Innehållsförteckning för April 2019 från Classic Bike Guide

OWNERS OF MOTORCYCLES that are MoT exempt are being advised that they should get them tested if they want to be sure they can ride them in Europe after Brexit. Currently, the EU-wide Roadworthiness Testing Directive applies to exempt vehicles, but this would vanish in the event of a no-deal Brexit. But the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) has suggested that owners might want to submit the vehicle to an MoT test, even if it is exempt, so that they will be in possession of evidence that the vehicle has passed a roadworthiness test if local law enforcement requests. The FBHVC has issued advice on what will be different if the UK leaves the EU on March 29 without a deal, with the first and main point being…

THIS YEAR IS the 10th anniversary of the revived Kop Hill Climb Festival and organisers are calling for owners of interesting motorcycles to join them to run the hill or display their machines over the weekend of September 22-23. David Barker from the festival said: “With entries opening at the beginning of April, we want to make sure we get some really exciting bikes attending this year, to ensure our 10th anniversary event is the best ever.” Set in the picturesque Chiltern Hills in Princes Risborough, Bucks, the non-competitive hill climb, which dates back to 1910, has firmly established itself as a major motoring festival since its resurrection 10 years ago. “We have raised over £640,000 for local charities and last year we raised an incredible £110,000 and saw over…

SPEAK TO THOSE IN THE KNOW – CLUBS, OWNERS, SPECIALISTS. IS THIS THE BIKE FOR YOU? GET SOME QUOTES – HOW MUCH ARE PARTS, HOW EASY ARE THEY TO WORK ON AND HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO INSURE? SEE IF YOU CAN HAVE A GO ON ONE. THIS MAY BE TRICKY, BUT IF YOU HAVE COMPREHENSIVE INSURANCE A KIND OWNER OR DEALER MAY LET YOU TRY ONE OUT. IF YOU CAN’T DO ALL THE JOBS YOURSELF, WILL YOUR LOCAL DEALER BE PREPARED TO WORK ON IT? IF YOU’RE UNSURE OF ANY OF THE ABOVE, EMAIL US AT EDITOR@CLASSICBIKEGUIDE. COM AND IF WE CAN’T HELP, WE’LL TRY TO FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN.  OUR AIM IS TO BRING YOU AS MUCH DETAIL AS WE CAN ON A SPECIFIC MODEL SO YOU CAN…

ENGINE: Air-cooled ohv high cam single BORE / STROKE: 86mm x 86mm CAPACITY: 499cc COMPRESSION: 8:1 (standard) POWER: 36bhp @ 5700rpm LUBRICATION: Dry sump, gear pump IGNITION: Lucas or BTH magneto CARBURETTOR: Amal Monobloc 389 (TT optional) TRANSMISSION: Chain GEARBOX: Four-speed foot change FRAME: Brazed lug chrome-moly tube, single downtube duplex cradle FRONT SUSPENSION: Veloce tele forks, hydraulic damping REAR SUSPENSION: Swinging arm, twin Woodhead Monroe shocks FRONT BRAKE: 7.5in sls drum, full width alloy hub REAR BRAKE: 7in sls drum, full width alloy hub TYRES: 3.25 x 19 WHEELBASE: 54in GROUND CLEARANCE: 6in SEAT HEIGHT: 31in DRY WEIGHT: 375lb TOP SPEED: 102mph…

I WENT OUT FOR A RIDE YESTERDAY – JUST setting the scene for you. It was a ‘regular’ event for the VMCC. In club parlance that means a run for any bike that’s over 25 years old. We had a great turnout and there was the usual eclectic mix of machines that only the VMCC members can really put out there. Rubbing shoulders with 1970s BMW airheads and Japanese fours were an assortment of old British drippers, anywhere from the swinging Sixties backwards to the roaring Twenties. This presents somewhat of a logistical challenge, at least in theory. It would be reasonable to assume that 1980s man astride his 1000cc behemoth would be able to lope along at an altogether more impressive rate of knots than old Bob riding the…

This beautiful Indian will be auctioned by Bonhams at the 39th Carole Nash International Classic Motorcycle show, at Stafford, on April 28/29. The guide valuation for the Indian has been set at £16,000-20,000. I had to see it for myself, as the photographs looked amazing. But also, there is undoubtedly a story of how Mr Rinfart managed to hold on to such a machine – an American machine – in wartime Germany. There are unconfirmed reports that it was bricked up in a cellar so it shouldn’t be confiscated!…

