Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Graham Jarvis in third on just four marks, while Yamaha men Rob Crawford and Adam Norris joined Crawford on six. Tuesday dawned wet and the rain just never ceased, giving the riders a miserable time of it. But at least the 117 mile route contained lots of moorland to keep the riders warm. Rain or no rain, Lampkin went clea n again and people began to wonder if he would keep this up for th e en tire week. Saunders dropped th ree and maintained second. "The s treams filled with water in a matter of minutes," sa id Saunders, as he headed for a hot bat h and a night by the fire . "I th ought I was pretty good on three, but Doug' s bee n brilliant." Scorp a runner Jarvis was also having a bath, an early one, u nfortunately. His mount ex pi red in t he mo o r s with a burned out primary coil - the result of a loose eart h wire in the genera tor. On to Wednesd ay, a nightmare to the less-experien ced SSDT riders as it was a mighty 114 miles round the loop wi th over half of that on moorland . The rou te travelled righ t o ut o nto th e ble a k; inh ospitabl e Rannoch Moor w here you do n' t even think about a mecha n ica l breakdown... To almost everyone's relief, Lampkin parted wit h a couple of ma rks - one in a ve ry easy sec tio n at Ba House, a nd ano ther in a d ifficu lt s ub at Go rt o n , whe re his co usi n John reckoned Doug was very lucky to escape a five mark pen alty. '1 was in no bot her," said Lampkin. By Th ursday, many of th e w atercoo le d m a ch ines were be g inning t o show so me signs of stress. Works Yamaha rid er Rob Craw ford was forced to swap an engine after his TYZ clanked to a overh ea ted halt after boilin g up the previ ous day . Th e engine change was pe rmitted as for the first time, engines were not marked at scrutineering. h was changed during Crawford ' s running time, though, an d his subsequent ride was amazing as he caught up almost an hour whi ch w as lost at the road s id e changing the motor. Lampkin was still well and truly in th e driving seat as he po sted the best daily score for the third time in four days, having parted with just another dab at an old favorite section Cnoc a Linnhe. (Most Scottish sections have virtually unpronounceable Gaelic names.) Friday is the traditional run around the Moidart Peninsular and is commonly known as road-race day, as there is very little off road . But t h e 94 -mile run Yanks abroad PI iding in the Scottish Six Days Trial were two riders from the United States - neither claiming to be top experts, but hoping that their exploits might encourage others to have a go at the most famous event in the trials calendar. Tackling his first-ever SSDT was Keith Roper from Arizona, who flew to Great. Britain along with his enthusiastic wife Kath, and took his Aprilia along as hand baggage. Roper was assisted a lot by Scottish enthusiast Ernie Page, and was very grateful to Page for taking time to help out. "The event was every bit as hard as I expect- (Left to right) Keith Roper, Kath ed," said Roper. "Time is real tight on the loops. Roper end Bob Hown I lost 51 minutes on Wednesdav (60 minutes, and represented America. you're out!). I reckon manyAmerican riders would struggle on those big loops, as most don't like riding much between sections. "To be honest, I'm a bit embarrassed by my daily scores, although I loved the sec tions, they are pretty similar to what I learned on in the Pacific orth w est. But I was always strugg ling to keep on tim e - I just had no time to study the sect ions, it was just a quick look a nd rid e. "Sure, I'll be back, but I will be much better prepared ," continued Roper. "You need to be physically fit to tackle the loops, and I wasn't thi s tim e. I wo uld also choose a lighter bike. The Aprilia wa s no trouble, but it is too heavy and the power delivery is a bit fiery . You need soft power for the slippery rocks. I reckon that yo u need a couple of years before you could really get stuqk in. But I learned an awful lot - and I hope that wh en I return it will be with se veral other American riders maybe with someone like Ryan Young or one of the other top National riders." Bob Howard is a young-looking 35-year-old from New Jersey, and he has a real all-around motorcycle background, having raced motocross and enduro, as well as riding trials . . After finishing on his Beta, Howard said, "I've competed in tile SSDT four times total, and this makes three finishes. The last time I rode was in '92. Keith is right when he says that you need time to get to know the event. It is so different