Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i Real Classic

Do you ever suffer from An Appalling Understanding? A moment of sheer frustration with yourself that you’ve done something daft? It used to happen to me a lot, then it sort-of faded away, and now it’s back in full shout. Just in time for Summer. Hurrah, of course. About what am I rambling? About the foolish sale of machines that I really, really liked. We’ve all done this, so do not bother to deny it. And if you genuinely have never stumbled in this way on the path to the perfected motorcycle, award yourself a putty medal and make a donation to your favourite charity. Such perfection is rare indeed. Putty medal? My old grammar school Maths teacher awarded them to swots like... ah... other pupils who had done well…

RealClassic ‘I knew of this Rapid for some time, but never thought l could afford a Rudge, ’ explains owner Martin. ‘I’ve been a member of the Exeter British Motorcycle Club for more than 15 years. Among our club member there are a few who own and ride Rudge-Whitworth motorcycles. The late John Clayton, for instance, was a long-standing member who rode a TT Replica Rudge 500. ‘John was a friend – he rebuilt my BSA ZB32 competition engine from scratch – and I enjoyed riding with him, and looking at the Rudges he kept in his workshop and sheds. That really was my first introduction to this marque.’ Once his thoughts turned to Rudges, Martin inevitably considered the famous names from the marque’s heyday. ‘Why not go all the…

MAY 6TH AND 7TH ➤ There’s a VINTAGE & CLASSIC AUCTION at Hazle Meadows Auction Centre, Ledbury, HR8 2LP. Spares, projects, literature and many complete machines including a private collection. Catalogue from 01531 631122 /hjpugh.com SATURDAY 7TH MAY ➤ The LONDON CLASSIC BIKE SHOW and autojumble returns to Kempton Park racecourse, TW16 5AQ. Extra indoor halls with private and club displays alongside the usual giant jumble. kemptonautojumble.co.uk / 01507 529529 SUNDAY 8TH MAY ➤ The Romney Marsh CLASSIC BIKEJUMBLE is at Hamstreet TN26 2JD. Includes a ride-in show with prizes for the Best Classic and Best Post-Classic bikes. Opens 10am, admission £5 (£4 for seniors). elk-promotions.co.uk / 01797 344277 ➤ Basingstoke FESTIVAL OF TRANSPORT opens 11am to 4pm at Basingstoke War Memorial Park. Expect c900 classic vehicles. 01256 843543 /bstokefot.co.uk…

There have been no real shows or meetings locally to report on recently, although those in London and the South-East may have been better served. It would usually have been Pioneer Run time, but that event has been put back to October (as it was last year), so put Oct. 2nd into your diary if possible. It may lose a little of its ‘first outing of the year’ appeal, and prove to be a more congested date, but hopefully most of the spectators will still turn out, because they help to make the event for the participants. There are still a few local gathering places, even with the closure of Jacks, so various bikes have been exercised. The Super Sausage café (just south of Towcester on the A5 and a…

> WE WANT MORE STORIES about real life classic bikes. We like profiles of a single model or a comparison of two machines. Most magazine features are between 1000 and 2500 words. If your story is much longer then it’s probably not for us. Shorter stories appear in the letters section. > TO SEE WHAT WE MEAN look at the Matchless, Rudge, Ariel or Enfield articles in this issue. > DON’T WORRY about your writing, grammar or punctuation; we’ll make sure that your article reads the right way. Just concentrate on telling a good story and we’ll do the rest. > INCLUDE AS MUCH INFO as possible. Tell the RC readers exactly what model your classic bike is, when it was built and its history since then. What condition was…

Frank’s various WD G3Ls can all trace their lineage back to 1937 when a new engine was introduced, one which remained in AMC’s range for the next 30 years. This handsome hunk of metal featured an extensively-finned cylinder head made from a single casting, and a rockerbox which completely enclosed the valves and their springs, and benefitted from positive lubrication to those delicate moving parts. The bottom end was also updated with beefed up bearings, new crankcases and improved oiling, all of which added up to around 16bhp. This, then, was the powerplant which would do its patriotic duty in WW2, and it remained pretty much unchanged until 1947. Matchless boasted of its ‘unusual mechanical silence with high power output and prolonged maintenance of tune’ and claimed that many aspects…

BIKES TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE T120, 2017. New condition. 3800 miles. Starts and runs as a new bike should. Completely faultless. ECU, ABS, trip module, wet and dry mode, heated grips. All the modernity you’d expect from a modern classic. £7000, no offers. Glenn, 07365 297414 NORTON COMMANDO Mk2A, 850cc, 1975. Starts and runs well. Great condition. Needs a few hours of commissioning to go on the road, hence reduced price. £7500, no offers. 07365 297414 NORTON COMMANDO Mk2, 2016. New condition. Starts and runs well as it should. Genuine reason for sale. £12,000 no offers. 07365 297414 DUCATI ELITE Mototrans, 1961. New liner, piston, stanchions. Electrex generator / alternator / rectifier. £5500. 01661 853032, Tyne and Wear UNCLE ALF is finding it difficult to ‘get his leg over’ and asked me…

I was in Scotland, irritating some relatives, who, spotting that the Scottish Motorcycle Show was on, suggested, nay, insisted that I went. I wasn’t massively impressed by the show at first glance. It was more expensive than any classic show I’d ever been to, for a start, and the first hall was full of the usual sales of last-year’s clothing and dodgy US Pro tools made out of cheese spread, with a handful of manufacturers filling the space. The second hall was the ‘auto jumble’, full of stalls selling fake tin signs, fudge and dream catchers, though there was a reasonable quantity of consumables, engineering tools and one bloke in the corner sitting there looking bored with a pile of old Suzuki two-stroke bits. I was beginning to lose hope…

Summat to say? Send your comments, hints, tips, tales of woe and derring-don’t to: RCHQ@RealClassic.net GROUP THINK? I read Rowena’s Members’ Enc with interest last month, especially the bit about how to manage a group of disparate riders or machines. I’ve had a lot of experience of group rides, both leading and participating. The distillate of this experience is that, unless you are on a mega-ride, complete with Police outriders and all the junctions being kept open for the cavalcade of bikes, the drop-off system works best. What’s this? It is actually easier to do than to explain. You need a leader and a tail, and then the riders in between. As you rumble along making serene progress, at each significant deviation from the road ahead the leader will point…

In 2017 I got a call from my old friend Michael, a man with a great talent for sniffing out old bikes. ‘Are you interested in a 1977 Yamaha DT250?’ he says. Apparently it’s been in a shed for many years, a non-runner in a sorry state. As a serial bike restorer it’s just my sort of thing. Of course I say yes. A year later, the collapsing old shed has been emptied enough to reach the bike, which is duly dragged out. Snails have been living under the tank and there’s ivy growing through the frame. A little research tells me it’s a matching numbers Yamaha DT250B, 1976 model year. The owner had bought the bike new on 9 July 1977 from AW Mayle and Son of Bletchley; I…