6 replies to this topic

[charlie prescott]

Hi Guy’s.
XJO 277.
BSA Work’s trials outfit. Ridden by Frank Darrieulat and Bill Warner.
Now it seems as there may have been two outfits with this registration number?
Why? Well I have known of the existence, of the bike that James Freeman owns, as it has been in the press since 1989. But have just cast it off has (Well it can’t be)?
Why? again. Well I owned XJO 277 when I was seventeen years of age, yes I am not joking. This was 1963-4. I was working as an apprentice in an agricultural garage in the middle of Banbury by the name of Young’s; this was a Ford main dealership.
So all of the staff were into Ford tractors? Not really, but every member of the working staff in that garage were into motorcycle trials in a big way. And within a couple of weeks starting at the place you would end up owning a trials bike in some form or fashion. Now I firstly was persuaded to buy a Greeves Scottish, on the never-never. After trying to build a trials bike out of a plunger framed James, that I had bought with the pocket money from my jam jar, when I spotted it for sale one day parked on the edge of my village with a £5 sale notice on it.
After a couple of years on the Greeves and helping my mentor Nobby Clements build up his brother’s roadgoing D.O.T into a trials bike. Our attention turned to the sidecar part of the sport, This was sparked by the fact that Banbury’s top Road Racer Dan Shorey, had forsaken his very individual trials Tiger Cub for firstly a BSA trials outfit, and then had built, a Kendell chair, to fit to a Seth Ellis tuned Ariel HS scrambler based bike. Nobby wanted to get into this branch of the sport with haste
So Dan was asked to try and find a suitable outfit.
Well he arrived one day with this BSA unit perched on the back of his A40 pickup. It had come via one of the Oxford Motorcycle dealers at the time. Probably Faulkners, (I must ask Bill). Anyway that was fine we had a sidecar trials outfit! But who was going to pay for it? I was hardly paid at all, and Nobby had a family and a trials and road bike, plus a A30 car to fund.
Well that is where I came in, for with luck, (Not for him) one of my great uncles had died, slipping on the ice and having a heart attack.
Probate was just sorted, and my aunt had been left with a small legacy. What better to spend it on but an ex works BSA trials outfit (XJO 277).
So AWP was put into the log book as owner of said bike.
And what a plot it was! The first adventure is already on TC if you look.
Any way to cut the story short, (I will continue it) we had great fun with this bike, and it only got sold has I had taken up residence (Permanently) in the sidecar seat of the Dan Shorey Ariel. (Replica now being built).And the last person to own this outfit XJO 277, has far as I know, is Arthur Lampkin? So you see there must be two.
Regards Charlie.

[charlie prescott]

Hi Guy's
Just remembered what I forgot to say, that James has got his outfit for sale if you are interested. Asking price £15,000-£20,000. so he told me.
Any information about my old bike would be most welcome.

Regards Charlie.

[Big John]

Got to be careful there, if both machines exist and the frame and motor numbers are identical then there is a legal matter that the DVLA would pursue vigourously, as there should never be two machines using the same registration mark. Prosecution and impounding of the vehicles and eventually crushing is an option open to the authorities. Effectively "ringing".

Big John

[charlie prescott]

Hi Guy's
Hi Big "J"
Well I can assure you that I owned the bike XJO 277. and so do the DVLA if they look up the records.
So I do not have a problem with that. I have a photo in an ORR reference library Vol two page 65 with Arthur and Colin Pinder aboard. In The same volume on page 27 there is a picture of Dan Shorey and me in the 1962 Tanners Trudge. My first day passengering for Dan. I was unfortunately described has a female in this shot (what-ever).
Regards Charlie.

[aawil]

hi it was not unusual for works bikes to end up with the same reg nos , a few years ago when i was devolping the fantic outfits one of our first big events was the inter centre team trial held near banbury , although we rode for different centres at one group of sections we parked the three outfits in a row ,a well respected journalist (the late rafe venables) called me over as he had noticed they all had the same reg no a quick check on the tax discs , i had the original but the others were duplicates , roy carey (the fantic importer )declined to comment.if charlie wants some info on 60s-70s chairs i can assist having built most of the ones i have ridden over the years including the first fantic for the factory in italy,the latest being on a 1953 panther last year on which i have just ridden the talmag, my first outing for 7 years will hawkes.

[charlie prescott]

Hi Guy's,
Hi Will.
Welcome to TC.
I have finished the frame work for the Kendell replica sidecar, to fit to the Ariel HS frame, has I am building that up as a replica of the outfit that Dan Shorey and myself used to ride.
But I have a BSA, frame C15T WD type, and have pulled the seat tubes in, this frame is now redundant has I have pinched the WD B40 motor for another project.
So what sprung to mind was to put a chair onto this, has I am building up a 300cc BSA engine unit, and this would make a good test bed.
So any information about 70-80 ies type chair's dimensions ETC would be more than welcome, Will.

Regards Charlie.

[ask greeves]

aawil, on 01 February 2011 - 12:37 AM, said:

hi it was not unusual for works bikes to end up with the same reg nos , a few years ago when i was devolping the fantic outfits one of our first big events was the inter centre team trial held near banbury , although we rode for different centres at one group of sections we parked the three outfits in a row ,a well respected journalist (the late rafe venables) called me over as he had noticed they all had the same reg no a quick check on the tax discs , i had the original but the others were duplicates , roy carey (the fantic importer )declined to comment.if charlie wants some info on 60s-70s chairs i can assist having built most of the ones i have ridden over the years including the first fantic for the factory in italy,the latest being on a 1953 panther last year on which i have just ridden the talmag, my first outing for 7 years will hawkes.

Bob and Me thought you had died (from eating toooo much meow meow)..Slip