The Westmorland Motor Cycle Club Ltd are planning a tribute edition of their annual Bob MacGregor road run in Perthshire. This will be a tribute to John Holmes.
The late John Holmes looks rightly pleased with one of his beautifully built Triumph Tiger Cub trials bikes – Photo: John McCrink
Details are given below:
Held under SACU regulations and social permit, it takes place on Tuesday 30th April 2019
at the start of the Scottish Six Days Trial period.
The run will be for Motorcycles (Pre 75 – preferred) or something special.
The start & finish of the run will be at the McLaren Hall, Main Street, Killin, Perthshire, FK21 8UH, Scotland.
Entry details:
37 miles North of Stirling
Circular Route, Killin-Blair Atholl -Loch Rannoch Area
Route follows A & B Class Roads Alternative Off Road Sections for those interested
The first motorcycles will leave at 10.00am & the remainder to follow in groups of 5 – 10 approx. at one minute intervals
There will be a lunch break on route
Attached entry form to be completed & returned with £15 entry fee to:- (includes £2 donation to Bob MacGregor Trials Club)
Peter Remington, Kenbrig, Levens, Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 8DT
Tel No. mobile: 07891076320 Email: premington2@gmail.com
Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope for acceptance of your entry.
Entries to be received by Monday 11th April 2017
Entries will be limited, so please enter early to avoid disappointment.
The organisers reserve the right to amend the event or to refuse entry without giving a
reason for such refusal.
Westmorland Motor Cycle Club Limited
Held under SACU social permit
Bob MacGregor Motorcycle Run
Tuesday 30th April Official Entry Form
Name……………………………………… e mail address………………………………………. Address…………………………………… Tel No………………………………………………… …………………………………………….. Mobile No……………………………………………. ……………………………………………..
…………………………………………….
Machine……………cc ……………………… Year……… Registration No…………………………
I declare & undertake,
i) That the above vehicle is well maintained & in a fit condition to be entered in the
above run.
ii) Vehicle Insurance
The vehicle has current vehicle road tax & is cover by an operative policy of insurance for road use & third party risks & said policy will be available for inspection by the organiser upon request.
In default of the above undertakings or any one of them I agree to save harmless and keep indemnified the Organisers of the above run, and it’s officials, servants and representatives, from and against all actions, claims, expenses and demands in respect of death or injury or loss of or damage to property, however caused arising out of or in connection with my entry or my taking part in this run.
Riders Signature……………………………………………………….. Date…………………….
£15 Cheque / P.O. Payable to Westmorland MCC
Send to Peter Remington, Kenbrig, Levens, Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 8DT with S.A.E
Kenny McKee was born into a motorbike mad family on 16th December 1948, the youngest child of eight.
Known as ‘King Kenny’ to many, his love of bikes was destined to be, given that his father and his big brother Bobby “RJ” were full on petrol heads.
Growing up around bikes he had a passion for all aspects of the sport, but trials was his true love. Bobby was riding trials from the early 1950s and Kenny followed him all over the country watching and eventually competing. He rode trials through the 1970s and into the early 1980s and made long lasting and enduring friendships. Many nights were spent in the company of good friends reminiscing about all the old boys and the “good old days”.
Bikes were second only to family and Kenny had two sons who took his love for all things bike into trials as well. Once Warren and Terence started riding in the early 1980s, Kenny put all his enthusiasm and effort into supporting them, taking them all over the country.
His absolute dream event, as with thousands of other was the Scottish Six Days Trial, travelling over for years to watch and also competing in the Pre’65 event a few times too.
A joiner by trade from his teenage years, he was so driven by trials that many a job was put back while the bikes to centre stage.
Latterly Kenny and his wife of almost fifty years, Blossom travelled all over Ireland and GB with Terence, competing in local events, Nationals and the SSDT as well as the Lakes, Loch Lomond and the Isle of Man events.
Sadly Kenny passed away peacefully in his sleep at home this morning, a few weeks short of his 70th birthday. His loss will be felt by a great many people, not just family, but also the bike family.
