Innehållsförteckning för January 2022 från Real Classic

It is probably simpler to define what the Moto Guzzi is not, rather than what it is. It certainly isn’t a sporting V-twin, a layout synonymous with the Mandello factory. Instead it’s a single-cylinder 500 built to replace the famous and beautiful Falcone sportster. Long before the now-ubiquitous, across the frame V-motors came into being, Guzzi made and raced single-cylinder motorcycles. The New Falcon, manufactured between 1971 and 1976, was a continuation of that heritage. But it would take a full decade after time was finally called on the NF for large-capacity singles to be fashionable again – and that only happened after the niche was reinvented by the Japanese in the shape of Honda’s XBR and the Yamaha SR/X. In the early 1970s, when the Guzzi first prowled the…

The British-inspired cult of the café racer has a hard time of it these days outside the UK, where the smaller European exponents like Magni, Paton, Bakker and even Bimota before Kawasaki rescued it have found it hard to stay afloat when faced with the mass of bureaucratic red tape and increasingly restrictive, costly and complicated Euro 5 norms they need to meet to stay in business. But in Britain, thanks to the SVA single-vehicle approval system which permits individual homologation of one-off or small volume production motorcycles, the little guy still lives to make a handful of motorcycles each year that fit a particular niche in the marketplace. Look at Chris Ratcliffe’s Langen Motorcycles as a prime example, or indeed Norton Motorcycles during its decade-plus of Stuart Garner’s ownership,…

After leaving school in 1962 and then leaving an apprenticeship after six weeks (because I decided that you had to be brain-dead to want to be an accountant; a bit short-sighted with hindsight!), I spent a few months working in the Birmingham Colmore Depot car showrooms. Just around the corner, in John Bright Street, they had a motorcycle showroom which was already starting to look a bit dilapidated. Any time that I could grab a minute I’d be around there and will never forget the kindness of the manager, the wonderful Albert Moule. In February of 1963, a 1956 Ariel Colt, in Apple Green with chrome flashes on the tank, appeared in the showroom. It was for sale for £25, a huge amount when you were earning £4 per week!…

Rewinding a couple of years, a Meriden Triumph 650 twin was on the list of bikes I wanted to try. It just so happened that Chris at Venture Classics was selling a 1968 TR6P at a price I could afford. When I heard it’d had an SRM engine rebuild I was sold. Two of my bikes recently developed large, expensive engine problems so any assurance on the reliability of the mechanical components was welcome! The TR6R is a single-carb version of the twin-carb Bonneville, or a Bonneville is a TR6R with two carbs, whichever you prefer. By the late 1960s the differences between the two were otherwise cosmetic. The paint schemes were different and the Bonnie got the best bling, but the engine internals were, as I understand it, identical,…

I’ve worked on and ridden an SS90 and a B40 WD side-points machine. The SS90 is the go-faster, sporty version of the cooking B40 and is a gnat’s lower geared than the standard version. The one I rode had the distributor-type engine and ran well enough, but felt very low geared indeed, to the point at which it could have managed a whole extra gear after top with no problem. I suspect there may have been some cross-breeding with a C15 involved and maybe it was running 250 gearing. Whatever, it romped up hills like they weren’t there, but it became rather busy in the engine department before hitting 60mph on the flat. I can’t imagine it would see anywhere near that implied (but probably ambitious) 90mph without running out…

As a child I was surrounded by my father’s motorbikes, but I had to wait until my 21st birthday for my first bike, a lovely 1966 BSA Bantam in blue. I went everywhere on it, including trips from home in Leamington Spa to the Welsh coast, a round trip of 300 miles. I can still can close my eyes and relive those rides. No helmet, shotgun case over my back and a cigarette in my mouth. The scenery was glorious, but garages then were few and far between so I had to be wary of running out of petrol. I did once and had to push the bike four miles to the nearest village – I made sure that I had enough petrol in future to complete my trips! Not…

It is a common misconception that the Douglas Engineering Company was the only company to use the fore-and-aft flat-twin. Douglas was the most prominent proponent of this engine layout, using them from 1907 until the outbreak of WW2, but they were not alone. William and Edwin Douglas got into the motorcycle business by accident, when a company they supplied castings to, Light Motors, went into receivership. Light Motors were probably the pioneers of fore-and-aft flat twins. The Douglas brothers spotted an opportunity to carry on production of these smooth, nimble, sturdy, low-vibration machines, which performed well and seemed to sell. Their appeal was enhanced with success on the Isle of Man, European race tracks, dirt tracks, and as dispatch rider mounts in WW1. So it is not surprising that a…

The stock Suzuki GS550 is quite a fun motorbike. Moderately fast, with acceptable handling, many friends had GS550s when they were new, and they would keep up with almost anything else until you came to straight a bit of road. It’s the quintessential Universal Japanese Motorcycle. You can still buy them relatively cheaply as well, which for me is a key part of what makes it a certain kind of an odd-job. Is it cheap? Can I fix it out of a scrap bin or from bits covered in muck unearthed at a jumble? Then it’s my kind of bike. For some reason it hasn’t got the got the nostalgic desirability factor, and long may that continue. And if you want something similar but even cheaper, there’s always the ‘Factory…