Innehållsförteckning för July 2024 från Real Classic

In the mid-1920s, to demonstrate the scope of their V-twin's all-round abilities, BSA's management came up with the notion of a ‘world tour’. This publicity stunt involved the Foreign Office, the British Trade Commission and a journey that eventually extended to 25,000 miles, visiting 25 countries over 19 months. Senior BSA salesman Bertram Cathrick represented the firm, while journalist John Castley sent regular reports for publication in The Motor Cycle. The idea was that they'd visit the colonies, giving lectures, meeting local bike clubs and generating export sales with the most convincing display of the BSA's characteristics. The Model G was the obvious choice for such a demanding trip: massively robust, reasonably easy to maintain, and capable of churning out the unremitting low-rev torque required to–quite literally – climb mountains.…

BSA B31 RealClassic Have you spotted the remarkable similarity between plunger BSAs and London buses? Correct! You don't see any for ages and then two come along at once. OK. It was a feeble joke. What do you expect? Wit? Certainly not wisdom. surely… As always, I would like to be able to pretend that the bikes I borrow are all part of a carefully constructed, entirely professional plan to maintain the balance of content in our most remarkable magazine. But it's not. They just happen, somehow. Like this time. I saw the bike leaning against the wall of a shed – a rather familiar shed, to be fair – and wondered whether I could borrow it. It was a lovely day, after all, blue birds, singing skies, things like that.…

ROYAL ENFIELD CONSTELLATION RealClassic This Royal Enfield Constellation arrived as a stalled project which ‘just needed finishing’. The bike was not far off totally dismantled, with the frame, mudguards, etc, all in a filthy condition. The engine was equally dirty, if already removed from the frame. A pair of rebuilt wheels, wearing new tyres, and a freshy chromed and painted fuel tank were the only nice-looking items among the many others. To be fair, most components were present and correct and in labelled boxes. The forks were still on the frame, but a separate alloy top yoke had been used instead of a Casquette. The owner wanted to revert to the original arrangement, and this would add a surprise element of fun some time later, on the home straight… I was…

RealClassic JAMES MODEL B1 SUPER-SPORTS TWIN If you grew up in Britain in the 1960s, you'll think of James motorcycles as being utilitarian crimson-painted ride-to-work two-stroke singles. These continued to be produced with 98 / 125 / 150 / 197 / 250cc Villiers motors after the Birmingham firm's 1951 acquisition by AMC and bore, given their humble nature, rather incongruous military monickers like the Colonel, Captain, Cadet and Commando models. Later on, they got lumbered with AMC's own twostroke engines of questionable reliability developed for them by Italian engineer Vincenzo Piatti, in a misguided attempt to avoid dealing any further with Villiers. Instead, this helped bring about the brand's demise in 1966, when AMC went bust. So it's perhaps a surprise to look even further back in the rear view mirror…

PART THE THIRD The cylinder head returned with a thread repair to the headsteady stud and two broken rocker plate studs removed. New valve guides had been fitted and the seats re-cut. Thanks for all that, Alistair! After thorough cleaning, the oilways to the rockers were checked by running wire through the drillings. Oil pumped into each banjo bolt hole quickly appeared at all rocker shaft oil holes, so all was ready to re-assemble. RGM's rocker spindle locking-plate eliminated the previous looseness of the spindles. Then it dawned on me that I couldn't fit the valves with the rockers in place… so out they came again, to be reassembled once the valves were lapped into the new seats and the springs reinstalled. While polishing the conrods, I was musing about…

FRANK WESTWORTH RealClassic And it was all going so well. Immediately prior to an enforced and very welcome in-patient procedure courtesy of Derriford Hospital in scenic Plymouth (all appears well, thank you) I decided that I would venture forth to gather photos for a short riding story. It was a lot of fun. The T120V was growling along very nicely thank you, and the thirty miles I'd intended to ride easily if mysteriously increased to over fifty, simply because I was enjoying the ride so much. I am no great fan of Triumphs– as I've reminded everyone very many times – but this purple mileage eater is changing my mind, slowly but steadily. Just think, it's already as rusty as the Woodsman, so why wouldn't I use it through the handsome…

RealClassic BSA V-TWIN When BSA introduced the original iteration of their heavyweight V-twin in the early 1920s, the company had already establisheda reputation for the manufacture of motorcycles that were built to last. Even so, did anyone imagine that the Model A's offspring would be merrily thumping around an entire century later? We suspect not! The sidevalve Model A arrived ready for heavy duties. Already it shared the essential architecture of our later feature bike: a three-speed gearbox, heavy-duty forks, a sprung saddle, single Amal carb, enclosed primary chain and a front-mounted magneto. The Amorphed into the Model E, then F and finally settled on the Model G designation in 1924. In keeping with the company's traditions, the 986cc Model G was rugged, robust and priced to suit the finances of…

Real Classic LAVERDA SF750 Keen readers may remember my 1976 Yamaha DT250 from RC217. Its restoration was carried out in a rather fine railway arch workshop in South London. Sadly the lease came to an end in 2022 and all I had for a workshop would be my single lockup: no power, no light. So three bikes were sold off leaving me with just my 1973 Triumph TR5T and a modern Guzzi. No more restoration projects for me… Or so I thought 18 February 2023 saw me at the motorcycle show at Excel in London. I like to pop along to see what's going on in the wider biking world, add another pot of miracle leather cream / snake oil to my collection and possibly bump into an acquaintance. A feature…

BIKES…

PART FOUR Time's a Trip Man, as I used to say back when I was a hippie (OK, I still do and I still am), and it's strange to be writing these episodes every month at the same time as I'm reading the B60FT series which in my timeline is currently appearing in print in this very magazine. I suspect this has more to do with the speed and frequency I build bikes at than anything to do with magazine schedules. Every summer I say I won't build a bike this winter, and Miss P gives a knowing smile and says of course you will, and of course I'm adamant that I won't. And then winter comes around and I seem to end up building a bike again. So, here…