Due to the over-whelming response to our STRANGE BIKES feature two months ago, I felt it was time to dive back in the old archives and scrape up some more odds and ends from the history of bikes. So sit back and see how many of these strange bikes you heard of. Have fun.

SATURNO CROSS -GILERA
A big four stroke made in the early to mid-sixties, the Saturno Cross had a 498 cc engine and plenty of weight. Made in Italy, it hit the scales at around 300 pounds dry. Shocks were typical Girling and many of the parts were borrowed from English technology. Right side shift, non-unit engine and a straight pipe were the order of the day.

1960 HUSQVARNA FOUR STROKE
Most folks first heard of the Huskies right around the time On Any Sunday came out. Everyone had to have one of those chrome tanked wonderous two-strokes. But actually, Husqvarna made an impact in motocross racing in the early to mid-60s on huge four strokes like this 1960 498 cc beast. It had a BSA gearbox grafted to a Norton clutch and the whole mess was hooked up to a Swedish military motorcycle engine. It was very fast, but very, very heavy.

LITO
Another Swedish bike of the same era, was the Lito Moto Cross. It had an engine similar to the Husky, using many British parts and even a set of Norton forks. The 500 cc monster breathed through an Amal Monobloc carb, which as we all know, was little more than a controlled leak.

MONARK
You may have heard of Monarks in the early 1970s, when a very light and fast 125 two stroke came out. However, a decade earlier, the Monarks you saw on the tracks of Europe were all huge four strokes using hybrid British/Swedish engines bolted in hand-built frames. This 1959 Monark was a 498 cc unit with Norton forks. It had a long stroke (101 mm) and a small bore (79mm) and as you can see, the engine was extra tall.

COTTON SCRAMBLER
This was one of the bikes that started the two-stroke trend in the early 60s. The Cotton Scrambler was very light at about 225 pounds, had a 246 cc engine based on a Villiers engine, and the springer-style front end had a plush ride for that era. Check out the puddin' bowl helmet used by riders way back then.

DOT SCRAMBLER
Another Villiers-based engine, the DOT had a weird sounding "blooey" pipe that simply exited right next to the back of the engine. The exhaust would cook the rider's leg and splatter it with un-burnt gasses. The springer front end and steeply angled shocks (for that era) gave it the best suspension in 1962, especially when compared to the 300 pound plus four strokes they raced against.

ESO MOTOCROSS
The Czechs built their own motors and the ESO was considered to be near bullet-proof. This Model 250 was a 250 cc four stroke that was as big and heavy as the open class bikes. It sported a 249.5 cc engine with a bore of 70mm and a stroke of 64.8 mm. A side float carb and a high straight pipe were considered high-tech at that time.

FRANCIS-BARNETT
Very light and almost fragile looking, the F-B was a 250 cc two-stroke with a tiny barrel and not much horsepower. It didn't even have a blooey pipe, instead having a little stub about 12 inches long exiting the exhaust port. When sitting on the bike before the start, the exhaust would send puffs of dust right up into the rider's face. Oddly, it was one of the few racers of that time to come with a side stand. Go figure.

JAMES COTSWOLD
Another two stroke racer of the early 60s, the James was sort of a copy of the Francis -Barnett Scrambler. It used the same bore and stroke, the frame had many of the same bends in the tubing and even the front end and hubs were the same. It was a 250 class racer, but never seemed to make any serious impact on the European circuit.

BC4 NORMAN SCRAMBLER
A writer in the early 60s had this to say about the bikes of the time: "Standard machines needed modifications. Items like no folding kickstarters, weak footrests, bulky ill-placed oil tanks, and the absence of a suitable air filter were but a few of the items which indicated an inexcusable lack of attention to detail." The Model B4C Norman Scrambler was a bike that offered a 250 two stroke in ready to race trim.

125 SARACEN
The125c Saracen bikes on which riders did well in motocross in the early 70s, were also used for trials and enduros with some minimal modifications, such as gearing. For some reason they never caught on. Possibly because they used a Sachs engine, which had a whole bunch of extra neutrals in the gearbox. The bike was very light, reliable and had plenty of power, but there wouldn't have been more than a handful of dealers in the US. By the mid-70s, they were effectively gone from the dirt bike scene.

HOLDER FIELD & TRIAL 133
This bike was pushed in the hunting and fishing magazines, but never caught on. Mostly because it was a real piece of crap.

