Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2019 i Classic Bike Guide

THE FIRST EVER Rickman Enthusiasts’ Day will be held in 2019 at the Sammy Miller Museum in Hampshire. The event has gathered interest from around the world, and the Rickman Brothers, Don and Derek will be attending. The idea is to gather as many Rickman motorcycles in one place as possible and to invite the family and local ex-factory workforce. Rickman owners are welcome to bring their machines to display on the forecourt of the museum and to be eligible for judging. There will be a registration fee of £6 (proceeds to charities). Trophies will be awarded by the brothers for various classes on the day and the event will be raising funds for two charities nominated by Don and Derek, The Hampshire Air Ambulance and the local Oakhaven Hospice.…

THE CONSTELLATION IS more than a little intimidating. It was all power and grunt and had little in the way of fripperies and fancies and was all the more handsome for it. Although it’s compact it feels big, which is a bit of a contradiction, but if you sit on one, you’ll see what I mean. Starting was accomplished standing alongside the Constellation with the bike on its centre stand. Carbs were tickled, the advance/retard lever set at about half way, and to my surprise it burst into life second kick. Once alive it settled down nicely, and a blip of throttle had it snarling a little. The riding position felt modern. Once rolling the engine’s grunt made it clear that this was a motorcycle with a powerful personality, and…

A quick calculation reveals I’ve been messing around with motorcycles for 45 years now and I’m not planning on packing up anytime soon. Over that rather worryingly long time frame, I’ve owned a fair number and ridden infinitely more. The latter is primarily due more to happenstance and serendipity rather than skill. The late Rob Gibson, then editor of our sister title, CMM, asked me if I could find him some Japanese bikes to road test and it all sort of snowballed from there. If you’ve lent me your bike to ride then a huge thank you from a bloke who still struggles to believe he gets to do this, and more. One of the perennial questions that gets asked is “What’s your favourite bike?” To be honest I’m not…

IT’S SATURDAY, June 3, 1978 and a young man is dispatched to buy a tennis ball and a sponge. It’s an unusual shopping list for a mechanic clad in racing team gear but, nonetheless, he runs to Douglas high street on the Isle of Man as if his life depended on it. And that’s because it did, or at least, someone’s life depended on it… The sponge and the tennis ball were for the world’s greatest motorcycle racer, Mike Hailwood who, after an 11-year hiatus from TT racing, returned to the island and raced in what is now considered to be one of the greatest sporting ‘comebacks’ of all time. In fact so momentous was Hailwood’s return to the Isle of Man, that it is not merely known as a…

Discussion is always healthy; argument less so. Possibly. Making suggestions is generally welcome; offering advice less so. And why? Consider this: I was recently involved in a time-old conversation about sidecars. Well, not about the contraptions themselves, more about the suitability of a particular bike for tugging one. Although I’ve covered many, many miles attempting either to pilot an outfit or learning the meaning of true terror while incarcerated within that small shed at the side, it is certainly true to say that I’ve never enjoyed the experience. I put this down to a winning combination of cowardice and skill shortage; the former increasing the latter. And the longest journey I ever suffered aboard an unholy tricycle – a Christmas haul from Norwich to Taunton – was so hideous for…

Several elements made me choose this image – John Surtees in 1960, en route to winning the Senior TT. His MV Agusta was easily the fastest bike compared to the following gaggle of Norton singles, with a time of 2 hours, 12 minutes and 35.2 seconds, at an average speed of 102.44mph. MV Agusta team-mate, John Hartle, was second, three minutes behind, at a speed of 100.44mph. Hartle reversed those positions in the Junior. Outclassed by the MVs, Mike Hailwood and his Norton came a remarkable third, just three minutes behind Hartle, with an average speed over the six laps of 98.29mph. Just think about that – 226 miles at almost 100mph average, on a single-cylinder Norton with 1960s suspension and tyres. Talented riders and amazing bikes aside, spare a…

