Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2018 i Real Classic

We are galloping towards the end of yet another year! This means that it’s almost time to consider making a new year’s resolution or two. I always do this (although if asked I would of course deny it) and for just about as long as I can remember the 2-wheeled theme of my annual resolution has been the same – ride more, fettle less, maintain less; ride more and further. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? And in an ideal world it would be easy. And in fact … it is easy. The only genuine snag comes in deciding what not to do, so that there’s more time liberated for riding. As I have become increasingly ancient – an entertaining process – I have found that the peripherals of the actual riding…

This month’s winners in our subscriber prize draw are BOB HARRIS (member 9748) and VIAN CURTIS (member 4244). Congrats, chaps. Your surprise RC prizes are on their way to you! Our monthly winners are drawn randomly from all current subscribers: it’s our way of saying an additional ‘Thanks!’ for supporting the magazine. And of course, subscribers also get the exclusive Members’ Enclosure newsletter, giveaway and discounts, and access to our members-only Facebook group. So if you’re not already an RC subscriber – sign up online or turn to the back of the magazine. It could be your turn to win next time……

Before I could meet Ewan and photograph his Ariel, there was a significant hurdle to overcome. I hadn’t the foggiest idea of where Ewan’s bike-encrusted dungeon was located and I don’t have SatNav on my Bonneville. So I consulted Google maps and began the laborious task of sketching out directions to be placed on my tank-bag – much as with a VMCC orienteering challenge. My practised method is to construct an easy to follow list made up of directional arrows and key word locations that include towns, villages, roundabouts, road names or route numbers. This I create by studying my intended route on Google maps. But then I had a eureka moment and wondered if it would be possible to explore the route on Google Images Route Finder (GIRF for…

If dad doesn’t take the Honda to work, I like to ride it around the city, and I used it for my daily commute to my summer job at a local school. The IT guy I worked for came out every lunchtime to ogle it. When I went to the skidpan training, which is compulsory here in Luxembourg, the instructor there loved it too. ‘42 years old! My!’ The clutch was fixed before I even got my hands on it, and since then the only trouble we’ve had was that the perfect paint job on the tank didn’t prepare us for the inside. That hadn’t been rust-cleaned; it just had two extra filters in the fuel lines which you can see in the photos. This led to the bike packing…

Crikey, am I 63 already? How did that happen? Anyway, that’s a good enough excuse for a celebration, which in my case nearly always involves going racing. Fortunately the Chester Classic Scramble always falls around or near my birthday, and this year it fell exactly right, Sunday July 2nd . Even better, there was a flat-track race on the Saturday too. There was the small fact that they were over 150 miles apart, but why let trifling details spoil an epic plan? So Friday night we set off to Scunthorpe to camp out ready for the flat-track races in the morning. Scunthorpe Amateur Speedway is a great series of events. They race throughout the year, holding both a summer and winter Championship, and the classes include various speedway races for…

Is it Christmas yet, or possibly it has passed by the time the magazine arrives. In the first case, PUB wishes readers a Merry Christmas, or in the latter case a Happy New Year. May your motorcycles all be trouble-free, and your restorations be straightforward and low cost. October did not see very much achieved in the garage – a rather cold spell did not help. A feeble attempt was made to fit the aftermarket clutch to the single-speed Triumph, to make it a little more rideable for its ageing pilot. However, this failed dismally due to the taper failing to fit the engine shaft. The latter had been carefully measured up, in order for the appropriate part to be machined with a matching taper, but clearly something has gone…

It’s always amusing when a coincidence trips a chap up, don’t you agree? I’d been planning a ride up to my favourite Welsh March stomping grounds, meeting up with a few chums, like you do, one of whom had been entertained by my rediscovered enthusiasm for a 500 Triumph. To be honest, he was mostly amused. Amusement at my expense is common. I try to take advantage of it by pretending distress so that the amused pal pays for lunch. Or maybe beer. Sometimes this works. And sometimes… So while Martin and Roy reluctantly dug into pockets to ease my trembling lower lip, Chris simply chuckled some more and remarked that he thought I rather dwarfed the most excellent T100C which he’d seen me talking about on my Facebook page.…

