BULTACO TIRON
To say I was excited is a massive understatement! I still have the letter that Mr Bulto sent me before receiving the Bultaco Tiron at the 1973 SSDT. Uncles Martin and Sid brought it home from the factory in Spain in the Bultaco van. It was quite hard to ride as it had a 250cc bottom end, which made it quite heavy. It was hard to get ‘knobbly’ tyres for it too, so it taught you how to find grip! I still have the Bultaco, and it’s a cherished part of my trials career.
As I moved into the schoolboy trials, I rode a Bultaco model called a Lobito. It was a lovelylooking yellow 125cc machine and ran very well. I actually started trials on the Tiron, but I did not ride it so much. The more I rode the Lobito, the greater my interest in riding in trials became; I wanted to be just like the Bultaco works riders.
When my father Arthur built me a workshop at home for my Christmas present, I was over the moon with delight. I started to learn to prepare my machines, which I have always liked doing. I competed in quite a few nationals in the B class with mixed results before moving up to the A class on the 250cc Bultaco, which was a great machine.
In the youth A class, there were many good riders around at the time. I rode a national down south where I first came across Steve Saunders, who was so good in the mud and got my first lesson in riding in those conditions.
My first road-based national was the Lomax Trial in April 1978, and I then rode the SSDT on ‘L’ plates on a 250cc Bultaco sponsored by Colin Appleyard from nearby Keighley. I had a riding number near the eventual winner Yrjo Vesterinen – he was number 88, and I was 94; the Lampkin hierarchy told me I would have no excuses! I loved watching ‘Vesty’ and enjoyed my first SSDT, finishing in 84th position with a first-class award. My favourite Bultaco has to be the Tiron, but more for sentimental reasons.
In September 1980, at the Bemrose Trophy Trial in Derbyshire, I moved to the SWM sponsored by Jock Wilson and my uncle Martin, who was the UK distributor. ‘Mart’ had moved from Bultaco to SWM at the SSDT in May, and I figured it was a good move to follow him. It was a very different machine from the Bultaco because it produced so much more power from the Rotax engine. My thoughts were that if it was good enough for Mart, it was good enough for me!
I was learning all the time in the adult world of trials, and my first good result on the SWM was winning the 1981 John Douglas national trial. At the end of the trial, I remember Mart shaking my hand. We had early numbers, and he did not think anybody would beat me; he was right. I started travelling to the WTC with him and Nigel Birkett, who were very good to me. I was earning £25 a week, and, through them subsidising me, I was able to travel to the world rounds. Also good to me was Malcolm
Rathmell, who I practised a lot with, which helped improve my riding.
Mart would get me some factory parts for the SWM, which were a significant advantage at the time. My SWM was a 280cc production machine, but for the world rounds, it was looked after by the factory who would wave their magic on it – say no more!
My best ride was at the Alan Trial — an
ACU British Championship round — which I won. FIM World Championship points were only awarded down to 10th position. I was nicknamed ‘Hit and Hope’ as some of the WTC sections were above my ability, so I just hit them hard and waited to see what would happen! Not the best plan, but it was all I had at that time. You can probably guess what the end result was.
I was still very much learning my trade and the SWM was pretty much bulletproof, apart from my crash damage. I always gave 100%, and I had three 13th places but could not break into that treasured top ten.
I moved to Armstrong CCM in 1982, where I was offered a full contract with a wage and a bonus scheme. It meant I could leave work and concentrate on my career. I was delighted that Alan Clews had the confidence to sign me. A British rider on a British machine challenging the world — I was up for it. They also said if I scored FIM World Championship points at the start of the year in Europe, they would pay for me to go to the rounds in America and Canada. I could now practice every day. The goal was to score points in every round and become more consistent with my results. The CCM had an Italian Hiro engine, which was very good, and we improved it even more.
I scored my first FIM points at the first world round in the rain in Spain with a seventh position; it did wonders for my confidence. I had proved I could do it.
The year went well with my best ride in Germany with fourth place, but I was still too inconsistent and ended up ninth in the championship.
The CCM had proved its abilities at the highest level, with the only real disaster during the season in the USA. Alan Clews had honoured his agreement to send me to two faraway rounds in Canada and America. I was on my own; it was only my second time on an aeroplane!
I finished ninth in Canada. In the USA, I mistimed a step and smashed the bottom out of my crankcases. With no oil in the engine, I decided that because I had come a long way, I would ride until the machine stopped. I rode all day in very hot weather, cooling my engine down in any stream I could find. Sixth position was a great result and showed how good that Hiro engine was.