An owner’s view of the first days of the Honda CB750/4 In the 1960s I was the general secretary of the Honda Owners’ Club (GB). In 1969, four club members, including me, were invited to assist at the Brighton motorcycle show where the Honda CB750/4 was to debut. On the stand was a turquoise specimen mounted on a revolving pole, with telephone handsets around the circular plinth on which the pole was fixed. A second machine in gold was on the show stand in front of the counter. It was this machine that eventually went on to be owned by Lord Denbigh, then another owner, ending up with an old friend of mine, the late Dave Ayesthorpe. It was this machine that sold at auction for £161,000. I remember the…

It’s Spring! The clocks have moved forward, something we do every year to assist munitions workers and help them win the Crimean war, or something equally relevant. Spring has finally sprung up and down the land and sheds are being flung open after months of being ignored; it’s time to start your engines once again. Having duly wrestled with the lawnmower and given the patch its first, not-too-short, cut of the year, permission will be finally granted to begin waking up the slumbering beasts I refer to as ‘the nice bikes’. Although I ride year-round, it’s fair to say that most of my journeys on wet, salty roads will either be on a scruffy ‘I’ll restore that next winter’ bike, or a modern motorcycle, something in which I have little…

HAILWOOD would return to the Isle of Man again in 1979 riding a Ducati in the Formula 1 race and a Suzuki RG500 in the Senior. In the Classic race Hailwood rode a Suzuki RG500 and finished second after a nail-biting dice with Alex George. Hailwood’s Heron Suzuki RG500 was the star of the show though, and it was on this machine that Hailwood once again proved that he was the man to beat – 21 years after his first TT – in the blue riband event, the Senior. The RG was a liquid-cooled four-stroke with telescopic front suspension and twin shocks on the rear. The machine was among the most successful race machines of its era – the mid-to-late Seventies to the 1980s, dominating GP grids. It was the…

All that glitters isn’t gold While at the Stafford show, I was able to chat to a couple of gents on the Norton Owners’ Club stand. In 10 minutes these fine gentlemen had listened to my ES2 woes, conferred with each other, checked with someone else and given me some answers. These answers were perfect, agreed with my guessing andwill help my build. But they were also different to anything I’d come across on the internet. Suggestions on there were unchecked, unfounded and from someone I’d never met. Yet, because it’s online, we have a tendency to believe it. Thank goodness for clubs, for good old checking the facts and for fellow enthusiasts. How to run in your new engine Our Matchless G3 is back together; but how should we…

THE YEAR of 1969 was, on the whole, a good one. It witnessed the release of Led Zeppelin’s second album, the Rolling Stones’ Let It Bleed, Easy Rider, the Woodstock Festival, man on the moon, the list goes on… Hell, even Sesame Street made its debut in 1969. And as if all that wasn’t enough for one year’s excitement, Honda then decided to unleash to the world a motorcycle that would remain among the quirkiest ever built: the Honda Dax. Launched in 1969, the Honda Dax wasn’t a racer, it wasn’t a workhorse, it could barely be described as a ‘road bike’ but it was hugely popular simply because it was fun. It was fun to ride, fun to hear and fun to look at. Somehow, the Dax seemed to…

ONE OF THE very best classic Nortons is up for grabs in this year’s Vintage Motorcycle Club raffle. The immaculate 1969 Norton Mercury 650, a single carb twin, was the last Norton to feature the Featherbed frame. The Mercury, a softly tuned tourer, was made by Norton at the end of the Sixties to use up left over parts while the 750 Commando established itself. Despite its humble origins it is regarded by many enthusiasts as being one of the best Norton twins ever made. To buy tickets, which cost £1 each, visit www.vmcc.net/Competitions-and-Raffles. The draw will take place on Friday, June 28.…

