SUPER SHOP
Comerford’s
One of the best-known sporting dealers in the United Kingdom was undoubtedly Comerfords Limited of Thames Ditton, Surrey. They were very much sporting dealers in the true sense of the word, with employees openly encouraged to compete in a variety of sporting events at the weekend and earn a livelihood during the working week. Many former employees were more than happy to recount the days when they worked at the Surrey dealership for our article. It was much more than a motorcycle shop. Comerfords Ltd also inadvertently spawned a plethora of motorcycle businesses in the Surrey County, set up by former employees. Comerfords have now gone from Oxford House, Portsmouth Road, but not forgotten – well not quite! Read on to discover what really happened, from the people that were there. Words: John Moffat (Trials Guru) with the cooperation and contribution from Bernie Schreiber, Alan Lampkin, Clive Dopson, Dave Renham, Derek Cranfield, Steve Saunders, Dave Thorpe (Trials), Dave Thorpe (Motocross), Colin Boniface, Carly Miller, Vic Allan, Roger Davy, Liz Argent, Steve Wilson, Gary Wright, Yrjo Vesterinen, Paul Slark and John May. Pictures: Dave Campling, Malcolm Carling, Mike Rapley, Eric Kitchen, Brian Holder, Mauri/Fontsere Collection and the Giulio Mauri Copyright, Alan Vines, Yoomee Archive, Bultaco, Bernie Schreiber Collection and Paul Bennett.
In 1925, AET ‘Teddy’ Comerford set up in business at Pease Pottage in West Sussex to sell and service motorcycles. The premises consisted of an old stable, but that did not deter Mr Comerford, who was a bit of a character, to say the least. He was a jack-of-all-trades, ranging from freelance salesman to racehorse owner to sporting motorcyclist, having raced a Rudge at Brooklands pre-war. Teddy Comerford’s ancestors were part Irish; in fact, the name from Gaelic Irish is derived from ‘Cumascach’, meaning a ‘mixer’ or ‘confuser’.
THE EARLY DAYS
Teddy Comerford spotted a butcher’s shop that was closing down in Thames Ditton, so the business moved to new premises, and Teddy took on his first employee: engineer and enthusiast Bob Winter, who remained at the firm for 47 years, finishing up as Managing Director.
Over the years the firm purchased all the adjacent properties and those across the Portsmouth Road, which consisted of shops, houses and a row of cottages. The long site slowly morphed into the Portsmouth Road Empire of Comerfords.
Such was the commitment of all branches to motorcycle sport, in 1930, Comerford built a batch of 300 purpose-built speedway machines — a sport that had started in Australia and was brought to the UK. Designed by George Wallis, the machine was spawned from local rider Les Blakeborough’s successful Cotton machine, which Comerfords supplied. The ‘Comerford-Wallis’ Special retailed for £80 and was fitted with a tuned 500cc JAP engine, exactly right for ‘cinder-shifting’. As the firm grew, Teddy Comerford formed the private limited company in April 1936 registered as simply ‘Comerford’s Limited’, and it was to be known as such until the shop closed in 1989.
COMERFORD’S LIMITED
Well-known trials rider and super-salesman Bert Thorn joined the firm in 1937. As a 14-year-old, straight from school, he worked his way up to General Manager and latterly Sales Director of the company, retiring at age 63. His only employer was Comerfords. Thorn was a man who never lost his love of the sport, having ridden in several Scottish Six Days Trials and major national trials many times over. It was Thorn who ensured the company sponsored so many young riders from the 1960s through to the 1980s, many of whom became British champions in their chosen discipline. Thorn craved publicity for the company.
During the Bultaco halcyon days, Bert and his wife Iris could be seen at national trials and the paddocks of major motocross events, supporting the Bultaco riders nearly every weekend of the year. Over the years the employee role was like a who’s who of competitive motorcyclists; the list was extensive, with around 20 per cent of the 100-strong workforce regularly competing in trials, scrambles, grass track and road racing. We will touch on many of these characters in this article — it would be rude not to!
