Bryan - Borne to be Wade...
By TMX Archives on 18th Feb 11
A trip to the Telford Classic Show brought a day of pleasant surprises - including an encounter with MX ace Bryan Wade
LAST weekend was my annual trip to a classic bike show and while there are many throughout the year it is nice to get one in the bag early-on and Alan Wright's Telford Show is certainly early! So it was pitch black and raining hard, lovely, when I set sail for Telford last Saturday morning. At least the roads were clear and I made record time even arriving early - unknown territory for me, a habitual latecomer!
The bottom line is, it was a little belter of a show. It isn't pretentious and in the main what you see is what you get. Wrighty manages to somehow pour a quart into his pint pot and the venue is a tightly packed seething mass of men and machines - and the occasional lady too of course!
The mix of autojumble, trade stands, show bikes and bikes for sale plus rider interviews on stage keep showgoers on their toes all weekend and if you are only there one day (like I was!) you have to look really lively if you want to give yourself a chance of seeing it all. Jeff Smith is a legend so I had to catch him on stage where we were treated to some great tales including memories of Hawkstone Park and the development of the BSA Victor from C15 250 through 350 to World Championship winning 420 and 440.
I'm sorry I missed Pete Mathia's turn on the mic on Sunday, I'm told it was lively and I'm sure it was. During my laps of the halls I bumped into scores of people and enjoyed a word with many, like Vic Allan and Terry Challinor and Gordon Blakeway and Yrjo Vesterinen and Andy Roberton and Roger Harvey and so on and so on. With all the talking going on it is a wonder that anyone gets to see anything!
I have to be honest, I had begun to think that the Classic scene was beginning to fade. It is only natural to assume that as the people who were involved with the old Pre-65 scene fade away, the interest would wane. We aren't quite at that stage yet, there are still plenty of riders and enthusiasts around who still remember the great days of the British Motorcycle industry. And in any case, who couldn't be impressed with a machine like Adrian Moss's Matchless G50 engined Metisse. What an awesome creation.
But, it is the increase in interest in the twin-shock scene that is now driving the classic movement on to new levels of interest. The machines of the 1970s, ‘80s and even ‘90s are the ones to appeal to a whole new generation of ‘classic' fans - and bikes that for years have lain around gathering dust and rust are suddenly back in vogue. A trip round the autojumble raised more than a few eyebrows at the odd price tag attached to tired old t/shocks but as with all things, any bike is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it so as far as I'm concerned, good look to both parties!
We've seen the old British bikes revered over the years, even the ones that were rubbish in their day now perform many times better than they did when factory fresh. Spanish bikes too have had their revival, which continues, especially with trials bikes and now we are progressing into the realms of the Japanese era, especially for the MX boys. Those 1970s and 80s air-cooled twin-shocks are to many enthusiasts the last ‘real' competition motorcycles, before water-cooling, linked rear suspension and ally frames moved the scene into a whole new technological era.
IT was a pleasant surprise to see former British MX champ Bryan Wade turn-up at Telford. Wadey burst onto the motocross scene in the mid 1960s as a wild-riding teenager on a Greeves Challenger - wearing a donkey jacket and with the Greeves in the back of a converted Jaguar car! He frightened rivals on the track and wowed spectators with his lurid, flat-out, sliding, jumping style throughout the 60s and 70s on Greeves and later was associated with Husky, Suzuki and Honda.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that he is now living in Borneo - and running what look like pretty awesome adventure motorcycle holidays. "Can't stand the cold,” said Wadey, "and when I went there on holiday I just knew the roads were perfect for motorcycling //
CONGRATULATIONS to Graham Jarvis and Dougie Lampkin on their thoroughly deserved 1-2 finish in the Hells Gate extreme enduro. Both former British Trials Champs proved to be head and shoulders above their rivals in what was an awesome true test of skill and stamina. If any aspiring young rider, whether chasing motocross, trials or enduro glory, want role models to look up to regarding sheer single-minded determination to do well then Graham and Doug are your men. Both riders, now in their thirties, stand for total professionalism, nothing less, and train as hard and are as totally dedicated to winning as ever. It is no coincidence that they were the ONLY two official finishers in this extreme event.
Which is quite simply why Graham and Doug are winners - and their would-be rivals, however much they claim to be ‘professional' are losers.