Innehållsförteckning för November 2019 från Real Classic

There’s a terrible temptation when putting an old bike back on the road – especially an old bike which has been standing for quite a while. Right at the back of this very issue you’ll find some maniac – that would be me – waffling maniacally away about the joys of riding an old RE Bullet through the winter. It’s all true, too. Except… Except when I tottered out on it the other day to justify the fitting of the world’s tattiest top box by collecting something everso vital for a purpose I’ve now forgotten. Bike running fine. It even ticks over, which is always a little daunting to someone more familiar with ill-tempered old twins, especially twins with twin carbs. Off I pottered, and took a short cut down…

Biker, David Revill of Nottinghamshire had been in constant pain for years. He had problems with his hands, neck, spine and elbow. When his friend told him he should try a Bioflow magnetic therapy wristband, David contacted independent distributor, Jenny Ryan. A couple of weeks later he phoned her and said, ‘I am thrilled by the difference the Bioflow has made. My hands and fingers have had a total improvement and my arm and elbow are much more mobile. The pain in my spine is also much less. I’m delighted that I bought a Bioflow wristband. It’s really improved my life! The service I received was excellent. My wristband arrived the day after I ordered it. I would recommend anyone else with aches and pains to try one.’ For more…

➤ WE WANT TO PUBLISH more stories about real life classic bikes. You don’t need to be an inspired writer to see your story in RealClassic, but you do need to say something relevant. We like profiles about a single model (or maybe two very similar ones; a pair of Triumph twins, for example), which should be at least 1000 words in length. Most RC features are between 1000 and 2500 words. If your story is longer than that then it’s heading towards being a series (or a book!). If your thoughts run to under 1000 words then they’ll probably appear in the letters section. ➤ TO SEE WHAT WE MEAN look at DaveB’s Ariel article, Simon’s AJS story or Morgan’s Hurricane feature in this issue. These are justwhat RC…

So far, a pile of loosely-assembled parts have been given an engine and gearbox rebuild, a new rear wheel and petrol tank, and half the frame has been painted. My project to transform a mid-1950s Royal Enfield pre-unit 250 Clipper into a tidy trials tool was progressing reasonably smoothly – time to tackle the front end. If you looked at Tribulation through blinkers at this stage, and blanked out everything in front of the petrol tank, the machine looked quite good. Time to do something about the tatty-looking casquette headlamp casing and the forks. Did I mention that Tribulation was a mongrel with some parts from a 1954 Clipper, some from a ’55 Clipper and some from a modern Indian Bullet? The forks appeared to belong to the 1955 frame,…

Once upon a time, in a magazine far, far away, every year at around this time we would run a story. Magazines do this. Although the words and pics were always different, the title was always the same: Winter Drawers On. It was a feeble joke when it was a new joke – and it’s a joke older than any of us, I reckon – but it became a sort-of magazine tradition. Traditions in magazines can be fun, and break up the work of actually putting it all together – RC has a few scattered here and there, and occasionally readers spot them, and more occasionally comment. That old magazine was the long-deceased Used Bike Guide, which like RealClassic did its best to feature the views, opinions and entertaining tales…

We’d love to share motorcycling photos from your own family album. So if you’ve got a snap of grandma and grandad on the old combination, or maybe your father on his first bike, then send them to us for this page. There may be prizes for TP’s favourite photo each month… It’s probably easiest to take a digital image of your original pic and send it by email to RCHQ@RealClassic. net but you’re equally welcome to send actual photos (but not prints of scans, sorry) by post, and include an SAE if you want them back. And don’t forget the younger generation – photos of your offspring and their close encounters with classic bikes would be wonderful as well!…

ADVICE: Moto Guzzi Club GB – top club with welcoming people and a great social scene. Active Facebook page, good value with a super magazine INFO: Greg Bender’s ThisOldTractor website is a gold mine of loop and Guzzi information PARTS: eBay, Gutsibits, Stein Dinse. (USA has Harpers, Cycle Garden, MG Cycle and Mark Etheridge Moto Guzzi Classics) BOOKS: Paul Van Hoof’s ‘Man in the Saddle’ is an enviable romp down the Americas on a gorgeous, patina-stained loop. Nick Adams’ ‘Beyond the Bypass’ offers insightful post-op Guzzi riding…