The sport has lost a good friend today, and an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things trials
Kenny is survived by his wife Blossom, sons Warren and Terence, daughter Sharon. Daughters in law Karen and Natalie as well as grandchildren Jordan, Erin and Oliver, and especially by great granddaughter Katie, who has also been bitten by the bike bug and will no doubt follow those well-trodden footsteps of granda Kenny.
Funeral arrangements:
The service is Friday the 9th November at Clarkes Funeral Home, 12 Court Square, Newtownards, NI, BT23 7NY at 12 mid-day. After the service interment will be at Movilla Cemetery off the Movilla Road for 1pm.
Refreshments will be available afterwards in The Ivy Bar which is across the road from Clarkes and friends are most welcome to call in.
Trials Guru sends sincere condolences to the McKee family at this difficult time. Kenny McKee was an enthusiastic supporter of ‘Trials Guru’ who demanded a supply of Trials Guru decals when he met John Moffat at the SSDT this year.
David ‘Rick’ Richardson on his 200cc Seeley Honda TL200E at Forfar. Photo: Jimmy Young
Thanks to Graham Riddell of Graham Riddell Photography based in the Scottish Borders, we have been granted permission to reproduce an article written on Scottish trials enthusiast, David ‘Rick’ Richardson. What is not generally known is that Rick actually encouraged a young Willie Dalling to take up the sport of trials. Dalling of course went on to be an expert Scottish rider and Clerk of the Course of the Scottish Six Days Trial.
Words: Graham Riddell
Photos: Jimmy Young Archive & David Richardson
Dave ‘Ricky’ Richardson has been riding motor bikes for over sixty years and only stopped competition at the turn of the Millennium. At 83 years of age, he cuts a slim physique and is still in full control of all his faculties.
I first met Ricky whilst out and about on my own personal photo-walk searching for inspiration and was making my way back from a local pine wood when I stopped to take a picture of a house that interested me with fallen leaves and intriguing shrubbery around its gated entrance.
An elderly man walking his little white dog (Jenny – a cross between a poodle and a Bichon Frise as I later learned), came strolling up and stood directly in front of my view and exchanged pleasantries about the weather and then our conversation somehow led to the subject of motor bikes. I don’t remember how exactly, but he started to tell me about him riding old classic bikes and how he had several friends, some local, who also partook of this social and exciting activity.
Intrigued by his tales, I enquired his name and if he wouldn’t mind telling me how old he was, thinking that the bikes he drives today will be somewhat pedestrian. It took me by complete surprise when he told me he was eighty three years and had been riding bikes for most of his life.
An idea was formulating in my head indicating that I had to explore this more deeply and so I ventured to ask if he would allow me to include him in a project I have been running for several years now entitled, ‘People of the Valley’. This random collection of persona is from everyday folks I meet and who live in the Tweed Valley here in the Scottish Borders. I have been greatly impressed by the diversity of skills and talent I have thus far encountered and so was keen to include Ricky in my personal Hall of Fame!
We agreed that I should call him and arrange to meet, and if his friend was available he could join us too. And so it was that a few days later I came to photograph and interview Ricky and his friend, seventy year veteran Dennis Bellville, who also brought along his vintage bike – a shaft-driven, 1951, Sunbeam 500 incline twin, in classic war-time green.
Dennis had kindly come over before having to head back to his part-time job later in the afternoon and I was grateful for the opportunity to photography both these wonderful characters with their bikes and thereby archive another small piece of local history.
As Dennis disappeared off into the distance to return to work, I took a few more shots of Ricky with his wonderful 1962, silver Triumph 21, four-stoke twin, which he had bought in 2016 ‘unseen’ and to his dismay arrived as just a box of parts. He set about rebuilding it, even hand-crafting a new oil tank. The result is a spectacular, light-weight machine that beams with as much pride as Ricky’s satisfied smile.
His collection didn’t end there though. Next he showed me another classic he had personally rebuilt, a stunning, blue 1962 Triumph T100 – a 500cc four-stroke twin which came to his possession in 2008. A friend had contacted him about an old machine in need of some TLC. When he told him the registration, Ricky quickly realised that this was was a bike he had previously owned and sold, back in 1963, and so acquired it back and set about rebuilding it and has brought it back to life and its former glory.
