Chairmans View – Sidecar Trials | TRIALS GURU

Alvie Classic 2013 - Claudio Picture — The triple world champion Yrjo Vesterinen was able to arrange the Bultaco trial team for the Highland Classic 2 Day Trial, which took place on the 8/9th of June, 2013 in northern Scotland on the Alvie Estate. Oriol Puig Bulto is in the 363cc Bultaco Sherpa Sidecar, which is owned by Vesty. The assembled gathering are from the left: Yrjo Vesterinen, Ignacio Bultó, Manuel Soler and on the right Juan Oliver, Jaime Puig, Charles Coutard, and on the far end Javier Cucurella. A great picture by – Claudio Picture

Trials Guru, the website that is just that little bit out of the ordinary, presents: ‘Chairmans View’ – a special section dedicated to that elite band of charioteers, the sidecar trials brigade.

Mike Rapley an experienced sidecar driver has been beavering away sorting out suitable images and material for a bespoke sidecar trials venture on Trials Guru. Supported by more images where indicated, we hope you enjoy ‘Chairmans View’

Scott Rowland - Tony Antman King - Tby Eyre — **British Experts 1983 at Hawkstone Park – Scott Rowland and Tony ‘Antman’ King on their 156cc Fantic outfit – Photo copyright: Torbjorn Eyre, Macclesfield**

Adrian Clarke and Mick Bailey real stars of their day. — **Adrian Clarke & Mike Bailey on the original version of the 400cc Honda outfit with Miller Hi-Boy type frame and BKS sidecar – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

Adrian Clarke told Trials Guru: “The original 400cc Honda with BKS sidecar and Honda/Miller frame. It would rev and rev so was ideal for mud sections or climbs, but not much bottom end for rock sections. Barry Kefford built us a duplex cradle frame that was stronger and handled better, it went some way to taming the beast”.

Barry Watson the sidecar ace from Richmond in North Yorkshire added: “I do remember the Honda outfit that Adrian rode and he was in a class of his own on that. In fact on everything he ever rode. I rode against him for three years and beat him once, that says it all”.

Adrian Clarke - Mike Bailey - Unknown — **Adrian Clarke & Mike Bailey on the duplex framed Honda 400cc outfit made by barry Kefford at BKS sidecars – Photo John Clarke, Sheffield**

AJL - CP - BH photo2 — Arthur Lampkin with Blackie Holden as ballastman in Arthur’s 325 Bultaco outfit in 1975. The Lampkin/Holden combination were national winners including the Allan Jefferies – Photo courtesy: Blackburn Holden V

Arthur Lampkin and Colin Pinder — **Arthur Lampkin & Colin Pinder on their 350cc Bultaco outfit – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

Barry Watson speaking to Trials Guru commented on Arthur J. Lampkin and Colin Pinder and the Bultaco powered trials sidecar outfits: “The Bultaco ‘A.J.’ & Colin Pinder are on in the photo by Mike Rapley is the 370cc they used for a while, he also ran a 325cc which was always a bit better than everyone else’s. We tried the 370 bike for a couple of months when Appleyards wanted us on Bultaco but we could not get it to grip, but the power was fantastic! We eventually ended up on a 325 Bultaco outfit. Actually it was an outfit that the Lampkins built up for Martin and Sid to do the 1977/78 Northern Experts and was the bike we beat Adrian Clarke on. The deal on the bike was done at a Bradford Motor Club dinner with Colin Appleyard and the Lampkins. The early Bultaco soon stared to rattle with use, but that one never did. They had something special about setting bikes up no doubt with the input of Reg May, who spent a lot of time at Silsden in the 1970s and early 1980s. Another guy who could set up Bultacos was the late Blackie Holden. I had two delivered to Blackies in boxes for him to set-up straight from Appleyards as did many other lads from the Richmond area. Blackie did not like them starting up before he had done his bit on them, he was another wizard with the spanners”.