COMPETITION SHOP
Competition Shop Manager, Reg May joined Comerfords in 1945 after leaving the Vickers Aircraft company. He would become best known in the trials world by having the reputation of making a Bultaco’ talk’. He was reputed to have the ability to set up a Bultaco machine better than the factory mechanics. Many of his development ideas would become embedded in the company’s Sherpa and Pursang production machines. Reg was always experimenting with porting and exhaust modifications to produce the utmost from the San Adria de Besos products. Few could match May’s expertise, such was his knowledge and ability, recognised the world over. When Reg May spoke, it was prudent to listen very carefully.
The local club, Dittons MCC, was literally a Comerford employee-dominated club, and many of the senior employees who were members had humble beginnings.
Don Howlett, latterly a director of the company, started as a 15-year-old apprentice at Comerfords; he was a successful scrambles rider until an accident relegated him to riding in trials.
The company held a multiple dealership agreement with most of the British manufacturers and had a close relationship with Associated Motorcycles at Plumstead. In fact, many of the former factory AJS and Matchless team machines found their way into the hands of Comerfords staff and customers. One such machine was the short-stroke factory AJS, registration number: VYW659 ridden by Gordon Jackson, which then became the property of Jock Wilson in 1963. Wilson won a Special First-Class award at the 1964 SSDT on this very machine. When Gordon Jackson won the 1961 Scottish Six Days, losing one solitary mark, Bert Thorn submitted an order for 100 replicas of Jackson’s machine with AMC when he returned from Scotland. The order was never fulfilled by Plumstead.
Road-going machine sales were, of course, the bread-and-butter part of the company, with Honda, Lambretta and Suzuki franchises forming the greater part of the business and a Honda car dealership further down Portsmouth Road. Suzuki was added later, with Kawasaki being an absentee because of manufacturer politics.
SWINGING SIXTIES
The off-road competition department was much larger than most off-road dealers at the time. The small adverts in the motorcycle press were always headed up with ‘Look for Comerfords’ ensuring that the firm’s offerings were seen first to ensure an enquiry was forthcoming.
By 1962, BSA had scaled down their Ariel trials effort. Comerfords effectively took Sammy Miller under their wing, offering some support up until 1964 on his heavily modified and radically developed HT5 trials machines. In fact, both Sammy’s 500cc Ariels, GOV132 and 786GON were wheeled into Comerfords’ showroom with price tags tied to their handlebars in early 1965, when Miller was snapped up by Senor Bulto to further develop the Bultaco Sherpa T. Jock Wilson bought 786GON as it was cheaper than its stablemate and carried many of the lighter alloy components that had been shared between the two machines during their years in Miller’s hands. GOV132, probably the most famous trials machine of all time, was eventually sold to a private buyer and rapidly changed hands thereafter.
Comerfords fielded a group of riders in the ‘Scottish’ from 1963 to 1965 comprising company director Don Howlett, Jock Wilson, Mary Driver, Roger Davy, Sammy Miller and Reg May on a mixture of Greeves, AJS and Ariel machinery. The firm’s Ford Thames van was a familiar sight at the weigh-in at Edinburgh’s Gorgie Market. The firm also supplied a mixture of loan motorcycles for the route markers and officials at the SSDT for many years.
Roger Davy married Angela, daughter of director Bert Thorn, and was an accomplished centre trials rider. A time-served builder working on a property within 200 yards of Comerfords, Roger used to walk through the showroom as an 18-year-old looking at the rows of motorcycles on his lunch break. One of the salesmen suggested that he should get a job with them as he spent so much time there!
Roger Davy recalls: “I was earning £3 a week as an apprentice and the salesman said he was making double that with his commission. I gave it some thought, and about three months later, I started with Comerfords, working for my father-in-law to be. This was in 1962, and I stayed for six years before going back to my trade. I actually built the Honda car showroom for the company in Portsmouth Road!
“I rode many trials under the Comerfords banner as well as riding several times in the Scottish Six Days Trial. I rode whatever the firm was pushing sales of at the time. It was Greeves for three years and then on to the two-stroke AJS in 1969 with a bit of help from Mike Jackson, who had left Greeves for Norton Villiers. Latterly it was always Bultaco being the main sales drive.
“Comerfords were so involved in trials that we used to have three van-loads of machines at centre trials.
