Page 16 Exclusive Mick Andrews 2014 Interview
That’s where ….I think that were when we were with Japan and it’s a family thing. It wasn’t the same with Ossa as there was no school of sport with motorbikes. It was that little motorbike at Yamaha that really started the schoolboy sport off. We decided to make a smaller bike for the younger people and a little bike for the kids. This is what we did with Yamaha with the TY 175 and the TY 80 and that’s what really started the school boy sport off, yeah it is.
Why did you switch to Yamaha in 1972?
Well, with Ossa things were going downhill fast. They had got some bad influence in the factory with some communists and union people and Manuel Giro, who was getting on a bit, he was in his 70’s. They kept going to strike and he said this to me. He had had enough. He had completely had enough. I remember him saying to me and saying to the employees that if you keep doing this I’m am going to have to close the factory and it went on for so long. I know the two guys who were doing it, they were bastards and real terrors. Anyway, that’s what happened they closed the factory, just as simple as that. I knew that was coming as it started to go downhill before this. Bultaco is the same, they had the same problem. It was one of the reason they finished as well. Ossa was the same. Anyway I was doing a tour of America with the Ossa and there was Jill and me and the road man and we were in California, Los Angeles. We were having to fly down to Texas and I remember we were sat in the restaurant in the airport and on the tannoy system “Is there a Mr Mick Andrew’s here”. I wonder what they was about. Who knows we’re at the airport “Would you please come to the phone”. So we went to the phone, ”excuse me Mr Andrews, this is Yamaha Japan, we are very interested if you would like to come to the factory to discuss a few things with us”. How the hell they found us there in the airport I’ll never know. Nobody knew we were there. It’s amazing. A few weeks later we had arranged and we flew out to Japan and we did what we had to do. They was quite good with us. Very very good.
Well, with Ossa things were going downhill fast. They had got some bad influence in the factory with some communists and union people and Manuel Giro, who was getting on a bit, he was in his 70’s. They kept going to strike and he said this to me. He had had enough. He had completely had enough. I remember him saying to me and saying to the employees that if you keep doing this I’m am going to have to close the factory and it went on for so long. I know the two guys who were doing it, they were bastards and real terrors. Anyway, that’s what happened they closed the factory, just as simple as that. I knew that was coming as it started to go downhill before this. Bultaco is the same, they had the same problem. It was one of the reason they finished as well. Ossa was the same. Anyway I was doing a tour of America with the Ossa and there was Jill and me and the road man and we were in California, Los Angeles. We were having to fly down to Texas and I remember we were sat in the restaurant in the airport and on the tannoy system “Is there a Mr Mick Andrew’s here”. I wonder what they was about. Who knows we’re at the airport “Would you please come to the phone”. So we went to the phone, ”excuse me Mr Andrews, this is Yamaha Japan, we are very interested if you would like to come to the factory to discuss a few things with us”. How the hell they found us there in the airport I’ll never know. Nobody knew we were there. It’s amazing. A few weeks later we had arranged and we flew out to Japan and we did what we had to do. They was quite good with us. Very very good.
A snappy dressed Mick and Jill visiting Yamaha in Japan for the first time. Mick and Jill entertain the Yamaha officials at a nearby restaurant
What do you mean?
Well, we got to Japan for the first time in, I think 1973, no 72 it would have been. I’d crashed in American and hurt my shoulder and they told me I’d never ride again, that was on an Ossa in the states. They said I’d never ride again but anyway 6 months later I was riding so I could go to Japan. Jill and myself were on the plane and there was some racing diver I knew and he said to me “what you doing here Mick?” I said “Were going to visit Yamaha “. All the Japanese were very very good but I realised that once you worked for the Japanese, you would have to work. You do what you do, no messing about, you do the work. After work we could play like they did so after work we would go to different places and have a right good time.
So they were different to how the Spaniards worked?
Well, we got to Japan for the first time in, I think 1973, no 72 it would have been. I’d crashed in American and hurt my shoulder and they told me I’d never ride again, that was on an Ossa in the states. They said I’d never ride again but anyway 6 months later I was riding so I could go to Japan. Jill and myself were on the plane and there was some racing diver I knew and he said to me “what you doing here Mick?” I said “Were going to visit Yamaha “. All the Japanese were very very good but I realised that once you worked for the Japanese, you would have to work. You do what you do, no messing about, you do the work. After work we could play like they did so after work we would go to different places and have a right good time.