In the ACU British Championship, I was very disappointed not to win a round. It highlighted my inconsistency, and I still had work to do. I had trained hard, and the machine was good; it was down to me to try and remain focussed mentally and try harder physically.
CCM was very good to me, making it hard to move to Fantic, but it had a significant presence at the World Championship and really good machinery. The UK Fantic importer, Roy Carey, approached me to ride for Fantic in 1983 on a two-year contract with a full factory deal; I had no hesitation in signing. I wish I could have given Roy an SSDT win or an ACU British Championship title. Roy and Helen Carey were always one hundred per cent behind me. I rode three Fantic models, but it was the 240 that I preferred as an all-round machine.
1983, 240: Fantic was the manufacturer making waves in the trials world, first with the successful 200 model. A new 240 model had been introduced in 1982 and, when I arrived, it was very well developed. The world championship support from both Fantic and Michelin was first class. I was in the team alongside Gilles Burgat (FRA), Pascal Couturier (FRA) and Jaime Subira (ESP). As it turned out, I was the last rider to win a world round on the 240.
Fantic worked on all areas of the machine for their riders. I had many specially-made hand-built engine and suspension parts to suit my riding style. Fantic was so professional; for example, they shipped out my Fantic that I had ridden earlier in the year for the world round in America. Michelin was the same. It attended all the events offering a full tyre changing service and choice of compounds for the riders.
My best ride was the win that year in Dallas, USA. It was great for me, and I felt on top of the world. I had travelled with Steve Saunders. I remember him coming back to mind for me after looking at the scoreboard. Steve was very pleased for me, which was very sporting of him as, more times than not, it was the other way round!
I won four rounds in the British championship as Saunders won six, winning the championship by a handful of points. I was the best English rider at the SSDT in fourth position.
1984, 300: Jaime Subira had led the way with the development of the new 300 model. Thierry and Fred Michaud (FRA), Bernard Cordonnier (BEL) and Renato Chiaberto (ITA) joined the team to compete on the new machine. It was physically a bigger motorcycle with plenty of power on hand. Once again, the support was first class, and we worked alongside the factory mechanics to fine-tune our machines with different cylinders and suspension changes. In particular, it was a very good machine on the big steps in the world championship events.
FIM World Championship points were now awarded to the top 15, and for the first time, I scored in every round. I was, once again, leading in the USA before I drowned the engine and was pushed down to third to make the podium.
I had my best year in the WTC, finishing fifth in the world on the 300. With Steve Saunders riding the RTL Honda at that time and Tony Scarlett on the new monoshock TY Yamaha, we had some good times, and we all got on well, despite trying our hardest to beat each other week-in, week-out.
1986, 301: When Fantic hit financial problems in 1985, I rode an Armstrong before moving back to Fantic on a deal through the UK importer, Roy Carey. My results the previous year did not warrant a factory ride, and instead, I had the option of semi-factory machines and some special parts from the Fantic factory.
I had some good results on the 301 that year, including a sixth place in Ireland and a fourth in Italy, but I was not consistent enough. The engine was very strong, which, like the 300 model, was good in the tough world championship sections, but sometimes I found it hard to ride in the slippery conditions in the UK. The year had been a good one, though. I had finished third at the SSDT and had just won the BTC Jack Wood trial until my accident ended the year.
With my injuries taking quite a while to heal, my return to riding in trials was delayed. I had a contract to continue riding for Fantic in 1987, and despite not being able to ride, I travelled with
Steve Saunders to the opening round of the world championship in Spain. At the event, I spoke with Henry Keppell, who was my old team manager at Fantic. He had moved to Beta to support their sales drive in the trials world and were looking for a new UK importer. Would I be interested? Jim Sandiford, who was Beta’s current importer, had decided to concentrate on the Montesa brand he had imported for many years, so in late April, I received 20 TR34 models: ten 240cc and ten 260cc — just in time for the SSDT.
I was nowhere near riding myself, so I spent the week in the paddock looking after my riders, who were my brother David, Steven
Hole, Jake Miller, and Mark Jackson on UKsupported machinery. They all went on to finish. Jordi Tarrés won the FIM Trials World Championship and made the Beta TR34 an instant hit.
I had the pin removed from my thigh in June. I was recovering well enough to ride in a trial again on 5th August 1987, which I won on the TR34. The win and the machine really helped with my recovery, and I was mad-keen to ride in a national trial again! I worked very hard to achieve that goal and was rewarded with the win at the White Rose Trial. I have strong memories of all the Beta models, but this Beta TR34 remains at the top of my list for the motivation to get me back on a trials motorcycle and into the sport, I am so passionate about.