IF YOU OWN AN OLD BIKE THEN YOU’LL HAVE SOME pressed metal on it somewhere, guaranteed. What’s also immutable is the fact that steel panels corrode if they’re not looked after. Seat pans, side panels, mudguards and the like will all rust; even oil tanks have been known to rust from the outside in. With a painted finish you can normally see how good or bad the metal is beneath simply by whether there are rust blisters or corrosion induced spider webs between the base coat and the steel. With chrome plated panels you often only find out you have serious rust when it breaks through to the top surface or your mudguard collapses from its mounts and falls onto a tyre. What follows is a series of steps and…

SPECIAL THANKS TO: NICK AND JACK AT ASHTONS CLASSIC BODYSHOP (01362 692271), ELK PROMOTIONS, STEVE THE WELDER (THANKS BUDDY YOU ARE AN ARTIST!) THE PREVIOUS OWNER of our 1956 Norton ES2 had the frame, swing arm and other parts carefully shot blasted and then brush painted them in red oxide primer to prevent the parts from rusting. This has worked brilliantly, so they just needed rubbing down before I could get them in the booth for primer and a nice top coat of hard-wearing black two-pack. But good though the red oxide is at protection, boy is it hard work to rub down! Cars I’ve done in the past can be sanded down with an orbital sander, but a frame and swing arm has no flat surfaces, so it all…

MOTORING LEGEND JOHN Haynes, the creator of the famous Haynes Manuals, has died aged 80. Most riders have got an oily-thumbed Haynes manual on their bookcase, with more than 200 million sold worldwide. Born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1938, Haynes built an Austin 7 special while at boarding school in the UK and printed his first manual detailing the work involved as a booklet, selling 250 copies. The first true Haynes Manual, one of the first to give the ordinary rider and motorist details about how to fix their vehicle usually only seen in factory manuals, was printed in 1966. The collection has now grown so much so that there is hardly a vehicle in the world that doesn’t have one. The collection has extended into outer space…

A letter by Alan Freke has reminded me of an event with my first motorcycle, a 1954 BSA C10L. It was 1962, I was 16 years old and purchasing my first motor vehicle, a used motorcycle. My mother had suggested a bike, her parents had travelled around England for many years on a bike and sidecar. It seemed a good idea to me at the time as I needed transport to get my first job as a car hop at a drive-in restaurant and there were no late night buses. After looking at a James, my dad thought it best to get the BSA as he was more familiar with four-stroke motors and BSA were a popular brand when he was young. My first ride around the block was uneventful…

Pete, who rides a Matchless G3L but has had many bikes, both old and new, wondered why the 270 degree crank. ‘Why does it need to sound like a V-twin and not a parallel twin?’ We muttered about economy and emissions. We also looked at the suspension, with the preload on the rear shocks so little we could increase the preload platform by hand. Yet the forks are through the top yoke. Rob, who had let me ride his wonderful Velocette Venom Clubman, liked the ease of ride and overall package. ‘It is so easy and intuitive to ride’ he smiled. Hutch, a British bike specialist was a surprise: I thought he wouldn’t like it. He was away for ages, ‘which is a good sign’ Shelley, his better half, told…

THIS ONE IS FOR THE YOUNG ’UNS, LIKE MY 21-year-old stepdaughter, Gwen, who’s at Oxford. Because when I was her age, although I’d finished university, I did not have plans. One cannot live on a barista’s wage in American cities anymore, so graduates are expected to have ambition, and are judged lacking if they do not. But I was a lacker. I certainly had pursuits and prioritized splitting the air with my helmet, crouched low over a gorgeous, hand-built machine as the dials on its chronometrics went tick, tick, tick over 100 on the dial. T E Lawrence claimed speed was man’s second oldest urge, and while he seems to have ignored the primary, he certainly indulged speed on a succession of seven Brough Superiors, which he could afford from…

Using a tap or a die to cut a thread may seem an unusual operation for the average job, but as we spend most of our time working on old machines, I forgot how often these useful tools can also be handy in revitalising existing threads. Having painted the Norton frame and metalwork, it was inevitable that some paint would have found itself where it shouldn’t, or corrosion still be present in some threads. But using the correct taps and dies not only cleaned them up, but also helped reshape the now 60-year-old parts, which should hopefully make the rebuild that little bit easier. Just remember to write down somewhere if you lend a friend one size or another, or, like me, you’ll go to use your tools, only to…

