Innehållsförteckning för January 2024 från Real Classic

Happy Noodle! The first issue of RealClassic for 2024 was written by riders (as always) and assembled by Rowena Hoseason and Frank Westworth of the Cosmic Bike Co Ltd. Chris Abrams at AT Graphics delivered dashing page design; Mortons Media Group Ltd managed all our advertising, subscriptions and back issues, and TP ate all the chocolate. As usual. READ MORE articles about old bikes at www.Real-Classic.co.uk TRADE ADVERTISERS for the magazine or website should call Mark on 01507 529413 or email MBainbridge@mortons.co.uk EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES should be sent to Frank@RealClassic.net or to PO Box 66, Bude EX23 9ZX. Please include an SAE if you want something returned or a personal reply SUBSCRIPTION INFO is on pg6, and might still be celebrating Christmas. Ho ho ho, y'know. Call 01507 529529 to subscribe…

The pinking I experienced on the R69S wasn't improved by using high octane petrol (it seldom is from my experience), nor any liquid fuel additives. An older, wiser hand made me a present of the aforementioned diamond-shaped lead balls, complete with propaganda stating they were used in WW2 fighter planes, etc. How could they possibly work? It's a scam, a gimmick for the gullible, there's no chemical reaction that takes place and so forth, we all know the drill. I dropped them in the petrol tank just to humour him before riding home. A few days later I realised that the tinkling sound, to which I'd been so accustomed, had all but disappeared. When I refilled the tank, it came back for a short while, before vanishing again once the…

My brother took me camping in Anglesey on his C15. The big end seized in Ruthin on the way home. I learned my mechanic skills at the side of the road as he stripped it down! We borrowed my folks'Moggy Minor to bring it back home. Once I was 16, I bought it offhim for £12 and ended up renewing the big end again. The picture is of me getting airborne, flatout going up the slipway at New Brighton prom where we lived. I think the rings may need renewing… Great happy days. I loved that bike! Gareth Roberts Brilliant! I borrowed a C15 to take my test on. About halfway around the course the gear lever fell offand disappeared, so I took the rest of the test stuck in third.…

Many thanks to Ted Rivington and Greg Poplar for their letters on my recent AFS Matchless G3 article. I'm glad they both enjoyed it. If Ted's mate is interested he could send details of the bike to the da dating ting offic officer er of of the AJS and Matchless OC who maintains a register (dating@jampot.com). There are quite a few survivors but not that many unrestored machines, I suspect. it would also be an interesting story to hear how the bike made its way to Canada! With regards to the generous gift from Greg of a Home Office tax disc, please see attached photo of it proudly displayed on the machine. Thank you, Greg.…

Can anyone recommend a good company that I could send my painted petrol tank to? Or a chemical to remove an existing internal tank liner? This was applied many years ago and is now very flaky due to ethanol petrol. I want to also protect external paint if possible. I've also looked at Frost online, but I prefer personal recommendations. Thanks. Steven Nelson, member Check out Tank Care Products. I have personally dealt with Ian Potter and took a tank with a failed liner to him to have it removed and redone in his epoxy mix. He's a spot-on guy to deal with and very knowledgeable. He did a top job on my tank about four years ago and it's still as good now as the day I picked it…

RICKMAN INTERCEPTOR PART THE FIRST Several years ago I paid top dollar for a very tidy, original and ready-to-ride Rickman Métisse Interceptor 750. All seemed tip-top, except that it wasn't really fit to ride very far. The statement ‘ready to ride', if true, would have shortened this article by a few pages, left my bank balance in a healthier state, and left me less knowledgeable about the inner workings of the mighty 750 motor, but such is the way in the world of classic motorcycle ownership. I suppose I was hoping that the price tag and tidy appearance of this example was indicative of a well-sorted bike. Those factors were supplemented by a magazine main feature on this actual example with an enthusiastic road test, so all the signs were…

Late in the year the National Motorcycle Museum opens its doors for the widely advertised free weekend (unless one attends by car, for which a parking fee remains). As it is not far for PUB, and additional attractions are laid on in the form of talks, demos, and bike fireups, she hopped along. It was a cold morning – a reminder it was time to adopt winter clothing for bike rides – but slightly less so for the return ride which was more comfortable. However, the weather was otherwise OK so turnout was pretty good, with a few interesting bikes to look at just in the parking area, including a Vincent Rapide for £33,000 and an Enfield twin (of the original sort) also on offer. Inside the halls PUB spent…

Great question in the subscriber newsletter about what got us started with motorbikes, and some fantastic answers in RC235. Just like another reader, it was Lawrence of Arabia for me – the film was what got me going. That beginning, the shots of him riding along with the wind in his hair and nothing in front of him except the open road. I know it ended badly and I know the film wasn't that accurate. But watching him starting the bike and the impression of speed and freedom gave me a lifelong love of motorbikes and interest in TE Lawrence himself. Peter Beresford, member Thanks to you both and to all contributors for a great magazine. I always turn to the back pages first; I love the way the mag…

