Sprite-UK/American Eagle-USA /Alron-AUST

[VMX247]

THANKS TO CARL AND MARK for the article,much appreciated. 
Alison &  Steven

[VMX60]

After following this thread I was prompted to follow up on an Alron Ossa I have known off.

This owner had brought the bike directly from Ron Lyons and it has taken me 10 years of persistence to finally clinch the deal.

I have picked up the bike and will post photos at a later date.

 

Allison - Thanks for spuring me on !!

 

[VMX247]

Your welcome VMX60 
I have also had positive feedback from T250K (forum member) whom traveled 150km today to catch up with us and have a chat at the Denmark MX,we didn't have more than 10 minutes as our son had a tank slapper on his bike and had taken his finger nail off and bits of flesh crushed  :'( note:Always have your clutch perch that wee bit loose.
We packed up and did a run to the Denmark hospital (country hospitals are just fantastic-places of Angels).Then home north 300km.

We'd like to thank Mike T250K and Gill (on her Birthday) for traveling all that way,(being nearly a 300km round trip)and hope to catch up for longer next time.
Here's to the Vintage Spirit

Q:So has anyone seen a Sprite Villiers 36A lately       
cheers Alison

[VMX60]

Alison
Hope the young boy is OK , be a long trip home when your in pain.
Just a follow up to the ALRON story Mortlocks Suzuki built a ALRON/SUZUKI TM250 motor and a current WA VMX racer built it.

After the NAT will fill the details in.
Talking to the guy that raced it this week. trying to find out more of the ALRON STORY

[JC]

After following this thread I was prompted to follow up on an Alron Ossa I have known off.

This owner had brought the bike directly from Ron Lyons and it has taken me 10 years of persistence to finally clinch the deal.

I have picked up the bike and will post photos at a later date.

 

Thats excellent VMX60. I've often tho't there must be someone in VMX who knows of one or two.

Is yours an MX or enduro model?
Are you in WA?

[VMX60]

JC-Tossa-Allison

Here are some photos of the Alron Ossa purchased this weekend in WA.

I am still not sure, as most people on this thread, of the true history of the Alron.

I think this would have been a MX model converted to Enduro, as everything is tacked on to fit the Enduro gear.

The motor is SDR engine No with Amal carby.

Frame is a Sprite - not locally made.

Open to any comments.







 

[VMX247]

Clean the bath out    ...........

Looks like it's all there.Very nice find.  anymore   
Did you get some info/articles/newspaper clips etc from the seller.  ?
What year is it-as the frame has a fatter tubing at the top front where the tank sits compared to mine ?
last but most important -wanna sell your sidecovers 
I know a few that worked at Mortlock's.... ah more phone calls 
cheers Alison

[Tossa]

Don't know whether to somment or not, might leave that to JC as he's been talking to my old man and others about Alron

But sure is a great sight to see.  The belief is that Alron only ever sold one bike!!!  The blue one (enduro) in the magazine photo.  The rest of the story appears to be extemely interesting from the information I've been given by my old man.  So don't want to spill any beans at it could turn into one of those exposes!!

[VMX60]

Dogs not swimming this time of year

Year  70/73 at a guess

Only sales infro is a old business card and a hand written note of motor service and oil specs.

The alloy side covers have been butchered, cut in half on the other side to clear old exhaust (bugger).

As always having had a great interest in Ossas I am very pleased to have finally acquired this treasure.

[firko]

