Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2019 i Real Classic

The new year is certainly turning out to be entertaining – not least on the 2-wheeled front. So far it’s included a surprising Honda (I doubted that was even possible) and a brand-new Royal Enfield – a twin. You can read a lot about the former and a little about the latter in next month’s magazine – this issue was already too far into production to change by the time I got to ride the bikes. I always try to approach a bike asking myself the same question – do I want to buy this? That’s putting it very simply, because it’s a very complicated question reduced to a too-simple single sentence. And it’s almost impossible to answer honestly, too, because if it was easier I’d struggle to move at…

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article by the biking vicar Alan Davies about his BSA C11 in RC177. Alan’s article was really well constructed. It held my attention throughout, being informative with humorous comment, and at its conclusion I actually wanted more. I’m not particularly religious, but if Alan was my local vicar I think I’d be a regular. David Clark, RC member I have to say how much the January issue of RealClassic was enjoyed, such words to enlighten the heart on this cold, damp winter season. The article from Fr Alan Davies I could relate to well through my motorcycling life. I started with a Honda CB100N , moved on to more Hondas, mighty MZs, a well-used and abused Triumph T100SS, then a 650 Bonnie to five Enfields.…

Sometimes, just once in a while you come across a bike that is a real gem. Not one of the gleaming elites from the glorious past of British bikes but something special, unique even. This particular gem started life as a little-regarded model, albeit from a well-known maker, but was transformed into one man’s realisation of the bike his 16-year old self would have wanted. A learner-legal café racer. The bike first caught my eye when it joined our motley collection of old bikes and riders gathering in Whittlesey, deep in the Cambridgeshire Fens. From there, our happy band spent the day riding some of the county’s delightful lanes on the VMCC Anglian Section’s Hobson’s choice Run. This took us sixty miles or so south, over the great chalk escarpment…

MARCH 6TH ➤ There’s an AUCTION of classic and vintage vehicles; mainly cars, some bikes at Brightwells, Leominster, HR6 0DE. 01568 611122 / brightwells.com ➤ Join the Cotswold section of the VMCC for a talk about THE AUTOMOVIE INDUSTRY; now and then. Starts 7.30pm at the Churchdown Club near Gloucester, GL3 2ER. 01242 574599 MARCH 9TH ➤ The WARCO OPEN DAY opens 9am to 1pm at Fisher Lane, Chiddingfold GU8 4TD. Special offers on machines, lathes, tooling, etc. 01428 682929 /warco.co.uk ➤ There’s an AUCTION of classic and vintage cars and motorcycles at Allington near Chippenham, SN14 6LJ. 01249 444544 /richardedmondsauctions.com MARCH 10TH ➤ The annual BMPS MOTORCYCLE JUMBLE opens 9am to 1pm at Mochdre Village Hall, Colwyn Bay, LL28 5HU. Also some complete bikes for sale. Admission £3. 07592…

Is your shed filled with automotive memorabilia? If so, then it could be featured in a new TV series, due to be filmed later this year. Henry Cole, best known for his appearances on The Motorbike Show and Shed & Buried, is searching for unique items lost in people’s sheds, lofts, garages and barns, to fix up for a profit. Mechanical curiosities are always a favourite, but all manner of vintage paraphernalia is of interest, including furniture, electrical items and tools. Find more info about applying to appear at henrycole.tv.…

New Year’s Day Vintage Stony advertising reported that after 10 years, it would be the last one of the series, which was all the more reason to take the Bollée along. B44 Clive hauled his mighty Power Pak at the same time, but even with an earlier getaway than usual the intended unloading spot was found to be already full – clearly others also did not intend to miss it either. Continuing on, space was eventually found, but only when almost there. This left only a derisory distance to go, and desiring a bit of ‘Victorian motoring’ first, but observing that the main roads were already jamming up, the tricycle was taken for a spin around the Stony backstreets. After arrival at the Market Square, the motorcycle parking area was…

