Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Classic Bike Guide

Triumph’s sales Speed ahead Triumph’s new Speed 400 singles have been a huge hit with buyers and press – see what Matt thought from page 26. So many of the bikes left the showrooms in January, the first month of sales, that Triumph catapulted past Suzuki, KTM and BMW and was snapping at the heels of Honda and Yamaha, becoming the third most popular brand in the United Kingdom. In total, 130 Speed 400 models were sold, with only Yamaha’s 125cc N-Max scooter outselling the Triumph. The Triumph Trident was the best-selling bike in the 501-750cc category, too. Overall, Triumph sold 616 machines from its range – nearly 200 more than Suzuki managed. Hammer to strike on Black Lightning Bonhams is bringing a rare gem to the Spring Stafford Sale…

BACK IN THE VERY EARLY DAYS OF motorcycling, manufacturers would invite journalists of the day to try out their models in trials – tricky off-road courses that would prove the models’ abilities. This grew into a sport, and soon there were competitive trials all over the country. The basics Today, competitors negotiate a marked course made up of several sections. These can be as short as 30 metres or less, and the idea is to get through the section without putting your feet down or stopping. You might get a choice of class: these can be easy, clubman, or expert, which the rider chooses for themselves. There will be up to 10 sections of varying difficulties in a trial, and each will come with their own challenges – it might…

CBG Workshop MANY CLUBS ARE IN SURVIVAL mode. Nationwide meetings have always been difficult to sort and justify, the annual ‘weekender’ appeals to some as much as it does not appeal to others, older members and the ageing population of our world of classic bikes doesn’t help, and the dreaded AGM scares many off, no matter how essential it may be. Nor does the younger generations’ skills and ability to getting everything from online sources support the continuation of clubs, nor the ‘stuck in their ways’ and often ‘who are you?’ way in which some clubs operate. And this is not just old bikes – railways, cars, knitting circles... they are all having to reinvent themselves if they are to survive. This is very sad, as a good club has…

New RETRO Gone are the days of British bike manufacturers chasing engine ccs. Satisfying the American market’s insatiable appetite for larger engines no longer matters – it’s smaller bikes that matter today for the ‘new’ world. If Triumph has got it right, the 400cc segment is a huge sales market worldwide for the UK company to benefit from. Should Triumph hit the mark, it could take the Hinkley company to another level – but if it misses, it could be a disaster. So, no pressure then… If you are interested in the new Triumph 400 T range, then the facts have been out for a while. The Speed 400 is the road bike and comes in from £5995, the Scrambler 400 X its off-road-styled sibling at £5695. The platform has…

SOMETIMES, PLANETS ALIGN. Occasionally, good things that are not planned just happen. And it seems RiE-Store, a company specialising in classic and vintage restorations, has been one of those occasions. Stuart was involved professionally in the often-tricky world of importing, taxes and paperwork for a customer who regularly imported classic military vehicles he had bought from around the world. Meanwhile, Ash and Robin were involved in restoring these bikes, cars, vans, and even lorries for said client, getting not only the military elements period-correct, but also the restoration of machines that were not only close to 90 years old, but rare, too. Stuart had to go to the workshops from time to time and found himself more and more engrossed in the restorations that Ash and Robin were doing. To…

WELL, MY ATTEMPT TO BUILD an engine in a day failed spectacularly. If I was a mechanic, then it is completely doable, but as a wordsmith, just checking what is best to do next or what you’ve done is correct as it’s not second nature to you, takes time. But we are getting there. The engine is in the frame, with the frame bolts in the correct place. The spacers are in their rightful home, as are the front ones that hold the stand springs – all these jobs are easier when the bike’s apart, so taking your time does have its advantages! Next, we got the front timing chain cover on. The crank seal had to be fitted with the cover off, so I warmed up the cover before…

MONGREL DOGS, AS IS WELL KNOWN, MIGHT not be as pretty as pedigree pooches, but they do tend to be less highly strung, more dependable, and much smarter. The Trophy Trail/Adventurer is factory mongrel – an actual Meriden-made TriBSA. Born of troubled times, the TR5T was based around the P51 frame, which was designed for a BSA unit single, the B50 Gold Star/ Victor. With one of the best Triumph twin engines fitted in, it is a model that lasted for only a year and a half but is now one of the most sought-after late Triumphs. The heart of the matter is Triumph’s proven and capable T100 motor. At the peak of its development, the compact 500cc twin was one of the best British engines ever mass-produced. The T100…

Telford’s International Centre was rammed. And we mean seriously rammed. Getting around was a case of doing the Shropshire shuffle, deftly negotiating the sections among a massively enthusiastic and knowledgeable throng. As the only really big show of its kind in the country, this early-season event is a real gathering of the clans and for many is the last chance to get those all-important spares before battle starts in earnest – though, of course, dirt competition goes on all-year round, the participants unfazed by sub-zero temperatures and half the country being underwater. There were guests aplenty, including Finnish trials icon Yrjo ‘Vesty’ Vesterinen, a three-times world champion in the 1970s. He was joined by Kelvin Tatum, grasstrack and speedway champ, and late 1970s motocrosser Neil Hudson. Sammy Miller was there…

ROBERTO GALLINA, NOW AGED 83, was an ex-topline GP and Endurance racer for Ducati, Paton, Benelli and Laverda. He formed his own team to go GP racing with Virginio Ferrari, Marco Lucchinelli and Franco Uncini, the latter two winning the World Championship title for him in 1980/81 on factory Team Gallina Suzukis. When Suzuki pulled out of GP racing in the mid-1970s, Honda provided him with factory NS500 triples, and later NSR500 V4s for Roberto’s protégé Frankie Chili, sponsored by West German cigarette brand HB. In 1983-85, Gallina collaborated with ex-Bimota designer Massimo Tamburini to set up TGA in Rimini, a car-type design house producing new prototype models for outside companies – like the groundbreaking Suzuki TGA-1 500GP racer, or the aluminium-framed Ducati Mille and Paso prototypes they jointly created…

CBG WorkshopHints & tips FROM HUTCH'S WORKSHOP I HAD ALWAYS WANTED A GREEVES. THE simplicity of competition bikes always looks cool to my eyes. Then, a project finally came my way at the start of the first lockdown. Now, since having spent both time and money on the motor, I today have a running, riding project. However, the ally tank is a bit battered and bruised, which matches the rest of the bike but has always had a small leak which I can never pinpoint to fix. While wandering round an autojumble last spring I picked up a Yamaha tank, probably from a TY trials bike, already modified to fit a Greeves, for a score – bargain! It came home and sat under a bench. The dead time between Christmas…

IT CANNOT HAVE ESCAPED YOUR NOTICE that lots of folk are talking lots of talk about how the values of old bikes appear to be slipping. Okay, if not values, then the prices. Okay, not all old bikes, just some of them. And as you might expect, I aim to rise above such crass subjects as how much some of my own confection of weary wobblers might fetch should I suffer a mysterious misfortune and be compelled to sell them. I always try – and sometimes succeed – to see a little silver lining through every dark cloud. Life is more pleasant that way, than spotting only approaching doom. Ostriches, you may observe, are not extinct. Not yet. In any case, as there are still one or two specimens of…