ISDT COVERAGE WAS IN VGC
It was with great interest that I read the fine treatment of the International Six Day Trial and five Enduro Icons in the March issue of CB. The photos alone were lovely. The ISDT truly was the Olympics of motorcycling, and the entries list read like a who’s who of motorbike luminaries. It’s replete with magnificent stories of accomplishment and legendary heroes.
The combination of physical and technical challenges that riders faced was unmatched by any other motorsport, but I’m afraid the article sold the British teams and bikes short by drawing a close to their competitiveness circa 1970. In 1973, in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, riding Triumph TR5TS in the 500 and 1300cc classes, and Rickman 125s, the team finished second overall to the Czechs, who were in the midst of an epic string of ISDT victories. (Reportedly, Eastern Bloc teams were given the choice of ‘victory or else’, and in desperation resorted to unfair practices.) It was the last hurrah of an all-british team in a unique form of motorsport that soon would disappear. The Triumphs and Rickmans were based on street-legal production bikes widely available to the public at the time. (Malcolm Rathmell’s bike in the photo on page 25 would have been a TR5T – the accordion fork boots are a tell-tale. The bike’s on its side because, oddly, TR5TS weren’t equipped with centerstands.) How fitting that their ultimate performance fulfilled the original design and spirit of the Six Day so faithfully. Paul F Shoen, Nevada, USA
I’m a subscriber in the US and I loved your articles on the ISDT in the March issue. The Cheney program was very interesting and successful. The picture of bike 252 laying on its side was captioned incorrectly, I believe. It was the ’73 USA event, and it was Malcolm Rathmell, but I believe it was a works TR5T, not a Cheney. He obviously did very well with it, as well as the rest of the British team. I grew up with two of the USA riders and I’m kind of a geek about the stuff. An article on the ’73 effort would be interesting if you could do that sometime – it truly was the end of factory involvement. Scott Dunlavey