British Champions Adrian Clarke and Mick Bailey — **British Sidecar Trials Champions, Adrian Clarke & Mike Bailey on the original Miller Honda 400/BKS outfit. BKS stood for Barry Kefford Sidecars – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

British Champions Colin Dommett and Eric Chamberlain — **British Sidecar Trials Champions, Colin Dommett & Eric Chamberlain on their Beamish Suzuki outfit – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

Charlie and Geoff Shopland, one of the few pictures from me you will have seen before — **Charlie & Geoff Shopland on their BSA powered outfit – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

Charlie and Geoff Shopland (2) — **Charlie & Geoff Shopland on their Comerfords Bultaco outfit – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

Charlie and Geoff Shopland — **Charlie & Geoff Shopland on their Bultaco outfit take on an adverse camber – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

Colin Hare and colleague — **Colin Hare and Passenger on their Windsor Comp Shop Suzuki – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

Colin Dommett and Eric Chamberlain — **Colin Dommett & Eric Chamberlain on their Beamish Suzuki outfit – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

Dommett and Chamberlain — **Colin Dommett and Eric Chamberlain during their Suzuki days and of course British Sidecar Trials Champions – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

**Colin Hare and Passenger on the Windsor Comp Shop Suzuki – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

Graham Mackie and passenger — **Graham Mackie and Passenger on their Montesa outfit – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

Who are these — **Image 2001 – Matthew Cobb identified his father, Alan Cobb and passenger, Danny Harmer, which was also identified by Mike Pearce – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley.**

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Identify please — **Image 2002 – Still to be identified, Montesa outfit – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley…**

Names please — **Image 2003 – To be identified Suzuki outfit – Photo copyright: Mike Raple**y

Unknown sidecar crew — **Image 2004 – Geoff & Tim Hawkins on their Ossa outfit, (Identified by Allan Baker) – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley**

Unknown — **Image 2005 – Still to be identified, BSA outfit – Photo copyright: Mike Rapley – Tony Beeching reckons this is John Young and Ron Davey on their 441 BSA Victor**

Please help us identify some of the crews above by using the contact facility :

CONTACT TRIALS GURU

Sidecar trials people talk to Trials Guru:

Barry Watson, Richmond, North Yorkshire:

Barry Watson - Ron Sutill - 1980 Manx 2DT - BW — **Barry Watson and passenger, Ron Suttill at the Manx 2 Day Trial in 1980 with their Appleyard Bultaco outfit – Photo courtesy of Barry Watson, Richmond, North Yorks.**

Barry Watson: “I rode solos for many years before taking up sidecar trials, I had a good passenger in Ron Suttill and we had good outfits to ride. Ron was a Coverdale sheep farmer and rated as one of the best sidecar passenger’s in is day . Ron only passengered with me and had three rides with Adrian Clarke. He used to say I won’t ride with anyone else, but Adrian persuaded him. Adrian hadn’t got a Manx sword and he wanted one as they didn’t give them out when he won the Manx Two Day trial in the 1970s. 1980 was the first year they presented the Manx swords to the sidecar class”.

“Robin Luscombe took over in the mid to late 1980s, becoming the invincible force in sidecar trials, effectively taking over from Adrian Clarke’s domination in the 1970s. Richmond Motor Club in Yorkshire became heavily involved in sidecars with their Gerald Simpson Two-Day trial having almost ninety entries, with around thirty outfits at a Sunday club trial. Former Scott Trial clerk-of-the-course, Bruce Storr was a very good sidecar passenger, essential if you are to have a good team who work well together. Andrew ‘A.G.’ Brown and Andy Kearton; Les Richardson and my two sons David and Garry all gave sidecar trials a try and were quite good at it. Steven Lambert with Dave Suttill; Mike and Cynthia Ryde were all British Championship contenders back in the day”.

side car - AG - Andy Kearton — **Richmond Motor Club members, Andrew Kearton and A.G. Brown with their Bultaco outfit – Photo: AGBikes, Richmond, North Yorkshire, England**

“Another top sidecar man was my travelling partner and long time friend, Mick Wilkinson from Kettlewell, who took to sidecars like the proverbial duck to water. Like me, he fought hard to beat Clarkey! Mick won a lot of sidecar trials, one of few riders to win the British Experts trial solo and sidecar. In those days, it was the blue-ribband of the trials year. Mick was a member of the Richmond sidecar team with myself and Clarkey. When Clarkey retired, we adopted Rappers into our team, needless to say, we won a lot of team awards for Richmond Motor Club!”

Mike Rapley:

“I had briefly played with a friend’s sidecar before I joined Trials & Motocross News, but only on a rough patch of ground. What got me interested in the first place was watching Ron Langston and Doug Cooper charge massive hills at Butser Lime Works when I was a kid watching the Hoad Trial.

Anyway, Bill Lawless at TMX was keen for me to borrow a sidecar for a test which Mannix Devlin and I did with Jack Mathews, which is where I picked up his famous comment, “Remember, when it stops it’s still on wheels”.