PURPOSE: N/A
PRICE: $424.95
DISPLACEMENT: 133CC
ENGINE TYPE: Two-stroke
LUBRICATION: Pre-mix
IGNITION: N/A
TRANSMISSION: Automatic
CLAIMED HORSEPOWER: N/A
CLAIMED WEIGHT: 188 pounds
WHEELBASE: 45 inches
GROUND CLEARANCE: N/A
FRAME: Steel
FRONT SUSPENSION: Leading link
REAR SUSPENSION: Swingarm w/shocks FRONT TIRE: 2.75x17
REAR TIRE: 3.00x16
WHEELS: Steel
FUEL CAPACITY: N/A
INSTRUMENTATION: None
COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: U.S. of A.

AMERICAN EAGLE 405 MX
The American Eagle burst on the scene in the early 70s with a lot of advertising and a small motocross team. The bike was light, with plenty of torque and the handling was OK, but the reliability was wretched. The engine was a rip-off of a 400 Husky and some of the parts were interchangeable. For example, the entire Husky gearbox would fit in the Eagle cases, but no individual gear would. In less than two years, the Eagle vanished like a spooked buzzard. Here are some specs on the bike:

PURPOSE: Racing
PRICE (Suggested Retail): $1195
DISPLACEMENT: 399cc
ENGINE TYPE Piston-port, two-cycle
LUBRICATION: Pre-mix
IGNITION: Flywheel magneto
TRANSMISSION: 4-speed, right side shift
CLAIMED HORSEPOWER; Approx. 34 @ N/A
CLAIMED WEIGHT: 230 pounds
WHEELBASE: 54-55 inches
GROUND CLEARANCE: 8 riches
FRAME: Double downtube, full cradle
FRONT SUSPENSION: Telescopic forks/Sprite
REAR SUSPENSION: Swingarm w/Girling shocks
FRONT TIRE: 2.75x21 knobby
REAR TIRE: 4.00xl8 knobby
WHEELS: Steel
FUEL CAPACITY: 2.5 gallons
INSTRUMENTATION: None
COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: England

YANKEE Z 500
Dick Mann was one of the moving forces behind the Yankee, and John Clark was the other. Their concept was to take two 250 cc Ossa engines and sandwich them on one bottom end, then stuff the whole deal in to a super strong and stable chassis. In that respect, the Yankee succeeded, but it just never caught on. I rode one for the better part of a year, and felt it was the perfect long distance trail bike. It was built with Baja in mind. I was sorry to see this bike vanish. Here are the specs from back in 1973:

PURPOSE: Trail riding, enduros
PRICE (Suggested Retail): $1595
DISPLACEMENT: 488cc
ENGINE TYPE: Piston-port, two-cycle, twin cylinder
LUBRICATION; Premix
IGNITION: Electronic
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, right or left side shift
CLAIMED HORSEPOWER: N/A
CLAIMED WEIGHT 325 pounds
WHEELBASE: 55 inches
GROUND CLEARANCE: N/A
FRAME: Double downtube, full cradle
FRONT SUSPENSION: Telescopic forks/Yankee
REAR SUSPENSION: Swingarm w/Telesco shocks
FRONT TIRE: 3.15x21 knobby or trials
REAR TIRE: 4.20x18 knobby or trials
WHEELS: Alloy
FUEL CAPACITY: 3.25 gallons
INSTRUMENTATION: Speedometer
COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: Spain

DALESMAN PUCH 125 MX AND 125E
When the dirt bike boom of 1970 hit, many small builders tried to get a foothold in the lucrative American market. Dalesman, a British company, built their own frames and stuffed some two-stroke Puch (Austrian) motors in it. Handicapped with four-speed gearboxes and rather grim looking welds, they never caught on. As with many British bikes, they came with the standard Girling shocks and some suspect Metal Profile forks. Back to that gearbox for a moment: For some odd reason, there was a huge gap between first and second gear that let the motors fall off the power band with monotonous regularity. Also, they were priced at over $750, way more than other 125s available at that time. This would certainly help explain their demise.

MONDIAL 125
Oddly enough, Mondial won 10 world championships in road racing in the 60s' and then decided to enter the dirt bike market. They used a 125 Sachs engine and suspension by Marzocchi in this 1970 effort. However, it was doomed to failure due to very typical Italian practices like late delivery, no spare parts and a lack of dealers. For the record, the bike was a very light 176 pounds and sold for only $600 in Italy.