Old Bike Mart - October 2020 - Preview

October 2020 £2.20 ISSUE

424

OLD BIKE MART Available from the first Saturday of every month

SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

NEXT ISSUE: NOVEMBER 7

Pictured while taking on fuel and fluids, this is Bert Le Vack aboard the Brough at Brooklands, a bike powered by the JAP engine that Bert had helped to develop. This is probably 1924, the year in which Bert became the fastest motorcyclist on earth, at Arpajon in France.

• To find this and thousands more images visit: Mortons Archive www.mortonsarchive.com

2 NEWS

O October 2020 0 0

Editorial

www.oldbikemart.co.uk email: info@oldbikemart.co.uk

Editor Dave Manning OBMEditor@mortons.co.uk Designer Tracey Markham Production editor Sarah Wilkinson Group advertising manager Sue Keily Divisional advertising manager Tom Lee Advertising team leader Leon Currie lcurrie@mortons.co.uk 01507 529465 For Private Enquiries please visit

www.oldbikemart.co.uk

Marketing manager Charlotte Park Circulation manager Steve O’Hara Publisher Tim Hartley Publishing director Dan Savage Commercial director Nigel Hole General queries Customer Service number: 01507 529529 Telephone lines are open Monday-Friday (8.30am-5pm) and 24hr answerphone Archive enquiries Jane Skayman jskayman@mortons.co.uk 01507 529423 Founder Ken Hallworth OLD BIKE MART (ISSN:1756-9494) is published monthly by Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ UK. USA subscriptions are $48 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 City Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921.

Periodical Postage is paid at Bancroft, WI and additional entries. Postmaster: Send address changes to OLD BIKE MART, c/o Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 City Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921.

715-572-4595 chris@classicbikebooks.com

PUBLISHED BY

PRINTED BY

Y

cancelled at rather late ou may already have noticed notice, and unfortunately that the picture accompanying this has been repeated – my diatribe this month isn’t at even later notice – with of Your Humble Scribe gurning out September’s Kempton at you all, but instead of a bright red BSA Bantam pictured in the glorious Park autojumble, and also, with slightly more Peak District countryside. notice, the highlightSadly, for me anyway, it’s not my of-the-classic-bikeBantam for, as yet, I have failed in calendar, Stafford Classic finding myself a cheap and cheerful Bike Show. All is not small capacity Brit bike capable of lost, however, as the exploring the lanes and byways of our wonderful country. Instead, it’s a September Newark took picture of Wilber’s bike, about which place as planned; it being the first event at the he eulogises within Readers' Tales venue since March 1, which seems on page 26. I include the pic here as like several decades ago now, and not only was I rather enamoured by Wilber’s tale, but also found it hugely what we remember as being in a very different political and social inspiring, in a “get out and enjoy your bike while you can” kind of way. climate!

It’s a strange world, that’s for Totally at odds with the way that I sure, but it is clearly one that we’re feel when I happen to (accidentally) going to have to get used to. It’s also watch the news on television, hear become very clear that, aside from the radio updates or catch a glimpse of the doom and gloom emblazoned having to be prepared to change across the front of a daily newspaper. plans when an event gets cancelled, it’s also vitally important for us to We have, after all, been having some stupendous autumnal weather support those events that actually do go ahead. Times are going to be of late, and I absolutely adore riding hard for the organisers of shows, on a fresh autumn morning, with rallies, runs and autojumbles (as if the sun just burning away any last they weren’t already), and if we want remnants of low-lying mist. It’s just to have events as part of our lives, we a shame that the evenings seem to need to support those that get given creep in a lot faster than just a week the go ahead. or two ago, and dark by half past At the time of writing, over the seven is no fun if you want an afterlast few days, we’ve seen our work ride of any decent length. And government implementing and getting out on your bike – regardless insinuating rules that will see of what it is, classic or modern, large us heading back into ‘lockdown’ or small – there is no better way of during the forthcoming days, weeks getting away from life’s troubles and and even months. I mentioned tribulations, or escaping the drama ‘lockdown’ in inverted commas as and worries of everyday life. And it’s not really a proper lockdown is everyday life sure seems to have it? Pubs are still open, albeit closing plenty of them! a little earlier than usual (and do As you’ll remember from last you remember when government month’s issue, the early August stretched out the opening hours ‘Normous Newark autojumble was

to try and reduce the Great British habit of binge drinking?), people are still working, shops are still open for normal hours, and we don’t need a reasonable excuse to go out for exercise. All that seems to have changed is that more people are being encouraged to work from home again, if possible. And that last point is something that I’ll focus on.

