Words: Trials Guru; Roy Kerr; John Pearson.

Photos: Derek Soden; Terry Heath; Ken Haydon; Barry Robinson’s Estate; Eric Kitchen; Roy Kerr; Barbara Kerr.

Read Time: 20 minutes approx.

In the 1960s, every major trial motorcycle manufacturer relied upon its factory riders to demonstrate the capabilities of its machines in competition. Week after week, these highly skilled competitors carried the hopes of their respective marques, riding specially prepared “works” machines that often differed considerably from their production counterparts. Once superseded, a fortunate few found their way into private ownership, but many more disappeared forever, broken for spares or dismantled within the competition department. As a result, genuine factory trials machines from the 1960s are today among the rarest survivors of the sport. When they are discovered, it is usually very challenging to confirm their provenance due to the passage of time.

Preserving history:

We like history to be preserved and came across one such ‘works’ bike that has survived, having been sold into private hands by 1969.

The machine in question is a 1966 Greeves Anglian, registered by ‘Invacar Limited’ the company name of the brand ‘Greeves’ built in the village of Thundersley in southeast Essex. It was registered as SOO22D in November 1966 but with some confusion as to its engine capacity, originally with 252cc then altered to 247cc. The prefix ‘OO’ relates to Chelmsford, the county town of Essex, and the main registration authority at that time. The company registered a brace of Greeves machines at this time all bearing ‘SOO’ numbers and allocated these to their supported riders. This included Bill Wilkinson, Don Smith, Derek Adsett and of course Jim Sandiford.

SOO22D was issued to Lancashire based Greeves rider, none other than James Albert Sandiford who would later import Montesa Motorcycles at his Bury premises, but at this time he was a contracted Greeves trials and ISDT qualifier and team member. Jim had his business, registered as James Sandiford (Motor Cycles) Ltd at 30-36a Walmersley Road, Bury from where he ran his dealership and a mail order spares and accessories service. Sandiford was known to be a serious competitor with a desire to win whether that be at a one-day trial or as a British team member in the ISDT, be that as a Vase or Trophy member.

Part of the frame number of SOO22D identifies it as a ‘THSB’ which usually relates to the later 1967 Greeves Anglian model but remember this is a factory machine and more likely to be a pre-production version, dare we suggest – prototype.

For historians and enthusiasts alike, the old buff-coloured logbooks remain invaluable, often providing the only surviving record of a machine’s early life. In the case of SOO22D, however, the documentary trail ends surprisingly soon after the machine left factory ownership. The evidence suggests that Jim Sandiford acquired the Anglian from Greeves before selling it through his dealership into private hands in 1969 to James Stephen Taylor of Bamford, Rochdale. After this owner the trail went cold for some years and of course details of subsequent owners are unknown.

However, the trail of the Greeves ownership was re-established by the machine’s V5C issued by Swansea which revealed that it had been owned by Stanley Robinson of Rossendale, Lancashire in February 1986 and then Edward Banks of Knutsford, Cheshire in May 1990 around the time of the Pre65 Scottish trial.

Journalist, John Pearson had been loaned SOO22D for the 1990 Pre65 Scottish Trial at Kinlochleven and did a short article for Classic Bike Weekly, a section within Motor Cycle News. Stan Robinson had willingly loaned the machine and from that article we can deduce that the Anglian sported a nineteen-inch rear wheel when new. Robinson replaced the rim with an eighteen inch version, due to the scarcity of nineteen-inch tyres by then.

John Pearson, a former The Classic Motor Cycle and Classic Bike editor commented: “I had actually forgotten about riding SOO22D back in 1990. Stan Robinson had such a fabulous collection of motorcycles. I rode several of Stan’s bikes in the pre-65, all original. He kept his bikes in a massive loft over his premises, with the only way to get them in and out was in a highly secure lift. He had numerous road racing and scrambles machines as well as the trials bikes. A real treat to walk round them with him.”

Sadly, the ex-factory Greeves didn’t carry rider Pearson very far as the ignition packed in after attempting just three groups of sections. Possibly due to elderly electrics having given up at twenty-four years of age. Jim Sandiford at that time was still riding the Pre65 Scottish on his BSA B40 and was on hand at the start for a short photo shoot with John Pearson at the start together with the factory Greeves.

For a motorcycle that began life as a factory competition machine, a type of motorcycle so often used hard and discarded, its survival is remarkable. Equally remarkable is the fact that enough documentary evidence has survived to allow much of its history to be reconstructed, linking one of Greeves’ genuine works Anglians with one of the company’s and Britain’s most respected riders.