from anything you would ever ride in America . "The big thing for me was that this year I was losing about 20 marks less per d ay in the sections. This was really exciting to me, as I actually felt that I was riding the sections properly at last." (Right) New Jersey's Bob Howard finis hed l 11th in his fourth attempt at the SSDT. (Below) Arizona's Keith Roper struggled in his first visit to Scot land, dropping 611 points. proved to be the d eath-knell for a fair num ber of machines w hich objecte d to being thrashed along the tarmac. Blown engines were the co m mo n sig ht. Some were resurrected with hasty wrenchi ng, but some were finish ed . Stev e Hol e To mmi Ahvala's minder on the World Round circu it - was a victim as his Pantie Section blew a main bearing . Hole was sickened by his DNF, as he has finished the p revious 10 SSDTs. Colley showed his true form for the first time with a clean ride on the big step at Pipers Ru n which was crowded by specta tors . Only Lampkin equalled his ride. And so the survivors moved into the last day, Saturday, just a finish was on many riders' minds as they hoped to nurse their steeds through the 67-mi le course. Finishing in style was the only thought in Lampkin's head, though, and •• he did exactly that with a brilliant clean ride, inclu ding the seven sections on the lower slopes of Ben Nevis, which traditionally close the SSDT. Colley also kept his feet on the rests and alt hough this sort of performance came too la te to do any thing abo u t Lam pkin. it di d haul him well clear of t he ba tt le fo r th ir d which Crawford eve ntually claimed from Saunders. "I'm ha p py to finish after the engine trou ble," said Crawford. Actually, Saunders just missed ou t on n ipping Craw ford, as h e turned in a stunning fou r mark last day, in com pariso n to Crawfo rd's 13. Lam pkin's wi n puts the 19-year-o ld wi thin one mor e victory of matching his father Martin's brilliant hat trick of SSDT Premiers, achieved on Bultacos d uring the great da ys of 1976, '77 and 78. I:N Scottish Six Days Trial_ Fort William, Scotland Results: May 1-6, 1995 PREMt rn, Doug Lampkin (!let) 5. O/A : 2. Steve Co lley (G-G) 18; 3. Rob Cra wfor d (Yam) 37; 4. Steve Saunders (G-G) 38; 5. Adam Norris (Yam) 56; 6. Wayne Braybrook (Mon) 58; 7. John Shirt (G-G) 71; 8. Phil Alderson (Yam) 79; 9. Jason Lawer (GG) 95; 10. John Lam pki n (Bet) 98; t I. Martin Richards (&<) 101; 12. Ben Hemin gw ay (Betl l29 ; t3 . Carl es Casas (Mon ) 132; 14. Paul Nicholson (G-G) 134; 15. David Pye (Fan) 143; 16. Matthew Robinson (Yam) 149; 17. Roger Williams (Moo) 149; 18. Magnus Liljeblad (fan) 162; 19. Nigel Birke tt (Yam) 163; 20. Joa n Freixas (G-Q 174. DAILY WINNING SCORES MON: Dou g Lampkin/Steve Saunders (0). 11JE: Do ug Lam pkin (0). WED: Rob Crawford (I). TIfUR, Dou g Lam pkin (I). FRl; Steve Colley 10). SAT; Doug Lamp kin /Steve Col ley (0). Former factory Montesa and Fantic rider 'and deve lopment engineer J a ime Subirarode the SSDT for.the first time in 10 years. The popular Spaniard retired on Friday with what was thought .to be. generator failure 10 his Filnlic:Secfion, but later found.a loose wire. He was not a happy man. The' relatiVely low' number of 180 en trants was wen down on last year's 240: This was a big concern to the organizing' Edinburgh and . District M The big loss was in British riders, C. 'as the one encouraging sign was welcome . Scottish rider Nell McGregor had Ii fright when spilled gasoline 'ignited and set light to influx of continental clubmen. . .. his Gas Gas fuel tank: Neil Calmly removed The breakdown rate 01 some' 1995 model ' the burning' tanka nd'threw it down tneroad motorcycles proved to be alarmingly high, He borroweda tank.from a 'passing service .with Gas .Ga s 250s rep orte dly. s u "eri ~g . yan and CQntlnued.on: ". . . . . .' . . .' . . . . . ', main bearing failures. as -did severaIFantic · . Sec tion's, Both camps were initially blaming ' . Welsh 'competitor Ashley: Reed cra sh ed poor pre-mix. Severa l 'Beta Technos suI- ". heaVily on one of the blackWater sections on ' .fered klckstart gear failures. MonlesaCotas Thursday .and his new Yamaha TYZ landed ' su rvived virtually uns cath e d, as did·a ir. on top of him. Afte r completing the loop. . cooled Yamaha TYs. still arguably the east - . Reed VISited Fort .W.lham Hospital where .a est bet tor Clubmen in the SSDT. With'only.' cr~ed ste",um was .diagnosed and he was 120 finishers, the drop-out.rate was a high . ~etalned until.Saturday. morning tor observa20 percent. . non. . a

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