Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2018 i Real Classic

Enjoyed several excellent conversations while visiting a grand show in Wales recently – more about it in this month’s ‘Shed’. One of them in particular has stuck to my remaining brain cell. ‘Do you,’ asked a reader clutching a bottle of lukewarm but welcome water, ‘Do you do research when you’re writing a story?’ Carefully ignoring the potential insult (‘Do my stories read as though I don’t research them?’) or flattering smugness (‘Wows; you think I know everything about all bikes?’), I gratefully accepted the water, drank it, and considered. The sun was too hot for much else. Of course I do research. Not as much as Rowena does, because she is of course youthfully diligent in all things, but more than I once did. At one time I wrote…

It’s now exactly fifty years since Honda changed the face of motorcycling for ever with the October 1968 unveiling at the Tokyo Show of its four-cylinder CB750 – the first such volume production streetbike to be produced anywhere in the world. But the arrival four years later of the bigger, faster and thus perceptibly better 904cc Kawasaki Z1 four meant Honda dealers around the world now had to work a little harder to keep shifting the huge number of such bikes they’d become accustomed to selling, once CB750 deliveries got properly under way. And nobody tried harder than France’s largest Honda dealer, Paris-based Japauto. Already, on September 13, 1969 Japauto had taken a CB750 to victory in its very first race, the classic Bol d’Or 24-Hour marathon, just a matter…

So there I was, careering down a steep and muddy cart track which masqueraded as an unclassified road, on a ninety year-old motorcycle with no brakes. Welcome to the world of vintage riding. But to begin with, let’s go back a couple of months… I’ve been fortunate enough to own or ride a great variety of machines over the years and, like you, am always seeking out that new experience. I still remember the weird thrill of riding my first ‘old’ British bike, a 1970s Norton Commando. It had terrible brakes compared to my modern Japanese ride and the gear change was on the wrong side! A lot has changed for me since that first time and my horizons have steadily expanded to that point of no return – the…

The Super Rocket may be the ultimate version of the A10 family, though some say that the Rocket Gold Star is the finest. Having said that, the RGS is only a Super Rocket engine in a Goldie frame. They say – and I have no idea who ‘they’ are – that the RGS handles better, but being a humble scribe with no pretensions to having above average riding skills, I probably wouldn’t notice the difference. The story goes that a customer of BSA Banbury dealer Eddie Dow, asked if he could have that special combination of Goldie frame, but with the twin engine. Dow put the idea to BSA, who then went on to produce a limited number. So today there are a few original Rocket Goldies still around, for…

OK, OK! I admit it. I’ve been slacking on the spannering front. Not entirely idle, but certainly slacking. I have given myself a verbal warning about this. After two more I shall sack myself. Which is easier said than done, but I know I deserve punishment. Why? Because I’ve been having an utterly ace summer time riding around all over the place in sunshine (and thunderstorms) instead of locking myself away in The Shed and sweating over a hot Thor hammer. What a summer. What. A. Stunner. At the risk of introducing personal nonsense into a magazine story read by a couple of million total strangers who don’t care at all, I will reveal that this is a special summer. This is the summer in the middle of which –…

Nige is a consummate Triumph man. I couldn’t tell you how many he’s owned and built over the last forty years or even how many he has right now. There always seems to be another one on the go. Mostly they are of some sort of custom variety, Nige having been a continuous member of the National Chopper Club since its inception in 1973, but don’t let that put you off. His projects these days tend to be more rideable than radical. Indeed, as the wheel turns full circle, the Triumph factory themselves now build bikes which look like the ones me and Nige have been building all our lives. So this is far from being a standard, stock, original Triumph (and if it was, I’d have very little interest…

Some readers might fancy an older Italian twin, and they might wonder what the merits of different generations might be. I’ve been able to directly compare two 750s from Laverda and Ducati. They used to be considered ‘large capacity’ at 750 but now this engine size seems to be regarded as a middleweight. How things change! I put both bikes on my mental wanted list years ago in the early 1970s. The Laverda SF1 dates from 1972, and there was a Ducati twin on my wish-list back then as well, but who can afford the early Ducati desmos? So the machine featured here is a 1997 750SS, the last of the square headlight carburettor 750s. The 750 Laverda is the ‘quintessential’ Laverda twin, according to author Ian Falloon in his…

This was a complete surprise. We’d rolled up to North Cornwall Motorcycles (you can guess where they are and what they do, I bet) to borrow a Kawasaki from Mike who does something important there. I’m not sure what it is that he does, but he’s very good at it and it involves drinking a lot of coffee. This is a pair of good things. Mike rides a W650, and we’d asked to borrow it. He’d agreed. We set a date, an approximate time, rocked up and discovered two things. First: both of the posh magazine-quality cameras we’d brought (you can never be too careful) had flat batteries (maybe you can), and NCMC had a Panther in their showroom. A 2-stroke Panther. So. Two flat batteries and a Panther. What…

Stage 4. Making parts, painting, cycle parts As with all rebuilds there is quite a list of things to make. I decide at the outset that I will make parts from stainless steel / alloy where suitable to keep the bike looking good in all weathers and to make it maintenance friendly. I will also keep the box of bits I replaced. First on my list was the petrol tank cap. The existing one was made from a Bakelite material and very, very brittle – in just trying to undo the cap it collapsed in my hand. Rather unobtainable and probably not ethanol proof… So I decided to make a replica from aluminium alloy, copy the shape and use the top part of the cap with the MI-VAL logo/breather hole…

COMMUTER CLASSICS Last month, I asked if anyone still regularly rode to work on a 30 year-old motorcycle. Turns out that quite a few RC riders do just that – and here they are. Any more? Rowena I am one of that exclusive brethren – my Honda 350S is a regular sight to the Buckinghamshire commuters as I filter gently past. And it’s 30 years old, almost to the week. Jonathan Pagden, member I use a 1990 Moto Guzzi SP3 and a 1981 Guzzi Monza daily. Stewart Ellinson, member I commute daily on a 1989 Honda Bros, come rain or shine or snow. Sometimes go in to work on a Triumph as a treat, which makes me appreciate the Honda to be honest, what with the London traffic!…

I owned my first Royal Enfield Bullet back in 1971/72. That one suffered a premature end mainly due to my lack of mechanical attention, probably contributed to by the previous owner’s various ‘improvements’. The next 30-plus years saw various motorbikes pass through my hands, until my interest in Royal Enfields was rekindled during a trip to India which involved riding one for about 10 days. Shortly after our return in late 2006, a suitable 350cc model of 1993 vintage appeared at an online auction. Photographs and the accompanying description suggested that the Bullet had a fairly low mileage and was still in factory trim. I won the auction for a reasonable price without viewing the Enfield, and on collection found the bike pretty much as described. Initially it was intended…

As both regular readers of my scribblings will know, I’m not much of a fan of the unit construction BSA singles – except for the B50 motocrosser which really does go. However, there is always an exception to every rule. The one unit Beeza single I would ride, and even own, is the B44 Victor Special. The key to understanding the BSA Victor Special’s concept lies in the bike’s name… and the very different way in which motocross was viewed in the 1960s compared with today. BSA won the 500cc world motocross championship in 1964 and 1965 and, fifty odd years ago, motocross success was good for road bike sales. Rather than being a specialised niche activity, the vast majority of road riders knew about motocross and the mainstream motorcycle…