Unsurprisingly, many members of the RC Facebook group have owned unit Triumph twins during their long / distinguished riding careers. These are the upgrades they consider essential... AN OIL FILTER and a Morgo oil pump (Lars Sandström) TRI-SPARK ignition (Paul Miles) ON PRE-OIF bikes, the best mod you can make is to fit a 2ls front brake (Chris Maughan) ROADRIDER TYRES; with those, electronic ignition and an oil filter it’s then hard to further improve perfection! (Martin Peacock)…

At the end of last year we held a special subscriber giveaway, sponsored by LYNBROOK INSURANCE who offer specialist policies tailored to the needs of classic motorcyclists. And our wonderful winners are… B Jones of Corfe Mullin; S Hargreaves of Hartley Wintney; D Bridge of Crewe, A Winfindale of West Bridgford and D Clark of Colchester. Congratulations to you all – your £25 cheques are in the post! Commiserations to everyone else who didn’t win this time – but remember to ask Lynbrook for a quote next time your bike or car policy comes up for renewal because you might save even more……

A further tip to revive a tired magneto is to pencil the plug points. This has worked on 197cc two-strokes for me. Quite often a dead mag when hot will spark again once cooled off. Looking at the photos in RC178; don’t have that spring blade on the contact arm facing inwards as it puts excessive strain on the operating tappet, witness the marking on the inside of the contact arm itself. The spring blade must curve outwards. Arthur Pentney, member I’ve tried the pencil onto the plug before, also on 2-strokes, but in the end I just got used to carrying a couple of spare plugs with me and getting adept at swapping them. And yes, K2F mags in particular respond to a little cooling off. FrankW…

Built 1965-66 Engine Air-cooled dohc twin Bore / stroke 70 x 58mm Capacity 445cc Compression 9:1 Power 45bhp @ 9000rpm Torque 27.5lb/ft @ 7000rpm Carburetion 2x 32mm Keihin Ignition Auto-advance coil, twin contact breaker Starting Kick / electric Transmission 4-speed, chain final drive Frame Single downtube, tubular semi-duplex cradle Front suspension Two-way damped tele forks Rear suspension Adjustable preload twin shock, swinging arm Front brake 8-inch 2ls drum Rear brake 8-inch drum Front tyre 3.25 x 18 Rear tyre 3.50 x 18 Wheelbase 1300mm Weight 412lb dry: 450lb wet Fuel economy 65mpg Top speed 105mph…

When the driving force behind MV, Count Domenico Agusta, died in 1971 the days remaining for the firm’s motorbike division were numbered. The firm became a victim of corporate reshuffling and the State-infused boards and banks which took over did not tolerate the lack of profit that had previously been sustained by the Count’s passions. Inside the racing works, Arturo Magni was responsible for overseeing both bikes and the celebrity team of riders who piloted Magni-prepared MV machines to more manufacture / rider world titles than any other maker in history. MV’s racing exploits ended in 1975 and soon after the new management pared away the famous fours to concentrate on Bell helicopters. Too young to retire, the master tuner began his namesake company in 1977 with sons Carlo and…

➤ WE WANT TO PUBLISH more stories about real life classic bikes. You don’t need to be an inspired writer to see your story in RealClassic, but you do need to say something relevant. We like profiles about a single model (or maybe two very similar ones; a pair of Triumph twins, for example), which should be at least 1000 words in length. Most RC features are between 1000 and 2500 words. If your story is longer than that then it’s heading towards being a series (or a book!). If your thoughts run to under 1000 words then they’ll probably appear in the letters section. ➤ TO SEE WHAT WE MEAN look at Oily Boot Bob’s Crusader stories, the Velo MAC or Norton Big4 articles in RC142. These are just…

Clutches are simple things. In fact… motorcycles, especially elderly bikes built in Brum, are simple things. I know this; you know this; everybody and his pet armadillo knows this. Except it is only half of the story. Although motorcycles – here exemplified by a BSA of doubtful parentage – are completely simple and understandable by anyone with an IQ in double figures, it requires something special to fix them. Because although they are simple enough (and they really are) they can achieve hideous levels of imaginative complex wossname when they need fixing. Take this A65. Its clutch is plainly some kind of catastrophe. At some time in the bike’s past, some previously possibly proud owner did things to the clutch that I have never seen before. And I have seen…