Interested in Twin-shock Trials? These are ‘must have’ publications in that case!
Three volumes of twin-shock trials machines from John Hulme/Yoomee.
Absolutely jam-packed with photographic records from the caliber of Eric Kitchen, Barry Robinson and others these books cover the period 1965 – 1985, the golden era of twin damped rear suspension trials bikes.
Click Here for more information on how to order these books.
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Trials Guru recently received a package from Rob Edwards and we thought that our readers would be interested in seeing them for the very first time!
Here we have a couple of photos that haven’t seen the light of day, virtually since they were taken back in 1977.
It shows Rob Shepherd outside the Montesa factory at Esplugues in Barcelona on the short-stroke factory Honda RTL300. In the other photo it shows left to right: A Montesa factory mechanic; Nigel Birkett and Brian Fowler watching Shepherd in action.
The rocks that Rob is practicing on were put there on the instructions of Pere Pi.
Photo: Rob Edwards Private Collection.
Copyright – Trials Guru / Moffat Racing, John Moffat – 2014.
Here is a ‘behind the scenes’ take by Scottish born film maker, Stu Thomson of CUTMedia.
Trials Guru has known Stu since he was a youth trials rider in Scotland to become one of Britain’s best Downhill Mountain Bike racers to now, film-maker. You will also see the film embedded in the blog.
here is Stu’s blog on TUNDRA TRIAL… behind the scenes!
Click… Here
Hi Everybody,
Read the full ‘Rob Edwards Story’ … click Here
© – Photo: Iain Lawrie, Kinlochleven, All Rights Reserved.
© – Photo: Eric Kitchen, All Rights Reserved.
© – Rob Edwards & Trials Guru/Moffat Racing, John Moffat – 2014 (All Rights reserved)
As a result of close co-operation with our friends at Todotrial, Spain’s premier trials only website, Rob Edwards Story is now being serialized in Spanish.
Click Here to view.
Read the full ‘Rob Edwards Story’ … click Here
© – Rob Edwards & Trials Guru/Moffat Racing, John Moffat – 2014 (All Rights reserved)
Ten Times Scottish Trials Champion, Gary Macdonald from Kinlochleven has signed for Gas Gas UK for 2015.
“I’m super excited to be back with GasGasuk/Shirty for 2015. Having had great success in 2010/2011 with a British title, two Scottish titles and two top five places in Scottish six days trials it’s time to get back into trials after a few months away from it” said a delighted Macdonald.
Macdonald is the most successful Scottish trials rider of all time. He has amassed ten titles, the most title wins any trials rider has achieved in Scotland since the series began in 1955. He has been ACU British Expert A champion and has had two podium finishes at the SSDT, 2003 and 2013.
Apart from Bob MacGregor’s two wins in 1932 and 1935, no Scot has finished higher than Macdonald in the SSDT.
Photo: Copyright: Andy Hipwell, Buxton.
Copyright & report: Trials Guru / Moffat Racing, John Moffat 2014
Born in May 1930, Jack Williamson was Scottish Trials Champion in 1962, 1963 and 1964, riding Greeves machines and was a regular competitor in the annual Scottish Six Days Trial. In the 1958 event, Jack rode a 500cc Ariel HT5 registered OSG443, an Edinburgh BC registration. The photo appeared on facebook recently which sparked off an interest in the machines history. The bike had been undergoing some restoration work at Loch Ness Restorations at Dochfour just outside of Inverness. The next to current owner, Terry Fullarton contacted Jack as the current owner, Phil Marshall wanted to know more about the bike’s history.
The bike had at one time been the property of former Scottish Scrambles Champion, George Hodge of Abington, Lanarkshire and he used it regularly in the late 1960’s to check his flock of sheep on his hill farm for many years before selling the Ariel.
Williamson used the bike in the 1958 Scottish and at this year’s Pre-65 Scottish at Kinlochleven, Jack was re-united with the Ariel fifty-six years after he rode the SSDT on the same machine.
Former Greeves works rider, Bill Wilkinson, the last British rider to win the SSDT on a British built bike (1969) was on hand to witness the re-union of bike and rider.
Jack was delighted to be acquainted once more with his old trials iron and took it for a short ride around the old Aluminium factory grounds. In the meantime, The Guru has suggested that George Hodge be contacted as he will be instrumental in filling in the gaps of the machines history.
