The story of a Greeves

This motorcycle has a direct lineage to its current ownership, which can be traced all the way back to a short-lived 1960s four-stroke scrambles championship…

- JOHN JOHNS

Most Pre-67 trials bikes in current use bear little resemblance to how they left the factory, so when I found a rare example of one that was still virtually standard, I set about making it competitive in today’s events with minimum compromise to its original specification and appearance. But first, there is the story of how I came into possession of this 1961 Greeves Scottish.

It started back in the 1960s, when I bought a Mark II Velocette KSS from a friend for £12, with the idea of riding it to work. At the time, having raced a Gold Star, a TriBSA and then a Matchless Metisse in scrambles, I had joined the transition to two-strokes that rendered most of the 500cc four-strokes redundant.

In a bid to keep the old dinosaurs racing, the Southern Centre ACU put on a class for these machines. Having sold my Metisse to pay for the two-stroke, I had left over an old, repaired Metisse frame, the remnants of the Matchless G80CS that had supplied the engine and the Velo KSS, that was not now being used. This presented the opportunity for a zero cost entry into the new class that I could race in alongside the ‘Expert’class on my two-stroke, providing more rides at each scramble. My dad had owned a KSS in his younger days and, with his expertise, we set about making a Velocette Metisse.