Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2020 i Classic Bike Guide

TBROUGH THE (LACK OF) BRAINS I WAS BLESSED with, a number of unrelated events, sheer luck and the placing of the moon on a Thursday, I have spent most of my life riding motorbikes. Which is odd, since my main love in teenage life, was cars. It started as fun, slowly reaching addiction levels, and when my career path - photography - went topsy-turvy with the invention of digital, I became a courier, or dispatch rider. That in tum led to becoming an bike instructor, anywhere from Norfolk to London, journalism; and all the time it has been a hobby, as well as transport. Due to all of this is my love of bikes that have purpose. While I admire gleaming concours bikes trailered from show to show, or incredibly…

THE WORLD OF MOTORCYCLES LOST ONE OF ITS most eccentric geniuses when coronavirus claimed Angus McPhail in April. He was best known in drag racing and sprinting circles, particularly for Jade Warrior that had him stretched out on his stomach ahead of a supercharged two-litre four cylinder engine that used a Cosworth cylinder head on a home-brewed barrel and upper crankcase, cast as one. It drove a big car slick through a torque converter, and in the 1980s he was the first Englishman to get into the seven second bracket for the standing start quarter mile without using nitre-methane for fuel. Google Jade Warrior to see him in action and prepare to be amazed. He was born in Pinner and made his mark early on with a1930s250 BSA that went…

BEFORETAKING THIS PARTICULAR DT250 to the road it was impossible not to check out its immaculate condition. It was a low mileage stunner, less than 4000 on the clock, and not a speck of dirt or corrosion blighting the plot. The 1973 DT250 was also known as the DT3, in that period when Yamaha were still using arcane letter and number codes rather than names that were an indication of the capacity. It looked as if it had just come out of a showroom circa September 1973. The level and the quality of equipment is incredible for the early Seventies. There's good switchgear, clear and top-notch instruments, decent brakes, and solid, well-built bodywork. On the road the somewhat soggy riding conditions were causing me a little concern. The new Michelin…

The BMW Rl00RS willbe abitofacultureshockif your background is Japanese machinery. And although it features a lusty four-stroke, two pot motor it's certainly not a big British parallel twin either. The one litre Beemer is unequivocally different, but that doesn't mean it's somehow odd, quirky or downright wrong; it's simply an alternative take on a large capacity machine. Most of the urban myths attributed to the flat twins are just that - fantasy. There's no discernible feel of the shaft drive trying to climb over the crown wheel and the back wheel doesn't 'hop' on down changes unless you're atotal andutter clutz. Only the twitchtotheleftwhen stationary betrays the engine's format. The bike's ergonomics are stunning and that apparently minimalist seat is 'hundred's of mile comfortable'. There's an undeniable Teutonic logic about…

Big value...that's the size of it I'MNOTA big fan of labels, particularly if it means paying an extra 30 quid for a badge. When hunting for a decent set of good quality, warm and ideally waterproof gloves, I'd much rather they fitted properly than anything. Going through the shelves at my local bike gear shop, I couldn't find a decent pair that actually fitted. I measured my hands, which were apparently medium, but nothing suited. At the Stafford show I stopped by the Midlife Classics stand (purveyor of good quality old-school kit to the discerning) and tried a selection of wares, finally finding a pair of ARMR Moto WPL860 gloves that fitted. They were of course XL,which just goes to show you can't tell a size without putting the things…

HONDAXL250 Honda's XL250 is a bit chunkier than the OTand, like the Yamaha, was more highly regarded as a 350 than a 250. Powered by Honda's four-valve 250 single engine road bike, the XLwas an excellent trail bike for the road and a great road bike on the dirt. It was fast, light, and responsive. It was reliable too, until the top end went west, which was usually down to insufficient oil changes. The XLhas a lot of fans. At the time it was popular with many, apart from those who felt only a two-stroke would do on the dirt. The later XL250Sis a far more modern offering. BSA 250 GOLD STAR Ifyou are lookingfor a 250cc trail bikefrom the early Seventies, one to consider is the BSAGoldStar 250. Based…

