Cheney Goldstar

[firko]

This is Jonesy's Cheney Matchless, a bike with a very interesting history.
                                               
                                               
  l-r...Jonesy's Cheney Matchless and Black Betty, Firkos 350 Maico, DT1, PE400Z and Boyd and Stellings TM400

[higgi183]

I bought my Goldi in 1985 and my Dad thought I was completely nuts spending £900 on an old bike, the man I got it from new it was a Cheney but had no other information about it. As the pictures show it has a GP carb and a Lucas 2MTT magneto as fitted to Manx Nortons ,7Rs and G50s, it has road races cams and the Cheney mod taking oil from the pressure feed to the cams up to the rocker feed, when I spoke to Mr Cheney he said he carried out this mod to all his Goldstar mx bikes. The gearbox has scramble ratios and Timkin needle rollers on the lay shaft .
Back in 1996 I was riding the bike at a meeting near Aldershot when I was approached by this tall thin man who introduced himself as Eric Cheney , he asked me if it was my bike and did I know any of it's history which I said only that it was built by you, he then laid on his back and pointed to an old frame repair and said that it was carried out in Czechoslovakia during the 1963 Europeon championship . He said the bike was built for Keith Hickman , he said he built 3 in 1962, 1 for Jerry Scott which he new of its where abouts, 1 for Frank Underwood which he new where it was and 1 for Keith Hickman which untill that day he didnt know where it was.most of his bikes were sold through Ken Covels shop near Cambridge .
I asked him to put it all down on paper and send it to me which he did at a later date, the bike went back to his for major frame repairs in 1998, he could have made a new OIF frame cheaper than it cost to have my frame repaired but I wanted to retain the bikes originality . The job was done and it's now after many years going back together proberbly never to have its neck rung in anger again.
Hopefully the pictures will be clear because they are originally photos which I copied using my iPhone .
Thanks for reading my ramblings,
Simon

[higgi183]

[higgi183]

[higgi183]

[higgi183]

[higgi183]

[firko]

What a great story Higgi, It's brilliant that you've opted to preserve the bike rather than over restore her. It'd be a shame to turn the old war horse into a total Garage Queen though, the public should see and hear these old bikes so why not take her out for the occasional low pressure parade lap or even a low pressure race or two? 
 
You're lucky also to have those letters from Eric Cheney as he was notoriously unreliable with offering up such info. The Matchy Cheney in the post before yours has an equally as interesting past and when its owner asked Cheney for such a verification letter, he sent him a note saying that seeing that he recieves so many requests for bike verification he now charges 25 pounds for the privilege. Alan sent the old bugger the 25 quid and never heard another word from him . Unfortunately he died not long after. Luckily the other people involved in the bikes history have been extremely forthcoming and we have enough good information to produce an interesting magazine piece on the bike and its history for a future VMX edition.
Here's the bike circa 1966 outside Westbury Motorcycles in the UK.
                                                     

[dfisher]

Well, this thread pops up on my radar (thanks Alison) just after posting a recent article.  Great history Higgi and an interesting addition to the Cheney timeline.

[pancho]

G'day higgi, great read! and Mark. I am interested to know about the clutch on the BSA gearbox. Does it use an original Beeza clutch or something else?
 In the late '60's I raced a pretty fast highly modified B33 on dirt track using the gearbox from a duplex Beeza fitted with a Daytona gear set which gave no trouble, 'till the gears wore out and I fitted a standard set.
 From then on I had continuous failures from the clutch hub which failed because the keyway in the clutch hub lined up with a spline slot and used to split.
 Having no means (or know how) at that time I could not perform an effective mod.
 So my question--what sort of clutch hub? Specially  considering wider steps between gears in scrambles/motocross.
 
Cheers pancho.

[firko]

Wally, I wish I could inspire you you with my knowledge on such stuff but the truth is..... I haven't a clue . Frank Stanborough is your man for that kind of knowledge mate.

[pancho]

 The real answer was to fit an AMC g/box, but they were a bit scarce, wreckers price for the only one I found worked out at about 10 weeks tradesmans pay. Was'nt about to happen.
 Thinking back,I should have used a pre unit Triumph box, I had found them to be strong.
cheers pancho.

[higgi183]

Morning Pancho, the clutch fitted to my Goldi is a Norton 3spring type with an alloy pressure plate which was standard fitment on Cheneys and from what I understand on most BSA's when used in competition . The main shaft is off a plunger BSA with a bolt up gearbox, the shaft has a spline on the end that the Norton clutch fits on to without any machining and the gears are all standard BSA B series gears.As you say the key slot is the weak point on the original shaft, hope this helps, shame your so far away , I have somewhere a shaft that I would photograph if I could find it but don't hold your breath.

[dfisher]

A few from the archives.  Keith was on a Rickman in '64, nothing prior yet discovered on the Cheney.


Oxenbourne Farm 1965


Bulbarrow Hill Dorset 1965


Team Eric Cheney - Bulbarrow Hill Dorset 1965


Oxenbourne Farm 1966


Jerry Scott - Sittendorf 1965


Jerry Scott - Sittendorf 1965


Jerry Scott - Sittendorf 1965

[higgi183]

Lovely Pictures ,specially of Jerry Scott at Sittendorf, it's surprising where all these lovely photos keep coming from. Back in the mid 90s I saw at a meeting ( not being ridden but on show) a 1966 Cheney Goldstar that made mine look like a dinosaur , it had magnesium engine cases a blue frame and was finished to the highest standard, it was truly a beautiful machine and I can only assume it was a Jerry Scott bike.