So they were different to how the Spaniards worked?
Completely different to the way the Spanish worked but what we found with the Japanese was that they weren’t going to work, when they went to the factory the workers absolutely loved going to the factory to work. They would do exercises in the morning. We’d be in the factory and we’d all be in little classes and everyone would do exercises to music. It was absolutely incredible, they loved the place. It was like home to them. The big boss treated them so well. They looked after everybody. They were ever so good, yes. They’d still do the same.
How long were you over on the occasions you went to Japan?
Sometimes we would be there a couple of months at a time, yes, we’d visit back and forth.
Did you go to Japan many many times?
Quite a few times, yes, yes. Even after we’d finished with Yamaha we got invited back to do various competitions and so forth. In fact we might be getting invited back soon to do another one. They never realise you are getting older, I’m 69 now ….I know I can still ride motorbikes but ha ha ha, you can always ride motorbikes.
They point you up a hill with a step and say “go on Mick”?
Yes yes ha ha ha.
Who did you develop the Yamaha with over in Japan?
Me, just me and my little team.
Were there any other English members in your team?
No, I was always with the Japanese. When we lived in Amsterdam also I was still employed by Japan. That was the European headquarters but I always worked and contracted by Japan. They had a competition department but they did have a trials bike so we had to start again from scratch again. What I did do was send them over a MAR . Really in a sense it was stupid to make a trials bike when the MAR was successful. It was stupid to do anything different to what that was. Really the Yamaha was a Japanese Ossa in a sense but with the incredible standards of engineering the Japanese are famous for. It was only a couple of years later that I had the idea of making a cantilever and a bike with one suspension unit. That was made pretty quickly. We made that in 73 and I turned out on it in 74, on this cantilever. In fact I took it to Scotland and I rode it in the Scottish. It had an injection system on it at the time which we’d done. Everybody laughed at my motorbike ha ha ha.
Sometimes we would be there a couple of months at a time, yes, we’d visit back and forth.
Did you go to Japan many many times?
Quite a few times, yes, yes. Even after we’d finished with Yamaha we got invited back to do various competitions and so forth. In fact we might be getting invited back soon to do another one. They never realise you are getting older, I’m 69 now ….I know I can still ride motorbikes but ha ha ha, you can always ride motorbikes.
They point you up a hill with a step and say “go on Mick”?
Yes yes ha ha ha.
Who did you develop the Yamaha with over in Japan?
Me, just me and my little team.
Were there any other English members in your team?
No, I was always with the Japanese. When we lived in Amsterdam also I was still employed by Japan. That was the European headquarters but I always worked and contracted by Japan. They had a competition department but they did have a trials bike so we had to start again from scratch again. What I did do was send them over a MAR . Really in a sense it was stupid to make a trials bike when the MAR was successful. It was stupid to do anything different to what that was. Really the Yamaha was a Japanese Ossa in a sense but with the incredible standards of engineering the Japanese are famous for. It was only a couple of years later that I had the idea of making a cantilever and a bike with one suspension unit. That was made pretty quickly. We made that in 73 and I turned out on it in 74, on this cantilever. In fact I took it to Scotland and I rode it in the Scottish. It had an injection system on it at the time which we’d done. Everybody laughed at my motorbike ha ha ha.
A 1974 Mick Andrews OW10 Yamaha Ty250
With one single shock ha ha ha?
Yes, with my single shock ha ha ha. With my single shock. It was hidden under the tank. It was a long one like this and was under the tank. There was no linkage to operate it, it was just the swinging arm. They laughed at it, but they laughed on the other side of their face cos I won the Scottish on it ha ha ha.
How did it work Mick?
It worked really good.
Even at this stage, how did it compare to a twinshock?
It was so much better, significantly better ….but, it was hard to get the twinshocks in those days because the technology for the suspension units wasn’t quite the same as they are today. If you put a today’s suspension unit onto a twinshock, like they do for the classics, the suspension is wonderful. In those years the suspension wasn’t bad but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as it is now. After 74 we went back to a twinshock. We angled the units a little so that they would work better because we didn’t want people to think that the cantilever was good, so it took the other factories away from the idea. We were trying to give them the idea that the cantilever system was a failure, when secretly there was loads of development work going on in the back ground. They then launched the mono shock of a production bike a while latter and got Nigel Birket on one as well to help with that. That was quite good.
