Speedway multiple world-champion still to keep old bikes on the roads of the UK

Looking like a modern-day blacksmith, with a wood-burning stove centre-stage in his workshop, Sam Ermolenko, is surrounded by motorcycle engines and parts.

The 60-year-old former speedway multiple world-champion, forged a career in tuning, repairing and rebuilding engines after retiring from the sport in 2006. His business, Sam’s Dyno, housed in an old RAF communications building in Fauld, Staffordshire, is booming.

“We have old-school skills and the machinery that gives us the ability to fix older generation bikes. Most bike shops won’t look at things over seven-years-old.

“The bikes I grew up with are now becoming classics. Most of the ones we work on are at least thirty-years-old.

“At 13-years-old I began working in my family’s motorcycle shop in California. I then went racing for 27 years.

“I had to acquire the machinery, tools and know-how to keep me at the top of my sport.

“We still use this machinery. We can actually fix things and keep older bikes on the road. We have modern Dyno testing equipment - we help to tune modern street and race bikes too.

“I love all engines but my favourite is always a winning one. I can feel how a motorcycle is set-up by riding it by the seat-of-my pants and I can hear how its engine is working by the sound of its roar”, explained Sam.

Sam is extending his building and taking on more specialist mechanics to cope with the surge in demand to keep older motorcycles on the road.

Credit: Midlands News & Stunning Views