GrimecahubsarepopularonmanyItalianbikes.TheRotaxenginehasbeenfullyrebuilt withlots ofnewbitsinthere,
SCHREIBER’S SWM
with LenWeed on.
“So, this320 arrivedand Iwent throughthe engine
to make sure it worked butleftevery thing else aswas,
it’sliterally just as la st riddenand has lotsofgenuine
factorybits and pieces, allofwhich were confirmed
by the manhimself.”Itwas this bikewhich provided
the template fortheone Martin wouldput to gether
so Schreiber couldhaveadecent go at the Highland
ClassicTwoDay –Editi on SWM.
With discussions for providingabikeunder
way, Martinset aboutfindinga320 to buildinto a
reasonableworkingreplicaof thefactorymachine. “I
knewwhat Iwantedandbegan searching, then, out
of theblue,someone contacted me as they’dseen
my Facebook page and websiteand inquired ifIwas
interestedinbuying an SWMtheyhad.”The bikehad
belonged toarelative of theseller and had stoodina
shedfor years,thus avoiding theabuse old comp bikes
seem to sufferoncetheir competitioncareer isfinished.
Thedeal wasstruck, collectionwasarrangedthrough
the complicated network of contacts and friendswe
all buildupand eventuallythe 1983 TL320wasin
MotoSWM’sworkshopsso itcouldbe‘lookedover.’
It’sagreat phrase ‘lookedover’ an dwhat it
meansis ‘a closeinspection to seewhat’swhat and
what’s needed...’
Havingagenuine articleinthe sameworkshop
wherethe replica is beingcreated isobviously abig
help andthereisnoneofthe “I wonder if itwaslike
this or like that...”uncertainty as theevidenceis there
in front ofyou.There is alsoareference pointinthe
bookitselfasBernieis pictured ridingthe machine
with lotsofside-on shotsavailable.
As Martin’sbusinessisbuilt around the SWM
marqueitisareasonableassumption thatheknows
his wayaround the Italian machines and indeedhas
beenbusilyfilling thegaps inthesparessituation for
sometime,whichmeanshehas acacheof parts in
order to sort abike properly.
“I decided ifIwas going to buildabikefor aworld
champion thentherewould be no compromises,it
would have to be spot-onasbefits theriderand as
manynew part saspossible wouldbeused,”Martin
says. “Soifany part wasnot inperfect conditionwe
changeditsocosmeticallythe bikewas as goodasit
wasmechanically.”
Thedonor bike as it turnedupwas atired but
complete1983TL320.Thenumberingonbikes of that
erararel ymatched the capacity of whichever machine
wasinquestion.This wassortofstartedby the Spanish
with OSSA,Montesaand Bult aco allhaving a‘350’
whichwas 310cc, or 325cc and so on, the Italians tookit
astage further with theFantic200 being 156ccand the
SWM TL320 beinga280cc.
AUTUMN 2019 | 23It is aslimprofile,trust
me,theextratubing
is thebikestand...