Whist his silver Triumph 21 is a favourite, he never rides it far from home as the petrol tank capacity is limited and he once ran out of fuel when out on a ride. Fortunately he was close-by to a friend and walked a mile or so to his house where he was able to get assistance.
The T100 however has been on long touring rides to the western Isles including Mull and Skye and also down to the Lake district.
Ricky’s skills are not confined to only riding motor bikes. At the age of fifteen on leaving school he served his apprenticeship as a coach-builder at the famous K&I Coach-works in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Edinburgh, where he grew up and learned vital skills that were to serve him well through his career. He suffered a serious injury while working there shattering his leg, and the physiotherapist recommended he take up road cycling. He did and fell in love with the two wheels mode of transport getting into motorbikes in his early twenties.
Dutchman, Mart Buuron’s 348 Montesa goes up in a fireball after the fibreglass ruptured on Callert in the 1977 event. Rick was one of a group of people who helped extinguish the blaze – Photo: David ‘Rick’ Richardson
At the age of twenty, he began his two year National Service with the Royal Navy serving on aircraft carriers (HMS Bulwark (R08) and HMS Centaur) as an aircraft mechanic, when on occasion he famously repaired the catching mechanism for the incoming Sea Hawks and single prop Gannets, after one had become snagged by one plane’s propeller whilst attempting the hazardous landing, thus ensuring the fleet and ship remained operational.
Motor cycles caught his imagination and he began learning new riding skills in Reliability Trials, firstly as a Novice, then progressing through to upgrade to a Non-Expert and finally an Expert with several class wins along the way. Modest about his past successes and achievements in these classes, he did remind me of his final win back in the late 1990’s at the ‘Grey Beards Trial’ – a one-day event near at Whiteadder near Gifford.
Through the 1970’s up until 2005, Ricky remained an active rider competing in Motorcycle Reliability or endurance trials with two Edinburgh teams, Edinburgh Southern and Edinburgh St. George.
On one famous outing with his trials pals with Edinburgh Southern Motor Cycle Club, they scrambled up to the top of Ben Nevis, then took a trophy photo of themselves with one of their bikes, a Spanish built OSSA 250cc two-stroke machine, perched on top of the trig-point with one rider on top and the others around each side. With a humorous glint in his eye and dragging on another JPS Blue cigarette, he passed the photo to me saying that it might just pass the Guinness Book of World Records for the Highest Motorcycle in Britain!
Ricky moved down from Dalkeith to Peebles here in the Scottish Borders with his wife and continued to commute to work, then on retirement they moved to Ellibank Gatehouse before finally settling in Innerleithen in 2000 where is was able to help care for his wife who has sadly now passed away.
Approximately 26 years previously he and a group of close friends, started the Lothian & Borders Classic and Vintage Motorcycle Club which met at the Leadburn Inn until it was destroyed by fire in 2005 by a tragic motor accident. They continued meeting after the Inn was rebuilt until the owner, himself a bike enthusiast, acquired new premises in Eddleston earlier this year. However the Inn didn’t have the required parking facilities for a mass bikers’ gathering and so today the club meet at the Black Barony Hotel also in Eddleston, on the second Thursday of the month. They also have an active Facebook page.
But Ricky had yet one more surprise in store for me.
Far from being an elderly gentleman pottering about on his old classic machines, he just bought himself a new BMW G310, a single cylinder, 313cc roadster with rear exhaust outlet which he plans to go touring on next summer, especially if the weather is as good as this year. And true to form, he had modified it by adding a new rear mudguard.
For my part, I want to thank Ricky for sharing part of his story with me and I wish him many more years of happy, safe motoring.
Trials Guru Comment on David ‘Rick’ Richardson: “I have known Rick even before I started competing in 1974. Rick was a regular competitor at events when I used to observe, before I had a competition licence. He is one of Scotland’s great enthusiasts. I remember the late Willie Dalling telling me, when I visited him at his home at Shawfair Farm cottages near Dalkeith, that it was watching Rick practising on his trials bike that inspired Dalling to take up the sport. Not a lot of people, except Willie’s immediate family, know that fact.”
