Innehållsförteckning för October 2016 från Real Classic

The ‘riding ‘year’ – for this rider at least – begins around mid-March, with a series of events and sometimes overlapping recreational rides, two of which I always look forward with ambitious anticipation. It ends in the same way, too. In the middle – through the summery months – I can find a steadily decreasing number of rides I can justify as breaks from the office. I’m not entirely certain why or how this is, but suspect that it’s linked to my increasing use of what we must apparently call ‘social media.’ Let’s get this straight right away: I enjoy Facebook, and the RealClassic Fb group is always a great place to hide away for a quiet read when I should really be doing something else. It is – I…

Summat to say? Send your comments, hints, tips, tales of woe and derring-don’t to: RCHQ@RealClassic.net LONGER LEVERS I have a1970 oif BSA Firebird Scrambler, and this bike uses the 2ls conical hub front brake. I obtained extended levers from Tri-Cor. I know the brake on Frank’s B25 might be smaller but give it a go – mine works well. I restored my Firebird three years ago and it featured on the VMCC calendar. It goes very well and I ride it often. D A Hatton Thanks for the suggestion; we searched the Tri-Cor site but it looks as if all the longer brake arms have been snapped up already. Given how many bikes there are with the conical hub, you’d think it would be worth a BSA or…

This article is an extract from the second instalment in Frank Melling’s autobiography; more stories of a freelance motorcycling journalist which picks up in the mid-1980s where ‘A Penguin In A Sparrow’s Nest’ ended. ‘The Flying Penguin’ takes the reader on a personal journey through a remarkable and highly eventful life. There are plenty of near-death stories, from almost drowning when trapped under a Honda enduro bike to looking down the business end of a Colt 45 in the backwoods of Missouri. Melling’s well-known humour permeates every page, including how to imitate a world champion… especially when there are free hotel rooms on offer! Along the way there are broken bones, broken bikes, broken relationships and the international success of the Thundersprint. Frank also reveals the close friendship he enjoys…

There are people who like motorcycles. There are people who love motorcycles. And there are some people whose passion extends way above either of those two statements. It’s known as The Sickness. It’s an affliction that usually becomes apparent quite early in a conversation and you recognise it because you suffer from it yourself, a prime example of ‘it takes one to know one’. If you don’t have The Sickness, it’s hard to describe it. It doesn’t necessarily mean a huge collection of motorcycles, although victims of The Sickness tend to have more than one or two. It’s more of an attitude thing, the way you talk about your bikes, the way they loom so large in your life that everything else literally becomes secondary. So it didn’t take long…

I bought my 250cc 1964 Matchless G2 back in 1992. I saw it advertised in the local paper, it was taxed and MoT’d and, as I was looking for something cheap and cheerful and the price was attractive, a deal was done. When I road tested it there was little charge from the alternator, but as I was a ‘sparks’ this seemed to me probably a simple matter to sort. Once at home I removed the primary chaincase to discover that the poor output from the alternator was due to some of the windings having been cut by the primary chain hitting them. Why? Well, investigation showed that someone had fitted the drive sprocket on the crankshaft the wrong way round. This made the primary chain run out of alignment,…

In the mid-1980s when I advertised my Honda CB250K4, bought new in 1972 and with 75,000 miles on the clock, I thought I’d finished with motorcycles. There was only one respondent and he’d not even make an offer. With heavy heart, a perfectly rideable motorcycle went to metal recycling. Fifteen years later, my brother unexpectedly telephones. Out of the blue he suggests I join a group of his mates on a long weekend to Normandy. On motorcycles. And he has alittle Norton in his garage for me to use, bought recently from West Midlands Police at auction. Of course, with me having owned a Norton Navigator before the Honda, Alan knows I have a soft spot for small Nortons. Spare helmet, gloves, and leather jacket can be made available. On…

As usual, Ididn’t have a suitable bike. With an entry of galactic superstar racers from the Golden Age of GPs and their equally important bikes, I could hardly rock up at Montlhéry with a Cheney moto-crosser fitted with trail bike tyres. I turned to Martin Crooks, who had re-purchased the Crooks-Suzuki T500 production racer which had won the 1970 TT. Martin agreed to lend the bike to me – but with the wholly understandable caveat that I must ride it ultra-gently and not, under any circumstances, fall offwhat was an important piece of two-wheeled motorcycling history. Icould be treated by the NHS – the bike couldn’t! Obviously I agreed – not only verbally but with my heart too. I would rather have chopped off both legs than put even a…

The RC calendar not only includes all sorts of interesting old bike events but it also tells you where to find the RealClassic Roadshow in the next few weeks. These are only the highlights of the classic motorcycling calendar – for up to date info check the events list at www.RealClassic.co.uk OCTOBER 2ND › There’s a classic and vintage MOTORCYCLE AUTOJUMBLE organised by the Lothian and Borders Classic and Vintage Motorcycle Club at the Drill Hall, Peebles, Scottish Borders, from 10.30am to 3.30pm. 01896 830577 › The COPDOCK MOTORCYCLE SHOW opens 9am to 6pm at Trinity Park, Ipswich IP3 8UH. £10 admission. Under-cover bike show, large autojumble, trade stalls, club stands, live music, real ale, moto-ball, pre-65 moto-x, classic Hondas from the David Silver museum, wall of death…

Remember ‘the Broughs of Bodmin Moor’? Well, there was another one, not sold at Stafford (RC146, June 2016) because it was the sad remains of one of the 8 cylinder cars. Instead, it was sold at Beaulieu, although the car itself was not present, being so rotted that neither vendor nor auction house dared try to move it! Nevertheless, being a Brough Superior it sold for £6900 (inclusive of commission). Presumably something of the cast-iron engine lump will have survived, as have the aluminium body panels. The catalogue stated that ‘the chassis is rotten and will need to be replaced’, but the buyer would be wise to be careful and salvage as much chassis as possible. In the eyes of DVLA that defines the vehicle, which may not recover its…