Classic Bike Guide May 2018

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RIDE

Royal Enfield Interceptor Series 2

RESTORE Moto Guzzi V7

Hailwood’s MV racer

CZ 175 Sport S Broug gh SSuperior SS1000

Honda CB777 Super Hawkk

Harley-Davidson Sportster

World of class

PLUS: Manx Nor Norton rton Honda museum Hailwood’s Hailwood s first race We’re We re eg going racing

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FROM THE ARCHIVE CZ returned to the TT in 1956 after a 21-year break LAWRENCE AND HIS BROUGHS Broughs may have become too expensive for most, but the riding stories of TE Lawrence are priceless A GUIDE TO BROUGH SUPERIORS We have a look at the main models from the famous Nottingham marque SUBSCRIBE! We’re practically giving it away when you subscribe!

NEWS What’s going on in our world WHAT’S ON The weather’s getting better so get out there BUYING GUIDE – HARLEYDAVIDSON SPORTSTER It’s been in constant production since 1957 and you can still buy one. A true classic BUYING GUIDE – CZ 175 A bullet-proof two-stroke which is great fun, affordable and has a great following BUYING GUIDE – YAMAHA XS 650 The Yamaha is a troubled copy of the British twin, but you get a lot of bike for your money

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NEW CLASSICS – MOTO GUZZI V7 We try the latest V7 from Moto Guzzi. All that classic charm and looks, with modern ease V7 RIVALS – DUCATI SCRAMBLER AND TRIUMPH STREET TWIN We pop out on the Scrambler and Street Twin to see what they have to offer THE ORIGINAL – MOTO GUZZI V7 We take a look at the history of the V7 family ARCHIVE POSTER Mike Hailwood as we all remember him STEVE COOPER Cooperman bumps his head and questions his methods PAUL MILES Miles takes a look at the future of the Vintage Motorcycle Club PAUL D’ORLEANS D'Orleans opens a can of worms and looks at the custom scene HAILWOOD’S BIKES In the first part of four, we look at the beginning of Mike Hailwood’s rise to fame

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ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR SERIES 2 We ride a gorgeous restored Interceptor and look back at what they said when it was new MANX NORTON A lovely Manx Norton, ridden as it should be PRODUCTS This month’s must-haves. Got a birthday coming up?

LETTERS We’ve had some great pictures sent in for this month’s letters. Send in yours!

YOU MEET THE NICEST PEOPLE ON A HONDA We pick out some important bikes from the superb David Silver collection WORKSHOP – WE’RE GOING RACING! Starting with a wreck and a box of bits, can we make a classic racer on a budget?

READER ADS The sun is out – you deserve a new bike for the new season FRANK WESTWORTH Frank recalls being given an AJS – with a hinge in the middle

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From the archive

EASTERN EUROPEAN MOTORCYCLES have rarely received the racing accolades the British, Japanese, German or Italian machines have. Which is a great shame, as the constant struggle with the slimmest budgets and world politics made it a hard job for the factories to race around the world.

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Ceska Zbroiouka, or CZ, was originally an armaments manufacturer from Czechoslovakia, diversifying into making motorcycles in the early 1930s and merged with Czech rivals Jawa in 1949.

CZ’s modern era began in 1955 with the appearance of two new unit-

construction, dohc valve, five-speed, fourstroke singles, a 125cc and a 250cc, the former achieving a debut second place at the Swedish Grand Prix that year.

In 1956 after a 21-year break, they returned to the Isle of Man TT with three bikes, a 250 and two 125s, all wearing

dustbin-fairings to fight against the might of MV Agusta.

Here we see Václav Parus crouching over the hand-beaten, oversize fuel tank during the nine laps of the Clypse course, which turned right at the top of Bray Hill, then rejoined the traditional course at

Cronk-ny-Mona, turned right at the Cregny-Baa hotel and twisted its way down tiny lanes to the Laxey-Onchan road and returning back to the start-finish.

Carlo Ubbiali won on his MV, with three Montesas following him. Dave Chadwick came fifth on his unique British-built

LEF with Parus sixth, 13 minutes behind Ubbiali. Parus’s average speed was 59.82mph – most modern 125s can’t do that in a straight line.

If you go to the Isle of Man, take the back road from the Creg to see how much of an achievement that was – on a 125cc bike.

CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || MAY 2018 5

Welcome

||

Who’s who ||

EDITOR || Matt Hull editor@classicbikeguide.com PUBLISHER || Tim Hartley thartley@mortons.co.uk SENIOR DESIGNER || Kelvin Clements DESIGNER || Michael Baumber PICTURE DESK || Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield EDITORIAL ASSISTANT || Jayne Clements PRODUCTION EDITOR || Sarah Wilkinson DIVISIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER || Billy Manning ADVERTISING || Leon Currie 01507 529413 lcurrie@mortons.co.uk Kieron Deekens 01507 529576 kdeekens@mortons.co.uk ARCHIVE ENQUIRIES || Jane Skayman 01507 529423 jskayman@mortons.co.uk SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER || Paul Deacon

Matt Hull

‘Why do we need so many bikes?’