Provenance:

With the help of contemporary Motor Cycle News reports, a previous owner was able to document Jim Sandiford’s weekly results on SOO 22D between November 1966 and January 1967.

On 13 November 1966, Jim took the new Greeves to France to compete in the International St. Cucufa Trial, organised by the Amicale Motocycliste de Saint-Cloud held in woodlands called Bois de Saint-Cucufa, to the west of Paris. A popular event with British riders, it formed a round of the Challenge Henri Goutars, the forerunner of the European Championship. Sandiford finished a very creditable fourth overall losing twenty marks, with team-mate Don Smith (Greeves) taking the victory on eleven marks and Sammy Miller runner-up two marks adrift. French champion Christian Rayer also on a Greeves was third on nineteen marks. As the new Anglian had not yet been registered, it competed using the registration number from Jim’s previous works Greeves. [1]

The following weekend, on 20 November, Sandiford rode the Anglian to victory in the Pennine Trial, beating Northern Centre rider Stan Cordingley by a single mark. The Greeves was officially registered as SOO22D two days later, meaning it had yet again competed under another machine’s registration number.

Having qualified for the 32nd British Experts Trial at Llandrindod Wells on Saturday, 26 November, Sandiford entered the Greeves as a 249cc machine. Riding number 26, he finished thirteenth overall and earned a coveted First-Class Award. The following day, he was back in action at the St. Helens Club Traders Trial, where Stan Cordingley reversed the previous week’s result, taking victory with Sandiford finishing runner-up.

Championship Success:

The Cotswold Cup followed on 4 December, where Sandiford and the Greeves again secured a First-Class Award. A week later, on 11 December, losing fourteen marks they finished runners-up in the Northern Experts Trial, won by Derbyshire rider Norman Eyre on six marks riding a Bultaco Sherpa. Third place was taken by Malcolm Rathmell on fifteen marks on his Triumph Cub.

These consistent performances throughout the closing weeks of the season secured Jim Sandiford the 1966 ACU North Western Centre Championship aboard the new Greeves Anglian, marking an impressive debut campaign for the machine.

Scottish Six Days:

In the 1967 Scottish Six Days, Jim came home in seventh position on fifty marks on SOO22D which was listed as a 254cc, in fact he equalled teammate Don Smith’s score. The eventual winner being Sammy Miller on his 252cc Bultaco who also took the 251-350cc award. The following year, Sandiford would be similarly Bultaco mounted at the SSDT and Don Smith would also defect from Greeves to ride a Montesa.

SOO22D didn’t ‘retire’ after Jim Sandiford moved away from riding for Greeves, evidenced by the significant wear and tear to the underside of the chassis, this machine had been well used. It also didn’t show signs of being modified from its original 1966 specification either. The frame number corresponded with the original registration booklet as did the engine. The Anglian used the tried and trusted Villiers 37A engine with Greeves own aluminium alloy cylinder barrel and head. These were supplied as complete units from Villiers with cast iron barrels which Greeves removed and fitted their own components. The standard Anglian was a 66mm x 72mm configuration which gave 246cc cylinder capacity. However, as stated when registered, SOO22D’s records indicated a 252cc engine. To give this capacity, the engine would have required a piston of 66.8mm diameter. Cylinder lubrication at that time would be achieved by using two stroke oil at a ratio of 16:1 and no doubt using Shell Lubricants as Greeves had an agreement with the petrol giant at that time.

Carburation is taken care of by an AMAL concentric instrument however it is assumed that a Villiers instrument was used when Jim Sandiford rode the machine. Period photographs don’t reveal very much as the Greeves had a fabric cover over the inlet area stretched back to the rear subframe. Greeves riders also used AMAL monobloc carburetors at this time.

The front suspension is taken care of by a set of Ceriani forks, by 1966 the preferred component by the factory riders, all of whom removed the signature ‘banana’ forks. However, this modification did not ensure the correct steering result due to the alloy beam front frame. In fact, factory rider Bill Wilkinson deployed the yokes from the Greeves Challenger scrambles model which he said made his Anglian ‘steer like it should have’. Wilkinson had been issued with SOO23D in 1966, the sister bike to Jim Sandiford’s Anglian.

Why the Anglian?