More people working from home means that there’ll be less traffic on the roads. Less traffic on the roads mean that they’re not only safer, but much more enjoyable to ride on.

Which brings us back to the second paragraph of this diatribe – get out on your bike while you can! There is much talk in the press about how the various levels of lockdown and social distancing will have had a devastating effect on those within the community with mental problems. Being shut behind doors for weeks, nay, months, at a time can have long-lasting effects on those with depression and similar ailments. Those of us lucky enough to be enthralled with the world of the motorcycle know that riding a bike is an efficient and compelling way of ridding ourselves of the blues

(and yes, that is underplaying the true level of severity of depression by a long chalk). Do I need to give you any more excuses?

So, my suggestion to you is not only to get out and about on your classic bike as much as possible – taking pics while you’re out there, and letting us know just how liberating the sensation is! – but also to use the cancellation of any events to your advantage. It’s a great shame that Stafford show isn’t taking place this year but, instead of moping around and wishing that you were trawling the halls of Staffordshire County Showground looking for elusive parts and cheap consumables, instead take advantage of the spare weekend and go out exploring on two wheels. Take yourself to somewhere you’ve never been before. Or even somewhere that you have been, years earlier. Take the road less travelled – turn right, then left, then right again ad infinitum. Or, as Wilber did, if you see an interesting sign, follow it…

Enjoy the magazine, stay safe.

October 2020

NEWS 3

Covid forces Stafford cancellation

T

housands of classic motorcycle enthusiasts will be left disappointed after the announcement that one of the highlights of the classic motorcycle year has again fallen foul of the Covid-19 virus.

Mortons Media Group, publisher of OBM, has reluctantly cancelled the Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle Mechanics show which had been planned for October 10-11 at Stafford County Showground.

This long-established event has always been a firm favourite with motorcyclists

from all over Europe, but with the increase of coronavirus cases, Mortons took the step for the well-being of visitors and traders.

Not only is the show a highlight in the event calendar, it is also a strong social event for visitors at the show, with people naming a ‘day out with their friends’, as one of the top three reasons for going. Given the current restrictions, and the increasing number of localised lockdowns, Mortons believes this is the most responsible course of action to take.

The Stafford Shows will continue in 2021,

with the popular Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show scheduled to take place over the weekend of April 24-25. The team will be looking to bounce back by putting on the biggest and best show of its kind to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

Meanwhile Mortons will continue to hold regular outdoor autojumbles at Newark showground and Kempton Park, as currently planned, and more details can be found at www.newarkautojumble.co.uk and www.kemptonautojumble.co.uk

Chance to bag a proven Harley Although some folk say that it’s not possible, nor feasible – or even practical – to cover large mileages on a classic, vintage or veteran motorcycle, there are others who know that this is not the case... and then there are also those people who go out of their way to prove the exact opposite.

Well proven to say the least, the 1942 Harley-Davidson 1200cc Model U that you see in the pics here is being offered in Stroud Auctions’ November auction, and it is the bigger and much rarer brother to the 750cc WLA. It was built – with a sidecar attached – in 1942 for the American military and sent to South Africa, where it remained until the 1980s when it was brought to Belgium, the vendor buying it in 1988 from AMS St Niklaas.

A heavy vehicle mechanic by trade, he

completed the rebuild himself and the bike was on the road again by May of 1990. There the story really begins, as the list of rallies and road trips completed is comprehensive to say the least, mostly being on the continent; one of the first being a Belgian Lede, Butgenbach, Lede trip in 1990. Other trips include 15 Belgian Nine Provinces rallies; Liege,Milan and back to Liege in 1997; Liege, Andorra and back to Liege in 1999; Coupes Moto Legende, Dijon, France and Poland and back in 2011; seven VMCC Welsh Dragon tours and multiple further continental tours.

The odometer now reads over 68,000 miles, but this is in addition to a further 15,000 covered. The owner being a mechanic, it is clear the bike has been well looked after, including an engine rebuild in 2013. When asked what was the worst issue that has occurred while travelling, the owner answered a head gasket, which was easily fixed by the roadside. The most miles travelled in one day was around 800, which he did confess was a long day and resulted in spending most of the next day in bed. The condition is obviously well cared for but enjoyed, with a beautiful patina that couldn’t be replicated.