THERE IS AN amusing – well the first time you hear it – saying doing the rounds that goes something along these lines: ‘X=Y+1’. If X is the perfect number of bikes, then Y is the number of bikes you currently have. According to the insurance companies, classic motorcycle enthusiasts are more likely than modern bike owners to have two or more bikes; so I suppose the theory is correct. But why?

Maybe the reason we often have several bikes is because we are hoarders? Is it something to do with historical intrigue? Greed? One-upmanship?

My excuse for several bikes is that they all have a job to do. I used to work with modern bikes, so my collection (and don’t for one second let that word ‘collection’ give you the perception they are worth anything at all) is slowly morphing into more classic machines. I am currently without a modern everyday hack, but have a good Seventies trials bike, a CZ175 Sport (thanks Dave!), a Nineties racebike and my loveable 1954 B31 – old enough to pop and bang, good enough to keep up with smaller twins and so far, reliable.

There are also a couple of projects, but they don’t count as they will, to be honest, never see the light of day. And then there are the cars. And the house…

So at least I have a reason behind their being in my possession. But last week, I found another reason. I’d covered a fair few miles around the county, bouncing up and down on the saddle while the plungers did nothing but squirt grease about, when I stopped at my friend’s bike shop. Amongst the plethora of folk there was Steve (owns 30 bikes) and John (owns six bikes). Steve was Harley-mounted, while John arrived on his BSA A10 Gold Flash. A 1957 swingarm model, it bore many similarities to my bike, with pre-unit engine, the same front drum and similar look at least.

‘Do you wanna go?’ John asked, catching me admiring the twin. His twin. Normally, I would politely

refrain, but I really wanted to ride a decent twin and John’s bikes are always nice. Yes, you heard right; I’ve never ridden a classic parallel twin – so whack me over the head with a statue of Edward Turner…

No decompressor, but the A10 was far easier to start than my thumper. The twin felt lively, obviously more willing to rev and no heavier. The gearbox was a revelation – so smooth – the B31 does show its prewar lineage. And boy did it go! My ‘I’ll just whizz it to the top of the road’ turned into a 10-mile jaunt, filled with the many pleasing feelings I get from my single, but more. As I turned back into the shop, my head was full of ‘I need a twin – but I don’t want to sell my single - I need both!’ X=Y+1.

This month’s issue gives yet more reason to have a collection of bikes. We have several great British bikes including a wonderful story of T E Lawrence racing fighter planes on his Brough, a Manx Norton and a gorgeous Royal Enfield twin. We then hop over to Italy to try Moto Guzzi’s latest V7, a bike that will hopefully initiate younger riders into our world of classics and we look at the Czechoslovakian CZ175 – another fun bike with what has to be one of the greatest logos ever.

Then it’s across the Atlantic to look at their best-selling offering, Harley-Davidson’s Sportster – a bike that’s been in continuous production since 1957 – and has changed very little in that time.

Finally, we have our free Japanese bike guide supplement. The history of the Japanese bike industry is as fascinating as that of the British, with amazing successes, catastrophic failures and bikes designed before their time. It’s a really interesting read, we hope you enjoy it. Though I fear it may not help with minimising your bike collections…

Be good and enjoy the mag.

Matt Hull editor@classicbikeguide.com

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“There was the Bif. f

Play with the fellow?

Why not?

I slowed l to ninety...”

CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || MAY 2018 11

LAW R ENCE A ND HIS BROUGHS The stories and accounts of T E Lawrence’s life and his affection towards riding his Brough Superiors are many. Philip Tooth takes a closer look into this remarkable man’s life and a re-creation of one of his machines.

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: PHILLIP TOOTH POSTERS: COLUMBIA PICTURES

M

ost people will have heard of Lawrence of Arabia because of the 1962 film starring Peter O’Toole.

Dressed in flowing white robes and riding a camel, Lawrence leads the Arabs in a guerrilla war against the Turks with devastating effect. In real life, Thomas Edward Lawrence’s exploits won him international fame, but after the First World War and a short spell as a diplomat he became disillusioned with the scheming politics of Europe and Arabia.

Colonel Lawrence decided to disappear from public view and in 1922 joined the RAF as a lowly aircraftman under a false name. But it seems that the quiet life would never be enough for a thrill-seeker

like Lawrence and so he bought something a lot faster than a camel – a long, low and lean Brough Superior powered by a 1000cc side-valve JAP which he named George I after the manufacturer, George Brough. A year later, Lawrence crashed when his front tyre punctured as he was trying to max out the 80mph performance and so in the spring of 1923 he bought another one.

Lawrence had been kicked out of the RAF when his identity was discovered, so he joined the Royal Tank Corps under another false name – this time calling himself T E Shaw. If he was hoping for a quiet life, slipping out of the camp and riding up to London for a night out, it didn’t work out that way. One of