In the very early days of motorcycle sport anything and everything was pressed into service as the desire to compete needed to be fulfilled. Back then there was little specialisation; often the motorcycle being used would be the rider’s daily transport too. As far as scrambles, trials and even road racing bikes were concerned this wasn’t a major issue as, when in their competition trim, they could easily be used on the road too. For the grasstrack scene, however, it was a little different and as riders realised their bikes were only being used for short periods then there was no need for lighting, mudguarding, large-capacity fuel and oil tanks or comfortable saddles.
For a race of around a couple of miles in length, a tank with four- or five-pint capacity was enough; same with the oil tank as a couple of pints would suffice for the race duration. Such small containers could be fitted in different parts of the frame to the standard components and already the grasstrack bike was evolving away from roadster to something nearer the bike we see in these pics. It was still possible to retro-fit the road components though –