More on Jack Williamson:
Jack or ‘Jackie’ as he was known in the trials world, was brought up in Newtongrange, Midlothian and worked in the family business as a TV and radio mechanic.
His first trials machine was a 350cc Matchless demobbed from the War department and converted for off road use. However young Williamson fettled the bike so well that he didn’t want to use it, so he sold it for a profit and purchased a genuine “comp” model in 1948, the year he started competing. His mentors were Tommy “Tuck” Robertson and Jimmy Hutchings, both respected trials and scrambles riders of the post-war era.
Jackie was a natural rider but he took competition seriously enough to practice every day, at lunchtime he would spend an hour on the “pit bing” of the Lady Victoria mine. As the years progressed, Jack became a local sporting personality in that mining town and occasionally a bus was hired to take his supporters to watch Jackie ride in a trial or scramble far a field.
By 1951, Jack had won the Scottish Experts Trial, which at that time was a qualifying event for the British Experts.
Jack’s successes were constantly reported in the Edinburgh Evening News and in 1964 the paper did a feature on him by then, had won most of Scotland’s national fixtures and was three times Scottish Trials Champion, 1962, 1963 and 1964.
The amassed collection of trophies accompanying the article was quite breathtaking, fortunately his awards are preserved and we can show Jack in a recent photograph with them laid out with a magnificent shot of him in the 1963 SSDT on ‘Grey Mare’s Ridge’ as a centre-piece.
In the 1963 season detailed below, Jack achieved the following results in that year’s events, 250cc Greeves mounted, it gives a fascinating insight into a rider’s year in trials competition. The events marked (TC) denote a championship round:
1963:
January 27, Dundee – (Trial cancelled because of Snow)
February 17, Stevenston – Runner-Up
February 24, Perth – (Trial cancelled)
March 3, Edinburgh Southern Coronation Trial (TC) – 1st Equal
March 10, Montrose (TC) – 5th
March 17, Falkirk John Bull (TC) – Runner-up
March 24, Dunfermline – 7th
March 31, Lanarkshire Valente Trial (TC) – 5th
April 7, Kirkcaldy – Runner-up
April 14, Lochaber Spring Trial (TC) – Winner
April 21, Dundee – 3rd
May 6 to 11, Scottish Six Days – 36th & Best Scot, Best E&D member
May 19, Kinross – 4th
May 25 & 26, Lion Two-Day Trial – 3rd
June 9, Edinburgh St. George, Colonial Trial – Winner
July 28 Edinburgh St. George News Trial – (Restricted to Non Experts & Novice riders only – no entry)
August 18, Mercury Trial – (On holiday, no entry)
August 25, Lion Trial – (On holiday, no entry)
August 31 – September 1, Highland MCC Two-Day – Runner-up
September 8, Edinburgh St. George Mirylees Trial – (Unwell, no entry)
September 15, Loch Lomond – (Unwell, no entry)
September 22, Edinburgh Southern Scottish Experts – (Trial cancelled)
September 29, Perth (TC) – 3rd
October 1, CSMA Trial – Winner
October 13, Stevenston Ayrshire Trial (TC) – Runner-up
October 20, Dunfermline Campbell Trial – Winner
November 3, Kirkcaldy George Scott Memorial trial (TC) – 4th
November 17, Edinburgh St. George Plaza Trial (TC) – 12th
November 24, Glasgow Lion Trial – Winner
Overall, Jack won that year’s 9 round Scottish Trials Championship.
Jack competed predominantly in Trials but also was a successful scrambler and grass tracker. He even had a go at road racing, encouraged by the late Davie Lamb, Jack changed the handlebars and gearing on his trials A.J.S and raced at the Kirkcaldy Club’s Beveridge Park.
It was Jackie’s rides in the Scottish Six Days that are probably most memorable for Scottish trials fans. He rode the SSDT 25 times over a period from 1948 to 1975 and only failed to finish once due to mechanical failure when riding a 350cc Matchless.
The most unusual machine that Jack rode in the SSDT was a DMW two-stroke, twin cylinder, supplied by Edgar Brothers who were the Scottish agents for the Wolverhampton brand. Jack told Trials Guru: “The DMW was not very good in sections but it was quick on the road.” Even although it was unusual, Jack still collected a first class award on the DMW in the 1957 trial.
