0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
John..This is an odd one. These bikes are reported to be either Cheneys or KSI Thumpers but despite having the same (or similar) frame, they were very different bikes. The original Cheney Hondas were built by Eric Cheney in 1974. Apparently the rear suspension while being well designed, suffered because the Girling gas shocks of the time couldn't handle the extremes of the cantilever setup. The front forks were also ordinary 7" travel Metal Profiles that were way past their technology peak. The design was quickly dropped from the Cheney range and a few frames were sold to Alan Grenwood from Knobby Shoppe International who slightly modified the top pickup points and fitted Works Performance shocks. At the same time he fitted Simons forks and changed the tank to a Lyta and mudguards to Preston Petty. The bike was christened the KSI Thumper. The bikes were successful and before long former Cheney employee Howard Fawkes teamed with Myles Webb to form Thumper frames. They produced a close copy of the Cheney design with slightly different suspension points, Fox Airshox and minor detail improvements and fitted with a 450cc XL Honda engine they were named the KSI Thumper Mk2. The bike for sale seems to be KSI Mk1 Cheney built frame going by the owners own description. If it was a KSI I reckon he'd be calling it that. I've tried to find a photo of an original Cheney Honda XL250 but haven't had any success. I've got two shots of the basket case that sold on eBay but they're in GIF or some weird format and I cant transfer them. Below is the KSI Thumper mk1 Marty Moates rode in the 1978 British 500 GP at Farleigh Castle. It appears to be very similar to the bike for sale.
