Above:Althoughit
wasspottedat a
show,theGreevesis
still allowedoutinto
thewoodstoplay.Endreplaced.Villier sServicescame upwith anew silencer
and exhaust pipe,and through theclub Ialsomanaged
tofind areplacementmudguardstay. Idoasmuch of
my restoration work myself,but Ihad to farmout the
horrendously dentedpetroltankto myoldfriendAndy
Rowett who didafantastic jobweldin ginanew pieceof
metal.
“Atthe time,Ifancied trialling thebikesoAndy also
replac ed theoriginal footrestswith apair of foldup rests
–theseare nowrequired to passpre-65scrutineering–
and to improvethe ground clearance Ifitted it with a
slightly longer pair ofrear shocks. Greevescompetition
bikeswereallfinishedinMorlandBlue,and throughmy
localpaint suppliersinnearb yWestbury Idiscovered
that theRover Stra tos Blue wasaperfect match so this
wasused in abasic spraycan forthe frame and front
forks.Fromstarttofinishthe restoration tookaround
five monthstocomplete and with apetroil mix of 40:1 in
the petrol tank,the bikefiredintoactionfirst kick.”
Since itsrestoration theGreeveshasonlybeenstarted
acouple of timesand hasn’t beentrialled,so as we
headedout to Chris’snearest practicesections, it would
be thefirst timeitwould se eoffroad actionfor many
years. So what’s it lik etoride offroad? With thepetrol
tapturned on and theVilliersS25 carburettor tickled,
it onlytookone prod to bringthe 200cc two-stroke to
life ,the exhaust noteapurposefulcrackle through the
up andover system,whichwasoriginallydeveloped
by Bria nStonebridgein1957.Theengineunit used on
the 20TAisthe ubiquitousVilliers9E, butfittedwith a
wide ratiofour-speed gearboxand heavycompetition
flywheel, andwithfirstgearengaged it wastime to tackle
thefirst‘section.’
UnlikethoseIencounteredonmyfirsttrial in 1972
therewas alackofdeepmud,but therewas plenty of
steep climbs andsome sharp dropsfor thelittl eGreeves
to dealwith.Unlik emybikethen, theCullen Scottis his
fitted with aDominoquick action throttle and d espite
onlyturni ng out8.6bhp, the197cc enginedispla yeda
remarkable amount of grun t.
Firstgear felt slightly high,whichmeantthe clutch
hadtobeused on acouple oftigh tturns,but,thanksto
the position of thehandlebarsand footrests–absolutely
spot onformysix foot frame–Istayed feet-upfor
another clean on the observer’scard.
ForariderusedtoCeriani-typetelescopic frontforks,
the Greevesleading linkscan initiallyfeelabitstran ge
as th ereisnodip underbraking butwithsuchaneutral
feel to th ehandling,the bikejustglidesover tr ee roots.
Handin gitbacktoits restorer,itwas easy toseehow
with arider likeChris Cullen inthe saddle,the Scottish
wassuch asuccessfullittle trials iron in theearly
1960s.Itreallywasajoy to ride.THE CLASSICMOTORCYCLE|SEPTEMBER 2019 37
r s|s Scottish