Alison, that particular frame was stamped 1973. I bought from a guy who'd bought two in 1973 thinking he'd build a 250 as well as his 350. He never did get around to building the second bike so he covered the frame in Vaseline and wrapped it in Gladwrap (
) and stuck it in his garage attic and forgot about it until 1989 when I asked him if he knew of one after running into him at the Dick Mann meeting at Sandhill Ranch where he was racing his original Champion XL350. We did the deal and I brought it home as excess baggage.
Do you know who's got the bike over there? I put a lot of love into that Champion and still reckon it was my neatest special build. I only sold it because I don't like the ergos of the Champion frame as an MXer. I just never felt comfortable on it. When (if) you do eventually run into the bike and its owner, I'd like to see if he's got the original engine I built for it. I know that later owners Darren Cheney and Owen Hutcheson fitted different engines and that my motor hadn't been used. If it still exists I'd like the chance of buying it back for sentimental reasons.......plus that minor fact that it's a pretty handy performer.
