Another one bites the dust.

[johnrunnacles]

Thanks for keeping my place warm for me, then, Dave!

It's right what Kevin says, and "Yes" Kevin, there are Greeves series races on the Sunday. I might even be tempted to turn up, myself, for some of Dave Harper's precious handicap points - that's if I can get any sense out of a rebellious Hawkstone in the meantime.

If I get there, perhaps we can have a chat on the way round, Dave? Incidentally, your riding number is an anagram of mine! Hope that doesn't cause confusion for Dave H in his lap-scoring?

All best, for now,

John R

[Andy Z]

Thanks for keeping my place warm for me, then, Dave!

Hope that doesn't cause confusion for Dave H in his lap-scoring?

All best, for now,

John R

Hi John,

Apparently we're all using transponders (£20 deposit), so there should be no problems with the lap scoring! See you all there.

Just to add to the comments so far, I think the Greeves series is absolutely brilliant, I wish I'd done it years ago. Always very well attended, too.


Cheers,
Andrew
#190

[johnrunnacles]

Thanks for explaining what a transponder does, Andy. I was thinking it must be something to help us riders through the boggy bits.

Yes, Dave Harper most certainly found an answer to flagging entries when he came up with his magic formula for the Greeves series. We're so fortunate, too, riding in the flatlands of Essex, to have upward of ten meetings a year to choose from, right on our doorsteps.

Makes a welcome change, though, having the opportunity to ride Mortimer, as, indeed, it has been to have the Greeves series venture to north Devon, Somerset and Cheltenham in recent years.

Hope they'll all have us back again, one day?

Hopefully, see you again on Sunday. Otherwise, enjoy the day, have a safe ride, and hoover up a few of those Greeves points for me!

All best, for now,

John R

[dave higgins]

Hi everybody, john we don`t want to hear about a troublesome h/stone, bring it along & we`ll sort it there? anyway, my wife has done a flask, so we can stop for a cuppa on the way round...
Ampshire, no i`m going to be on the greeves grumper thumper, check it out on the projects link, project thumper.
It all looks like being a great w/end then, i`ll be up sat evening for a couple of sherberts & meet a few faces from the forum, see you all there. dave.
Ps, these transponders won`t affect my asbo tag will they!!!

[geoff lemar]

Not Dead yet !!

Hi Dave we have a similar problem in Australia what is happening here is the OLD guys with the OLD bikes are employing young Gun rider's to ride their bikes and win championships on them so they can add to the bikes credentials this is creating some interest and some great racing but it can have a negative affect on some of the OLDER guys because they don't like getting lapped buy a young whipper snapper!!! But we must soldier on so if it ends up 10 OLD guys meet up on a week end to race each other on someones private track then so be it. regards Geoff

[Rob]

John & Co - I think between you, you have covered all of the reasons I see for why things are going the way they are.

'Classic' sport started as a way to have good old-fashioned fun on bikes that were no longer competitive in the big, wide world.

I started road-racing in the single-cylinder class and before long, those with money saw it as an easy class to 'win' (bending the rules, spending lots, young riders, etc).

Now the same is happening with trials. Unless you want to spend £8k on a 2011 Bantam, life gets rather hard. A friend of mine who is a good rider (but on genuine machines) has said he is not going back to the Manx Classic 2 Day as it has got ridiculus and I have heard the same said of the Exmoor 2/3 day. Trouble is, the organisers are setting the course for the top dozen who have spent £10k on bike and kit (and always seem to have a brand-new transporter) and lots more just give up bothering.

If the events were as they were, I would ride a lot more but the organisers seem to be driving people away. How do you know an event will be suitable for a genuine machine as they were, not many years ago?

I rather feel that the current huge 'classic' market place (how much of a new James is original - the decoration-only Norton fork sliders and a very few Villiers bits?) may be involved somewhere. Just look in the adds for all those frames, hubs, tanks, gearboxes, barrels, cranks, suspension, etc!

Looks like all branches of classic sport are looking very short-term and not to the future.

[John Wakefield]

Well put Rob. I am glad I had the 'good years' in the sport. There were no classic/pre 65 events back in the 70's & new bikes were not out of range of most riders on average wages for the day. I managed to afford quite a few new trials bike back then on normal working class wages, and the majority of sections were set out with the club rider in mind with maybe half a dozen tough ones to sort out the experts.
I seem to remember for those with the love of old bikes the VMCC ran vintage trials, but these catered for genuine vintage bikes of the pre 1931 period. No one then modified them to such an extent that super tough sections had to be layed out. No pot hunters, just club riders have a friendly Sunday mornings bit of fun. How things have changed.

