Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2024 i Classic Bike Guide

Welcome MAY YOUR TYRES BE PUMPED AND your exhaust ticking from a good ride. I write this with a still-wobbling brain. I’ve just taken a brand-new Ducati Panigale V4S for a ride, and my brain is but a pattern on the back of my skull, with all the resemblance of a broken egg on the back of a politician. “I’ll take Maria’s Scrambler in for service,” I said. “I’ll borrow a bike,” I said. After all, I was on the launch of the original Panigale 10 years ago; it’ll be good to ride a modern ‘sporty’ after living on old ‘uns. What’s the big deal? I’m allegedly a professional don’t you know! I cannot put into words what I did on that bike, nor what it made me do. Sensory…

DRESS UP IN YOUR FINERY AND RIDE a classic bike around on a Sunday. Then culminate at a classic car show in the gardens of a stately home. And raise money for men’s health charities, too. Sound like a decent day? We’ve often ridden at a DGR ride near Bury St Edmunds with great hosts Bernard and Lexi, and their ride has become very successful, with hundreds of bikes attending. But this year, Gerry, our local Norton 16H rider, and Martin, owner of many fine motorcycles, decided to organise a ride closer to Cromer, in Norfolk. This saves the older bikes from having to travel so far, and we get together and enjoy our local roads. Martin had a trusty T140 Triumph, while Gerry sported his tweed on the Norton,…

I RECEIVED AN EMAIL THE OTHER DAY. NOT unusual – I get about 40 every day – but this was from a reader, and communication from readers is generally very little... perhaps a dozen per month (we’d love more!). So, when this unusual name popped up in the inbox, my mind went into overdrive as I paused the cursor arrow over the envelope icon. Why? Like most, I have a certain pride in what we do, and how people who have forked out for Classic Bike Guide see the mag in their own eyes. We try our best, allowing for time, money, the world, price of fish… Most of the time, our reader emails are great stories, which I love, that look back into the past. And when they come…

CBG WorkshopHints & tips FROM HUTCH'S WORKSHOP I RODE ABOUT ON MY 1947 MODEL G ROYAL Enfield through the last couple of winters. It’s in that lovely condition where you don’t have to worry about it getting covered in clart and a quick, occasional wipe-down with an oily rag will bring it back to scratch. As a result, I’ve become quite fond of the old thing! But I was aware that although it didn’t smoke or seem to use oil in large quantities, the engine was a little noisy and could really benefit from some attention. One day previously, while I had the timing cover off to adjust the ignition timing, I thought I had detected a little lift in the crank main bearings, but it wasn’t enough to stress…

THIS IS QUITE PLAINLY A SIGN OF THE times. My recent correspondence and conversations (actual, not digital – how remarkable is that?) have developed a common theme, maybe a thread. I’m unsure of the difference, but I pretend to be all-knowing, as a chap should. Half of my chums scream that the prices of old bikes are crashing. It’s a disaster, they proclaim (or exclaim; once again my grammar, not my grandma, which is different, lets me down). The other half beam blearily and suggest that the prices of old bikes are falling – and it’s about time, too. I would like to say I’m sitting unprettily in the middle, like an improbably elderly piggie, but that’s not actually the case. My observation, carefully calculated after only several inspirational libations,…

From our archive The first Ducati V-twin engine was designed by Fabio Taglioni in 1970. This embodiment of Ducati was not simple, with its innovative desmodromic valve system, yet was penned, tooling made, castings poured, issues sorted, parts sourced and a test engine running within five months. Within a year, there was also a short-stroke 500cc variant, and a running motorcycle that was racing in Grand Prix soon after. This little factory didn’t have the fairytale beginning though, with mechanical issues affecting results at first. But in 1972, Paul Smart and Bruno Spaggiari came first and second in the Imola 200-mile race on their 750s and the name Ducati spread. Its first foray into big bikes placed it above the many Italian small-bike manufacturers and is now one of the…

WHAT IS A ‘CUSTOM’ BIKE SHOW DOING IN Classic Bike Guide? Because if you like any type of bike, it’s one of the most interesting bike shows around. You see, there is one element of the Bike Shed Motoshow that places it far above all other domestic bike shows – that the experience of the showgoer seems to be the primary concern. Location, food available, space, ambient music and the sheer range of things to see and do puts this ever-changing event at the top of the list. And year after year, it works. The primary reason is to show off more than 300 alternative, modified, custom – call them what you will – bikes from professional and amateur builders. Each bike has space around it so you have full access…

