Description
H&H Classic Auction @ National Motorcycle Museum | Solihull, West Midlands
30th Oct, 2024 11:00
c. 1967 Greeves Silverstone
Believed one of only 58 RES models made
Estimate
£3, 000 - £4, 000
Registration No: Unregistered
Frame No: 24RES102
MOT: N/ A
Rare and original unrestored Greeves 250 racer
One of only 58 RES models thought to have been made
New alloy fuel tank, supplied with a CD ROM manual
Greeves Motorcycles was founded by Bert Greeves in 1951 and produced a range of road machines and later competition mounts for trials, scrambles and road racing. Using some of the knowledge and production techniques gained from their Invacar involvement and utilising Villiers-supplied engines they went onto great success in off-road competition, including Dave Bickers' wins in the 1960 and 1961 European Scrambles World Championship. Greeves' first road-racer, the Silverstone, launched in 1963, following the success of Reg Everett's converted scrambler still utilising their trademark alloy cast down-tube frame and rubber-in-torsion leading-link fork. The bike used a narrowed 24MDS frame and was powered by a modified Villiers engine. Priced at £285, the bike was very popular and became the mainstay of 250cc class racing in the 1960s, providing many up and coming riders with their first taste of racing and remains a popular mount in classic/ historic racing's 250 class.
This rare c. 1967/ 8 Greeves RES has been part of the Brian Ditchfield collection, a retired engineer and lifelong motorcycle enthusiast who in the past ran a very successful Sidecar Grand Prix team, finishing second in the World Championship in 2002. There is thought to have been only around 58 'RES' versions of the Silverstone made in 1967 and according to a Greeves racing database, only about 19 are known to have survived. The RES marked the zenith of the Silverstone's development and it would continue in unaltered form into 1968 with production of the model ending that year. The bike is presented in essentially original trim although the fibreglass petrol tank had suffered when exposed to modern fuel and an aluminum replica has been made that still needs a fuel tank boss fitted to complete. The bike has stood for a while so will need recommissioning and comes supplied with various magazines featuring the model and a CD ROM manual.
