My
journey to becoming a Greeves "collector" began quite innocently.
After completing a BS (Bachelor of Science, not bull manure) degree in
Mechanical Engineering and accepting a position in Arizona, I decided
to
acquire a vintage road bike - potentially a BMW R69S. Quite by
accident
I discovered that a coworker, Boyd, (later to become a great friend)
had
owned County Motorcycles here in Phoenix during the early 70's and he
had
a bike that I "might be interested in". The bike turned out to be
a 1967 BSA B25 Starfire
which I purchased - but that is another web site. When I visited
his home to see the BSA, I was amazed by his "shop" which was jam
packed
with a vintage tractor, old machinery, tools, bins of motorcycle parts,
and wall to wall vintage motorcycles - definitely a "gear head".
Literally, you had to squeeze between all the motorcycles! Except
for the BSA, the motorcycles were all vintage off road bikes -
motocross,
enduros, and trail bikes. The visit was a blur, but I remember
seeing
CZ, Puch, Yamaha, KTM and a brand I had never heard of - GREEVES.
A
few months later, once my bank account had a chance to recover, my new
friend suggested that he had another bike that "I might be interested
in"
- do you detect a theme here? :-) The bike turned out to be a 1967
Greeves MX5, Challenger. The Challenger was in very nice
unrestored
condition. In addition, it had a documented desert racing
history,
having raced in California by a previous owner and in Arizona by my
coworker.
Needless to say, I purchased the bike. Along with the bike came a
pile of Greeves literature, sales pamphlets, brochures, and the loan of
a great book - Greeves by Rob Carrick and Mick Walker. I
read
(devoured) everything. The more I read about Greeves, the more
impressed
I became. Even though Greeves was a very small company the
founder,
Bert Greeves, had developed innovative motorcycles with many
engineering
features far ahead of their time. I was hooked!
|
|
A
few months later.... (He KNEW I was addicted by then)
:-)
This time it was two bikes at once - another 67
Challenger and a 69 380cc Griffon.
These
two were much rougher than the first - both candidates for complete
restoration.
Luckily, they were virtually complete, just needing lots of TLC (i.e.
time
and money) to bring them back to life. The
Challenger
underwent a mechanical restoration in Dec 2001 when my brother, Trevor,
(shown on the first test run) wanted to restore it so that we could
ride
together. The restoration was completed before Christmas and the
Challenger is running again after 20+ years of sitting idle. The
380 Griffon started life as an Enduro, but all the accessories were
stripped
for desert racing. It can be licensed for street use if lights
and
safety equipment is installed. The 380 with Enduro gearing could top
90+
mph! Boyd has an interesting story about racing this bike across
the desert when he became aware of just how fast he was going! :-) |
The
next Greeves (I think this was the next one, they become a blur about
this
time) was a 64 MX1, Challenger - the first year
for the Challenger model. This bike was partially restored when I
got it, but not quite finished. The frame had been repainted and
most of the parts installed; however, final assembly was not
complete.
Fortunately, the remaining original parts came with the bike.
Greeves
in general are rare due to their low production numbers; however, this
model is especially collectable since it was the first with the "all
Greeves"
manufactured engine.
I
acquired the last 2 1/2 Bikes (1 1/2 Greeves and a CZ) from
Boyd when he retired and moved to the mountains. His wife would
not
let him take all that "junk" to the new house and he made me deal that
I could not refuse. The deal included a 1972 QUB Griffon, a
rolling
frame 250cc Griffon (the 1/2 Greeves), and a 73
CZ "Falta" Replica. The QUB
Griffon model was just about the end of the line for Greeves
motorcycles.
By this time, Greeves was having managerial problems, financial
difficulties,
and just could not keep up with foreign competition (like the rest of
the
English motorcycle industry). This bike was manufactured in
December 1972. The company struggled on for a few more years with
very limited motorcycle sales and a few other products (mainly the
Invacar,
a motorized wheelchair transporter). The company tried to revise
motorcycle production in 1975 with the QUB Mark II, but it was a dated
design and proved quite futile. The Greeves company went out of
business
entirely around 1976. This QUB Griffon was one of Boyd's personal
race bikes, which he raced in the Arizona desert. The the bike
still
has competition stickers (and oily dirt) on it from 1975. The rolling
frame Griffon will need lots of TLC to bring it back to life.
In all the deals, I acquired 2 spare engines (250 Griffon and 250
Challenger
w/ gearbox) and a bunch of spare parts (the remaining Greeves inventory
from the old County Cycle bike shop) so the trail bike project is not
completely
hopeless. The 1973 CZ Falta Replica is
a story all
to itself, but I've included a page about the bike anyway.
My
2nd "newest" Greeves is a 1965 MX2 Challenger.
Just a week after adding the "What's my
Greeves
Worth ?" page, I received an e-mail offering a late "60's or 74
Griffon"
for sale CHEAP. To make a long story short, the Griffon turned
out
to be a 1965 MX2. This bike is definitely a "project". All
the original fiberglass parts have been replaced or lost (mudguards,
airbox,
tank) and the clutch cover is missing (the previous owner has the cover
stored away and promises to send it when it turns up). The bike
has
sat for at least 10 years and will need lots of attention to bring it
back
to life. Luckily, the engine turns when cranked, but is not
running.
For the most part this bike is mechanically complete and will help
guide
the final assembly of the MX1. A curiosity about this bike is the
Moorland Blue color. The literature states that the MX2 was
produced
in green; however, this one is definitely blue. The previous
owner
wanted the bike to go to a good home and I think it will be quite happy
with the other Greeves.
The
latest addition to the collection is a Greeves
1968 MX6 Challenger. The MX6 model is somewhat mysterious
since
the "official" records do not acknowledge that it was even
produced.
The consensus seems to be that the MX6 was manufactured exclusively for
Nick Nicholson, USA west coast distributor, and sold only in the
USA.
The MX6 used the newly developed "Griffon" 250cc engine in a MX5
frame.
Everything is essentially configured the same as the MX5 except for the
updated expansion chamber, which has a more sophisticated shape.
This bike is very original and still has many parts that are missing on
most Challengers. The bike was very well maintained by its
previous
owners, runs great, and is loads of fun to ride.
