July’s issue of Classic Bike reveals some lesser-known history behind BMW’s massively successful adventure bikes. In the late 1970s, the German company asked Laverda to build a prototype version of the BMW G/S during its development – and a CB reader has crafted a fabulous replica of this little-known machine, with the story and a test ride in the magazine. Other road tests include a road-legal TriBSA hillclimber and Honda’s ‘Japanese Gold Star’ the Honda XBR500 – and there’s a guide to buying the best Ducati 900SS while it’s still affordable. A thrilling scrapbook of photos reflects the golden era of speedway, and there’s a look inside Andover Norton’s workshop, plus a round-up of updates on CB’s project bikes: Gold Star scrambler, Dunstall Honda CB750, Triumph Sprint 900, Yamaha RD200, Ducati 999S and Moto Guzzi California. All that, plus the usual workshop tips and classic world insights, makes for a scorcher of a magazine.

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LAVERDA-BMW PROTOTYPE RECREATION

In the late 1970s, BMW asked Laverda to create an off-roader around their boxer engine. The result influenced the R80 G/S – and now John Tracey has recreated this long-forgotten prototype

Words BOB DIXON Photography CHIPPY WOOD, BOB DIXON

Here’s a fascinating but little-known nugget of BMW G/S history. In the late 1970s the German firm’s technical manager Hans-Günther von der Marwitz commissioned Italian superbike manufacturer Moto Laverda to design a couple of off-road prototypes using a BMW R60 boxer engine. Massimo Laverda, who had been responsible for developing the firm’s triples, was a personal friend of von der Marwitz and had been a BMW rider himself for many years – but it still seems an unlikely combination.

Massimo’s brother Piero Laverda sheds some light on why BMW sought Laverda’s help to build a dirt bike: “In the late 1970s, we were competing successfully in the Italian Regolarità Championship and had a history of success in International Six Day Trials. BMW wanted to quickly develop a more competitive bike to enter high-profile off-road European events and they contacted us in spring 1977 to commission the development of two prototype enduro bikes fitted with R60 engines. BMW tested and raced these bikes during 1977-78 and they became the foundation of their enduro bikes. In hindsight, I think our two prototypes can be considered the grandfathers of BMW G/S models.”

Pictures of these two bikes were given to CB by Piero Laverda for a feature we ran 13 years ago. They reveal a purposeful machine with a lean and hungry look – much neater and more compact than BMW’s own early efforts to create a viable ISDT bike, it also looked more aggressive than the BMW R80 G/S introduced shortly after. The significance of Laverda’s impact on BMW’s design has divided opinion, although contemporary BMW works rider Laszlo Perez said they proved to be competitive and very valuable to the project.

Once BMW had completed extensive testing with various boxer-engined off-roaders, the Laverda BMW prototypes were cut up and scrapped, so we could only speculate on what the Laverda BMW hybrid might be like to ride. Until now, that is...

John Tracey is half Italian, and having uncovered some history about the Laverda BMW connection he decided the boxer-powered prototype might be just the thing for exploring the Welsh Marches where he lives. So he embarked on an intense three-year mission to recreate the missing link in BMW’s adventure bike history. “No drawings exist,” says John. “The original bikes were built quick ’n’ dirty, completed in a matter of weeks by Laverda’s overstretched development department. Heading the development effort was Sandro Todeschini, a young engineer with a flair for design who designed a lightweight frame for the R60 motor.

“Finding out technical details about the prototypes proved a challenge, but then I came across a photograph of Sandro pictured with one of the bikes, holding a ruler against various key parts. Malcolm Sheperdson from engineering specialists Metal Malarkey used CAD to help extrapolate the dimensions. When he’d created a best-guess computer rendering of the original frame, it transpired Todeschini’s original design was surprisingly close to the frame geometry used on modern enduro bikes. This gave me the confidence to let Malcom press ahead with the project and build a frame for me.”

‘BMW tested and raced these bikes during 1977-78’

Although John has completed numerous interesting restoration projects in the past, a previous injury meant he had to farm out most of the construction work. This gave him time to track down special parts and conduct the necessary research, during which he uncovered some interesting facts about the original project.