“My father-in-law, Bert, was always the salesman and keen to secure publicity for the company, and this is where the story of the ‘Gordon Jackson stone’ evolved. In conversation with a press reporter, Bert’ let it slip’ (deliberately) that he had uprooted the very rock that SSDT winner Jackson had taken his solitary dab upon and it was on his rockery. They sent a photographer round to his house to take a photo of it!”
THE TRIUMPH CONNECTION
Following the cessation of Triumph’s factory trials effort in 1966, Comerfords decided to produce their own version of the Tiger Cub in trials trim. The 1967 ‘Comerford Cub’, derived from the Mountain Cub model T20M. The Comerford Cub was a replica of the factory mounts of Gordon Farley and Roy Peplow. Triumph sold a batch of T20Ms directly to Comerfords. These machines were modified at Thames Ditton by Colin Morgan and supervised by Farley. Murray brush-fabricated the alloy components and the BSA Victor alloy fuel tank topped off the machine, which
retailed at £225.
Comerfords’ stores also retailed the alloy components, enabling existing Triumph Cub owners to upgrade their own machines. Production spilled over into the following year with 80 Comerford Cub machines built in total and pre-registered by the company for customers. Many have survived to this day, being a sought-after machine that now commands high prices in original condition and specification.
The firm also produced the Comerford Victor 441cc trials machine in 1966 and produced five ‘Comerford Trophy 250’ models, a Triumph Trophy T25 modified by Reg May in 1968.
VIC ALLAN
In 1967, one workshop employee came all the way down from Garlogie, in deepest Aberdeenshire. John Victor’ Vic’ Allan was invited to ride a Comerford Greeves while working as a mechanic in the workshop during the week. He was taken under the mentorship of the then Comerford spares manager and fellow Scot, Peter ‘Jock’ Wilson. The common denominator was George Morrison, an Aberdonian friend of Jock’s who he met during their Army National Service. Morrison also knew the Allan family well. Vic had become the 1966 Scottish Scrambles champion on a 250cc DOT.
Having served his time as an electrician, the 21-year-old moved lock, stock, wife, Anne, and infant daughter, Anne, to Thames Ditton and began a long association with the firm. He rented part of a house from the firm at £3 per week. Then another employee, Gordon Farley, moved into the downstairs room; he also paid £3 per week. In fact, Allan never held a direct factory Bultaco contract; it was always a Comerford Bultaco agreement. The first race meeting for the new Comerford signing was not all plain sailing though.
Vic Allan: “I arrived at Comerfords on the Saturday morning and asked to see Jock Wilson, but was told it was his day off – and no one had been briefed that I was coming! I was to ride at Builth Wells at a televised scramble the next day, so I was directed to a nearly new, bog-standard 250cc Greeves Challenger which had little use and had been recently traded-in. We started up the machine, checked it over, loaded it up on my pick-up and headed back up to Wales to ride the next day. I came sixth, beating the then Greeves factory star Freddie Mayes, much to the delight of the folk at Comerfords. I suppose I had arrived with a bang!”
Allan went on to become double British Motocross Champion in 1974 on a Comerford Bultaco 250 and a 360 Pursang. Strangely, Vic only met Bultaco owner FX Bulto once in his life, and that was only for five minutes, even though he had great successes on the Spanish marque.
GORDON FARLEY
In late 1968, Gordon Farley, still in the employment of Comerfords and riding trials under contract to Greeves, signed an 18-month contract with Montala Motors to ride the Spanish Montesa Cota. The Thames Ditton relationship did not end completely though as Reg May
continued to tune Gordon’s Montesa in secret. Farley would become 1970 British Trials Champion for Montesa, repeating the feat a year later, effectively ending Sammy Miller’s domination of the series.
John May, son of Reg May: “It was all done on the quiet, even at the Scottish Six Days, when Dad arranged to meet Gordon in secret to set the Montesa up for the annual highland holiday. No one at Montesa or Comerfords knew anything about it at the time, but Gordon was incredibly grateful for the help nonetheless.”
Farley left Comerfords in 1971 to start his own motorcycle business, Gordon Farley Motorcycles in Ash, Aldershot, subsequently relocating to Guildford where it is operated to this day by his son, Scott.
