Classic Dirtbike

Mart’s Beezer

When both of your brothers are BSA works riders, what bike do you start your career on?

- Words: Tim Britton

Youngest of the Lampkin brothers, Martin began his competitio­n career in 1967 on a C15 similar to those used by his elder siblings Arthur and Alan.

Our display at the Internatio­nal Dirt Bike Show in the National Agricultur­al Centre at Stoneleigh Park in 2016 played tribute to three brothers who have become legends in the world of off-road motorcycli­ng. All three have won the prestigiou­s Scottish Six Days Trial, all three have won the Scott and all three have more national trials wins than you could shake a bent handlebar at. Do I really need to say the name ‘Lampkin’ or had you guessed that already? The focus of our display were three BSA C15TS, two of which had won the SSDT and the third launched the career of Harold Martin Lampkin when he turned 16 at Christmas in 1966. Arthur and Alan’s bikes have both been the subject of CDB features recently and before taking the ex-martin Lampkin C15 back to its owner we took a few pics of it. While it is similar to the other two bikes, Martin’s machine was never a ‘works’ machine in the way his Bultacos were later. That said, it would likely have been properly fettled at the factory before being issued to young Lampkin. Martin would not only make his debut in official trials on this bike, but also his SSDT debut in 1967, where he would pick up the Albert Trophy for Best Newcomer. It was a remarkable debut for a 16-year-old lad, even if a Yorkshirem­an, and to be under 100 marks for the week as well certainly boded well for the future, though it would be 10 years before his own run of SSDT wins happened. A search through the rider files in the Mortons archive turned up the picture of all three Lampkins in Gorgie Cattle Market in Edinburgh prior to the weigh-in for the 1967 event. Sadly, the press of the day were focussed on other riders up the scale and they only mentioned Martin in passing. What is known, of course, is the lad rode the bike for quite a while afterwards before securing the first of his works rides for Suzuki.

After that the bike sort of vanished for a while until it turned up in Stan Robinson’s collection. A great enthusiast and early pre ’65 exponent, Stan sold the bike on to John Addyman shortly before he died and it is thanks to John that we’re able to occasional­ly feature the BSA at our shows.

Unlike the other two BSAS, Martin’s machine is in original condition and just as it was when it was last used. This is a conscious decision by John and one that is wholeheart­edly supported by Martin’s son Dougie. When posing with his late father’s machine, he said Martin always reckoned it was better to leave a bike as is, as they could only be original once. Not that the bike has been neglected since being rescued from Lancashire, it hasn’t, because when we spoke to John Addyman he said he’d asked Peter Gaunt to rebuild the engine. Peter went through the engine carefully and replaced the piston, one valve and some bearings, then assembled it with the painstakin­g attention Peter gives to all his machinery.

What was found during the work was how standard the engine actually is, though it does have a Victor gear cluster in place, as this gives a better spread of gears for events like the Scott, where it’s nice to be able to slip into top gear. On the standard C15T the first, second and third gears are quite close but for roadwork, which all trials would have at one time, top gear was quite a jump. John

said about the engine: “When I ride the bike the engine feels nothing special, just well sorted, so I presume it’s pretty much a standard unit apart from the gearbox. I suppose that sort of thing was done by private owners back then.”

When he acquired the C15 John found the rear dampers were too long and had jacked the rear end up, obviously an attempt to gain a bit more ground clearance but at the expense of making the bike odd to ride. “I put more standard length dampers on and that made a big difference. The only other thing different is the petrol tank, it’s not the original one. I’ve got the original but it was so battered it was almost unusable so this one is a replacemen­t. The original is fully restored now though.” Interestin­gly, John says Martin always told him the tank was white rather than yellow like the other two.

 ??  ?? Don’t restore, just re- commission…
Don’t restore, just re- commission…
 ??  ?? Hands up all of you who use a 62 tooth rear sprocket? Here’s official confirmati­on it was done in the day.
Hands up all of you who use a 62 tooth rear sprocket? Here’s official confirmati­on it was done in the day.
 ??  ?? A fluted mute takes the edge off the exhaust note.
A fluted mute takes the edge off the exhaust note.
 ??  ?? A Yorkshire registrati­on, not a Birmingham one. The code WW is for Yorkshire and adding the prefix N on an ‘E’ plate denotes January 1967.
A Yorkshire registrati­on, not a Birmingham one. The code WW is for Yorkshire and adding the prefix N on an ‘E’ plate denotes January 1967.
 ?? Pics: Fiona Watson ??
Pics: Fiona Watson
 ??  ??
 ??  ?? We reckon the bulb horn needs a bit of attention.
We reckon the bulb horn needs a bit of attention.
 ??  ?? Last used in 1987… also on view is the capacitor discharge ignition.
Last used in 1987… also on view is the capacitor discharge ignition.
 ??  ?? Waterproof plug cap keeps the electricit­y flowing to where it should.
Waterproof plug cap keeps the electricit­y flowing to where it should.
 ??  ?? Front brake is from BSA’S Bantam, a popular fitment but interestin­g to make work.
Front brake is from BSA’S Bantam, a popular fitment but interestin­g to make work.

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