Classic Bike Guide - June 2018

BUY

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SELL

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RIDE

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RESTORE

Charismatic 350 twin

 Rondine – sublime Guzzi  Norton ES2 - featherweight single  Hailwood’s bike part 2 – NSU Sportmax  Honda CG125

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FROM THE ARCHIVE Sand racing from Wallasey, 1961 SMILES IN THE STAFFORD SUNSHINE We focus on some of the bikes that caught our eye SUBSCRIBE! Save loads o’ money and get your favourite mag delivered to your door NEWS What’s been going on with the world of all things classic WHAT’S ON Pack your sarnies and suncream and see some bikes!

BUYER GUIDE – NORTON ES2 We look at the featherbedframed Norton ES2 and what makes it so good BUYERS GUIDE – HONDA CG125 A worthy classic as it started so many riders biking careers

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BUYERS GUIDE – TRIUMPH 3T A pretty little Triumph twin, often overlooked NEW RETRO – HARLEYDAVIDSON’S NEW SPORTSTER 48 SPECIAL The Sportster started in 1957 – how good is Milwaukee’s latest offering?

COLUMN – STEVE COOPER Steve traces back to exactly how he became so fascinated by little Japanese two-strokes COLUMN – PAUL D’ORLÉANS Paul looks at all the books written about riding round this world of ours COLUMN – PAUL MILES Paul cracks out the lightweight jacket and open-face helmet – summer’s here!

ARCHIVE POSTER A beautiful reproduction of the Triumph 3T brochure

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HAILWOOD’S BIKES PT2 We look at Hailwood’s journey to South Africa and his NSU Sportmax, the start of the great man’s success RONDINE When a highly-skilled sculptor takes a Moto Guzzi and forms a magnificent machine in a shed LEARNER CLASSICS We take a look at those bikes that could woo a younger generation into classic bikes NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM We sent Rachel to have a go at the NMM PRODUCTS Spring has sprung so treat yourself!

LETTERS A lovely piece from the US, plus some useful info about Yamaha’s XS2 HOW TO DECOKE YOUR TWO-STROKE EXHAUST Steve shows how to liberate your two-stroke – without getting too dirty…

NEXT MONTH We look at BSA’s A65, Norton’s Commando and Honda singles READER ADVERTS Now, what can I spend the kids’ inheritance on?

FRANK’S LAST WORD Frank lowers his rose-tinted spectacles and admits some British classics aren’t quite as good as we remembered…

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From the archive

GIVIN’ IT SOME HANGING YOUR LEG out isn’t just a technique formed by the great Valentino Rossi – this is AG Randles on his JAP 500 at the Wallasey sand races, August 28, 1961.

Mortonsarchive.com

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Welcome

Welcome

Matt Hull

It’s official – classic bikes make you feel younger, more attractive and happier…

(WARNING – the above statement has no scientific facts behind it but I was told by a bloke down the pub and I believe him)…

WELCOME TO THE June edition of Classic Bike Guide. The sun is out and hopefully you’ve been riding. As well as the sun breaking through, three events have made me feel really good about the classic world we love.

‘Boy’ and I visited the British Historic Racing round at Mallory Park. The racing was great and the bikes varied massively, both in style, age and performance. But it was the camaraderie and openness with strangers that struck me. Over the years I’ve spent much time in race paddocks but never have I felt so welcome and part of the day, especially when asking questions about what had been done to the bikes – and I had ‘boy’ tagging along on his bicycle – an accident waiting to happen – but welcome we were. The ages of the racers and helpers ranged from young to rather less than young! If I get our racebike finished, it’ll be a nice way to spend the weekend.

Next to the Stafford show. I get bored easily, so to prevent aimless wandering we set up a bench to build up our Honda CL350. The interaction with the crowds was fantastic, with banter aplenty and so many of you came up to say hello and offer advice, ask questions and take the proverbial.

The mood was distinctly upbeat. In fact so much time was spent mardling that the bike wasn’t finished…

The ages of those attending were most

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seen as a great way to give children skills interesting. Yes, the average age was as they are losing, think how much satisfaction you’d imagine. But it wasn’t all men of can be had from showing someone how increasing years – with more ladies, families to start an old bike, fettle a carb or lace a and teenagers than I’ve seen at modern bike wheel. Motorcycling has been my life and events. It’s so exciting to see a great range of people destroying the stereotype of classic career for 25 years – I bet many of you can beat that by a mile. Think of the enjoyment bike ownership.

My local bike meets have started up again. it’s given you and what it could give to others.

This, in turn, will help us to give classic Old Buckenham’s Two-Wheeled Tuesday bikes the best chance of being around for sees hundreds of bikes with everyone mixing generations to come. on the village green, while the Whitwell and This month we have a feature on learner Reepham Station also attracts a similar classics. It has all the info someone needs number on a Friday. Classics mix with sports to try biking for the first time and looks at and that’s just the riders… To me, the sight good first-time and learner-legal classics. If of a young, glitzy-leather clad, black-visored you know someone who might fancy it, lend rider looking at a 60-year-old bike warms them your copy to see what they think. my cockles.

We are also looking at the most Some pastimes are staring extinction under-appreciated of learner bikes, the in the face – tragically few are coming into Honda CG125. ‘Not a classic’ I hear from traction engines, for example. The skills the back? A bike produced for over 40 are being lost and the attraction is passing years and still in production that has helped over the next generation – plus they’re not thousands upon thousands of riders to learn exactly easy to live with or store. Classic to ride? A bike we had trouble finding to bikes are easier to live with – they can be photograph as they’re all still in use! Oh, it’s used and you can learn how to fettle them. a classic all right.