“The engines arrived at Moto Laverda in the back of Massimo Laverda’s car and he handed them over to Sandro, instructing him to manage the project. The engines were R60s, although for my project I sourced a slighter later post-1981 R65/7 – it’s virtually identical and I liked the idea of the extra torque provided by the slightly larger motor. The Laverda prototypes were built in an extraordinarily short time period – some say as little as five weeks – with the frames being produced by Verlicchi to Todeschini’s dimensions.”

To recreate the prototype, John chose to fit a front disc brake rather than the Grimeca drum of the original. “I decided to build what I believe would have been the next incarnation of the original prototype, had Todeschini been granted more development time. It was the late ’70s and a disc would almost certainly have been part of the spec. The best disc-braked front end for an enduro bike in the era was a Kayaba unit fitted to Yamahas, but finding one in decent condition proved difficult. In the end I chose the front end of an XR400, which I believe is in the spirit of the project. I also asked Malcolm to beef up the swingarm design.”

The Laverda prototypes were also fitted with shallow sumps to create more ground clearance, but finding the correct one proved difficult – John ended up importing three different units from Germany before he was satisfied. “A plastic Maico fuel tank from the period was fitted, which looks very similar to Moto Laverda’s choice, but at some stage I will probably have an alloy unit fabricated for the bike,” adds John.

“Once it was completed, I rode the bike with an unpainted frame for six months to iron out the glitches. I’d like to give a big thanks to CB reader Andy Orton from Wolverhampton, who subsequently stripped it, ironed out some electrical faults and painted it for me.”

The prototypes were fairly conventional applications of known principles. Nothing remarkable. But now we’re able to ride one (albeit a replica) it’s clear that Sandro Todeschini created a fabulous bike which is more than the sum of its parts – and all the more impressive for the remarkably short period of time he was given to do it. The first impression is just how small it is for a 650cc bike. The seat is low and when manoeuvring it around John’s workshop there is very little resistance. Always an encouraging sign.

“I was keen to keep the weight down to a minimum; taking into account the chromoly frame, I’d hoped it would weigh less than 140kg,” says John. “I weighed it last week – with a couple of litres of fuel in the tank it tipped the scales at just over 138kg, so with 55bhp on tap the bike has a healthy power to weight ratio.” To put this into perspective, Honda’s popular mid-sized CRF300 Rally adventure bike weighs 152kg and has roughly half the horsepower.

Breezing along Offa’s Dyke at quarter throttle in the aftermath of three weeks of relentless rain, the feelgood factor of experiencing a 50bhp motor harnessed by a taut, lightweight chassis cannot be overstated. It seems Todeschini managed to combine plenty of ground clearance with a low seat height – the Holy Grail of all dirt bike designers and a philosophy which today’s manufacturers would do well to emulate. All that is required to transform a gentle greenlane bumble into a white-knuckle blurring of the scenery is a determined twist of the throttle, regardless of which gear you’re in. Prodigious torque and light weight is always going to provide an exhilarating experience – but add in a loose, gravelly surface or deep Shropshire mud and the excitement rises by a factor of ten.

‘Surprisingly close to modern enduro bike geometry’

BMW’s own early G/S is a capable machine, but nobody would accuse them of being nimble. A standard R80 tips the scales at 168kg – this is perfectly acceptable on the road, but off road the technique to tackle tricky sections is often to simply hang on and bulldoze your way through. I owned an R80 G/S back in the day and, great bike though it was, once the taps were open its performance on the trails didn’t inspire confidence – things could get very lairy. It was a bike which punished any lapses of concentration and as a consequence was not a relaxing bike to ride off-road. By contrast, John’s bike is light and responsive, so technical hazards can be negotiated with finesse rather than fear.

I drop down into the Onny Valley and the serpentine delights of the B4368. Enduro tyres and cold, damp roads don’t really mix, so to get some heat and grip into the tyres I leave them inflated at their trail pressures of 15psi front and 12psi rear. The bike still feels planted and secure, and soon I’m happily squirting up to 60mph between the twists. The Laverda-BMW can be pitched confidently into bends while winding the throttle on and letting the torque shove the bike down the road with satisfying urgency.

