Welcome to
Ripon Motor Club

Latest News

12.03.25

We had a wonderful evening on Saturday 8th March at our Landowners Meal, Social and Presentation which was held at Ripon City Golf Club.  Music was provided by Jaspa, a local Ripon band and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Following on from the AGM we have a few changes.  Meg has stepped up to the position of Treasurer and will also start doing the newspaper reports again for us.  Clare is now Vice Treasurer so she can concentrate more on the IT side of the club.  Paul Sadler has decided to step down but is still sponsoring our club along with Joel by supporting the Acklams Beta and Harrogate Van Centre Summer Series.  We would like to thank Paul for everything he has done for the club over the years and look forward to still working alongside him.   Joanne Banner has kindly agreed to be our Championship Points and Trophy Secretary and Amy Galloway is going to look after everything to do with the merchandise.

Observers were discussed at length and thinking of ways we can bring more observers into the club so we are not relying on the same ones at every trial.  It really is very easy to do and we are more than happy to give full training and buddy up with new observers for a couple of trials until they find their feet.  We are now asking that every rider tries their best to bring an observer to at least one trial a year and considering that we can have 120 riders that would help us out so much. 

Trials entries have been kept to the same amount again this year with the Riverside Quarry Series and Acklams & HVC Series costing £15 for youths and £20 for adults.  The Trophy Trials and Open Trials are at a cost of £20 per youth and £25 per adult.  Insurance and Permits have gone up this year but we have not passed that cost onto riders.  We still provide toilets at every event and pay our observers as well as giving them a meal token.

Finally, the Kirkby Xmas Trial raised an amazing £4000 profit for our two charities (Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Richmondshire & Hambleton MS Society), Ripon Motor Club Committee decided to top that up by a further £500 and also donate an additional £500 to the Brown family to help with the medical costs incurred to bring their baby son Rio home.  Payments will be made shortly to these worthwhile causes and presentations to the two charities will be made at an event this year.

Thank you for supporting our club and we look forward to another great year of events.  Our first event of the year is on Saturday 29th March at Fir Tree Farm and is Round 1 of the Riverside Quarry Easy & Beginner Series.

Happy New Year everyone.

We are looking forward to seeing you all in 2025 at our trials.  Acklams Beta and Riverside Quarry have kindly agreed to sponsor our 2 Club Series again this year:

Acklams Beta Summer Series with dedicated Small Wheels Trials at every trial.

Riverside Quarry Easy and Beginner Series which is ideal for complete beginners, riders of all ages, small wheels or those of you that just fancy an easy ride out with your mates.

Unfortunately, we had to cancel the Youth Presentation and Christmas Party due to personal reasons.  We will hopefully be holding this in January/February, so please keep an eye on Facebook/ emails for updates.

We will hopefully be holding an Adult & Older Youth Presentation incorporating a Landowners dinner in late January/early February but again, we will keep you posted on Facebook and by email.

Ripon Motor Club was founded in 1909 and is a small, friendly Trials Club catering for all ages and abilities.  We are affiliated to the Yorkshire Centre of the ACU.

To ride our trials you will need to be a current member of the club and also a member of the ACU.

A Brief History of our Club

Tom Ellis was a stalwart member of the Ripon Motorcycle Club along with his wife Mary, who did much of the paperwork associated with Tom’s interests.  He first discovered motorbikes in 1940 with a 150cc Francis Barnet.  However, the war and the Royal Navy intervened until 1945 when a 350cc Panther was purchased to compete in trials, an interest of his brother Jack.  The Panther didn’t last long and was replaced with a new 500cc Matchless.  Tom soon started to have some good results on this bike and was occasionally included in the works team.

Unfortunately, Tom’s brother Jack passed away at a trial and Tom decided to organise a trial in his name, The Jack Leslie Ellis Memorial Trial, which continues today.

Tom continued to ride and had success in the 1947 Scottish Six Day (SSDT) with a 10th place and an 8th place in 1948.  He was also 2nd in the British Experts Trial which was no mean achievement.  A Royal Enfield was obtained for a ride in the 1950 Welsh ISDT but mechanical failure caused a retirement and a subsequent works BSA ride was negotiate

Tom became a valued rider in the team and competed at the highest level, ISDT medals representing Great Britain and gaining many awards in trials at home and abroad.  The Scott Trial was a regular and favourite ride and he collected 12 Silver Spoons in 14 rides.  Joint 7th was his highest total, which again is no mean feat for any trials rider!  Tom also enjoyed the SSDT and was seen in the company of Arthur Lampkin at the Pre-65, apparently the journey to Fort William in Arthur’s Porsche was something of an adrenaline rush for him!

In 1956 Tom retired to Ripon where he opened a motorcycle shop and became active in the Club.  He also became interested in the sport of car trials and tests, driving with great verve and commitment, as he always did.  He observed in many trials but will be remembered by the riders at his favourite section, on the Fleetham’s farm down by the bridge.  Sadly he will not have seen it in its new rebuilt form, but it will still be “Tom’s Bridge”.