ESO info
After reading the article on the ESO Scrambler (OBA 55), I can fill in some missing information. In 1959 Mr Fred Jolly of Adelaide, a well known supplier of JAP-powered speedway bikes and engines for racing, went on a trip to the Iron Curtain countries. While in Prague at a trade fair, Fred saw the new ESO SR45 speedway bike on display, plus ESO Scramblers and ESO road racing machines. Before leaving Prague, Fred had signed up a deal for him to become the Australian dealer/supplier of these bikes. In a newspaper article I have from December 1959 it states the new Czech speedway bike has arrived in Adelaide. It states that Jack Young is having trouble mastering these new bikes. At first, two bikes arrived plus five ESO engines. Some of these early engines had scrambles cams fitted, so a number of engines were damaged on start up. Fred soon rectified this problem, fitting the correct cams. The early ESO speedway bikes were fitted with clip-on handlebars and some bikes had 2-speed countershafts fitted. Bob “Cowboy” Sharp from Sydney bought one of these very early models.
Fred Jolly was selling the ESOs from his house at 3 Cooper Place, Beaumont SA, so that is where one went to obtain spares and complete bikes. Some of the early motors were fitted into TQ midget speedcars. In 1962, there were 13 ESO bikes being used in Australia. These new motors needed less maintenance than a JAP motor and developed more horsepower. Two gentlemen here in Adelaide got to know these new engines pretty soon; Len Bowes, who worked for Harry Denton, and Len Dyson of sidecar fame. Len ran his own engineering business. Back in 1964 I started attending the scrambles here and a young rider, Dave Basham, was riding a new ESO Scrambler. Dave became my hero in those days, winning a lot of races on this machine. There was also a 350 ESO Scrambler ridden here by Don Dunstall. Local rider and frame builder, Peter “Fats” Heywood built a new Metisse-style frame for the ESO power unit. Dave competed on it for a number of years before moving on to other bikes.
In the mid ‘sixties Fred Jolly lost the ESO dealership and C.H. Denton took it on and sold quite a number of ESO/Jawa speedway bikes. When one bought a bike from Dentons, they received all the spare parts; engine sprockets, countershaft sprockets, instruction book, and rear sprockets. Then B & D Fraser obtained the dealership for speedway, trials and road-going Jawas, carrying a wide range of spare parts. Paul Watkins Valley View, SA. (waterbottle) engine. I am looking for engines or parts there of that have been raced in the past and are lying around in sheds unused. In particular I would like to find some straight cut primary gears for the GT but am interested in anything. Years ago I was the proud owner of a 977cc waterbottle engine and sold it to a bloke from Ipswich and would love to get my hands on that engine again. I believe it was built in Brisbane by Fred Howie and run in a speedway outfit prior to my owning it. If anyone knows its whereabouts I would love to hear of it. Also looking for historic side cars that are laying about waiting to be restored and put back on the track. We know that there are a lot of bits and pieces out there gathering dust so drag them out and lets put them to good use. Thank you to Old Bike magazine for promoting Historic racing and bringing us such great stories and information. Peter Searle Ph 0410514419 Email. searle.peter@bigpond.com