When ridden in a sporting manner, the oversquare motor displays a surprisingly eager willingness to rev and has an appealingly raspy snarl in the upper rev range. The gearchange on this bike is excellent – far superior to other BMWs of similar vintage I’ve ridden. John puts this down to the R65/7 boxer motor having a lighter flywheel mass than previous models. It makes sense, and all gears can be selected without the accompanying clunk boxers are renowned for. The lighter flywheel also explains the bike’s rev-happy nature.

The final drive ratio on John’s bike is the lower version fitted to BMW’s smaller-capacity boxers. It’s a good choice for a dual-purpose machine, as the low gearing provides instant bottom-end response while still offering a 70mph cruising speed. Anything higher would be unecessary, not to mention unwise on a bike which is permanently shod with aggressive knobblies.

The rest of the machine is pretty much consistent with the original images of the prototypes taken outside Laverda’s fabrication shop in 1978. This includes spindly-looking forks, a chunky 4.50 x 18 rear tyre, high and wide braced handlebars, a special two-into-one exhaust, Preston Petty plastics taken from Laverda’s LH125 and fabricated alloy side panels. The overall look is fabulously 1970s and very purposeful.

Is the end result worth the considerable effort which went into recreating what was simply a development mule for BMW’s off-road competition department? Yes, definitely. This is a bike that was never meant to be festooned with bulky panniers or a huge long-range tank. It’s designed to get from A to B on rough terrain as swiftly as possible, with a focused approach for riders who don’t mind getting muck on their boots. A proper dual-purpose tool.

SPECIFICATION: LAVERDA-BMW PROTOTYPE RECREATION

ENGINE/TRANSMISSION

• Type Air-cooled pushrod two-valve boxer

• Capacity 649cc

• Bore x stroke 82 x 61.5mm

• Carburation 2 x 32mm Bing

• Compression ratio 9.2:1

• Clutch Dry

• Transmission Five speed, shaft

CHASSIS

• Frame Steel double cradle

• Front suspension Telescopic forks

• Rear suspension Single shock

• Brakes Front: Honda XR400 disc. Rear: Drum

• Wheels Front: 21in. Rear: 18in. Spoked

• Tyres Front: 2.75 x 21in. Rear: 4.50x18

DIMENSIONS

• Weight 138.5kg (305lb) wet

• Wheelbase 1470mm (57.8in)

• Seat height 870mm (34.2in)

• Fuel capacity Nine litres (1.9 gallons)

PERFORMANCE

• Top speed 90mph (est)

• Power 55bhp at 7250rpm

• Fuel consumption 45mpg

John’s top three tools

English wheel

“I bought this Trent E20 six years ago for a vintage car project and still haven't quite got the hang of it! It's almost like a meditation tool; trying to master it helps me de-stress into a zen-like calm as I attempt to master the art of shaping sheet metal into compound curves.”

Shrinker/stretcher

“This is my favourite piece of kit in the workshop. It’s made by Baileigh and it’s a lot easier to use than the English wheel. Depending on which way you want the metal to bend, it either stretches it or shrinks it, perfect for making small, tricky pieces of curved metalwork.”

Leather pricking tools

“Invaluable for making upholstery, I used these to make the seat and leather toolbag on the BMW. I once made around 40,000 holes with them when making the leather interior for my vintage car. Don’t ask me how I know I punched 40,000 holes – some things are best forgotten...”

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TRIBSA HILL CLIMBER

Combining a Triumph engine with a BSA chassis is nothing new – but John Slater’s glorious TriBSA special is a prime example of how to do the job properly

Words MARK GRAHAM Photography GREG MOSS

A learning process takes time. Often a long time. Building specials to a decent standard can take decades. Once you’ve done enough of them, it dawns that often the best way is to buy an example where the hard work has already been done. And to a high standard.

