Today, 5th July 2024, ‘Magical’ Mick Andrews turns 80 years of age.
Happy Birthday to one of trials best riders of his time, former AJS, James, Ossa and Yamaha factory rider from Trials Guru website.
Mick Andrews, the man who made trials history!
More on Mick Andrews: HERE
Back in 2011, Trials Guru’s John Moffat was attending the Scott Trial Reunion dinner organised by Alan Lampkin at the Ripon Spa Hotel. He was very fortunate to be sitting at a table which consisted of many great trials riders, one of which was Tony Davis.
During the dinner, Moffat said to Tony Davis: “Believe it or not, my father knew your father through ACU connections”. This started a long conversation about the Davis family and the sport of trials and motocross. It also kindled a new friendship for both these gentlemen!
Fast forward thirteen years to June 2024 and Tony Davis arrived at Aviemore in Scotland as a guest of the Inverness & District MCC for the annual Highland Classic – BSA/Triumph Edition on Alvie Estate along with Mike ‘Bonkey’ Bowers and Alan Lampkin. This was arranged by John Moffat in his capacity as Event Co-ordinator.
Moffat had asked Tony previously if he was happy to do an article on the Davis family for the benefit of Trials Guru readers, Tony was only too happy to oblige and sent Moffat a well written synopsis in note form, which detailed the Davis family involvement in the sport over the years. Tony had put this together himself quite a few years ago.
The following was written by Tony Davis as a record, and we reproduce this with his express permission.
Words and copyright: Tony Davis
Photos: Gordon Bain; Smith Family Collection; OffRoad Archive; Hugh Hunter Collection; Mike Davies; Jimmy Young; Eric Kitchen; Google Maps
“My Father was Les Davis, the landlord of the ‘Air Balloon Inn’ at Birdlip, which became famous for the National Cotswold Cups Trial during the late 1950s. He also went on to become Chairman of the Auto-Cycle Union Trials Committee. It was inevitable that both my brother, Malcolm and I would become heavily involved in trials and scrambling.“
“From the age of six, horses were my love. I had my own pony and rode every day, and by the time I was ten, I was hunting twice a week.
When I was fourteen. the motorcycling bug took over and the horses began to take a back seat. My father bought two cheap motorbikes for us and I remember Malcolm and myself racing around the back paddock on a 197cc Francis Barnett with a hand gear change and also a BSA Bantam. We even dug out a ditch, so that we could jump across it at speed. We also walked the bikes across the main road and into the woods and quarry to practice trials riding. We would ride every section until we cleaned them twice, then we would move on to harder sections. These were fabulous times together and we had formed a very special bond.
I was two years older than Malcolm. so I rode my first trial in 1957 on a 197cc Greeves in the Minety Vale Boxing Day Trial. That was just a few days after my sixteenth birthday. It was a real old fashioned ‘mud plug’ and I recall John Draper, who taught me a lot over the years, on his 500cc works BSA. It was at the bottom of a famous section known as ‘Flithridge’, he turned his cap around, went back as far as he could down the track, selected third gear and hit the section, flat out. It was three long sub-sections, by the time he got to the end, he was nearly stood still, but he just got out of the ends cards to claim the only clean of the day.
Gordon Jackson on his works AJS, footed out the last sub-section straight afterwards. All I had was a 197cc Greeves, needless to say, I selected second gear and footed very hard all the three sub-sections, but I did win the Novice Award for my efforts.
Malcolm was at school in Stroud at this time, his headmaster was a keen scrambles rider and would take Malcolm with him to events on a DOT and that is where the bug really bit my brother.
The last trial of the 1957 season in the Western Centre was at Stroud and I finished up as runner-up to Roger Kearsey on his 350cc BSA. When I got home, I washed off my bike as I was going to ride in a local scramble at Draper’s farm the following day. My father couldn’t take me to the event because he was short of bar staff, but would come along after the pub shut. I rode the bike to Draper’s Farm and my Uncle and Malcolm followed in a car with petrol and spares. When I arrived at the pits, I changed the rear wheel with a well worn scrambles tyre fitted, a short exhaust pipe, number plates and went out to practice. What an experience that was, firstly John Draper came flying passed me on a section of the course that was wide enough for one, or so I thought, then John Avery overtook me in mid-air, but those BSAs sounded so good. I rode in three races and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Malcolm worked feverishly each lap with a board, showing me my position. A job which I did for him so many years later!
At the end of the meeting, I reversed the procedure and rode the bike home. It never missed a beat, but in my mind I was set on getting a four stroke for the next trials season.
I rode the Greeves in a number of scrambles including the Cotswold Scramble, which was about four miles around in those days. I joined the Gloucestershire Constabulary and was very lucky to have a Chief Constable who was very sports minded. He granted me most weekends off. It wasn’t long before the Greeves gave way to a 350cc Ariel, this bike gave me my first open to centre win and a class award in the national Knut Trial. I went on to win many open to centre trials on this bike and even obtained some works parts from Sammy Miller. This included an upswept pipe, small oil tank and a few other mods.“
BSA:
“During 1960, I was offered a 250cc BSA as a semi-works supported rider, my first ride was at the national Colmore Trial and I finished runner-up to Sammy Miller. The following week, the factory had the BSA back and fettled it to a full works standard and I never looked back.
My first Scott Trial was on the BSA and I travelled to the event with John Draper. Half way up the old A1 on a dual carriageway, we found ourselves in thick fog. ‘Drapes’ said: “don’t worry, I know the way blindfolded”. After some time I said to ‘Drapes’ that occasionally I could see headlights to my left, he immediately braked and drove onto the grass centre reservation. There were no centre barriers in those days and slowly joined the correct side of the dual carriageway.
The real breakthrough came when Brian Martin (competitions manager at BSA) rang and offered me the prototype 343cc BSA B40 which Jeff Smith was going to ride in the Scottish Six Days that year, but he had injured his hand in a scramble, so I was offered his entry in the Scottish.“
“I took to the bike, like a ‘duck to water’. I remember driving with close neighbour and good friend, John Draper to the BSA factory, picking the bikes up, riding them from the comp shop to New Street railway station.“
“That was my first ride on the bike, then loading them into the rear carriage, getting into the sleeper carriage and arriving in Edinburgh the following morning. Then a ride to the hotel with our kit strapped to the rear mudguard.“
“We completed the week and returned the same way. We had won the manufacturer’s team award that week and I probably had my best Scottish ride ever!“
“I won many national and class awards on that machine, 776BOP, including the trade supported national West of England Trial.“
“My “brother Malcolm was now on the scene riding a 250cc Greeves, our father was now running a motorcycle business in the stables behind the pub and was negotiating buying another shop in Gloucester, which he and Malcolm would run. Mother would continue to run the pub during the day. Malcolm would travel with me to all centre trials and also some nationals. Malcolm was a brilliant trials rider, how I remember the times we would disagree on what gear to pull up sections and the times that he proved me wrong, by getting on his bike and cleaning the hazard. But his heart was in scrambling.
Back then, trials were held in the winter months and scrambles in the summer, except for the dreaded television series and I supported Malcolm at most of the scrambles events. Malcolm secured Greeves factory support and the shop became a main Greeves agency for the area and the rest is history.“
Greeves:
“I stayed with BSA until 1964 when I signed to ride for Greeves. My first national ride on the Greeves was in the wettest Scottish Six Days Trial. It was an achievement to finish that year. I remember getting to Rannoch Moor and what was usually a gentle stream crossing was a raging torrent. Sammy Miller rode his Ariel over the wooden bridge which collapsed as he got to the other side. An official appeared and recommended that we take the very long way around the moor on the main road. Malcolm, along with a lot of other riders decided to go the long way around ion the hope that the fuel tanker would meet them with petrol. Four of us including David Clegg, Jim Sandiford and Dave Langston deceided to carry a bike at a time through the ever deeping river. We would start at one point and the current would carry us down river some distance.
Unfortunately my bike was the last to be carried across, we were all pretty tired by now and the current was much stronger. Somebody stumbled and my bike went under with him. Somehow we rescued the bike and fought our way to the other side, some 300 yards further down stream, there was no way back now.
We dried the bikes out the best we could and surprisingly they all eventually started. We took our boots off and the water poured out. We set off across the moor, totally soaked to the skin, but unfortunately a few miles further on, my bike spluttered to a halt. We worked on it for some time but it refused to start. I then noticed a railway line and what looked like a deserted building in the distance. I told the lads to carry on as I would make my way to the railway, but they wouldn’t have any of that. We took our Barbour jacket belts off and made a two rope. They towed and pushed me to the railway line and reluctantly left me there.
Jim Sandiford smiled and took a box of dry matches out of his top pocket and said: “You might be able to light a fire if nobody finds you”. I took the drive chain off and pushed the bike towards the building. After an hour of pushing, I finally reached the building, and low and behold it was Rannoch Railway Station. There was one man on duty and he asked me where in the hell I had come from. I told him, but I wasn’t sure if he believed me! He told me that there would be a train coming along soon and it was heading for Fort William. I purchased a ticket with very wet bank notes and waited for the train to arrive. There was nobody else at the station, just a few parcels and milk churns.
When the train finally arrived, we loaded the bike into the last carriage along with the milk churns and bags of potatoes. I travelled with the bike and it seemed a long time before we reached Fort William. We unloaded the bike and I pushed it to the garage where all the bikes were kept overnight and it was nearly empty! I was met by Bill Brooker, Greeves competitions manager who told me that all the sections after Rannoch Moor had been scrubbed because of the rain and that all competitors were being allowed extra time to fettle their bikes ready for the following day. At that moment, Malcolm and dozens of riders arrived, luckily for them the Shell petrol tanker had heard of the problems and met them half way.
I changed the complete electrical system and she fired into life, I also took the opportunity to drain and refill the gearbox with fresh oil and fitted a new chain. It rained the rest of the week and I gained a first class award. This was slightly spoiled by Malcolm beating me by two marks and taking the class award!“
“There “was always a lot of competition between my brother and I and that drove us on! One season, I travelled with Don Smith, ‘D.R’ as we all called him, on the European trials circuit.“
“Don was a character and a brilliant rider, we spent many, many happy hours together. I would always drive down to Don’s shop on the North Circular road and we would load up and drive to Dover for the ferry. Don was the worst time keeper in the world and on one occasion, we were over an hour late leaving the shop. Don only knew one speed and that was ‘fast’. He would take the straightest line through corners and roundabouts, but on this occasion the inevitable happened. We overtook a Police car in Kent on the inside and the Police car wasn’t hanging around either. It took the Police two miles to catch us up and pull us over. I will never forget the look of innocence on Don’s face when the officer asked him if he knew what speed and manouvres he had been doing. Don got out of the car, lit the inevitable cigarette and walked to the back of the trailer with the officers. Five minutes later, one of the officers asked me to step out of the vehicle. He then gave me a good lecture on navigating and time keeping! Finally he told me I should know better as a Police Officer to allow Don to drive so fast, but as this event in Germany was very important to the Greeves factory, they would overlook this incident! Don had told them that he would not listen to me in future and would drive more carefully. That was Don and needless to say, he won the trial and I finished third that weekend!
