When BSA announced that it would be closing its doors in the early 1970s, a handful of talented riders were left needing a new mount. One of those riders was “Big” John Banks, who would ink a deal to compete on a Cheney machine in the ’73 GP season. He would end up winning the ’73 British Championship on a British bike — supposedly making him the last person to achieve this feat — and took second place that same year at the US GP.
Banks’ success garnered a lot of attention and motorcycle dealer Ken Heanes convinced Eric Cheney to join forces to create a 500-unit-run of John Banks Replicas (also known as JBR’s), utilizing B50 engines, wheels, and forks from the recently-defunct BSA, though the plan would slowly unravel and only roughly 200 frame kits were built. Interestingly the majority of the leftover hardware ended up in the hands of one Alan Clews, who Banks would coincidentally sign a contract with for the 1974 season.
While the dawn of the 1970s welcomed a wave of European and Japanese two-stroke MXers — which boasted a significant weight and power advantage over the older four-stroke machines — there remained riders, like Banks, who felt the four-stroke platform was preferable in MX riding, thanks to a wider rev-range. Though “Big John” ultimately failed to win a championship title, he did nonetheless earn third place in ’74, plus half-a-dozen other top-five spots in the FIM World Championship throughout the mid-‘70s.
Towards the end of the 1970s, CCM started churning out full on motocrossers built around Honda’s XL500’s air-cooled, four-stroke, SOHC, (four-valves-per cylinder) 32HP singles which Banks rode in competition. These were fast and lightweight machines, born in an era of rapid technological advancements. It appears that Rod Spry (of Rod Spry Engineering) was particularly fond of Banks’ old XL500-based two-wheelers, because in 2012 Spry built a baker’s dozen XL500-powered John Banks Replica bikes, most of which were supposedly purchased for use in twin-shock motocross racing.
On top of being a gorgeous model, this example is in stellar condition. Every inch appears to be pristine, and the welds look pretty damn solid. The exhausts are easily one of my favorite features on this one. According to the seller, this JBR has zero miles on it, which is a believable claim based on how immaculate the bike is. This particular example is currently in off-road trim, however the seller says they have all the legal road-going bits, and that the bike has “V5′ on a 1980 ‘V’ plate”.
You can find this Rob Spry Engineering Honda 520 John Banks Replica for sale here on the BikeShed in Reading, England with a price of $15,400. You can also find it