WHERE ARE THE GREAT TRIALS RIDERS OF THE 70'S NOW?

[cedric van heerden]

Hi Too Fast Tim,
I practised with Walter in Joburg before the 1979 Joburg leg of the South African championships. I bought my 348 from him in Sept 79, and was saddened by his untimely passing. Did you ever meet Mac Bailey from Rhodesia? He was the South African Champ in 1974 I think.Please keep in contact./
Regards
Cedric

[TooFastTim]

I first met Walter in, must have been, 74'ish. When Walter returned from riding in the UK in '79'ish he was determined to settle in CT and camped with us (family) while he looked for a job. That didn't work so he moved to Jo'burg. But he stayed with us for about six weeks during which time I got to know him quite well. His death hit me hard. I was about 18, still impressionable, at that age I had never lost a friend and I was very fond of the diminutive little Swiss.

Yeah I knew Mac. My old man organized a national (first outside Durbs or Jo'burg) and the regs reflected the UK way of doing things, things hitherto being done the SA way (i.e. oddly). The "new" format was 25 sections, 4 laps of about 10ks each and, most importantly a time bar. Mac dawdled around for two laps and my dad warned him he was in danger of being time barred. Mac ignored him and he was barred. Dad wasn't too popular north of the Limpopo.

[Chris Leighfield]

Yes, happy days indeed. A couple of names which haven't been mentioned are Dave Pinkerton and Ian Gaff. Dave was a professional stunt rider and performed at shows in the Sydney area. His acts were in fact very similar to arena trials of current times, long before anyone had thought of holding trials in a stadium. He had been in England for a period during which time he had come to grips with trials held predominantly in mud. This stood him in very good stead when he returned to Oz, wiping the floor with the rest of the entry at the 1971 Nationals, held at a very muddy Creswick (Victoria). That was the year before I arrived in Australia and I rode against Dave in National and State Championships for the next few years. Following that, he faded from the scene and I never saw him again. Ian Gaff had his good years in the late sixties, before very many "proper" trials machines arrived in Australia. He won Nationals on a Villiers engined special affectionately known as Jasper. Jasper is still around and has been owned for many years by Ray Lander, another A grade rider in the seventies. Unfortunately Ray has been forced into retirement with a recurring balance problem but Jasper has been seen out recently in the hands of Rob Smith, yet another A grade rider of the seventies.
After a break of a few years, I returned to trials riding on, as has been mentioned above, a Tiger Cub which I purchased from England and restored in 1998-9 whilst recuperating from treatment for cancer. Unfortunately, over the following seven years, continual taking of cancer controlling drugs damaged my skin to the point that I only had to brush against anything and it would peel off in strips. Reluctantly therefore I had to give up riding.
As a previous writer noted "I was getting on a bit" - yes he was quite right but that was not the reason for my stopping competing as I have just explained.
As we rolled along in the seventies, quite a few young riders started to become very good - in fact too good as far as I was concerned. Who could forget the two Steves, Johnson and Chapman. Both had National wins and Steve Johnson currently rides in Masters grade whilst supporting son Brendan, himself an A grade rider. He has been instrumental in organising trials for The Trials Club of Victoria for many years now. Steve Chapman was an Australian Safari winner and on one occasion, having completed the Safari, set off on a motorbike for WA at the opposite end of the countryto compete in Nationals which, if my memory serves me correctly, he won.

Chris

[Tim Barwick]

I have a video that i still watch all the time called naturally free which had a fair bit of dave pinkerton on it

[grays]

G`DAY MY NAME IS SHAUN AND I AM LOOKING FOR SOME STORIES ON "IAN GAFF" HE IS MY MOTHERS PARTNER AND WOULD LOVE TO GET SOME GOSSIP ON WHAT HE WAS LIKE BACK IN THE DAY,ANY STORIES WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED....

[Peter Paice]

Hi Shaun
I can't spread any gos about Ian Gaff as he was a quiet gentleman of the trials sport. I started in 1968 and by that stage Ian had already won 2 Aussie Championships and he was immediately my hero. He had a style of riding that looked like he wasn't even trying. We used to think his feet must have been glued to the footpegs. He was always friendly and cheerful and my proudest early moment in trials was when he won the 1970 championship in Sydney and I won B Grade. It was an honour to even share the podium with him. He only rode for a few more years mainly in Victoria, so I lost contact with him, but always tried to emulate his style.

I hadn't seen him for many years, and I was stumbling and bumbling through sections in the 1983 Championship at Heathcote when a familiar voice called out 'What are you still doing this for at your age?' There was Ian Gaff watching after all those years.

Please say hi to him for me and thank him for being such an inspiration. I couldn't have picked a better rider to copy. I guess you saw the photos of him at Heathcote posted not far down the list from this one. Maybe he can remember some of the faces that I couldn't.

Peter Paice

[brucej bills]

yer hi I'm new to trials Australia I have a 75 TL250 i do have a video on one of the trials champions a dave pinkerton the video is called naturally free narrated by John Laws it only last for about 15 minutes on dave but last for about 30 munites on trials riding aus and over seas i havent seen or herd of any one else having this video not sure if it is able to be obtain cheers bruce.

[SQUAT 405]

Howdy all ,,,Some of the great riders of the seventies Dave Goldsmith, Neville Derick ,I remember well from those days as a member of the Gold Coast MCC ,,Trials at Cedar Glen. MT Cotton 2 day ,Biddadaba,to name but a few venues,Ian Rogers, Denys Reed,Rob Reed,Clarrie Cunliff, and Marg, Bob Anderson,to name a few,,have all been lured back into the sport by the S.Q.T.A. club and are all active participants ,,,Ian was not lured, he kicked it off along with a few of us enthusiasts,and the result has been a flood of old friends returning to the sport to enjoy it for the right reasons,,Also all of the above names have returned with their sons , and daughters more riders and observers, just more people old and new into the sport,great to see,its somthing the sport has needed for years,,,,Looking forward to another year of trials with long time friends of the sport ,,Only need Peter Pace, and Ross Grimsey to show up to make the dream complete,,,,jb

[David Lahey]

yer hi I'm new to trials Australia I have a 75 TL250 i do have a video on one of the trials champions a dave pinkerton the video is called naturally free narrated by John Laws it only last for about 15 minutes on dave but last for about 30 munites on trials riding aus and over seas i havent seen or herd of any one else having this video not sure if it is able to be obtain cheers bruce.

Hi Bruce. Yes it is a fun movie. I've heard that it is now on YouTube.

[PA]

It is on You Tube.

http://youtu.be/U0NKdPZdtV4