John Lampkin
Over the last five decades in motorcycle trials, we have had combinations of man and machine that have proved very successful with periods in the sport where one man and one particular machine totally suited them and their riding style. Some combinations spring to mind. In the ’70s, Rob Shepherd and the long-stroke, four-stroke Honda followed by Steve Saunders in the ’80s, again on the four-stroke RTL Honda. In the ’90s Dougie Lampkin, on the first yellow Beta Techno, and then Takahisa Fujinami, the last two-stroke FIM World Trials Champion, in
2004 on the Honda/Montesa Cota 315. We don’t even need to ask Toni Bou his favourite machine; he has ridden one to 28 FIM World titles — the Montesa Cota 4RT! The Beta UK importer from Yorkshire, John Lampkin, had a long and successful trials career. In a recent conversation, I asked him what his top five favourite trials machines were. Here we find out more and, most importantly, why.
John Lampkin needs no introduction, but for those of you who do not know, he is the oldest son of the off-road legend from the ’60s Arthur Lampkin and his wife, Josephine. They introduced John to the world in 1963, followed by two other sons, Stephen and David, but he would be the one who would follow his famous father’s footsteps into the two-wheeled world of motorcycle trials. In the mid-70s, he would move into the sport when the schoolboy trials scene started to come to life before progressing on to the world stage in 1981 and then as a factory-supported rider in 1982. An unfortunate accident in 1986 ended his world championship aspirations, instead becoming the importer of the Italian brand, Beta, the following year. In the summer of 1987, he also made a triumphant return to competitive riding on the UK trials scene. In the early ’90s, he retired from competitive riding to focus on the importers for the off-road Beta motorcycle range.
MY TOP FIVE
When I first spoke to John about his top five machines, he pointed out that he had actually only really ridden five different brands in his career: Bultaco, SWM, Armstrong/CCM, Fantic and Beta; he laughed and asked me just how much homework I had done on this article… so we have based this top five around those five manufacturers. Apart from his introduction to the two-wheeled world on a converted road-going Suzuki, it has always been the aforementioned manufacturers. His first ‘real’ trials machine was a Bultaco Tiron 100cc model from Mr Bulto himself, as he had watched him riding his pushbike at the SSDT and thought it was time for him to start riding a motorcycle in 1973.
In the schoolboy trials, he started riding the 125cc Bultaco Lobito with the yellow fuel tank. Then he progressed through the youth trials on a 250cc Bultaco, which he carried on riding into the adult world of road trials in 1980.
WORLD TRIALS
John then moved to an SWM. His uncle, Martin Lampkin, was the importer. He took his first national win at the John Douglas Trial, followed by the first ACU British Trials Championship win at the Alan Trial in 1981. He rode the 1981 FIM World Trials Championship on the SWM before moving to the Hiro-engined Armstrong/CCM for the 1982 season, where he scored the first of many points in Spain, finishing seventh.
In 1983, he joined Fantic to ride the 240, taking his only world round win in the USA, and then the 300 model in 1984. He went back to Armstrong in 1985 to compete on a prototype mono-shock Rotaxengined machine. In 1986 he went back to Fantic to ride the new 301 mono-shock model before a car crash mid-season. Due to the nature of his injuries, it cut short his career as a professional trials rider.
BETA IMPORTER
With his world championship aspirations over, he became the Italian Beta importer in April 1987, which would prove to be a very successful career move. The machines became the ones to have with the success of Jordi Tarres in the early days. In 2021, the brand is still as strong as ever. John has ridden most of the models over the years but now concentrates his efforts in trials, riding in the classic scene on some very nice restored Fantic twin-shocks. Over the following pages, we look at the five manufacturers he has ridden for.