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Douglas - The Unlikely Trials Bike?


laird387
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Mick did ride a Douglas in Scotland in 2006, he told everyone he would do it on the Saturday evening 2005 after too much red wine. Then during the evening he asked if he could ride my Douglas in 2006, I said yes so he decided to stick to his word.

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Going back to the 1920s / 30s when bikes were belt drive douglass's were used on "observed hills" where the aim was to get up without stopping or footing (footing to help forward motion not balance).

One such hill was Lindale in Furness (south end of the lake district) which is now a dual carriageway but in those days was a poorly surfaced track / road and a challenge for bikes to get up without stopping. Cars used to go up in reverse as reverse was lower than first.

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  • 3 weeks later...
 

Hi,

An image now from the 1993 Talmag, showing Gordon Neale, a regular visitor to the Hungry Hill venue with his 1931 Douglas.

I had a query the other day about the Talmag itself, as to how long the trial had been in the calendar. The Talmag in its present format was first run in 1975, prior to that it had been a South-eastern Centre event, which usually was held on Weavers Down, a popular venue in days gone by - but I believe now lost to the sport?

As ever, enjoy.

post-19290-0-12995800-1392136440_thumb.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi,

An historic image!

Winner of the arctic Kickham in February 1947 on a 350 Triumph, this is Charles Dickins on a 350 competition Douglas in the 1948 Cotswold Cups trial, one of three Kingswood machines in the event. The others were ridden by A J Bailey and F Nowell.

The 1947 Kickham was the first of the old national trials to be run after the 1939-45 war had finished, life back to normal, as it were. Naturally on such an auspicious occasion the British weather had to step in, so the competitors were faced with, literally, arctic conditions. The organisers decided to send the entry out in groups of five riders, each group with one of the local riders included and the stoical British temperament rewarded their efforts with a successful day's sport.

Charles Dickins was one of those local riders.

Enjoy.

post-19290-0-08411300-1393918616_thumb.jpg

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Hi
I knew a former trials rider by the name of Philip Shaw (sadly now no longer with us).
Philip was active in the immediate post war years and into the 50's. He remembered an incident when a complete horizontal
cylinder was smashed off a trials Douglas during a Yorkshire Centre trial.
It makes Mick Andrews achievement in finishing the Scottish pre-65 on a Douglas in recent years all the more remarkable.

Regards
Sparks


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Hi,

Whenever you organised a classic event on Hungry Hill (and Weaver's Down before that was lost) you could almost guarantee entries from the London Douglas club, just as this in the 1998 'Old Codgers' - is his name Phillips?

Enjoy

post-19290-0-51243000-1394438769_thumb.jpg

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