JJJJOOOOHHHHHNN DDIICCKKIINNSSOONN
Whois JohnDickinson?
JohnDickinsonhasbeenin,onandaround
theoff-roadsceneforyears.Trainedas
amechanic,hespentsometimeinthe
motorcycleindustrybeforefindinghis
wayintojournalism.Thankstohis
editorshipofacertainweeklypaper,
he’swellknownintheworldoftrials,
enduroandscrambles.Oh,andhe
canrideabit.“
...The James wasofcoursejusta
really well prepped bike,ridden by
amaster. Having said allthat, there
have been plenty of clever,trick,
bikesdownthe years...
”
JohnDickinsonD
espitebeingabit of aLudditeI
do occasionallytakeabreak from
etchingtype on woodblocksin order
to checkout two-wheelstuff on that
thereinterweb. And amongstthe reamsof
total tosh thereis actuallythe occasional
snippetthat makes you thinkor puts agrin
on your face.
All interweb forums startoff promisinglybut
then rapidlydegenerateinto sameold, same
old. The pointless“What’sthe best bike?”
followed predictablyby ownersshouting,
“GrindlayPeerless (insertyour favouritemake)
is best!”givingno reason,apartfrom the fact
that theyown one. Pointless.
And in anycase, it isn’tabout the bike!
Muchfun as it is and satisfyingas it can
be to fettleand tweak (and throwmoney
at) your compbike, at the end of the dayit
is reallyall downto the rider.AsI’vesaid
before,it wasthe greatsage Martin Lampkin
who drily commentedto serialcompulsive
fettlerNigelBirkett: “All this tweakingis all
verywell Birky,but eventuallyyou just have
to get on and ride it!”
And manyyearsago it wasachanceride
on Martin’sbikethat proved to me it was
indeed‘all aboutthe rider’.
Backin 1977and we had justfinished
the Westmorland club’sMilnthorpe Cup, a
crackingsingle-lap,40-sectionevent that
drewYorkshireaces acrossthe border–
Martin and Sid Lampkin,MalcolmRathmell,
BlackieHolden,RaySayer and manymore.
Youngerreadersmay be surprisedto learn
that back then everyone rode the same
sections,nationalwinnersand novicesalike,
whichwashow riderslikeMartin lost around
six marks and riderslikemearound 10timesthat –ifwewere lucky!
To be honest,to me, that wasthe whole
pointof ridingthoseevents –you got to ride
the verysame trial as aworld and British
champion.Whatdid it matterhow many
marks you lost?It certainlywasn’tabout
pot-hunting!
Anyway,after the trial Martin wanted ago
on Birks’ factory325 Suzukiand his Bultaco
wasleaningagainstadrystonewall. Ihardly
dare ask but managedto say: “CouldI
possiblyhave ago?”
“Helpyourself!”said Martin.
This wasit, clearly beingheld back by my
bog standard250 BeamishSuzuki,my talent
deserved muchbettermachineryand now,
armed with aworks Bultaco,I’dclean that
tricky, slick,rockyclimb throughthe trees.
Oh dear.The shortversion of the storyis
that Ifared even worse on the LampkinBult
than on the Beamish.Icouldn'tunderstand
it. Sorry to say, but the truth is, therewas
no magicwhatsoever in that bike–and my
admirationfor Martin soared.
It wasasoberinglesson,rapidlylearned.
Having said that, I’ll tell you another
incidentthat wasabout the bike! Ithink.
Birkett wasout one daypractisingon the
factorySuzuki,attemptingaslippery, nadgery,
rockylittle climb.Tryashe mighthe couldn’t
bossit. In frustrationhe got on his dad’s
175 Yamaha,whichBill occasionallyusedfor
marking out trialslikeThe Lakes TwoDay.It
had probablystoodfor months,beendragged
out, kicked afew timesand off he went. It
still had the originalnylon Japanesetyres
on, probablyon road pressures.And guess
what,Birks cleanedthat sectionthreetimes
in arow!Still on the biketheme,whenthe legend
that is Mick Andrews wasbusy winningevery
Pre-65event goingon his James,therewere
all kindsof rumoursflyingroundand more
than one (clearly envious)rider told me: “Well
of course Andrews won, that engine’smore
TY Yamahathan Villiers!”
Well, one daynot long after this, after
Mick had won aroundof the old SEBAC
TwinshockChampsat Back Cowm,Rochdale,
(whichIrode on a240 SWMownedby super
photographer Eric Kitchen)Igot chanceof a
ride on the James.Sorry chaps,but Ifoundno
magic,just averywell sorted bikethat went,
steered,handled,suspended and stopped
exactlyhow it should.No betteror worse than
otherwell set-upbikes I’ve ridden.The motor
wassmooth and strong–and that wasit.
The Magicalbit wasMick!
Aware of all the rumoursabout the engine
doingthe never endingrounds,Mick invited
me downto Holloway as he wasstripping
the motorto replacethe mainbearings.So
off Iwent –and guesswhat,insideit was
all prettymuchstandardVilliers, just as I
suspectedafter having riddenit just after
awinningride. No Yamcrank,no six-speed
gearbox...sorry chaps.
The Jameswasofcourse just areally well
preppedbike, riddenby amaster.
Having said all that, therehave been
plentyof clever,trick, bikes downthe years
but unlesstheyhappento have asuitably
talentedrider behindthe tiller it is all
ultimatelyawaste.And Ishouldknow,having
beenthefirs tperson in the world –the whole
world –not to win atrial whenmountedon
the ground-breakingTY250Yammono...but
that’sanotherstory....Giving it
the works
Legendaryworksbikesare...well...
legendary,buthowdotheystackup?052 Dicko_044.indd 52 01/08/201714:54:51