Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

"In our trial, we all layout the sections, and during the competition, we all ride each sec tio n together, and we cheer or boo or laugh at the guys when they go through the sect ion," Conley says. "It isn't a cutt hroat competiti on. The trophy doesn't mean as much as just being there." Just being there is the key, and in that respect Conley says that he has been happy to put on the small events. He has had his taste of larger ones, having organized the Classic and Antique Motorcycle Association, which used to host a show with as many as 600 entries as far back as 1967. "We 've had as few as 30 and as many as 40 or 50 bikes at Greeves Days, but the last five or six years, we've had arou nd 35, rain or shine," Co nley says. Of this year 's crop of machines, the re we re stando ut concourse restos, originals, seminal mode ls and historically significant machines that ran the gamut of the Greeves legacy, and just as Conley says Greeves Days is about "the great peo ple that attend," you can learn a lot about them by their machines. Some times it's about more tha n just the bike. . Machine: 1967 Greeves Anglian 250 Owner: Gary Collman, Brea, California When Gary Collman showed up to Greeves Days with two of the five, machines in his collect ion, it was obvious that he is somewhat of a perfectionist. Co nfirmation comes in th e form of his 1967 Greeves Anglian trials bike, which was one of two pristine examples at the show. "They started making this model around 1966, and 1968 was the last year that they made the m," Collman says, noting that the Anglian still falls to the left of the major divid- ing line in Greev es history by virtu e of its Villiers engine. "The Villiers engine was made in England, but not by Greeves," Collman says. "Greeves bought the m and put a Greeves cylinder and cylinder head on the Villiers crankcases and tra nsmission." Though you'd never know by loo king at it, Collman says that his Anglian was in pretty rough shape when he bought it. After taking it home, he stripped it to the bone, initiating a year-long concourse rest oratio n. Every nut and bolt, eve ry sub assemb ly on the machine sparkles better than new. With such an intense labor of love, you might expect that Collman could never part with this Greeves. "Everything's for sale for a price, I guess," Collman says. "But I like having them. It's just a great hobby that gives me something to play With. They' re a lot of fun to ride." Like his Griffon (see below), Co llman rides the Anglian wheneve r he can. "They actually work very well," Collman says. "In their day they were considered one of the best t rials bikes made ." lnctdentally, beaut iful tho ugh it is, Collman's machine was aced out in the show judging by an equally clean Anglian, the differ ence being that the other bike was former ly ow ned by the late Nick Nicholson, who was the sole U.S. import er for Greeves in the '60s and '70s. Tie goes to the pionee r. Machine: 1970 Greeves Griffon 250 Owner: Gary Collman, Brea, California Gary Collman has been a Greeves fan for about 20 years, but it has only been seven years since he actually joined the cult with the purchase of his first Greeves. His current quiver includes this immaculate Griffon 250. Collman says there is a lot to appreciate in a Greeves motorcycle. "I just like that they were made in Britain," says Collman, a 54-year-old engineer. 'Y\t one time, they were the best two-strokes made. Ilikethe looks of them . They are very unique in the ir design. They're just different from modern bikes, and they're different from any other vintage bike, really ." This particular Gr iffon was in pretty good shape when Collman purchased it. He estimates that it only took about six months to whip it into the condition that you see here. Collman actually competes in vintage mo tocross aboard this Griffon, having rece ntly contested the AHRMA Speed & Sport Natio nal Vintage Motocross Series opener at Wittman, Arizona, just two weeks before Greeves Days. "I didn't do so well because that was my first time riding this particu lar bike," Collman says. "But I had a lot of fun." For him, that's what owning a Greeves is all about . www.cyc leneW5.co m CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 3, 2004 37

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