He was best Scotsman in the SSDT on no fewer than six occasions and best Edinburgh and District club member on more occasions than he cares to remember. Jackie rode a vast array of different machines in his career and always moved with the times.
He commenced on a string of AJS, then Matchless, Ariel and BSA four stroke machines. When two-stroke dominance came in he switched to Dot; DMW; Greeves on which he had his three championship titles; Bultaco, Montesa and Ossa. He never owned a Norton but borrowed one from his friend Bobby Neilson to ride in a couple of trials after setting his AJS on fire when it fell over at a Perth event! Jack was a member of the Edinburgh Southern Motor Club which promoted both trials and scramble events.
By 1968, the SACU had laid plans to field the British Vase team for the 44th International Six Days Trial to be held at Garmisch Partenkirchen, Bavaria in the following year. Jack was selected as one of the Scottish squad by Team Manager, George Baird.
Jackie was 38 years of age but still a fast rider on the rough and had a great depth of experience. Unfortunately the Montesa Scorpion he used broke its gear change selector spring and that put an end to his efforts. His career as a sporting rider was refreshed in the form of what we now call enduros.
And In 1972 Jack, riding a 250cc Ossa finished with a bronze medal and was the sole surviving private British entrant and was awarded the Arthur Prince trophy by the ACU for his efforts.
Jack’s final attempt at the ISDT was in the 1974 event at Camerino, Italy in which he crashed at high speed on a tarmac section suffering concussion, a broken nose and other injuries that would eventually signal the finale to his active riding career, which spanned 27 years, effectively three generations of competitors. Jack had ridden with grandfathers, fathers and sons!
Finally, our article on Jack finishes with a song! Written by enthusiast Harry H. Cook and entitled “Song of the Edinburgh Southern Motor Club, to the tune of Feet Up performed by Guy Mitchell:
“Feet Up, Keep ’em on the footrest,
That’s how to win.
Feet Up, Keep ’em on the footrests,
When the front wheels in.
Ain’t seen a trial like this before,
So darned easy, gonna win some more,
Feet up, keep ’em on the footrests, That’s how to win.
Now I’ve been known to scramble,
And even win a Cup,
And there’s the time I had a spill,
And landed down side up.
And though my bike is not spring heeled,
Gonna beat them all without a fall,
‘Cos I want that shield.
Feet up, keep ’em on the footrests,
Take the section clean,
Feet up, keep ’em on the footrests at berdeen.
Williamson, Hutch and Neilson too,Go to it boys, it’s up to you.
So Feet up, keep ’em on the footrests,
That’s how to win”
Jack celebrated his 90th birthday on Friday, 22nd May 2020
© – Article Copyright: Trials Guru / Moffat Racing, John Moffat – 2020
As mentioned in the Jackie Williamson article above, the Scottish ACU had been granted Vase B team status by the ACU for the 1969 International Six Days Trial at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The SACU is not directly recognised by the FIM as the ACU is their representative at council for the UK as a whole.
The SACU managed to negotiate some machinery from manufacturers, being Dalesman in Otley, Yorkshire for two 125cc Puch engine bikes and BSA for two 250cc Starfires.
The Daleman Puchs were funded by Jim Birrell of Markinch, Fife. Birrell was a haulage contractor and President of the SACU. These bikes were registered by Ernie Page of Page Motors Ltd, Polwarth Crescent, Edinburgh in August 1969 as PSG564H (ridden by Ian D.B. Miller) & PSG565H (ridden by Ernie Page – riding number 162).
The BSAs were supplied by the factory at Small Heath in Birmingham and had been used as marshal’s machines during the 1969 Milk Race which took place throughout the UK and funded by the Milk Marketing Board which was won by Dutchman, Fedor Den Hertog. The event is now known as the Tour of Britain.
SACU secretary & Treasurer, T. A. Moffat volunteered to collect the BSA Starfires from the factory, a round trip of some 600 miles from his home in Bathgate, West Lothian. Moffat had connections in the road haulage industry and British Road Services agreed to ship the Dalesman machines from Otley to their depot at Guildiehaugh, Bathgate for a nominal charge.