We borrowed a Kawasaki KT 250 with a Barry Kefford sidecar and took part in two trials, the second of which was the Dave Rowland, where we rolled it down a 100 foot hillside into a stream on the track from ‘Hawks Nest’ and to this day, every time I go past there I look in wonder how we never killed ourselves! I bailed out as did Mannix, but then he leapt over the edge and tried to catch up with it. Anyway, we did rescue it and finished the trial but it was well bent when we returned it to Barry.

Hot Metal 2 061 — **Arthur Lampkin’s Bultaco outfit YWW3L – Photo copyright: Blackburn Holden V**

Following that we obtained a 310 Montesa with a BKS sidecar and after a year or so the paper bought us a new Beamish Suzuki outfit which we had for a couple of years which was then replaced with another the same.

1 opening picture — **Mike Rapley and Mannix Devlin with their Montesa 348/BKS outfit in 1979**

We rode all the British Championship trials from 1979 for five years and retired in late 1983 when Mannix got married and I went to compete in enduros.

We won five nationals, the Colmore, Peak, Mitchell, Kickham and Knut and loads of smaller sidecar events, scoring in thirty-six consecutive British Championship rounds when the points only went top tenth place. We finished third in the Championship in either 1981 or 82 and either third or fourth the following year, I can’t recall which.

I was quite disappointed not to continue but that’s how it was and went to enduros, winning the Clubman Championship outright in 1985 and the Over-40 championships in 1992 and 1993. I rode the 1988 ISDE at Mende in France and finished way down the order but thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I also won the Clubman North of England 250cc championship a couple of times but have no idea what years it was.

Back to solo trials in 1998 at the age of 51, believing that I was never going to get any quicker and that’s what I’m still doing.

Oddly enough, I finished dead last in the Knut trial on a solo in 1967 I think it was and won the sidecar class in 1982. I won the Clubman class in the Bemrose last year, which possibly makes me the oldest ever winner of a main class in a national trial, though I’ve no way of proving that!”

**Ron Mackie from Crediton on his Montesa Cota 348 outfit fitted with a Honda XL250 front hub – Photo: Mike Rapley**

ROBIN LUSCOMBE:

Part one – Sidecar Trials in the 1980s

When I started sidecar trials in January 1980 it was on an old RL250 Suzuki bought from the Rumbold brothers whose father was on the Bradford Club committee and Alan Jefferies Trial secretary. To say it was a ‘challenge’ was an understatement, I was still finishing last in club trials in the September, but Bradford sidecar stalwart Donald Bridge who built sidecars, encouraged, instructed ran sidecar trials in Bradford kept helping and it stated to click.

In those days we would get twenty sidecars at a Bradford club trial and I remember over sixty at my first Manx in 1980!

Once a month, the Bradford crews would venture north to Richmond and at that stage Richmond had the top guys, Barry Watson, Mick Wilkinson, Norman Iveson and the Bradford aces Jim Reilly, Colin Bilney, Steve Kirk and Des Campbell were fighting for local pride, not the win.

In the Nationals, it was John Gaskell taking over from Colin Dommett, with Joe and Paul Howells, from the West Midlands, Ken Wilkins and Williams from the south, and a very strong East Midland Centre with Walt Bulloch and Brian Pearce, Bruce Melville and Chris Lamb, the amazing Geoff Gadsby and Mick Gaunt on the Bitsa BSA / CCM and Bill and Kath Sherras.

If you never saw Gadsby you have no idea what you missed, we used to call him ‘Odd Ball’ as he reminded us of the tank driver in Kelly’s Heroes but could he ride!

I doubt anyone else could ride that bike out of the car park, in fact I remember one year when it was running properly, no missing, revving out etc, and he couldn’t ride it either, but when it missed and popped etc – he was amazing!

During the early 1980’s sidecars started to change, or rather the top manes changed, as Scott Rowland, myself, Bernard Chambers, all in their early 20’s started to challenge the old-guard, along with Bruce Rushton who started sidecars in the 1980’s and went on to do his share of winning and became the ‘go to’ man for a new chair. He must have made a few hundred!

Bikes also changed, out went the Suzukis, Montesas, Bultacos and in came Fantic! Scott Rowland winning the Championship in 1984 and 1985 on a 240 then a 300, but amazingly the little 156 Fantic did a great job with a sidecar. I think Will Hawkes, a real character from the south, was one of the first on a little Fantic, but plenty followed!

