8. 1967 Greeves Challenger 360cc 24MX5
Sort of a companion to White’s 1967 250cc Greeves Challenger, this 360cc version from the same year sports a much more conventional look with its telescopic front fork and low-mounted exhaust that features an expansion chamber design that would become commonplace as motocross engineers figured out that the exhaust pipe played a huge role in two-stroke performance. This Greeves model actually features dual exhaust ports.
However, looking more closely you can also see some of the design limitations that Greeves failed to improve upon, which ultimately helped to cause the demise of the company. At a time when even the big four-stroke manufacturers Triumph and BSA already switched over to lighter unitized engine arrangement that housed the transmission and combustion internals in the same cases, the Greeves continued to use a pre-unit engine with a separate transmission and separate clutch case. The entire works was bolted together and held in place with the use of alloy engine plates.
Of course, that didn’t stop the 360cc from enjoying success and popularity at the time. The Southern California deserts and early motocross tracks were chock full of Greeves in the 1960s. The last Challenger models were produced in 1968. Greeves stepped up with new models, the Griffin 250 and Griffin 380, in 1969, but they too featured the same old-school drivetrain layout.
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