Miller and Page collected their machines from Moffat’s home and they set about preparing and running in their mounts for the September event, the machines proved to be too high-geared for the gruelling event. Page’s machine expired mid-week with clutch problems, caused by constantly slipping the clutch to maintain speed on the steep going. Miller also retired on day one with chain adjuster problems and a wayward back wheel.
The BSA B25 Starfires, registered by BSA Motorcycles Ltd on 12 March 1969 were to be ridden by Jimmy Ballantyne, a tax inspector from Newbridge who had ridden the 1968 ISDT at San Pellegrino in Italy, he was allocated POL541G and Jackie Williamson was allocated POL540G. However, Williamson was unhappy at having to convert a road machine into a Six Days trial machine in a short space of time. With a busy business to run in Newtongrange, Williamson went out and bought the Montesa King Scorpion as mentioned in his article. The BSA was subsequently returned to Moffat, unused.
Ballantyne persevered with the BSA and replaced the front forks and wheel with a complete Ceriani unit from his 250cc Greeves scrambler, and the fuel tank sourced from Edinburgh dealers, Edgar Brothers stock of AJS parts. He fitted an AJS Y4 motocross fibreglass unit which was lighter than the steel BSA component. He also had a compartment inserted into the rear of the twin-seat to carry tools and small spare parts.
Unfortunately his preparations were to be in vain, he suffered electrical problems in the event and the machine cut-out completely in a long forestry stage. It refused to start until, in a try-all effort, he switched the headlight on and the bike started. He tried to make up lost time, almost an hour when he was negotiating a long bend when he came face to face with a forestry forwarder machine which had been allowed into the forest thinking that all the riders had been through. Ballantyne threw the bike to the ground in an effort to avoid the huge machine, but suffered two broken legs in the process and the BSA went under the wheels, crushing it badly.
The only survivor from the Scottish squad was Derek Edgar (125cc Puch) who had ridden the 1968 event in Italy and having gained valuable experience, went on to win a silver medal for his efforts.
Post event, BSA insisted that the two machines were returned, POL541G was crated up with Ballantyne’s parts being removed and returned to him and the original front wheel, forks and fuel tank placed in the crate with the remains of the badly damaged Starfire. Williamson’s machine, POL540G was returned on the same lorry to Small Heath, arranged by Moffat.
Happily the ‘unused’ BSA was eventually sold by the factory and to our knowledge still exists as a letter was spotted some years ago in Old Bike mart magazine. The owner was seeking details of the BSA which of course had been registered by the factory and supplied to the Milk Race organisers and ‘Moffat of Bathgate’.
Williamson’s rejection was the effective saving of POL540G, the BSA Starfire, intact and the bike lives on to this day almost 50 years later!
© – BSA POL540G Article Copyright: Trials Guru / Moffat Racing, John Moffat – 2020
J.Ian Bell was six times Scottish Scrambles Champion, he took up enduro riding in his sixties and enjoyed every minute of it! Trials Guru brings you the story of a truly remarkable character and highly respected motorcyclist who was picking up awards 50 years after his first win.
Charlie Mackenzie of Scottish Enduros website carried this story some years ago and said: “Ian Bell passed away while competing at the Melville MC Selkirk 2 day Enduro in 2005 . A fly past by the Red Arrows just before a minutes silence on the Sunday proved a fitting tribute to his skill and the affection and high regard in which he was held by his fellows”
So here is my original article which I wrote after riding with Ian in some Scottish Enduros in the early 2000’s and sat an afternoon with him, interviewing him for a magazine I used to write for. It was a privilege to have known him and an honour to be one of his friends
His grandsons, Liston and Lewis Bell may be known to some of the current riders.
Ageism is a growing problem in British industry and commerce, as employers seek younger people to run departments and even whole companies. Well, thankfully it doesn’t apply in motor cycle sport. Ian Bell, one of the sprightliest septenagarians you will ever meet, is living proof that you’re never too old to enjoy a Sunday’s racing!
James Ian Bell was born in the Baberton area of Edinburgh on 27th February 1927 and was brought up in the suburb of Corstorphine. He served his time as an Marine Engineer with Brown Brothers whose works were in Pilrig Street close to Leith docks.
Trials first….
