on his home built James.

“What I was really proud of was building up the James from scratch and riding it in the Pre-65 Scottish in 2010.”

MN: It has been a pleasure interviewing you George, long may you continue to enjoy your trials and the comradeship of riders.

‘George Atkins chats to Mike Naish’ is the copyright of Trials Guru and Mike Naish.

More interviews with Mike Naish HERE

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