Vintage Thing No.88 - Gregory 500

Slim and light, this Jawa Rickman looks very inviting for uphill blasts.

Another mysterious machine from the past is this speed hillclimbing motorcycle from the 1980s.

When I say hillclimbing to many people they automatically think of the dirty business of trialling but hillclimbing,  in Britain at any rate, means against the clock and and on metalled roads. My friends know what I'm on about but others who not so steeped in engine punk don't quite catch on.

These photos are so old they date back to when I would carefully write on the back what they depicted and a good thing, too, for the Gregory 500 apparently was a 1980 Rickman JAWA. This is not a common motorcycle and Phil Gregory, who was named in the long since lost programme for this event, made it even more special.

It looks like he had some help along the way. There's a sticker on one of the downtubes that says "Don  Barton - GRP" and another on the tail is for Kidderminster Engineering Services. Bewley Engineering also get a prominent mention but ithis wouldn't have been for the silencer because there isn't one. There are two names on the swing arm, the one on the offside is Alpha Bearings Ltd, while that on the other side reads Hatton Enterprises.

Hatton Enterprises rings a bell. If I remember correctly, Hatton Enterprises was run by a Bob Hatton and advertised many large bore conversions for Japanese motorcycles in the 1980s.One was a 250 conversion for the  Honda CD175, which is the kind of thing that always appealed to me. If it worked that could have been a nice bike - if it worked.

I also have a recollection (and maybe a cutting) from MCN about a rotary valve conversion for a Honda CB125 that put out some outrageous amount of power.Without digging it out, I believe there was mention of carbon fibre. I fantasised about souping up my first bike, which was one of these Hondas, and this seemed the ultimate. However, friends in the industry later said this was ridiculous and that if it were possible Honda would've done it.

Anyway, back to the Gregory 500, which definitely did go and go well. I scribbled in Biro on the back very gently so that the image wasn't affected but it's still legible enough to discern a date - 27/5/84 - and the location was the Bugatti  Owner's Club hillclimb at a very wet Prescott. Despite the rain, I recall Phil Gregory as being something of a death or glory rider, with legs suddenly sticking out to balance progress when the tyres suddenly let go, but maybe my memory is playing tricks on me.

So what do YOU reckon that engine is?

Now, I'm no expert on Jawa engines but I thought they were SOHC. The cover on the timing side suggest a home brew conversion but some speedway bikes had this kind of pressed steel cover The engine appears to be dry sumped and a two valve machine judging from the single down pipe. If it is a speedway engine it would have had no gerabox (check - also check Sammy Miller's/Haynes museum pictures)

I like the conical rear hub and the alloy rims for the wire wheels. The gearbox looks familiar and I'm sure someone will tell me what it is - I don't have my Observer's Book of Motorcycle Gearboxes to hand right now - and it's running a dry clutch. The Gregory 500 also has what appears to be both a drum and a disc on the front wheel although I reckon only the disc is operative.Note also the chunky fork brace and the skimpy front mudguard.

What really caught my eye, though, was the all in one seat and tank unit and the seat/tank unit. It still looks swoopy today and the black and gold colour scheme really suits it. There's not much padding in the seat but that's just an incentive to ride quicker.

The Gregory 500 was one of those hillclimbers that was obviously built for speed but also had some style.