The Anglian model was Thundersley’s response to the growing Spanish Armada of the sport, with Bultaco having established its dominance with Sammy Miller and others in the British and European Championship hence the Greeves supported riders were all issued with an Anglian. This didn’t really impress their number one rider, Don ‘D.R.’ Smith who would eventually have a falling out with Bert Greeves and subsequently change his alliance to the Spanish Montesa manufacturer in 1968. Part of this was brought on by the sheer stubbornness of Mr. Greeves to retain the cast aluminium front frame beam which was regarded as part of Greeves competition heritage. The front frame made this way did not allow for any experimentation with steering angles, when compared to a fully tubular chassis design. This reluctance to change, or even experiment, frustrated Smith who voted with his feet, first of all riding a private Bultaco before signing for Montesa.

It is possible that Jim Sandiford had similar thoughts, given that he left Greeves around the same time as Smith to ride the Bultaco.

Yorkshireman, Bill Wilkinson on the other hand was comfortable riding the Anglian and indeed took his 1968 model (WWC169F) to victory in the 1969 Scottish Six Days Trial, beating Sammy Miller in the process.

The Greeves Anglian was to become a last-ditch attempt to stem the Spanish invasion of trials, history records that it failed to do so. Their efforts were noble as they wanted to uphold British industry honour, but the Spanish were more innovative and were producing machinery that gave even mediocre riders results!

SOO22D today:

Current owner, Roy Kerr takes up the story: “Living in Savannah, Georgia and working for JCB, I was in the middle of a full strip down and rebuild of a very early 1968 Bultaco Sherpa M49 and was on eBay looking for some parts, when in the search results appeared a Greeves Anglian trials bike.

On looking at the details of the auction there was mention that the bike was an ex-factory bike ridden by Jim Sandiford. On further investigation, there were some very clear images of the bike. These images showed clearly the serial and registration information of the bike and an image of some of the bike’s history.

The bike was listed at offers over $545, so I added it to my watch list whilst I did a bit more research on this interesting Greeves.

I was able to find images of Jim Sandiford riding the bike in a few events and it was clearly the bike with the registration of SOO22D. I also had a chat over the internet with my friend of fifty years John Moffat, who did a bit of digging as well for me.

In contacting the owner, Steven Lawrence in Alamo, I established he purchased the bike in 1999 in the UK and shipped it over to California, where the bike was kept with a number of other Greeves motorcycles, the guy was indeed a Greeves fanatic.

The bike had been ridden by him in Californian classic trials up until quite recently, but he was not a serious trials rider purely social and for fun.

As luck would have it, I ended up the winner of the bike, which was the result I was after and I paid the ‘right money’ for the Greeves. I really wanted this bike, as I had known Jim Sandiford from the days when my family were Montesa dealers, and I won my Scottish Trials championship in 1980 riding the Sandiford 349 Montesa.

I obviously knew Caroline and Martin Sandiford from my time with Trail Tech Products. I just thought it would be right to purchase the bike and bring it home.

After winning the bike and money changing hands, I had to find a reliable shipper to get it from California to Georgia, a real Coast to Coast trip. Fortunately, I found a reputable motorcycle shipper and soon after the bike was in my garage.

As part of the sale in November 2019, the owner sent me by UPS a folder containing all the history he had collected on the bike. This is good evidence of the providence of the ex-works Greeves.

To my amazement, the green logbook was in the folder which has been laminated due to the age and state of the document. This shows the bike was first registered to Invacar Ltd, Church Rd, Thundersley, thus confirming it as a factory machine. On first registration, the logbook had been signed by Derry Preston-Cobb, Bert Greeves’ cousin, and a company director.

The date of first registration was November 22nd, 1966, which is very spooky indeed because November 22^nd is my birthday and that was my sixth birthday! In the folder there was also a full list of the history of Jim Sandford’s time with the Greeves.

It shows that Jim had ridden the Anglian unregistered on November 13th in a trial in France, his first ride on it when it was legally registered was on November 26th.

There were some images of the bike with Jim on it in the Welsh 3 Day and the Mitchell trial and numerous press articles of Jim and the bike.

I shipped the Greeves back to the UK in April 2022 as I was coming back to England continuing my work with JCB having fulfilled my stint in the United States.

Trials Guru’s John Moffat gave me a helping hand to ensure the DVLA at Swansea reallocated the original SOO22D registration number to the bike and John did this on my behalf when I was still in America.”

What then?

Kerr: “My intention was not going to go full tilt on the restoration of the bike I intended to tidy it up and was to keep it as it was and as it would have been ridden by Jim.

What is ironic about the purchase of the bike is that I found it looking for parts for the first model M49 Bultaco built, its serial number was M4900028 and it was registered as a 1967 model year bike and sold to its first owner in Los Angeles in 1968. Jim stopped riding for Greeves and went to Bultaco to ride a Model 49 in November 1967! So, I’ve one bike Jim competed on, and the other is the make and model he went onto ride from the Greeves.