When you rode the Scottish on this prototype monoshock bike did you have any problems with the suspension and did you have to replace the unit at all?
It was fine. I can’t remember but I might have had a slight leak somewhere, or maybe that was the year before I’m not sure.
Did you enjoy working with the Japanese?
Yes, with my single shock ha ha ha. With my single shock. It was hidden under the tank. It was a long one like this and was under the tank. There was no linkage to operate it, it was just the swinging arm. They laughed at it, but they laughed on the other side of their face cos I won the Scottish on it ha ha ha.
How did it work Mick?
It worked really good.
Even at this stage, how did it compare to a twinshock?
It was so much better, significantly better ….but, it was hard to get the twinshocks in those days because the technology for the suspension units wasn’t quite the same as they are today. If you put a today’s suspension unit onto a twinshock, like they do for the classics, the suspension is wonderful. In those years the suspension wasn’t bad but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as it is now. After 74 we went back to a twinshock. We angled the units a little so that they would work better because we didn’t want people to think that the cantilever was good, so it took the other factories away from the idea. We were trying to give them the idea that the cantilever system was a failure, when secretly there was loads of development work going on in the back ground. They then launched the mono shock of a production bike a while latter and got Nigel Birket on one as well to help with that. That was quite good.
When you rode the Scottish on this prototype monoshock bike did you have any problems with the suspension and did you have to replace the unit at all?
It was fine. I can’t remember but I might have had a slight leak somewhere, or maybe that was the year before I’m not sure.
Did you enjoy working with the Japanese?
Yes, before we worked and lived in Amsterdam my Japanese mechanic, Kuki Yakosan and the engineer lived in Bakewell in a hotel. They would report back every night to the factory what we were doing and so forth.
Where did you do the majority of your development work? When we was on the circuit it was everywhere we was in a sense. We would also do a lot of work at the quarry at Burycliffe in Elton and that was the major place for doing all of the work. |
Did you have a team over here from Japan?
Just my mechanic and an engineer, just the three of us.
Just my mechanic and an engineer, just the three of us.
Did they do welding over here or any other major fabrication?
Well, we didn’t have to do a lot to tell you the truth, no,no, everything was shipped out to us from the factory . There wouldn’t just be one frame there would be three and all that type of thing and all the spare parts. We had Kuki Hamasa and we had another one called Chebaisan . There was also Suzikisan who was the engineer. It was a nice little team. Our big boss Nigel San, oh he was a good un. He used to drink saki, you know saki, you drink it in little glasses. He used to drink it in huge tumblers, oh yes. He was a little bit of a ohhh. Well …..they moved him ha ha ha off to Spain to be in charge of the Yamaha factory in Spain cos he used to cause trouble, but he was a good un. Yes, me met him in Spain a few years back and we knew he was at the factory. It wasn’t Yamaha then, we went to visit him. When we got through the security, there was big security in those days. He came down and he burst into tears when he saw us. It was ever so nice. This was about 15 years ago. Just after that he died. He was good un. Perhaps it was the saki ha ha ha.
Did you ever smoke?
Yes, I smoked in the beginning. One day Jill stopped smoking. It was Saturday, I stopped smoking and that was it, I had stopped. It was the in thing to do, smoke.
Eddy Lejeune told me that he hardly did any major development work on his Honda. His Honda was given to him and he would change tiny bits and pieces on it but nothing major at all?
Well, none of the riders did. There was only me and Sammy. We don’t all the work for them in a sense and they were just riding modified productions bikes, maybe with different materials.
But when you went to Japan to develop the TY, did the factory pretty much have a bike that they preferred and wanted it to look like?
No, they started from scratch with the Ossa. When we sent the Ossa over, we sent that before I went and they sort of got a bike built of that type which we started to work on, but we didn’t have trouble, but there were all different departments. You had the engineering department and everything there was fine there. Then you had the design department who wanted to have round engine cases and we said we don’t want round engine cases because this is a trials bike and it will get caught on the rocks. They said “oh no “I was told “design want it this way”. So the first TY 250 had round cases and then the year after you’ll notice they’re all straight ones. We got through to them then and explained to them how it must be.
I wonder whether that TY that you developed had any effect on the DT model of Yamaha bikes. I say this because the engines and other elements closely resemble each other?
