The 2024 Telford Classic Dirt Bike Show Episode 3

In this Episode three from the 2024 Telford Classic Dirt Bike Show were going to take a look at yet more old school classics including some very nice Bultaco Trials bikes and some immaculate Maico Twinshockers.

Yes hello to you all once again welcome back to classic dirt bike TV and if you’re a brand new subscriber to my channel then welcome aboard and I hope you can find something in here that can entertain you with regards at looking at these old school uh Motocross uh

Machines now we’re currently in the process of uh putting together and editing some of the nice bikes that we filmed at this year’s 2024 tford classic dirt bike show and uh there was quite a few machines this year so we’re gradually making our way through the

Piles of lovely bikes that we filmed so we’re going to crack on now and get right in to our next feature which of course is the third video from the Tilford 2024 show and this of course is episode three right okay so we’re going to kick

Off this episode three from tford with a quick look around the walth sport stand and as usual B Brown and the family have brought along a nice array of Michael Classics and we’re going to start by taking a look at this Michael twin cylinder bike which was actually built

By Belgian racer Norbert Van Dun and Norbert again has a vast collection of Michael race bikes including this twin cylinder creation now it said that the the motivation uh for Norbert to actually build his bike came after he saw a similar machine that was uh built by former GP Motocross Racing Legend wolfan

Shader now although rather than build a copy of Trader’s original machine Norbert wanted to put his own spin on his new bike and made it even better than Trader’s original design and so the original uh design of the frame uh with regards its Fork rake angle and uh the positioning of uh the

Seat and the tank and the foot pegs Etc were all uh copied from a 1985 KTM but uh the frame tubes are all made of alloy and these were all bent and shaped and welded by Norbert uh himself but as we move uh onto that lovely twin cylinder engine which has an

All alloy construction and the crank cases are all Handmade by Norbert and these consist of six separate parts to make them up into the outer uh casings now the crankshaft is actually two separate cranks side by side but they’re both connected together by a short drive

Chain and uh both of the cranks are taken from a saxs 50cc motor which had the correct length of stroke to complete uh this engine now both of the engines barrels and heads have been taken from an md50 Michel road bike from 1973 which of course had that rotary

Valve intake system but once again norberts changed uh that particular system to a twin delorto carb uh readed valve intake configuration now the exhaust of course are all handmade and as you can see they pass through this square box shaped alloy uh component which uh certainly looks like it could be the motor’s

Airbox but is actually uh part of the bike’s exhaust system that leads onto these twin tail pipes here at the back but you can see that it’s all been well thought through and is nice and neat and tidy and you can only imagine what this twin cylinder motor sounds like when

These uh twin tail pipes are going at full bore now the bike’s uh 2 mm thick alloy swing arm was uh again designed by Norbert but the actual welding of this part was left to expert welders but it’s basically made up from three separate parts all welded together but as you can

See it’s super strong and it looks absolutely uh fantastic now also here at the front end we have these uh forks and these are genuine Michel Forks that were actually used on the big Michael Racers from the 1970s but naturally of course these have been uh shortened to fit this uh mini

Racer and the front and rear hubs are just your standard Michael Parts although the rear one has been taken from a 125 uh Michael and as we make our way up to the top end of the bike now uh this uh fuel tank here certainly looks like it could

Just be your stock at standard at 1974 alloy mic tank but uh this is actually a copy that norbert’s made himself and of course he’s deliberately scaled it down so that it would fit his little Michael twin and without doubt this is still a very rare and interesting little

Motorcycle and it’s superbly engineered by Norbert Van Dun and can you just imagine if Michael had this kind of initial idea back in the 1970s or ‘ 80s and came up with a twin cylinder racer such as this but it would have been great to have been able to get this

Little baby fired up and have a quick listen to those twin cylinders and pipes but this uh was another little gem that Bill had brought along to tord this year and uh this is what looks like an almost stock original 78250 Michael and probably one of the

Hundreds of German bikes that bills got stashed away in his Aladdin’s cave at Lily Hall but this bike here certainly it looks like it’s got all of the Hallmarks of a machine that’s been stored for quite some time as those original Plastics are just beginning to

Fade a bit now but nothing of course that can’t be put right if you wanted to put this bike back on the track and uh whether this uh particular bike was uh up for sale or maybe just sitting here on display on the day I don’t actually

Know but it would certainly make a cracking Club Racers bike with it being the much easier 250 and not the big uh Monster uh 490 which of course as you know is a completely different animal Al together and uh talking of which uh these are the

1981 wport for 0 Michaels here with her Slimline uh plastic fuel tanks and those snazzy wolf sport graphics and this is Wolf sport uh own interpretation of the mighty 490 which of course is they build from time to time although I’m not exactly sure if wport are still building

These bikes to order anymore but uh as you can see they’re cracking looking machines and super fast as well and this one here has the read valve 490 engine uh inside the frame although certainly uh much more Bolder Graphics than the original 81 tank Badges and more colorful as well

