Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i Classic Bike Guide

HOPE YOU’VE HAD A PLEASANT MONTH. The weather hasn’t been too bad, so hope you’ve been enticed into a quick whizz around the block, or a polishing session in the shed, at least. Here at Classic Bike Guide HQ, apart from wonderful winter walks (balancing on an old toilet to get through a ford while staying dry) and watching those breathtaking Norfolk sunsets, we’ve been promising ourselves to sell certain bikes, planning new projects before old projects have been finished, buying shiny things and planning the year by selecting shows and events we all long to enjoy. Well, we failed on at least one of those. We found ourselves heading out of the county (sorry, only just) to get a new bike. A Tribsa, which had been owned by a…

Just received my February Classic Bike Guide. Leafing through I notice a couple of articles about Nortons – someone’s doing up a Mercury. Hang on a minute... that bike looks very familiar, and the restorer’s saying a previous owner says he did 150,000 miles on it. Now I don’t know if that actually is my old bike, but mine did have a matched pair of Cronometric clocks on (the speedo tended to go wrong quite often), which isn’t standard for these; they should have a single grey-faced magnetic speedo. It also had the ‘orrible blue colour overpainted black – just like mine. Even the tank mounting rubbers look familiar. So, is it YPE661G? That black ‘coating’ inside the engine that took so much getting off may have been the residue…

MY VEHICLE OF CHOICE FOR MORE THAN 15,000 miles of travel abroad has been my R100RS, but previous trips have been predominantly on tarmac and I’m now looking to see what adventures are available off-road. I’ve bounced the sump of my R100RS along a rocky mountain pass in Albania and I can assure you it’s not the best tool for the job! I need something lighter and more upright with wider bars, yet still capable of long miles. A modern adventure bike doesn’t quite do it for me; manufacturers seem to be obsessed with making them bigger, more powerful, more sophisticated and heavier – nothing I need or that is of any help when negotiating gravelly roads in the back end of nowhere. It turns out that the answer to…

I UNEARTHED THE HEAD FOR INSPECTION AND WAS horrified at what I saw. Not only was there a broken valve guide but the seats were severely worn, to the extent that the combustion burn had crept beneath them to the head itself. It went over to Len Paterson at The Cylinder Head Shop for a complete overhaul, including new seats, guides, valves, flowing et al. Expensive but necessary. Len reckoned he’d seen few heads as bad. It transpired that the Mercury cylinder head had been factory-fitted with slightly larger inlet valves. Len sourced from his stock a suitably-sized head, but the stems were slightly too long. I took the head to Jeff, who duly shortened the valve stems and supplied a pair of lash caps. For those who may not…

IF YOU’RE READING THIS, THEN HURRAH! WE HAVE helped yet another dear soul delve into the wonderful world that is old bikes. May your lights forever be bright and your magneto forever spark. But we want you to enjoy this escapade, so have a read here. It does involve some questions you need to ask yourself, as well as some home truths. But honesty will bring more fun and avoid most pitfalls. WHAT IS IT THAT YOU REALLY WANT? The answer to the above could be a retro classic like the Bonneville range from Triumph, the Royal Enfield Intercepter 650, or a Moto Guzzi V7. They all offer the looks with most of the feeling, yet most of the time better performance, better brakes and much, much better reliability. They…

DO YOU REMEMBER MUTTLEY FROM Wacky Races cussing and swearing? Well, that was me one morning, reading my emails over the first coffee of the day. The AS1-C-style fork springs weren’t available, no one had them Stateside, and despite lots of websites that side of the pond actually showing stock, they didn’t exist… ruffing, chuffing, snuffing, scuffing, etc. Still, we’re made of sterner stuff, aren’t we? Stiff upper lip and all that. Once suitably smarmed with rubber grease, the spring could be persuaded to fit inside the gaiters, which only left the spring seats and packers I couldn’t find last time. Giving that up as a bad job, I smiled nicely at my mate Sean Allen, who blithely manufactured everything one Saturday afternoon – if only I had the resources…

