rusty ken

REH forks currently seem to be the preferred choice for anyone looking to build a competitive pre 65 bike. The matching yokes are listed as having an offset of 40mm, which is a bit less than the original setup on my Bamford Matchless, and by my calculations would increase the trail from approx 4 inches to around 5 1/4 inches. Any of my background reading would suggest this would be a bit excessive. There's no doubt the REH fork movement feels terific, but I'd be interested to hear from anyone who is using the REH yokes on a pre unit bike (particularly those with more traditional frame geometry) how the reduced offset has affected the handling, if at all?

REH forks currently seem to be the preferred choice for anyone looking to build a competitive pre 65 bike. The matching yokes are listed as having an offset of 40mm, which is a bit less than the original setup on my Bamford Matchless, and by my calculations would increase the trail from approx 4 inches to around 5 1/4 inches. Any of my background reading would suggest this would be a bit excessive. There's no doubt the REH fork movement feels terific, but I'd be interested to hear from anyone who is using the REH yokes on a pre unit bike (particularly those with more traditional frame geometry) how the reduced offset has affected the handling, if at all?

Thanks for all the advice. I fitted a tube type IRC, which I was told to run at 6psi (it's fitted to a pleasently plump 350 Matchless, and I'm not exactly at my fiighting weight either). It did the job and worked really well, lots of grip and much better than the Michelin it replaced, but to be fair that had been fitted for a few years and was definitely past it's best. Would happily recommend the IRC to anyone considering changing.

I'm needing to change the back tyre on my 350 Matchless. The options available are a Michelin x lite or x11, an IRC, or a Dunlop. These are all designed with modern machinery in mind, but can anyone provide any advice on which wiuld best suit a heavyweight pre-unit?

I took the advice offerred above, robbed the kids college fund, and bought a new bth mag. Ordering was a breeze, and delivery only took a couple of days. I've got to say it was very straight forward to fit, and setting the timing is a fair bit easier than with the original mag and points, and no more cigarate papers needed. I've had a couple of outings with the new sparks, and the bike hasn't missed a beat. The electronic advance gives a very nice pick up from idle, and it's about a kilo lighter than the original N1C. All in all, I'm very happy with it, and would happily recommend them.

thanks for your comments. My local club runs AMCA regs, so allows him to ride a 250, but I thnk faussy is right that he will be able to manage the 125 better, and it will help him get more confident. Suspect I need to spend some money.

My 13 year old son has started learning to ride a motorbike, and is cutting his reeth on a sy250 scorpa which is on long term loan from a friend. It's a little big for him, but has been fine to get the basics. I'd intended to move him onto a 125cc which might be a little lighter and easier to manage, but a couple of friends have suggested he stick with the 250. What's the consensous on the best route to build his skills and confidence? Is there any advantage of moving him to a 125 or should he stick with the older 250?

Hi Jon, thanks fot the repl. I was afraid that was going to be the answer but had hoped there may be a more cosr effective solution. All of a suden the electrix world systems for the two strokes seem much better value.

My G3 Matchless uses a Lucas wader magneto with manual advance retard, as it would have been back in the day. The majority of unit 4 strokes and most of the two strokes have all moved to electronic ignition, which potentially leaves the pre unit further behind... What ignition system are you using for you pre unit bikes? Is it an improvement on the original magneto, and is it worth changing?

Hi Folks, I've recently picked up one of the later Wassell frames (the oil in frame one with the twin front down tubes), and am considering pairing it with a Villiers 9e/32a engine that has been sitting on my bench. My hope would be to use it in some twin shock events, but before I get too carried away with the idea, I wanted to ask if anyone here has any experience of using these frames for trials, either with the original Sachs/Puch engine or converted to something different? While these don't appear to have been a particularly common bike in the early 70's, what is the general opinion on reviving it for twin shock trials? Or is there a good reason why these weren't overly popular in the period? My searches on the web suggest the US version (Penton Mudlark) is an ok trail bike but I've not found a lot of info out there and I'm a bit unsure of it's suitability for trials. I'd appreciate your thoughts, particularly from anyone who has used them back in the day or more recently in twin shock events? I'd also welcome your thoughts on any mods that would make it more suitable for current events. I'm not looking to build a world beater, but neither do I want to set out on a fool's errand. I like the idea of having an all British twin shock that would be reasonably right for the period; something a little different to the Spanish and Japanese bikes that seem to make up the majority of the current twin shock entry. I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks.

Hi folks, Does anyone know if there a source for new crankshafts for Villiers 9e or 32a engines? I'm looking to convert an 11e engine, which has the extra bearing on the right hand side and the longer crankshaft. The plan is to remove the additional bearing (and casing) and to fit the narrower crank. I had seen full circle crankshafts for sale on-line, but they now appear to be out of stock. I'm happy to consider fitting a hammer head crank, but the trend (and the maths) would suggest moving to the full circle version if it were available. Alternatively, is there a modern 2-stroke crank that can be modified to fit the Villiers cases? Before anyone screams about using modern internals in a pre '65 bike, this will be ridden in local novice and sportsman events where everyone else will be riding mono shocks.

Hi Fanny B, PM sent.

I'd be confident to build a more suitable trials Matchless at less than the asking price on this. There are lots of parts on this that could be used for a trials version. You are right about the frame, but at that mo ey it would be too expensive to swap out. There are a number of sources for replica or "modern geometry" frames which could actually be used on the current pre 65 sections. I expect you would also need to swap out or modify the forks and suspect you would need to look at the gear ratios... Really depends on weather you want someting that you can use in pre 65 events, and how competitive you want to be, or are you looking for a trials styled road bike? It also depends on your timeframe and how much work you want to fund or do yourself.

I don't know my trials history particularly well, but understood that Greeves was one of the preffered trials bikes to be riding in the late 60's ( or was that just the publicity) Pre 65 trials seems to have gone rhrough a series of fads over the last few years moving from pre units to Cubs, Bantums, James, and Triumph twins. Is there a reason why Greeves appears to have largely dropped out of fashion and not been "modernised" like some of the other makes? There seem to be a few still being riden in the big events, but not being developed to the same extent as the bantums etc? Does this mean they could be the next big thing, or was most of the development already delivered by the factory in the '60s?

For the last ten years the Banbridge & District Motorcycle Club have run one of the few classic trials in Northern Ireland; this year they stepped up a gear and organised a two day event. The venues for Saturday and Sunday were only about 10 minutes apart, with camping available beside Turley's Bar and the Flax restaurant. Mervyn set out a great course with hard and easy routes, catering for both Pre 65s and twin shocks. The easy route was negotiable by novices but still included enough to challenge the concentration and skills of the more experienced riders. Each day was set out as 4 laps of 10 sections, all off road so no road traffic requirements. The majority of the entry was made up by twin shock's, but given the sections there was no excuse for not having a larger entry of Pre 65 and pre-unit bikes for this event. Typical Northern Ireland weather included everything from thunder showers (Sat morning) to glorious sunshine, with several pints of refreshment in Turley's needed to replenish the riders at the end of the day. If anyone is thinking of taking a trip over to Ireland I'd highly recommend you keep an eye open for next years event. Have a look at the youtube video (https://youtu.be/rGbyj3exzbk) to get a feel for this year's event