Innehållsförteckning för October 2017 från Real Classic

Motorcycles fail for many reasons. Research and development can be lacking, production facilities inadequate or the launch of the bike poorly executed. Rarely, very rarely indeed, a manufacturer can do everything right and still have a sales disaster on its hands. The Suzuki RE-5 Wankel is suchamotorcycle – a catastrophe of such epic proportions that it genuinely threatened the very existence of the Suzuki factory. The biggest problem with the RE-5 is that the engineers actually believed their own PR. Worse than this, they convinced Suzuki management that all their equations, graphs and computer analyses would bring about a sales bonanza the like of which Suzuki had never seen in its fifty year history. They were wrong. When Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki withdrew from Grand Prix racing at the end…

This bike attracts attention. Since its most recent rebuild was completed last year, owner Greg has ridden around a thousand miles while the much-modded motorcycle settles down in its current incarnation. The T150 turns heads everywhere Greg takes it. ‘I’ve had comments that the Trident looks great – and of course I agree,’ comments the proud owner. Sometimes that attention can feel a little uncomfortable, mind. ‘It was even ogled by a highway patrol ofcer who drove beside me for a kilometre or two!’ Greg escaped the scrutiny of the law without being booked or even pulled over – but his fivespeed Trident most defnitely draws a crowd. The triple was an unusual machine in New South Wales, even when Greg bought it new back in the mid-1970s. ‘I realised…

Back in early 1983 I saw a 1956 Tiger 100 in Clive Humphries’ Coventry shop. I had always thought of those mid-1950s Triumph twins as some of the fnest looking bikes ever made, particularly the Tiger 100 with its close-pitched fn, all-alloy engine, so I went back several times just to gaze upon this thing of beauty. The more I looked at it the more I realised that it was totally original, nothing missing, nothing altered. The story was that it had been found in a shed in Bedford where the owner had slung it twenty years earlier, after coming of. The seat was a bit torn, there was a little damage to the nacelle and a bent footrest but basically it was completely sound. So I parted with £475!…

Starting is the thing. Well… it certainly is for this rider. A minor cruelty of life is that although a bike’s engine need not weaken with age, the same cannot be said for the rider’s kicking leg. When I acquired this truly handsome machine, way back when, I had little trouble kicking it over. In fact I had little trouble kicking anything over, from mighty high-compression singles to cans of oil in The Shed. Nowadays, things are different. When I first went to look at the X with a view to purchase, I kicked at it for a long time, marvelling at how well the decompressor worked and at the fact that it simply would not start. I bought it anyway, as I’d always wanted one and it was affordable…

As mentioned before (see RC119) I was involved with Scotts from the 1960s, and a fewof us started the north-eastern section of the Scott Owners’ club. It comprised Bill Peak, Gerry Graham, Doctor Stevenson and a very smart lad who worked in sales called John Bayliss. Johnwas better off than most of us; he had a company car! We followed the progress of George Silk and Maurice Patey and dealt with old Tom Ward, and we were intrigued by themods George and Maurice were offering at that time. These mods altered the transfer ports and added another sneaky passageway in the cylinder bore to improve the timing. One day in the early 1970s, we decided to go down to see George at Derby, taking our Scott cylinder barrels. We spent…

Many readers may have experience of M20/M21 odels, especially given their abundance and ttractive low ownership costs during the mid-1960s and 70s. I'm a fan and passed my test on a BSA M20 purchased by my dad for the princely sum of five pounds, specifically for this purpose. It served me well as a student and never once did it let me down on the weekend flight from Glasgow to Loch Fyne to admire my girlfriend pulling pints at the Inveraray Inn. Good times, fab bike. Harking back to the bike’s beginnings, 1936 was notable for many reasons; the Berlin Olympics, the British monarchy’s game of musical chairs, the frst regular television service… and it was also the year when BSA’s chief engineer Val Page designed the sidevalve M20 500.…

Walking round the shiny blue Italian bike (why is it Latin bikes only exist in two states; ultra-shiny or tree trunk brown with rust? I’ve never seen a gently patinated example) I experienced a slight sense of déjà vu. A few years ago I was lucky enough to test a very early example of the 650 Tornado, badged a Motobi (see RC88), whereas this later twin proudly displayed the rampant Benelli lion and crown of stars. Families, eh? Although fundamentally similar, the later machines difer in a few important areas. Most obviously, this Benelli has a huge, rubber-mounted button on the bars. It must operate either the world’s loudest and most powerful horn or, whisper it quietly, an electric start. The beautiful – but almost impossible to decipher – art…

PART THREE With the front end sorted, it was time to start playing with the back. It’s all going to get a little more radical here, for a variety of reasons. Once I started planning it all, it quickly became apparent that the rear half of the frame needed converting. First and foremost, extending the carbs back and ftting decent flterswould mean they picked a fght with the original frame tubes behind the engine – I’ve still not mastered the art of getting two things in the same place at the same time. Furthermore, the alloy oil tank I scored of eBaymounts on a single central frame tube, and if I did do that I could use smaller rear engine plates and saveweightwhile making it stronger. I also wanted to…

Summat to say? Send your comments, hints, tips, tales of woe and derring-don’t to: RCHQ@RealClassic.net FELINEV I thought you might be interested in aV-twin I converted in the 1960s. Themiddle part is a Matchless sidevalve; all the rest came from a Panther 600. The work was done only with hand tools (including a hacksaw!). It worked fine once I got the primary chain line sorted out. It was hand-paintedwith one undercoat and four top coats of Belco Black, then everything polished up with Brasso. It took me, mywife, hermother and two kids for a good fewholidays. J Wallace, member SUBSCRIBER PRIZES This month’s winners in our subscriber prizedraware DANSTEVENS (member 4440) and JONTAIT (member 305). Congrats, chaps: your surprise RC prizes areen route! Ourmonthly winners are drawn fromall current subscribers:…

I have several complete BSA A65s plus engines. I am piecing one good one together for a Tribeezaha project; a 500 Triumph frame, BSA engine with RZ Yamaha wheels and forks, and I’m most impressed by the BSA unit 650 engine. However, I can’t get the logic behind the commonly-discussed engine mod, that changing the timing side main bearing is good idea. Why is it that putting in a weaker bearing is considered an improvement which will stop the left connecting rod from seizing? Consider some basic laws of physics here. If the oil supply to the crank fails then both rods will seize. A plain bearing is several times the strength and load bearing capacity of a roller or ball type; all car engines use them. I have heard…

How many times has someone told you that they would love to own a classic bike but they couldn’t aford one? With the cost of purchasing an old British bike constantly climbing, exotic Italian classics fetching eye-watering fgures, and Japanese bikes rapidly appreciating in value, it’s not hard to understand this view, especially as for the new owner the costs may include riding clothing and helmet as well as the bike itself. However, it doesn’t have to be like that. Classic biking can be done on a very reasonable budget if horizons are broadened a little and ambitions are adjusted. The featured bike is a 1973 250cc MZ ES Trophy De Lux and was purchased for only £10000 as a non-runner. There was no spark showing at the plug and…

I could buy bikes all day. Who wouldn’t? Hours, nay days surfing the net and buying any number of choice bikes at the touch of a button and ferreting them away in a shed to be stared at and pored over with endless cups of tea. The excitement of the chase, the catch and the courier’s delivery is one of the few legal highs available to the middle-aged. Given unlimited funds I could happily fill my days, no worries. Unfortunately, the reality is that I needed to either buy a cheap-as-chips banger bike, or sell one of the feet to fund another. And so there I was, searching for a Brit project for about £1000; they exist but need substantial funds to renovate. I thought about an old Enfeld, then…