32 |AUTUMN 2019
Bernie Schreiber who’dcalled off at theBristol show
on hiswayto anindoor trial at Bologna. Itwasa
chancefor thepublic and press togetalookathis
Italjet mount. The bigquestionwas“whencanwe
getaSchreiber Replica Italjet?” The big answerwas
“soon...wewant tofitaprimarykick-start to the
engine...” Thatsaid,orderswerecomingin thickand
fast for the bigger bike.
Therewasverymuchafeel of ‘outwith theold
and in withthenew’abouttheshowandsome
exhibits combinedtheseveryattributes. Nortonfor
instance,asamainstream manufacturer,was pretty
muchgoneyettherewastheWasp sidecar MXer
withamassive920cc Norton Commandoengine and
aload ofotherrefinements too. Airbagsuspension
on therear,asusedonHGVs,wasthewayforward
forthese MXanachronisms and Quaifehad provided
afive-speedgearboxsothevenerable four-stroke
twin could be kept on theboil.Haulingup theoutfit
washandledbydisc brakes backand front.
Avoiding the boilwasthe ideaofwater-cooling
two-stroke MXers withSuzuki,Yamaha and Honda
exhibitingexamples ofthis newideaafterextensive
testing in theMXGPcircuit–inSuzuki’scaseby
HarryEverts.Their newXrangewould beraced in
the UKbyBritishchampion GeoffMayes.Infact all
theJapanesemanufacturersweredisplayingexciting
newproducts and therelativelynew–tothe UK
anyway–enduroscenewasgetting thebenefitofit.
Yamahahadslippedtheirair-cooled4 65 MXengine
intoanendurochassis and itwastheflagshipof
their endurorange, thoughforexperts only.
That trialswerechangingwasobvious and the old
guardoftheSpanish industry–less Bultaco–were
representedbyOssawhohadanewGripper model