Geoff Monty

Geoff Monty was an English professional motorcycle racer, constructor, rider-sponsor and retail dealer,^[1] initially based in Kingston on Thames and later – under the name Monty and Ward – Twickenham areas, near London,^[2][3] with a move to Edenbridge, Kent by 1968.^[1][4][5]

Monty in 1969 working on a Triumph cylinder head with a twin spark plug conversion using additional, centrally-located, smaller 10 mm plugs, mounted into a bench-vice via a tube screwed into one of the original 14 mm plug-threads

In the mid-1950s he produced and campaigned his own brand of racing motorcycle known as the "Geoff Monty Special" (GMS), based on his own design of semi-spine frame with rectangular-section swinging-arm and a 350 cc BSA Gold Star engine having modified internals to achieve a capacity slightly under 250 cc.^[6]

In 1964 AMC announced their brands would be no longer produce any race machines – the 500 cc Manx Norton and Matchless G50 or the 350 cc AJS 7R.^[7]

Monty, in conjunction with his business partner Allen Dudley-Ward, a renowned Triumph tuner and ex-racer,^[8] recognised a business opportunity and developed a new machine initially named Monward, based on his proven GMS frame and swinging-arm, initially fitted with a 650 cc Triumph Bonneville engine which was used as a test-bed by then-contracted rider, Bill Ivy.^[7][9]

The name Monward derived from their surnames Monty and Dudley-Ward. The concept was then further developed – as Monty had done with the BSA Gold Star engine – by reducing the 650 cc capacity to under 500 cc, retaining the standard bore of 71 mm but shortening the stroke to 62.5 mm, using a new crankshaft having a shortened throw made by sidecar racer Owen Greenwood^[10] together with 10 mm shaved-off the standard cast-iron barrels.^[11] Additionally, an option was to instead fit the contemporary Triumph production engine with a standard 500 cc capacity.^[12] Both types of engine were tuned and built by Allen Dudley-Ward featuring his Manx Norton oil pump conversion.^[7]

The now-oversquare modified engine used the 650 Bonneville twin-carb cylinder head having bigger valves, ports and carburettors than a standard Triumph 500, allowing for efficient air-fuel intake at racing speeds. The 650-size crank journals and main bearings were larger than a 500 which allowed for greater reliability.

When track-testing the 500, Motorcycle Mechanics editor John Houslander reported that the engine would safely rev to 9,000 rpm making a potential 50 bhp and – with Isle of Man gearing and a four-speed gearbox – a top speed of 145 mph (233 km/h) was likely.^[11]

Concurrent with Monty's Monward, Allen Dudley-Ward was developing his own 500 cc race bike, basically a Triumph-engined Manx Norton, which he called DW Special^[13][14] leaving Monty's Monward renamed as Monard.^[11]

By 1965, Bill Ivy had joined the Tom Kirby team,^[15] leaving Monty as an early sponsor of Ray Pickrell, providing a 250 cc Bultaco, a 350 cc Aermacchi and his own brand-name Monard with a 500 cc Triumph engine.^[16] Speaking to Motor Cycle's David Dixon in 1965, Monty confirmed difficulty in finding customers for a complete new racer at 500 GBP, but buyers seemed prepared to pay 400 to 450 GBP for a well-used proprietary Norton or AJS/Matchless factory-produced race bike.^[17]

For 1966 Monty turned his attention to building a new Triumph-engined racer based on the then-new Metisse frame.^{[18][19][20][21]} Monty also was a stockist of engineering bearings, offering a mail-order service.^[22]

Monty died whilst a resident of Wadebridge, Cornwall during 2009, aged 92. He was pre-deceased by his wife Greta, whom he married in 1941, in 2005.^{[23][24][25][26]}