Cable kit to check your speed EMERGENCY CONTROL CABLE repair kits are a useful thing to have in your toolbox or on your bike and usually they are available for clutches and carbs. A new product from Slinky Glide is this handy repair kit suitable for mechanical speedometers. While complete control cables are commonly available, instrument cables can be harder to find. Retailing at just £5.60, the kit is a solution for those who cannot find a replacement speedometer cable for their machine and offers a cheaper alternative to those who can but who would rather repair than replace. The kit contains a 1.5m by 3.2mm cable, three cable adapters, a tool and instructions. You’ll need a hammer and a chisel and something to use as an anvil to cut…

MANUFACTURED: 1958-1962 ENGINE: Air-cooled ohv twin BORE / STROKE: 70mm x 90mm CAPACITY: 692cc COMPRESSION: 8:1 POWER: 51bhp LUBRICATION: Dry sump, integral oil tank IGNITION: Magneto CARBURETTOR: Amal TT/Monobloc TRANSMISSION: Chain GEARBOX: Four-speed foot change FRAME: Single downtube FRONT SUSPENSION: Telescopic forks REAR SUSPENSION: Swinging arm, twin Armstrong shocks FRONT BRAKE: 6in 2ls drum REAR BRAKE: 7in sls drum TYRES: 3.25 x 19 front 3.50 x 19 rear WHEELBASE: 54in/1372mm SEAT HEIGHT: 31in/760mm DRY WEIGHT: 405lb/165kg…

ENGINE: 249cc two-cylinder, two valve per cylinder four-stroke OHC twin POWER: 30bhp @ 9,500rpm BORE/ STROKE: 56mm x 50mm COMPRESSION RATIO: 9:1 TRANSMISSION: 5-speed constant mesh gearbox, Wet multiplate clutch TYRES: 3.00 x 18 front, 3.25 x 18 rear WEIGHT: 160kg/352lbs SUSPENSION: Oil-damped telescopic forks, twin oil-damped adjustable shock absorbers BRAKES: 7in/180mm 2LS drum front 6.3in/160mm sls drum rear GROUND CLEARANCE: 150mm/5.9inch WHEELBASE: 1320mm/52ins FUEL CAPACITY: 12 litres/2.6 Gallons…

MAY 2019 30 Park it in the Market: One for the Londoners. On the last Thursday of every month Greenwich Market is home to an evening of classic cars and bikes, great music and street food. Park It in The Market starts after the regular Thursday Market has tidied up for the day. Hundreds of people show up to listen to some great live music, wander round the food stalls or simply relax in the Coach and Horses or the Admiral Hardy. The atmosphere is friendly and welcoming as visitors wander around the classic vehicles and chat to their owners. The event was voted the best Vintage event by Time Out. It all gets going at 7pm. Greenwich Market, Greenwich, South London, off the A200. 30-June 2 Unwanted MCC’s Annual…

W hen my publisher asked for – another - book on café racers, because the last one (cleverly titled ‘Cafe Racers’) sold well, it required considerable meditation before I could find my way to signing a contract. What is there new to say on the subject, with so many magazines, books, and TV shows about the subject? While my 2014 book had taken the long view, it didn’t really dig in, so out came the shovel, and a quarter of my library was suddenly strewn around my office, in a search for clues. When had the term café racer first appeared? Couldn’t find that. It seems to be a contraction of ‘coffee bar racer’, which was in common usage to describe a subculture of young fans of fast bikes in…

We talk about our old nails in terms of aesthetics and ergonomics, power and torque, character and looking like it’s doing 100mph standing still; but when it comes down to fixing and keeping the things running it’s more tolerances, limits and fits, bearings, nuts and bolts. The mechanics of a bolted joint are a complex combination, taking in metallurgy, metrology, stress, strain, coefficients of friction and other factors, but usually when trying to fix your bike what you really want to know is – what thread is this bolt or nut so I can get another or clean this one up in some way. Identifying a thread requires only a few tools, reference data and a dose of common sense. You need to find the major diameter, pitch and thread…