AN ANGELIC DEMON

Bought new by its current owner in 1963, this DOT Demon still provides its owner with sterling service and fun aplenty.

In 1963 West Countryman Giles Pursey bought himself this 250cc DOT trials Demon.

Bought from Ginger Dunn Motorcycles in Bridport – partially dismantled in a crate to avoid purchase tax – the DOT was put together on the Saturday of the May bank holiday and the following day earned Giles a second class award in the Lyn club’s Traders Trophy event on Exmoor.

Six decades on, Giles owns the same machine, although there was a long gap between selling it in 1967 and a chance meeting with an old friend, leading to his being reunited with and re-acquiring the old two-stroke nearly 20 years later.

“I started riding DOTs in 1958, bought a works replica in 1961, then this bike in May 1963. The power delivery and the handling suited me down to the ground.

“But by the late 1960s the Spanish two-strokes were starting to rule the roost, so I sold the DOT.

“I’d lost track of what had happened to my old bike until one day in 1986 I received a phone call from my pal Charlie Pattison, to say he had located UJT 995 in Shaftesbury.

“The good news was that the owner was willing to sell.”

What followed was the acquisition of missing parts and a full restoration, and since then Giles has used the Manchester made two-stroke in many events, although these days his competitive outings are limited to one or two a year.

But it’s great that six decades after handing over his £194, Giles is still getting so much fun from the little DOT.