Dave Harpers Greeves Series 2010

[ADickerson]

Amazingly this is the tenth year that this competition has taken place and it's as popular and keenly contested as ever. Competitors come and go but the main core of the series are still there and are enjoying it as much as ever. Apart from the bikes themselves I suspect that the secret of it's sucess is really down to Daves attention to detail and the way he manages to involve and include everyone. He doesn't just focus on those at the front he maintains his records and stats right the way to the rear to make each individual feel he has played his part, which they undoubtedly have. With four rounds left the series is hotting up nicely, previous winner Greg Radley has been in sparkling form this season on the 250 Challenger, leading from the front, even keeping the 380 Griffons behind him until round 5 at Marks Tey. Here came off in a previous race and was ridden into, the result being a dislocated shoulder! It was put back into place and he bravely took part in the two Greeves races, finishing fourth and fifth. Round six took place only a week later at Bennetts Hill at a meeting run by the very well organised Mortimer Club. Greg not only took part but won both races to, I understand he's suffered a bit since with a painful sleepness night or two!
Daves handicapping system, 380 Griffon getting 0 points down to Iron barelled 197 hawkstones collecting 6 points seems to even things out. For instance, so far this season there is a Challenger in first place with a Hawkstone second then Griffon mounted riders taking the next five places followed by a second Hawkstone and Challenger.
Round seven takes place this coming Sunday at Marks Tey where another full line up of Greeves machines will battle it out again to let everyone know that the Greeves Marque is alive and well.

[stormer254]

Dave Harper is the man.

[Brian Thompson]

Dave Harpers Greeves Series.

I fully endorse that Stormer, and thanks for the great post Adrian!

What a magnificent achievment it is for Dave and all the lads (and lasses) of the Pre65MX club and all those fine competitors, using their Greeves 'as intended'!

For anyone who has never been to one of these events, I would highly recommend that you go along and see what it's all about. I can assure you of a most enjoyable and exciting day out, often in some of the nicest locations you could wish to be in on a sunny day! The atmosphere is really friendly and laid back, and the bikes are something else!

A stroll round the paddock reveals a really diverse and interesting array of 'weaponry', as well as loads of fantastic Greeves of all denominations! The sight of 30 plus Greeves lining up for the start of a race is truly a sight to behold, especially for those of us too young to have been there first time around. For those that were, these meetings faithfully evoke the sights (and smells!) of a classic era, 'The Golden Age' of British Scrambling. Freshly mown (rotovated!!!) grass, sausages on the barbie, and of course the wonderful aroma of Castrol Rrrrrrrrr (!) wafting gently on the breeze!!!! (mmmm!) Highly recommended!

I've attached some pics I took when I attended an event at the beautiful (since lost) venue at Snowshill in the Cotswolds (24th. April 2005) with my friends David and John Stonebridge. We had a fantastic day and really enjoyed ourselves and the racing was great! I hope the pics give something of a flavour of the day. Incidently, in the fourth pic (startline), that's our Adrian fourth from the left-go get 'em champ!

Finally, here's a couple of links to some great footage of the Greeves series on 'YouTube';

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jG28j-U9vg (Hey Adrian, I thought you said these beams were 'unbreakable'!!!; Wowzer!...big respect! )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO0FSuYtln8

Brian.

[ADickerson]

Well, you caught me out there Brian. That meeting at Haresfield was the only one I managed to attend during the years that Dave was able to take the Greeves series there. A great circuit too, such a shame that we've lost it now. A good shot of the starting lineup too, that's the nearest I ever get to being in front!
Yes I was a bit miffed at the "Beam" failing, even more so when I found it was out of guarantee some 58 years on.
The smell of Castrol R etc still wafts strong around the Pre65 scene, I won't use anything else. You also mentioned BBQ's and sausages, well at that meeting, it happened to be the first of the year, a certain rider nearby opened his gas barbie after a winter being closed up to reveal some wonderful Penecillin that had been cultured during this period. I believe they were sausages when originally placed there. The two photo's below bear witness.

[Brian Thompson]

Breakfast Of Champions!

Ha ha, good one Adrian!

Yum Yum!!!

Sorry to hear about the failed 'warranty claim' on the beam though.......!!!

Brian.