Ian developed an early passion for motorbikes and whilst his Father never competed, he owned a road machine for a while thus encouraging Bell junior. Ian’s first bike was a 1932 250cc BSA Blue Star in 1945 which, having collected it from the vendor, pushed it home a distance of about 5 miles! The Beesa was followed by a 500cc Model 18 Norton, then a New Imperial. Trials were Ian’s first competition foray, kindled by spectating at an event staged in the Pentland Hills, south of Edinburgh.
He obtained a 1938 Levis and joined the Midlothian Motor Cycle Club. Machines were adaptable then, it was quite normal for switching between the sedate art of trialling to the cut and thrust of scrambling.
In 1948 a brand new 347cc AJS competition model was ordered from Rossleigh’s W.J. “Bill” Smith (who later became a Director of Associated Motor Cycles in Plumstead). Bill assured Ian the AJS would arrive in “good time” for his Scottish Six Days debut. In fact, Bell took delivery of the black and gold Ajay just two days before the start of the world’s hardest trial!
The AJS gave excellent service and was used for all manner of events as was the practice in those days, be it scrambles, grass track, hill climbs or trials. Many years later, whilst scrambling a jampot model AJS, the frame fractured below the headstock, Bill Smith refuted Ian’s claim, with the comment that: “…AJS frames don’t break”.
Business interests…
Having trained on marine engines, motorbikes were a doddle, so Ian went to work for local dealers, Edgar Brothers as a mechanic. After a while, Bell set up a dealership, selling Royal Enfield’s as sub agents of the mighty J. R. Alexander main dealership. His partner was the late Alec “Ackie” Small, a keen motorcyclist who was a clever handed enthusiast who worked in the Civil Service.
“Ackie was quite a good scrambler in his own right, his greatest talent was building special bikes such as Tribsa’s and he spent a lot of time converting rigid framed bikes to springers for our customers. His daughter is Viv Lumsden, now a well known newsreader/presenter with Scottish Television. Not just a business colleague, Ackie was a very dear friend” says Ian.
Enfield connection…
Bell & Small, as the firm was called, were based in premises at 2 Broughton Place, Edinburgh and the business grew by selling both road machines and of course competition bikes due to Ian’s sporting success. The Royal Enfield connection became more and more important with Ian racing 350 and 500cc Bullets in scrambles trim. He took Scottish championship honours first in 1953, winning both 350cc and unlimited titles in the same year on Reddich machinery. He went on to win 350 honours again in 1954 and 1957, taking the 500 title 1955 and 1957.
What’s not commonly known is that when Ian eventually terminated his business, it gave his then mechanic a unique business opportunity. That mechanic was none other than Ernie Page, one of Scotland’s best off road riders.
Foreign fields of fire…
Bell was one of a very few from Scotland who ventured overseas to race with annual visits to France where motocross was probably more popular than soccer. Ian recounts when racing in France, he literally destroyed his 350 Enfield during an evening practice session. On full cry the throttle jammed wide open prior to a big jump, he casually baled out and the bike flew out of sight behind some gorse bushes, catching alight on impact. The local fire service was summoned to extinguish the blaze, giving a grateful Ian plus what remained of the Enfield a lift back to the pub in the town of La Baule. Duty done, the fire team plus Fire Chief and Chief of Police proceeded to drink the night away!
On his trip home to Scotland, Ian called in at Enfields and politely enquired if he could borrow a bike to contest the Scottish championship round at Castle Douglas the following weekend. Charlie Rodgers arranged for Geoff Broadbent’s factory bike to be despatched north.
“Broadbent wasn’t too chuffed at his bike being lent out and contacted me, informing that I could ride it but don’t dare lay a spanner on it!” recalls Ian.
A friend in the factory…
“I formed a close friendship with Charlie Rodgers at the factory, he was a really nice chap and I went down at least once a year to obtain racing spares from the comp-shop. Many of the parts were taken off factory prepared scrambles and trials bikes. I remember spotting a pair of Electron motors sitting in a corner during a visit, which had reputedly been raced by the Rickmans, I always wondered what happened to those” smiles Ian.
“Once, in a batch of second hand parts we collected, there were a pair of rear dampers which would not compress. I assumed that they had seized, but once stripped down we found a piece of tubing inserted to prevent movement. The only logical explanation was that these were used to make a trials springer into a rigid.
