WHATLIES WITHIN
NO RTON DOMI NATO RS ................................ 6
Inspired by his racing heroes, Colin Leighfeld bought hisfrst Norton Dominatorbefore he turnedeighteen. He remainsa featherbed fan to this day…
VI NCENTFIR EFLY ........................................ 22
AVincent motorised bicycle? Noteven a1000cc V-twin motor? Alan Cathcart delves into Vincent’s dark days, illuminated by aFirefy
DOUG LASE NDEAVOUR .............................. 30
Douglas motorcycles rarely did anything the easy way. Rowena Hoseason investigates one of their ground-breaking bikes, aseldom-seen pre-war twin…
TR IUMPHM ÉTISSE ...................................... 38
Take ashiny scramblesframe, adda hot roadster engine and build something truly special.Kenny Langford builtit, Frank Westworth stoodback in awe…
HO NDACB450 K1 ........................................ 46
After alifetime riding old British bikes, Craig Whittaker parks his BSA 500 twin to try outthe Honda 450 equivalent. How do the two compare?
BMWR80ST HE ADSE AST........................... 54
What better bike to ride across Europe thanone of BMW’s fnest airheadboxers? SteveSharp discovers that his particular airhead boxer might notgothe full distance…
AR EI LN H350 .............................................. 62
Remember the mid-1950s? Not everyone will.Fred Harrington has discoveredhow to time-travelback to when the white heat of technology had barely started blazing…
THE CONTENTSPAGE.................................... 3
Is this Tiddler Time? AVincent motorised bicycle? AHonda monkeybike? We also some more traditional fare, of course…
WE’VE GOTMAIL! ........................................ 14
Aseriously wide-ranging and entertaining selection of comments, opinions, histories… everything! We love your letters –send more!
READERS’FREE ADS ....................................
72
Summer is plainly on the way,and we see quite afew bikes on ofer. Some are sensibly priced too, and some are rather special…
PUBTALK .....................................................
82
It’s showtime again! PUB enters the display world and muses upon the giant auction (and much more)…
OLLIE’SODD JOB ......................................... 88
Spotted at Staford, hiding among the Brough Superiors and other such commonplace contraptions, this curious little deathtrap was Ollie’s absolute star of theshow…
TALES FROM THE SHED............................... 92
As summer trickles into view, Frank decided to rewire the RC Fauxbird Scrabbler. We have no idea why he did this…
RE BU ILDI NG TH EMON KE Y! ........................ 76
You might not think you need another project to keep yourself busy, but your friends may disagree! Simon Hoskins spent last winter in the workshop…
WHO’SDONE WHAT
THIS MIDSUMMER issue of RealClassic magazine celebrates yetanother solstice withFrank Westworthand Rowena Hoseason of the Cosmic Bike Co Ltdatthe helm. Sanjayand Arun at Druck Media assemble the ar tworkand deliverthe design, while Kelsey Media Ltd(01507 529529) manage publishing,trade advertising,your subscriptions, special ofers, merchandise and back issues.HappyLongestDay,everyone!
READ MORE about oldbikes at www.Real-Classic co.uk
TRADE ADVERTISERS forthe magazine or websiteshould call TomLee on 01507 529413 or email TLee@mor tons.co.uk
EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES should be sent to Frank@ RealClassic.netortoPOBox 66,Bude EX239ZX
Please include an SAE if youwantsomething returned or apersonal reply
SUBSCRIPTION INFO is on pg98. Call 01507 529529 to subscribe or renew or buyback issues
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ALL MATERIAL in RealClassic is copyrightits authors,sopleasecontactusbeforereproducing anything.RealClassic is printedbyAcorn Web Ofset LtdofNormanton. OurISSN is 1742-2345
THIS MONTH we’vebeen reading DEATH ROW by FreidaMcFadden (a clever littletale of the unexpected); FIRE &BONES by KathyReichs (American forensic pathology); RIGHTEOUS PREY by John Sandford(Lucas Davenpor tgets shot Alot.Again!); GALAXY UNDONE,byMRForbes, which disappointingly enough is notabout choc bars,and THE EYEOFTHE WORLD, by Rober t Jordan, which is the frst in aseriously vast fantasy series,onwhich theutterly stunning Wheel Of Time TV series is based.Whoopee!
MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES we chilled out with the Icelandic thriller OPERATION NAPOLEON (although Iain Glen with an American accent: notquite right); adored THE BOOTH AT THE END (nothing actually happens but damn it doesn’t happen cleverly); boggled at Jason Statham’s brutal body countinA WORKING MAN; cringed at the original PUNISHER fick (streaming series aresomuch morenuanced); enjoyed exactly thatcharacterinS2ofDAREDEVIL, and arestill utterly transfxed by S3 of WHEEL OF TIME.It’sgot stor yand characters and ever ything (well,nearly ever ything.Nodragons yet. Giveit… time!) RealClassic
FROM THE FRONT
For as long asI can remember, Ihavealways enjoyedriding big bikes.The biggerthe better, basically.I did all the thenusual transitions from a200ccpop-pop Panther,via a500 AJSsingle, aMatchless650 twin… onward and indeed upward until IfeltthatIhad fnally graduated to the real worldofbig bikes. Yes, Ihad my very frst Triumph 750 Bonneville.Who could ask formore than that? Iworea T-shir trevealing thatonly the chosen fewcould handle the awesome power. Theawesome power? Yep, astar tling 54bhp.An entiretwo heavy horsesless than the laz y750 Commando Ireplaced it with.