In those days British Championship weekends like the Hoad and Pierce Simon, West of England and Presidents, had Sidecar Championship one day and a solo the other, so the local town would be full of riders all enjoying a beer, how it’s all changed!

After playing bridesmaid to Scott and ‘Antman’ King in British Championship for a couple of years, when I could beat them in the Manx and non-championship nationals, but not the series, I moved to the 301 Fantic from my trusty 350 Italjet and my run of championships started.

Unfortunately by then, Gaskell, Rowlands and company had parked up their sidecars, but Davy McBride, Tim Hawkins, Bruce Rushton, Bernie Chambers and from the Isle of Man, Ray Baxter and Mark Bimson were the main threat.

The world of sidecars didn’t change much then for a few years, the next change came in the early 1990’s with water cooling, and a few more youngsters! I’ll tell you about that soon – Robin Luscombe

Rapper’s – 1978 British Experts Sidecar action:

A rare picture, Chris Sutton with Nigel Birkett — **1978 British Experts – Chris Sutton and Nigel Birkett try a Suzuki outfit for size – Photo: Mike Rapley**

Adrian Clarke and Mick Bailey — **Image:BES001 – Adrian Clarke & Mick Bailey on their Montesa outfit – Photo: Mike Rapley**

Brilliant action from Arthur Laampkin and Colin Pinder — **Image:BES002 – Brilliant action from Arthur Lampkin and Colin Pinder on their Bultaco outfit – Photo: Mike Rapley**

Classic Clarke and Bailey - a star turn — **Image:BES003 – A classic shot of Adrian Clarke and Mick Bailey – a star turn – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**Image:BES004 – Dave Pallas and Paul Croome – Photo: Mike Rapley**

Dick Ramplee and pal — **Image:BES005 – Dick Ramplee (Suzuki) – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**Image:BES006 – George Greenland and Phil Whitlock – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**Image:BES007 – Jack Mathews (SWM) – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**Image:BES008 – Joe and Paul Howells (Suzuki) – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**Image:BES009 – John Gaskell and Harry Wood – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**Image:BES010 – John Turner and Reg Miller with Barry Kefford watching in the Barbour coat – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**Image: BES011 – Jumping Jack Mathews – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**Image:BES012 – The father and son Howells pairing – Photo: Mike Rapley**

Greensmith Trial 1978:

**GS7801 – A sidecar gathering including Eric Chamberlain, Adrian Clarke, John Clarke, Colin Dommett, Harry Wood, John Gaskell, Dave Pallas and Paul Croome. – Photo: Mike Rapley**

Clarke and Bailey — **GS7803 – Adrian Clarke and Mick Bailey – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**GS7806 – Dave Pallas and passenger Paul Croome (Suzuki) – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**GS7807 – From the east John Turner and Reg Miller (Suzuki) – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**GS7808 – George Greenland and passenger (Wasp) – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**GS7809 – Joe and Paul Howells with ACU Trials Chairman Les Davis in the dark glasses – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**GS7810 – John Turner and Reg Miller (Suzuki) – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**GS7811 – Multi champ John Gaskell and Harry Wood (Suzuki) – Photo: Mike Rapley**

OOps — **GS7812 – SWM outfit comes to grief! – Photo: Mike Rapley**

Can you name these — **GS7813 – Unidentified Ossa pairing – Photo: Mike Rapley**

**GS7814 – A Bultaco mounted crew on Crumpsbrook in the Greensmith – Photo: Mike Rapley**

GS7816 – Roy Wilkins from Dorset and passenger bail-out of their Ossa outfit – Photo: Mike Rapley

More trials sidecar action to follow soon, here on Trials Guru – ‘Dedicated to the sport’.

GF Smith 1988 — Graham Smith from Hawick, Scotland and Passenger Ian Philips, Graham won four British rounds and a bronze medal in the European sidecar championships, in their Fantic 305 outfit – Photo: Alistair Smith

With special thanks to: Barry Watson, Adrian Clarke, Colin Dommett, Robin Luscombe and Mike Rapley for their assistance and enthusiasm in collaborating with Trials Guru to bring you this dedicated page to the sport of Sidecar Trials.

TRIALS GURU – The Trials Academy

Chairmans View – Sidecar Trials

Trials Guru, the website that is just that little bit out of the ordinary, presents: ‘Chairmans View’ – a special section dedicated to that elite band of charioteers, the sidecar trials brigade.