John Slater did just that. He’s been building all manner of motorcycles since he first started riding a 1963 Honda S90 in what were then termed ‘schoolboy scrambles’. He graduated to a Villiers Starmaker-powered Greeves and then a Rickman Zündapp. And he’s still a habitué of motocross tracks across the land, riding a twin-downtube Cheney BSA running on methanol.

He has built choppers, café racers, custom-framed Ducati Monsters and almost anything with an engine and two wheels. He served his apprenticeship at Ralston Engineering in Bedfordshire, a firm specialising in MIG welder manufacture, and is now semi-retired after half a lifetime of working with bikes. “Yes, I do a bit of grass-cutting and stuff as well as the motocross, and a few hill climbs,” he says. “I still help out a few people fixing motorcycles – but no builds, and I very rarely built things for other people anyway.”

John took the sensible approach and sought a ready-built machine, where someone else had built the special he desired. “I wanted a TriBSA,” he says. “I wasn’t ever going to make one, so I had to find one.”
Knowing the process might be slow, he was not going to be swung by anything that might have demanded either a partial or wholesale rebuild. Then he struck gold: “This TriBSA came up for sale, and the owner had done a great job. He built it for riding and everything was either machined by him or was a top-line component.”

The 744cc Triumph T140 unit had crankcases from Thunder Engineering in Leicester, the crankshaft a 270º Dave Nourish item, camshafts half-race Nourish grinds, +20 thou pistons from MAP Cycle, USA, Interspan ignition, Norman Hyde valve springs with titanium collets, Bob Newby belt drive and clutch...

The chassis was equally high-end: stock, straight A10 frame and swingarm, three-and-a-half gallon aluminium-alloy tank from Essex-based specialists HoltWorks, beautifully-sculpted central oil tank by previous owner, alloy yokes clasping Suzuki Bandit forks, four-piston Brembo calipers biting floating discs, Catalina-style seat, flanged alloy rims nestled in Avon Roadrider rubber. Optimum running gear.
So why a TriBSA? “The BSA A10 frame is a great road frame,” says John. “I love the look and sound of an A10 engine, and it makes a very different noise to a Triumph. It is possible to make an A10 quick – but you need a lot of time and a lot of money. The Triumph engine is the most easily tuneable.
“The A10 geometry is what the Rickman brothers based their scramblers on, albeit in 531 tubing. I was thinking of scrambling this, but I’m not sure now.”

John fires it up from cold with full choke on both 32mm MkII Amals. It’s cold-blooded and takes a while to be weaned off choke. “It doesn’t tick over,” shouts John. “You’ve got to blip it. I could get it to tick over, but then it lost its zip at the bottom end. I’d rather have the go than the tickover, anyway. I’ve got some 34mm Mikunis to try, which might do the trick.”

The clutch action is heavy, but not wearyingly so. The LP Williams hydraulic actuator might want a smaller master-cylinder bore, and John thinks either that and a dogleg lever should lessen the effort required. Main thing is, it disengages fully and does not slip.

Click first from the Triumph five-speed cluster and I’m off into the chalky hills around Salisbury, Wiltshire, the bark of the big Triumph filling the air. Even at modest throttle openings, it’s got some boot to it.
“Give it some stick,” John had said. Righto. So I give it some grief through the gears. The ’box is typically slick in the Triumph way, and from around 5000rpm the engine packs some real punch as it spins up to 8000.

The 270º crankshaft phasing renders this one of the smoothest twins you could ever hope to ride. The thudding stresses of the 360º layout or the frantic buzz from a 180 are distinctly absent. Typical notions of mechanical sympathy for parallel twins fly out of the window. This thing revs happily without drama.
“The crankshaft is balanced to 87%,” says John. “It’ll sit happily at 100mph for as long as you want.” Naturally, we all adhere religiously to the national speed limits and could not possibly test this claim – but it’s not based on fantasy. This thing pulls hard and smooth, and does not feel hard-pressed at decent speeds.

At 744cc running a 10:1 compression ratio, those half-race Nourish camshafts work the engine most effectively in the higher rev range – and even though it takes off well enough from 1500rpm, the upper reaches are where it works best. And when the time comes to draw down some mph, the brakes do not disappoint.

