1951 reformed may 1999 headquarters thundersley essex sandon chelmsford united kingdom key people bert greeves derry preston cobb richard deal products motorcycles website greeves motorcycles ltd greeves motorcycles is an historic british motorcycle manufacturer originally founded by bert greeves which produced a range of road machines and later competition mounts for observed trials scrambles and road racing . the original company produced motorcycles from 1952 funded by a contract with the ministry of pensions for their invacar a three wheeler for disabled drivers . after many wins in motorcycle trials competitions and developing a successful us export market the original company ceased trading following a fire in 1977 . 1 richard deal bought the rights to the greeves name in may 1999 . the new business continues to develop motorcycles and launched the first new greeves trials bike for 20 years in january 2009 with an all new british two stroke 280 cc engine . 2 contents 1 history 2 competition success 3 end of an era 4 new greeves 4.1 the new 280 cc 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit the original 1957 invacar the original company founded by bert greeves mbe was the invacar company . greeves was mowing the lawns of his home in worcestershire when he had the idea of fitting the lawnmower engine to his disabled cousin s wheelchair and invented the invacar . invacar ltd was set up and won a major contract to provide motorised three wheeled invalid carriage vehicles to the uk government ministry of pensions and national insurance . 3 in 1952 from a small factory in church road thundersley not far from southend on sea in essex . 1 encouraged by this success bert greeves decided to diversify into motorcycle manufacture . a keen trials rider in his spare time he had started collecting veteran and vintage motorcycles including a 1912 triumph with the registration old 1 . his disabled cousin derry preston cobb also encouraged him to start the motorcycle business . derry s own invacar was used as a promotional vehicle and had been fitted with a more powerful engine which he used to amazed other drivers as he overtook them on the southend roads . 4 working together they developed a prototype using a two stroke 197 cubic centimetres 12.0 cu in single cylinder engine sourced from villiers engineering and a greeves badge on the fuel tank . the motorcycles were really a sideline for the main business of producing the three wheeled invalid cars so development of the prototypes had to be fitted in when the production schedule allowed . bert had been an enthusiastic motorcyclist in his youth and always had an ambition to become a motorcycle manufacturer . the first greeves motorcycle was developed in mid 1951 using rubber in torsion springing at both front and rear . this unconventional rubber springing came straight from the patented system used for the invalid car . rear wheel suspension was by a pivoted fork with rods connecting to torsion rubber mounted units just below the seat . friction dampers were also fitted which could be manually adjusted . 3 the front forks were also unusual with short leading links to carry the wheel pivoting on rubber in torsion spring units later known as the banana leading link front fork . motorcycle production began in the autumn of 1953 and the new models featured a unique frame with the steering head and a massive front down member combined in a large i section cast alloy beam cast in a new light alloy foundry that had been added to the greeves factory . the tubular frame member was inserted into a mould and the main frame was cast around it making for a very strong frame . made from lm6 silicon aluminium alloy it was claimed to be stronger than tubular steel and proved capable of standing up to the rough treatment of international off road trials competition . 5 protection was finished off with reinforced engine cradle plates which were also light alloy castings . 3 derry preston cobb was made sales manager for the motorcycle business and they started with three models a scrambler a three speed road bike and a four speed version . at the 1954 earls court show they also launched the fleetwing a two cylinder two stroke with a 242 cc british anzani engine developed from those used for motor boats and featuring a crankshaft with a hollow midsection that acted as a rotary inlet valve . with a top speed of just 61 mph 98 km h the fleetwing continued in production until 1956 when the stock of british anzani engines was finally exhausted . the fleetwing name was brought back in 1957 however for the villiers engined 249 cubic centimetres 15.2 cu in model . this was more powerful than the earlier fleetwing and now had a more respectable top speed of 70 miles per hour 110 km h . 3 gearboxes were supplied by albion engineering co. of birmingham 6 later replaced by their own designs from 1964 forward . 7 the lightweight high powered package made them successful in the trials market place against triumph and bsa models . 8 by 1962 there were eleven models in the greeves range . the offroad motorcycles were also developed through an association with queen s university belfast producing the later greeves qub model . the last of the challenger models was produced in 1968 replaced by the 250 and 380 cc griffon motocrossers in 1969 . the original leading link fork was no longer fitted having been replaced by standard telescopic forks as the leading link design could not match the travel of forks . also abandoned was the original cast alloy front down beam replaced with a new frame of reynolds 531 chrome molybdenum with a conventional down tube . 