Innehållsförteckning för September 2023 från Real Classic

In the space of two days I rode - one after the other - a Royal Enfield Bullet (as seen in The Shed) a fairly recentTriumph Tiger 800, a Vincent Comet, then the Tiger and the Bullet again. Experiences like that are always tremendously interesting, indeed entertaining, especially when two of the bikes are my own. We ran a similar (but different) Bullet for some years, but this one isn't quite as I remember it. I am entirely familiar with the Tiger, not least because I use it for almost all of my trips around the place - longer trips than just local stuff, usually. And it is quite some time since I last borrowed a Vincent. In that time, I had sort-of convinced myself that I liked them. Confronting…

I enjoyed reading Frank's complimentary report on the excellent Kawasaki Z650, launched in 1976, in RC232. I was very enthused by the Z650 when it was launched, following a life-threatening gearbox failure with my 1974 Commando 850 Mk2A, That led me to reappraise the Japanese alternatives. At the last minute I changed my decision and bought the Z750B1 Twin instead. That was because with my long-distance, two-up camping tour habits, the 750 looked physically a bit more roomy. I decided that coming back to 650 from 850 was too much of a stretch. However my brother Keith bought a 650 at the same time, in November 1976. A new red Z650B1 .That created the great opportunity to compare the two models side-by-side, because we did quite a lot of miles…

There was an excellent article on buying and selling in RC230, thanks to all involved for doing this. Something I didn't find was your thoughts on bill of sales. Do you need one? I have always written one out with date, vehicle including registration number and both parties'signatures. The V5C states it shows the keeper not the owner, so a BofS would cover that. I don't know if'sold as seen'is legal anymore, or if a BofS would stand up in court should the need arise to go down that line. Any thoughts on this? Graeme Curtis You'll find templates for a private motor vehicle bill of sale - often called a seller's contract these days - online. At the very least it should note the make, model, registration number and…

➤ WE WANT MORE STORIES about real life classic bikes. We like profiles of a singl model or a comparison of two machines. Most magazine features are between 1000 and 2500 words. If your story is much longer then it's probably not for us. Shorte stories appear in the letters section. ➤ TO SEE WHAT WE MEAN look at the Triumph Trident, Harley Sportster and Suzuki stories in this issue. ➤ DON'T WORRY about your writing, grammar or punctuation; we'll make sure that your article reads the right way. Just concentrate on telling a good story and we'll do the rest. ➤ INCLUDE AS MUCH INFO as possible Tell the RC readers exactly what model you classic bike is, when it was built and its history since then. What condition…

RealClassic BURT MUNRO CHALLENGE There's no direct equivalent of the VMCC in New Zealand, instead the Vintage Car Club looks after all forms of veteran, vintage and classic vehicles. The catalyst for this biking bonanza came from the Southland VCC, who had the idea to host their National Motorcycle Rally on the holiday weekend before the famous Burt Munro Challenge. Imagine living in Cornwall and riding to the Shetland Isles for a motorcycle rally: participants in the NZ rally travelling from the North Island have to accomplish a three-day, thousand-mile journey and an expensive ferry crossing before the event even begins. So as an extra inducement, a third event – the Southland Rally – was also incorporated into the holiday weekend. This led to nine days of classic motorcycling fun and…

BRAKING BETTER If you run a disc-braked older bike all year round then you'll probably be entirely too familiar with the havoc that the UK's climate tends to wreak upon the calipers. Damp, salty condition with short bursts of extreme temperatures: exactly what they don't like. And OE piston kits rarely come cheap! You can now source TRK's stainless steel brake pistons direct from Wemoto, who stock kits to suit thousands of Japanese machines from the 1970s onwards, plus Hinckley Triumph and many older Italians. TRK provide a lifetime guarantee on their stainless steel pistons against corrosion, pitting and the elements. Each piston kit is designed for the specific model, so if your bike has a twin caliper set-up then the kit will include seals and boots for both calipers.…