And if you’re not mechanically aware then Right, enough of this, the sun is out and no worries, there are so many new classics I’m sure I need to go out. Classic bikes make available that you start with a button and ride them to your dealer when you need. And you feel younger, more attractive and happier – I’ll go with that. Be good. these in turn often lead to an older bike.

So next time you see a way to encourage Matt Hull others into looking at our old bikes, let us editor@classicbikeguide.com know. In a world where forest schools are

SMILES IN THE STAFFORD SUNSHINE SUNSHINE AND CLASSIC motorcycles – the perfect start to Spring. The 38th Carole Nash Spring Classic at Stafford County Showground saw thousands of visitors pour through the gates, with a packed bike park stretching across the fields as thousands took the opportunity to sample the best in classic biking.

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Thanks to the weather there was plenty of elbowroom inside. The very best private entries sparkled in the middle of the main hall, along with the bigger club stands and there was a healthy mix of entries and exhibits dotted around the other halls. The racebike paddock gave visitors a chance to see machines that are rarely viewed outside

of racetrack paddocks, and the roar of BSA and Triumph triple racers mingled with the banshee wail of two-strokes revved to within an inch of their lives, while the visitors got their first chance to hear the unearthly howl of Allen Millyard’s RC374 Honda Six replica.

Meanwhile, the throb of classic trail bikes drifted over the scene from the dirt bike track as members of the Owd Codgers club did their thing.

Inside the halls club members were besieged by visitors keen to talk the finer points of their preferred marques. All the regular trade stands were there, as well as a healthy scattering of new traders, all offering parts, processes and expert technical advice. Inevitably, you could also get your glasses cleaned free of charge and buy a large amount of sugary confectionery, books galore, magazines by the tonne and magical cures for things that ail both body and bike. After judging, a 1966 TR6R Triumph took the top honours, while a BSA Spitfire was the best postwar.

The autojumble was buzzing with activity – it is always fun to people watch as a buyer spots, seemingly from yards away, that all-important project-completing part and pounces upon it. Prices were at a sensible

THE ROCKET FROM THE EAST

level and the benefits of being able to handle the object of your desires and haggle with the seller a little is always going to be preferable to clicking on an internet link and hoping for the best.

The biggest draw seemed to be the Enfield dealer who had managed to secure a pre-production Royal Enfield 650 Continental GT for display purposes – how many other manufacturers would be prepared to let their new baby be mauled by hundreds of potential buyers? If the appreciative looks on the faces of those checking out the new twin were anything to go by, RE are going to be hard pushed to keep up with demand.

For those looking for something a little more vintage, Andy Gregory, of Tri-Cor, had a beautifully sorted Triumph T140 special for sale and tucked away on stalls across the jumble were machines of every vintage and varying provenance.

OCCASIONALLY, STORIES EMERGE about motorcycles with delivery mileage only tucked away in garages. Most people might hope to find an unregistered Z 1000 or still-crated Gold Star. This Cossack Voskhod might not appear on many lists, but it is one such beast. A Soviet Union-built 175cc two-stroke single based, inevitably, on the DKW RT125 and named after the rocket that launched Sputnik into space. It appeared at the show on the Cossack Owners’ Club stand with just 35km on the clock. The paintwork is original, but the same can’t be said for the chrome.

The bike was originally purchased from a Manchester dealer in 1977, ridden home from the dealership and the new owner instantly decided it was a death-trap with non-working brakes and parked it in his shed, declaring he would never ride it again. After he died the bike passed to his son, who rode it for the first time, agreed with his father – the pressed steel front drum brake being the culprit,

and also declared he would never ride it again. Its current owner, John Chrystal, rediscovered it and has spent more than the bike cost him on replacing the chrome, which had almost all fallen off.

Most of the 35km on the clock were covered by him and he has managed to improve the brakes. John says despite its lengthy sojourn in a shed and the fact it doesn’t need a battery, it started easily once he had replaced the original Soviet-made spark plug. It is for sale, should anyone be interested. Contact John through the club.

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PRETTY LIGHTNING PETE ‘RUPERT’ PHILP’S 1971 BSA A65L Lightning is about as pretty an example of the unfairly maligned oil-in-frame twin as you’ll see anywhere.

Pete bought the Lightning as a US re-import about four years ago and his first experiences might have put a few owners off. The previous owner had removed the spacers from the carbs, so once the engine got hot, all the petrol in the float chambers would evaporate. One of the exhausts fell off on the way to a rally as well and it had to be temporarily reattached by a helpful farmer using an arc welder. He’s since replaced the

wiring loom, after discovering the original was as brittle as dried spaghetti, powder coated the frame and modified the bottom of the oil bearing frame tube to prevent cracking around the centrestand pivot. The tank seams were leaking so they were brazed back together and the clocks refurbished, replacing the Japanese internals that had been fitted to the speedometer.

The engine has had sensible bottom end modifications from SRM, and the gearshift converted to hand-change, as Pete has lost his right lower leg. Although the right-hand side change on the BSA requires him to take

his hand off the throttle to change gear, he finds that the big gaps between the four gears help, and the trick is to plan any rolls to a stop as far in advance as possible. The tall, flat, stock BSA seat he described as being like: “Riding an ironing board.”

SUPER SCRAMBLER SOMETIMES IT’S NOT what you’ve got but what you do with it that counts. Haydn and Dorothy Powell have taken boxes of parts and turned them into this rather special BSA C15 scrambler. Put together entirely from parts bought at autojumbles, the rather staid commuter BSA 250 is a rather groovy Californian-style street scrambler.

To improve the off-road performance the front drive sprocket was machined down, while a bigger rear sprocket is fitted. The frame has been modified too, with the rear end raised, and that distinctive cherry-bomb silencer is a stock C15 item sliced in two, shortened and welded back together. It seems a shame BSA didn’t come up with something quite as distinctive for learners in the early 1960s.