“You cannot believe how much faster a bike can be with decent brakes,” says John. He is correct. Without halfway decent stoppers, it’s almost impossible to fully exploit the capabilities of a quick bike without a hand hovering over a lever or a foot covering a rear, knowing that some ancient drum might be called into action. Fearing it will not be up to par.

The old adage that brakes only slow you down gets less funny by the year as traffic volumes swell and user competence decreases. When abrupt stopping is a given, it makes giving a fast machine the gun a joy, not some unnecessarily sketchy ordeal.

The Suzuki Bandit 1200 forks allied to adjustable Hagon rear shocks work well, keeping the Avon Roadriders in touch with tarmac. “I like Roadriders,” says John. “They heat up nice and quickly and really seem to suit British stuff. They’re so hard to get now. Luckily, I’ve got another pair stashed away.” The traditional 19in front/18in rear combo gives the TriBSA correct period looks that eighteens at both ends or – god forbid – modern seventeens never can.
‘This thing pulls hard and smooth’

The steering can get lively under power, though, so to lessen the amounts of shaking going on, John has fitted a damper. “It does need it,” he says. It does. This is a potent machine, producing double what BSA imagined when their 33bhp A10 Gold Flash appeared in 1950.

The roads are dry but gravelly, with wash from the hills creating odd pockets and drifts of stony marbles where you can’t properly see them under the shadow of the roadside trees. The TriBSA steers so neutrally – body mass distributed centrally on determinedly un-rearset footpegs – and with so much leverage from the ’bars, that any unexpected twitches can be corrected without stress. This is a fast yet friendly machine.
And when it comes to the first stall of the day, while doing a U-turn on a tight country lane, the tuned Trumpet fires up again first prod for its guest rider. “The 270 crank makes it feel a bit weird to kick,” reckons John. “There’s no TDC procedure or anything like that. But if you give it a good boot with some throttle, it always seems to work.”

The more you ride this machine, the more you marvel at just how right it feels. John rides it on the road and he also campaigns it in hill climbs, where it goes well – and he’s had minimal grief, despite riding it hard. “I chipped a fifth gear pinion, put in a new pair, with all new needle roller bearings... and the new needle rollers ate themselves. So I put the old ones back in and never had a problem. I’ve had kickstart return springs break – loads of them until now,” adds John.

“If you go to people for parts that know their stuff, then you’ll be alright. Brit Bits in Christchurch, Dorset are good. Camelford Bike Bits in Cornwall are local to me, too. Those people all know their stuff.”

The man who put together John’s TriBSA knew his stuff. John knows his stuff. Knowing your stuff is key to motorcycle enjoyment. It prevents you from buying rubbish. It means you can identify problems and fix them. You won’t pay over the odds for shoddy parts or work. It can all be learned. There’s more to motorbikes than riding motorbikes.

But in the job of riding other people’s bikes for Classic Bike, there is no knowing what a random reader’s motorcycle will be like. The initial photographs may appear plausible enough, the brief build-story might make sense, yet it’s never until you swing a leg over a bike you can tell whether it’s a diamond or a deathtrap.

I could have ridden this TriBSA all day. It’s comfy, well-prepared, intrinsically correct in both looks and engineering, unfussy yet well-cared-for, with all the right bits without being a dilletante’s Christmas tree.
The engine is canted 10° forward, the fuel tank’s bottom edge running parallel to the lower frame rails, and there are copper exhaust heatshields (“because that’s all I had lying around”). The front mudguard is long enough to keep the engine crud-free in all weathers, and there’s a TriBSA-specific tool bag on the back. It’s a bike made to be used – one of those rare motorcycles which is both a joy to look at and a delight to ride.

A brief history of hybrids

Way back in the 1950s, when it was compulsory to ride a motorcycle in a suit wearing a shirt and tie, clever people realised that taking a very good engine and fitting it into the best frame available at the time was a splendid idea.

