Duke on Jefferies: ‘I considered him out of my league’

“I competed in several trials against Allan.there was one in particular, inyorkshire – I can’t recall the name of it – where you had to make the fastest time as well as the best score and it was renowned for being very difficult (it was the 1932 Scotttrial that Duke was referring to).

It was the first time I rode a trial on an Army bike – we were allowed to compete in a few events on them. I remember Jack Booker on a Royal Enfield was there, and I kept diving into a great big ditch on my heavy 500 BSA and had great difficulty getting back out! Jack came past me several times, laughing his socks off at me struggling to get out of this hole! I was quite proud to finish that trial on that particular bike because it was so heavy and had such skinny tyres.

“I wasn’t a close friend of Allan’s, but we were quite friendly. I suppose in the early days I considered him out of my league. He was so good in trials that the thought of finishing ahead of him in a trial was an achievement in itself.

“He was a great man with a fantastic sense of humour; that was something which seemed to creep into a lot of motorcycle sport in those days. Allan was an immense practical joker. I think it was at the Scottish Six Days trial one year where he was reputed to have dropped his motorcycle from the top floor of his hotel – that created quite a do! That sort of thing used to happen a lot in those days. It wasn’t particularly my cup of tea though – I perhaps took my riding a bit too seriously for that.

“You have to take your hat off to Allan Jefferies. He was one of the instigators of the TT Riders’ Association, and he used to go to the luncheons and would always make a speech, and his speeches were absolutely fantastic. They were full of humour and were so much appreciated that most people wanted him to go on talking forever.”