My best achievement on the Greeves was winning the National Trade supported Hoad Trial on the Saturday and then winning the Perce Simon trial on the Sunday, the same year I won the British Experts Trial, only to be disqualified the following day because I changed bikes and that was after the officials clearing me to ride the spare bike, which I had practised on the previous day. I was within sight of the start area and the engine had never started, only Sammy Miller protested.
Greeves were a very good factory to ride for, more like a big family. They supplied me with bikes to scramble in the summer months, but only if there were no national trials on and Malcolm didn’t need me with him.“
Tony and Malcolm switched to ride for the Andover based AJS concern when it was owned by Manganese Bronze Holdings, in 1968. In short it was a bit of a flag waving exercise for Tony, but Malcolm won the 1968 British 250cc Scrambles Championship on the prototype Y4 Stormer AJS. Tony and Malcolm both rode the two-stroke AJS 37A-T in trials at this time, but as Tony said in an article we wrote on the machine: “It was just too little, too late”. The machine lacked development and AJS concentrated on their motocross range.
“I had stayed loyal to Greeves up until the Villiers engine supply dried up and they started to use the Puch engined ‘Pathfinder’, a bike I never really took too. Comerfords offered me a Bultaco trials bike, on which I spent many happy and successful years on. Malcolm was racing Bultaco Pursangs for the factory and I used to travel with him to the Bultaco factory to pick up bikes for him to ride all over the continent. It was my job to do most of the driving, some of the spanner work and do all the signalling. I think it was at the Spanish world 250cc round when Malcolm had a fabulous ride in the first leg and finished second to Joel Robert. When they went to the line for the second leg, Malcolm’s bike stopped, he put his hand up and pulled back. I ran over to him with a plug and plug spanner and our mechanic followed. I looked over to Joel and pointed at his back wheel, his hand then went up and the starter stepped down. Joel’s mechanic ran over, shook the back wheel and said all was in order. By this time, we had fitted a new plug and the Bultaco fired up. Joel looked at me with a cheecky smile and put his thumb up and away they went. Joel won and Malcolm finished fourth, giving him third overall. Needless to say, I bought Joel a few drinks that night and boy could he drink and ride the following day! Joel once commented that Malcolm was the fastest rider ever going downhill, what a compliment.“
“When we were not abroad, I would ride as many scrambles and support races in the summer as possible and actually beat Malcolm at Farleigh Castle, only because he and Vic Allan collided and took him some time to fire his bike up. Vic had to untangle himself from the chestnut fencing. Malcolm was not a happy bunny on the drive home, he made sure I ended up buying the meal and drinks at our regular pub stop when we were in that part of the country. Just because I had won more money than he did in the main race that day.
I got great satisfaction from travelling on the continent with Malcolm and with so many other brilliant riders who were all incredible characters. It is very difficult to explain to anyone how strong a friendship there was in those days. I was a member of the winning Western Centre scrambles team one year, not surprising as the team consisted of Malcolm, Andy Roberton, Bryan Wade, Randy Owen and myself.“
Montesa and Suzuki:
“I was offered a 250cc Montesa by the importer with semi-works support and had a reasonably successful year, but when the offer of a full works contract came along from Graham Beamish to develop the Suzuki, I jumped at it.
The hours of work that we put into the Suzuki was enormous, but we made the bike into a competitive machine. I achieved two national runner-up awards and national class awards on this bike, then Suzuki brought the 325cc trials bike out, which again needed lots of fettling, but again proved to be a winning machine. I rode my last Scottish on this bike.“
International:
“I always enjoyed the long distance trials like the Welsh Three Day, the International Six Days and especially on a four-stroke bike. In the early sixties, I remember spending many hours with Harry Baughan at ghis factory in Stroud. He was the British Team Manager for the ISDT team. I could ride my bike from the Air Balloon to his factory and practice taking wheels out, changing a tube and putting the wheels back in against the clock. When he was satisfied with my time, he would get me to change a magneto or points. Then and only then, he would send me on my way home.
The Welsh Three Day Trial was very much the event to do well in to get a possible selection for one of the Vase teams for the ISDT. I remember being in some of the remotest parts of Wales and an official would flag you down and tell you to change a tube, take your points out and replace them, change a throttle cable and very often this would be in the thick mist or driving rain and you still had to be at the next check on time!
Looking back at it now, it’s what drove you on to try and be the best. Over the years Malcolm and I played at county level squash for different clubs and I just had the edge on him, but he was also a very good golfer, he played off a two handicap and I played off six, so he had to give me four strokes, but he would never let me pick which holes I could take my strokes at! He would generally win anyhow.
That special bonding we had to succeed was always there and took us through our careers whether we were together or apart.“
Tribute:
“The saddest time in motorcycling for me was when Malcolm was killed, he was waiting to turn into a group of sections in a country lane at the President’s Trial in Devon. I still kick myself today that I didn’t enter and ride in that trial with him as it might have never happened. There are so many stories one could tell, but the final story is dedicated to Malcolm.
We were riding in the West of England trial which in those days was a very long figure of eight event. We were at the notorious section called ‘Diamond Lane’, which was a long rocky section with a big step towards the end. It was my turn to go first as we usually took turns to be first. I had a very good ride and cleaned the section. Ralph Venables said ‘Well done, that was a good ride and how many marks are you on?” This was his normal question. Then Malcolm reached the big step, he hit it just right, but the bike jumped out of gear and he had a five. he was not happy. Malcolm flew by me and vanished in teh distance. I set boff down the lanes in pursuit and after a few miles, there was a very tight corner with a low hedge and a duck pond on the other side. There was a hole in the hedge and there was Malcolm, sat in the pond with the bike. How I laughed as I helped him back to the lane. We fettled the bike and off we went to the next section. He did see the funny side eventually!
So many times, Malcolm found plastic ducks on his bike or in the back of the van at scrambles meetings at home and abroad!
After twenty-five years in the saddle and at a high level, and sadly Malcolm was no longer alive, I felt it was time to call it a day and concentrate on my career at the Home Office. I still had my B40 BSA trials bike and I rode this and a 500cc Ariel in Pre65 trials with great success. Deryk Wylde was running a British Championship series and I won the first series on the BSA and the 500cc championship the following year on the Ariel.
I took over the chairmanship of the Victory Re-Union from John Avery for a number of years and still help organise and observe at local trials today.
I am proud to have spannered and signaled for Malcolm when he won three British 250cc Scrambles Championships.
When I look back over my motorcycling years, I realise how fortunate I have been to be part of a spoirt that has given me so much pleasure. However hard it’s been at times, and to have made so many really true friends through motorcycling. Without any doubt, these were the best years to have been in the sport!” – Tony Davis
Acknowledgement:
Trials Guru wishes to thank Tony Davis for supplying his own words for this article and for continuing to support the sport of trials to this day. This is not only a fitting tribute to Tony Davis, such a great competitor and gentleman, but also to his late brother Malcolm, a true champion in all senses of the word. Malcolm was British Motocross champion on three occasions, 1968, 1970 and again in 1973. Tragically killed while competing in 5th October 1980 on his Bultaco Sherpa in the President’s Trophy Trial, a British championship event near Honiton, Devon.
Footnote:
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 any 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 and below. All articles are not published for any monetary reward or monetisation, be that online or in print.
Text Copyright: Tony Davis & Trials Guru 2024
International trials and enduro rider, Toshiki ‘Toshi’ Nishiyama is a Trials Guru VIP.
Toshi from Tokyo, Japan was the first Japanese trials rider to take part in the Scottish Six Days Trial, way back in 1971 on a Montesa Cota 247. He had a Japanese flag secured to his throttle cable during the event.
He later rode the SSDT many times and was also a regular competitor in the ISDT.
Trials Guru has just sent Toshi his new VIP cap and thank him for being a Trials Guru supporter.
Read more about Toshi HERE
This article has been amended and adapted by Dave Cole from one that was originally written for the South Western Centre Gazette in 2007 by Mike Naish, with the assistance of Brenda and John Luckett.
Brenda, John and Mike are thanked for their help and kind permission in allowing us to share this piece of South West trials history on Trials Guru.
Words: Mike Naish & David Cole
Photos: Mike Rapley; Ken Haydon; Luckett Family.
John Luckett was born in 1946 at West Bucks, North Devon, to a father who loved bikes and motorcycle sport. His dad took him to watch many motorcycle sporting events but one competition and one rider in particular stuck in his mind. That memorable event was a trial in the late 1950’s when John was so impressed with the performance of John Giles, on a Triumph twin, he never forgot that day.
“Gilo” rode up a steepish gully with a step in it with so much ease, he took the section at real pace, seemed to simply lift the front wheel at the step and carried on to clean the section, a section that no-one else was managing to get up, the sound of the exhaust note and the applause from the crowds of spectators was magnificent.
It wasn’t long before John learned to ride himself, the practice bike was a friends old Excelsior which was ridden up and down a “green lane” beside his house. Dad’s A.J.S. road bike was also ridden around the local fields.
On leaving school John went to work for his father who was an agricultural contractor. Dad bought him a 250cc Ambassador twin. John’s first trial was the 1965 “Lands End Trial”, a long distance competition, one of the true classics run by the Motor Cycling Club. For this event he rode a 500 Triumph twin but was sadly forced to retire with mechanical issues.
His second event was the “Lyn Traders Trial”. Once again he rode the big Triumph twin to the start and wondered why all the other riders were looking at him and his bike with a shake of their heads, John, of course, knows now what they were thinking. When he saw the size of the rocks and the river beds, then tried to ride them he realised it was a ‘bridge too far’, he retired after 40 miles.
At this time John owned a 250 Royal Enfield Crusader Sport road machine but the bug had now bitten and he traded this in for a, Villiers 32A engined, Cotton trials machine with leading link forks.
Signing up as a member of the Torridge and District Motor Club, John next rode an Exmoor Club trial where he finished sixth from last but was happy to just to complete the event.
The next trial for John was a Moretonhampstead Club event which was won by Roger Wooldridge, followed by an Exmoor Club event in October 1965 where he proudly won the “Best Novice” Award.
Soon after this the bike was traded in for another Cotton, this time choosing a machine fitted with a Villiers Starmaker motor. John rode the bike in both local trials and in the 1966 M.C.C. “Exeter” Long Distance Trial. In the local one-day events John was now winning Non-Expert Awards.
An ex-Malcolm Evely four-speed Bultaco was the next bike to join the Luckett “stable”, it really transformed John’s riding and he entered the Scottish Six Days Trial. The long journey North (no motorways in those days) was made by four riders from the South West that year, John was joined by Ian Haydon, Mike Sexton and Mervyn Lavercombe. John was forced to retire on the Wednesday, he broke the gear shaft when he hit some rocks then, determined to finish, decided to continue with third gear alone. Scheduled to go over the Corrieyairack Pass, John was a little worried with everyone passing him, he then found the Pass to be closed due to the bad weather and the competitors being diverted the long way around. Eventually the engine seized, obviously over worked and overcooked, due to the lack of gears.
