Founded by Bert Greeves, the Greeves motorcycle company started when Bert was mowing his lawn and thought of mounting a lawnmower engine to the wheelchair of his disabled cousin to help with mobility. That led to a government contract, and Bert was inspired by his success to start building motorcycles as well. The company was quite successful with exports – at one point Greeves was sending more bikes to the US than it was keeping in its home country. The Greeves Ranger is considered by some to be the first ever ‘trail bike’, a road-legal dual-sport.
The Ranger was specifically designed for export to the States, utilizing a 250cc engine sourced from Villiers. Production numbers aren’t known for sure, though some estimates peg the number around 3,000 (the seller of this example claims that approximately 200 were made for the American market). This bike was known for several innovative features, like the I-beam casting, front downtube, and the crazy-looking front suspension design – take a look at the photo for a view of the leading-link. Greeves was well-known a decade before Honda and the rest of the Japanese competition took over the market.
This example has 2,385 miles and the seller says that it “starts easy and runs great.” The front tire is the original Dunlop from 1969.
Find this Greeves for sale in Canoga Park, California for $4,999 here on Cycle Trader.
This bike-uriousity brought to you by Rob B!