Nice find. After years of research and hunting down Frank Hipkin built bikes, this is the first OSSA Alron I've ever seen. It's interesting that this bike has the late fastback frame, the same as Dean Rowes 405 MX. I think we've been victims of a bit of creative skulduggery somewhere along the way. In Ray Ryans piece in issue #7 of VMX it's quoted that "Alron were to build some 60 bikes in all. Approximately 40 were OSSA powered with the remaining 20 or so equipped with the flawed yet potent 'Son of Husky' Sprite 400 (sic) engine and transmission". When asked just how many bikes he actually sold, Sydney Alron distributor Brian Clarkson was unsure but admitted it was "only a small few". It's funny that I've seen more American Eagles and Sprites here in Australia than "our own" Alrons. I've seen only Alan Jones genuine 405 that he sold in the mid 90's to "Gilbert" who supposedly dismantled the bike and it possibly ended up at the tip. Then there was the bike Dean Rowe restored and sold at CD4 that I posted on page 2 of this thread. There was also another 405 that raced at an early Amaroo Park vintage meeting that was fitted with Maico AW forks and laid down shocks. I told the owner his bike was ilegal to race in such a guise and that he wouldn't be allowed back until he "demodified" the suspension. He and the bike were never seen again. I believe there is a 405 in a private collection in Victoria and another under restoration in Sydney, possibly the 'Amaroo' bike.

It's strange that despite Lyons claim of 40 OSSA powered machines, this is the first to reappear to my knowledge. My hunch is that as few as 20 Alrons were actually sold, most of them being rebadged 405 Sprites straight off the ship. Between JC researching the 250 Alron and Alan Jones and myself  researching Sprite and American Eagle as well as Alron and none of us having uncovered an OSSA Alron, Alan and I and I'd asume JC would have to come to the conclusion that far fewer Alrons, especially the 250's, were produced than Ron Lyon claims. There may be a movie script in this .

[VMX247]

What about TAX-Sprite was sold in kit for TAX reasons-movie alright    Doc bring the popcorn 
Don't know if your allowed to say the word TAX on here 
cheers

[VMX60]

Firko

Totally AGREE the number of Alron/ossa maybe one or two  

This bike was brought from Ron Lyons was his personal bike. This was brought from his home not his business.

 

[VMX247]

Firko
Totally AGREE the number of Alron/ossa maybe one or two  
This bike was brought from Ron Lyons was his personal bike. This was brought from his home not his business.
 

Interesting ! are you saying Ron Lyons is still on this great blue planet of ours. ?
cheers

[JC]

VMX60,  This is a fantastic find! Any chance of a good side-on pic of RHS of whole bike?

It looks to me like it is one of the "development bikes" ridden in WA enduros by Tossa's dad & Graham Sully. The fact that it was bought from RL's home, not new from the shop would also support that.

In fact, for various reasons, I'd say its the very bike pictured in one of the TW articles & also in Ray Ryans article in VMX #7 (same pic), which I believe was Mitch's bike.

In both captions for those pics it is said to be an MXer, but any Ossa-buff can tell you its not the Stiletto/Phantom top end, & the MX Alron 250s ran down-pipes like the 400s. Most likely an SDR engine in the bike in those pics - just as you've found on this one.

As far as I can see in VMX60's pics posted above, this is the later "fastback" style Sprite frame, not the early one, or the Oz-made frame of the blue one in the TW article posted above.

Apart from Mitch, I've managed to speak w another 2 guys closely associated w the Alrons back in the day & who all rode/raced them. There seems to have been some 'tall stories' told in the press back then ("they were trying to create an image", no doubt of a successful enterprise) & there are a lot of contradictions in the various articles. eg The nos produced were variously said to have been 25, 35, 50, or 60, tho its sometimes unclear whether they're referring to the 250s ("real alrons") or the whole lot. In the ever-present tension between accuracy & expediency in the press, one seems to have come off 2nd best.

However, like Tossa, I'm not sure how much to say in print. So bear in mind these are only opinions & pls don't quote me. (I'd rather avoid a lawsuit) My hunch about how many were produced is perhaps only half a dozen ea 250s & 400s. I hope to be able to give reasons why & point out some of the anomolies in the story when I get a little more info.

[JC]

This bike was brought from Ron Lyons was his personal bike. This was brought from his home not his business.
 

Interesting ! are you saying Ron Lyons is still on this great blue planet of ours. ?
cheers

Alison, I'm lead to believ RL is still alive, but we haven't been able to get a contact yet. Mitch said his father Sid Lyon (who financed the Alron venture) has died.

I believe what VMW60 is saying is that he bought it from the guy who bought it from RL back in the day