In 1969 John purchased a new Bultaco which he rode to a trouble free Scottish gaining a “Special First Class Award” (All-in-all John rode the Scottish Six Days Trial nine times, retiring twice and gaining “Special First Class Awards” in the remaining seven). At Crediton, on this Bultaco John also won his first Premier at an Open-to-Centre trial. He had by now started to enter and ride the Nationals, the Greensmith, Hoad, Perce Simon, St.Davids, Dulis Valley, Victory etc, not forgetting the West of England of course; he was runner-up to Sammy Miller in the Lyn National.
The next move of machine was to the Cotton factory for a 220cc Minarelli powered machine. He had agreed a sponsorship deal which involved a cut priced machine with the supply of free spares plus a second bike free of charge.
John was to receive £3 for an Open-to-Centre win, £12 for a Regional Restricted and £25 for a National win. John rode the Cottons for two years and secured some very decent results.
1970 was also a great year for South West trials enthusiasts as our team in the Inter Centre Team Trial broke the domination of the Yorkshire Centre in this event. It was the first time the ‘Yorkies’ team had been beaten for quite a number of years, our team being John Luckett, Ian Haydon, Brian Higgins, Alan Dommett and Ian Blackmore. The Team Manager was Jim Courtney.
In the 1971 Scottish John was ninth on the leader board and only lost four marks on the Thursday. He even had a crack at the tough Scott Trial and was happy to pick up a finishers award. John was also runner-up to his local rival, Brian Higgins, in the Victory Trial the year that Brian won it, either 1971 or 1972.
In the 1972 Scottish John thought the engine was tightening so was taking it easy, then when he looked down at the rear wheel he realised that the frame was twisted, the rear brake was mangled and the rear hub appeared to be cracking up. By the time John reached ‘Pipeline’ he was fifty-nine minutes behind time, just one minute to spare as sixty minutes behind schedule meant that you were out.
At the end of the day a wheel was borrowed from a Northern dealer, this wheel was used by John all week before swapping back to his re-built original (complete with the correct rim paint) before the finish in Edinburgh – He finished that event with a special First Class Award.
At the end of 1972 John wanted to finish with Cotton as he felt the bike was less competitive, the Managing Director of Cotton, Reg Buttery, tried his hardest to keep him, he even suggested that John take the bike to California to demonstrate it. John thought a lot of Reg Buttery and didn’t want to let him down but after a lot of thought and consideration, taking into account matters like family and family business commitments etc he decided that the time had come to move on and handed his bike back to the Cotton factory. Martin Strang went ‘over the pond’ to California for Cotton in place of John.
Bob Gollner became John’s next sponsor, for Bob, John rode a Mick Whitlock framed Ossa, after which he again changed camps riding this time for Ossa U.K. which was run by Roger Holden. Ossa were very supportive and, from 1974 on, John had a new bike every year. He recorded many successful rides and enjoyed the bikes except for the 350 when it was launched. John was supplied with a 350 but it wasn’t long before he handed it back and returned to a 250.
Brenda and John, who had first met in 1967, were married in 1974, John’s best man being his good friend and rival in sport, Ian Haydon.
Amongst his many memories, John remembers riding the notorious Scott Trial for a second time, this time he finished within the first ten on observation but lost a lot of marks on time. Also etched in his memory is the climax of the 1974 season when he and Brian Higgins were neck-and-neck going into the last round of the South Western Centre Trials Championship, at the final section of the day John needed a ‘clean’ to pick up the title, sadly he had an unlucky ‘three’ forcing him to accept, once again, the runner-up spot.
Next came the ‘mono-shock’ versions, although John found them a bit heavy he continued to ride for Ossa until 1978 before handing the bike back.
By this time John had been married to Brenda for about four years, son Nick had been born the year before and the business was very busy. He decided that it was time to stop riding the “National’s” and next bought a 325cc Bultaco from Alan Dommett. Family life and business commitments led to John giving up riding altogether in 1980, this was also around the time that daughter Charlotte was born.
Brenda and John were also blessed with the birth of a second son, Martyn in 1986. Business commitments forced John’s continued retirement from trials until 1987 when he returned with a Triumph Tiger Cub competing in Pre’65 events. He immediately started producing some magnificent results, his performance in the Exmoor Three Day Trial that year was a good example.
1988 saw him with more great results, which included winning both of the two major West-country classics, the Exmoor Three Day Classic Trial (a two day event these days) and the Dartmoor Two Day Classic Trial.
In the early 90’s John won the Pre’65 Championship with son, Nick, winning the Twin-shock Championship the same year. He also rode twice in the Pre’65 Scottish Trial on the Cub, the second time he finished second to Dave Thorpe and always remembers a really good clean of ‘Pipeline’.
Although only a rare Pre’65 rider these days John does continue to turn out and enjoy long distance road trials where you can be sure his name will be placed well when the results are published. These days John’s time is spent tending his sheep, helping son, Nick, with his business and, with Brenda, running the farm which includes holiday accommodation that includes plenty of trials practice area within their 20 acres of woodland.
John Luckett’s South West Centre Solo Trials Championship History:
John, a quiet and capable man, who was a superb rider, was just, more than a little, unlucky as far as the South Western Centre Solo Trials Championships were concerned, he never did manage to win the Championship but it wasn’t for the lack of trying, he was always a close contender finishing each season as follows:-
1968 3rd Best; 1969 3rd Best; 1970 Runner-up; 1971 3rd Best; 1972 3rd Best; 1973 Runner-up; 1974 Runner-up; 1975 3rd Best; 1976 3rd Best; 1977 Runner-up; 1978 3rd Best; 1979 3rd Best.
These are, without doubt, really impressive placings due to the fact that he competed for the Centre Championships during an era when he had some really brilliant riders as opposition, the likes of Roger Wooldridge, Ian Haydon, Brian Higgins, Mike Sexton, Martin Strang, Ian Blackmore, Mike Rapley, Ivan Pridham, Alan Dommett, Allan Baker, all competing on their top form.
Brenda’s Trials School –
“Brenda’s Trials School”, as it has become known as, was developed from the training weekends first run by Elaine Baker and Rob Doran of the Lyn Club. When problems with land were encountered, the Luckett’s offered to run the event from their Lower Wembsworthy Farm. ACU Centre Official, Malcolm Redstone, suggested to Brenda and John that if they applied for a grant from the South Western Centre, the ACU would probably match it. The successful application was made via the Torridge Club in 1992.
Over the years the training school has gone from strength to strength and been lucky enough to have seen many of the country’s top trials riders attend as instructors, one regular instructor these days is of course Joe Baker, 15 times South West Centre Champion, who was himself one of the very first pupils of “Brenda’s Trials School”.
Originally the proceeds of the training school went to the charity CLIC because Brenda had a friend whose child had Leukaemia. This continued until 2005 when, following the sad loss of their own son, Martyn Luckett, who passed away suddenly in his sleep, Brenda and John decided to split all money raised with the charity CRY, Cardiac Risk in the Young.
As Martyn died very suddenly of Myocarditis, a heart condition undiagnosed at the time, his Memorial Fund now raises money to hold screenings in the North Devon area. Six screening sessions have been held to date, three in Bude, one in Bideford, two in Barnstaple. John and Brenda have raised a lot of money since losing Martyn, their hope is that the hard work and effort that they put into this project will try to stop losses, similar to theirs, happening to other families.
Martyn was a lovely guy, full of fun and a fabulous rider who quickly and easily gained Expert status, had he not passed away at the tender age of 19 he would surely have gone on to make a real name for himself in the world of trials.
The trials school started with 8 or 10 riders (Joe Baker included) and is now so popular that it caters for an entry in excess of 70 with entrants coming from as far away as Yorkshire. The weekend provides top class and valuable instruction to the entrants, plus raises a lot of money for the Martyn Luckett Memorial Fund (probably near to £3,000). John and Brenda are ever thankful to the trainers who attend along with their regular loyal band of helpers who put so much into helping to ensure the success of the weekend.
Due to the immense amount of work involved in organising and running the annual weekend John and Brenda, after a lot of thought and soul searching, have sadly decided that next year will see the final ‘Brenda’s Trial’s School’.
During the time the school has been running so much good has been done with the money raised and so many riders have received some of the best possible training that is available in the country.
We can only sincerely thank the Luckett family and their band of helpers for all they have done, sometimes under very difficult circumstances, and wish them the very best of luck and happiness for the future.
Copyright: John Moffat/Trials Guru 2024
Photographic Copyright: Held by all photographers named in articles or in captions.
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 any 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. All articles are not published for any monetary reward or monetisation, be that online or in print.
Joe Wallmann, one of Austria’s finest!
Words: John Moffat
Contribution and information: Hartwig Kamarad; Alfred Wagner.
Photos: Rainer Heise; Iain Lawrie; Malcolm Carling by permission of Nick Haskell; Harry Leitner; Hartwig Kamarad; Photo Collection Giulio Mauri Fontsere; Erich Diestinger.
Born in Berndorf, near Salzburg in 1948, Josef Wallmann, known simply to all as ‘Joe’, would take up motorcycle trials riding at the ripe old age of twenty, which is quite late for this type of sport. This was in 1968 at a trial organised by ARBÖ at Bad Goisern, Gmunden in Upper Austria. In this event he competed with a home-modified Puch moped on which he won the trial. Not bad at all for a beginner, but Joe was hooked and of course wanted to carry on winning.
By the end of the 1968 season, he became the 100cc Austrian champion. Joe continued to use his Puch until the end of 1970 when it was replaced by a 100cc Zundapp, again a bespoke machine, not factory built. Zundapp made enduro type machines as opposed to trial motorcycles. Joe was by profession a bricklayer and this employment kept him physically fit.
Wallmann continued to win his class at trial events and was by now fast catching the acknowledged King of Austrian trials, Walther Luft, who up until then, was virtually unbeatable. For sure, in this time period, Walther was the man to beat in Austrian trials.
On the twenty-fourth of September 1971 at the Alpenpokal Trial at Rosenheim in Bavaria, Joe was able to defeat Walther Luft in competition for the first time.
Bultaco time:
In the autumn of 1971, Joe purchased his first Bultaco Sherpa 250, four days later Wallmann was able to defeat Walther Luft again at the ‘Graz Trial’. Joe instantly gelled with the Bultaco, a brand he would remain loyal to until the end of his trials riding career in 1982.
Contacts:
In 1968 at the ARBÖ Trial in Bad Goisern, Joe had become friends with riders from Motor Sport Club – Gmunden. It was at that time, one of the few trial clubs in western Austria to also make a name for itself as a promoter of the ‘International Voralpentrial’. In 1970, Joe’s friend, Hartwig Kamarad, was approached by Motor Sport Club Rutzenmoos, the most successful motorsport club in Austria at that time and finance was readily available. The MSC Rutzenmoos tasked Kamarad with forming a trials team, with Castrol Austria providing start-up assistance and also financed the purchase of a Ford FK 1000 transport bus for Joe and Hartwig. The ‘Autoladen Vöcklabruck’ paid for insurance and taxes and took care of tyres and spare parts. Joe had arrived in another world, and the leap into the international trial scene was now possible. In order to finance the expensive trips to international trials in Italy, France, Finland, Sweden, the three remaining seats in the bus were made available to other Austrian competitors and could thus travel cheaply all over Europe.