About Graham Riddell Photography:
Professional freelance photographer since 2007, supplying photography stills for a wide range of clientele from publishing in lifestyle magazine editorials, calendars, press and PR launches, corporate and public events, businesses marketing and corporate communications in charitable and public organisations.
Families commission me for portraits of their children, anniversaries and special occasions including weddings (particularly the smaller wedding party looking for an affordable package for their big day), often at local venues here in the Borders.
My Art stock photography includes my wall art collection ‘Lightscapes’ which has been exhibited widely over the years both here in the Scottish Borders and further afield, from Peebles, Galashiels, West Lothian, Edinburgh, London, and even Times Square New York.
Check out the web site for more information or to see Graham Riddell’s work online.
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Saturday 13th October is the date in the diary of trials enthusiasts for the 2018 Scott Trial which gets kick-started into action at 09:00 GMT at Feldom Lane, Richmond, the official starter being Councillor John Blackie of Richmondshire council, himself a great supporter of the event.
The usual favourite to win riders will be there, strategically starting at the back of the 200 field of entrants and once again it will be run in what is described in the programme by the Scott Sage, Bruce Storr as a ‘backwards Scott’.
Some new hazards have been plotted by the Clerk of the Course and the setting out teams to keep riders on their toes.
Trials Guru’s John Moffat will be on hand to provide some start field commentary and also at the finish to interview riders as they catch their breath after hauling up the finish field on Park Top Farm land.
Remember to buy your Scott Trial programme which will be available at the start field and in local shops in Reeth and Richmond area. It is an essential piece of kit, priced at £5.00 the proceeds of which go to the ‘Scott Charities’, local worthy causes in the Richmond area.
Also please try and keep traffic flows going according to the signage, perk sensibly or better still in the areas provided, these are all located in the programme. There are several catering units near spectator heavy sections along with Ladies conveniences, all arranged by the organizing committee.
Have a great Scott day!
Ian Austermuhle, a popular winner of the Scott Trial in 2015, interviewed by Trials Guru representative, John Moffat – Photo copyright: John Hulme, Trial Magazine UK
This article first appeared in the April 2018 edition of Old Bike Mart, and is reproduced here with permission and as a tribute to John Holmes.
For more features and news from the classic motorcycling world, and to subscribe to Old Bike Mart, visit: www.oldbikemart.co.uk
A Holmes-spun Triumph…
Recalling being blown into the weeds by a sharp-sounding and decidedly rapid JH Special Triumph Tiger Cub, John McCrink visits the man who created it and marvels at his home-brewed craftsmanship.
About ten years ago, while taking part in one of Pete Remington’s excellent Nostalgia Road Runs in the Lake District, I was riding out of Ambleside on my Triumph 500 and quickly found myself on an extremely steep, uphill climb (1-in-4 no less) known locally and most aptly as ‘The Struggle’.
John (seated) is flanked by David ‘Spud’ Tatham (left) and Pete ‘Rem’ Remington – Photo: John McCrink
As the revs plummeted and I was about to drop down a gear, I was suddenly overtaken by a decidedly rapid and fantastic-sounding Tiger Cub trials bike that was making easy meat of the gradient. I got only got a quick glimpse of bike and rider before they disappeared in the direction of the Kirkstone Pass, but it was enough to tell me that I’d been blown into the weeds by none other than John Holmes from Natland, near Kendal, on one of his famous JH Specials.
I first saw John competing on one of his Cubs back in 1991 when we were both riding in the Saturday night trial at the famous Nostalgia Scrambles track near Sedbergh, Cumbria. His bike certainly lived up to the title ‘Special’ as it simply bristled with innovation and inventiveness. That was the first of John’s specials that I had ever clapped eyes on, but a few more have been built since then, all of them demonstrating the Holmes hallmarks of originality, ingenuity, uniqueness and pure craftsmanship. John’s bikes have become extremely well-known and widely admired in the classic trials scene, not only because they look superb, but also because they perform so brilliantly, but we’ll come to that later.