[Kim275]

I think classic scrambles is in better shape than most. The Mortimer classic yesterday was superb . Full entry list pits full to overflowing very well organised great track and a mix of racing including two clubman classes for those who want to ride rather than race. Despite the wet conditions well supported event ... I think the beer tent helped ! My dad who has spent 50 years as Walsall mcc trials sec drove down and loved it.
Some good racing too . Greeves again well supported. Daves Greeves series is a model event maybe this effectively handicap type of series is the way to go. As you can win the champion ship on a £1500 hawkstone ........ If you have the skill and nerve to beat Adrian that is . Or maybe a stock twinport griffon like Ian websters.
As an example I could ride my dads mds in the Greeves series and do well ..... But it would have got nowhere against c15 s yesterday !!! I think a move to handicap racing could work. Cheers Kim

[Andy Z]

I think classic scrambles is in better shape than most. The Mortimer classic yesterday was superb . Full entry list pits full to overflowing very well organised great track and a mix of racing including two clubman classes for those who want to ride rather than race. Despite the wet conditions well supported event ... I think the beer tent helped ! My dad who has spent 50 years as Walsall mcc trials sec drove down and loved it.
Some good racing too . Greeves again well supported. Daves Greeves series is a model event maybe this effectively handicap type of series is the way to go. As you can win the champion ship on a £1500 hawkstone ........ If you have the skill and nerve to beat Adrian that is . Or maybe a stock twinport griffon like Ian websters.
As an example I could ride my dads mds in the Greeves series and do well ..... But it would have got nowhere against c15 s yesterday !!! I think a move to handicap racing could work. Cheers Kim

Well said Kim! It was brilliant indeed, and I can honestly say that I couldn't stop laughing, riding around that track, it was so slippery!! I never thought it possible to have so much fun in such rubbish weather!

Cheers,
Andrew

[johnrunnacles]

Well done, chaps, for keeping going in the conditions that were presented by the weather at Mortimer.

I hope you were still laughing, Andy, when you came across my mount lying broadside across the track on that greasy climb in the woods? Slope was so slippery that it was not possible to get a foothold to pick the bike up again, so I had to grit my teeth and watch the ensuing carnage from the sideline.

My apologies to just about the whole of the field for depriving them or limiting their haul of Championship points!

Dave kept getting through OK on the thumper, though. Hearty congratulations, Dave, and it was good to meet you at Mortimer. I guess the project has proved itself, as benefitting from the extra weight and better "bottom-end" so necessary for the real scramble conditions of yesterday?

John R

[scott151]

Hi All,

I agree with the other posts, it certainly was slippery!!!

There was a fair amount of greeves stuck on that hill, fortunately me and dad kept going to the end, i was dredding the last lap though as i was worried there was not going to be a line up the hill that didnt have a greeves in the way

Speaking to Dave Harper after the race i think only 13 finished.

It did dry out later in the day though, and watching Shaun Mallows masterclass in sidecar piloting was an amazing sight to behold, his passenger is one brave and agile man!!!

See you all at Marks Tey at the end of the month

Scott Chappell 151

[dave higgins]

Hi scott & welcome to the forum, glad you enjoyed your day, i thought greeves race 2, ( the great sunday mud massacre was the bizz ), everbody seemed to be having a good laugh?.
So, to echo kims earlier post, the pits were full, superb track, the atmosphere was terrific, beer tent, what more could you want?.
So classic scrambles is very much alive & kicking & thanks to the good people of the mortimer club, who know how to put on a show, every body is happy!!.
Pensilwood this w/end, another good classic/ twinshock event, coombe martin after that, what the hell was i whinging about at the start of this thread? ..., dave.

[Punchy]

Another one bites the dust

Hi All and welcome Dave to a greeves round.

Your right that 2nd greeves race was goodun! I thought I had a bee in my helmet for a couple of laps until you came past, it was like skating on ice.
I think young Runnacles was seeing how many fellow competitors he could collect on that hill, I wasn't sure if it was an unnofficial 'greeves riders' meeting taking place or a picket line of riders and bikes, in any event I chickened out and stopped at the bottom, having come off twice there the previous day, I didn't want to add to the obstacles

Well done to those who finished.

Rob Dickerson 336

[johnrunnacles]

Welcome to the Forum, Rob, and thanks for calling me "young"! It's a whole lot better than what I was being called by several of the other Greeves competitors at Mortimer!! Thankfully, no photos have appeared (yet?) so perhaps I won't need to go in disguise to the next round of the Championship?
I meant to add to my previous submission, my thanks to Mike for lending me the Hawkstone for the day. It went really well - too well for the conditions, as it turned out! He was a gent, too, for taking it back with half of the Mortimer track still attached. If you see him before he gets to read this, Kim, please pass on my sincere thanks.
John R (66 years young!)

[mudmonkey]

what a great weekend indeed !

my 380 went all sat & Sunday without missing a beat.

the Essex boat anchors (pre 65 club) finished 10th overall in the team race....

really enjoyed Sundays races.....the mud kind of levelled the playing field a bit if you know what i mean... wasn't just about who twisted the throttle the most..

well done Mortimer club !!!!!!!