Most people will have struggled to get out for a drive or ride during the current pandemic, so perhaps this will inspire

you to plan a trip or two. If you haven’t a suitable machine then perhaps consider taking on this fabulous well-proven Harley, or perhaps one of the other bikes on offer in Stroud Auctions’ November sale.

More information can be found at www.stroudauctions.co.uk

Speed – the one genuinely modern pleasure While the title suggests that the subject revolves around recent times, Mat Oxley’s book is focused on the challenges facing speed freaks and petrolheads around a century ago (and earlier), with the very first recordbreakers playing a large part in the content.

Written in Oxley’s usual easy-going and enjoyable prose, it contains a fascinating insight into normal life of the early 20th century, as well as shining a light on those peculiar folk who chose to take a highly-tuned motorcycle and throw it through the scenery.

In doing so, it fully details the early days of motorcycling speed, when racing wasn’t allowed on the roads of Great Britain, and the headlines were made by fellows on radical machinery circumnavigating the concrete bowl of Brooklands and the rugged roads of the Isle of Man TT.

There’s also some fascinating detail on the ‘murderdromes’ of the United States, the board track races that lasted barely a decade, but that whipped up the American media into a frenzy with the “hair-raising fight for blood and supremacy between riders”, as the Los Angeles Herald screamed.

The search for speed couldn’t be more different on either side of the Atlantic, with not only the circuitous shenanigans at Brooklands, but also record attempts on public roads in France and Hungary, yet despite this various racers competed on both sides, and in the famous Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races and in top speed events.

Much of this was for manufacturers’ bragging rights – certainly the reason why Jake De Rosier brought his Indian to the TT – but a surprising amount was by private individuals eager for fame and a healthy dose of adrenalin.

The book also contains some truly astounding imagery with pictures from the Mortons Archive, and from private collections around the globe, with some astounding images of the likes of D H Lawrence, Bert Le Vack, George Brough and Owen Baldwin – with Oxley’s impeccable journalism bringing plenty of personal detail that goes beyond the sensationalism and scandal that we’ve become used to with mainstream media.

A truly fascinating and inspirational read for anyone with any interest in vintage and veteran machinery – it covering the period up to the political events leading to the Second World War – or for anyone with a penchant for speed, for that matter, it costs £25 and is available from Mat himself at www.matoxley.bigcartel.com

It's that time of year Yes, it’s the time of year when we get to look at the things that tell us the time of the year… calendars! And that means that the Andy Tiernan Classics motorcycle calendar is here once again.

As per usual, the artwork on the calendar is by the astounding Mike Harbar – and you can see more of his incredible work at www.classiclinesartist.com – and he has done six pieces of artwork for the 2021 calendar, some of which you can see here.

As expected, the images are all

of classic motorcycles, and once more the proceeds from the sales of the calendar got to to the East Anglian Air Ambulance (www.eaaa.org.uk) and last year’s calendar raised an impressive £2022 to help keep them flying!

Sent within the United Kingdom, one calendar including second class postage is £11; for the EU, one calendar including European postage is £17; and for the rest of the world, one calendar including overseas postage is £20.

For further details please go to Andy’s website calendar page at www.andybuysbikes. com/Calendars/Calendar%20 page.html and if it isn’t updated by the time you get there, it will be updated for the 2021 calendar shortly!

4 NEWS

October 2020

Get experienced from October 10

G

ood news for fans of Meriden and Hinckley machines, as the Triumph Factory Visitor Experience Exhibit, shop and café will be reopening on Saturday, October 10.

The factory experience is far more than just the company’s own

museum – which in itself is worthy of a visit, not least to see the bike that Johnny Allen took to 214.4mph on Bonneville salt flat in 1956 – but gives a behind-thescenes look at how a modern motorcycle factory designs, develops and produces its products.

Of course, no one will be surprised to discover that there will be limitations in place – that seems to be the new normal, for now at least – and consequently the Visitor Experience will need to be prebooked and paid for through the Triumph website. Also, in order to adhere to government guidelines, the layout

has been changed to allow adequate social distancing.