A trio of beauties – the amazing 500 BSA Special lines up with two Holmes Trials Cubs – Photo: John McCrink
It’s difficult to know where to start when trying to best describe John’s bikes. His trials Cubs are lightweight indeed, consisting of numerous home-fabricated components. The engines are meticulously assembled using his own-manufactured barrels, and here’s the thing: they are created from solid billet using hacksaws and files, as are the connecting rods – a real labour of love. There are no fancy, high-tech milling machines in the Holmes workshop, just honest toil, and patience is a virtue. The frames and swing-arms are altered to improve handling and, where necessary, to accommodate John’s own oil tank/airbox needs as well as the home-brewed exhaust and silencer.
All these mods are done within eligibility rules and in the spirit of classic trialling, for after all, hacksaws, files and metal working tools were all available before 1965.
Unlike many of us, John is not put off by dealing with electrics, and where necessary he has created his own systems that work really well, but I’ll not get into technical details here because in truth it’s way beyond me! Undoubtedly they’re far superior to anything Joseph Lucas would have offered back in the day.
Most ‘special’ builders, having successfully shoehorned the modified engine into the modified frame, could be forgiven for then purchasing ‘over the counter’ items such as fuel tank, footrests, kick-start, control levers, rear suspension units and so on, but not John Holmes. Instead, out come the hand tools again.
Undoubtedly his background as a panel-beater, working on high-end vehicles, honed his metalworking skills and allows him to create such quality items as his petrol tanks. He originally made a wooden former for this task, but has developed his technique to a point where a former is no longer required.
Although John’s Tiger Cubs are unique, many people will remember the incredible BSA 500 trials bike he built, mating a B31 bottom end to a B25 cylinder-head, joined together with a barrel of his own manufacture which utilised a VW liner and piston. It created quite a sensation not just because of the hybrid engine but also due to the incredible inventiveness of the rolling chassis and other component parts all too many to mention (but please see the photograph). Some readers might remember that Trials & Motocross News did a detailed feature on this machine a few years back.
John Holmes with one of his beautifully built Triumph Tiger Cub trials bikes – Photo: John McCrink
So John’s bikes are unusual in their originality and look fantastic. They are well fettled and beautifully turned out with all that alloy and stainless steel glistening – but how do they perform in the heat of serious competition? There can be no better testament to John’s engineering skills and the reliability of his bikes than to take the honours at that most famous and demanding of classic trials, the Pre’65 Scottish Two-Day Trial at Kinlochleven.
To win such an arduous event you need not only a good bike but also a good rider, and in 2007 John had that winning combination when Yorkshireman, Tony Calvert piloted the JH Special Cub to a fantastic win, dropping only one mark on the first day and zero on the second – quite an achievement. At the time Tony said: “I was chuffed with the win for John as much as myself.”
John’s bike impressed Tony so much that he had to have a Cub of his own, and managed to find one. The bike was then prepped by John in readiness for the 2008 ‘Scottish’, and guess what? History repeated itself and Tony triumphed once again, with only one mark dropped over the two days. What a team!
This original JH Special was John Holmes’s favourite – Photo: John McCrink
The Cambridge Dictionary defines the word ‘modest’ as meaning “unassuming in the estimation of one’s abilities or achievements” – and that perfectly sums up John Holmes, for he would never consider crowing about his bike-building skills.
Similarly, he keeps quiet about his competition successes over many years of participating in trials. He joined the Westmorland Motor Club in 1958 and was still competing 40 years later. Some people might be surprised to find that back in 1963, 64 and 66, John not only rode in that most demanding event, The Scott Trial, but also finished in the awards and won a coveted Scott Spoon on each occasion. So what happened in the 1965 Scott? That’s another story.
In 1965 the International Six Days Trial took place on the Isle of Man, and well-known North West scrambler Tony Sharp was down to ride the event on an Eddie Crooks-sponsored 175 CZ. Unluckily for Tony, just before the event he was injured and John took over the ride. It turned out to be one of the wettest and hardest ISDTs on record.