I don’t know that it had any influence on it. Maybe there were certain little things maybe but that was another department. Maybe the cantilever department. We all worked together then. The trials bike the motocross bike and the DT were all involved with this. Maybe, yes I don’t know. I didn’t have too much to do with the other departments. Everything was separate. So I went out to Japan a couple of weeks after the Ossa and by then they had something roughly made up and we started from there, changing it all over. The team then returned to Elton and then developed the bike. They came back to me and we had the Yamaha van from this country and then it was supplied from Yamaha Holland, we had one of theirs. That was with Cucki San and Chibatasan and Suzicisan. Then came back with me from Japan and all the pieces for the bike came to where I lived to the workshop. It was marvelous then. We could do absolutely anything. We had our little workshop in Elton. It was in a converted reading room in the village
The reading room that Mick talks about fronts the road. The attached house that you can see up the lane is where he grew up boy to man in Elton , Derbyshire.
Well, we didn’t have to do a lot to tell you the truth, no,no, everything was shipped out to us from the factory . There wouldn’t just be one frame there would be three and all that type of thing and all the spare parts. We had Kuki Hamasa and we had another one called Chebaisan . There was also Suzikisan who was the engineer. It was a nice little team. Our big boss Nigel San, oh he was a good un. He used to drink saki, you know saki, you drink it in little glasses. He used to drink it in huge tumblers, oh yes. He was a little bit of a ohhh. Well …..they moved him ha ha ha off to Spain to be in charge of the Yamaha factory in Spain cos he used to cause trouble, but he was a good un. Yes, me met him in Spain a few years back and we knew he was at the factory. It wasn’t Yamaha then, we went to visit him. When we got through the security, there was big security in those days. He came down and he burst into tears when he saw us. It was ever so nice. This was about 15 years ago. Just after that he died. He was good un. Perhaps it was the saki ha ha ha.
Did you ever smoke?
Yes, I smoked in the beginning. One day Jill stopped smoking. It was Saturday, I stopped smoking and that was it, I had stopped. It was the in thing to do, smoke.
Eddy Lejeune told me that he hardly did any major development work on his Honda. His Honda was given to him and he would change tiny bits and pieces on it but nothing major at all?
Well, none of the riders did. There was only me and Sammy. We don’t all the work for them in a sense and they were just riding modified productions bikes, maybe with different materials.
But when you went to Japan to develop the TY, did the factory pretty much have a bike that they preferred and wanted it to look like?
No, they started from scratch with the Ossa. When we sent the Ossa over, we sent that before I went and they sort of got a bike built of that type which we started to work on, but we didn’t have trouble, but there were all different departments. You had the engineering department and everything there was fine there. Then you had the design department who wanted to have round engine cases and we said we don’t want round engine cases because this is a trials bike and it will get caught on the rocks. They said “oh no “I was told “design want it this way”. So the first TY 250 had round cases and then the year after you’ll notice they’re all straight ones. We got through to them then and explained to them how it must be.
I wonder whether that TY that you developed had any effect on the DT model of Yamaha bikes. I say this because the engines and other elements closely resemble each other?
I don’t know that it had any influence on it. Maybe there were certain little things maybe but that was another department. Maybe the cantilever department. We all worked together then. The trials bike the motocross bike and the DT were all involved with this. Maybe, yes I don’t know. I didn’t have too much to do with the other departments. Everything was separate. So I went out to Japan a couple of weeks after the Ossa and by then they had something roughly made up and we started from there, changing it all over. The team then returned to Elton and then developed the bike. They came back to me and we had the Yamaha van from this country and then it was supplied from Yamaha Holland, we had one of theirs. That was with Cucki San and Chibatasan and Suzicisan. Then came back with me from Japan and all the pieces for the bike came to where I lived to the workshop. It was marvelous then. We could do absolutely anything. We had our little workshop in Elton. It was in a converted reading room in the village
The reading room that Mick talks about fronts the road. The attached house that you can see up the lane is where he grew up boy to man in Elton , Derbyshire.
We could work on the bikes and we would be working on the bikes out on the pavement outide. We would sometimes stay out there all night with the tools and the bikes and often we’d leave it all out with no one with it. No one would touch anything in those years. It was absolutely wonderful, it’s absolutely real. Like with the village, because there were not many TV’s, I think we were the first in the village to have a colour TV.