As the Sixties made way for the Seventies, few would doubt the once proud UK motorcycle industry was having a bit of bother, and competitors heading to Edinburgh for the start of the 1970 SSDT would mostly have foreign machines to weigh in.
There were still a few British-made machines in the line-up for the first Scottish of the decade; while most were ‘British assembled’, using a variety of foreign engine units or a smattering of older machines still able to cope with such a long event, some were truly British-built. Among them was Reg May’s 250cc Triumph Trophy, which he converted from the BSA/Triumph group’s roadster in Comerford’s workshops as an official project, and the technically interesting alloy-framed Walwin Bantam ridden by Ross Winwood.
Interesting though both were, and Walwins have graced these pages before, these were low-key efforts and not intended to be full-scale factory production machines. On the other hand, the Bantam, entered by BSA for Mike ‘Bonkey’ Bowers to ride, was intended to be the precursor for a full-scale production run of replicas as the factory once again took the trials scene seriously.
Sadly for Mike, his and the Bantam’s trial ended on the Wednesday, which was reckoned to be the hardest day of the week, 151 miles of the toughest trials terrain in the world. It is