Out of 300 entrants, only 77 were British, of whom only nine finished – quite a rate of attrition, with lots of established factory riders dropping out – but John Holmes was one of the few finishers, and still has the bronze medal to prove it. Although not over-keen on two-strokes, he does concede that the wee Czech buzz-bomb did go well over the six days.
Perhaps the demands of that ISDT had taken it out of John because, come the autumn, although he rode in the Scott Trial, on that occasion he missed out on a spoon.
Sadly John Holmes passed away after a long battle with cancer on 3rd October 2018.
Jim Pickering on one of his Drayton creations – Photo: Chris Sharp
The trials world was saddened to hear of the passing of Kidderminster’s Jim Pickering on October 4th 2018, best known as the man behind the ‘Drayton’ brand special framed machines that have come to dominate Pre’65 classic trials over the past few years. Jim bravely fought cancer which did not preclude him from riding in trials, the sport he loved.
A talented engineer, always full of enthusiasm and advice, Jim was a regular competitor at classic events countrywide and was overjoyed when Scotland’s Gary Macdonald was the first Scotsman to win the Pre’65 Scottish in 2017 on a Drayton Triumph.
John Moffat of Trials Guru said: “I bought a frame kit from Jim to house a spare BSA B40 motor I had lying under the bench. He could not be more helpful with advice. He was a very friendly, open gentleman who I enjoyed very much conversing with when we met. He will be greatly missed in the sport.”
Trials Guru send it’s sincere condolences to his widow, Jayne and the Pickering family.
Jim’s funeral will take place on 18th October, 2018 at 15.30 hrs at the Wyre Forest Crematorium. The family have requested casual dress code with jeans acceptable. Please, family flowers only. Donations if desired, to West Midlands Air Ambulance & Millbrook Suite , Kidderminster Hospital.
A young George Gage with his original Yamaha in the 1980s
Oban trials enthusiast, George Gage is a joiner by profession and started riding trials bikes with a TY250 Yamaha. The bike disappeared many years ago, but he wished he had kept it as many enthusiasts of the sport do!
George Gage gives the 250 Yamaha a thorough test at the Inverness Club’s Paul Kilbauskas Trial in September 2018 – Photo Fin Yeaman
It comes as no surprise then that when Scottish trials dealer Garry Coward of Highland Leisure Sport had sourced a similar machine, George had to have it.
George was unlucky to develop Testicular cancer which then spread to his lungs, which resulted in 3 months of chemotherapy treatment. George Gage is a cancer survivor.
Goerge takes up the story:
Garry Coward sourced the bike for me, he knew where the machine was as he had serviced it for a customer for some years. The owner had the bike from new and bought it from an old motorcycle dealer in the Highlands. The owner moved overseas, so the bike came on the market. I bought it with the intention of using it unrestored, but this soon changed when I started working on it. Before i knew it, the Yamaha was stripped and the frame was getting prepared for painting.
Much work was undertaken on the well used machine
George began work and did the following tasks:
– resprayed the frame and had the metalwork tidied up
– lowered the foot rests
– rebuilt the forks with magical suspension upgrade fitted
– electronic ignition fitted
– new reeds
– new dellorto carb and rejetted to suit
– modified the airbox
– full stainless exhaust
– engine rebuild
– new plastics
– seat base professional rebuilt and original foam kept
– seat recovered
– new rear nitrogen shocks
– top yoke cut and angle changed slightly
George told Trials Guru:
“I had many bikes growing up but this was the one bike I regretted selling, I gave up riding trials bikes and got distracted by fast cars and other teenager distractions.
“I want to become a better rider and I believe the Yamaha can help me and will give great fun along the way.”
“I have no intention ever selling it and hope my daughter will continue to use it.”
George, we here at Trials Guru wish you many happy hours on the TY250. Thanks for sharing your story with us.
The Richmond Motor Club has now released the start times and rider’s numbers for their 2018 Scott Trial which starts at Feldom Lane, Richmond on Saturday 13th October at 09:00.
Remember to buy your souvenir official programme, priced at £5.00 it is regarded as a Scott Trial essential. 88 pages of trial informtaion, detail, map, where to see, articles and rider list, the proceeds all go to local charities.
TRIALS GURU - DEDICATED TO TRIAL 