THE COLLECTOR
This Frenchman loves the dirt – and his wonderful motorcycles are a lesson in 1960s and ’70s off-road racing
The bikes and memorabilia of a Frenchman with a passion for British and Swedish scramblers
Fabrice Bazire is revered in pre-65 motocross circles. Not only does he have an amazing collection of bikes, he also organised the first-ever classic motocross event in Normandy – the so-called Norman Scramble – some 30-plus years ago, when he was just 30 years of age.
For years it was a huge event, but these days Fabrice is one of only a handful of pre-65 protagonists in France – although he remains one of the most active worldwide.
Fabrice says: “It’s sad that today there are only three or four pre-65 motocross motorcycle races in France. At one time there were so many and it was so easy for someone to buy a bike, join in the fun, relive their youth and race on traditional-style circuits – but then all our tracks became so technical, with supercross-style jumps and rhythm sections to suit the modern bikes. There was nowhere to race the classic bikes any more.”
The lack of action in France hasn’t stopped Fabrice, though; he has continued to either collect or build classic dirt bikes and is prepared to travel anywhere in Europe – including Britain – to enjoy racing them.
Fabrice’s bikes are stunning – and often noteworthy machines. Like his Lito. “I bought it from a guy in Sweden called René Klym back in 1987, he says. “The bike was rotting in his garden.”
One year after he acquired it, Fabrice had restored the bike and was racing in it British Pre-65 scrambles. Through his racing, he had many Swedish contacts within the scene and was able to buy an ex-bill Nilsson Husqvarna. Nilsson was twice 500cc World Motocross Champion, in 1957 (the first year of the 500 world series) riding a converted AJS 7R, and again in 1960 on the Husky.
A few years later, he raced a Monark he had built
with a Hedlund replica engine, re-manufactured in Sweden.
On reflection, Fabrice was working his way backwards through the original and glorious history of Scandinavian motocross. At the end of the 1950s, racer Ove Lundell used engines prepared by Nisse Hedlund to create the Monark 500. Swede Sten Lundin finished third in the world series in 1957 and 1958 riding the Monark, and finally won the championship in 1959.
Monark quit shortly afterwards and the Hedlund-powered bike was renamed Lito after the support of a Swedish industrialist. Although Lito produced just 21 motorcycles, Lundin took back his title in 1961.
At the same time, Hedlund had been selling engines to Husqvarna – and that’s what Nilsson was riding when he won the 1960 title.
Another Swede, Rolf Tibblin, would win the 1962 and 1963 titles to complete five years of Swedish domination of the championship. It would be British star Jeff Smith who finally broke the stranglehold when he won the 1964 championship on a BSA.
Swedish tracker
Not content with three stunning motorcycles, Fabrice decided he wanted a flat-track-styled bike in his collection. As the Monark was essentially a replica, he decided to strip it down and use the replica Hedlund engine as the basis of his special – the sister bike to his Nilsson factory crosser, which Husqvarna might have built if they had gone dirt track racing in the States to promote their brand. Fabrice mated the Hedlund single to a BSA gearbox and Norton clutch, and opted for a 32mm Amal concentric carb. Much of the rolling chassis is British, too: a BSA Victor frame, converted to rigid rear end to accentuate the 1960s dirt-track look, echoing the style of bikes like Dick Gunter’s Goldie or Dick Mann’s amazing Matchless G50.
BSA forks sit in a custom bottom yoke, but the top one is an Ariel part. The tank is from a BSA Victor with modifications, the rear wheel is from a Gold Star, while the aluminium front wheel was built by Adrian Moss.
Big-bore Catalina
Fabrice’s preoccupation with American racing history extends to an interest in the 1960s and ’70s desert races.
“In the United States, there were loads of amateur racers with motorcycles they had modified to suit their riding styles to race in the desert. The guys were not necessarily wealthy, but the bikes were more colourful than in Europe and always inspired me.”
The urge to build another bike after the tracker was too much and Fabrice began creating his take on the traditional desert sled – a 1973 Triumph 750 motor in a 1950s BSA A7 frame. Surely this was something of an anachronism?
“Not at all”, he argues. “This kind of bitsa special was raced well into the ’70s at Baja and the earlier Catalina GP.
Most people will have heard of the Baja desert races, but the Catalina Grand Prix is maybe less known. The off-road event was held annually between 1950-58 on the island of Santa Catalina off the coast of Los Angeles, with racing divided into two classes: up to 250cc and over 250cc.
