Z
TRIUMPH TIGERISH z BSA TRACK ROCKET z JAWA CALIFORNIAN!
Running, Riding & Rebuilding RealClassic Motorcycles
ISSUE 149 z SEPTEMBER 2016 z £3.60
WHAT LIES WITHIN
REALCLASSIC 149; PUBLISHED IN SEPTEMBER 2016
RC REGULARS THE CONTENTS PAGE ....................................... 4 NORTON COMMANDO..................................6
JAWA CALIFORNIAN ...................................52
One Commando is much like any other, right? Interstate owner Stuart Urquhart tests this theory when he encounters a twice-rebuilt, mildly modded Roadster
Four decades ago, Malcolm Thorman encountered his first Jawa Californian on the far side of the planet. What are the chances that another would cross his path back in Britain in 21st century?
THE STOLEN BSA.........................................28
BSA’s pre-war singles were so sought-after that ne’er-do-wells resorted to stealing them. Dr Ken German recalls a tale from his childhood involving a Silver Star which was lifted by the light-fingered on more than one occasion…
We’ve met Oily Boot Bob and his 250 Enfields before. When he’s not rebuilding them, it turns out he’s riding the things. In this adventure, Bob tackles 5000 curves and 350 miles with 3½ gears…
HONDA XBR500 ..........................................32
TRIUMPH TIGER ..........................................68
Thirty years ago, no one much liked Honda’s big single, but these days it’s developing a solid fan club. Maybe it just needed time to mature, like a good wine or strong cheddar? Rowena Hoseason takes a second bite…
When Garron Clark-Darby bagged an eBay bargain he expected to complete the previous owner’s part-finished project and sell it on. And that’s what happened. Almost…
BSA TRACK TWIN ........................................44
Over the last half century, Gordon Geskell had built up quite a stock of spare parts. Perhaps, he mused, it might be possible to assemble them into an actual motorcycle. Part Three, in which Gordon completes his rather special project
A saga of rapid racing resurrection, in which Odgie discovers an A10 in hiding and decides to turn it into a demon racer, almost overnight…
It’s bright, and it’s yellow, and it says ‘Norton’ the side. Best bike ever, some say… WE’VE GOT MAIL! ........................................... 18
Every month, this is your chance to have a say, have a rant, argue or simply say nice sweet things…
RE CONTINENTAL TOUR .............................60
NEWS............................................................... 76
New head gasket from Norvil! And a pic of Draganfly burning down… EVENTS ........................................................... 78
Lots going on: loads to see, folk to meet and places to try to stay dry. Next month is a busy month READERS’FREE ADS ....................................... 80
The usual eclectic mix of machines. Where are the oily-frame BSA twins for FW’s next project? PUB TALK ...................................................... 102
TRIUMPH 6T PROJECT ................................88
PUB the Vincent is a bit under the weather with a mystery ailment at present, so PUB the rider has had to use alternative transport to attend Founder’s Day and for a short trip to France TALES FROM THE SHED ................................ 108
Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin…’The wheels have arrived! The wheels have been fitted! It may not yet be entirely a motorcycle, but the B25SS is a bicycle – official
NEW CARB NEWS ........................................94
Stu Thomson spends an entire £34 to transform the performance of his Gilera Giubileo with a Mikuni carb
RC COMPASS CHALLENGE............................ 114
BULLET BUILD.............................................96
Stephen Herbert has been bringing a much maltreated 350 Enfield back to life. It’s now a lot less rusty than it used to be, and rather more pink. But will it work?
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Some truly remarkable navigational skills and imaginations are on display here. Get riding; it’ll soon be winter!
TURNTO
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P7
TODAY & SAVE
8 I SEPTEMBER 2016
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BSA’s pre-war singles were so sought-after that ne’er-do-wells resorted to stealing them. Dr Ken German recalls a tale from his childhood involving a Silver Star which was lifted by the light-fingered on more than one occasion… Photos from Bonhams auctioneers, RC RChive
For 1939 the B24 in both twin-port and single-port configurations were re-named the Silver Star, and manufactured for just a single year. So Mr Thomson’s machine would have been a real rarity if it survived to this day. Presumably it’d look a little like this example which Bonhams sold a few years ago…
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The
Photos by MissP and Odgie Himself
brotthers
A saga of rapid racing resurrrection, in which Odgie discovers an A10 in hiding and a decides to turn it into a demon racer, almost overnight…
P
ast Stranraer, past the port, past the lighthouse even, right out on the far point of the peninsula, on top of the cliffs, where w the winding single track road finally peters p out next to a solitary single-storey bungalow, sits a collection of various old shipping containers. And d inside these shipping containers sits a collection of vario ous old motorcycles, predominantly but not exclusively BSAs. B Sadly they belong to a recently passed away enth husiast, and it falls to a bunch of fellow enthusiasts to sortt through everything and get the best deals for the e widow and child. Some motorcycles had unfortunately already gone to auction, where collection fees, transport fees, storage fees, selling fees and extra-extra fees made sure very little money filtered back up to Scotland. A shame. Some bikes had been bought at far less than their true worth by people who ought to have known better. Double shame on them. And some went for sensible money to people who realised that there but for the grace of God go I, who took them away thankful that they would hopefully live long enough to enjoy them. From what we could gather, most of the bikes had been sat a while, somewhere around 30 years, possibly more. Last taxed in 1978 gives you a bit of a clue. As Frank The Boss will surely testify, storing bikes in close proximity to a raging salty sea isn’t usually a recipe for longevityy. But shipping containers do what shipping containers are supposed to do – keep the weathe er out from what’s inside them. The decades of storaage hadn’t exactly been kind, but the bikes weren’t drropping to pieces either. So money changed hands and so ome of them went in the van for the long drive back dow wn to Lancashire.