About ten years ago, I saw a cylinder barrel and new piston for my BSA C15 at the Shepton Mallet autojumble, which I bought and fitted. The bike started up and ran as normal but once on the road the engine was more noisy. The C15 was sluggish up hills that it would have usually tackled with ease. I then started to get electrical problems, and the bike struggled to start and kept eight-stroking when it did. On stripping it down I found a witness mark where the piston was hitting the cylinder head. This had caused the bronze timing-side bearing to fail. That allowed the alternator magnet rotor to touch the stator ring which caused the damage to the mainshaft which can be seen in the photo. I hadn't…

RealClassic 1938 MATCHLESS MODEL X Matchless was formerly one of the pioneer brands on two wheels in Britain, and once vied with BSA to be Britain's - indeed, the world's - largest motorcycle manufacturer. Sadly, though, it continues in existence today merely as a vehicle for the Italian Malenotti family which owns it to promote its range of lifestyle clothing - including creating the one-off Model X Reloaded custom in 2015, with an S&S V-twin engine. The Matchless moniker first appeared on a powered two-wheeler in 1899, on a prototype machine with a home-made engine built in his southeast London bicycle shop close to the River Thames at Plumstead by former gunsmith Henry Collier, who while working at the nearby Woolwich Arsenal had sold several 'Ordinary bicycles' (aka Penny Farthings) built…

I quite agree with Andrew Lindley's comments about'fade very quick'shock absorbers. There were very few issues with Honda's shocks. The odd one was replaced under warranty, as you might expect with anything mass-produced. The only exceptions were the CB250 and 400N Superdreams. I can't remember the exact issue but I think it was leaking. So many of them had to be replaced that Honda ran out of shocks (HUK at least). Some places were authorised to fit Koni Dial-a-Rides under warranty while the issue was being sorted. The original shocks were 'improved and updated'three times, I think. Maybe they ought to have stuck with the 250/400T shocks which didn't have the problem. At Lings we had some remaining stocks of Konis left over once the problem was resolved, but of…

RealClassic ARIEL FIELDMASTER At first I thought ‘Crikey, that's damning it with faint praise.' I'd asked David Angel what his Ariel 500 twin did best. When answering that question, owners typically tend to say something like ‘riding non-stop across the Siberian steppe' or ‘popping to the shops for a packet of frozen peas.' Not David. He replied that the KH500 was best at ‘being an Ariel rather than a BSA, Triumph or Norton.' Well, yes. But is that really all there is to the only true thoroughbred twin to come from the House of the Horse? (Obviously I'm discounting the later, hybrid 650 Huntmaster which mixes a lot of BSA DNA with its Ariel ancestry). Is the Fieldmaster best defined by what it actually isn't? Surely that's under-selling it somewhat? In…

RealClassic HARLEY-DAVIDSON SPORTSTER I feel I should start with an apology. I'm sorry. You've just turned the page of your favourite classic motorbike mag and – what's this? A Harley of all things, and what looks to be a fairly modern Harley to boot! But relax, be calm, make yourself a refreshing brew and settle into a comfy chair while I attempt to explain this impertinence, while at the same time convincing you that this very bike before you is indeed a genuine, bona fide RealClassic. I would also like to take this opportunity to reassure you, gentle reader, that I have never owned any of the following: chaps, mirrored shades, tasselled jacket, cowboy boots, leather waistcoat or fingerless gloves. I would like to further assure you that none of these…

RealClassic MV AGUSTA 175 REBUILD After fettling the engine and before starting the search for a coil, I thought I would experiment with a different carb. In nearly all my rebuilds carbs seem to pose the greatest problems, next to electrics. Old, worn carbs do not help the starting, running and tickover, and with the modern fuels there seem to be some issues with evaporation when the carbs are hot. I have a Gilera Giubileo 98 converted to 130cc to which I fitted a modern, Chinese-made Mikuni-type 26mm carb instead of the original 18mm Dell'Orto. It seems to run really well hot or cold, ticks over and also starts really well. So I carried out a similar exercise on the MV Agusta CST. When I replaced the carb on the Gilera…