8 greeves also built a successful export business and at one time most of the motorcycles produced were going to the united states . greeves became so successful in the us that they had a significant influence on the growth of the off road biking sport and with the invention of the trail bike with their road legal off roader the ranger . 9 competition success edit it was off road competition that was to dominate greeves production and in 1956 greeves signed motocross rider brian stonebridge and started competing in the european motocross championship . stonebridge became the company competitions manager and development engineer as he was a skilled two stroke tuning specialist and was able to significantly improve the performance of the villiers engines . 3 in april 1957 brian stonebridge managed to beat the 500 cc bikes on the much smaller capacity greeves round the demanding and hilly hawkstone park course winning the 350 cc race and coming second in the 500 cc race establishing greeves reputation as true off road competition motorcycles . 4 the next greeves model was called the hawkstone ; to capitalise on this success and the company began to specialise in motocross motorcycles ridden by champions including peter hammond jack simpson and norman sloper . 1 stonebridge led a three man greeves team to the west german international six days trial event in 1958 and had a faultless ride winning another gold medal . in october 1959 tragedy struck the greeves team when brian stonebridge was killed in a car accident . bert greeves was at the wheel and stonebridge was in the passenger seat when they crashed returning from a visit to a factory in bradford . in a head on collision bert was only slightly injured but in the days before seat belts it proved fatal for brian who died at the scene of the accident . 10 after the death of stonebridge greeves signed dave bickers who won the 1960 and 1961 250 cc championship . 8 the company went on to win the manx grand prix the scott trial the european trials championship and the scottish six days trial winning gold medals in the isdt and the acu 250 cc road race . 5 bert greeves also managed to sign up bill wilkinson the yorkshire trials rider who made the headlines when he won the british experts trail competition in 1960 the first time it had ever been won on a two stroke motorcycle and a significant result for the greeves factory . 4 greeves 250dcx sportsman 1962 in 1963 the greeves range still included the 25dc sports twin and two new models with the latest glass fibre tanks and handlebar fairings as well as plastic mudguards . these were the 25dd essex and the 250 dcx sportsman . the same year the greeves factory was asked to provide the motorcycles for the british isdt team . this was significant because the team had previously relied on four stroke vertical twins . greeves produced three special machines for the event which was held in the czechoslovakian mountains . the engines were highly modified villiers mk 36a but instead of the standard villiers crankshaft they had an alpha assembly and the squared off cylinder barrels and heads were cast in bert greeves own foundry and painted with matt black heat dispersing paint . although one of the riders triss sharp had starting problems his brother brian sharp and the third rider peter stirland both won gold medals . the only woman to compete in the event was also riding a greeves machine and won a bronze medal . 5 greeves silverstone 250 cc mid 1960s style with correct appearance top half fairing at a classic meeting cadwell park lincolnshire england in 2010 greeves also made a successful entry into road racing with the 250 cc silverstone model . these were a production clubman s model with a reputation for reliability and were chosen to be the standard motorcycles for the mortimer beart road racing school . 5 when winning the 1964 manx grand prix london based rhodesian gordon keith also took the greeves racer to the fastest lap of the race his last of the four lap race at 87.6 miles per hour 141.0 km h which proved to be the best speed ever by a british 250 cc motorcycle with a race average of 86.19 miles per hour 138.71 km h . from the next five places four were aermacchis . 11 peter inchley on the villiers starmaker special in 1966 lapped the island at 93.17 mph the only brish 250 to lap at over 90 completing the 250 race at over 90 mph finishing 3rd . 12 this was a cotton frame a highly developed starmaker engine and bultaco forks . citation needed as well as a boost for the greeves factory how this was an important win when the sport was beginning to become dominated by foreign motorcycles . this led to a lot of interest in the greeves road bikes including from a number of british police forces for a version of the bigger twin equipped with a radio . 4 also in 1964 greeves launched the challenger and first time out ridden by garth wheldon it won the terry cups trail . in 1967 a 346 cubic centimetres 21.1 cu in version of the successful challenger was launched together with a road racer a 350 cc version of the silverstone called the oulton . a special export model called the ranger was also developed but by 1968 villiers had pulled out of engine production and greeves decided to leave the trail motorcycle market to concentrate on the development of a motocross model . 1 end of an era edit 1974 greeves griffon 250 mx as the japanese entered the market place with suzuki dominating the european championships from 1970 to 1973 sales began to slow . 8 greeves received an important order to supply motorcycles for the royal artillery motorcycle display team and developed the greeves griffons 1 but