What was I doing in North America? I transferred over to North America in September of 2017 into the position of Vice President, Product Support responsible for parts and warehouse operations, technical and field service support and technical training. This kept me fairly busy and a motorcycle is a way for me to switch off.”

Scott Ellis:

“After inspecting the frame and cycle parts closely and shipping the Greeves back to the UK, I enlisted the help of my friend and former colleague at JCB, Scott Ellis to assess the state of play. To be honest it didn’t look too good at all, the lower frame had been poorly repaired by brazing, broken and repaired again, this would have to be addressed. Scott stripped the bike and fully rebuilt the engine and gearbox.

I purchased another frame with the intention of riding the bike. Scott assembled the bike using the new frame and made it a runner. The original frame was painted and stored safely with the intention to rebuild the bike in the original frame in the future. The frame was repaired properly by Steve Gagg who removed a section of the lower area, to replace the tubing and make it strong again.”

Greeves Motorsport:

“Time marches on of course and my stay in North America ended up being seven years. By the time I returned to the UK in 2024, my thoughts and intentions of competing the Greeves turned to that I should really restore the bike back into the original chassis.

That idea sat in my head until late 2025 when I contacted Gary Bamford at Greeves Motorsport Ltd at Moreton Valance in Gloucestershire, to see if he was interested in rebuilding the bike to a high standard, using the original chassis and to fit a new engine cradle and repair the rear mudguard loop.

Gary gladly took on the task, and he and his team did a top job in building the bike back into the original chassis.

A new alloy fuel tank was sourced from Tony Holt at Holtworks from Mayland in Essex and painted by the late Ally Grant’s ‘Bike Paints’ at Cupar Muir, Fife and I carefully stored it for the time I was going to one day rebuild the bike.”

Roy admits that because of restoration and repair work which was necessary it could be argued that the Greeves is not totally original, but which former ‘works’ trials machine is ‘original’? The factories habitually replaced all components week by week as necessary and that included complete chassis, cycle parts and of course, engines. It has often been muted that the items between the front and rear registration numbers changed regularly.

Having said that, SOO22D is as close to the specification when Jim Sandiford received it in November 1966 and to have a machine like that is good enough for most enthusiasts of the marque.

Roy Kerr is a canny Scottish border’s lad, a former Scottish Youth Senior (1977) and Adult (1980) trials champion and being an enthusiast, has collected such a wealth of information on his Greeves, something that is usually lacking when competition machinery comes up for auction at Pugh’s or Bonhams. Not that Roy has any desire to move this particular Greeves on, but when he does, the new owner will inherit a wealth of knowledge and the providence of this historic machine.

What became of Greeves Motorcycles?

Originally, ‘Greeves’ was the brand name for motorcycles made by the company Invacar Limited, founded by Bert Greeves and his cousin, Derry Preston-Cobb, the company also produced three-wheeled motorised vehicles using Villiers two-stroke engines for disabled drivers from 1952 under the funding from the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance.

Greeves became a force to be reckoned with in competiton in the late 1950s and early 1960s, winning the 1961 European Motocross Championship with Dave Bickers. They also had European Trials honours with Don Smith twice, 1964 and 1967.

The rights to the name Greeves were purchased by Richard Deal in 1999 with the intention of producing exact replicas of previous Greeves models and to produce a new trials model, which was launched in January 2009.

Richard Deal ran the company as Greeves Motorcycles Ltd in Chelmsford, but rising costs and lack of development of the British made 280cc trials machine put paid to the enterprise.

Most recently, the rights to use the Greeves name and stylised logo have been secured by Gary Bamford through his company Brithubs Limited in 2025, trading as British Bikes 1970. Greeves Motorcycles Ltd sold all its interests, goodwill, and intellectual property rights in classic Villiers and Greeves motorcycles, parts, components and spares to Brithubs Limited. Greeves is now a registered trademark of Brithubs Limited with the Intellectual Property Office of the UK Government.

Bibliography and references:

Motor Cycle News – Various reports 1966-1967

[1] Cycle World USA – ‘Continental Report’ by B.R. Nicholls – February 1st 1967.

Classic Bike Weekly/ Motor Cycle News – May 9, 1990.

Greeves Motorsport Ltd/Brithubs Limited – www.britishbikes1970.com

Special Thanks to John Pearson, formerly of Motor Cycle News/Classic Bike Weekly, The Classic Motor Cycle and Classic Bike.

‘SOO22D – this factory Greeves is still around’ is the copyright of Trials Guru.

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