BSA A10
rron Cl
t-
e ect and sell it
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te
Photos by Garron Clark-Darby
When Garron to ok possession of the T100, it wa ‘just needs finish s one of those ing’ projects so frequently seen on eBay
L A N FI RT PA
Over the last half century, Gordon Geskell had built up quite a stock of spare parts. Perhaps, he mused, it might be possible to assemble them into an actual motorcycle. Part Three, in which Gordon completes his rather special project
Photos by Gordon Geskell
Above: The petrol tank after repairs, with the filler sanded and shaped Left: The tank was a bit rough, one of the top threaded bosses for the rack had disappeared, and the hole had been mended with a cork washer and two penny washers, then indented in, and given a thick coat of filler. Talk about bodges! So the tank was chemically cleaned after I’d repaired all the damage, and I treated the inside with ethanol-proof sealer
88 I SEPTEMBER 2016
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PUB the Vincent is a bit under the weather with a mystery ailment at present, so PUB the rider has had to use alternative transport to attend Founder’s Day and for a short trip to France
Renamed from ‘Bonzo’ to ‘Jarnett’ for registration purposes, the combination of a 500cc James V-twin in a ‘Built like a bridge’ FrancisBarnett frame makes a very attractive machine
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Bonzo’s rider shows off its original grass-tracking purpose with a spirited ride around the Founder’s Day display ring
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TALES FROM
THE
D E H S arrived! ’ The wheels have n… lli Ro , n’ lli Ro , n’ Rolli be entirely a ted! It may not yet fit en be ve ha s cial el The whe 5SS is a bicycle – offi B2 e th t bu e, cl cy motor
I
sn’t it remarkable how a simple event can be completely uplifting? In more than one sense, too. The wheels for the BSA returned! I’d almost given up waiting for them, and had even been contemplating acquiring another pair simply so I could get the stricken lump off the bench, because other jobs continue to mount up, and lifting even a svelte lightweight like a B25SS up without wheels and carting it around is not a task a chap of my age should even contemplate. I mean that: the very act of contemplation sent me reaching for a beer… But they’re back. Gleaming new rims, freshly painted hubs too, and a pair of most excellent new tyres. These are Dunlops. I’d asked for a pair of K70s, but somehow the front turned up as a TT100. Never mind; round and black is probably good enough. Why K70s? I knew you’d ask. I never liked the things myself. They’re OK on the back, although they tend to go bald in the middle very rapidly, but I never understood why BSA and Triumph fitted them to the front of any bike bigger than a Beagle. I’m (almost)
108 I SEPTEMBER 2016
sure that they were fine when new, but once the great flood of early 1970s Brits started returning from the USA in the early 1990s a disturbing proportion of my test bikes at the time were still riding on their original squaresection balding rubber, which was grim. The K70 as a front tyre is – in my jaundiced view – about as confidence inspiring as those dreadful 1940s/50s block treads which never ever wore out, mostly because there was no discernible friction between whatever they were made from and the road. So why did I order them for the B25SS? Because they look right. Got that? What you’ve just read is a recognition that although I like the oily-frame singles, I don’t expect to ride this one once it’s finished. If indeed it’s ever finished. It gets worse: as the months have passed, and the cost has mounted – I can really throw money at a rebuild when I’m feeling particularly optimistic – I’ve more than a few times found myself wondering what it’s actually for? The rebuilt B25SS, not the process of rebuilding it. I rebuild bikes because it’s entertaining, not because of some great urge to ride to North
Cape on one of them. Curious. I’m looking forward to riding the finished beast – a lot, too. Looking forward to it a lot, not looking forward to riding it a lot. I know what I mean. I’ve built this bike twice now, and ridden less than 500 yards on it in the 20+ years it’s been in The Shed. So I’m curious. The effort and expense are usually incidentals to the actual process of a rebuild – so long as there’s time and dosh available, it’s more healthy than developing a booze addiction or something. Probably. Lots of seriously good quality parts have gone into this, so let’s see how it works … when it works! Back to the tyres. I already talked about the decently bonkers way BSA mounted their front mudguard. And it is indeed bonkers, involving a pair of split rubber tubes gripped over the guard’s wire stays by a pair of steel plates bolted to the sliders. BSA plainly did have concerns with the vibes, despite the B25 being such a small engine. There’s more than one design of guard, and this machine has the slightly later one with the extra bracing stay.
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