TRIALS GURU
We are all too aware of the serious effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and how it has interrupted daily life. Having been keen to progress with the build of my special Bultaco 370 Sherpa, I had to take a break from it for a while due to curtailed travelling and businesses being closed and staff ‘furloughed’. The 370 project has simply been ‘temporarily suspended’ with the pause button pressed. I continued to do work on my very original and unmolested 1973 325 Sherpa, bought two years ago from a good friend, and my Honda 305 works replica, using parts that I had already collected plus the obligatory ‘elbow grease’. More on the 370 Sherpa in later issues. Hopefully, you have fared well during lockdown with whatever projects you may have on the go?
Our esteemed editor, John Hulme, freely admits that it takes a team of enthusiasts to put Classic Trial Magazine together and I had offered to write for him an article on Triumph ‘works’ rider, Ray Sayer, in time for this edition. When carefully researching Ray’s story, it emerged that he had ridden a semi-works AJS in the 1969 SSDT. When John received the Sayer article copy, he telephoned me to ask if I would be interested in writing another article, this time on the two-stroke AJS? The reason being is that I am older and – allegedly – wiser than Mr Hulme!
TASK NUMBER TWO
I agreed to task number two and set to work, scanning my phone book of former riders once again, searching for meaningful information. What a labour of love trials journalism really is! To carefully research and to contact those great people who were ‘there’ at the time. To gain first-hand accounts of riders and their machines from half a century ago is truly fascinating work. The finished article always looks different in the magazine compared to being viewed on my computer. The reason being that the photographs taken at the time, carefully selected and captioned, bring these articles to
life; and as a result, we are all indebted to the photographers who have made this all possible.
A few well-planned telephone calls to Ray Sayer, Bill Wilkinson, Blackie Holden, Tony Davis, John Pye, Colin Dommett, Nick Brown, and Norman Edgar paid huge dividends; what absolute nuggets of information were gleaned from those calls! People who know what they are talking about and with a wealth of knowledge about the sport. Thanks to them, I was able to write not one but two articles in double-quick time.
REAL ‘BUZZ’
I personally get a real ‘buzz’ out of researching the subject matter, but it does take up a lot of time, especially when holding down a daytime job and running one’s own website! Seeing the finished article in print is more than enough reward for the effort. It is safe to say that going back 50 years is almost on the limit, being within living memory. Few current-day enthusiasts are interested in the sport preWW2. The aim is to put as much into record now before it is lost forever. Ray Sayer is now 84 years of age and the AJS model he rode in 1969 dates back 51 of those years. It needed to be done and done properly!
“I personally get a real ‘buzz’ out of researching the subject matter, but it does take up a lot of time, especially when holding down a daytime job and running one’s own website!”
‘RAFE’
The only thing I am conscious of, apart from time, is the amount of words used in an article. The late Ralph ‘Rafe’ Venables accused me, quite rightly, of over-use of the written word. “Why use five words John if one will do? – Be economical with them, they are costly!” he once quipped when we conversed at the Scottish, many years ago. I was taken aback at his comment but, given that he was the ‘doyen’ of the off-road motorcycling journalistic world, I accepted his criticism.
The good news is that there are still more articles to come. I have already embarked on one, the subject being a sorely missed, exceptionally good trials and motocross rider for a future edition, and I have started gathering information already. More telephone calls are planned. There is always something worthwhile to do.
LOCKDOWN
As for the Covid-19 lockdown, enthusiasts have been busy even though there have been no events or shows to go to. The classic suppliers and dealers that I have spoken to are booming, some busier than ever before, including Trial and Classic Trial Magazine with some excellent article content.
Some people have had more leisure time afforded to them, and they have not been idle, be it getting around to doing their own restoration or rebuilding a tired old war-horse. Let us hope that we can get back to some form of normality soon, whether that be riding or just appreciating classic trials machines.