Vintage Greeves Scramblers

Warning! Greeves are highly addictive; once you own one you must own another. Don't do it! In fact, if you find a Greeves for sale (especially a cheap one) contact me immediately, so that I can remove the temptation! :-)

My journey to becoming a Greeves "collector" began quite innocently. After completing Bachelors and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering and accepting a position in Arizona, I decided to acquire a vintage road bike - potentially a BMW R69S. Quite by accident I discovered that a coworker, Boyd, (later to become a great friend) had owned County Motorcycles here in Phoenix during the early 70's and he had a bike that I "might be interested in". The bike turned out to be a 1967 BSA B25 Starfire which I purchased - but that is another web site. When I visited his home to see the BSA, I was amazed by his "shop" which was jam packed with a vintage tractor, old machinery, tools, bins of motorcycle parts, and wall to wall vintage motorcycles - definitely a "gear head". Literally, you had to squeeze between all the motorcycles! Except for the BSA, the motorcycles were all vintage off road bikes - motocross, enduros, and trail bikes. The visit was a blur, but I remember seeing CZ, Puch, Yamaha, KTM and a brand I had never heard of - GREEVES.

A few months later, once my bank account had a chance to recover, my new friend suggested that he had another bike that "I might be interested in" - do you detect a theme here? :-) The bike turned out to be a 1967 Greeves MX5, Challenger The Challenger was in very nice unrestored condition. In addition, it had a documented desert racing history, having raced in California by a previous owner and in Arizona by my coworker. Needless to say, I purchased the bike. Along with the bike came a pile of Greeves literature, sales pamphlets, brochures, and the loan of a great book - Greeves by Rob Carrick and Mick Walker. I read (devoured) everything The more I read about Greeves, the more impressed I became. Even though Greeves was a very small company the founder, Bert Greeves, had developed innovative motorcycles with many engineering features far ahead of their time I was hooked!

A few months later....(He KNEW I was addicted by then) :-) This time it was two bikes at once another 67 Challenger and a 69 380cc Griffon These two were much rougher than the first - both candidates for complete restoration Luckily, they were virtually complete, just needing lots of TLC (i.e. time and money) to bring them back to life.

The Challenger underwent a mechanical restoration in Dec 2001 when my brother (shown on the first test run) wanted to restore it so that we could ride together The restoration was completed before Christmas and the Challenger is running again after 20+ years of sitting idle The 380 Griffon started life as an Enduro, but all the accessories were stripped for desert racing It can be licensed for street use if lights and safety equipment is installed. The 380 with Enduro gearing could top 90+ mph! Boyd has an interesting story about racing this bike across the desert when he became aware of just how fast he was going! :-)

The next Greeves (I think this was the next one, they become a blur about this time) was a 64 MX1, Challenger - the first year for the Challenger model This bike was partially restored when I got it, but not quite finished The frame had been repainted and most of the parts installed; however, final assembly was not complete Fortunately, the remaining original parts came with the bike Greeves in general are rare due to their low production numbers; however, this model is especially collectable since it was the first with the "all Greeves" manufactured engine.

I acquired the last 2 1/2 Bikes (1 1/2 Greeves and a CZ) from Boyd when he retired and moved to the mountains His wife would not let him take all that "junk" to the new house and he made me deal that I could not refuse The deal included a 1972 QUB Griffon, a rolling frame 250cc Griffon (the 1/2 Greeves), and a 73 CZ "Falta" Replica. The QUB Griffon model was just about the end of the line for Greeves motorcycles By this time, Greeves was having managerial problems, financial difficulties, and just could not keep up with foreign competition (like the rest of the English motorcycle industry) This bike was manufactured in December 1972 The company struggled on for a few more years with very limited motorcycle sales and a few other products (mainly the Invacar a motorized wheelchair transporter) The company tried to revise motorcycle production in 1975 with the QUB Mark II, but it was a dated design and proved quite futile The Greeves company went out of business entirely around 1976 This QUB Griffon was one of Boyd's personal race bikes, which he raced in the Arizona desert The the bike still has competition stickers (and oily dirt) on it from 1975 The rolling frame Griffon will need lots of TLC to bring it back to life In all the deals, I acquired 2 spare engines (250 Griffon and 250 Challenger w/ gearbox) and a bunch of spare parts (the remaining Greeves inventory from the old County Cycle bike shop) so the trail bike project is not completely hopeless The 1973 CZ Falta Replica is a story all to itself, but I've included a page about the bike anyway.
My 2nd "newest" Greeves is a 1965 MX2 Challenger Just a week after adding the "What's my Greeves Worth ?" page, I received an e-mail offering a late "60's or 74 Griffon" for sale CHEAP To make a long story short, the Griffon turned out to be a 1965 MX2 This bike is definitely a "project" All the original fiberglass parts have been replaced or lost (mudguards, airbox, tank) and the clutch cover is missing (the previous owner has the cover stored away and promises to send it when it turns up) The bike has sat for at least 10 years and will need lots of attention to bring it back to life Luckily, the engine turns when cranked, but is not running For the most part this bike is mechanically complete and will help guide the final assembly of the MX1 A curiosity about this bike is the Moorland Blue color The literature states that the MX2 was produced in green; however, this one is definitely blue The previous owner wanted the bike to go to a good home and I think it will be quite happy with the other Greeves.