By 1950, Associated Motorcycles Limited in South London was building bikes under both AJS and Matchless badges. At one time, AMC boasted the largest factory in the world dedicated to motorcycle production. In 1953 it acquired the Norton marque, at first keeping production in Birmingham but eventually moving Norton in with AJS and Matchless in 1962. AMC also built James and Francis-Barnett motorcycles (also in the Midlands and not at Plumstead). So the varied range of models offered under the AMC banner stretched from 98cc two-strokes all the way through to stonking 750cc four-stroke superbikes. The company was also successful in two-wheeled sports, and apart from the dedicated and highly specialised road-racers it also built a lot of competition-based roadsters. The whole lot collapsed in 1966, and was reborn as…

Telescopic fork legs are plated with hard chrome and whilst it might look like 'normal' decorative wise, it's a mile away both in application and mechanical properties. Originally OEMfork legs were initially nickel plated then given a finishing flash of hard chrome; nickel was used to give the legs a degree of cosmetic gloss. Industrial hard chrome dispenses with the nickel and is applied directly to the fork tube which has previously been ground and machined fractionally under sized. Chrome is applied by an electrolytic process until the tube is oversized and then precision ground to size. Lastly, a final polish is carried out to reduce stiction and aid the bedding in of the seals. Hard chrome plating involves toxic materials along with strong minerals acids and this combination of…

I REALLY ENJOYED this book by Andy Reynolds. I met Andy for the first time last year, when he was scrutineering at a damp and cold Classic Racing Motorcycle Club meet at Snetterton. Hewas informative, energetic and thoroughly friendly. His book sums this up - it is an account of his racing exploits, from going to see the TT races as a boy, with all the fun and frolics that entailed, to racing there some years later. From TZs to Patons, Andy has been lucky enough to race them all; but there's something missing from this book that so many other books about racing have: ego. This book also doesn't read like some boring results sheet; it's about the never-ending journey that racing captures you, shakes all of the money…

Ariel, which built its range of high-quality machines in Selly Oak, Birmingham, was a part of the BSA group of companies, and the BSA influence became greater as the years rolled by. Its machines always had a carefully crafted air of quality, with thoughtful styling and finish. The singles were conventional in design, strong and reliable performers with a solid competition heritage to complement their build quality. There are two twins, the 500, which is an Ariel design, and the 650, which is a lightly redesigned BSA AlO. All Ariel machines used Burman gearboxes despite the increasing use of BSA Group components in other areas, and they have a gloriously prewar primary chaincase design, complete with a dry clutch running in its own external housing. Gear changes are typically Burman;…

The period advice to refill forks with either ATFfluid or 10/30w light engine oil is now totally and utterly out of date. Back in the day the choices for telescopic fork fluids was severely limited and the oil industry really wasn't geared up for the subtleties of damper valves, bypasses and blow-off devices. ATFwas notionally viable because it was low viscosity and contained an antifoam compound. 10/30w oil was similarly attractive simply because it was relatively commercially available and not overly thick. Little thought was given by the manufacturers either; many Japanese bikes arrived with fish oil as the damping medium to their front suspension! Thankfully technology has caught up now and a wide range of viscosities are readily available from 2.Sw through to 30w. For a mid-1970s bike as…

"This (Norton) is not a recent acquisition. In fact, I acquiredit over a decadeago as it's an example of a Norton twin I'd always fancied a ride on, never had, so bought one to see what it was like." PICTURE THIS: YOU HAVE FALLEN FOR YET another ancient clunker, have attempted to see through the sales patter to gaze instead upon reality. You liked what you saw. Youbit both your lip and the bullet, and flashed the cash. Another proud - and only slightly oozing and incontinent - relic of some great motorbicycling heritage or other is now yours. In these remarkable times, it is probable that you've not even seen the beast in the tin, not until it lands, awkwardly, chez vous. As I rattle the keyboard to produce…