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Early Griffon Test Session pics.

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  • Early Griffon Test Session pics.

    In a previous thread on Bryan Wade, I included a pic of him taken at an early test session for the Griffons. I'll repeat the attachment here for reference, and include the other pics I have for that session.

    Pic 1; Bryan Wade.
    Pic 2; Vic Allan.
    Pic 3; Malcolm Rathmell.
    Pic 4; Arthur Browning.

    Hope everyone enjoys seeing them!

    As always, if anyone can add any further information or comments about these pics it would be great to hear from you!

    Brian.
    Attached Files

  • #2
    Hi Bryan ,

    Not a test session but presenting the Griffon to the Press & Greeves dealers at the Wakes Colne course near Halstead .

    The other riders were Richard Hughes & John Pease , it was also bloody cold .

    The idea was to keep the bikes running for Six hours non stop (??) including rider changes and refueling .

    The bikes did quite well which is all I can say .

    Chris

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by riflegreen View Post
      Hi Bryan ,

      Not a test session but presenting the Griffon to the Press & Greeves dealers at the Wakes Colne course near Halstead .

      The other riders were Richard Hughes & John Pease , it was also bloody cold .

      The idea was to keep the bikes running for Six hours non stop (??) including rider changes and refueling .

      The bikes did quite well which is all I can say .

      Chris
      Hi Chris,

      I hope you are doing well.

      I have a couple articles on this. Nick was there for the marathon correct? I see Wade brought back his NNM jersey from the Inter-Am series.

      Regards,
      Kenny

      Comment


      • #4
        Hi kenny ,

        Doing very well , clear for another three months .

        Yes, nick was there plus the Swiss, French , Dutch & Belgium dealers .

        BW gave me that shirt but after a rather drunken prize giving in switzerland I gave to the Swiss dealer .

        Chris

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by riflegreen View Post
          Hi kenny ,

          Doing very well , clear for another three months .

          Yes, nick was there plus the Swiss, French , Dutch & Belgium dealers .

          BW gave me that shirt but after a rather drunken prize giving in switzerland I gave to the Swiss dealer .

          Chris
          Chris,

          I like the good news!

          I thought I saw Nick standing in the background with his helmet on waiting for his ride...it looked very cold!

          We'll have to do something about that jersey for you!

          Kenny

          Comment


          • #6
            Chaps,

            I have a 380 works Griffon, frame number GPWM2. Despite all of our archives, we don't seem to have anything on this particular batch of works bikes.

            I often wonder if my bike is one of those in the pictures. It certainly looks as though someone has tried to ride it for 6 hours!

            Cheers,

            Rob

            Comment


            • #7
              Rob ,

              I thought I had told you before , your bike was one of the two bikes used by Vic Allan in the 1970 GP series , the other being GPWM1 .

              When Vic left it was used by Arthur Browning and then sold to Beamish motorcycles . Which ties in nicely with you being in Sussex .

              Chris
              Last edited by riflegreen; 15/02/2011, 07:11 PM. Reason: forgot a bit

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by riflegreen View Post
                Rob ,

                I thought I had told you before , your bike was one of the two bikes used by Vic Allan in the 1970 GP series , the other being GPWM1 .

                When Vic left it was used by Arthur Browning and then sold to Beamish motorcycles . Which ties in nicely with you being in Sussex .

                Chris
                Hi Chris,

                If I recall in an interview with Vic that the frame was lowered on his G/P bikes.

                It looks to me the swinging arm had different shock mounts compared with the model 58.

                Did you lighten things up a bit as well or was it pretty much stock?

                Just curious.

                Thanks,
                Kenny

                Comment


                • #9
                  Hi Kenny ,

                  The frames were made for the GP series and in theory were a bit lower , the fore runner of the next Griffon frame .

                  The bikes were pretty standard , we were not allowed to do much weight saving etc. , the bikes were supposed to be as near production bikes as possible .

                  Also we had to use all the bolt on bits that couldn't be used on the production builds - holes "slightly" out and that sort of thing .

                  I think most manufacturers did the same , mind you most of the other builders had a lot more money than Greeves .

                  Chris
                  Last edited by riflegreen; 15/02/2011, 10:03 PM. Reason: missed words

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by riflegreen View Post
                    Hi Kenny ,

                    The frames were made for the GP series and in theory were a bit lower , the fore runner of the next Griffon frame .

                    The bikes were pretty standard , we were not allowed to do much weight saving etc. , the bikes were supposed to be as near production bikes as possible .

                    Also we had to use all the bolt on bits that couldn't be used on the production builds - holes "slightly" out and that sort of thing .

                    I think most manufacturers did the same , mind you most of the other builders had a lot more money than Greeves .

                    Chris
                    Chris,

                    Thanks for the reply.

                    I remember as a boy going to Nicholson's and seeing the 72 models and how low they were compared to the early versions, but man, those forks were way out there...I think they had Metal Profiles. The new bikes did not turn well as Wade said in the latest book...but worked well for our desert racers.

                    Anyways, Suzuki raised the bar on everything, Greeves was just the first to go by the wayside.

                    Typically what problems did Vic have in the G/P's, pistons? ignitions? Sounds like Wade was spitting a lot of those dang Dykes rings!

                    Regards,
                    Kenny

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Chris,

                      Thanks for the info. When I asked other people, they said there was nothing in the archives and no one really knew.

                      However, that was leaving you out of the equation!

                      You may have told me but if so, I hadn't remembered. Yes, I believe the bike did come via Beamish's, I found the bike about 10 miles from their shop!

                      I saw Vic Allan at weekend up at Telford.

                      The swingarm has had some extra suspension unit mounts added further back from the normal ones which are also retained.

                      Apart from that it looks fairly standard. Interesting that the production 'scrap' was used up on those bikes!

                      I had the engine overhauled by Mike Palmer and it has been in the cupboard ever since. Think it could be time to get it going. The only thing I need now is a high-tensile front rim.

                      Thanks again,

                      Rob

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        What an interesting little thread....!

                        Looking back at this one after all this time, I'm so pleased I posted those pics in the original post, being as it generated all that interesting info from Chris, Kenny and Rob.

                        Chris Goodfellow could always be relied upon to give us some fascinating insights into life (and the bikes) at Greeves back in the day, as well as gently correct and guide us 'newbies' when we got our wires crossed on the odd point, as this thread so admirably demonstrates. Good memories.....

                        Chris was (and still is as far as I'm concerned) a true Greeves Legend and a gentleman, through and through.

                        Brian.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I love those pics riding with snow on the ground

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Palm Trees In The Snow....

                            Hi John,

                            Glad you enjoyed the pics mate....but stop trying to pretend that you still remember what snow looks like....!!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Brian Thompson View Post
                              Hi John,

                              Glad you enjoyed the pics mate....but stop trying to pretend that you still remember what snow looks like....!!
                              Brian, it's a modest 30*c here today but I can see snow from my house there's an 8500ft mountain range ride behind my place. It's tough living in near paradise. One hour to the beach one hour to the mountains, surf in the morning ski in the afternoon, ride bikes whenever you want Oh also 25mins from Glen Helen mx gp track too. Not rubbing it in or anything

                              Comment

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