Innehållsförteckning för June 2018 från Real Classic

If I look back through the long telescope of time, I can see a skinny guy in an open-face helmet and army surplus clothing, riding a 1964 Panther M120 through the Derbyshire dales, heading from college in Matlock towards home, about 75 miles away. It was always an enjoyable ride, the steady beat of the Panther’s massive single cylinder engine pulsing below. The bike was only eight years old at the time, yet it felt as if it was from the 1930s. It was rough, lumpy and bit truculent, and would kick back with vigour if you didn’t follow the correct starting procedure, but it didn’t leak too badly and was remarkably reliable despite my limited knowledge and understanding of basic maintenance. The M120 wasn’t my first Panther. As a…

Me and motorcycles go back a long way (yes, I know what the correct grammar is, but ‘motorcycles and I’ doesn’t have much of a ring to it). Back to the early-1960s, in fact, when I was getting a little tired of pedalling and began noticing these big, noisy things that irritated the neighbours. Simply noticing them turned into an obsession and I bought my first bike in 1966; a BSA C11G that took me a year to get running and which I pushed more than rode. It was a cranky thing, with alloy mudguards, humped seat with tassels, cowhorn bars, open mega silencer, garish red (brushed-on) paintwork and the capability of reaching around 50mph on a good (very) day. It eventually let me down once too often and I…

In the early 1970s, it was easy to distinguish European motorcycles from those created with Japanese technology. Those Euro firms which still remained in business survived by incorporating themselves into a story rewritten by the 750 four. Unlike the European marques, however, Honda’s success didn’t include decades of bike building experience and the traditional manufacturers had their old assets to fall back on. With machines that were lighter, tighter and more powerful where they needed to be than the modern multis, what the old brands lost in sales was taken back on the road where stability and roadholding still mattered. Better known for their long-established single-cylinder machines, Moto Guzzi’s Italian V-twin finally flourished during this era. The Guzzi twin engine is unmistakable: mechanically transparent, large cylinders rise symmetrically to draw…

ROSE-TINT, OR REALLY RUBBISH? I read with interest Rowena’s newsletter with RC169, particularly as I am the proud if slightly frustrated owner of a Sunbeam S8. It is very difficult to form a clear judgement on an old bike. Sometimes you buy a bike, like my old Matchless G80, and all you do is ride it, pump its tyres up and give it a service now and then. Other bikes; it is just one thing after another. You get maybe a week or two then something else fails, makes a funny noise, leaks, etc. How much of this is due to the maintenance of the previous owner or inherent design? Very difficult to tell. My S8 is in this category, although to be fair I have managed to put over…

Anyone who pays attention to BSAs will have heard of the Gold Star. And the Rocket Gold Star. And the Spitfire. But how many people know that BSA built a Gold Star Spitfire Scrambler, also known as a Rocket Gold Star Scrambler? Both of those were a good attempt at getting all your selling points in one moniker. In fact, the Spitfire in question far pre-dates the unit BSA version which most people know about… So let’s straight away say this isn’t a Gold Star Spitfire. It isn’t even a replica. It’s a bike that pays homage to the style and genre, but without the telephone number price tag; the A10 Spitfire was built in very limited numbers for export only. And before anyone worries that a lovely stock A10…

Between 1931-1935 Husqvarna built nineteen 500cc V-twin GP racers, and four 350s. Ridden by British Isles aces Stanley Woods and Ernie Nott, and Swedish stars like Gunnar Kalén and Ragnar Sunnqvist, the Swedish bikes challenged Britain’s dominant Norton and Velocette teams for GP supremacy, and also broke new ground in terms of materials and engine design. While never ultimately as successful as they deserved to be, the works Huskies played an important role in the evolution of GP design, as the first V-twins to challenge the supremacy of the British singles in 500GP racing, and as the precursor for success enjoyed later in the 30s by Moto Guzzi’s and BMW’s twins. In designing these bikes Husqvarna’s Folke Mannerstedt included several aspects of engine development which we nowadays take for granted…