The shop and café are always free to enter, albeit with the usual face mask stipulations for retail areas! More information can be found at www. triumphmotorcycles. co.uk/visitor-experience

Historic Gagg & Son changing hands... but business continues Regular readers (as I’m sure you all are) will have no doubt noticed the adverts placed in these pages

by A Gagg & Son – given that they’ve being advertising within these pages ever since Old Bike Mart started (and I wonder how many of our advertisers can claim that? Let us know if you’re one!)

The company of A Gaggs was instigated 120 years ago, with Arthur Gagg opening a pet shop on Alfreton Road in Nottingham, although after buying a secondhand motorcycle, stripping it and selling each and every last nut and bolt, Arthur realised that selling bike spares would be the future!

And, essentially, that is how the business has been run ever since, supplying new and used spare parts for British motorcycles.

In the Seventies, the business expanded when the local agent

for Lucas asked the Gagg brothers, Alan and Arthur, if they wanted to buy their stock of reconditioned Smiths speedometers, so the business quickly added supplying and repairing Smiths instruments and associated components to the repertoire.

In 2013, the shop on Alfreton Road was sold and, due to moving to smaller facilities, a grand total of 44 tonnes of spares were sold to younger dealers, while the specialisation in Smiths clocks continued, although the magneto and dynamo service has been wound down over the last few months to allow more time to be spent on the clocks.

A new company, Timeless Motorcycles owned by Lee Smalley has taken over, which as the name suggests will be specialising in reconditioning,

repairing, servicing and recalibration of both chronometric and magnetic instruments as well as stocking a range of reconditioned clocks and rev counters, plus spares, for sale.

Timeless Motorcycles will also be expanding into selling other parts including a range of cables for British motorcycles, sourced from a British company and made to original specifications.

Alan and Arthur will initially be on hand to ensure a smooth hand over and its new owner Lee welcomes their support and knowledge.

The website is currently under construction (it may be ‘live’ by the time you read this), although they are contactable by email at info@timelessmotorcycles.co.uk or by the usual Gaggs telephone number on 01159 786288.

NMM’s summer raffle has one month to go As you saw last month, while the National Motorcycle Museum, just outside Birmingham, is still closed to visitors, it's raising much-needed funds through yet another of its wonderful raffles.

As per usual, somehow the wonderful people at the museum have managed to source a brand new / old stock classic bike for the raffle’s first prize, with a SiIver Jubilee model Triumph T140J up for grabs! The bike has never been run, or even registered, and the odometer shows just four miles from having been pushed around.

The second prize is an expansive, retro-styled Sealey tool chest, itself worth in the region of £850, while third prize is a luxury hotel break and dinner for two at the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse in the Manor Hotel, Meriden, including one night’s stay and, given it’s locality so close to the museum, you’ll get a VIP museum tour as well. At the moment, that’s the only

way you’ll get to look around the museum.

While the museum’s fabulous Museum Live! event can’t be held this year, the raffle will be drawn as planned, on the original date for Museum Live, Saturday, October 31.

Additionally, with no visitors to the museum, there’s also the ‘Covid-19 raffle', with the first prize being another brand new / old stock bike, in this case a 1977 Norton Commando 850. The Covid raffle will be running a little longer than the summer raffle, with that due to be drawn on December 21.

The summer raffle tickets are just £2 each, while the Covid raffle tickets are £6 each. Both can be bought by visiting www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk/ bike-raffle/ While the museum remains closed due to coronavirus restrictions, every raffle ticket purchased at this difficult time makes a huge difference, and The National Motorcycle Museum wants to thank everyone for their support so far.

6 NEWS

October 2020

An Ambassador for Sammy

N

ot that he needs any kind of envoy or high-ranking diplomat to proclaim his deeds, but Sammy Millar has got himself an Ambassador!

Of course, it isn’t any kind of diplomatic assignment, but a 1953 Ambassador motorcycle, utilising a 197cc Villiers power unit, and complete with plunger back end, MP forks and valanced guards.

1953 was the first year that the company made motorcycles with electric starts, although it had been producing bikes since 1946, after Irish world record-breaking car and speedboat racer (and star of Brooklands) Kaye Don retired from road racing.

Initially, Don was focused on importing cars from America, but he soon started with his first bike, using a parallel twin JAP engine, although within a year the bikes were using smaller powerplants from Villiers.

Ambassador was taken over by DMW in 1963, which then closed production two years later.