[ADickerson]

Ah! Yes, that warranty claim. Well one of the guys from the Greeves series, Chris Huxtable, came up with a spare Beam. Would you believe it one of the guys I race against at each meeting generously offered a couple of replacements from which to choose! The original adorns my garage wall as testimony to it's achievements over the years. On that front, my bike is a reflection on the camoraderie of the Series. For instance the Vale Onslow barrel I now have fitted was purchased at an Auto jumble for £6, complete with cylinder head, as a "spare" by a good friend and fellow competitor Richard Aris. Knowing I'd been trying to locate one for a couple of years, he actually gave them to me. Added to this is the specially lightened Mag flywheel. My mate Evan, of the "new knees" drilled it out years ago and then had it balanced. He's now converted his machine to electronic ignition, so it was surplus to requirements and is now fitted to my Hawkstone. I'm determined to keep things as original as I can for just as long as I can get the parts. So, "My" Hawkstone has been kept going with generous and considerable help from fellow competitors to whom I am seriously indebted.
On top of that is the Piston! After a couple of seasons, the Vale Onslow barrel was in desperate need of a rebore, it had to go out to +,060" before it would clean up. Unfortunately no Vale Onslow pistons were available at this over size, they are similar to the Villiers item but shorter. The only option was to resleeve the Barrel back to standard or to "cut and shut" a Villiers Piston. Because the barrel has a couple or three fins missing it didn't seem worth the expense of a resleeve, so I choose the second option, machined the necessary section from the standard Piston and had it welded. Before the purists amongst you wince at such a procedure, I do know an excellent aluminium welder, he also rides with us, and the Piston has so far survived the season to date and the Bike is going better than at any time since I've had it!
However, following some serious sounding mechanical noises at the last meeting, I stripped it down to find nothing amiss. I can only assume the noises were down to Pre ignition! I've now reduced the compression ratio in the hope of curing it. For anyone still reading/interested, I'll let you know how if it survives the Mayandsea meeting on the 29th August.
Tilter of Windmills

[John Wakefield]

Andrew, nice to see a bit of camoraderie among members and not trying to stitch one another up with inflated price for spares.

[ADickerson]

Round Ten - Ameys Copse

Sunday September 5th saw Dave Harpers Greeves Series engage the Mortimer Clubs circuit at Ameys Copse for the second time this year and with Championship leader Greg Radley on holiday the number one spot was there for a new name to claim some heavy point scoring. The track had been well watered on the Saturday to help ensure a good days sport to follow with Practise and the early races being conducted in conditions perhaps best described as “Heavy” in Horse racing terms. With a short start straight terminating in a tight180 degree bend the first bend was always going to be exciting and this certainly proved to be the case in race one. Johnathon Bathgate made a terrific start only to over shoot taking one or two other riders with him, John Runnacles was unfortunate to run into the rear wheel of another rider, who had already started his turn, and became the first casualty of the day. These incidents allowed Matt Valentine to take advantage and go into an early lead, he was followed by Ricky Widdowson, Steve Salmon and Graham Smith all on 380 Griffons apart from Steve who was riding Jonathon Blizzards Starmaker powered machine. The open layout of the track in the meadow sections suited the larger capacity machines but perhaps the tighter, hilly wooded sections evened things up a little for the 250’s. As the race progressed a four way battle developed just after these involving Dave Godley, Des Burton, Paul Barker and Johnathon Bathgate which made for an interesting spectacle. Come the finish the first three were as previously stated but Dave Godley managed to get ahead of Graham Smith who, unaware of the four way battle behind him just managed to keep clear of the fast approaching Paul Barker, Johnathon Bathgate and Des Burton. All crossing the line so tightly grouped that a blanket would have covered the lot. Mike Bell on a 250 Challenger came next to finish a creditable ninth after the posse of Griffons.

Race 2 saw Ricky Widdowson’s Griffon break down on the way to the start line joining Rob Dickersons 250 Griffon which suffered a similar fate during practise and which then refused to start again that day. With the track beginning to dry a little the first bend saw Matt Valentine and Graham Smith take the lead swapping places several times on the first lap before the latter came to a standstill and found later that a circlip had popped out causing the engine to seize. Then came Paul Barker, Steve Salmon and Dave Godley on the 360 Challenger. Des Burton was followed by Jonathon Bathgate and then Adrian Dickerson on the Hawkstone. With the exception of Steve Salmon passing Paul Barker the order remained the same to the finish. So Matt Valentine claimed two victories on the day and taking maximum points in doing do. Unusually for them the Chappells seemed off the pace that day as was Kim Morley, all who are normally seen battling hard in the top ten. One rider seen to have a good day and improving generally after several seasons to the rear is 699, Ian Cox.
Mike Bell is having a good season too improving steadily it seems as the season progresses.

