n Dominator Norton D n ‘just 99’ Faster than
Triumph Tiger 11 10
Hailwood’s Thruxton winner
BUY SELL RID DE RESTORE DE
Lifting the Trophy high
And what it’s like to live with today Buying guide Velocette LE
Vincent V-Twin Life in Lif i the th R Rapide id llane
No. 340 September 2019 £4.30 UK Off-sale date 25/09/2019 PRINTED IN THE UK
SEPTEMBER 2019
Buying guide
H d Honda CB650
Welcome
The year’s in full flow – but there’s always room for another project…
F
irstly, welcome to this month’s Classic Bike Guide. With shows every weekend and weather tempting us all out, what more could we wish for? Well, more time would be good! The Beeza has been ever-faithful, so I treated it to a new rear tyre after the mudguard slipped down and ‘remodelled’ the old one with the numberplate bolt. And though summer, I must try to improve the headlight as I’m having to use my shooting torch to get home once the sun has gone to bed… For now, the B31 has been relegated to the back burner as I’ve been lucky enough to have a Triumph Trophy to use. What a bike! One of the first unit-construction 650s, it’s a beautiful bike that once we’d gone through it all (it had been standing for some years with petrol in it) and serviced it, is giving me a new experience, having been mainly a single cylinder rider. It feels like a new bike – keeps up with modern traffic, behaves itself and rides beautifully – what must it have been like when it was new? I wish I could afford one when it goes back. A friend, Maria, asked for help getting her 1979 Benelli 125 Enduro going, after it’s been languishing in a shed for too many years. Little Benellis are tricky to get information about but this one is in surprisingly original condition with just 1400 miles on the clock and what looks like the original Pirellis fitted; so the tank, tap and carb need cleaning and the flywheel removing to sort the points – it’s got no spark. But once going, this lightweight offroader should be an unusual sight on the local trails, or maybe even the odd competition. And though difficult, getting information about unusual bikes is just
another part of keeping these old bikes alive: was the engine used in something else? Are the brakes the same as another model? And talking about competition, Neville, one of my mentors in all things old and mechanical, has finished building his interpretation of a Gold Star scrambler. After getting in a tiz with his Amal carb, all problems disappeared with fitting a Mikuni. Look out for this in a future issue, on a local trail or even, if he gets his own way, a dirt track event! Boy is getting into it as well. Though just four years old, his cycling is coming on, so I popped up to Old Empire Motorcycles who not only make some superb Hinkley Triumph specials, but also sell electric trials bikes. Okay, so they may not be classic, but if these silent machines help him learn the skills needed to control a twin-shock, then world – watch out – there may be another two-wheel fanatic on the way. But all this has brought reality to a head, as Project Norton has had to take a little break. As any one of you that has restored a bike knows, sometimes you just can’t fit it all in. I’ve managed to rub down the oil tank and battery box, but you don’t want to read about that. The cam followers are back, so I’ll just have to find some extra time next month to rebuild the bottom end. Why does everything take so long? Send in some photos of shows and meets you’re attending to editor@ classicbikeguide.com; we’d love to see them m. Be go ood!
Matt Hull editor@classicbikeguide.com CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || SEPTEMBER 2019
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Contents
012
008 From the archive Sprinting, old school-style
and Now: Norton 012 Then Dominator 99 We look at what the press thought when the Dominator was new and what we think now
020
Subscribe!
Be the envy of your friends, save money and keep the ffs s from our door! bailiff
022 News
Plenty still to do this year, like The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride and the new Bike Shed festival
026 Malle Mile
Now in its fifth year, this festival of having rather a lot of fun on old bikes just gets better
030 Founders’ Day
Everyone knows about Founders’ Day, unless they’ve never heard of it…
034 What’s on
Fill your diary with meets, swaps and shows
4
SEPTEMBER 2019 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE
038 Triumph TR6 Trophy BUYING GUIDE
The Bonneville’s bettermannered sibling is a stunner to ride and live with
046
Living with a Trophy We live with a Triumph TR6 to see what the fuss is all about
050 Velocette LE BUYING GUIDE
Inventive, practical and for the time – the LE was a great answer to the world’s problems
068 Paul D’Orleans
Paul makes us all jealous of stories about riding around the US of A
070 Letters
Have your say – let us all know!
072 Thruxton 500
Dan Shorey, a Tiger 110 and victory in 1958 at the famous endurance race
080 Living with Vincent Restoring a Vincent Rapide is enough for many, but owner Andy rides it everywhere
056 Honda CB650
088 BSA Spitfire
062 Steve Cooper
094 Reader Adverts
064 Paul Miles
113 Next month
066 Archive poster
114 Frank Westworth
BUYING GUIDE
By now, Honda had got quite good at building big bikes Steve gets all starry-eyed about torque
Paul manages to set himself on fire…
Dark times at the Norton Villiers factory
One restoration of this desert-inspired machine with incredible attention to detail Buy something now! It’s bound to be a bargain and you really need one BSA Spitfire, an early Suzuki and a triplet of three-wheelers await
Oh Frank, don’t start on price versus value – you’ll never hear the end of it…
026
030
038
046
050
056
072
080
088
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CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || SEPTEMBER 2019
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SEPTEMBER 2019 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE
The Norton Model 99 Dominator In this series CBG’s Rachael Clegg compares notes from her own road test with those from the machine’s original launch date. This month, she takes a very special road machine for a spin – the Norton Dominator
CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || SEPTEMBER 2019
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