Lot 143 - c.1986 Armstrong-CCM 250cc CF250 Racing Motorcycle For Sale by Auction

This motorcycle is Lot 143 - To be auctioned by Bonhams at The Spring Stafford Sale (The International Classic MotorCycle Show) on 26th & 27th April, please see the Bonhams website for full details.

Auction Timings:
Lots 1 - 147 are to be sold from 14:00 on Saturday 26th April 2025.
Lots 201 - 410 are to be sold from 11:00 on Sunday 27th April 2025.

Public Viewing:
Available 26th & 27th April 2025 from 09:00 until 17:00, at The Stafford County Showground (The International Classic MotorCycle Show).

Lot 143
The Dale Winfield Motorcycle Collection, The ex-Niall Mackenzie; 1986 Shell Oils British Championship-winning; works
c. 1986 Armstrong-CCM 250cc CF250 Racing Motorcycle
Registration no. not registered
Frame no. unstamped
Engine no. 192783
• Highly advanced British 250-class racer
• One of only four made
• Sold by the factory to Jim Hodson in 1987
• Isle of Man TT history

CCM (Clews Competition Motorcycles) had come into being in 1972 when proprietor Alan Clews purchased the stock of BSA's defunct competitions department. Clews already had plenty of experience in developing his own BSA-based scramblers, and the acquisition enabled him to offer complete machines. Clews finally abandoned the BSA-based design in the early 1980s when automotive equipment suppliers the Armstrong Group took a controlling stake in his company.

The rare machine offered here is one of only four 250s produced by Armstrong Competition Motorcycles in the mid-1980s. Armstrong's CF250 Racer was designed by Mike Eatough and made at the CCM factory in Bolton. The frame is a combination of what were then considered 'space age' materials: carbon fibre, aluminium honeycomb and Kevlar. Eatough's moulded twin-spar frame was both strong and very light, the bare frame and swinging arm weighing less than 11lb. Manufactured by Armstrong, the rear suspension unit was mounted under the engine and worked in traction rather than compression.

The engine used was the ubiquitous Austrian-built Rotax Type 256 tandem-twin two-stroke, which gave independent manufacturers the opportunity to compete effectively in Grand Prix racing's 250 class from the early 1980s onwards. Cotton, Decorite, EMC, Hejira, Armstrong-CCM and Waddon were among UK manufacturers that used the Rotax engine and there were countless others from Continental Europe, most famously Aprilia.

For its two 350-class racers, Armstrong used an engine sourced much closer to home. Basically similar to the Rotax, Armstrong's 350cc tandem twin, disc valve engine was the work of Barry Hart of Barton Engineering, which had also been acquired by Armstrong to assist with the project. Unusually, in Hart's engine the pistons were phased at 180 degrees rather than rising and falling together as in the Rotax. The gearbox was a six-speeder.

Sponsored by the Silverstone circuit and entered under the 'Silverstone Armstrong' banner, works riders Niall Mackenzie and Donnie McLeod dominated 250-class racing in the UK with these machines. This bike is the one used by future British Superbike Champion Niall Mackenzie, who rode for the Silverstone Armstrong team in the 1984, 1985 and 1986 seasons, winning the 250 class in the Shell Oils British Championship in '85 and '86 (McLeod had won the championship in 1984). In Grands Prix, though, the two Scots found the going much tougher, the team's best result across three seasons being McLeod's 2nd place in the 250 class at the Belgian GP in 1986.

After its spell as a works bike had ended, the ex-Mackenzie machine was sold to privateer Jim Hodson, a prolific Isle of Man TT competitor who made his Manx Grand Prix debut in 1981 and his last TT appearance in 2019. It would appear that Hodson rode this machine in the 1988 and 1989 Junior TT races, being recorded as riding an Armstrong in the former and a CCM in the latter (but almost certainly the same machine). He scored a 'DNF' in 1988 and finished 12th in 1989.

Accompanying documentation consists of a typed declaration on CCM-Armstrong headed notepaper stating: "The machine was sold to Jim Hodson in August 1987 by the Armstrong factory. This machine was raced by Niall Mackenzie during the 1986 racing season, in which it won the British 250cc Championship and finished 22nd in the World Championship." Bonhams has spoken to members of the Silverstone Armstrong team, including team manager Chas Mortimer and chief mechanic Simon Bleasdale, and they have confirmed that this machine is genuine, correct and the one sold to Hodson. The machine also comes with some photocopied magazine articles. A rare opportunity to own one of the most successful British racing motorcycles of the modern era.

All lots are sold 'as is/ where is' and Bidders must satisfy themselves as to the provenance, condition, age, completeness and originality prior to bidding. Visit the Bonhams Motorcycles website for all pertinent auction information.