Innehållsförteckning för November 2022 från Classic Bike Guide

Welcome I FIND MYSELF WRITING AGAIN WITH A heavy heart this month, as the passing of Phil Read MBE has just been announced by his family. And this sad news comes the same day as British Superbike rider Chrissy Rouse has also tragically lost his fight against injuries sustained at Donington Park less than one week ago. May we send our thoughts to both families. Phil Read raced in such a fascinating time for the sport. Four-stroke engines gave way to two-strokes, which would give way again to four-strokes. Established manufacturers waned while new players rose. The sport became more serious, more professional, and even more importantly it started to look more seriously at the safety or riders and spectators. Read was racing at a time we had Mike Hailwood,…

THE 1970S WAS A REMARKABLE DECADE for motorcycling. In 1969, riders who wanted a big, powerful mainstream motorcycle would be offered a British 650cc ohv parallel twin. Just seven years later there had been huge technological advances; the speed at which the Japanese factories could create a new model was undeniably impressive. Suzuki had a lot of two-strokes in its range that were about to be killed by looming emission regulations, while its top-of-the-line model was the RE5 Rotary, an expensive flop that almost bankrupted the company. After years of building sporty and touring two-strokes, Suzuki knew that emissions regs in that all-important US market were going to kill its stinkwheel twins and triples, and it was going to need a four-stroke range if it wanted to stay in business.…

THE DKW RT125 IS PROBABLY THE MOST COPIED motorcycle of all time. After the Second World War, the Brits used the little German two-stroke as the basis for the BSA Bantam, while the Yanks modified it and came up with the Harley-Davidson Hummer. The Ruskies stripped everything they could from the DKW factory in Zschopau and moved it to Minsk, where they used the tooling to make the Moskva M1A. Even the Japanese knew a good thing when they saw it and used the RT125 as the basis for the Yamaha YA-1 Red Dragon. Most of the clones were made as cheaply as possible, and they looked it. But the Italians have always done things with style. Back in 1924, Alfonso Morini teamed up with Mario Mazzetti and they were…

LIFE ON A MOTORCYCLE IS SUCH FUN IN these autumnal days. There I was, scared mostly witless, ploughing along the huge and fast A30 across Dartmoor, home of the noted prison. It was becoming plain that several of my fellow storm-lashed heroes were hoping for a pull by the police so they could enjoy a stay within those hallowed walls. Highway Code (well, it was raining desperately hard and there was a lot of deep water)? Pah. Traffic laws? Never met one, guv’nor. I did what I always do: hitched up behind a big white van (very visible, even in the most lashing of deluges) and followed it sufficiently removed to compensate for his ABS, should he feel a need to brake. Which was rare, to be fair. And I…

In 1956 Triumph applied a ‘World Speed Record Holder’ decal to the nacelle of all machines to celebrate Johnny Allen setting a new motorcycle record at Bonneville the previous year; he returned to improve the time on September 6, 1956 and achieved 214.40mph. The team from Dalio’s Triumph dealership in Ft Worth, Texas, had received factory backing and was headed by tuning guru Jack Wilson with businessman and pilot Stormy Mangham. Their battle with the NSU factory team is well documented after they reached 211.40mph just a month before, with Wilhelm Herz aboard a 500cc supercharged streamliner. Less known is the story of 16-year-old dirt track rider Jess Thomas, who would hang round the shop and become part of the team that headed for the salt flats. While the Thunderbird…

IN A STATEMENT, PHIL READ’S SON, PHIL READ JR, speaking on behalf of his family, said: “It is with incredible sadness that the Read family reports the passing of Phil Read MBE while peacefully asleep on the morning of October 6, 2022, at his home in Canterbury, England. “Phil is best known for winning Yamaha’s first world championship title in 1964, with four more Yamahamounted titles including one fought as a privateer, plus two premier class 500cc world championships in 1973 and 1974 for the Italian MV Agusta marque. “Often a controversial and outspoken figure, his prolific racing career included 52 FIM Grand Prix wins and eight wins at the iconic Isle of Man TT Races. In 2002 he was granted the status of MotoGP Legend by Dorna. Phil is…

PICTURE THIS: THERE I AM, WORKING HARD ON my famous impression of someone working hard, when there is a fairly inaudible comment from behind me, followed by a mild thump as a press kit lands on my desk. Impressive accuracy in the throwing things dept, I think. The press kit is for a Harley-Davidson. I express my surprise, as a chap should when confronted by something entirely baffling, and request an explanation. “Your next bike. You should get one.” There’s a silent pause. A moment, if you like. “I’ve booked a demo bike for you for a fortnight.” Which is how I found myself a couple of weeks later, standing in bright Northants sunshine, getting the tour of that new Harley. It pays never to argue domestically, I have discovered.…

AFTER THE BRITISH INDUSTRY’S amalgamations in the 1960s, there were only Matchless singles produced until 1967, with the AMC concern folding, shortly to be followed by the rest of the British bike industry. Almost. I say ‘almost’ as there were a few embers glowing in the fireplace of British industry, including a certain Les Harris, who was continuing the build of Triumph Bonnevilles – the T140 version – under licence between 1985 and 1988 after the Meriden factory closed in 1983. It was clear that Harris wanted to expand his operation, obviously aware that the Triumph deal had a limited lifespan, and he set up the new Matchless Motorcycles company in 1987. With the name in place, and with a supply of chassis components already set up with the production…

THE FIRST TIME BRITISH RIDERS were able to ‘read all about it’ and indulge their fantasies of owning a Tiger 100 came in November 1938. Motor Cycle magazine carried out the first official road test, announcing that the T100 ‘seems to combine all those qualities motorcyclists have hoped for but seldom actually experienced’. It captured the delight with which the new Triumph was greeted, and in the real world the T100 did not disappoint. Exactly two years later the Dale Street factory was hit by the Luftwaffe and largely destroyed, by which time Triumph had geared up to supply the military. The Tiger project, alongside its running mate the Speed Twin, resulted in the 1939 models receiving worldwide attention and, naturally, full order books, allowing boss Edward Turner to feel…

BY THE LATE 1960S, HONDA WAS ON A ROLL. IT withdrew from the international race scene as, after winning numerous world titles, it felt it had learned enough from racing – for now. Those lessons had already started to filter into the road bikes. And as we now know, Honda had a large project on the boil for release in 1969, the world’s first ‘Superbike’ – the CB750. In today’s Americanisms, the CB750 would be described as a game changer. But it was more than that – no one had seen anything like it, at that price. Electric start (that worked), 12-volt electrics, five gears, oil tight, reliable and fast, to name just a few attributes. It made British bike obsolete overnight and put Kawasaki back years. At the same…

ROYAL ENFIELD ‘Made like a gun’ was the Royal Enfield motto, appropriate for a company that made its first impact making firearm parts for the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield. Starting off with sewing needles, then bicycles and parts for military guns, the company moved into motorcycles in 1901. The 350cc Bullet was introduced in 1931 and this has been built in various versions ever since, first in Redditch, now in Chennai, India. British Royal Enfield singles were known for being respectable and sensible, as well as for their inability to contain lubricant, gaining the nickname Royal Oilfield. The pre-unit models used an Albion gearbox that wasn’t known for its slickness and which was fitted with a neutral selector – handy as there are lots of unexpected neutrals in…