dursleydabber

Just checking i can reply.Been away cpl weeks,gonna read thru everything and come up with a solution lol. I can tell you all one thing for nothing Enfields are v heavy and take an enormous amount of skill to ride!!!

They must have heard our rantings! Glad to see the ACU are changing the rules for the Sammy Champs for 2016. What do we all think the classes should be then? Answers on a postcard please!

I started pre65 when I was twelve(now in my mid 40`s) and have never had any interest in modern trials.I was brought up around British machinery esp Norton's (I'm 4th generation Norton owner in my family)! It was inevitable that I was gonna be into old bikes and I love it! I love the sounds, the smells® the whole process of maintainance, engineering,building, research, history, competing, cleaning, preparation, comeraraderie, success, failure(not so much),organising events,helping others,going to museums and shows,jumbles,riding in,snow,rain,fog, heat and even biblical mayfly hatches!,and all the other things that go into being an enthusiast! But certainly not a pot hunter!(there are so few pots to hunt in Pre65 anyway trust me!)There's a big difference between a genuine young enthusiast and a young modern rider who borrows Daddy's brand new Cub or Ariel just to get his face in the paper at a big event!Over the years there have been a few incidences where I've been discriminated against because of my age but mainly I have had encouragement!We need as many youngsters as we can get to carry it all on!Encourage them!The early Golden,Valley trials(80`s) had a schoolboy Pre65 class(G)

Rant cont, Deryk is the only person in my humble option,in the original Sammy series,to get the eligibility rules right in this country.He came under alot off flack during his time,(remember the fiddle you was presented at gv dinner Deryk)but he always stuck to his rules no matter who you was.I remember one day a certain ex works star was getting the treatment for having BSA four bolt forks in(a particular bugbear off Deryks)He was not a happy bunny!Organisers note,just use Deryks old rules! Simple!Now I think its got so far out off hand,only some sort off minimum weight per class rule would work!Say 260lbs for Pre Unit Springer,280lbs for pre unit Rigid etc This would negate the use of trick bits!Also possibly minimum wheelbase and ground clearance measurements with rider normally seated,?Would we all agree on the criteria? I don't think so!Deryk was the Ariel you rode in the original Shake the one I have now?Your right we had our disagreements but never really fell out!Great days!

Like Deryk I took up Pre65 trials because I could not afford to buy a modern bike.Pre65 eligibility rules have all gone out off the window as far as I'm concerned.I really do get sick off people arguing over it because deep down I think we all know what's right or wrong!My bikes have always been right and im one off the youngest guys thats grown up within the movement!I won a national championship on an big banger last year (against a hoard off brand new replicas) with original frame,forks,mag wheels etc and no one gets to know about it!A guy wins the Pre65 scottish on a BRAND NEW bike thats ressembles nothing that was rode before 1965 and overnight he becomes a national hero!Its a real kick in the teeth,so who do we blame?!Some riders have always sought to bend the rules to gain an edge,its very hard to stop them without upsetting them cos they always say they have done nowt wrong!Jon has always bent the rules ever since he used to ride a CCM based bike in Pre65 in the early 80's.He was after all one off the Cheltenham Cheats!All the cheats also happened to be bloody good riders to!

Had to have a smile when gasser guy commented that modern bike riders possibly could not afford a pre65 trialer and hes probably right.The only reason I started Pre65 in the early eighty's was that I could not afford(or my parents couldn't) a modern bike!We swapped a carb off a flat tank triumph(brand new with tag)for a 197 Fanny B.We changed the wheels and forks out off a scrap DT175,(no 19 inch tyres available and new rims were to exspensive)and i was away,for 100yrds anyways before it broke down!Oh how times change!

No 134 is Stan Howit off Wyegate fame riding in an early Bonanza trial at Moorhouse Farm Birdlip Stroud.

No 20 Mick Dismore

Rode the March Hare sun,what a cracking day out again!This trial is as close to an original(Deryk days) Sammy Miller round as you are gonna get these days! I am under the impression that trail bikes are included for purely financial reasons cos there ain't enough pre 65 entries to make the event economically viable! It is true that a great number off the people involved with organising the event do in fact ride trail bikes.This could possibly cause a few problems in trying to ban them!It Would be Interesting to see how many people would drag a pre65 out to be able to ride in this premier event tho.

