Innehållsförteckning för November 2016 från Real Classic

Even in these remarkable days of the rose-tinted rearview mirror it is entirely possible to forget that way back in the great Sixties heydays of great bikes, not all of them were British. We’re talking the early 1960s here, when BSA and Triumph were discovering the joys of unit construction, Norton were contemplating fitting their lighter twins with an electric start and although the Japanese were in the hallway, they appeared to be no threat at all to the established order of things. That changed. Just not quite yet. As well as the steadily increasing tide of remarkably engineered small capacity machines from the thus-far largely misunderstood east, we Brits were also offered motorcycles from mainland Europe. There was in fact quite a range, and although a large proportion of…

The 350 unit construction ‘New Bullet’ was conceived in 1961 and was in production at Royal Enfield’s Redditch factory from 1963 to 1965. Early literature from the factory announced it as the ‘big brother’ of the established Crusader range which had been introduced as a new design by Reg Thomas in 1956. Unfortunately the timing of the New Bullet’s introduction to the UK market was not good. Recent bad press for motorcycling and the introduction of the 250cc learner law left the 350 market in limbo. Yet because BSA had their B40 and Norton their Navigator twin, so Enfield thought they needed a model in that capacity category. The name New Bullet was coined to allow Enfield to continue with the name ‘Bullet’ in the range after the production of…

ALF IN ACTION Alf’s AJS now sports a shiny new alloy petrol tank (after the sealant on the previous tank failed…) and he sneaked out to secure this compass point instead of getting on with the housework. Hope your missus is on the mend, Alf, pass on our best wishes to her! CANADIAN CAPERS Nick Adams in Canada secured this ‘twofer’, South Sherbrooke station in North Elmsley. This means he’s travelled 4119 miles on the Compass Challenge thus far. Could he possibly reach 5000 miles before the cut-off date at the end of the month? SMALL BUT STEADFAST ‘Not content with starting the year by doing the run to Yorkshire on my CG125,’ says Keith, ‘I have just been to the Triumph Club rally in Chippenham. As per usual the…

Announced in 1937 for the following season, the Silver Streaks represented a concerted effort by the Plumstead factory to move motorcycling forward into the new, post-austerity age. Cars were becoming sleeker, more integrated designs and the two-wheeled competition had to move with the times as well. The 1938 line-up comprised of standard models, the old-fashioned big V-twin model 2, the R7 racer and trials-type ‘T’ series. The new Silver Streaks were closely related to the latter. Utilising the trials frame with good ground clearance and employing a similar upswept high exhaust, they were available in three capacities, 250, 350 and 500. Each individually tuned engine was hand-built from selected components and mated to a close-ratio four-speed gearbox. The prospective new owner of this 350cc example could choose from a variety…

Thinking back, I’ve been lucky with neighbours. There’s never been the slightest complaint about any possible excess of enthusiasm for, say, cats or motorcycles. Girl Next Door is a case in point; in return for taking charge of its maintenance I am welcome to take her bike out at any time. Now that’s what I call neighbourliness, the sort of thing we could do with more of, and it would be plain churlish to refuse. She admits to not riding it enough but won’t sell because she simply loves the ‘Girl on Virago 1100’ image. Well, it’s one reason for owning a bike, the very reason why cruisers exist I suspect. Thinking back, Dave Minton has much to answer for. In 1976 I traded up from learner’s RD250 to Ducati…

One of the great things about our propensity to love old motorcycles is the way in which we are never able to know it all. Knowledge, like the universe itself, just keeps on expanding, and no matter how long we’ve been playing with all things old and on two wheels, there will always be something new, something unknown to investigate. In this case, it was Andy’s AJW. When it appeared at the Central Lancs VMCC Girder Fork and Flat Tank Run, curiosity forced me to investigate. Did you know JAP made a parallel twin engine? Had you heard of AJW motorcycles? No doubt there’ll be one or two heads now nodding, but I suspect that, like me, most of us are going, nope, and what in blazes is it? Well,…

Our world of old motorcycles brings you into contact with all sorts of bikes and people. Every now and then you meet someone ‘special’, someone who is a bit different from the usual oily-fingernailed enthusiast. Let me introduce my very good friend, Henry. Born and bred in the far north of Norway, Henry lives just outside the beautiful city of Tromsø, 600km inside the Arctic Circle. He took a job in the galley of a 70-foot North Sea whaling boat at the age of 15, then came military service, then he served as a fireman in the city until retirement in 2005. All his life Henry has loved old cars, old motorbikes and fishing. He now spends his time restoring said bikes, the occasional car and dropping a line in…

Many are the perils of buying a Silver Streak. Despite only being in production for just a couple of years (1938 and ’39, with avery few released in 1940), many components differed between each model year. Few parts are interchangeable with postwar models so spares stock was limited 75 years ago and hasn’t got better since then. Old items do turn up occasionally; a recent Bonhams Stafford auction offered a rusty assortment of spares including a frame, forks and gearbox, crank and cases, barrel and heads, magneto, petrol tank, wheel and other items. How much would be re-usable or was genuine SS standard is debatable, and it sold for a grand. You can certainly expect many era-specific components to have been replaced with their modern, not-quite-right equivalents; light switches, mounting…

“When it was eventually fired up it ran like a2-stroke on meths which, I’m sure you can imagine, was pretty dire.” 1970s Sundays could not have been more exciting. Insane motorcycle romps up the side of Loch Lomond always set our pulses racing. Our gang’s favoured route from Glasgow was the testing A83. It winds up and over the famed ‘rest and be thankful’ pass, nestling in the shadow of the Cobbler, one of West Scotland’s most striking Munro mountains, then onwards to reach the panoramic views over Loch Fyne and Argyll. Route’s end was aheart-in-your-mouth twenty mile dash that began in Arrochar and ended at Inveraray Bridge. Stomach-lurching bends and wrong-footing cambers would loft the front wheel or throw out the back end. It was open throttle all the…

When Rowena and Frank passed this Enfield, somewhere in south Wales, on the day before the get-together, RH waved cheerily saying ‘That bike could ONLY be coming to an RC event!’ It was wonderful to be joined by members of the Pembrokeshire Vintage and Classic club, who raised the tone considerably by bringing bikes as beautiful as this one RC riders came from far and near to attend: Richard Jones rode his Bonnie from Milton Keynes, MartinP trekked by Triumph from Lincolnshire (and stopped at a famous way-station, as seen here), JohnB rasped on a 500 miles round-trip aboard his yellow peril, and even that Bill Nelson turned up on two wheels (shock!). However, the Distance Award definitely goes to Rene from Amsterdam who rode from… erm… the Netherlands. Serious…

Kicking a bike for an hour or two is character building. It’s also great exercise for the legs, improves blood circulation and helps in a chap’s weight control programme. It’s possibly also good for the development of zen-like patience and an increased understanding of the ennui of the universe. In the case of Possibly The Best Bike Ever – the Shed BSA B25SS – what it does not produce is a swift opportunity for a nifty nip around the lanes aboard Small Heath’s finest. It scores only two out of three on the blood, sweat and tears chart. It’s been a while since I sliced myself while attempting to fix this machine – in case you were wondering. And of course kicking over an engine is much less irritating if…