Former German trials rider Max Braun from Munich said: “It was for me a great time together with Joe Wallmann, he is a gentleman and also his wife Hedwig is a very smart Person. He is a very fair Sportsman and a excellent Rider.“
For many Austrians such as Franz Trummer, Gottfried ‘Friedl’ Engstler, Hubert Erbler, Max Hengl and some others. This was the opportunity to get a taste of international trial events.
International:
In the autumn of 1972, Joe’s international participation in trials really got going, he finished in third position in the Lans en Vercors trial near Grenoble in France. His talent for trial ‘shows’ was already evident, and Joe drove cars for the first time at a racing exhibition of the MSC Rutzenmoos at a folk festival in Vöcklabruck.
From 1973 Joe worked as a salesman and as a ‘celebrity trials trainer to Austrian ski legend, Franz Klammer and many more. This was with the Bultaco importer for Germany and Austria, Horst Leitner, who also provided him with a Bultaco complete with spare parts, free of charge and paid success bonus.
Leitner was the first Austrian to compete in the Scottish Six Days in 1961, later he emigrated to the USA to develop a range of off-road motorcycles under the ATK Leitner brand.
Leitner’s Austrian headquarters were based at Bruck an der Mur in Styria, Austria and imported the range of Bultaco motorcycles for the country.
Joe Wallmann’s increase in performance was meritorious, he took part in many International Trials and European Championship competitions. This resulted in second places in Pinerolo, Italy; St.Leonard de Bois, France; Trial Beutal, France; International Clubman Trial at Aywaille, Belgium.
Joe and Hartwig had by now changed clubs again and now run under the AMC Attnang banner and were supported by the US oil company, Pennzoil. The trial ‘shows’ became more and more robust with Joe riding his Bultaco across cars and at the town hall square in Attnang-Puchheim also over the roofs of moving cars.
Around this time Joe travelled to events in a blue Hanomag van with a rather amusing large decal on the rear doors. It was a sitting bulldog with its paw raised in a ‘thumbs-up’ pose with the text ‘Bultaco-Bull’ underneath.
As early as 1977, an Austrian motorcycle trade magazine commented on Wallmann’s skills: “soon Wallmann will drive a figure eight on the roof of the car and a hairpin bend in the interior of the car.” At World Championship events, Joe was more and more often in the top ten and thus points and advanced to the best German-speaking trial pilot in the World Championships. He was able to finish other International Trial Classics such as the Trial in St.Martin, Belgium and the Tatra Trial in Poland taking top honours.
Scottish Six Days:
At the Scottish Six Days in 1975, Joe entertained spectators during the machine examination at Edinburgh’s Gorgie Market with an impromptu display, by riding his Bultaco up to a brick wall, landing his front wheel on the wall, then static balancing before flicking the bike off the wall, feet securely on the footpegs. His first appearance at the Scottish Six Days, was financed by ORF (Österreichischer Rundfunk), the Austrian national public broadcaster.
In 1976, Joe took part in the prestigeous TT Leathers sponsored ‘Superstars’ trial in England at Pately Bridge, Yorkshire. The event attracted the best trials riders in the world at that time.
Reflecting in conversation with A-Trial, Joe Wallman said: “I experienced my personal highlight in 1977, on the Thursday of the Scottish Six Days Trial. It was problems all day. I had to change the wheel bearing and mend a plate and then continue. At stake was with a day victory with 4 marks and the tenth place in the six-day final results. But the fourth place at the World Championship run in Kiefersfelden, almost on my doorstep, in 1980 was also very nice.”
Joe Wallman was best on day on the Wednesday of the 1977 SSDT jointly with Martin Lampkin, Marland Whaley and Rob Shepherd, winning the ‘Comerfords’ trophy. Joe was tenth overall on 93 marks.
In the 1978 Scottish Six Days, Joe was again riding the 325cc Bultaco and was positioned in 19th place on 195 marks, in this year, Martin Lampkin won the trial on 99 marks, the event was now taking more marks from riders than before. At the 1978 SSDT, Wallmann was also part of the Best Foreign team, ‘Team Austria’ which consisted of Joe, Walther Luft, Freidl Engstler and F.W. Trummer, winning the ‘Scotia Trophy’.
At the World Championship trial in Kiefersfelden in Germany, Joe achieved a fourth place finish. This would be his best individual result at World Championship level. In the meantime, Horst Leitner had expanded his importership activities with Bultaco and became importer for the German market. Joe started riding in the German Trial Championships to help promote the Bultaco brand. However, due to the financial collapse of Bultaco in 1979, Joe then switched to the Italjet, developed by Bultaco mounted 1979 World Champion, American, Bernie Schreiber in 1980.
Werner Linz in later years took over the import company and dealership. Joe became three times German Vice Champion and three times South German Champion.
Joe’s first attempt at a record for an entry into the Guinness Book of Records was in 1980, at an event of the Motorclub Laakirchen when he rode across a VW bus, his record thirst for the Guinness Book was not yet quenched, and in 1983 he drove across a larger coach bus of the post office in Laakirchen on the occasion of the market celebrations of the town, it even brought him a dinner with the the then Federal President Dr. Kirchschläger, who was on site for these celebrations.
About twenty years ago, Joe became interested in Classic Trials, mostly riding on a Bultaco, he won the A-Cup title, the Classic European Cup taking place in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Austria with four victories, but his great love belongs to the 2-day Trial des Vestiges in Moudon, Switzerland. Now living with his wife, Hedwig at Obertrum, near Salzburg.
The Salzburg daily newspaper, Salzburger Nachrichten reported in 2012: – Health problems in the form of severe back pain and also the time strained by family and profession, forced Wallmann to hang the sport on the nail in the mid-1980s. About ten years ago, the upper centre finally found a chiropractor who redeemed him from his pain. “It was incredible to suddenly be pain-free after more than 30 years,” the now 64-year-old remembers. However, Wallmann did not return to the trial. “The independence of self-employment simply demanded a lot of my time,” he says. It was only two and a half years ago that his long-time friend and trial colleague Hartwig Kamarad put him on a machine again when Wallmann felt the old enthusiasm flare up again. And since then he has won. The most tough competitor is almost 30 years younger. In the 2012 season, Wallmann won the overall ranking in the international classical trial Alpine Cup and also in the Austrian classical music A Cup. His toughest competitor Markus Adamec is almost 30 years younger. “I just enjoy getting around with the old machines,” Wallmann says modestly. In the classic competitions, exactly this is possible, after all, the trial vintage cars with around 90 kilograms weigh more than those of the current professionals. “And with participants between 30 and early 70, the age range is probably a slightly different one,” laughs Joe Wallmann, who will now remain the trial even longer. [1]
Joe Wallmann when riding competitively was very much an ‘old school’ rider, when the motorcycle and rider stops, then that is five marks of a reward. Wallmann did not take to the new way of allowing stopping in a section, which was pioneered in Spain.
Joe Wallmann: “I stopped competing in competitive trials in 1982. In 1980 Ulf Karlson became world champion. It was the last title for a driver from my generation who still drove without using the clutch. There was no problem with standing still. After that, the new driving style prevailed, which came from the young people of the time like Eddy Lejeune. For trial events up to class three (yellow route), the ‘non-stop rule’ is the most sensible rule anyway. The riders jump around in places where ‘driving’ would be much better and more successful. However, they would then have to learn and master basic techniques, such as correct loading and unloading.” [2]
In the Austrian trial website, A-Trial, they asked Joe: Aside from tables and rankings, what other fond memories do you associate with trial sports? Joe replied: “In 1972 we were in Finland for the first time to take part in the World Cup races there and in Sweden. Suddenly none other than Yrjö Vesterinen appeared. Yrjö took us to the most beautiful places, we were able to drive freely and collected cranberries during training. Walther Luft fried the mushrooms he found. It was this community that brought a lot of fun!” [3]
Joe is now 75 years of age and has a knee prosthesis and a new heart valve, but his goal is to start in Moudon at the age of 80!
It proves, you just can’t keep a good guy down, but that’s Just Joe!
In August 2025, John Moffat of Trials Guru website travelled to Ohlsdorf in Upper Austria and met with Hartwig Kamarad, the curator of the 1st European Trial Museum to present Joe Wallmann and Walther Luft with their special edition ‘Trial legend’ caps by Trials Guru. Only 25 of these caps worldwide as a special honour for the recipients.
Austria Trial Champions:
1969 – OSTG Trial Cup: 100cc – Joe Wallmann; 200cc – Walther Luft; Over 200cc – Walther Wolf.
1970 – OSTG Trial Cup: 100cc – Joe Wallmann; 200cc – Walther Luft; Over 200cc – Walther Wolf.
1971 – Osterreichisher Shell Trial Pokal: Walther Luft
1972 – Osterreichisher Shell Trial Pokal: Walther Luft
1973 – Osterreichisher Shell Trial Pokal: Walther Luft
1974 – OSK Pokal: 250cc – Franz Trummer; Over 250cc – Joe Wallmann
1975 – OSK Pokal: 250cc – Franz Trummer; Over 250cc – Joe Wallmann
1976 – Stattsmeister: Joe Wallmann; OSK Pokal: Franz Trummer
1977 – Stattsmeister: Joe Wallmann
1978 – Stattsmeister: Gottfried Engstler
1979 – Stattsmeister: Gottfried Engstler
1980 – Stattsmeister: Franz Trummer
1981 – Stattsmeister: Walther Luft
Bibliography/Research:
A-Trial, The Home of Classic Trial, Austria (website) [2]; [3]
Salzburger Nachrichten Verlag (Austrian daily newspaper) [1]
Hartwig Kamarad/Trial Museum Ohlsdorf, Austria.
‘Six Days in May’ – Twenty Five Years of the Scottish Six Days Trial 1970-1994 – Jim McColm (1995).
Article copyright: John Moffat/Trials Guru 2024
Photographic Copyright: Individual photographers as captioned.
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.
Walther Luft – Austria’s Innovator
Words: John Moffat for Trials Guru
Contributions: Hartwig Kamarad; Yrjö Vesterinen; Alfred Wagner & Max Hengl.
Photos: Alfred Wagner; Hartwig Kamarad; Hans Meditz; Iain Lawrie; Rainer Heise; Eric Kitchen; Graeme Campbell; Iain C, Clark; Ian Gibson; Jimmy Young; Justyn Norek; Trials.AT; John Moffat.
Acknowledgements: Motorrad Trial Museum Ohlsdorf/Hartwig Kamarad; Max Hengl, Austria; KTM AG, Mattighofen; Steyr-Daimler Puch, Graz; Alfred Wagner, Austria; Trial.AT, Austria.
