Editing Eric Cheney

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox person
 | name             = Eric Cheney
 | image            = File:Eric Cheney.JPG
 | caption          = Cheney in January 1967 with a then-new model, using his own special lightweight frame and Greeves Challenger 250 engine weighing under {{convert|200|lb|abbr=on}}<ref>[[The Motor Cycle (magazine)|''Motor Cycle'']], 19 January 1967, pp.84-85 ''What I rode in 1966'', by Peter Fraser. Accessed 5 September 2015</ref>
 | birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1924|1|5}}
 | birth_place      = 
 | death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|2001|12|30|1924|1|5}}
 | death_place      = 
 | nationality      = [[United Kingdom|British]]
 | occupation       = Motocross Motorcycle designer and manufacturer
 | spouse           = 
 | website          = 
 | children         = Wendy Cousins
Simon Cheney
Robert Cheney
}}
'''Eric Cheney''' (5 January 1924 – 30 December 2001) was an [[English people|English]] motorcycle [[Motorcycle sport|racer]], designer and independent constructor. He was known as one of the best [[motorcycle frame]] designers of his era, concentrating mainly in the off-road competition aftermarket.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1385730/Eric-Cheney.html|title=Eric Cheney|work=The Telegraph|access-date=8 October 2010|location=London|date=23 February 2002}}</ref>

==Early life==
Cheney attended a school in [[Winchester]] based on [[Monitorial System|Lancasterian principles]] before joining the [[Royal Navy]] at the age of 18, where he served on wartime [[Arctic convoys]] and in [[motor torpedo boats]] and gained experience of engineering and working on high performance engines.<ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="guardian"/> Cheney also worked on the development of remote controlled [[submarine]]s for the Royal Navy.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/jan/10/guardianobituaries|title=Obituary:Eric Cheney|last=Melling|first=Frank|date=10 January 2002|work=The Guardian|access-date=8 October 2010|location=London}}</ref>

==Career==
After World War II, Cheney joined the [[motorcycle]] dealers [[Les Archer|Archers]] of [[Aldershot]] as a mechanic.<ref name="Telegraph"/> Cheney began racing [[motocross]] and became one Britain's best riders, along with his travelling companion [[Les Archer, Jr.|Les Archer]], who went on to become [[Motocross World Championship|European champion]]. He had ten successful years on the Continental circuit but a prolonged illness due to an infection contracted while racing in [[Algeria]] ended his riding career.<ref name="Cheney500">{{cite web|url=http://www.classicdirtbike.co.uk/news/cheney-b50 |title=Cheney 500 |work=Classic Dirt Bike |access-date=8 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003054446/http://www.classicdirtbike.co.uk/news/cheney-b50 |archive-date=3 October 2011 }}</ref> He moved into bike preparation and designs for motorcycle chassis and suspension systems.<ref name="Telegraph"/>

Cheney had no formal training as a motorcycle designer yet was able to create original and high-performance motorcycle chassis designs working in a simple workshop that was essentially a domestic garage. His approach has been described as "like a medieval engineer" as in an age of [[computer-aided design]] and significant resources for research and development teams, he worked entirely by intuition.<ref name="Telegraph"/> Eric relied on his long personal experience of international [[Off-roading|off-road]] competition riding and would prepare his initial designs for a new motorcycle frame in chalk on the wall of his workshop. Experimenting with different lines until he was satisfied, Cheney would then form the steel tubing using his chalk drawings as a guide. Only when he had built a working prototype motorcycle would he start work on a final jig for mass production. He was once quoted as saying "I know when it's right and it screams at me when it's wrong."<ref name="guardian"/>

In the late 1960s, the British motorcycle industry was unable to support a national team to compete in the [[International Six Days Enduro|International Six Days Trial]] so, Cheney hand built a limited number of ISDT Cheney-Triumphs using his own design of twin down-tube frame with a specially tuned [[Triumph Speed Twin|Triumph 5TA]] engine. Fitted with tapered conical hubs, special motocross forks and large alloy fuel tanks, a Cheney Triumph was first used in the 1968 British Trophy Team.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=USA&MJ=3ea1957089632c0194d57e4b22fdc308&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=4587770&iSaleNo=18346&iSaleSectionNo=2 |title=British Trophy Team |access-date=3 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308212339/http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/WService%3Dwslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=USA&MJ=3ea1957089632c0194d57e4b22fdc308&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=4587770&iSaleNo=18346&iSaleSectionNo=2 |archive-date=8 March 2012  }}</ref> In 1970 and 1971 three 504cc Cheney Triumphs were used by the British team in the ISDT, in which Cheney won a manufacturer's prize.<ref name="guardian"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/Cheney|title=Cheney|work=Graces Guide|access-date=3 October 2010}}</ref> Replicas were built, but production was short-lived due to a shortage of engines.

[[File:BSA 500cc B50 Victor 1973.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|1973 Cheney 500&nbsp;cc [[BSA B50]] Victor]]
Cheney's most noted successes were in the [[Grand Prix motorcycle racing|Grand Prix]] [[road racing]] championships, with [[Phil Read]] using his [[Motorcycle frame|chassis]] in tandem with a [[Yamaha Motor Company|Yamaha]] engine to win the [[1971 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1971]] [[List of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World champions|250cc world championship]].<ref name="guardian"/> His designs were the last British ones to win a Grand Prix. He never worked for any of the major manufacturers but maintained a productive relationship with [[Birmingham Small Arms Company|BSA]] in its heyday. After the demise of BSA in 1972, Cheney joined with former BSA factory rider [[John Banks (motorcyclist)|John Banks]] to develop and campaign a highly successful BSA powered motocross bike.

Some of Cheney's motorcycle designs are now famous in their own right, such as the competition [[BSA Gold Star]]s of Jerry Scott and Keith Hickman and the [[John Banks (motorcyclist)|John Banks]] replica which used a [[BSA B50]] engine specially tuned by Cheney. He also built some racing frames for [[Suzuki]] Grand Prix motorcycles in 1968 and, it has been suggested that Suzuki engineers incorporated features of Cheney's designs, such as [[magnesium]] hubs and lower fork legs into production road going motorcycles.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ryan|first1=Ray|last2=Forsyth|first2=Bill |last3=Holland|first3=Jeremy |title=Motocross Racers: 30 Years of Legendary Dirt Bikes|date=28 August 2003|publisher=Motorbooks International|isbn=0-7603-1239-7 }}</ref> Cheney's company was originally known as Eric Cheney Designs, then changed to Inter-Moto, now known as [[Cheney Racing]].

==Steve McQueen==
[[Americans|American]] actor [[Steve McQueen]], an experienced off-road rider who represented the United States in the ISDT bought a number of Cheney's motorcycles at full price because he considered them better than other makes.<ref name="Telegraph"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.speedtracktales.co.uk/11103.html |title=Steve Mcqueen |access-date=8 October 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604210104/http://www.speedtracktales.co.uk/11103.html |archive-date=4 June 2009 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.cheneyracing.co.uk/ Cheney Racing web site]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Eric}}
[[Category:British automobile designers]]
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:British motorcycle designers]]
[[Category:British motocross riders]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Winchester]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War II]]