SEND YOUR SMALL AD by post to PO Box 66, Bude EX23 9ZX, or email words and a pic to TP@realclassic.net WANTED I’VE JUST COME BACK to real classic after restoring cars for some years. Thank you, it’s a great read. I’m restoring a 1959 Triumph 5TA 500 twin; I want the rear full bath tub for it. Can anybody help? Roy Williams, 07779 323193 or royandjennywilliams@hotmail.com MOTORCYCLE / AUTOCYCLE PROJECT WANTED for me and my boy to do up. Anything. Must be no more than 150miles from Cornwall. 01872 241852 LOOKING FOR a complete B40 rockerbox with decomp. George, 01387 850548 BITS VELOCETTE VENOM ENGINE. Unused since purchase. Overhauled with a squish conversion using Viper head by Criterion, with invoice listing all work done. 01427 788167 BATS DIVIDING /…

There’s a growing band of unhinged, usually young, mechanical geniuses who have taken upon themselves the task of hacking about the most popular motor vehicle in history, the Honda Super Cub. The Super Cub has been in production since 1958, and over 100 million have been produced. Honda mucked about with the concept a little, using the engine in monkey bikes and recently a very flash model appeared with a 125cc engine, alloy wheels and all manner of gee-gaws. The original Cub has been widely copied, both as a concept and as a direct rip-off. And there’s been a trend for young Antipodeans to ride Aussie Post Office surplus off-road CT110 versions around the world. But it’s only recently that the Super Cub has become a custom builder’s target bike.…

I’d like to award five service stars to Avondale Welding, who corrected my stupidity and dented pride. Being an impatient chump, I tried pushing my Enfield Continental 250 up the ramp backwards onto the bench on my own. It fell off, breaking the steering lock and allowing the clutch lever bracket to bash the tank. Mike Pegler of Avondale bent a special tool from steel bar which could be wiggled in through the filler cap to support the dent while he played a few rhythms with his small hammers on the outside. The plating is still intact and the blemish is quite acceptable and infinitely preferable to the very costly alternative of cutting open, straightening, welding, replating and repainting. Mike is a real craftsman and has worked wonders for me…

Ariel were at the top of their game in the 1930s with the dream team of Val Page on engineering and Edward Turner on styling. Page the quiet gentleman joined Ariel from JAP in 1925 to redesign and modernise the Ariel range for 1926, saving the company in the process. The confident, sharp-dressed Turner joined Ariel in 1929 with his designs for a Square Four. Chalk and cheese they may have been, but together they helped to shape the identity of this most glamourous decade of motorcycling. Val Page was responsible for developing some of the fastest engines of the 1920s used by the record-breaking superstars of the time, especially for tuners of Brough Superiors. Edward Turner went on to create the Triumph Speed Twin and if you look at…

NOVEMBER 2ND ➤ There’s a CLASSIC BIKE AUCTION at the National Motorcycle Museum at Bickenhill, B92 0EJ. Viewing from 9am, sale starts 1pm. thenmm.co.uk NOVEMBER 8 TH  TO 10TH ➤ If you’re into classic cars as much as bikes then the CLASSIC MOTORBIKE SHOW at the NEC near Birmingham might ignite your fires. Mainly four-wheelers with some motorcycle clubs, traders, private entries and jumble. Prebook tickets from £27.50, parking pricey.classicmotorbikeshow.com NOVEMBER 9 TH ➤ There’s an OPEN DAY at Warco from 9am to 1pm, selling ex-demo machines and tooling at knockdown prices, plus discounts on new lathes, milling machines and such. At Fisher Lane, Chiddingford, GU8 4TD. 01428 682929 / warco.co.uk NOVEMBER 13 TH ➤ All old bike enthusiasts are welcome to join the Cornwall section of…

Sunday is usually the better day to attend Kop hillclimb, but other commitments mandated that PUB go on Saturday. A poor weather forecast for Sunday may have persuaded others to make the same choice, but whatever the reason this year the event was really busy. The field alongside the hill itself had far more grandstand for spectators to get a good view than previously and there were spectators as far as one could see. A peculiarity of the event, which takes place on a closed road hill, is that the return to the paddock is via the local public roads. So local Princes Risborough people (or the impecunious) can and do set up deckchairs and picnics on the event approach road and see participating vehicles that way. It also means…