big john

What an amazing story we have here, I will try to find out from Jackie if he sold any books. In fact he gave me a couple of his books some years ago, one on Villiers motors which I still have. 2/4 is correct there are indeed articles of J.D. Williamson in the national Museum of Scotland as he gifted some items to them. I have all of his trophies in storage in the hope that one day they may be put on display for a good cause or something. Big John

I have every single one of them. Unfortunately I don't have additional copies, otherwise I would have been able to help. Big John

I know the dates are 5/6th July 2008, not too sure of the actual location, contact Lanarkshire MCC off the SACU website for details. www.sacu.co.uk Big John

Yes I rode this year on the bike shown! Special thanks to my friend Carlos Bosch. Big John

I think the aftermarket kickstart for a 199a & 199B was manufactured by "Buzzetti" back in the 1980's. The kickstart supplied new on these models of Sherpa was specific to those and not earlier models. It had a fixing through bolt (no nut) and had a rubber sleeve on the top which usually perished after a while and usually fell off when kicking over the bike! The kickstart was a different shape and waisted down the centre spine. Big John

What about Colin Seeley himself? He is still alive and kicking (I actually interviewed him on stage at the Scottish Show in March this year), however he is not happy just to part with information willy-nilly. He usually charges a fee to research his records, however that fee is donated to the charity that he set up for pain relief in memory of his first wife, The Joan Seeley memorial pain relief trust, I think it's called. He told me that he had been approached by a Seeley Honda owner who wanted his bike dated and said, "OK it will be

Jolly Roger! How absolutely fantastic to have achieved so much dear boy! I am exceptionally pleased for you and such a good looking chap you are Roger, you simply make the Ladies swoooooon! Now then..now that you have achieved such an acolade, you can stop referring to me as your "Gay Friend" from now on! I am a complete Heterosexual male you know. Keep them tootsies on the pegs now RHW! Kind regards. Yours... ever so sincerely, Your STRAIGHT friend, Big John

The spelling has only one T! Big John

I had a Honda lawnmower a few years back, that probably was a side-valve four-stroke! Almost certain it wasn't an OHV.... Problem solved!! Big John

Come now Greeves you can't tease us like that,give us a clue if nothing else, how do you expect us to sleep at night now. Now now, keep patient! The Motoclub Sotobike always tries very hard to get a top class guest of honour at Robregordo. I can tell you that previous "Guests of Honour" include: Mick Andrews; Charles Coutard; Sammy Miller and Yrjo Vesterinen It will most probably be... in that vein!!! Big John

Absolutely, I would definately like to try one to see how it goes! I can't actually remember ever riding a side valve bike. Big John

What has BSA M20; Norton Big Four; Ford Popular cars and Gas Gas 4T trials bikes got in common? Answer: Side valve four-stroke motors!!! I'm sure the Gas Gas version will be somewhat different from the others mentioned above... Big John

Are you using an original right hand side alloy brake lever, if so there should be a small "bick" or stop, which is to prevent the brake pedal coming up too high. I managed to break two such levers on two different bikes when I clobbered rocks, pushing the brake lever upwards and shearing off the alloy "bick". After saying that there is no doubt that the left side brake set up with a rod is far more positive as the rider has a better "feel" for the brake, better feedback if you like. I liked the left hand shift set up, but I confess that the original Bultaco set up of left side shift, right side brake is much more efficient. The main reason for the Bultaco factory changing the set up was for the American (USA) market where the theory is that a driver of a car, be it automatic or manual transmission, applies the brake pedal with the right foot! Big John

Who knows, unless there is an "old hand" who knew the rider and an in depth knowledge of the bikes history with photographic records, it is very difficult to authenticate. For starters, that registration number is definately an age-related DVLA issue, not original as "SJ" is a Scottish index mark post war. Big John

OK, Loch Eilde Path that is above the town of Kinlochleven taking you up to Loch Eilde Mor, however Altnafeadh is somewhat distant from the town of Kinlochleven, in fact just opposite the Buachaille Etive Mor. The location height indicates to me that the photo was most probably taken near the summit of Loch Eilde Path. What was he doing up there, certainly not competing in the SSDT as the bikes have no competition number plates fitted! I can only suggest that they were riding up Loch Eilde Path from Kinlochleven and taking a trip towards Altnafeadh on what is now the West Highland Way. Big John

Kelloggs Corn Flakes, followed by bacon; eggs and fried bread... white "Y fronts" It could be around 1961/62 going by the Greeves, however the registration 152 DWL looks like an earlier number maybe 1959/60. Go on then when was it, more importantly where was the shot taken, looks pretty high up going by the background scenery? Big John

Hola Snr. Greeves, I know of such an unrestored bike 198B 250cc 1983 I think, I saw it last week when I was down at the Scott Trial! I will send you a note of its whereabouts and you can contact the owner for details! Regards Big John

Only just picked up on this thread, that is a common four-stroke trait, if cold air is drawn into the exhaust at the manifold on any four-stroke, it tends to cause an explosion in the exhaust system, only on the "over-run"! Big John

A few years ago that system was run in Scotland but for some reason it was abandoned and multiple disciplines required additional licences, the full price is not paid if more than one licence is taken out. Big john

You can ride under the Melville MC Scotland Ltd as it is affiliated to the SACU. It is cheaper (at this moment in time) to buy a trials licence (

Abbreviated results SACU Inter Club Team Trial... Best Team: T.Arnott Moffat Trophy: & Gold Medals: Dunfermline Adult A Team: Neil Dawson Willie Gillespie Jnr. Jim Tennant Stephen Baird Runners Up:Silver Medals: Lanarkshire Team 1: Stuart Rockett Moray McNiven Stuart Corry Ross Corry Third Place:Bronze Medals: Edinburgh St. George A: Jamie Reid Liston Bell Lewis Bell Leigh Bremner Best Over 40 Team: Lochaber Over 40: Neil McKechnie Ian Fletcher Dougie Gibson Alan Macdonald Best Youth Team: Lanarkshire Team Youth: Andrew Anderson Colin Gourlay Jonathan Devlin Jack McRobbie

What a scoop for Future Team TRW. Alexz has got to be one of the nicest guys around and he truly deserves the reward for his efforts over the last couple of seasons. I am quite sure John Shirt Jnr will be sad to see Alexz depart from Gas Gas UK, but that's business! Well done Wiggy! Big John

Not quite John. They had an investor who pulled out a while back and found another to replace them. The investor holds 40% and the remainder is held by Casas & Piebernat. When Gas Gas start shedding riders they are developing a new model. It's a pattern I've picked up over the years. Anyway, very unlikely Gasser have a financial interest in Xispa. Thanks Tim, I wasn't quite sure, but I remember reading about a buy-out some time ago. Big John

I thought so! I was only a boy when you first came on the scene! Best wishes, Big John - Scotland