2021 OBM wall planner As usual, here at OBM we’ll be producing a wall planner type calendar for next year, including lots of important dates and events.

As usual, the wallplanner is an ideal way to get your company or products advertised, with twelve month exposure!

Just go to www.oldbikemart. co.uk/wallplanner or post the basic details (typed copy only please) to Heidi Lamb, Mortons Media Group, Morton Way Horncastle, LN9 6JR. Please note that there is a hard deadline for the advertising that runs around the perimeter of the wallplanner, of Monday November 23.

Classic Superbikes There are many great books about classic motorcycling which are packed with fascinating technical information and critical dates in a bike’s production life, yet the author of Classic Superbikes says it isn’t one of them!

What it is, is a series of collected articles focusing on 15 different motorcycles, every one of which author Frank Melling says keeps him awake at night just thinking about them. These are motorcycles which you dream about riding, the best of the best of the best – bikes like a Mk1 Norton Commando or the fabulous Triumph Street Twin – the bike which always brought a smile to the faces of the Triumph staff who designed it.

Each story is told in typical Melling style – peppered with anecdotes and oozing enthusiasm for the big, bold bikes.

To go with the text there are more than 200 superb photographs both in colour and black and white from Mortons’ archive and it is printed on high quality art paper.

Classic Superbikes, priced at £7.99, is available now from WH Smith stores and all the leading supermarkets ISBN: 978-1-911639-20-6 Or order from www.classicmagazines.co.uk

While this issue comes with the sad, if inevitable, news that the Stafford Show has been cancelled, the other side of the Covid coin is that ‘Normous Newark came back into action on Sunday, September 20, with a superb turnout of both traders and visitors, in glorious late summer sunshine. It does seem that, given that the natural habitat is out in the open air, that autojumbles are having a slightly easier time with the current social distancing measures, although it clearly isn’t as straightforward as that, given the September 12 event at Kempton Park was cancelled at the last minute (actually while some traders were not only travelling to the event, but actually setting up!). Clearly, the health of the public needs to be everyone’s priority and it seems that we may have to get used to having events cancelled with very little notice, especially if localised lockdowns are going to become a normality, but it is also very clear that the organisers of autojumbles (and, of course, shows and other bike-related events) are having to work very closely with venue owners, and local and national government in order to make the events as safe as possible for the public, while also giving us something of a life to live!

It certainly seems that

traders and visitors alike have settled very easily into the ‘new regime’ of social distancing, with face masks becoming the norm, even at outdoor events, and the indoor areas at Newark saw everyone donning masks without any need for polite requests to do so!

The washing of hands and the use of sterile handwash and wipes seems to be forming a habit now, with everyone accepting that it’s a necessary part of dealing with other people, and even a reduction in the amount of handling of parts on display for sale seems to have occurred, despite nobody actually asking for it.

While we can’t get complacent – as the cancellation of the Kempton Park autojumble proves – we can still have a positive attitude about forthcoming autojumbles, both from the perspective of traders and punters. Traders, as it’s clear that lots of folk still want to buy parts and consumables; and the public can see that trades are keen to travel to sell their wares.

The last Newark saw folk attending from all across the UK, from the South West and as far north as Scotland, so our favourite way to search out rare motorcycle parts is going to continue for the foreseeable, even if we have to be a little more flexible about it all.

8 ADVERTISING FEATURE

October 2020

Spartan Leather Work E ver since the very first motorcycles took to the road, there’s been an organic material intrinsically linked not only with the machines themselves, but the attire of the riders.

Whatever the source of the original hide, leather has been of great importance, not just in providing protective clothing in jackets, trousers, gloves and boots, but also in the creation of the bike itself.

Initially leather belts were used to drive the rear wheel, and even leather blocks used in brake pads, while leather grips gave something to hold on to, and seats had a durable leather cover.

Indeed, leather is still used to cover seats, and also used for saddlebags, tool rolls and battery covers and, with it being an organic material, it needs to be looked after, much in the same way as more durable materials such as polished aluminium and chrome.

Fortunately, there are people who specialise in repairing, replacing and maintaining leather components, with Spartan Leather Work being a prime example.

Spartan Leather Work is a bespoke service for both bikers and their bikes, with Tim Coles and Caroline having had close to a combined 80 years in and around bikes.