I asked on the RC Facebook group for recommended stainless steel suppliers and Dave Middleton’s name was mentioned. Yesterday (Sunday), I placed an order on his website feeling confident that my order would be looked at today (Monday). At 9.27am I get an email advising that my order had been assembled, packed and would be on its way to me today. You really can’t ask for better service than that! Graham Wicks, member I must give a mention to A Gagg and Sons in Nottingham for outstanding service. The Commando I’m doing needed a new rim and glass for the speedometer. They received it on Wednesday and I had it back on the Saturday. They even re-calibrated it as it was reading 10mph fast at no extra charge, so they…

The full story of the Indian Chief and Scout is a fascinating one, and Charles B Franklin is the pivotal player in the tale. An early superstar racer on the Isle of Man, Franklin’s true talents were unleashed when he moved to America and designed Indian’s famous V-twins. His innovations to the sidevalve’s combustion chamber were far ahead of their time, and his bikes benefitted from semi-unit engines, helical gear primary drive and substantial double-loop full-cradle frames in the 1920s and 30s, establishing Indian at the forefront of two-wheeled technology. This story is told in magnificent detail in the book, Franklin’s Indians , published by Veloce. It’s one of those richly researched, labour-of-love publications that only comes from true enthusiasts. The book tells Franklin’s story from his…

HERE’S ONE of those eBay bikes which might be a bargain… or not. It’s a 1973 CL360, chassis part-restored (well, powder-coated), engine still need attention, some components missing, silencers rusted – oh, and there’s no documents. Someone risked a £500 bid on it, even so! UP FOR GRABS at £3750 at Classic Motorcycles Ltd in Cheshire, this is a 1974 CL360, UK registered with an MoT to the end of 2018, showing under 15k miles OR IF YOU PREFER orange, then the same seller has a 1975 edition at the same price. This one’s done 8733 miles and its MoT runs to April…

Check out the RealClassic Facebook page for up to date details of forthcoming old bike events, and to see if the RC Crew are on manoeuvers. Visit www.facebook.com/realclassicmagazine and ‘like’ the page. In the ‘like’ options, click to ‘see first’ in your news feed. Then you’ll always know what’s happening! DECEMBER 5 TH ➤ The Cotswold section of the VMCC host AN EVENING WITH Stan Dibben, world sidecar champion, telling stories from ‘a life of hard graft: motorcycling and enterprise on the edge.’ Starts 7.30pm at the Churchdown Club, Gloucester GL3 2ER. Admission £2. 01242 574599 DECEMBER 15 TH ➤ The GREAT NORTH JUMBLE starts 7am at the North Yorkshire Events Centre at Scorton, DL10 6EJ. Admission £3, huge jumble site with indoor and outdoor stalls. Call 07909…

Very sadly, and shortly after we’d completed our interviews for this feature, Robbie Kerr was killed in a road traffic accident. His wife, Gillian, is setting up a charity to help raise awareness about the vulnerability of motorcyclists, seeking to educate drivers about how to behave around motorcycles. ‘My ultimate goal,’ says Gillian, ‘is to help people in need who have been injured through no fault of their own.’ You can contribute at www.gofundme.com/robbiekerr-motorcycle-awareness…

My Commando was now a collection of parts loosely bound by optimism. The project was at its lowest ebb, a more or less organised collection of crates and boxes of bits. In a state of maximum entropy as Prof Brian Cox might say. It would take energy, enthusiasm and no small amount of cash to assemble those parts into a functioning motorcycle. Perhaps this is the reason some projects fail at this point, where progress, if it is to be made at all, stretches into the distance, uphill. Resolve and enthusiasm alone were not enough, this required a plan and I had one. Even as I was merrily taking the bike apart, I printed off parts lists and diagrams and highlighted them with red for parts needed and green for…