When I first rode Enfields, they were very competitive, I enjoyed riding them very much, the problem was that they didn’t get any better throughout the years” .
Ian finally decided if he couldn’t beat them join them, switching to a brace of BSA Gold Stars, standard issue winning machines of the period.
The Mud Maestro…
Ian was well known for being a top performer when the conditions were very muddy, he had the knack of finding traction whilst others wallowed. This explains the reason why so many of Ian’s photos show him in mid air high above a heavily rutted backdrop. He also was famed for wearing pure white riding shirts and his friends could never understand how he kept so clean during a muddy meeting. The answer was quite simple and two fold, he was invariably out in front and took two shirts with him!
Ian reckons his finest hour, apart from his championship victories, was winning the 350 class on his self tuned Enfield at the Lancs Grand National on Holcombe Moor near Bury in 1953.
“I purposefully held back at the start as it was always a wet event and many riders got bogged down early on, I picked my way past the less fortunate caught in the energy sapping moorland” recounts Ian.
Hard man to beat….
The newspaper reports on the Monday morning following a scramble invariably read that the “Midlothian Ace” as he was referred to, had cleaned up again and again. The Bell legend grew and was sustained over a period of nearly ten years. He was the man they all set out to beat in Scotland in those golden years of four stoke scrambling. If you get the chance, just chat with any old worthy who was there at the time, rest assured you will find that the name Ian Bell will crop up somewhere in the conversation.
Ian has great respect for his racing rivals. “There was a strong entry, with perhaps a dozen or so who could win, given a fair start. Memories of my duels with George Hodge, Alan Weir, Bill Innes and the like are good to look back on. My most respected adversary is John Davies, he was so tidy on a bike, I could beat him in a race but I confess that I could never match his style” remarks Ian.
Family Man…
The Bells married in 1954, Margie and Ian have two sons, Mike and Gary and two grandsons, Lewis and Liston, Mike’s two sons. Mike Bell is Assistant Clerk of Course of the Scottish Six Days and races a pre-60 Tribsa, he followed Dad’s tyre tracks by taking up trials in 1977. Ian decided that it would be fun to ride as well and took up trials again. In 1987 at the age of 60, Ian turned his attention to enduros which were becoming popular in Scotland.
Margie doesn’t sit at home with the knitting and ironing, she has been happy to be involved and still makes the tea for Ian at the end of a long Welsh, Stang or Cardrona.
“Margie has been a tower of strength to the family and I ” remarks softly spoken Ian.
On any Sunday…
” I think that you get good value enduro riding because you spend more time in the saddle than riding scrambles or trials, you can be on the bike for anything up to seven hours, time flies when you’re enjoying yourself” enthuses Ian.
His performance in the trail bike class of the 1998 Welsh Two Day says it all, at 71 years of age his win is no mean achievement. Ian is in the winnings half a century after his first victory on a competition motorcycle. But perhaps the most fitting award Ian has won was at the 1998 Stang Enduro, the James Hill Trophy – for the rider having most fun at the event!
One thing that you discover during a discussion with Ian is that he is a shy individual who tends to hide his achievements, never guilty of bragging but super keen on talking motorbikes. He obviously enjoyed his years winning, but he is also a “died in the wool” motorcyclist, happy being able to compete now just as he did all those years ago. Bikes are very much in the blood of Ian Bell! His close comrades reckon he’s as enthusiastic about them as ever before.
While most seventy year olds are content watching others having fun, he likes nothing better than getting that mud flying skyward on a Sunday afternoon. Regularly disgracing enduro riders one quarter of his age, who have had enough after lap two, there’s Ian with a broad grin at the finish, maybe tired, but a happy man.
“I can’t understand why if the bike is still going well, riders drop out of an event, it’s a waste of good money and time” smiles the canny Scot whose been known to collect his pension money and promptly write a cheque for an entry fee.
Ian Bell has earned the respect of spectators and riders over a mighty long period of time which is very fitting indeed.
And just like that well known advertising slogan for a popular Scotch whisky, “he’s still going strong”.
Copyright: John Moffat 2001
Copyright: Trials Guru/ Moffat Racing, John Moffat 2014
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