TRADE CONNECTIONS
Trials rider Gary Wright recounts when his father John Wright had connections with the firm: “My Dad worked there as a teenager on Saturdays, and I virtually grew up in the place. He was involved with some Bultaco engine developments in the mid-70s which resulted in many trips to the factory at Barcelona.
“He attended a few SSDTs when he did a bit of ‘spannering’ for Malcolm Rathmell and the Lampkins. He set up his own tuning business, Motorite Comp Shop in nearby Hook Road, Surbiton. We also had the American Bultaco rider, Jim Pomeroy, stay with us when he did the British round of the FIM World Motocross Championship.
“Dad had been passenger to Dick Langstone in sidecar trials, and they won the British Experts Trial sidecar class. Dick eventually emigrated to Australia.”
Langstone, from Pinner in Middlesex, emigrated to Western Australia in 1963 and lived in another of the Comerfords’ employee houses; the Langstones were on the ground floor, and Jock Wilson and his wife, Patricia, were on the upper floor.
WORKERS’ COMMENTS
Liz Argent: “Under my maiden name of Liz Alder, I worked at Comerfords from 1976 to 1979 and married motocross rider Brian Argent, who ended up buying Motorite. I first worked as a telephonist, answering the phone in reception, and then was promoted to doing the invoices and finance paperwork for the motorcycle sales staff. This is where I learned the trade. With the help of Bert Thorn, it eventually gave us the confidence to buy the Motorite business when John and Chris Wright and family moved to Devon. At that time, my husband had already been working for John Wright for about five years.
“My claim to fame was being the fastest girl to change a rear wheel in a Bultaco at the Dirt Bike Show. I was coached by the legendary Reg May. For first prize, I received a crash helmet from Phil Read. Unfortunately, there are not many of us left. I’m sure people will enjoy reading about the old firm and the good old days.”
Derek Cranfield: “I was at Comerfords for ten years, joining as a motorcycle salesman and then as the assistant stores manager. After that, I moved into car sales, then back to motorcycle sales and ended up as KTM sales manager when we began importing the KTM mopeds from Austria. This coupled with the importation of Alpinestars boots and Regina chains. It was the beginnings of what eventually became CI Sport.
“The company helped me with discounts on my motorcycles and spares for the national trials and the Scottish Six Days Trial. My favourite co-worker was Reg May, we rode trials together for many years all over the country, although I did all the driving.
“I also took some photos at the time when Comerfords funded the official program for the Scottish; my photos were on the front and back covers! I recall the time when the USA trophy team with Bud Ekins and Steve McQueen came with their Triumphs in 1964. Steve had a film photographer taking pictures of everything he did; whether he picked up a spanner or screwdriver or just bent down to look at his machine, there was a camera in his face.
“The company had a museum of old machines, and when Toshi Nishiyama first came to this country from Japan, I was one of the first people he met, and I took him around the museum. His job then was a reporter/ photographer; we are still friends to this day.”
Derek was from Guildford and eventually ran his own shop, Len Savage Motorcycles in Farnborough.
THE BULTACO YEARS
By 1969, the Bultaco concession for the UK was up for grabs, relinquished by Rickman Brothers based at New Milton who felt it interfered with their Metisse motocross machine manufacturing business. It passed to the main Bultaco dealers, Comerfords, whose employee, Reg May, was one of the first to own a Sherpa T when they arrived in early 1965. May was already known, of course, throughout the land as being the ‘go-to’ man for Bultaco tuning and modifications. He was to be the man behind the Martin Lampkin 1975 World Championship victory, having prepared Lampkin’s Sherpa to perfection.
Bultaco UK was born and the name registered by Comerfords. Malcolm Rathmell, who had ridden for Triumph then Greeves, was signed by Bultaco for the 1970 season as a motocross rider and was taken under the supportive Comerford banner. Rathmell was the holder of the European Trials Championship, but Bultaco viewed him as a top motocross rider at the time. Shortly after, Senor Bulto messaged Comerfords to instruct Malcolm to concentrate on winning trials instead. He remained with Bultaco until late 1974 when he moved to rivals Montesa to develop their Cota 348 model.