Hi Deryk, GerryHoldstock was also a pallbearer at my Fathers funeral.When he went to grab one off the handles on the coffin,he was told by the funeral director that if he pulled any harder it would fall off as they were only glued on!We all had a bit off a laugh about that![as i expect the old chap did aswell] Gerry was a great character that was always part off the pre 65 scene right from the start.He was a true gentleman and genuine.He would Rollock you if u messed up,but praise you if you did well! A rare quality.He had many words off advice when asked,but he always told it how it was,whether you liked it or not! We all had immense respect for him and he was like a Grand father to me.

I Cant believe that i,ve been riding the Talmag now for 28 years and the only time i ever loose control, they get it on film! I foolishly attacked Hungry Hill in 2nd,cos its more fun,and found a tad more grip than i bargained for! I always dreamed off getting my pic in TMX [as have millions off others] and am so glad when i finally did,they captured my best angle! i thought it was a 2 ,a mate watching said 1,but i got the dreaded Talmag 5 !At least i beat Mr Higgs for the 1st time who apparently missed section 1, which i thought would have been pretty impossible?considering it was only 30 yards from the start in a straight line! On the subject off severity,last years course was too hard,this year it was too easy.They need to find a middle ground! As always its weather dependent off course,but thats down to experience and keeping an eye on the forecast i suppose.Saying all that i really enjoyed this years event,it really is just a massive social really for me,seeing lots off people and bikes i only see at the Talmag once a year!See you all next year.

Hi Deryk,sorry i replied to that again im new so still working it all out.The matchless i ride now is indeed Gerrys old bike.After Gerry passed away late 2006 we did not know what was happening to his bikes,so i asked his family if i could borrow the Matchy to ride in that years xmas trial in cowcombe woods stroud.Now i must explain that Gerrys ashes[andPpennys] are scatered by the cross in the centre off the woods.A memorial stone marks the spot! I was asked to ride Gerrys bike with his and Pennys ashes on the back into the woods to meet his family.[we did a few sections on the way].We won the trial on a clean sheet,a very emotional moment i can assure you!I was later told by his family his wishes were i was to have the bike and ride it as he did!When we previously spoke,he hinted at this,i promised him i would win the Sammy Miller Champs on it,this we did five times on the trot.Every time i ride it Gerrys name is mentioned! Inciddently its a Oct 1951 model not 53.The alloy motor is still in it [matching nos] but at the time Barry took that pic the motor was filthy and looked iron! Ive cleaned it since to make it lighter!The matchbox is all original, crappy old forks,mag,hubs,rims,clutch,engine etc i havnt changed owt! Even his bent handle bars ive kept on!.A proper old bike! Gerry obtained the bike from the AMC works thru his old mate and fellow Bexley Heath club member a certain Gordon Jackson,Apparantly it was a trade supported bike ridden by Mike Nicholson.[Alloy bikes were rare then and only given to select riders i believe]he rode it as a rigid then springer converted,then sidecar then back to Rigid in the very first pre65 trials.I feel extremely proud to carry on the legend.

Hi Deryk,i think your being hard on yourself in that the guy on the rigid Matchless was not a BBC regular,I never forget a face and i dont recognise him.[i rode every round bar 2 in the first ten years]

About 20ish years ago i was riding around the Reliance trial[a round off the original Sammy Miller series] with Mike Mills,when after we finished the last section he offered me a ride on his own framed B25! I can honestly say having rode a fair number off bikes over the years,including Tony Calverts Scottish winning cub and Grantys last? Ariel amongst others,it was and still is the best handling and engined Pre70 bike i've ever ridden.It left a lasting impresion on me to this day!It felt so easy to ride and i felt like i could ave gone up anything!Mike was a jovial character,always having the craic! We often talked about it when we met,and one day he offered me the chance to buy the last frame kit he had,i declined.A while later he passed. Inciddently straight after i rode Mikes bike i rode Neil Sellys trick bullet he rode in the scottish a few times,No comparison!

I remember one round,i think it was the Greensmiths,Pete Remington had a selector problem with his Enfield gearbox.To his amazement Colin Hedges and myself proceeded to strip the gearbox in the woods with the bike led on its side,there were bits everywhere! We got it working fine and he finished ok and beat Colin and myself,much to every ones amusement! Great memories!