The latest addition to the collection is a Greeves 1968 MX6 Challenger The MX6 model is somewhat mysterious since the "official" records do not acknowledge that it was even produced The consensus seems to be that the MX6 was manufactured exclusively for Nick Nicholson, USA west coast distributor, and sold only in the USA. The MX6 used the newly developed "Griffon" 250cc engine in a MX5 frame Everything is essentially configured the same as the MX5 except for the updated expansion chamber, which has a more sophisticated shape This bike is very original and still has many parts that are missing on most Challengers The bike was very well maintained by its previous owners, runs great, and is loads of fun to ride.

	A few months later, once my bank account had a chance to recover, my new friend suggested that he had another bike that "I might be interested in" - do you detect a theme here? :-) The bike turned out to be a 1967 Greeves MX5, Challenger The Challenger was in very nice unrestored condition. In addition, it had a documented desert racing history, having raced in California by a previous owner and in Arizona by my coworker. Needless to say, I purchased the bike. Along with the bike came a pile of Greeves literature, sales pamphlets, brochures, and the loan of a great book - Greeves by Rob Carrick and Mick Walker. I read (devoured) everything The more I read about Greeves, the more impressed I became. Even though Greeves was a very small company the founder, Bert Greeves, had developed innovative motorcycles with many engineering features far ahead of their time I was hooked!
	A few months later....(He KNEW I was addicted by then) :-) This time it was two bikes at once another 67 Challenger and a 69 380cc Griffon These two were much rougher than the first - both candidates for complete restoration Luckily, they were virtually complete, just needing lots of TLC (i.e. time and money) to bring them back to life.
	The Challenger underwent a mechanical restoration in Dec 2001 when my brother (shown on the first test run) wanted to restore it so that we could ride together The restoration was completed before Christmas and the Challenger is running again after 20+ years of sitting idle The 380 Griffon started life as an Enduro, but all the accessories were stripped for desert racing It can be licensed for street use if lights and safety equipment is installed. The 380 with Enduro gearing could top 90+ mph! Boyd has an interesting story about racing this bike across the desert when he became aware of just how fast he was going! :-)
	The next Greeves (I think this was the next one, they become a blur about this time) was a 64 MX1, Challenger - the first year for the Challenger model This bike was partially restored when I got it, but not quite finished The frame had been repainted and most of the parts installed; however, final assembly was not complete Fortunately, the remaining original parts came with the bike Greeves in general are rare due to their low production numbers; however, this model is especially collectable since it was the first with the "all Greeves" manufactured engine.
	I acquired the last 2 1/2 Bikes (1 1/2 Greeves and a CZ) from Boyd when he retired and moved to the mountains His wife would not let him take all that "junk" to the new house and he made me deal that I could not refuse The deal included a 1972 QUB Griffon, a rolling frame 250cc Griffon (the 1/2 Greeves), and a 73 CZ "Falta" Replica. The QUB Griffon model was just about the end of the line for Greeves motorcycles By this time, Greeves was having managerial problems, financial difficulties, and just could not keep up with foreign competition (like the rest of the English motorcycle industry) This bike was manufactured in December 1972 The company struggled on for a few more years with very limited motorcycle sales and a few other products (mainly the Invacar a motorized wheelchair transporter) The company tried to revise motorcycle production in 1975 with the QUB Mark II, but it was a dated design and proved quite futile The Greeves company went out of business entirely around 1976 This QUB Griffon was one of Boyd's personal race bikes, which he raced in the Arizona desert The the bike still has competition stickers (and oily dirt) on it from 1975 The rolling frame Griffon will need lots of TLC to bring it back to life In all the deals, I acquired 2 spare engines (250 Griffon and 250 Challenger w/ gearbox) and a bunch of spare parts (the remaining Greeves inventory from the old County Cycle bike shop) so the trail bike project is not completely hopeless The 1973 CZ Falta Replica is a story all to itself, but I've included a page about the bike anyway.
	My 2nd "newest" Greeves is a 1965 MX2 Challenger Just a week after adding the "What's my Greeves Worth ?" page, I received an e-mail offering a late "60's or 74 Griffon" for sale CHEAP To make a long story short, the Griffon turned out to be a 1965 MX2 This bike is definitely a "project" All the original fiberglass parts have been replaced or lost (mudguards, airbox, tank) and the clutch cover is missing (the previous owner has the cover stored away and promises to send it when it turns up) The bike has sat for at least 10 years and will need lots of attention to bring it back to life Luckily, the engine turns when cranked, but is not running For the most part this bike is mechanically complete and will help guide the final assembly of the MX1 A curiosity about this bike is the Moorland Blue color The literature states that the MX2 was produced in green; however, this one is definitely blue The previous owner wanted the bike to go to a good home and I think it will be quite happy with the other Greeves.
	The latest addition to the collection is a Greeves 1968 MX6 Challenger The MX6 model is somewhat mysterious since the "official" records do not acknowledge that it was even produced The consensus seems to be that the MX6 was manufactured exclusively for Nick Nicholson, USA west coast distributor, and sold only in the USA. The MX6 used the newly developed "Griffon" 250cc engine in a MX5 frame Everything is essentially configured the same as the MX5 except for the updated expansion chamber, which has a more sophisticated shape This bike is very original and still has many parts that are missing on most Challengers The bike was very well maintained by its previous owners, runs great, and is loads of fun to ride.