I was born in 2002/03 as a military-spec, iron barrel 500 in a busy but run-down facility at Chennai in India. After a pleasant sail across the seas I landed in a nice little shop in Brisbane. In short order I was adopted and moved to my new home where I began my career of both tormenting and exciting my victim, Damien. I set the tone of our relationship early, by breaking an alternator wire while riding home from work on day one. I thoroughly enjoyed the 4km walk home, in the dark with no lights. However, I do recall hearing many words the meaning of which I have no idea. Ignition wire fixed, I was back on the road until I decided Damien needed a refresher course in changing…

Many things are frustrating in the crazy world of classic bikes. Some of these are really, really irritating. Like starting your Matchless up after curing – at vast expense and over several months – a simple fuel leak. Of course the fuel still leaks. The only difference is that it now leaks from somewhere else. Never mind, things could be worse. The tank doesn’t leak. He writes, fingers crossed – a neat trick but manageable by Noted Experts. Being that Noted Expert, I of course understood at once that the fuel was leaking because the float had sunk … but it hadn’t. You can tell this by tapping the tickler and feeling the float lifting the needle valve back against its seat. Experience like this comes only after a half-century…

There’s no lack of information available for Guzzi’s work-in-progress 1100 Sport, and it seems to be divided equally between the carburetted (1994-96) and injected (1997) versions. I tend to favour the carb-equipped version’s basic layout, and it is the lightest among all Wittner-framed machines made between 1993 and 2006. Post-1999 V11s were remade with a six-speed transmission, restyled plastic (and more of it), plus changes to the frame and steering geometry. Pull the V11’s bodywork and you’ll see strong ties to the original Daytona/Sport, but the machines feel very different on the road. Purchased with just over 9000 miles on it, the Sport was largely standard save for the two important aftermarket upgrades; a stainless Mistral exhaust crossover (replacing the original ‘colostomy bag’) and HeliBar clip-ons. Several versions of the…

There’s very little Chris doesn’t know about the Triumph Tiger 100. Following our chat about his unique T100 Special it became quite clear that Chris is quite possibly the model’s #1 fan. The cracking little sky-blue 1959 T100 that graces these pages belongs to him, and I’m sure you’ll have already spotted that it’s a rather unusual machine. The eagle-eyed will have noticed the early 1970s conical hubs, and the delightful and atypical petrol tank. Or perhaps it was the dinky little headlight or the 2ls front brake and contemporary Triumph forks that first drew your critical eye. Whatever, this is a motorcycle that is much more than the sum of its parts. A crowd-pleaser, this T100 undoubtedly has charisma in abundance – wherever it parks the curious will gather…

The return of the historic Husqvarna marque to the streetbike sector under KTM’s ownership, with the recently launched and radically styled Svartpilen and Vitpilen singles made in India by KTM’s Bajaj partner for sale around the world, has prompted a reminder that the Swedish company was a major producer of road bikes long before it became the legendary off-road brand it’s best known as today. However, motorcycles were just one of the many products that Husqvarna manufactured in its home base 200 miles SW of Stockholm at Huskvarna. And yes, that’s how the town spells its name, which translates as ‘the house by the mill’. It was founded in 1620 in nearby Jönköping by King Gustav II Adolf as a manufacturer of muskets – indeed, the Husqvarna logo still depicts…

Now then, in my previous article about a Gilera Giubileo rebuild I said the next bike might not be Italian. Well, that just goes to show that you can’t believe everything you tell yourself… When circumstances offer opportunities, it is difficult to resist. After retrieving this bike from an Italian collector (see An Italian Adventure on the RealClassic website) it became an interesting rebuild. In Italy in the 1950s and 60s there were many motorcycle manufacturers. It seems to have been the heyday for motorcycle manufacture. This is a story about one of the lesser known manufacturers, although one still better known than some others. The manufacturer of this machine was MI-VAL and the bike in question is a 2 stroke 125cc machine, a GS or possibly GL variant or…