RECORD SALES
The mid-70s were recorded as the period in which more trials machines were sold in the UK than at any time before or since. Many of these machines were road registered, and Bultaco had a large market share; the brand was at the top of the world, literally, and sales were buoyant.
In 1975, Comerfords celebrated their Golden Jubilee, and the Bultaco connection was a highly
significant one. The Portsmouth Road company supported Vic Allan, New Zealander Ivan Miller, Birmingham engineer Vaughn Semmens, John May and Andy Roberton in motocross and a young Scot, Billy Edwards, in youth motocross on a 125cc Pursang, Tony Davis, Martin Strang, Steve Wilson, and Chris Milner plus a whole host of others in trials.
The considerable Bultaco UK dealer spares-distribution part of the business was handled very ably by Jock Wilson.
On Bultaco retail sales was trials rider Dave Campling, who then went on to work for Motor Cycle News. He then became manager at Ken Heanes motorcycle dealership in Fleet. He also worked on Dirt Bike Rider magazine.
In 1975, Martin Lampkin then picked up the inaugural FIM World Trials Championship for the brand. He did not have a Bultaco factory mechanic; he had Reg May.
The Scottish Bultaco main dealer was Jimmy Morton, based in the Ayrshire village of Sorn, directly assisted by Comerfords and sponsored champions Norrie Lymburn and Peter Reid. They literally dominated Scottish Motocross from 1973 to 1976. Morton also supported Michael Tye, the son of BSA works rider David, on a Bultaco during the 1976 trials season.
When Bernie Schreiber came to ride the 1977 Scottish Six Days, he spent the week before the event at Sorn, practising on a standard Bultaco Sherpa provided from Morton’s stock of new machines. Comerford’s support spread far and wide.
TRIALS SUPPORT BY BULTACO UK
Trials riders Dave Thorpe, Alan and Martin Lampkin all had Bultaco factory contracts, but their trials machines were looked after by Comerfords in the UK.
The Lampkins came to the factory’s notice following Reg May’s ‘rescue’ of Alan Lampkin when he did not have a machine for the Scott Trial in 1970.
Alan Lampkin: “I had got to know Reg when we rode around together at the 1966 ‘Scottish’, which I won. In 1970 the Alta Suzuki project had come to an abrupt halt, so Mart and I had no machines for the Scott Trial. I rang Reg up at Comerfords and explained our predicament. He spoke to Mr Comerford who asked, ‘Who are the Lampkins?’ Shortly after, Reg phoned me back and said we were both sorted out with a pair of 250 Bultaco Sherpas, I rode one that had been Barrie Rodgers’ from Derby and Mart rode an ex-Steve Monk Bultaco. This really started our relationship with Comerfords, which led to Bultaco factory support for 1971.”
Reg May had a special relationship with the Lampkins and prepared many Bultacos for the brothers. At any given time, Martin Lampkin had half-a-dozen Bultaco engines available to him prepared with different power characteristics to suit certain events. As they say, the rest is history with Martin rewarding Reg’s attention to detail by going on to win the 1973 European Trials Championship, the 1975 FIM World Trials Championship and triple winner of the Scottish Six Days 1976–1978 and, of course, all on Bultaco machinery. Bultaco UK director, Don Howlett, acted as a talent spotter for the Barcelona factory in the UK, and any UK Bultaco signings were down to him. In the mid-70s, Howlett arranged for all the Bultaco dealers in the UK – and their wives – to go on a special trip to visit the Bultaco factory.
Dave Thorpe, from Sheffield, tore up his factory Ossa contract, having fallen out with the company in early 1975. He was loaned a Comerford Bultaco 325 Sherpa demonstrator for the British round of the new World Championship the Hurst Cup Trial in Northern Ireland. His win secured him a works contract direct with the Barcelona factory from the beginning of 1975 to the end of 1978.
When the factory eventually closed, Dave was taken under Comerford’s wing from 1980 until 1984. He purchased that Bultaco at a special price and got his spares for no cost. Dave acknowledges that Comerfords were immensely helpful and supportive to him. Unfortunately, he left Bultaco lured by a lucrative offer from CCM to ride their four-stroke.
Note: Due to the passing of time, we may have used some pictures without the correct permission. If you feel you are one of these photographers or copyright owners, please contact us.