“This is a great opportunity to become astoundingly boring. Were there ever a pub quiz or a Mastermind show about BSA 250 engine bits, I reckon I could have won it.” A SURPRISINGLY LONG TIME AGO, something impossibly romantic took place, involving great expense, enormous upheaval and a complete change of life. Something even more remarkable than a chap’s first ride – and subsequent purchase – of a rotary Norton. Hard to believe, but true. After the dust had settled sufficiently to be ignored (well, you know…), I found myself living high on a hill – not unlike the famous lonely goatherd, with the subtle differences that I’ve never herded goats and I wasn’t alone. What better gift for a shiny new partner in crime in a shiny new (well,…

■ NOT SO MUCH AN AMERICAN DREAM “I don’t recognise your bike, but your fez is familiar?” This PR scene is from where else but Hollywood, where the Triumph Speed Twin, complete with ‘bathtub’ rear bodywork, was never popular Stateside. Though it would have made any journey a lot safer, should the rider offer to take any of his friends with their flowing gowns...! The US-spec handlebars and paint scheme stand out, though not as much as the rider’s socks… MORTONS ARCHIVE over a century of motorcycle memories Tel: 01507 529423 www.mortonsarchive.com…

BSA DBD34 Gold Star || Making a Goldie for himself – one man’s beautiful road racer Frank Westworth on – the Norton Ranger || Frank started this magazine, so it’s great to get him looking at bikes from his past Big bore Japanese bikes – part two || Steve Cooper gets us enthralled by Far Eastern leviathans 3, 2, 1 – Ignition! || We look at coils, magnetos, points, HT leads and anything else that helps you go bang…

February 26-27 The Bristol Classic Motorcycle Show: A magnet for enthusiasts, club members and traders alike, attracting thousands from all over the country and beyond. This year’s guest star is special-building genius Allen Millyard. Bath & West Showground, A371, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 6QN. www.bristolclassicbikeshow.com 27 Street Evolution Motorcycles Auto Jumble: The first auto jumble at the Fife bike shop. Everything from nuts and bolts to tyres, wheels, fairings and frames. Refreshments are available in store. 7 Preston Cres, Inverkeithing, Fife KY11 1DR. March 4 MARCH EDITION OF THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE OUT TODAY 5 OLD BIKE MART OUT TODAY 5 Rufforth Autojumble: Rufforth Park Ltd, Wetherby Road, Rufforth, York YO23 3QH. Admission £2. 7 MARCH EDITION OF REAL CLASSIC OUT NOW 12-13 Scottish Motorcycle Show: The Scottish Motorcycle Show is…

NOT ALL MOTORCYCLES WERE AND ARE built for high-speed performance. Before the cheap family car arrived at the end of the 1950s, the motorcycle was the ordinary bloke’s standard means of just getting around. Sometimes what buyers were looking for was simplicity, solidity and the ability to haul the rider around for thousands of miles, often attached to a hefty double-adult sidecar. The lack of cheap vans saw many a tradesman bolt a box sidecar to a sturdy single to carry around their tools, or even pull a trailer. A little history For bikes like this, what was needed was a sturdy and reliable side valve mill to drag this kind of family transport around. Along with big beasts like BSA’s M21 and the Norton Big 4, one of the…

2012 WAS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE OF Pembrokeshire Classics. When a friend informed me of its existence I was keen to investigate, as motorcycle shops in this area are scarce. When I checked the address, I realised I’d been down that rural back road before but had never noticed a bike shop... the shed was so innocuous that even when I went looking for it, I rode straight past. It was only on my second pass that I noticed the purple sign – the only clue to the treasures within. My jaw dropped when I first peeked through the gap in the enormous sliding door. Inside this humble-looking shed in the middle of nowhere was sea of classic motorcycles, tightly crammed together, wall to wall. The floor was oily, there wasn’t…

