The Wavedale Long Distance Trial
The Wavedale Long Distance Trial on a motocross bike was a ridiculous thing to do. The bike's way too tall & the gearing's wrong. I never got out of first gear. We thought it was going to be more of a trail than a trial.
The route was made up of masses of hills & gorges & the point is not to put your feet down. Our team Virginia, Duncan Bainsmith & myself arrived at the start of the trial surrounded by little bikes ridden by men in flat caps. The old timers who'd done this trial before just stared at us & must have thought 'Silly buggers. You've got NO chance'. It was like turning up for the British Supers on a road bike. I actually managed to get a clear on one section!
The finish gate of the section was at the end of a very steep, rock strewn uphill gorge which against all odds I managed to climb. As I passed through the observer's gate the front wheel which was already lifting, went over my head. I was still on the bike but up side down. As I had fallen on the other side of the gate the observer gave me a clear.
I first got Into off road riding with my friend Spike. We would go to Cold Harbour or Dorking & mess around. Sometimes I'd go with my brother Richard on the back of the bike till we were off road. Then one of us would be on foot & the other would ride till they put a foot down & we'd swap. I've had many outings with friends Paul Phillips & Andrew Theophanous. Generally playing silly beggers & getting injured. Andrew would set a challenge that Paul & I couldn't resist then refuse to do it himself on the grounds that it was getting late & could be dangerous.
I did The Ridgeway with my good friend Nick Reich. We were accompanied by another friend, Chris Goddard, for the first leg, & camped near Marlborough. Jane & her sister Cathy had the tents up & supper ready at the site. They'd bought a lardy cake for pudding but we were late getting there & our slices were extremely small. Nick was bemused when following me at 50mph on the dirt to suddenly see me lift both hands from the handle bars & start beating myself round the head. A bee had flown into my crash helmet. I've had a huge amount of fun dirt roadinf over the years, but always seemed to come off worse than my friends in the injury stakes for some reason ( some things never change! ). I think they were just not putting their backs into it !
The route was made up of masses of hills & gorges & the point is not to put your feet down. Our team Virginia, Duncan Bainsmith & myself arrived at the start of the trial surrounded by little bikes ridden by men in flat caps. The old timers who'd done this trial before just stared at us & must have thought 'Silly buggers. You've got NO chance'. It was like turning up for the British Supers on a road bike. I actually managed to get a clear on one section!
The finish gate of the section was at the end of a very steep, rock strewn uphill gorge which against all odds I managed to climb. As I passed through the observer's gate the front wheel which was already lifting, went over my head. I was still on the bike but up side down. As I had fallen on the other side of the gate the observer gave me a clear.
I first got Into off road riding with my friend Spike. We would go to Cold Harbour or Dorking & mess around. Sometimes I'd go with my brother Richard on the back of the bike till we were off road. Then one of us would be on foot & the other would ride till they put a foot down & we'd swap. I've had many outings with friends Paul Phillips & Andrew Theophanous. Generally playing silly beggers & getting injured. Andrew would set a challenge that Paul & I couldn't resist then refuse to do it himself on the grounds that it was getting late & could be dangerous.
I did The Ridgeway with my good friend Nick Reich. We were accompanied by another friend, Chris Goddard, for the first leg, & camped near Marlborough. Jane & her sister Cathy had the tents up & supper ready at the site. They'd bought a lardy cake for pudding but we were late getting there & our slices were extremely small. Nick was bemused when following me at 50mph on the dirt to suddenly see me lift both hands from the handle bars & start beating myself round the head. A bee had flown into my crash helmet. I've had a huge amount of fun dirt roadinf over the years, but always seemed to come off worse than my friends in the injury stakes for some reason ( some things never change! ). I think they were just not putting their backs into it !
Honda XL250S - Pacing Oneself
Having a morgage & working as a diet chef in the NHS makes bike building a slow process.
One had to pace oneself back then, small packages coming through the door every month were very exciting indeed. I was putting together a Honda XL250S which I eventually sold to my mate Chris Goddard.
One had to pace oneself back then, small packages coming through the door every month were very exciting indeed. I was putting together a Honda XL250S which I eventually sold to my mate Chris Goddard.
The Hurricane
In 1980 I still had a T120R Bonneville but I'd amassed two thirds of an engine, an exhaust system, yokes, tank & seat unit & a frame (albeit the wrong frame) - the important bits anyway, which were to make up my Hurricane. I sold the Bonneville & became the proud owner of a Honda step-through. This was my transport for over a year while I built the Hurricane. I had a lot of mind blowingly fast outings with my mate Buzz Davy who had a Norton Commando 850. I remember our trips to Phil Da Costa's in Ewhurst with Buzz going at breakneck speed through the country lanes & me trying to keep up. In the mid eighties a car drove into the back of the Hurricane on the A24 near Dorking & the bike was written off. Phil Pick sold me a Hurricane frame which had been imported from The States so I took the opportunity to rebuild the bike with an original frame.
After a couple of years attending the Beezumph I took the Hurricane on the track, which started my love of Cadwell Park. I crashed it twice only, but in the same meeting. I'd fitted rear-sets on the bike & had a fixed footrest on the left side. The end of the footrest sticking in the the ground & the bike pirouetting on it was the cause of both accidents, one at the bottom of the mountain & the other going through the gooseneck at 70mph. Because we always rode to the Beezumph in those days, someone kindly lent me a pair of handlebars for the bike so I could ride it back to Leatherhead. In 2002 I made the decision to sell the Hurricane, after 19 years of ownership, to build the Rob North.
Chris Re-open's Donington Park
In August 2010, Chris joined three fellow Triple's on the front row of the grid, at the maiden race at the recently re-opened Donington Park.
This was a truly spectacular moment to see four raging Triple's reunited to open a great circuit.