Dave Minton

[Brian Marlow]

while I was reading the magazine article regarding the sad demise of Dave ,I seem to remember a TV programme I saw in the mid to late 70s featuring Dave riding a 750 Laverda around Scotland and the narrative was describing the immersive process of motorcycle riding and the way it made him feel which for me at the time was very accurate description, to my mind anyway, and in line with how I felt about riding.
I just wondered if anyone else recalls the film and if it is available to down load, I seem to remember it being on bbc two at the time but may be wrong just a great piece of journalism I thought .

 

[Paul Marx]

while I was reading the magazine article regarding the sad demise of Dave ,I seem to remember a TV programme I saw in the mid to late 70s featuring Dave riding a 750 Laverda around Scotland and the narrative was describing the immersive process of motorcycle riding and the way it made him feel which for me at the time was very accurate description, to my mind anyway, and in line with how I felt about riding.
I just wondered if anyone else recalls the film and if it is available to down load, I seem to remember it being on bbc two at the time but may be wrong just a great piece of journalism I thought .

I wouldn't remember it due to being abroad.
But I met Dave Minton at an ILOC international rally at the Three sisters track, when the ILOC held international rallies all over the place.
A charming man.
Paul

 

[rocketonarail]

Didn`t realise that he had passed away .......sad news ........ It was a 750 GTL which featured in the programme , which was restored to as new after years of non use , by an ILOC member ....... others will know more .......

The Minton GTL also once featured in a BMF Motorcycle Rider feature regarding bikes that had been taken round the clock ( 100,000 miles plus ) ........
It was a Slater ex demonstrator used to try to tempt police forces away from whatever they rode at the time ....... BMW`s probably ......

According to Dave , a heavy handed cop had taken it out for a " spirited " ride when it had still not been fully run in ........ He blamed this for a top end problem , or somesuch trouble , which occurred around the 85,000 mile mark , just as the programme was being recorded ......... To disguise the rattling in the recording , the sound of another ( healthy ) 750 from Slaters was used in the broadcasted version of the programme ....

In the magazine article , he said that as the mileage approached the 100,000 mark , top speed had dropped from 105- 110 mph , to around 100 mph , but this didn`t affect his normal cruising speed of 90 .........

He was quite proud of the GTL , and once lent it to a friend to try out ........ On his friends return , Dave asked him what he thought of the GTL ..................
The friend replied ..... " It`s a bit like a big CZ really , isn`t it " ........... As Dave said in the article ..." I should have punched him there and then ..... " ........

I remember seeing the TV programme at the time , just by chance ........ Was it called something like Talking Bikes ... ? ...... Can`t find any reference to it anywhere ........


I also have an article somewhere featuring Dave taking a Morini 500 ( roadster , not Camel ) on a trip from Mexico up to Alaska ........

 

[78jotadave]

Dave Minton's passing is sad news indeed, I too was not aware of it. I always enjoyed Dave Minton's write-ups he did quite a few Laverda entries.

 

[regaliated]

There was a pretty rough copy of an old VHS recording in the old ILOC library. I hope to revive it soon.

The bike was brilliantly restored in 2017 from a pretty corroded state - it was on the ILOC stand at the 2016 Stafford show as a barn find.