MOST STRIKING ABOUT THIS ANCIENT Harley-Davidson racer is the specially built engine with the Koslow overhead valve mechanism. Andrew Koslow, from Chicago, Illinois, was a well-known racer; he was a hill climbing champion and also worked as an engineer at the Excelsior factory, developing the conversion kit there to turn the 750cc Excelsior head side valve into an OHV that was much faster. Excelsior is said to have made 24 motorcycles, of which only two are probably still in existence, and these are on display at the Wheels Through Time museum in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, USA. Hans Devos, the owner of this special Harley-Davidson racer, talks about Koslow history: “Due to the disappointing sales after the stock market crash in America in 1929, owner Ignace Schwinn decided to close…

Secret’s out as Mark goes to Brooklands A TV appearance by Mark Wardill and his Wardill 4, an updated version of his great-grandfather’s 1920s flat tanker, is coming on Tuesday, March 8. After appearing at classic shows, Mark’s Wardill 4 was first featured in Classic Bike Guide in September 2020. It has a modern 250cc engine in a newly-created, old-style rigid frame, sophisticated electronics, girder forks and digital instruments. Five Wardill 4 machines are currently in production. The bike will appear on the Yesterday channel series Secrets of the Transport Museum, where it will take to the track at the museum’s Brooklands base. Mark says: “It is great to have become a part the Brooklands story and be included in Secrets of the Transport Museum. I had a great day…

ALTHOUGH THE 125 AND 175CC singles proved popular, when Ducati singles are mentioned my mind’s eye conjures up the image of a 350 or 450cc model, the first thought being one of the stunning Scrambler models that provided inspiration and impetus for the Bologna factory’s recent variety of bottom-of-the-range V-twin models (with the modern twin cylinder Ducati Scramblers now ranging from 400cc to 1100cc in capacity). Yet the range of singles was wide and broad, from the racy 125, 175, and 250cc Formula 3 models, the iconic quarter litre Mach 1 (and its Diana and Daytona predecessors) and even the cruiser-styled Americano. And providing a full stop at the end of the bevel drive single lifetime was the Forza, a high-spec ‘widecase’ version complete with disc brakes, cast wheels and…

Only a week to go until a girls’ trip around Ireland, my Moto Guzzi V50 has a complete ignition failure. With not enough time to diagnose and get replacement parts, the R80G/ ST was suggested as a viable replacement. To me, the bike just looked big, heavy and tall. I didn’t think there was any way I could use it as a tourer, especially once my luggage and camping gear had been added. With Owen’s modifications, I couldn’t even touch the ground, so we borrowed an original ST seat and shock. This brought the bike back to a height where I could securely touch the ground with both feet, and this convinced me to at least take it for a test spin. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it…

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. POLITICIANS often call for resignations of rivals for cheap point-scoring without looking at the monster awaiting in the wings. When restoring a previous bike some time ago, I had a really difficult time sourcing parts with only one, somewhat rude supplier, who mocked you if you didn’t have the intimate knowledge they did of your model. I restored rather than bought new parts and oh, how I wished for more, better sources. “That doesn’t stop you looking at the price of a shiny new exhaust, new paintwork, new wheel rims, new foot rubbers and even a brand new loom.” With BMWs we do have many more and better sources – rejoice! In the UK we have a couple of large and several smaller suppliers,…

Back in the day, bikes like the AS1 were often said to be ‘over-sprung and under-damped’ – which was, and remains, a fair criticism. The fork’s damping varied from primitive to non-existent due to a very basic internal design and the Japanese often using very thin oil, which only exacerbated the problems. Some of the under-damping can be addressed by using thicker oils, and those that know reckon you could do far, far worse using a straight SAE30, which is what I’ve used in the restoration. Pouring thick oil into 10mm holes is never easy at the best of times but there are ways to make this a quicker, cleaner and stress-free job. Heating the requisite quantity up reduces viscosity and cutting the end of a plastic funnel to the…