Because you could have your 49s in a variety of different colors including this kind of White theme with some nice anodized alloy Parts as well but if you’re a Michael traditionalist then you can also have your bike in this kind of Red theme with traditional red and yellow uh Graphics but you’re always

Kind of spoiled for Choice when you visit wol sport HQ or come along to their stands at these kind of shows where you can wander around like a kid in a sweet shop looking at all of the goodies that they have in store but the guys at wallport have certainly improved

On what was already a pretty awesome uh motorcycle and of course uh you can’t uh visit the wolf Sports stand without taking a quick Gander bills uh pride and joy his fantastic uh Trio uh which is made from a 1981 uh twin shop Michael frame and a twin cylinder 500 Triumph Motor which

Was actually bored out in order for it to accept a pair of six 50 Pistons but ever since uh Bill built this bike many years ago it’s never uh really even been on a racetrack and Bill said that it probably never will because uh once of course it’s been used on a racetrack

He said it then just becomes another hybrid secondhand dirt bike although I’ve already had the pleasure of listening to this bike startup and if you were to take a look at the full feature that I did on this bike in one of my previous videos then you’ll get

The full story and the startup of this exceptional uh machine but many people have certainly offered Bill crazy money for this bike in the past but he continues to keep a firm grip on his baby as he calls it and uh I can understand why because this

Bike is certainly a one-off and there’s not another like it although just before we leave at the wol sports stand this Immaculate Michael Alpha 1490 and was also sitting on their stand but I don’t actually think this belonged to the wol sport guys I’m pretty sure that this was uh Peter

Williamson’s bike and uh Peter had this advertisement for sale at £ 7,450 and I must say this is uh probably one of the nicest Alpha ones that I’ve ever seen and of course it’s been fully uh rebuilt using 100% all genuine Michael parts and basically everything

On this bike is now brand new and I don’t think that these Alpha 1es were even as clean and tidy as this when they came came off the factory floor in the early 1980s and uh this bike here was just one of a couple of German Michaels that

Peter had at the show and we’ll take a look at his other example sometime later in this series so just like the rest of the bike the engines been treated to a full nuton bolt rebuild and this was all done by uh race base uh here in the UK and

Basically every part on this motor was uh rebuilt regardless of its age or condition and even the bike’s rear shock is a brand new olens uh unit but uh just looking at this bike you can see it’s shining like a brand new PIN although I’m not entirely sure if these alpha 1

Engines were painted black in that year but for me personally this is the kind of bike that you’d just like to put into collection if you are one of these lucky people who can afford to fill your garage or your workshop with these kind of unblemished examples of motocross

History and it’s just far too nice a bike to put it back onto a track and then spoil its Immaculate looks now again I don’t actually know if this bike here was sold over the two days of the show in fact it might even still be available who knows but uh this bike

Here was certainly grabbing the punter attention as they made their way around the halls over the course of the two days but certainly the more uh you look look at this bike the more that you like it when you see all of the nice rebuild engineering that’s gone in to this

Fantastic machine but uh I’ve seen a few of these Alpha ones in the past and they’re certainly not up to the standard this little beauty and these are quite rare bites getting now these Alpha ones there’s not too many of them going around but certainly another Immaculate

Classic from this year’s tford dirt bike show a lovely 1980s alpha 1 Michel okay so uh next up we’re going to move on to the bll tacle club at UK stand where uh they had some really nice examples of their Spanish built bikes on display along uh with this rather snazzy

Thumbs up Bol Taco logo sign and also a few other pieces of Bol tacco memorabilia including this uh bag here which is a very rare item to find nowadays so uh first up we’re going to take a look at this quite nice uh 250 possibly from the early 1970s

Because I’m not exactly sure of the year of this bike but I think these were called the boat Tails as I remember because of that rear Bodywork panel that resembled the upturn hull of a boat but again another immaculately turned out machine much much like the other bull

Tackles that we saw in the previous episodes but it certainly continues to amaze me how these guys can get these old scramblers looking so good because I don’t think uh they ever looked this good when they left at the factory originally and you almost need to have

Your sunglasses on to cut down on the glare and the Shine from these machines Bodywork but again a nice uh neat and tidy 250 Baco engine a two-stroke of course with that underslung exhaust system which was quite a dominant feature on these bacos back in the day but the bike’s Bodywork including this

Fuel tank would have been made from fiberglass in the 1970s but again another beautifully turned out example of Spanish engineering this lovely boat tail uh to 50 which was uh just one of about half a dozen bikes at the B tacle Club UK had on their stand and this is another

Cracker of a bike uh this bike here is I think a 1975 350 uh Shera trials bike just one of hundreds of Trials machines that were on display at this year’s tford show and again this is another pristine example and as I said these guys must have spent

Weeks getting these bikes it ready for the show because this is another one that’s shining like a brand new pen so a big well done to the owner for all of his hard work and uh as we continue to take a look at more of these Baco machines now

I’ve said it before in the past I’m not really a trials bike man and what I actually know about these uh trials to whe ERS you could write on the back of a postage stamp so certainly don’t quote me on any of the details that I’m

