A Rickman rough ride

We received this story from Brian Audley a few years back but it has only recently resurfaced.

In 1974 my wife and I did UK and Europe with a 736cc Rickman-Enfield purchased from Elite Motors Tooting (£500). I bought the bike by cheque sent airmail after reading the story in that green Motor Cycle paper (AMCN) of the day.

Departing London on 29th May, we had quite a lot of heavy gear as I was used to camping on Harleys. I had to put on the heaviest weight Girling springs available from Elite Motors which gave a great ride when laden but felt like a rigid frame unladen. Elite Motors, in typical British fashion, had put a wire rack on the bike with one self-tapper onto the rear fibreglass mudguard. I was not amused although they all sniggered when it collapsed as I lowered just one 30kg bag on it. I bought Craven panniers and fitted them myself on the footpath in front of the shop, requesting a hand-drill and 3/8” bit to drill out all the fittings to take heavier bolts. They assured me it wouldn’t work out and couldn’t be done but it lasted the distance with a full hundredweight of gear, oil and fuel drums all held on with bungee cords, as normal!

I had to change the oil/filter beside the road several times over six months. Batteries vibrated to pieces too until on the fourth battery I extended the wiring (in Austria) to the saddlebag which was rubber mounted (Craven bags were well-made).

All the mechanical repairs and servicing was selfdone of course as you did then. It was definitely the cheapest Aussie way to go. Lucky I brought all my Harley tools on the plane including claw-hammer, drifts, punch, full set SAE, small grease-gun etc. We departed on 18/11/74 from Earls Court YH for Heathrow to leave luggage and self-crate bike for shipping to Australia. I regret selling the bike after the trip but you can’t keep them all and I already had a full stable in the shed at home in Haberfield, Sydney. ■

TOP LEFT Replacing rusted semi-shielded automotive bearings which had been installed without grease or hub nipple at Rickmans. A mechanic in a Dutch village drilled the alloy hubs for me with a flexible extension and put in angled nipples. Hubs fixed! TOP RIGHT Departing London on the Rickman with new Craven panniers in place. ABOVE CENTER The memorial to Jimmy Guthrie on the Isle of Man TT course. ABOVE Lunch-time on a back road in Romania. East European rye bread lasted for days and went with cheese and assorted pickles.