“The first puller had a different thread to the clutch centre itself, the second had the correct thread but stripped as soon as I applied a spanner, and the third – hallelujah – worked perfectly.” FAMOUS LAST WORDS Special tools and the special fools who don’t use them… IN THE BIG RED DRAWER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE big red toolbox in which I imaginatively store tools, there lives a very old, very patinated, possibly collectable Jiffy bag. It has scribbling on the outside, which suggests that the contents are ‘Frank’s Pullers’. And this is true. Inside the big bag resides a motley assortment of pullers. Pullers are good. Pullers are great. Things go better with pullers … certainly better than with a fizzy drink, which allegedly dissolves teeth. Most…

THREE WEEKS SEPARATED the weekend when the Bath and West Showground was turned into a snow-covered winterscape, postponing the Bristol Classic Motorcycle Show, and the positively spring-like rescheduled event. The later date was much better for it. A few traders failed to show, but those who did had a busy weekend and the bikes on show were a much healthier mix than usual. We were there, amateurishly attacking the front forks on a Triumph Bonneville, and a huge thank you goes out to everybody who stopped by to help out – including Nathan the fireman who managed to undo a bottom stanchion nut that had defeated us; Monty from Monty’s Classics who helpfully pointed out before it was too late that we had put the stanchions on upside down and…

Davida Jet Helmet I’VE WANTED A Davida Jet Helmet for ages, but the price has always been the sticking point for me. I know that you cannot put a price on your skull, but with a £300 plus price tag they’ve been a bit beyond my pocket. I have been making do with a cheap open-face that didn’t really fit right and instilled no confidence whatsoever, and a Givi flip-front that does the job well but ensures that you look ridiculous riding around with the front up. When my local branch of Harley and Ducati dealers, Riders, announced they were having a one-day helmet sale and offering ‘up to’ 50% off Davida products, it had to be investigated. I wasn’t holding out much hope as most helmet sales seem to…

Bore: 88MM Stroke: 82MM Capacity: 498.4CC Compression ratio: 5.25:1 Power: 17BHP 4200RPM Valve type: OHV Number of gears: three Ignition: dual ignition with Bosch magneto Carburettor: Amac race 28.5mm Lubrication: Geared oil pump and oil tank Transmission: primary gears, secondary chain Wheelbase: 1410mm Front suspension: sprung girder forks with racing friction damper Rear suspension: rigid Wheels: painted steel rims and spokes, 19 x 2.51n Tyre size front: 3.00 x 26in Tyres size rear: 3.00 x 26in Dry weight: 130kg Fuel tank capacity: 11 litres Oil capacity: 3 litres Max speed approx: 85mph…

WHAT’S ON YOUR WORKBENCH CURRENTLY? I only ask because mine looks like 1980s robot and cheeky metallic android Metal Mickey has just yacked up all over it. Normally I don’t work in such a tip but you know how it goes sometimes… or is it just me? In no particular order we have: a 14/15mm ratchet spanner I’ve used just the once, the bottom half of a Yamaha CS3C motor, several head and base gaskets for same, a pair of RD350 indicators that have been resident for at least 18 months, two baffles from an AS1 that need welding, four new condensers for my Suzuki Stinger, a wiring loom from a Yamaha YCS1C I have no recollection of ever buying and a pair of carburettors soaking in cleaning solution. You…

INDIAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A MARQUE AT the very forefront of motorcycle design and technology in the opening decades of the 20th century. Today, Indian is remembered mainly for its powerful, large-capacity V-twins, the first of which appeared in 1907. The Springfield firm’s first twin was based on its highly successful ‘F-head’ (inlet-over-exhaust) single-cylinder model, and this type of engine would continue to power the road-going ‘Iron Redskins’ until a new 61ci (1,000cc) ‘flat head’ (side-valve) V-twin – the Powerplus – was introduced for 1916. A smaller Indian V-twin model, the 37ci (600cc) Scout, joined the Powerplus in 1920, soon gaining a deserved reputation for durability; so much so that ‘You can’t wear out an Indian Scout’ became its advertising slogan. Contributing to this longevity was the use of gears…

WHAT ARE THEY USED FOR? A tap and die are used to cut, chase, repair or clean threads in nuts and bolts. A tap looks like a nut and is used to cut the thread on a bolt, whereas the die looks like a bolt and is used to cut the thread in a nut. They are made from hardened material and have channels in them to aid the removal of material. It is essential to be using the correct tap or die for the thread you are attempting. We’ll look at different threads next month. You will, at some stage, need taps and dies. Virtually every component on your machine is attached to its neighbour by a thread of some kind or other. It doesn’t matter whether you’re fettling…