Regarding the Z650 seen in RC232.This picture shows my standard 750 Bonnie at the Bulldog Bash I had just beaten the tricked-out Kawasaki Z650 on a drag strip at 98mph in 14.02 seconds. His mates ribbed him all weekend, while my mates could not believe the Bonnie went so well! Will Holder, member 8693 And there might even have been more to come - Cycle World took a standard T120R, a 650, to 92,8/mph in 14.24 seconds back in the day. I suspect that the performance of the 750 would've been considerably influenced by which carbs and exhaust system were standard at the time! Rowena…

I really enjoyed RC232 and had a feeling I had seen the streamlined Henderson before. 'The World's Weirdest Motor Cycles'came out in 1989 and I found this machine inside. Keep up the eclectic mix! Reg Eyre, member 903 Crikey, the text of that booklet was only slightly biased, wasn't it? Of the machine top-right, they said; 'American styling always looked odd to us in the Thirties. With some of the Japanese styling about today, maybe this streamliner doesn't look so bad!'And the comments alongside the 1948 Italian Major (a 350 with shaft drive) seen below reckoned it was 'not so much grotesque as unusual… not unlike some REAL grotesques from Japan today!' No wonder the next generation of riders found it so hard to relate to old British bikes… Rowena…

RealClassic TWO TRIUMPH BONNEVILLES It is an obvious comparison, isn't it? Making a from the saddle comparison of one of the very last Meriden Bonnies with an example of the early Hinckley twins. Over the years, I've ridden several examples of both, but had never really enjoyed the later machines – it's not easy to remember why, somehow – and rarely enjoyed the ownership experience of Meriden 750s. Again, putting a finger on the actual reasons for this isn't easy. Puzzling, really, as I remember several decent rides on both of them well enough. In any case, it is much, much easier to borrow a single bike for a story than to borrow a pair of them, usually because of the logistics. But I also suspect that my in-built laziness does…

RealClassic TRIUMPH T150 TRIDENT PART TWO Quite recently I finally had some money available to buy new tyres, tubes and rim tapes for the T150. The front tyre had been virtually new when the machine was put away, but 20 year-old rubber on the front of such a machine is not a great idea, so both were replaced. I gave the rear brake drum and shoes a good clean while the wheel was removed for the tyre change. The rear brake certainly adds to the capabilities of the front stopper but is of little use on its own, especially considering its size, and it has always been rather spongy. I also fitted new brake hoses and brake pads – the linings actually fell off the old ones, thanks to corroded steel…

As I started to read this weighty tome, I was pleased to discover it was written by a kindred spirit. Someone who enjoys travelling; someone who is as happy, if not happier, to visit less well-known attractions rather than the‘big ticket'tourist destinations, and someone who just likes to know things. More than that, someone who likes to know things and loves sharing that information. The book is a substantial 549 pages and, although the text is large enough to be considerate to those with presbyopia, that doesn't mean it is a big print book. Spit it out; there's a lot to read, and it is a very enjoyable read too. It covers the period from June to November 2012, and the 18,000 miles ridden from the UK to Russia via…

RealClassic SUZUKI SPANNERING In late October I'd ridden my mighty 1986 Suzuki Cavalcade from Ontario up to the very northern tip of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to a little spot seductively named‘Meat Cove'. No!Wait! This isn't a travel story in your favourite classic bike magazine, and I know you probably don't care a fig for some bloated, CB and cruise control equipped road couch from the 1980s, but bear with me. The kind of bike and the nature of the trip are irrelevant. This is a salutary tale of how a little forward planning and careful scrutiny of the manual can save you a whole lot of trouble. The ride to Meat Cove and back was a five day, 2500 mile blast, most of it spent getting wet along major highways.…

This is a long story, so please be patient. Once upon a time… In the early days of this very magazine, we featured lots of Royal Enfield singles. There were several reasons for this, all of them good reasons. Firstly, many readers rode them – and in those days we attended loads of events, talked with loads of readers, so we observed what folk rode and what they talked about. Also, we got on very well with the then RE importers, Watsonian Squire, up-country in Blockley, deep in the Cotswolds, and could borrow lots of nice new bikes. This is not the case today, sadly. Of all the models I had the opportunity to ride, one of them really did stand out; the Woodsman, a slightly mysterious blend of stock…