While much of the business is for bespoke parts such as tooled saddlebags and tool rolls, the company has now started the refurbing of the old English saddles in leather, whereby you drop off your saddle and for ÂŁ150 you get it back with the base being blasted and re-coated, the horse hair padding replaced, and a new leather cover made and fitted.

They are regular exhibitors at

Rufforth Park autojumble on the first Saturday of the month, and if you’re wanting to have your saddle refurbished then you can drop it off with them at Rufforth and pick up the following month, or go to the workshop in Norton and see for yourself where its made and have a brew if you want to go along and see them.

They also make other one-off items like the tool box covers fitted to many bikes in the past, as well as belts, wallets, guitar straps etc.

All of the hide used is chosen specifically for the intended purpose, then cut and worked by hand, even down to any of the tooling designs that the prospective customer may desire. The finished item is dyed and fed, before being ready for sale.

Leatherwork is a fascinating art, and a leather tool bag, seat cover, grips or battery case makes for a long-lasting, durable and aesthetically-pleasing part of your treasured classic bike.

Details can be found on the website on social media at www. facebook.com/spartanleatherwork or by calling 07767 226778.

October 2020

9

10

October 2020

October 2020

BIT ON THE SIDE 11

Sidecars I have known

Part Three

Mick Payne has been thinking! Stop sniggering at the back, please. When he was writing a regular sidecar column for Motorcycle Sport (pre Leisure) in the mid to late 1990s, it was probably during the last gasps of the industry.

In the days of the Blue and Green 'Uns, Britain had a thriving, although declining, number of sidecar builders with many focusing on family models, at a time when the three-wheeled car was also very popular.

T

he popularity of the three-wheeled car was, in part, thanks to the fact that they could be driven on a motorcycle licence, plus there were many family models offered.

Bond and Reliant were probably the main marques and I well remember a fellow student at Luton Grammar School owning a Bond Mk G. I had a bicycle at the time so, when Roger and his girlfriend offered to take myself and my girl out on a regular basis, we would jump at the chance. I

Mick's T140 Meteor combination.

soon came to the conclusion that we were there to help bump start the car when he couldn’t kick-start it.

Could you imagine a 16-year-old today willingly standing with one leg inside the bonnet of a Villiers powered three-wheeler trying, often unsuccessfully, to start it? Yes, there was an electric starter but as a youth money went on petroil rather than a new battery. I don’t recall any younger person riding an outfit, although a fellow apprentice did have one on

his café racer Triumph. That was so he could ride a 650 on a provisional licence, so as soon as Ian passed his test the chair was never to be seen again.

I went much the same dark way. My girlfriend got fed up with getting wet and cold on the scooter and her mother thought she would be safer in a nice little car. Well, it almost worked that way, but was a 600cc Reliant Regal that I bought; again I could drive it on my bike licence, I think her mother’s opinion of me went

further downhill. That was the way of the world in the late Sixties, while the Woodstock generation rocked and dropped out, I drove a ‘Del Boy’ van. Cool Brittania. Not. The sporting chair was all but dead when two entrepreneurs in Bideford upon Avon started marketing the Squire range. These were glass fibre with a shape that sat well alongside many of the bikes of the time. It was such a model that sparked my interest in fitting a chair, as one of their brochures

The Squire ML became the Watsonian Stratford.

The new-build at Charnwood, with Jim making an attempt to hide.

featured an ST1 on a Triumph Bonnie; although my MZ/ Squire ML1 was rather less glamorous.

My T140 was eventually chaired up but with the Charnwood Meteor body from my BSA matched up with one of Charnwood’s own chassis.

That chassis led a strange early life, as I bought it from

The Watsonian guys with the Harry Potter Enfield

Jim D’Arcy just before he retired and sold the business to one Jez Beswick, and it was fitted by Steve (Jim’s mechanic of many years) at the new Charnwood. A very nice job he made too.

Sadly, all was not good at the new version of Charnwood Classic Restorations and the fresh owner was leaving an ever growing number of disgruntled customers in his wake. Eventually the business closed, I believe with serious money problems. Sadly many still associated Jim with the company and he came in for some undeserved grief.

Anson Classics took over the remains of CCR and built some very tasty classic-based outfits, but more next time.

I’m managing to get out and I hope to ride something very unusual in the next month so I’ll be able to finish my retrospective on a high note and start looking forward again.