One round now remains being on October 3rd at East Hanningfield and with riders able to drop their two worst performances it will be interesting to see who tops the series come the day. Providing he is up to his normal speed it is difficult to see how anyone can beat Greg to his number one spot overall although the classes remain open otherwise. Presentation of awards will take place at this meeting although if the weather is inclement the venue may have to be changed, so it’s probably best to check out www.Pre65.co.uk for news on this before setting out. See you there, when I'll be trying as hard as I can to show that a Hawkstone is still a force to be reckoned with and great fun to ride as well.

[Brian Thompson]

Pre 65 MX Report.

Many thanks indeed for that terrific report Adrian! It's always a pleasure to hear from our friends in the Pre65MX Club.

I hope JR is ok after his prang, and that GR is back in action soon. It was such a hoot to see him take Sprocket's newly restored ex works Greeves Challenger outfit for that 'gentle canter' around the carpark at Kidlington, at the close of this years AGM...especially the 'sideways' bits!!!! Fair made my day did that, as well as getting my 'fix' of Castrol 'Rrrrrrrrrr' of course!!!

All the best mate.

Brian.

[stormer254]

Great report Adrian, I wish we had a few more local to me Greeves races, they are great fun

[ADickerson]

Confession!

Cheers Guys, but I have to confess that I had spoken to Dave on the phone and, as lap scorer, it was all his work. I just took down the facts and hopefully got most of what Dave passed on to be correct! I also have to confess that it was my rear mudguard that JR ran into finishing his day rather abruptly in the first race. In my defence I'd no idea he was there, I was just following the lead of others taking a tight line into that first bend. Because of all the shenanagins of others I got off to a good start too, lying in fourth spot as we entered the woods, I then blew it on the last decent when the back slid away leaving me on the deck with the pack in hot pursuit. Being gentlemen they all avoided me and I was able to remount once the coast was clear. Dave tells me I finished the first lap in 16th spot before finishing in 10th place at the close. Doh!
I've been with JR today and about two hundred others as we walked the Shrubland Park circuit in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the first GP being held there and one hundred years since the formation of the Ipswich Motor cycle Club. He's still a bit tender but has come to terms with our "Liason", on my part he's split my rear number plate and I'm considering legal action to get it replaced. It was a grand meeting of many riders from those Halcyon days with super weather to match. DB was there with a specially adapted buggy to take those of less than perfect health around. There were bikes, trophies, old programmes and photo's on display and we were led round by IMCC chairman Dave Cordle who had marked out the track and filled us in with tales and anecdotes from days gone by. I was only ever a spectator at the famous venue but there must have been a couple of dozen who had actually ridden before the last meeting there in about '66. To be honest I don't believe I'd have managed a lap, never mind a whole race, the start straight was about half a mile long! Just wish I'd taken my camera.

[Brian Thompson]

Nice one Adrian! Good to hear that JR is still in one peice, even if your numberplate is not.....I hope he was insured then!!! Tell you what though, your description of having 'a bit of a lie down' on the track with the pack bearing down on you...phew! Bet all that marathon training came in very handy at that precise moment...!!!

Sounds like a really good event at Shrubland Park too mate. How nice of DB to lay on a buggy like that eh, so thoughtful. I wonder, did you see this thread I posted earlier on the 100th Anniversary of the Ipswich club? If not, you may find it interesting. Just click on the link here to view it;

http://www.greeves-riders.org.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1545

All the best mate,

Brian.

[ADickerson]

Thanks

Thanks for the link Brian, I must have missed it somehow. I see that Dave Cordle sent the original article in and it is he who is instrumental in the Ipswich club for it's organisation nowadays and was responsible for the event at Shrubland too. Dave was an expert Scrambler and Trials rider too who works hard to keep the sport alive this way. His older brother Eddie, who was former Eastern Centre Trials champion, was there on Sunday as well. It was to his shop in the mid sixties that I took my first motorcycle to for an MOT, A 98cc Excelsior. Happydaze!

[stormer254]

I tried to use you as a berm Adrian but you moved

[Brian Thompson]

I dunno Stormer.....attempting to use our esteemed GRA Spares coordinator for traction...!!!

Is nothing sacred to you scrambles lads..???!!!