I wonder if any readers have come across one of these rather handsome machines. It is the curiously named New Map, a make I had not heard of. I saw it while I was on holiday in Brittany. The friendly owner told me it dated from 1926. I thought it looked the business and sounded even better. Perhaps the addition of a headlamp would complete the picture! A bit of research told me that New Map was a French manufacturer based in Lyon, which made a wide variety of bikes using different engines from European makers. This one had a Swiss motor which I think was a Sachs, a 500 I would guess. They also ventured into the microcar market with a 100cc powered vehicle and later a 125. Frank's…

I think expectation and value sometimes conflict with reality. In 1971 I bought this Ariel for £75 because I needed a bike to get me to the TT. I rode it home.The lights didn't work, the carburation was horrendously wrong but it worked. Going through the Mersey tunnel, the premonobloc carb floatbowl to main body simply broke off. In the island the front tyre fell apart. Fixed it all and rode home. My point is that it was a cheap old bike then and I got what I expected. If I bought the same bike now for probably £4000 and had the same problems I would feel the same. Not cheap anymore but cost does not equate to quality. If I bought a Vincent Comet for £17,000 would I expect…

Legend has it that back in the mid to late 1950s Velocette boffins proposed a radical new direction for the company. Recognising that they had previous experience making two-stroke sports bikes, it was proposed that instead of constantly mucking about with pushrod singles and creating exotic racers with overhead camshafts, or radical side valve flat twins for policemen or even ohv flat twins, something simpler and more affordable was needed. One bright spark proposed they should create a Velocette with a Villiers 2T engine to sell to the mass market. It is even rumoured that such a machine was created. This isn't it. This is John Rose's Velocette Villiant two-stroke twin café racer. John is a serial cutter-up of Velocette LEs, and after being given a cutaway engine a few…

I really should say a big thank-you to Mike Tizard and his team at the Salisbury Motorcycle and Light Car Club for the excellent job they do organising the Arbuthnot Trial in early September every year. For those not familiar with this event, it was created by Admiral Arbuthnot in 1921. For most of its history machines were required to be of the rigid and girder type but now more modern British machines up to 1970 are permitted. RC readers may be especially interested in the Colonial Class. This is for motorcycles equipped with lights and road tyres, and naturally covers easier sections. It's ideal for those wishing to enjoy themselves without previous experience or investing large amounts in a trick pre-65 trials iron. You can rummage around in the…

I found myself agreeing with Frank's From The Front in RC236. I also ride all year round. Similarly, not to impress but because I don't mind it. There's a car on the drive that doesn't move from one week to the next unless needed for shopping and so on. Admittedly I'm located fairly south west so the winters are never really that bad, and there are a couple of bikes in the shed that probably aren't going out in the salt and ice. My ‘modern’ machine is both robust enough and so past its best cosmetically that I don't care. So I'll keep on riding. The handlebar muffs will be going on this weekend! Ian Myers, member Bizarrely perhaps, I quite enjoy winter riding. Maybe ‘enjoy’ is too strong a…

CCM CLASSIC TRACKER When is a classic not a classic? Perhaps when it is just a cynical moniker used by marketing departments to promote a modern machine and cash in on the retro craze. It can be easily done: apply a 70s paint finish to one of the range, tack on appropriate verbiage (‘classic’, ‘heritage’, or ‘legacy'), and voilà, job done. Yamaha's XSR700 Legacy springs to mind. Some would argue the same about Triumph's Modern Classics, but at least Triumph's water-cooled engines take their design cues from the Meriden products, and look authentic. Given that, what should we make of the Classic Tracker, a 2023 model from CCM? Some say that a classic bike must have neither electric start nor disc brake. Methinks that would rule out such classics as…

MONDAY 1 JANUARY ➢ There's a RIDE-IN to the Sammy Miller Museum. Park in the courtyard from 10am until 1pm (use the car park if you want to leave earlier). All welcome, no booking needed. Museum open 10am to 3pm with discounted admission everyone who has ridden in. At New Milton, BH25 5SZ. sammymiller.co.uk > The VINTAGE STONY gathering of old cars and bikes runs from 9.30am to 2pm at the Market Square, Stony Stratford, MK11 1BE. vintagestony.co.uk FRI & SAT 5/6 JANUARY ➢ The MCC's EXETERTRIAL starts at Haynes Museum at Sparkford on the Friday evening and ends at Kingsteignton in Devon the following day. Spectators and marshalls always welcome. themotorcyclingclub.org.uk SAT & SUN 6/7 JANUARY ➢ The Newark WINTER CLASSIC opens 9am at the showground, NG24 2NY. Club…