The Norvin became a thing: Norton Featherbed frame, Vincent engine. The first of these was created by the late, and truly great, John Surtees in 1951. His dad Jack was a South London Vincent dealer and both raced sidecars. Four-time World Sidecar Champion Eric Oliver (riding Norton-powered outfits) said he could get hold of a Featherbed frame. The Surtees had a Rapide engine sitting in a corner.

Thus, the first significant special was born. To be mimicked to this day.

Throughout the 1960s, this trend ‘trended’. Not to a viral extent, but anyone who liked a Triumph engine and preferred a Norton chassis could happily build a Triton. Fans of Matchless engines could slot them into BSA chassis to create a MaBSA. Tricatis, NorbStars, Trifields, and the TriBSA were all the rage.

At the heart of this fashion was Unity Equipe, a firm based in Rochdale, Lancashire. They sold everything anyone could possibly need for specials building: fuel tanks in aluminium alloy or glassfibre, oil tanks, seat units, twistgrips, rearsets, clip-ons, pipes, the whole nine yards. Their Converta engine plates were a staple requirement, and anyone with a modicum of skill and a fertile imagination could run riot.

Few creations were markedly better than the donor machines in any department. Some were. Just as it remains today.

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SCRAPBOOK: SPEEDWAY

With fiery engines running on dope, no brakes, frantic action and local teams to support, it’s no wonder that speedway was once the UK’s leading motorsport. We’ve dipped into our archive and dusted off a selection of shale-flinging pictures from across the years

Words MIKE ARMITAGE Photography BAUER ARCHIVE, GETTY

Going at it from a different angle

**Racing motorcycles around loose-surface circuits was happening in Australia and America before World War I. Hurling the bike sideways into, through and out of turns was adopted, and by the early 1920s had become ‘short track’ in the US and ‘speedway’ down under. When the sport reached the UK later in the decade the purpose-built Douglas DT5 (dirt track) quickly became the tool of choice. The horizontally-opposed 500cc twin (later the DT6 600) had cylinders facing fore and aft, gulped methanol and had a low centre of gravity that was handy for going broadside. Unlike the single-speed machines favoured from the ’30s, it also had a three-speed gearbox. This is Triss Sharp showing the old ‘trailing leg’ style on his Douglas at Crystal Palace in, we think, 1928.

The fabulous Forties**

**It’s Saturday, September 18, 1948 at Belle Vue Stadium in Manchester, where Belle Vue Aces are taking on Wembley Lions in National League Division One. This is Jack Parker, captain of the home team. A dominant force in speedway for 25 seasons, Parker took team titles and won British and Australian championships – and on this Saturday led Belle Vue to the win, 48 points to 36. Speedway peaked in the UK during the 1940s – there were three divisions, hundreds of tracks and teams all over the country, and weekly crowds of over 20,000 for big-name teams. The 1949 World Final at Wembley attracted almost 100,000 eager fans.

As far away from tennis as you can get**

**Wimbledon Stadium on Plough Lane, London opened its speedway track in 1928. It was home to the Wimbledon Dons from 1929. This is Cyril Brine (who spent his entire career at the team) dicing with fellow Dons rider Norman Parker (brother of Jack) in 1953. Speedway declined during the 1950s, largely due to TV and entertainment tax. Wimbledon’s famous track survived until 1991, although there was a brief speedway return from 2002-05. Covered in tarmac for car racing in 2006, the stadium was demolished in 2018.

Down the old east end**

**Bill Weston (Rudge), Jack Barnett (Douglas) and George Glover (JAP) line up in an ‘old time’ invitational between Hackney and Lea Bridge at Hackney Stadium on October 25, 1968. The event saw 11 veterans (including 63-year-old Willie Wilshire) race ‘youngsters’ of the day. Modern machines had old-style lowered ’bars and riders had knee pads for the ‘trailing’ technique, which Nigel Boocock called: “rather dangerous and a bit frightening”. This heat was won by Weston, a star of the ’40s and stunt double in the speedway-based film Once a Jolly Swagman.

