THORPEY’ SCUB
Lucky he came alongthen! Dave Thorpe
wasafactoryCub rider intheSixties, so he
has experience with the four-strokesingle,
plus hissix wins inthe pre65 Scottish
have all beenonCubs, but he’sthefirst to
admit theworld hasmoved onalong way
in termsofmachine development since
the Triumph factoryproducedatrials
Cub.Eventhinkingin thepre65 world has
changed dramaticallysincethescene got
going andin those days it wasenough to
haul out anoldbike andwobble aroundin
some easysections.
The basis of Dan’swinning bikeisa
‘B’ regTriumphTigerCub,which required
quiteabit of work to pulliti ntoshape for
the trials scene.“It’sbeen developedover
aperiodoffouryears to keepupwith the
needs of the trial and to keepupwith the
competition, it started off withtheoriginal
Cub frame,whichwemodifiedand this
wasfine for thefirstcouple ofyears, then
Duncan Macdonald’sARMACframeswere
vetted and approved for the Scottishby the
committee,soone of thosewent on.”
The ARMACframes areall welded and
oil-bearing ones that lookperiod,work
well andhavethe advantage of being a
tad lighter than thebrazed andlugged
standardjobbies–there’s no oil tank for
astart, which makes quiteasaving. Up
at the front endareREH forks,again part
of therangeofferedbyDuncan andused
by all sorts of riders andbikes andcan be
tailoredtothe requirements oftherider
too.This tailoring is an important partof
the fork set-up,asobviouslyone setting
doesn’tsuitall,and anyone going for
these forkswillfind Duncanmore than
obliging whereinformationand advice is
Ourphoto-shootwasdoneatBumpyLtd
whereDanThorpeisaninstructor–though
hesayshe’sanall-encompassingtrials
coach,tutoranddrainunblocker!Our
thanksgotoCarolyneKenzitt,whohas
beeninchargeofBumpysince 2002 ,for
allowingusaccess.CarolynetoldusBumpy
wasthebrainchildofhersisterJuliaand
establishedin 1989 .Juliawasapolice
constablewithjuvenileliaisondutiesand
identifiedthegoodsuchaplacecoulddo.
CarolynetookoverwhenJuliasuccumbed
tocancerin 2002 .Onthedaywewere
there,roadbiketrainingwasunderway
andriderswerebeingtaughtroad-craft
inasafeenvironment.Danaddedthaton
practicedaystheygetpeoplewithtrials
bikescomingalongtoridewhowould
neverdreamofenteringatrial.“Wetell
themwhatthey’redoingisexactlythe
sameasatrialbutwithoutthecompetitive
element,butthey’renotinterestedinan
actualtrial.”
BumpyLtd,HowdenCloughIndustrial
Estate,LeedsRoad,Birstall,BatleyWF 170 JB
01924470432
http://www.bumpy.org.uk
Email:[email protected]
REGISTEREDCHARITYNO. 702335THANKSTOBUMPY
ThereceptionareaatBumpyLtdwith
DaveThorpe,CarolyneKenzittandDan
ThorpeonhisCub.concerned.The fork legs arefitted into REH
yokes that, being alloy,are lighter than the
originalTriumph onesever could be,stiffer
too,and instead ofrely ing onataper to
holdthetop of the forkstanchion thereare
clamps instead.
The rear subframe is bolted on to the
main frame loop and theswinging arm
mountsonthe main loop.Controlling the
backend isapair ofNJBsuspension units,
set upby the late RichardThorpeof PJ
Oils. Dave and Dan cite howmucheffort
Richardput in tothe setting up,going way
beyond the call of duty.Inorder toroll
wheels arebuilt up from Cubreplica hubs
–inalloy–and therear onehas atubeless
rim but the tyreisfitted withatube,as
per theregulations for Scotland, the front
is atube-type anyway and both tyresare
Michelins.
Protecting theriderfrommud and
splashes isajob handledby an ARMAC
rear mudguardand aYamaha front one,
both in plasticrather than aluminium and
both white,thoughyou probably spotted
that from the pictures.
Topping off the frameis asmall capacity
petrol tank that holds enough fuel for an
event suchasthe Scottish Pre65 in which
the loop takes riderspast the start area,
so atop-up is possible.Gone arethe days
whenatrials riderwouldhavetocover a
large mileage and the regs forthe SSDT
statedatank had to holdenoughfuel
for 50 miles. Oncewe mention Renthal
handlebars and Domino controls plus
cables made upby Thorpethe elder–“I use
silver solder toattachthe nipples”–that’s
the rollingchassis prettymuch covere d.
The TigerCub at 200cc, 199cc ifyou’rebeing strictlyaccurat e, wasataslight
disadvantage capacity-wisetothe likes
of BSA, butthat didn’tstop RoyPeplow
becoming thefirst small capacity winner
of theprestigious SSDT onaCub in 1959.
Since thentherehavebeen numerous
capacityalterationsforCubs and it is
possible to build quite big enginesusing
various aftermarket barrels and heads and
thelike. Having said that, while this engine
is slightlybiggerthan standarditi sn’t
vastlybigger.Using thebasicengine from
the donor 200 Cub the bearings and bushesJust ride there... holdit...looknatural...