Ride out today on the East Coaster

[John Wakefield]

I took a short ride out this afternoon (about 20 miles) to get the cobwebs out of the EC.

[Brian Catt]

I like that, where's the LIKE button?

[Andy Z]

The East Coaster is surely the nicest looking Greeves road bike, isn't it?

[John Wakefield]

The East Coaster is surely the nicest looking Greeves road bike, isn't it?

Yes I think so, Greeves went back to their earlier style of steel tank & alloy guards after venturing into glass fibre with the Essex, & with the 4T motor it gave a good performance (road tested at 80mph) and can still cope well with todays traffic conditions. Also you dont have the trouble in finding the right shade of Black if you are restoring one.

[John Wakefield]

When with a previous owner

This is AHJ 23C when it was with its second owner Peter Shepherd of Bognor Regis as HPG 979C (bike was later re registered) The pic was taken at LEC Refrigeration in 1968 where Peter used to run the ACU Training scheme. Peter a friend of Dick Faggotter also used to ride the bike in the Lands End trial.

[Brian Catt]

Right shade of Black.....

Just to clarify, there are many different shades of Black, but your average person will not be able to see that! I'll agree that this is my favourite roadster.

[Dick F]

ride out today on an east coaster

Hi John a cracking bike you have there and i echo all the other reports on it, god knows what took place the day Bert decided on that Blue and yellow strange beast, perhaps he had a nightmare the night before

[Dogsbody]

I don't know about black but I am led to believe there are only 50 Shades of Grey Dogsbody

[Kim275]

Nice bike

Credit to JW that is a lovely bike and great to see it out and about flying the Greeves flag

[IanCordes]

Nice period picture. I was working at LEC at that time, in the Service Dept. Can't say I remember Peter Shepherd, although Dick Shepherd worked in Service, and I went to school with his brother Paul.

I was wont to make the bleary-eyed wake up smartish, when, at 7.00am I would tear into the car park, and ride it's not inconsiderable length on my RE Constellation with it's Garrard Grand Prix sidecar hoisted up in the air, as we arrived for work, rushing to clock in so we didn't lose 15 minutes pay...

Needless to say I had no connection with the ACU training scheme!

Those were the days etc.....

[John Wakefield]

Presumably LEC let their car park be used as a training area for the ACU Training Scheme at week ends. The scheme was operated by local clubs to help young riders to get proficient enough to pass their test. This was in the days before commercial training companies were around. It also encouraged new members to join the club. I dont know what club ran the scheme at LEC presumably the Bognor Regis & District Motorcycle Club.

[IanCordes]

John. I think you are right about the use of the car park. It was very large; the company had about 1200 employees then, as I recall. We worked a 5 1/2 day week, so it would have been on Saturday afternoon, or more probably, on Sunday.

I don't know which club organised it, as I wasn't a club rider in the '60's, more of a tear-a#se, but by then I was married with our first born, so the bike was more utility transport than anything.

As for passing the test, it didn't take much. I never gave a thought to training, and passed first time, on my mate's Tiger Cub, as my 250cc Anzani-engined Norman broke down the day before; blinkin' 2-strokes!
Ian

[Dick F]

Ride out today on the east coaster

Hi Ian, i dont think Peter dis work at LEC refrigeration, but used to do the Rider Training at the weekends there,? I will try and Contact Peter if i can to find out more on this , i last spoke to him about 3 years ago and he still lived local to Bognor then, have you seen the Lec area recently it is now a Sainsburys and now Rolls Royce are building a factory just up the road from there, I used to ride Enduros in the I980 era with David Purley and Deryk Bell and used to practice on the Air strip over from the factory, strange how things crop up decades later.

[IanCordes]

Hi Dick. Interesting stuff. Although I have lived in Cornwall for the last 27 years, I was born and brought up in Bognor. I worked at LEC from 1966-69. My father, Les Cordes, was production manager of no.1 factory, compressor manufacture. He was there from 1947 until 1985. My elder brother did his full tool-making apprenticeship there.
There is something vaguely familiar about Peter Shepherd, but it is a long time ago! If you do speak to him, ask him if he remembers my brother, Tony Cordes. He had Nortons, a Gold Star, Super Rocket etc, in the late '50's/early '60's, whilst later on I was terrorising the neighbourhood with my Connie/Garrard Grand Prix outfit; a striking looking combo in red, black, and chrome; he may remember seeing it around.
A friend of mine on his Thunderbird, and me on my Speed Twin, once raced David Purley in his drop-head Mustang up and down the Chichester by-pass, before they put in the Donnington and Fishbourne roundabouts, C1966. His girlfriend was in the car, as was a chap in the back seat, who filmed it all with a cine camera! We then drove out to Goodwood, where we had a chat, and David took my Speed-Twin up the road for a spin.
As you say, the Shripney by-pass where LEC was has changed almost beyond recognition, going from being the biggest employer in the area, to nothing.

Ooops, sorry John, we seem to have high-jacked your thread! There is another Greeves connection here though, in that my old school friend Chris Johns worked in the drawing office there, but before we left school his parents bought him a Greeves single roadster, not sure which, but a 20 or 24 DB, I expect. It was that bike which turned me on to Greeves (see my first ever post on here in introductions), and I have loved them ever since.

As you say Dick, these things come round full circle.

Regards. Ian

[Dick F]

Ride out on east coaster.

Nice to hear about the LEC connection Ian, the Club we all belonged to was the Bognor Regis and District MCC , and was affiliated to the South Eastern section ACU, it still exist but now only as a Trials Club and now AMCA.

I will PM you regarding Chris Johns etc as i am starting to wander on John Wakefields thread. Dicky