John Moffat begins the Walther Luft story:
I first met Walther Luft at my family home in Bathgate, West Lothian in late April 1970. He was entered for his first Scottish Six Days Trial along with his friend from Vienna, Peter Bous who was to ride a Bultaco.
Walther was a quiet man, he understood and spoke some English, but it was clear to me that he was very shy and reserved, that was until he had some wine! He was also quite humorous and would laugh at mildly funny things.
My task was to accompany them along with a Herr. Hans Meditz from Steyr-Daimler Puch, Graz. He was their effective manager for the event, Meditz, I later discovered had been an accomplished enduro rider for the Puch factory team and had competed in the International Six Days representing his native Austria. He was an employee of the factory, but I never found out what he did for a living, even although my family would visit him at his home in Graz when on holiday in Austria the next year.
Walther’s first foray into the most famous motorcycle event in the world attracted attention from the UK Puch importers, Steyr-Daimler Puch GB, who were based in Lower Parliament Street in Nottingham who sent up their UK General Manager, Peter Bolton and one of their technical salespeople. The Puch GB people travelled around the highlands in a brand new series 1 Range Rover with the private number plate 1 SDP. At this time, Puch were supplying 124cc engines, wheels and front forks to Dalesman in Otley, Yorkshire and had just started supplying Greeves with the six speed 169cc engine for the new Pathfinder which was being debuted by Bill Wilkinson, Derek Adsett and Scott Ellis in the SSDT.
My father, T. Arnott Moffat had made connections and friends while attending the ISDT at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in September 1969, this included some officials of the OAMTC and the German ADAC. He was always telling people overseas to come to Scotland and compete in the SSDT and this time it worked.
He received correspondence from a connection in the OAMTC asking how to enter a couple of Austrian riders for the ‘Scottish’. Very much delighted to help, my father replied and put them in touch with the new SSDT Secretary for 1970, Jim McColm of the Edinburgh & District Motor Club and two entries were secured for the Austrians. Peter Bous would be allocated number 70 and Walther Luft, number 71.
My mother made up the spare bedroom at our home in Torphichen street, Bathgate and I was despatched to my Gran’s cottage to allow my bedroom to be vacated, thus accommodating all our Austrian guests.
The contingent had arrived early for the trial and needed to make some preparations to their machines, so my resourceful father took them to Uphall Station, West Lothian where his friends, the Gillies brothers ran a large haulage business with extensive workshops, under the control, of Jim Gillies, a family friend. The Austrians were allowed access to all the tools and also welding equipment as Walther Luft was a blacksmith to trade.
My father suggested that the duo us a spare can for their fuel and I was told to paint their riding numbers on an old red Esso two gallon fuel can, which I did with Humbrol enamel in white gloss, I still have that can with its original brass cap, still showing the writing, ‘71 and 70 SSDT’.
SSDT 1970:
Peter Bous was very unlucky in his first SSDT, the crankcase seals on his Bultaco failed at the first fuel check near Culross, some twenty-five miles north of the start, however he returned a couple of years later with a Puch and received a finishers award.
Walther Luft was a serious rider; he took his sport and the construction of his special 169cc Puch very seriously. His preparation was total, I had the pleasure of not only watching him, but assisting him where I could.
In 1970 his Puch was in its preliminary stages of development, registered in Vienna (Wein) as W-30823, it sported an alloy fuel tank similar to that being used by the English constructor, Dalesman who were using 125cc Puch motors at that time. Finished with alloy mudguards and braced steel handlebars. Luft I then discovered, had made the frame and swinging arm himself, up until that point I assumed it was a factory bike. He also used Nylon 66 at around 5mm thickness for a sump shield, nobody at the weigh-in for the SSDT had seen such a sump shield made from plastic material before! Later he fitted American ‘Preston Petty’ mudguards to the Puch when they became available, then he used the British made ‘VF’ (Vacuum Formers). For controls he favoured the German ‘Magura’ brake and clutch levers.
The air-box was also made from sheet Nylon 66, and I noticed extensive drilling of many components for lightness. Walther referred to these components as ‘spetzial parts’, he was always experimenting with innovative ideas.
After all the preparations, Monday 4th May loomed, and the Austrians were standing by their machines in the Gorgie Market in Edinburgh for the start of the Scottish Six Days Trial. The weather was sunny and as mentioned Bous retired on the first day so was able to crew for his friend Walther.
Walther was overjoyed at the awards ceremony in the George Hotel in George Street, Edinburgh on Saturday 9th May when he collected the ‘Edinburgh Trophy’ for the best performance by a foreign rider, fourth position in the up to 175cc class and was placed at 45th overall in the trial. This started a love affair between Luft and the SSDT, for he would return many times over the years.
Early years:
Walther Luft was born at Süßenbach in the county of Raabs an der Thaya, Lower Austria (Niederoesterreich) on 15th November 1944, his father was a chemist, he had a sister.
Walther was a trained craftsman, welder and turner. He ran a one-man company that carried out repairs and made bespoke machine tools and also made wrought iron work.
Luft took a liking to trials as it was a technical sport and suited his mentality and professional training, a thinking man’s sport.
In Austria, there were not many motorcycle trials dealerships and riders used home market road machines suitably adapted and modified. A popular conversion was the Puch SGS 250, a split-single two stroke which the factory produced ‘Gelandesport‘ models for speed events like the ISDT. Many riders geared these machines down for observed trials use.
Trials legend Sammy Miller had conducted some trials schools in Austria when riding for Ariel and these encouraged many Austrian trials riders.
The Austrians also ran many events through the winter months called ‘Winter Cup‘ series trials, these were very muddy type events, but proved popular. Walther wasn’t a great fan of these events preferring rocky sections and very steep climbs on which he excelled.
The Puch factory took notice of Walther and he received support from them with parts such as wheels, engine, suspension parts. There were some very clever engineers who worked at the Graz factory, but they were mainly engaged in the production of their GS or enduro models, ranging from 50 to 175cc. Many of the components were hand made by Walther, so his machines were very much ‘one-offs‘.
Austrian involvement:
Walther Luft wasn’t the first Austrian to take part in the SSDT, that honour belonged to Horst Leitner, who later became the Bultaco importer/concessionaire for Austria and Germany. Leitner rode a factory supported 250cc Puch SGS in the 1961 SSDT, but it resembled more of an enduro machine than a proper trials mount. Leitner would also sponsor Austrian champion, Joe Wallman from 1973 to 1979 on Bultaco Sherpas through his Austrian Bultaco dealership. Leitner was a multiple ISDT gold medalist and later produced the ATK Leitner motocross machines in Southern California in the USA and patented the ‘Leitner-Link‘ suspension system.
Development:
Ongoing development of the trials machine was always on Luft’s mind, he was a perfectionist and could not rest until something he was working on was 100% correct.
The Puch he rode was always a work in progress, by 1973, he had increased the capacity of the engine to a 250, actual capacity 244cc and had made a special fuel tank out of plastic, based on the tank element of the Bultaco Sherpa ‘Kit Campeon‘ tank seat unit. Walther had made his own mouldings and therefore had self-made his own tank for his Puch.
Copy-cat:
In fact Walther had fabricated in 1970, two nylon 66 tubes with suitable bracketry and fixings to enclose the rear drive chain of his Puch, this idea was subsequently copied by Montesa for the 1976 Cota 348 ‘Malcolm Rathmell Replica‘.
At this time, with the larger capacity engine, Walther was constantly tinkering with carburation and exhaust systems. At first he used glassfibre wool as silencing and to create sufficient back-pressure for the loop-scavenging two-stroke Puch engine. He then tried wire wool as he found that the glass wool was prone to burn out rapidly and he was losing the back pressure mid event. His engines were all six-speeders.
The fork yokes were alloy items, but extensively drilled and sometimes the holes filled with nylon 66 rod, such was his attention to detail.
In 1971, in his second SSDT, Walther was again the best foreign rider and came home in 31st position, the Puch was by now a 169cc capacity, listed as a 200. The following year, he was logged as 29th position overall and the Puch‘s capacity listed as 187cc. The best foreign rider was rising Ossa star, Thore Evertson.
1973 was a good year for Walther on the 250cc Puch Special, he won the Santigosa Three Day Trial in Spain (Tres Dies de Trial de Santigosa) beating Bultaco rider Charles Coutard and Spaniard Fransec Paya (Ossa) and also took the best 250cc cup. He travelled to events alone in a dark green VW 1600 Variant estate car with the Puch inside, with its wheels removed and his luggage alongside. Walther by now always stayed with the Borthwick family in Blacket Avenue in Edinburgh’s southside prior to the SSDT to be close to the start.
In the Scottish Six Days he was ninth in the 250cc class, and nineteenth overall in the event. The best foreign rider was again Swede, Thore Evertson on the works Ossa in fifth position.
At the finish of the SSDT at Blackford Hill, Edinburgh, Walther was approached by Martin Lampkin and Malcolm Rathmell, the eventual trial winner and asked Luft for a quick spin on the Puch. Rathmell was first to try the peppy machine, before handing it to Lampkin. Martin, not realising how powerful Luft had made the motor almost lost it when he opened the throttle, it gripped on the hard pathway leading up to the Blackford Hill Observatory. He had a broad smile on his face when he handed the Puch back, undamaged, but he came close to looping it in front of witnesses.
Walther 1973 season was dotted with success, apart from his Santigosa win he also achived the following:
Triumph Club, Castrol Trial at Tulln in March, second place overall; – International Trial at Saint Llorenz de Mont in Spain, third place overall; – International Trial at Bergamo, Italy in June, sixth position; - International Trial at Muhldorf in June, first position; – International Trial in Konstanz in July, first position; – European Championship round in Finland, August, nineteenth position; – European Championship round in Sweden, ninth position; – International Trial at Marburg, Germany in September, first position and the European Championship round at Keifersfelden, sixth position. [1]
In the 1974 SSDT, Walther posted a fine fourteenth position and the Puch was listed as a 250, five marks behind German Champion, Felix Krahnstover on his Montesa.
However, what was overlooked in the 1974 Scottish Six Days was that Walther had made the best performance of the trial on the very last day, the Saturday, which earned him the Ossa UK trophy, surrendering only 1 mark that day.
1975 was the last year Walther would be on his faithful Puch and he was now accompanied by friend, central heating engineer, Walther Wolf from Ernstbrunn in the district of Korneuburg in Lower Austria, north of Vienna. They travelled to Scotland in Wolf’s Fiat 238 van.
The Austrians even managed a little sponsorship from the Erste Bank der Oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG in Vienna. The bank’s logo was emplazoned on their riding jackets.
By now several Austrians were competing in International trials, including Joe Wallman, Gottfried Engstler on Bultacos and Walther Wolf. Walther Luft would shortly debut the prototype KTM 250 ‘Trial‘ along with German Trials Champion, Felix Krahnstover.
