Martin Squires Automotive Illustration: British Bike Bonanza 2015

Only a 30 min drive from my home this event is one that I'm now kicking myself about not attending earlier. The British Bike Bonanza take place in the Gloucester hills and has done for the past 35 years. Apparently this is the last time it will be held at the traditional site, as it is being sold off. The weekend consists of trials events on the Saturday including both motorcycles and cars, and classic scrambles on the Sunday with both solo motorcycles and sidecars. The racing was great fun to watch especially with a steep slope to the finish line.

1930 Velocette 250 MOV Trials

(ink sketch)

Built by Tommy Baker in 1956 this MOV was converted from a rigid to a springer in order to be competitive for trials. The only parts of the original frame are the front down tube and top tube, the rest was fabricated by Tommy to house the rear springs. It also sports a Woods Aluminium head, which is a rare sight. In the 80's it was ridden by Chris Scott. The MOV has always lived in the Stroud and Gloucester area, it now resides in Cheltenham, it's great to see that a bike like this has been built and is still ridden in the same part of the country since the 50's.

1954 Maico

(ink sketch)

Bought on German eBay for 350euros this scrambler started off life as a Maico Blizzard a standard 2 stroke road bike. It was then converted into a scrambler with a few changes such as the forks, fabrication of an air box, bash plate and a small snip to the end of the exhaust and the baffles being removed. This shows that you can have some pre 65 scrambles fun without spending a fortune.

NorBSA

(ink sketch)

I'd seen JAPSA's before such as Ewan Cameron's steed at Red Marley back in 2014, but I'd never seen a NorBSA before so this intrigued me so much I had to get it down in the sketchbook. It turns out that the builder and rider of this NorBSA was also the builder and previous rider of Ewan's JAPSA, the motorcycle world is a small one. The engine is a Norton ES2 and the frame is a B31 both from the late 50's. The engine has Jawa internals. A fine example of a purpose built motorcycle and that being scrambles.