Trio of Seventies stars**

**
‘Weekly crowds of over 20,000 for big-name teams’
Speedway enjoyed a resurgence in the 1970s, demonstrated by the ample crowd watching Dave Jessup, Nigel Boocock and Eric Boocock in the 1972 British Final at Coventry. Jessup was British and World Pairs champion, helping England to the World Cup. Nigel Boocock started his career in 1955 with Bradford Tudor and became known as ‘Little Boy Blue’ due to the colour of his clobber; younger brother Eric joined Middlesborough Bears in ’61. The siblings accumulated many solo and team titles at national and international level, and raced together in the 1970 World Pairs Championship Final to take third overall. Eric went on to manage the England team.

Cheeky champion**

**Barry Briggs appeared in a staggering 17 back-to-back World Individual Finals, took the world title four times and was also a six-time British Champion. He was awarded an MBE in 1973. The New Zealander announced his retirement after losing a finger at the 1972 World Finals at Wembley – but came back a couple of years later, finally calling it quits in ’76. This is early one morning at Wimbledon in ’75, where it was clearly chilly given Briggs’ hat and gloves. The pictures made the national press.

Hang on, aren’t you…?**

**The Superbike Six in 1978 was a multi-discipline event, pitting star riders from different backgrounds against each other. Mick Grant, Ron Haslam, Roger Marshall, Don Godden, Malcolm Rathmell, Peter Collins and many more competed against each other in grasstrack, road racing, trials, motocross and even on karts. This is road racer Phil Read, trials legend Martin Lampkin, stunt rider Eddie Kidd and motorcrosser Andy Roberton on 500cc Weslakes in a re-run of their speedway heat – Read and Roberton had a coming together in the first outing. Lampkin powered to an easy win. Read tipped off again...

Speedway without the shale and rain**

**Perhaps hoping to make spectating a more pleasant experience, speedway came indoors at the end of the 1970s. There was the Lada Indoor Internationals held at Wembley Arena from 1979-83, and a Daily Mirror-backed International ran at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham for a few years – arguably proving the concept for today’s indoor trials, motocross and supercross events. The tracks were short and the surfaces the riders had to race on required a different technique. This is Tony Briggs (son of Barry) having a bit of a moment at Wembley in December 1980. He managed to make it to the ‘King of the Concrete Knockout’ final, but was pipped to the win by Britain’s Kenny Carter.

Slip and grip**

**Speedway might look like a slippery business – but as Californian rider Guy Allen Ermolenko shows, it’s possible to latch onto quite a bit of grip on the dirt. Known through his career as Sam, he moved to the UK to ride for Poole Pirates in 1983 and achieved much solo and team success – and was world champion in 1993. This was supposed to be the last year of speedway’s ‘one off’ finals structure, but the Grand Prix format that replaced it wasn’t implemented until 1995. It didn’t help with crowds and the sport started to decline, with attendance dipping below 10,000 for the British GP. But it perked up from 2000 after home rider Mark Loram became world champion – without actually winning a meeting.

Barnstorming at Brandon**

**Introduced in 1981, the Overseas Final was a qualifying round for Commonwealth and American riders as part of the World Championship. The photo above shows the 1993 event at the Brandon Stadium, the former home of the Coventry Bees, with British riders Martin Dugard (blue helmet cover) and Joe Screen (red) showing American rider Billy Hamill the way round. Dugard ended up as the winner of this particular meeting, adding the title of 1993 Overseas Champion to his 1989 victory as British Under-21 Champion. As well as various team awards, Dugard also won the 2000 British Speedway Grand Prix after entering as a wild card, with the event being held – funnily enough – at Brandon.

Still kicking up a storm**

Formed in 1970, Peterborough Panthers were three-time British champions and were helped to their first title by the Australian multiple world champion Jason Crump. The action on the left features another Australian rider, Ben Cook, leading a tight field at Peterborough in 2023 – sadly, the last year of both the Panthers and their East of England Showground track. Loss of grounds has had a heavy impact on speedway, although there are still plenty of fixtures – at the time of going to press, literally hundreds are planned to take place throughout the summer, from Edinburgh to Buxton and King’s Lynn to Plymouth. To check out events, visit britishspeedway.co.uk and go to see some sideways action up close.

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