THE BIKE IS A YAMAHA RD350 AIR- cooled, from 1973. This was my dad’s motorcycle, on which he came to pick me up from school from time to time, hence the engraving ‘For you old fox.’ I inherited it after his death six years ago. I hadn’t modified it until then, but I have a six-year-old and it will be my turn to make his dream and drop him off at school. The front end comes from a KTM 390 Duke, which is a similar size and weight to the RD, fitted by adapting the original steering stem. The rear wheel also comes from the KTM and allows me to use a 150-section tyre that in my eyes keep the proportions of the bike. It was necessary to change the…

THE ADVERT SAYS, ‘1974. Working order. MOT to August. Practical bike, with sensible mods.’ Let’s have think about Sensible Mods. Not the sort who used to hang out with well-mannered rockers, but the modifications owners used to make to their own bikes, back in the day; modifications considered to be an improvement over the original spec. It’s an assertion you would certainly agree with if, say, you’ve ridden a Kawasaki triple that’s not been modified with a steering damper. Or an Enfield Bullet that’s got a drum brake up front, instead of a disc. To my mind, upgrading a bike so it can actually brake efficiently is the epitome of a mod that is ‘sensible.’ Not everyone agrees. Many think that the only good classic is one which remains exactly…

CBG Workshop I THOUGHT THAT THE DAMP MARKS ON MY tank were from fuel leaking from the filler camp under heavy breaking. I was wrong. It was brake fluid. You may, or may not, recall that I had to clean out and repair the right-hand switchgear on my Bonneville and that the Vaseline inside had dried out and turned to powder. I really should have investigated further because the reason the Vaseline had dried out was that the front brake master cylinder was leaking fluid into the switchgear. With only a week to go before I hit the road, this discovery left me facing three options. I could: (a) strip and rebuild the old master cylinder with a kit (£10.95); (b) replace the old master cylinder, ideally with a 13mm…

WHAT BETTER SURROUNDINGS TO photograph this genteel Highland Lassie than within the grounds of an ancient Scottish monastery, now a famous brand whisky distillery? This glorious pre-unit Triumph featured for you here was recently rebuilt (and christened) by my friend Chris while he was convalescing following a hip replacement. A fitting companion to the distillery’s Wee Scotty Dug copper mascot, this tastefully put-together special is one of the nicest 1950s Triumph rebuilds I’ve ever set my eyes on – I even pestered Chris to let me buy her! Since rolling up on Highland Lassie at a summer SCMC gathering, I’d been harassing Chris for the story. He would no doubt describe himself as a Triumph pre-unit enthusiast and has owned and restored many such models, to the effect that he…

CBG your guide to... FOR YEARS, STEYR-DAIMLER-PUCH A.G OF GRAZ, Austria, made high-quality and innovative split-single two-strokes. But they approached the end of the 1960s with new vigour and a range of conventional yet extremely well-made mopeds, backed up with some sophisticated split single two-strokes. Early in the 1960s the company had secured a deal with mail order giant Sears, Roebuck & Co to sell its bikes under its Allstate brand. You could order an Allstate-Puch badged as the Twingle from a catalogue, and within days a truck would arrive at your door with a bike in a wooden crate. These mail order motorcycles were almost ready for the road; despite their mechanical sophistication, just a few hours of preparation would see proud new owners heading for the road. In…

AS LAVERDA CELEBRATES ITS 75TH anniversary this year, we look at the company that has always used racing to prove the breed, from endurance 1970s racing to this, the most powerful twin-cylinder from Breganze, Italy. Except it was actually created in Australia… Back in 2001, Ken Watson defeated the overbored four-cylinder J-bikes, Triumph triples, Ducati desmo V-twins and assorted two-strokes to win the Australian Post-Classic Championship title on the parallel-twin Laverda 915 SFC that was massaged into race-winning condition by the bike’s owner, Chris Cutler, and ex-GP Sidecar racer Pete Campbell. This machine was one of the two drum-braked 750 SFC models imported into Australia of the 549 examples Laverda built from 1971-76, out of the 19,000 twin-cylinder 650/750cc bikes manufactured. Bearing chassis no.11085, this was sold by Sydney dealer…

CBG Workshop Many thanks to trained Harley-Davidson specialist, barista-in-training and general cool dood Oli Gook, from Roosters Bike Barn, Norfolk, 07919 046808 HARLEY-DAVIDSONS ARE HEAVY, even Sportsters. And they don’t have centrestands to make things trickier. So, if you are using a bench, one that has a front wheel clamp and holes or U bolts to be able to secure the bike with straps is essential. And make sure your bench is designed for that kind of weight. First thing is to buy the parts you will definitely need. This includes engine oil, gearbox oil and, on some Harleys, primary drive oil. Then there’s a spin-on oil filter and spark plugs. Engine oil is pretty standard 20W-40 or 20W-50, even the liquid-cooled V-Rod, but see what’s recommended as the engines…