Page under construction always…

Introduction

The ISDT of 1962 took place in Garmisch Partenkirchen

Great competitors & really nice guys have been in touch, Helmut ‘Speedy’ Clasen who was a champ on Bicycles as well as Motorcycles & Leo Keller who has a superb ISDT site himself some pics of Speedy & others help us get a 1962 page going.  BIG THANKS!.The Cold war situation of 1961 which kept DDR entries out, sadly remained for the 1962 event as well.

Motorsport in Österreich

Internationale Sechstagefahrt 1962

We now have found a worthwhile collection of images of this event at the web site of the Technisches Museum Wien who have gathered a collection of ISDT records and images, mostly of Austrian competitors and team, from the best resources available – professional motorsports photographers.

View the gallery of images for ISDT 1962 here

Germany Fielded the Trophy Team which had won in Wales:#19 Erwin Schhmider 350cc NSU, Lorenz Muller 175cc Hercules, #165 Lorenz Specht 175cc Zundapp, #100 Gunter Dotterweich 250cc Maico, #2 Sebastian Nachtmann 750cc BMW, #76 Richard Hessler 250cc Zundapp.

Volker Gehring has found picture of this 1962 event of His Father V. Gehring, Kramer, Sengfelder gaining GOLD on 100c as Best Manufacturers’ Team. Thanks Volker.  A series of Superb action shots of Gehring follow thanks again to his son Volker Gehring who has helped me immensely.

Always the studious spectators all around the world Gehring again.

Thanks to the LeGuideVert Historic ISDE forum for recovering the above image of a Belgian youngster better known by many as Jacky Ickx

This bike features in a ‘Where are they now?” spot which can be read below. It was sold at Auction in 2004 by a collector an up to date photo has not been located yet… can you help?

I am pleased to say you can find more of Speedy Clasen’s photos from the ISDT in 1962 in his Picasa online photo album here

What the Papers said!

We are always looking for help locating and welcome gifts of scans of event reports from old magazines, in this case it would be good to see this German report althoug ha translation would be even more helpful.

A recent lucky break on eBay recently found a rather frail and turning to dust copy of ‘Motor Cycle News‘ that was acquired and more or less disintegrated once it had been scanned. The photos are below and a pdf of the pages are available below its format did not suit our issuu.com library

Scooters gaining Silver Medals, what next?.

More about the riding career of Bud Ekins can be found here

The Final Score: Results

Speedtracktales wishes to thank Marc Pétrier of FIM Information Resources who has facilitated the scanning of the FIM archive of ISDT results material and is allowing us to make it available here as a public service. Download a copy of the original Results and Stewards Report at the link below.

Download Stewards Report for the 1962 ISDT here

We are currently creating content for this section. In order to be able to keep up with our high standards of service, we need a little more time. Please stop by again. Thank you for your interest!

Advert Break

Where are they now?

John Harris’s works BSA appeared in an auction in 2004. at Bonhams. Although no picture can be located, the sale description provides some of the bike’s history. Since we know this bike exists I hope it’s owner finds this article and can let us have a copy of a photo of the bike today.

Whilst browsing a google image search recently looking for US stars, I found photos taken on a tour of the National Motorcycle Museum with a picture of GOB 275 listed as a 1962 ISDT BSA A50 but not given the #18 plate it rode in the 1962 event with.

#293 was the number of Arthur Lampkin’s BSA in the ISDT 1963

Auction 11091

25 Apr 2004 11:00 BST Stafford, Staffordshire County Showground
Collectors’ Motorcycles & Related Automobilia

Lot heading – Lot 329

“The ex-works, John Harris, ISDT 1962 BSA 500cc A50 Star Registration no. 275 GOB Frame no. A50-109Engine no. A50-193 This machine, believed the only one of its kind ever made by BSA, was ridden by the Small Heath factory’s works moto-cross star John Harris in the 1962 ISDT at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in West Germany. At the top of his form in 1962 (he finished third in the British 500cc Moto-Cross Championship that year) Harris was a member of Britain’s official Trophy Team alongside Fred Billot (AJS), Gordon Blakeway (Triumph), Tim Gibbes (AJS), Johnny Giles (Triumph) and Ken Heanes (Triumph). A gruelling event at the best of times and a real machine-and man-breaker, the ISDT invariably is won by the team with the best reliability record. And while Harris’s BSA came through unscathed, the mounts of many of his team- mates fell prey to minor problems, dropping the British team to second place behind the victorious Czechs.

Out on the BSA again for the 1963 ISDT in Czechoslovakia, Harris was not so fortunate, being eliminated, together with Gordon Blakeway, on the first day, a double blow that ended all hopes of a British medal. For the 1964 ISDT in East Germany, ‘275 GOB’ was loaned to rising star John Lewis, who would feature in the British Team in 1966, ’67 and ’68, though not on the BSA. Its days as a works mount over, ‘275 GOB’ was sold directly from the BSA factory to the present private owner. The latter’s business is a partnership run with his brother, and for insurance purposes the machine was placed on the company policy, which necessitated registering it in the brother’s name. In 1967 the vendor sold the machine to a local dealer, Bridge Garage in Exeter, from whom it was purchased by a Mr Stone. Stone sold the bike to one T Seldon, from whom the vendor bought it back in 1973. Once again, it was registered in the vendor’s brother’s name for insurance purposes. Restored towards the end of 2003, ‘275 GOB’ had been kept in storage, un- touched, for the preceding 25 years. The machine is reported as completely original, with the exception of the handlebars which have been replaced. Since completion it has covered only the few miles to the MoT station and back.

Presented in very good condition, ‘275 GOB’ is offered with its original logbook showing the BSA company as first owner and listing all subsequent private owners, press cuttings (one showing BSA Competitions Manager Brian Martin with the machine) restoration invoices and current MoT certificate.Like the majority of rival manufacturers – Triumph excepted – BSA preferred to campaign its single-cylinder models in off-road competition, using the Gold Star in the 1950s and then the unit-construction C15/B40 and its derivatives in the 1960s. Exactly why BSA chose to build this-almost certainly unique-ISDT twin remains a mystery. The unit-construction A50 and A65 twins were newly introduced in 1962 and Small Heath may have felt that the ISDT experience would expose any weaknesses in their design. On the other hand, with off-road twin-cylinder models for the United States market in the pipeline, it may have served as a test-bed for these. Whatever the reason for its creation, ‘275 GOB’ represents a unique opportunity to acquire a fascinating piece of works BSA competition history possessing impeccable provenance.“