Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2018 i Real Classic

Nothing succeeds like success – and Triumph’s commercial savvy in creating the T120-based Bonneville Bobber and launching it a year ago as a factory-built answer to today’s so-cool garage-built customs has been richly rewarded. But the British manufacturer’s original guesstimate on how many it would sell proved way wide of the mark, leaving it struggling to keep up with demand. Triumph has so far sold two-and-a-half times more Bobbers than it originally projected, which surely caused owner John Bloor and his management team more than a few headaches – of the right kind. But now those production problems are going to worsen, because one year on from the Bobber’s debut Triumph has extended its range. They’re introducing what amounts to an Evo version of their Bobber that’s sure to find…

The beautiful single cylinder, overhead cam Manx Norton will forever hold a special place in the history of British racing motorcycles. Before the Manx ruled the roads, back in the 1930s, Norton’s racing machine was the equally lovely ohc International. In those pre-war times, the Inter was raced very successfully by top riders such as Jimmie Guthrie and Stanley Woods. Despite being superseded by the Manx at the end of the 1940s, the Inter still holds a reputation that many others can only envy. And indeed, we’ve featured two very fine Inters in recent months (see RC164 and RC165). Many are the enthusiasts who would love to own a Norton Inter but who can’t afford the eye-watering purchase price. That was John’s problem until about ten years ago. He took…

Regular readers of my bike-building exploits will know my style by now. I build cheap and cheerful, counting every penny and making do with secondhand parts and junk. But when I’m out photographing feature bikes, I see so many with big money spent on this, that or the other. Normally I’m impressed with the financial commitment, but consider it alien to my own philosophy. But here I am, at 63 years old, building what is almost certainly my last race bike. And, it must be said, after a couple of lucky deals which came my way, I actually have a little bit of money in hand. So from the start I decided that there were some areas where I’d spend a little bit of money. One of those areas would…

‘It’s great fun on the road,’ says owner Roger, in an encouraging tone of voice. There’s an agenda here, I sense, one which involves me perching on the passenger plinth of this Ariel outfit while he pilots the plot around a windswept Davidstow airfield. Long-time readers might recall that the last time I went anywhere near a trials outfit, the escapade ended in tears (and A&E). A main course of caution with a side order of suspicion seems to be the order of the day – confirmed by Roger’s next statement. ‘Mind you, it’s not too comfortable for the passenger, and it’s not a passive ride.’ No kidding? ‘The second person needs to be able to lean and clamber about all over the bike for optimum performance. Screaming is discouraged…

How do you assess a collection of motorcycle parts which individually range from mediocre to merely acceptable, but when gathered together become a really memorable motorcycle? Enter the Matchless/ Norton hybrids produced by Associated Motorcycles (AMC) from 1963 until the company finally collapsed in 1966. For those ardent students of history, production of the specials continued for another two, or maybe even three years, under the ownership of Manganese Bronze Holdings. The specials went under the not too snappy model name of the Matchless G15, although they were also offered as the Norton N15 CS. It’s a confusing story but a wonderfully transparent window on the last days of the British motorcycle industry. The core of the problem was that by 1963, AMC was on its last legs. Forget drinking…

I was interested to read about Frank’s plan to build a special using a BSA donor bike, while avoiding the need to break a complete machine. This is precisely what I did a few years ago. One day, almost 25 years ago, my wife Jean informed me that a neighbour had called around regarding a BSA he had for sale. This unknown compatriot wanted a valuation for the bike and thought I could help, possibly as he’d seen me riding various BSA models during the 30 years I’d lived in the area. I discovered he was literally just around the corner from my place. Bursting with curiosity regarding what model he was selling – perhaps a humble Bantam or maybe a DBD 34 Gold Star – I suggested an a…

If you want a compact, light and lively classic which can cruise the lanes and keep pace with A-road traffic then a Triumph T100C might fit the bill. Two such machines visited my workshop fairly recently. They needed quite a bit of work as the container they’d been shipped in from the US had taken in salt water during their trip home to the UK. Mechanical attention was also required by both – one needed a full engine strip, the other needed slightly less. As both Tigers needed much work, the owner agreed that we would concentrate on one machine first. To speed up the job, I could swap any parts which were in better shape on the second machine to get the first one sorted more quickly. There would…

Last month, the Enfield was given better brake shoes, a replacement head steady and improved rear springing. Now we get into the more serious stuff, such as the front end steering. It is possible with some patience to measure the fork geometry using a plumb bob, straight edges, angle finder and calipers. These measurements came up with numbers very close to the spec I found online. The head angle was 27 degrees, trail 2.75”. Clearly the very short trail resulted in the bike’s light, agile steering at lower speeds and the instability at higher speeds. As with all Enfields built since Mafeking was relieved, the front wheel axle has been mounted in front of the fork stanchion centre line. It is notable that the 2016/17 export Enfields have increased trail…