As said, Walther was always experimenting with components of his machines, reknown German photographer, Rainer Heise attended the Scottish Six Days many times and of course concentrated in the German riders and the Austrians.
Rainer Heise: “I can’t remember exactly which year, Walther showed me the rims of his machine. He had made them himself from carbon material and assembled them with hub, spokes etc. to make a complete wheel. At that time, the use of carbon was almost completely uncommon at trial.“
Walther was innovative, he was a thinker and new materials made him wonder if they could be used to lighten his machines further, this was at a time before even mountain bike technology had taken hold.
KTM Cometh:
The rival KTM (Kronreif und Trunkenpolz, Mattighofen) concern, based at Mattighofen in Upper Austria were eyeing up the burgeoning trials market and began developing their own trials machine in 1975, first a 250, followed a year later with a 325cc engine.
The trials project had the blessing of Hans Trunkenpolz. The firm were reknown for their high build quality and their trials machines were no different, but bespoke.
They shared few components with the ‘MC‘ motocross or ‘GS‘ enduro spec models of that time, much of the prototype trials machines components were custom made.
In charge of the engineering for the trials project was Heinrich Weiditz at the KTM factory, everyone at Mattighofen was enthusiastic about the ‘Trial’ project.
Max Hengl, a friend of Walther Luft takes up part of the story:
“Since I was Walther Luft trained, he was able to put me in touch with KTM, who were looking for a young Höhere Technische Lehranstalt educated engineer to build their trials bike. There I got to know Walther as a recognized expert. He had more or less single-handedly developed and built the KTM trial machine. I remember a phone call from him to the factory in Mattighofen, where he told me that on the way to an important event, a car collided with his trailer and the KTM was badly damaged. He was now coming to the factory and I was supposed to help him get his motorcycle back in working order. A few hours later he showed up at the development department and showed me the damaged KTM. In addition to the handlebars, the tank and the side panels were broken. Since the machines developed in the factory already had a different frame, their tank did not fit on Walther’s machine. We worked through the night trying to somehow get a rideable motorcycle ready. Rarely have I seen Walther so desperate, as he could not do a perfect job in the time available. In the morning, he reluctantly loaded the assembled KTM onto his trailer, which had also been repaired, and drove to the trial. He was pretty angry with me when he lost the tank in a crash. This tarnished his image, but he was able to attend the event and that had been the declared goal of the night session. But Walther doesn’t hold a grudge and so he had to laugh about the situation himself.“
With the trials engines based on the bottom half of the 400 enduro model, which had an actual capacity 355cc, Walter rode three SSDTs on the KTM brand, Krahnstover went back to ride a Montesa in 1977, returning in 1978 on the 325 KTM. Walther Luft came home in twenty-sixth position at the SSDT in 1977.
Walther was in thirty-eighth position in 1978, back on the 250 machine, but the decision was made to scrap the project, siting the high demand for their motocross and enduro ranges and strong orders from the American market where the KTM had been previously re-branded ‘Penton’. The size of the trials market being considerably smaller, being the rationale for the shelving of the ‘Trial’ enterprise.
At the 1978 Scottish Six Days, Walther, riding the 325 KTM was a member of the Best Foreign team, winning the ‘Scotia Trophy’ for Team Austria along with Joe Wallmann, Freidl Engstler and F.W. Trummer.
KTM TRIAL today:
There were four KTM Trial 325 machines made at the Mattighofen factory by the Trial Project, one of which survives in the Mottorrad – Trial Museum, Weinbergstraße 66, 4694 Ohlsdorf, Austria in the prinicipality of Gmunden, Upper Austria, some 74 Kms east of Salzburg. The curator is Hartwig Kamarad who has a fine collection of trials machines and memorabilia on display. The KTM in Trialmuseum is that of Hans Trunkenpolz and has the frame number 4.
Fahren mit Bultaco:
With the disbanding of the KTM trials project, a disappointed Walther started riding a private 325 Bultaco, but of course a heavily modified machine. Walther really wanted KTM to proceed with series production of a trials machine, but his dreams were shattered. Luft was no stranger to the Spanish Bultaco brand, having built and tested a special frame for World Champion, Yrjo Vesterinen. There was only one problem, Vesty found the machine just too light! Luft had gone to town and lightened the chassis beyond belief, making it difficult to find grip.
Yrjö Vesterinen: “The weight balance was out between the front and the back of the bike. Walter managed to take too much weight off the front end. This made the bike very difficult to ride in sections.
The bike went back to the Bultaco factory, it was effectively cannibalised for its parts, and I remember seeing bits of it on Manuel Soler’s bike after that. It is a pity I could not have saved it for posterity.
Why did I do this? When the new 159 model came out, I really liked them. However, I also noticed that it had become heavier than the 133 model prototypes that we rode previously. I was convinced that by making it lighter it would make it easier to handle. I managed to convince my team boss, Oriol Puig Bulto, to have a special machine built and lightened by Walther. Walther was of course famous for his ultra-light Puch machine that he had built for himself. He took the job on and started working on my machine in Vienna. The outcome was it weighed about 11 kg less than the standard works machine did at the time. This was a beautiful testament to Walter’s engineering skills. He had lightened pretty much every part and fabricated numerous parts from lighter materials. Initially I thought that this machine was a winner. However, the more I tested it, the more obvious it became that the weight distribution of this otherwise very special machine was not right. I struggled to keep the front wheel on the ground on steeper sections. I had to lean more forward to compensate which meant that I would lose the grip with the rear wheel.”
Back to standard, well almost:
Vesty: “With great frustration I had to revert back to the more standard machine. Oriol was not best pleased as this project had cost a small fortune. My results were badly affected by this machine that I could not ride very well. The ultimate outcome was that the standard machine was proven to be a winner and ultimately everybody was smiling again! I did initially take a few nice parts of the Luft Special, for my own bike before the others helped themselves for the rest.
After that I never saw it again. I felt extremely sorry for Walter Luft, a good friend of mine who had done a very big, as well as expensive, job to build this bike and I just could not ride it. It needed more testing, but the time did not allow that as I was right in the middle of the first half of the 1976 World Championship season.”
The Vesterinen Bultaco, modified by Walther, had a frame that was extensively drilled, along with the rear engine mount, cylinder head, cylinder barrel and other components.
Full circle:
1980 arrived and that marked ten years of riding in Scotland for Walther Luft as well as five years competing in World championship trials and he was still on the 199A Bultaco with his own modifications. He was now thirty-six years of age, so technically passed his prime, but still capable and keen. Later he used a much modified 199B Bultaco in trials.
According to Charly Dematheu’s Trialonline website, Walther Luft had amassed 94 world championship points and highest place was 18th.
When Walther came to near the end of his competitive era, he switched back to his beloved Puch, riding it in the 1981 SSDT, until he switched to a Rotax powered Aprilia, again heavily modified in the mid 1990s.
The millenium Scottish Six Days, 30 years after Walther’s first ride in Scotland.
A little more information on Puch:
Johann Puch was born in 1862 to Slovenian parents in Ptuj in Lower Styria, Austria. Having been an agent for British Humber bicycles, he started making his own cycles, motorcycles and other automotive products in 1899 at Graz in Austria. He was classed as an industrialist, his company became part of the Steyr-Daimler-Puch conglomarate and made cycles, motorcycles, automobiles and eventually off-road vehicles for military and commercial uses. Up to 1914, Puch had produced 21 different cars, lorries and buses. The company was quite humanitarian in it’s outlook, providing accommodation for its workforce in the city of Graz near to the factory. Mentioned in this article, Hans Meditz was heavily involved in the Puch ‘Haflinger’ which started production in 1958 and the larger ‘Pinzgauer’ introduced in 1970, both off road vehicle projects, both 4×4 vehicles with many uses. Puch was reknown world-wide for its four wheel drive systems. Meditz appears to have started work with the company around 1963 until his retirement. Meditz was not only involved with producing vehicles, but also in the building of Puch workers houses. To make sure the Puch employees were involved with the contruction, lots were drawn to allocate the occupation of the first houses, a novel idea. It is important to remember that in 1975, when Luft went to KTM, Puch secured the World 250cc Motocross Championship with Belgian, Harry Everts.
In August 2025, John Moffat from Trials Guru website visited the 1st European Trial Museum at Ohlsdorf, Upper Austria and met with the curator, Hartwig Kamarad to present Trials Guru ‘Trial Legend’ caps to both Walther Luft and Joe Wallmann. There are only 25 ‘Trial Legend’ caps worldwide.
Austria Trial Champions:
1969 – OSTG Trial Cup: 100cc – Joe Wallmann; 200cc – Walther Luft; Over 200cc – Walther Wolf.
1970 – OSTG Trial Cup: 100cc – Joe Wallmann; 200cc – Walther Luft; Over 200cc – Walther Wolf.
1971 – Osterreichisher Shell Trial Pokal: Walther Luft
1972 – Osterreichisher Shell Trial Pokal: Walther Luft
1973 – Osterreichisher Shell Trial Pokal: Walther Luft
1974 – OSK Pokal: 250cc – Franz Trummer; Over 250cc – Joe Wallmann
1975 – OSK Pokal: 250cc – Franz Trummer; Over 250cc – Joe Wallmann
1976 – Stattsmeister: Joe Wallmann; OSK Pokal: Franz Trummer
1977 – Stattsmeister: Joe Wallmann
1978 – Stattsmeister: Gottfried Engstler
1979 – Stattsmeister: Gottfried Engstler
1980 – Stattsmeister: Franz Trummer
1981 – Stattsmeister: Walther Luft
Bibliography/Research:
Article: ‘Mein Freunde Walther Luft‘ – Max Hengl.
Motorradsporterfolge (Motorcycle Racing Successes) – Steyr-Daimler Puch verlag 1973. [1]
Steyr-Daimler Puch AG, Graz, Austria
Trial Guide – Hartwig Kamarad – Trialmuseum Ohlsdorf.
Trialonline.org – Charly Demathieu
‘Six Days In May’ – Twenty-Five Years of The Scottish Six Days Trial : 1970-1994 – Jim McColm
Article copyright: John Moffat/Trials Guru 2023
Photographic Copyright: Individual photographers as captioned.
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.
Exclusive to Trials Guru – Trials Academy, we bring you the Don Smith Story. A fascinating account of a man’s life in the world of trials and beyond.
Don or ‘DR’ as he was known was a charismatic character who was at the centre of machine development for Greeves, Montesa, the STAG ‘contract breaker’, Kawasaki and Fantic.
His story, never before told in the motorcycle press, brought to you by the independent website Trials Guru – Trials Academy: Dedicated to the Sport.
Jump straight to the article: DON SMITH
Totally committed to motorcycle sport for six decades! – By David Cole
Main photograph: Mike Rapley
Commentating at a North Devon Atlantic Classic Scramble Club meeting at Combe Martin a couple of weeks ago, for the last time, was Colin Dommett, one of the country’s best known, well respected and most knowledgeable men in off-road motorcycling.
