Innehållsförteckning för March 2023 från Classic Bike Guide

What’s occurring? Winter does seem to have gone on a bit, but there are those who feel February is the best month of the year, starting off cold and by the end definitely a feel of spring in the air. There is plenty of stuff coming up... the Bristol show, of course, and The Scottish Motorcycle Show might not be on your radar, as it is marketed as a new bike show, but there is a huge hall full of classic clubs, with lots of real-world classics on display, and there is the South of England show to end the month. The VMCC Jumble at Shepton Mallet is a must, too. There are two Welsh Shows on the same weekend at the start of April – the excellent South Wales…

A QUARTER OF ALL THE NEW MOTORCYCLES SOLD IN THE UK today are off-roaders of some kind. Once a niche product, dual-purpose machines that are usable off-road and at the same time ideal for long-distance touring are flying off showroom floors. Everything from Chinese 125s to mighty Triumph and BMW twins can be had, all kitted out for the dirt, and are selling well, often fitted with compact fairings and aluminium luggage – the two-wheeled equivalent of all those four-wheel drive Chelsea Tractors. Some of these chunky beasts will rarely touch anything but asphalt, yet they are still capable of eating dirt, should you so desire. With the demise of BSA in 1973, it seemed that the end of big-bore dual-purpose off-roader was on the cards. Japanese manufacturers were building…

What are you buying? Look at what you’re getting – is it complete? If it’s a runner, then get a ride if you can (make sure you have insurance, and most sellers will insist on cash in their hand first). Hopefully, it’s cold first (had they had it running before you came – then why?) Hear it run. Are the tyres legal (1mm tread)? Or have cracks in the sidewall? Here’s a quick checklist. Centrestand – does it lift the bike up? Wheels – are they straight? Check the spokes for loose or broken ones, rock the wheels for play in the wheel bearings, look for worn chains (will pull away from the rear of the sprocket) and worn sprockets... teeth like shark’s teeth. Are the fork stanchions pitted? Are…

■ CBG Workshop WHEN REBUILDING ENGINES, most people put up with the hard work for the image of an as-new unit... all those nooks, crannies and fins looking as they would have originally. And the best way to get that is by media blasting – shooting glass bead, sand or soda at the pieces at ferocious speed, normally by someone else! But I really dislike blast-cleaned engines. This is just a personal preference as they do look nice, but that blast medium gets everywhere, seemingly no matter how much you mask the head or block or crankcase. While post-blast cleaning with a parts cleaner, brushes, a compressed air line and toothbrushes removes most, I can’t help but think that there is some grit, somewhere, embedded in the soft aluminium or…

It is easy to forget quite how much the motorcycle helped the country get moving again after the Second World War. While most would be happy with an ex-MoD plodder, a Sunbeam had never been a small investment and the S7 was capable of munching miles in style. The rider pictured on a new Sunbeam S7 (registered in Coventry) has ventured through London city to see Dickens’ old curiosity shop, just off Kingsway, north of the Strand. The S7, designed by Erling Poppe in the 1930s was well ahead of many contemporaries once released after the war, in 1946/47. The 498cc, inline, twin-cylinder engine was similar to a car, with wet sump, alloy block and unit construction. That led to a shaft drive and telescopic forks, plunger rear and sprung…

Yohoho and a twistgrip of fun… THE BRIGHT SILVER BIKE YOU’RE CURRENTLY looking at is almost certainly the second-best Bonneville I’ve ridden in a very long riding life, much of it spent riding Triumph Bonnevilles. The very best? I’ll get to that in a moment. That last statement stopped me in my tracks. I performed a little burst of mental arithmetic and understood that it’s well over a half-century since I somehow passed my riding test. A scary thought. I’ll not mention it again. Except to say that in those far-too-many years I have indeed ridden lots and lots of Triumph twins, most of them Bonnevilles, even though I’ve never really been much of a Bonnie fan. I was recently invited to take out one of the late Meriden T140s,…

AFTER hibernating in the workshop for what seems like an eternity, it’ll soon be time to get out there – and in this post-Covid Britain, it’s perhaps time to really appreciate being out with fellow enthusiasts! There are events of all types all over the UK... and whether it’s a rummage through a sale to complete that project (or start a new one), or planning that big trip to sunny climes with Enfield Classic Moto Tours, there is so much to look forward to in 2023... perhaps even to just get away from the word ‘crisis’ on TV bulletins. You can try big events such as Stafford or the Mallory Bike Bonanza, head south for Ashford or Romney Marsh, go east To Stickney... or join-up with fellow marque enthusiasts. Whatever…

TO GENERATE A SPARK, YOU NEED A high voltage. And to achieve that you’ll need some form of current generator – a dynamo or alternator. If your bike has a remote dynamo or alternator driven by a belt, chain or gears, then please feel free to turn the page and read what Hutch has been up to. If, however, you have a crank mounted generator of any kind, then perhaps what follows may get you out of a hole, prevent a lot of heartache and/or save you some hard-earned money. It really doesn’t matter what the configuration of your rotor, armature, generator or flywheel magneto is – eventually there’s going to be a point when it all needs to come apart, either for repair or engine rebuild. As a generator…

Going Solar Defender Max II Solar Security Light  £29.95  www.defendersecurityproducts.co.uk You are only lax about security until you’ve been burgled. The Defender Max II Solar Security Light may not stop unwanteds, but will help. It’s an outdoor solar-powered flood light. It has a motion sensor function, which should mean it turns on if any ne’er-do-wells come on the scene, but it may also be triggered by next door’s pesky cat if not set up correctly… The Defender produces an extremely bright 850 lumens of light, approximately 60 watts, from 80 bright white LEDs. The best part is it doesn’t need wiring in or the electricery and holes drilled that entails – just two holes to mount it. The light is well-built and withstands any weather, and you can…

Email || editor@classicbikeguide.com Write to || Classic Bike Guide, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, LN9 6LZ This month’s Star Letter wins The writer of this month’s Star Letter wins a pair of Weise Montana 150 gloves, worth £119.99. These waterproof gloves provide maximum warmth and minimal bulk thanks to the 150g Thinsulate® Supreme lining, which is secured with mcFIT® technology so it won’t pull out. It’s the same prize next month, so get writing! Find out more at www.weiseclothing.com Pop it in your diary Would you kindly pass this on to your readers? We have the following event we would like to tell all about – our Solstice Bike Night on June 21. Held from 6pm, the inaugural Solstice classic and custom motorcycle meet will be at the Dashwood Roadhouse…

■ CBG Workshop CHRISTMAS WAS A LOVELY TIME, hope it was for you too. But it did delay work on the bikes, especially the BMW, so it was full speed once the wrapping paper had gone and leftovers finished. RACKED I’d got an idea about the rack that would mean butchering the original (I have a spare) and the new rack to make one. One stumbling block was that the original was stuck on the seat thanks to rusted bolts, but then it also meant it would keep its shape. Slowly, I cut a little more off and modified the new one until a marriage looked good – I was looking for a relatively original look if the top box was off. After cleaning up the powdercoat and paint off…