Passing out because I’m sure that all of you Bol Taco Trails bike riders out there will instantly know exactly what you’re looking at here on your screens but I can uh tell you that the spike that we’re looking at here is a three 50 because it’s got it stamped on the

Bike’s side panel but again this is another superbly turned out machine and a credit to the owner or owners who keep all of these bikes in these kind of conditions because these look far too good to be used on a muddy trials section but uh yeah again another

Stunning uh trials machine from the Baco club uh UK who actually had quite a good selection of bikes and rare Baco memorabilia on display as well so that’s just a a quick look around their stand and at some of their fantastic bikes as well and in the fourth coming episodes

From the show we’ll be taking a look at another one or two examples of these kind of Trials machines now next up the uh Graves writers association we’re also at the tford show again this year celebrating their 40th anniversary of their organization and they’d brought along some very nice examples of those

1960s geves scramblers which did have some quite rare bikes uh included in their lineup which unfortunately were so tightly packed together that we just couldn’t get a decent look at them although I did managed to persuade one of the club members to to pull a bike out into the

Aisle but uh that was up until one of telford’s finest security Personnel it gave me a bit of a balling for uh blocking the island so we had to then return the bike back into the lineup but that’s the thing about this short tford the some of the really rare and exotic

Bikes are almost inaccessible although just before I eventually got my back side kicked uh we did managed to get a few shots of the bike in question and this superb gavves Scrambler here is a 1961 250 hawkton which again as you can see is immaculately turned

Out but I’m sure you’ve already heard me mention in the past about the days of the old black and white TVs in the winter scrambles that the BBC used to broadcast live on a Saturday afternoon well this lovely Graves here is a typical example of the kind of bikes that used to take

Part in those cold wet and windy winter events when you could watch the likes of the late Brian Badger gos and Jeff Smith and Dave bickers Alan Koff and many others including the likes of Vic eood who would be up to their armpits in mud as they raced around the tracks on bikes

Like these old Greaves but you can see here that even back in 1961 Greaves were using this ibeam alloy front frame Spar on these old scramblers and many people still think it was one of the big four of Yamaha Suzuki Honda or Kawasaki who actually invented an alloy frame on a

Motocrosser but as you can see the British made Greaves was already using alloy frames 30 or so years before them anyhow these uh earlier Greaves machines were powered by a British built vilar two-stroke engine but of course later gavves would then go on to design and build their own engine to power some

Of the later models like the challeng ERS and Griffin uh race bikes and you can see how this uh motor here would be a nice light flickable uh race bike because uh it did have a light gauge tubular steel uh rear shassy with of course that very strong alloy beam up

There at the front but this vilar motor was certainly no 490 mic power plant it didn’t give you that arm wrenching uh Power but it was still reasonably reliable and of course British built and uh this was the motorcycle engine technology of its day uh in uh the

UK so fuel to feed that vilar’s engine was supplied through this big Amal monoblock carburetor and it was probably one of those old school paper or wire gauze type air filters that would have sat inside this kind of twin airbox uh type setup now up here at the front end of

Our Greaves hawton classic it was uh their leading link suspension set up with what had a basic pair of dampers slipped inside just to try and soak up uh those massive bumps that these bikes had to cope with in the 1960s now the front hub was an alloy

Part and it was their Paddle Wheel uh Hub which was designed just to try and catch moving air as it rotated to help the Hub stay nice and cool but here at the back it was yet another uh just basic pair of dampers that offered very little in the way of suspension travel

Or movement but again this is what these older scrambles Legends had to work with uh in that era although one of the more interesting Parts on this bike was uh the chain oiler system whereby you just removed this little cap here on this tube and

Then filled it with oil and then the oil ran across to the left hand side of the swing arm where it then just dripped oil uh periodically on to the chain through this little uh plastic tube but it was a very simple system and very practical as

Well but as I said I was very lucky just to be able to get these few shots of the bike before security came along because uh they certainly don’t like you pulling bikes out into the walkways just in case maybe a member of the public catches a a

Handlebar in the ribs or maybe trips over uh something and uh tends to sue the organization but I can understand that but uh I still think it was worth it just to get some decent shots of this fantastic old school uh racer and you can see that these are the

Old type of handlebars with no crossbar welded onto them these are how these bikes were back in the day but certainly a fine example of one of these 1961 Greaves hawkton Racers named of course after the great Brian Stonebridge when he won at that big race

Event at hawkton Park when he beat all of the big British four strokes bikes while he was uh riding just a small uh 200cc uh two stroker so these gavves Hawkin were name just to celebrate Brian’s success on that day but a cracking bike and a very good

Subject to use in profile as part of the Greaves writers association’s 40th anniversary celebrations so that’s the latest batch of bikes from this Year’s 2024 tford classic dirt bike show as I said we still have a lot more machines still to feature here on my channel but we’ll get

To it as soon as we possibly can but that’s about it h for the time being and I do hope that you will either subscribe to my Channel or return uh so we can take a look at our next feature which of course is episode 4 [Applause] [Applause] A