Can we really believe he’s retiring? That’s not meant in any unkind or rude way, it’s just that Colin has been there, keeping us entertained and updated, on matters concerning our sport, both nationally and in particular the South Western and Cornwall Centres, for over 60 years – no doubt longer than many of us can remember.
Colin was born in Devon in 1940; he spent his early years near Broadhempston, between Newton Abbot and Totnes, on the land farmed by his father.
The first trial he witnessed was when he was six years old, a section of the annual West of England National Trial, “The Open” as it was known in those days, which was very near to the family home (I assume that this would have been 1946, the first running of this event after the war, Jim Alves of Street in Somerset won the trial on a ‘works’ 348cc Triumph). This event must have had a lasting effect on Colin, although he was upset by the noise of the bikes at the time.
At the age of eight Colin moved, with his parents to Cornwall and during the six weeks summer holiday from school he regularly stayed with an uncle on his farm near Axminster in East Devon. Whilst enjoying these holidays his cousin’s, who both owned motorbikes, took Colin to Exeter Speedway, local Scrambles and Road Race meetings at Blandford Camp and Castle Coombe, these he really enjoyed and made him decide that when he was old enough he would have a bike.
The bug had by now well and truly bitten and as Colin grew he attended as many Cornish trials and scrambles as he could get to. Too young to drive, of course, he either cycled or scrounged lifts to events from his local competitors, Ally Clift being one of the regulars.
When he was about fourteen years of age Motor Cycle News was formed (many years before Trials & MX News appeared) and Colin managed to persuade the Editor to give him the position of “Sports Reporter” for Cornwall. Colin was so keen he was a natural and continued to report for MCN until 1964.
When Colin left school he went to work for W.H.Collins motorcycle shop in Truro, riding his first trial at Colwith Farm, Par, in 1957 riding a Triumph Tiger Cub. It was a week later that Colin won his first award, the event was a ‘Time Trial’ (marked on time and observation) and he picked up a first-class award for his efforts which immediately upgraded his status to ‘Expert’.
The Cub, like all Cub’s of that era, proved pretty unreliable and it wasn’t long before he changed to a 197cc A.C.S. (Ally Clift Special), a Villiers powered bike which proved very reliable and took Colin to his first Open-to-Centre win in the East Cornwall Club’s ‘Kings of Oxford Trophy’ Trial plus many other awards, as well as representing the Centre in Inter-Centre Team Trial in Wales.
It was around this time that Colin took up scrambling, again he proved to be a natural, riding a 250 Sundry (Sun/Villiers with a Vale Onslow conversion) as well as a few outings on Ally Clift’s (Collins sponsored) BSA Gold Star. Now competing in both trials and scrambles his successes continued.
In 1960 Colin bought a new Cotton trials bike and rode it from the factory in Gloucestershire, where it was built, back to his home in Truro. He immediately won five out of his first six trials on this new bike and it was not long before he was offered a ‘Works Team’ contract with the Cotton concern.
Due to a back injury whilst racing in 1963 which, more or less coincided with marriage, Colin decided to call it a day as far as scrambling was concerned and concentrate on trials.
For Pat Onions and the Cotton concern Colin rode all the important National Trials and British Championship Rounds. Covering these events meant an awful lot of travelling from deepest Cornwall so in 1964 Colin secured a job with Westbury Motorcycles in Bristol positioning him a little more centrally and thereby easing the travelling.
After only a couple of weeks with Westbury, during a trip to collect spares form the Cotton factory, Colin was offered a job there, how could he possibly turn it down, they were already supplying him with a bike and spares, geographically he would be perfectly placed and he had two of the best riders of that era, Malcolm and Tony Davis as travelling companions at weekends.
Colin spent the next two and a half years working for Cotton before deciding to move back to Cornwall. Factory wages were low but it was an invaluable and thoroughly enjoyable experience for Colin, he even got involved in things like testing the ‘works’ road race machines with people like Derek Minter.
Back in Cornwall and back to his old job Colin rode W.H. Collins sponsored Spanish bikes until 1970 when he acquired a 175cc Greeves Pathfinder.
He was then offered a 250cc Bultaco and sponsorship from David Paul. Dommett and the Bultaco saw a great many wins during the following season.
In 1968 Colin was selected to ride for the British Vase Squad in the International Six Days Trial (The Olympics of Motorcycling), for the event in Italy he rode a Husqvarna,
in 1969 as a British Trophy Team member in Germany he competed on a 504cc Triumph and again in 1970 at El Escorial near Madrid, Spain on a 504cc Cheney Triumph, all three events ended in misery, with mechanical failures for Colin, and the dream of a Gold Medal gone.
At the ISDT in 1970, his front fork sliders parted company from the forks, minutes before Colin had been reaching speeds of close to 100 mph, a lucky escape!
1971 saw Colin miss the ISDT selection tests due to a shoulder injury. The determination to succeed remained and the name C.F.Dommett appeared in the programme as a private entry, the Trial that year was held on the Isle of Man where Colin, riding a Bultaco, finally achieved his ambition by winning a coveted and well deserved gold medal.
Solo trials continued for Colin as did the successes, Colin has won the Cornwall Centre (Solo) Trials Championship, ten times.
In 1975, looking for a new challenge Colin teamed up with Eric Chamberlain for a crack at side-car trials. Their first outing on their home-built RL250 Suzuki was in mid May in the Pendennis ‘Open-to-Centre’ side-car trial; they did not figure in the results but felt they had a pretty good ride.
At the end of May the pair decided to play with the “big boys” and entered the Lyn National Trial. Despite competing against a good many of the country’s best side-car crews Colin and Eric finished in the top half of the results. The Lyn Club had also organised a ‘Closed-to-Club’ event the following day for which many of the previous day’s competitors stopped over to partake. This event saw the first of many victories for the Dommett / Chamberlain pairing.
Sharp-eyed Alec Wright had spotted the couple’s progress and offered them a new Kawasaki KT250 outfit, after a test ride the couple agreed without hesitation, which set them up ready to start the season in the winter of 1975.
Within the next six months Colin and Eric had accrued a multitude of wins including the British Experts, the Southern Experts and the Cornish Centre side-car championship.
The 1976 season saw the Cornish Champions start the season on the Kawasaki before changing to a Mick Whitlock framed, Suzuki RL powered Whitehawk outfit, a very smart bike and a machine that they skilfully piloted to win the British Championship in 1976, ’77 & ‘78 plus, to top it all, “the holy grail” was reached, Colin and Eric were crowned European Side-car Trials Champions in 1977.
Eric decided to call it a day at the end of ’78 which meant that Colin started the 1979 season on a new bike, a Comerfords Bultaco, with full factory backing, and a new passenger, Rob Clift.
Their season went well finishing the British Championship in fourth place. For the 1980 season Eric made a comeback for the important events which saw the pairing once again win the British Championship title that year.
Colin now decided to call it a day as far as Side-car Trials Championships were concerned, although he did continue to ride solo trials and had the odd outing within the Cornish Centre, with an outfit and with Rob Clift in the chair.
1990 saw Colin’s return to scrambling, choosing to ride Pre’65 events on a Triumph engined Metisse on which he had many successful outings, proving he’d lost none of his old magic.
In the year 2000 at the age of 60, Colin decided to once again, retire from scrambling and concentrate on his solo trials career.
Colin lives in the Tiverton area of Devon these days and the last fifteen years have seen him continuing to ride to a very high standard, taking many trials honours whilst campaigning a 250cc Cotton, a 270cc BSA C15 plus more recently, turning to a 185cc BSA Bantam – a lovely machine which is very much in demand in trials circles these days.
Colin’s current riding career is centred mainly around the West Country, although he still makes the odd trip to compete in events like the Isle of Man Two Day Trial.
At the time of writing, (August 2015), Colin sits comfortably in second position in the South Western Centre Pre 65 Trials Championship, trailing the current leader, Neil Hammersley, by just one point.
Two years ago Colin rode the last of his Scottish Pre 65 events, a trial he has always loved and performed well in, this being the most famous and prestigious Pre 65 Trial in the world, an event that Colin is proud to say that has previously been won by his son Scott.
Always an active member of his clubs, repaying a sport that he has for so long enjoyed, mucking in with all that it takes to organise and laying on motorcycle sporting events,
Colin has been made an Honorary Member of the Cornwall Centre, is the Chairman of the South Western Centre, Chairman of the South West Classic Trials Association, a committee member of the Tiverton Motor Club and is in much demand wherever a motorcycle sporting function is held.
Colin’s knowledge of the sport, its history and its participants is second to none; in most cases “he’s been there, done that and got the ‘T’ shirt”.
For their immense help, friendship and enthusiasm Colin and wife Greta were thanked during a presentation made by Chris Dawson, on behalf of the Club, which took place during a break in the second day’s racing. We feel sure that we speak for all when we wish Colin many more years of success and enjoyment within the sport, and, along with his wonderful and ever supportive wife, Greta, good luck and a peaceful life in their new home. – David Cole
Trials Guru on Colin Dommett:
I first came across Colin Dommett when I was spectating at the Scottish in 1975 on Ben Nevis sections. My late father and I were standing watching the action when Colin lost control of his 250 Ossa (234CFD) when he lost his footing on a rock. Colin and the Ossa hit the deck, my quick acting father then proceeded to pick the machine up, only problem was – he was at the front of the bike and of course unwittingly opened the throttle – fully when he thought he was shutting it closed! The Ossa simply took off like a rocket and promptly wound my father round the nearest tree!
Colin scrambled to his feet to attempt a rescue of his wayward machine. The look on Colin’s face said it all – he was not impressed in the slightest!
When Colin had composed himself and rode off, my father turned round, looked me straight in the eye and said… “Never pick a bike up facing it” Those within earshot burst out laughing.
Colin and I jointly ‘fronted’ the Pre’65 Scottish awards presentation at Kinlochleven for many years and we had great fun doing our double-act at the highland classic event.
Colin F. Dommett was a dyed in the wool motorcyclist, a champion, a true enthusiast and I am proud to have been his friend. – John Moffat
Sadly, Colin passed away at Manchester Royal Infirmary on Thursday, 9th February 2023.
Colin Dommett’s funeral service will take place at 11:30am on Tuesday 14th March 2023 at Taunton Crematorium.
© – Article: Colin Dommett – Text copyright: David Cole – 2015
© – Images: Brian Catt, Edgware; Mike Rapley & Colin Dommett Family Collection
© – Layout and Publishing: Trials Guru/Moffat Racing/John Moffat 2023
‘Remembering Ralph’
Words: John Moffat
Photos: Eric Kitchen; Mike Davis; Jock McComisky; Charlie Watson; OffRoad Archive.
The title is a play on words, deliberately so, as Trials & Motocross News under the editorship of Bill Lawless ran a weekly column written by Ralph Venables which was entitled ‘Ralph Remembers’.
Ralph, pronounced ‘Rafe’ and he didn’t let anyone forget it, lived for much of his life in the small village and civil parish of Swallowcliffe, Salisbury in Wiltshire and was often referred to in articles as the ‘Squire of Swallowcliffe’ and the ‘doyen’ of trials journalist and writers. His house known as ‘The Old Forge’.