The race was revived for 2010 and was a sell-out in terms of entries and attendance, but has not been run since. Much to Fabrice’s chagrin.
“My goal was to ride in the second revival of the Catalina event, but after such a great event in 2010 there was no follow-up. It took me a year and a half of work and a budget of 7000 euros, but at least the bike is ready if they ever decide to run the event again.”
Fabrice wanted to build the most useable Triumph motor he could – and than meant converting the T140 Bonnie to a single-carb head. But rather than buy a TR7 head, he used the existing T140 one and created special spigots onto which he could bolt the single carb manifold.
‘MUCH OF THE HEDLUND-ENGINED TRACKER’S ROLLING CHASSIS, SUCH AS THE BSA VICTOR FRAME AND FORKS, IS BRITISH’
“My friend Jean-pierre Gibaux helped with the welding work. The single Amal carb makes the engine so much more flexible and useable on the dirt,” he says. The motor internals are standard, with new components fitted, but Fabrice went with electronic ignition.
He fitted 1972 Husqvarna forks (“better than the standard Triumph and cheaper than a Ceriani,” he says), and has opted for German Bilstein shocks with Girling springs.
But the bike also bristles with parts that Fabrice has fabricated: “It was necessary to make templates for the engine plates and fabricate them in the aluminium, along with a bashplate,” he says. “I made the rear brake pedal, but then raided my BSA spares for a Gold Star scrambler rear wheel and seat, Gold Star Clubman front wheel and Catalina tank. I went to Armours for the exhausts, then Rickman for footpegs and the rear wheel.”
Spirit of Sten
The upsurge of interest in sand drags at events like the Race of Gentlemen in the States and Pendine in Wales captured Fabrice’s attention. So much so, that he built his own bike based on a Greeves rolling chassis – but with a JAP single-cylinder motor.
“After my TRIBSA Catalina and the flat-track Husqvarna, I wanted to build a sprint machine on the ground. Sprint racing on tarmac has existed for a long time in England and Northern Europe – but I like the fact that it can also be played out on a beach, and the Pendine races inspired me to build something.
“It absolutely had to be a JAP 500 engine. I went down to Toulouse to buy a motorcycle that was being used as a decoration object in a pizzeria! It was a Rotrax-framed speedway bike – a machine that came from the Bordeaux
‘RATHER THAN BUY A TR7 HEAD, HE USED THE EXISTING T140 ONE AND CREATED SPECIAL SPIGOTS ONTO WHICH HE COULD BOLT THE SINGLE CARB MANIFOLD’
region, which is the only area in France where the sport really enjoyed any kind of popularity.”
As soon as he got the bike home, Fabrice stripped the engine out of the frame for a complete overhaul with the help of his mate Jean-yves Titaire.
“We realised that it was very healthy. The 1960s engine, with magnesium cases, featured a Mahle high-comp piston and ran on methanol. I still gave it new bearings and seals, but as my friend Julian Wigg (former top British grasstrack racer on a JAP) said, this is an engine that still flies!”
Fabrice had strong ideas on what chassis he wanted to put the engine into. “In the ’60s, I rode trials with a Greeves and was fascinated by the front of the cast aluminium frame, the swinging fork and the finned hubs. After some fruitless research for a chassis in England, I found one in France, owned by the boss of a transport company who even delivered the chassis to my house.”
The first job was to modify the frame to accommodate the JAP engine and AMC gearbox – a much bulkier combination than the original two-stroke Villiers single. “The frame had to be cut and lengthened by 20cm, and then I had to make special engine plates,” he said.
Fabrice then fabricated his own tank cover in aluminium (the same material used to make Bugatti dashboards), but the fuel tank itself has a slightly less noble derivation – it was an aluminium thermos purchased from Ikea! The saddle and rear bodywork are a tribute to two more of Fabrice’s friends – the Rickman brothers. He adapted an Avon-shaped Métisse bodywork, originally made by Holtworks. The saddle was from a leatherworker in Rouen.
When the bike was almost finished, Fabrice encountered a big problem – sourcing a carburettor. “I wanted an Amal Concentric. Normally these engines were running with an Amal Type 27 double float bowl – but since Brough Superior uses the same model carb, prices have become inflated and it takes around 2000 euros minimum to buy one! Luckily, my Scottish friend, Andrew Johnstone, found me one.
To finish the bike, Fabrice used American-made levers and picked an Avon 21in ribbed front tyre and Vee-rubber 18in trials tyre on the rear.
“The Greeves-jap is ready to go against the British rivals at Pendine,” says Fabrice. That’s fighting talk...