Ralph was very much of the old school of journalism, he took up the task after he realised that he would never be a top-flight trials rider, even although he was brought up in the company of the famous Heath brothers, Len and Joe, who were re-known trials and scrambles competitors immediately post war.
Born in the year that the First World War broke out, 1914 in Oxford, it was recorded that his first motorcycling event was not until 1920, in company with his elder brother to spectate at the Southern Scott Scramble near Camberley, Surrey.
His parents moved to ‘The Moors’, Tilford, Farnham in Surrey where he met the brothers Heath and that became a life-long friendship and Len Heath featured many times when Ralph recounted his life in the sport, so significant was his influence.
It was further recorded that Ralph suffered injuries in a road traffic accident whilst competing in a Schoolboy Trial near Croydon, Surrey. Schoolboy trials are not a new phenomenon, some private schools promoted them early last century. The accident was sufficiently serious that Venables spent some time in hospital and resulted in significant compensation being paid to him for his injuries, so it is assumed the car driver wasn’t devoid of fault.
Other interesting facts about Ralph include being an official of the Sunbeam M.C.C. which is of course the club that presents the annual Pinhard Prize through the ACU to recognise meritorious performance or efforts by a competitor or club member under the age of twenty-one years of age.
In 1957, the year of the writer’s birth, Ralph reduced his motorcycle club activities and branched out into article writing for the then Motor Cycle when it was owned by the Illife family and of course now the title is owned by Mortons Media, Hornchurch.
Knowledge:
Venables had a remarkable memory for people, places and events which was second to none. He may not have been a successful competitor in his own right, but he got to know all the top flight trials and scrambles riders of various eras and could spout forth many facts and figures, which earned him the moniker of being a walking, talking encyclopaedia.
John Moffat: “I got to know Ralph many years ago, around 1988. Ralph had conversed with my late father on quite a few occasions and that was my effective ‘calling card’ to be able to speak with him.”
It has to be said though that many Scottish competitors referred to Ralph as the ‘Poison Pen’ as he could be quite unkind with his description of some of our countryfolk in his columns and this did not endear him to competitors north of Hadrian’s Wall.
I wonder who recalls Ralph’s attempts to persuade the ACU to reduce the dimensions of the standard trials tyre reduced from four inch to three and a half-inch section back in the early to mid-1970s? Gordon Farley did a back to back test using his factory Montesa Cota using both sizes with the former British Champion failed to get grip on a variety of sections using the smaller section tyre. Motor Cycle News did a photo shoot at the time and published the results.
I was fortunate, by the time I got to know him, Ralph had mellowed slightly, but he could still pack a punch. I had it on good authority that when I started writing some articles on Scottish competitors, Ralph had been heard to say: “I do hope that you are in no way paying John Moffat for his articles by the word, otherwise you will be severely out of pocket”. Ralph had made the incorrect assumption that I was writing for money. Being paid for journalism is one thing, I was only doing it for enjoyment and recording sporting matters for posterity. Ralph it is safe to say, wrote for money and I certainly never had a problem with that.
I did challenge Ralph on the point and he admitted freely that is what he had said, but gave me some advice at the same time. He told me:” Please be economical with words John, why write five when one will do?”. I took his advice on board and discovered that sometimes, less is indeed more!
Talent Scout:
Venables or ‘RGV’ as he was sometimes known in the motorcycle sporting circles was a trusted, unpaid scout for the British motorcycle factories, especially keeping company with their Competitions managers of the magnitude of Brian Martin (BSA); Hugh Viney and latterly Bob Manns of AMC, Jack Stocker of Royal Enfield and many more.
It was Ralph that effectively ‘discovered’ a sixteen year old from Derbyshire called Michael J. Andrews. Venables would have a quiet word in the ever listening ear of Hugh Viney and a factory AJS 16C was soon trundling its way to Matlock strapped to the inside wall of the guard’s van by railway from Plumstead in South East London. Andrews would soon make his name on the factory machine, going on to ride for Rickmans, then Ossa and of course Yamaha. Mick only had a short and abruptly short apprenticeship with the Kenning Motor Group, but, made a living out of riding trials machines, a facet that was in its’ infancy in 1963.
Andrews was not alone in this special attention from Venables, many were tipped by him to these industry insiders and factory mounts were dispatched for these young men to try out the machine and eventually sign ‘works’ contracts.
Venables was the ‘eyes and ears’ of motorcycle trials and indeed scrambles in the 1950s and 1960s. He reported for the Motor Cycle and latterly Motor Cycle News when owned by EMAP (East Midland Allied Press) which had kicked off production the same year as Venables commencing writing for the rival paper Motor Cycle.
Ralph was a master wordsmith; few could beat or even equal him. He had a command of the English language and he used it sparingly but very effectively. It was indeed a matter of the pen is mightier than the sword when it came to his weekly columns. He was also known as a stickler for accuracy in his reporting.
Jazz:
But there was even more to Ralph Venables, he was also an authority on ‘White Jazz’ of the 1920s and 30s, as he took more than a keen interest in jazz music and had a comprehensive collection of recordings. One such musician was Leon Bismark ‘Bix’ Beiderbecke, an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Ralph wrote many articles on the artist and his music, plus discographies of many more artists of the era. Ralph was an active discographer, his vast record collection was gifted to a Mr. J.R.T. Davies after his death in 2003.
Expert Knowledge:
In 1966 Ralph along with others, totalling 19 persons were appointed by the then Labour government under Mrs. Barbara Castle, later Baroness Castle, the then Minister of Transport, to serve on a committee to advise the government on the continuing exercise of her powers for regulating motor events on the public highway. [1]
Was he controversial? Of course he was, all good journalists can stir things up and get people thinking, it is part of their job, it sells papers, it gets people talking and R.G. Venables was in the master class at it.
Venables of course had great respect for Sammy Miller, eleven times British Champion and the most famous of all trials riders. However Ralph was not a fan of Sammy’s riding style. Ralph was quoted as saying that Sam was “far too crouched over the front of his machine for my liking”. Ralph wasn’t afraid to say what he thought or comment on what he liked or disliked. With Venables you either took it or left it, that was his terms.
When I got to know Ralph a little I told him that if I was being totally honest, the first page I used to turn to in Trials & Motocross News was the one in which his column appeared. Some months later Ralph actually commented how pleased he was when people told him that very fact.
In early 1994, I asked Ralph a few times if he could perhaps feature a few Scottish competitors in his column, to me that may make up for all the negative things he had written perhaps thirty years previously about my fellow countrymen. To my astonishment and delight in the April 29th edition of the paper he did indeed feature “Highland heroes on home ground” as his full-page column, ‘Ralph Remembers’. In fact, his opening short paragraph read “…John Moffat has been nagging me mercilessly in connection with my column. He wants me to devote a whole page to Scots pictured competing in the Scottish Six Days Trial”. Not only did he feature them once he did it a second time when suitable photographs landed on his desk at Swallowcliffe. Ralph first spectated at the SSDT in 1937 an event he attended as spectator, reporter and an official observer. He particularly enjoyed staying at Gordon Blakeways’ hotel at Strontian, Kilcamb Lodge, which he described as the ‘friendliest hotel in the Highlands’ on more than one occasion.
Sadly, Ralph passed away in February 2003, having suffered from Motor-Neuron disease, but my connection with him became very memorable indeed, as he died on exactly the same day as my late Mother, Betty Moffat.
Obviously I had my hands full in early February that year, so much so that it was only a fortnight later when I was able to catch up on affairs that I notice when Ralph has passed away and of course to my surprise that it was on the exact same day as my Mother. I wrote to Pam, his widow expressing my sincere condolences to her and mentioned that fact. Pam sent me a very nice letter, by return, thanking me and also offering her condolences to me on the loss of my maternal parent.
Sammy Miller once told me: “John, don’t tell me stories, bring me facts, I like facts”. Venables was similar and here is a fact, not a story.
I spoke to Ralph at an early Pre’65 Scottish, it was before I took up riding that event twenty-three times. He was up the ‘Loch Eild Path’, watching the trial as he had done for some years, it was a hot day and he had stripped off his shirt and was bare chested. I thought he looked very fit for an octogenarian. Later the same day I spotted him, still bare chested coming down at a fair old pace from the Pipeline back into the village of Kinlochleven. I shouted: “Hey Rafe, you must be fit, I saw you up Loch Eild Path not that long ago”. He replied: “Yes John, you certainly did and it’s not just a case of one being physically fit, but also knowing where all the short-cuts are, good day to you”.
As well as loving motorcycle sport in the form of trials and scrambles, that is of course scrambles and not motocross, Ralph had a love of fast, sports cars and he owned an Allard, MG, Aston Martin and Daimler before ending up with a Reliant Scimitar before dropping down to a more modest Ford Fiesta in later life.
He also liked the short-stroke 350 AJS, and he owned BFN10B, an ex-Mick Waller machine which he offered to me for around £3,500 in the mid-1990s, a motorcycle I regret not buying when I had the chance, I should have bought that one. Venables also obtained a rare Honda TL250 via Dixon Racing, a model that wasn’t officially imported into the UK by Honda as it was destined for the USA market primarily.
After writing three hundred columns of his ‘Competition Commentary’ for Motor Cycle News, nine-hundred and fifty-three columns entitled ‘Sporting Scene’ for MCN and a further five hundred ‘Ralph Remembers’ for Trials & Motocross News, Ralph finally retired at the age of eighty years of age. I think that must be some kind of record that will be hard to break, don’t you?
Bibliography:
Bixbeiderbecke.com – References to R.G.V. Venables & Clifford Jones – Jazz discography.
swallowcliffe.com – Village history website – Local Characters – Ralph Venables “The Sage of Swallowcliffe” – Dave Gittins
Hansard – Motoring Events (Minister’s Powers) – Debated 16/11/1966 – R.G.V. Venables and others, appointed by Mrs Barbara Castle (Minister for Transport) to committee to advise on the continuing exercise of her powers for regulating motor events on the public highway. [1]
The National Jazz Archive: nationaljazzarchive.org.uk
Bauer Media – MCN Ralph Venables Header – 1976.
Article Copyright: John Moffat/Trials Guru 2023
Photographic Copyright: is retained by the photographers named in captions above.
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The doyen of motorcycle trials sport photography, Eric Kitchen from Cumbria, North West England has reached 90 years of age, today 6th January 2023.
Trials Guru website salutes Eric who has over the years brought images to many people of both International and domestic trials events over a 60 year period. He came to the forefront of trials images when Trials & Motocross News appeared in late May 1977 and has been exciting us ever since with his sharp, focussed and innovative photography.
Not a professional photographer, Eric was for many years in the motor trade with Eric Kitchen Motors and latterly EK Brakes and EK Motor Factors Ltd. His son Anthony runs the family business nowadays, himself a former trials rider.
Trials Guru ran a bespoke article on Eric some years ago, here it is:
TRIALS GURU - DEDICATED TO TRIAL 