Being entirelyhonest about this,thatbunch of horses provided per fectly adequate per formance, certainly forthe rural roads of Nor th Wales and Cheshire, whereI wasliving at the time,although my regular rides down to Somersettovisit my family involved the M5 experience. Andno, I’m notgoing to grumble about the Bonnie’s lack of insane power, but will refect insteadthatonthe M5 it wasmostcomfor table cruising at 65mph in the insidelane.Lessobviously,the Matchless G12 I’driddenaround fveyears previously also cruised at 65, as did the Ariel Huntmaster ridden by my most frequentriding companion. It was just the waythings were Oddly enough, the bikesIremember the most as the machines which reliably whizzed by me on motorways were BMW air-head twins –mainly R75 and R90 variants.Occasionally Iwouldspeed up to keep pacewith them, and aboardthe Bonnie things would loosen and sometimes fall of,and the vibes could gettothe fngers too. Nota recipefor relaxed riding.I’d slowdownto65and the Bimmers would cruise of unperturbed into the distance. From this,I understoodthatthe Bavarian mastershafters plainly employedastonishing numbers of over-enthusiastic horses in their fatpots
But no.AnR75 unleashed astaggering 50 enthusiastic equines –less than claimedfor the Bonnie –while the R90/6 is quoted at just 60bhp Hmmm. Howcould theydothis? It became a minor obsession, although Icould neverreally understand it.Some years later, Imoved on up to asuccession of Tridents,whichweredual carriageway smooth at 75, but even so those whiteand uprightR80RTBMW twins would go
sailing by,too oftenjust beforea wagging fnger instructedmetopull up foracosychat.
Acompletely unexpected result of these youthful delights wasthateventoday Ifnd myself cruising along at 65mph. Even when piloting amachine with around twicethe power of thatold Bonnie Ifnd thatIonly ride faster whenpushed along by fastertrafc.And to my surprise,I’m fnding thatriding smaller,lighter machinesis… easier.Riding lifeisendlessly entertaining,don’t youthink?
Andspeak ing of endlessly enter taining,Iwas delightedwhen Rowena of this parish revealed thatthis issue contains not one,not twobut three tiddlers! One bearing the rousing name of Vincent, the otheraHonda –anearly Honda monkey bike,noless.And let ’s not mention Ollie’s oddity… Ifelltowondering –asIread the stories –whether amoped could ever actually be practical on today’sroads,and whether all the efor texper tise and expenditurewhich goes into rebuilding an early Honda monkey machine could possibly be rewarded by thatirresistible urge to just grab ahelmet,jacket and glovesand head out foraride,simply forits ownsake?
IexpectI’llfnd out at some point. Hmmm…
Andride safely
Frank Westworth
Frank@realclassic.net
Forever Fe at he rbe ds Feat h erb ed s
Inspiredbyhis racing heroes, Colin Leighfeldbought his frst Nor tonDominator before heturned18. He remains a featherbed fantothis day…
PART THE FIRST
Photos by ColinLeighfeld, Mor tons Archive, RC RChive
Nor ton’sDominator: ever y teenager should tr yone…
NORTON DOMINATORS
It’seasy to avidly defendthe make and model of bikes thatwecut our teeth on. We mightalso disparage the other ones thatwe‘blew into the weeds’. In truth, whethersingle or (mostly) vertical twin, therewasn’tthatmuch diferencebetween the postwarfarefrom British manufacturers
Nor ton, forexample,continuously developed their heavyweighttwins right through to the Nor tonCommando.The changes representedincremental increases in sizeand progressiveimprovementfrom Bert Hopwood’s original Model7 design.
Hopwood also designed the BSA A7 and A10; much the same as aDominator, butwith the camshaftatthe back instead of the frontand driven by gears instead of chain. Wow! You could almost say‘diferentversions of the same engine’. Well,almost.EdwardTurner ’s Triumph twin had twocamshafts,one at the frontand one at the back,but it wasstill much the same.
Doug Hele signifcantly infuenced the developmentand race successesofthe SS versions of the Dominator. He had asimilar infuenceonTriumph aftermoving there when Nor tonrelocatedfromBracebridge Street to Plumstead.The amazing 100mph TT lap of 1961 achieved by aDomiracer500 wasechoed afew years laterbyPercy Tait, whizzing around on the brilliantworks 500 Triumph. Both bikes were Doug’s babies,with just years in between them.
Neither should we forget AMC, Ariel, Royal Enfeld,orthe Velocettesingles, one of which Iowned.The sameingredientstossed up into the air,and coming back down in slightly diferent ways
Theunit construction Triumph and BSA vertical twins were really no greatleap forward; just the same approach to engine designwith the gearboxfxedinaunit construction casting format.Hardly rocket science. Nor ton’sUnifed Twin wasmuch the same,although its abandonment due mostly to cooling issues meantthatnounit construction heavyweightNor tontwin ever went into production.
I’masbad as the rest of theminbulling up my Nor tons –yet in 1964 Iwas ofered a very nice1961 Bonneville for£100. If I’dhad the money then Iwouldhavebeen an avid Triumph man, and the rest would have been rubbish! From today’sperspective, it doesn’t matter.None of us were wrong,wewere all accurate in our beliefsofour personal experiences.Now it is obvious thatthese machines never detractedfromeach
other.Theywereall pieces in ajigsawwhich is nowa beautiful picture, one that we all gazeonwith greatnostalgia, realising thatit wasjust abrief momentina probablyunique time.How luckywewere. Certainly, British bikes have been amassiveinfuence in my life, and still aretothis day.
My frst Nor tonwas the 1960 Jubilee thatI acquired to replacemy1956 Ariel Colt shortly aftermy17th birthday. TheJubilee wasquite sick and Ididn’t have the experienceto sor tit out.Ialso owned a1955VelocetteMSS; very good but one of thefew fnished in an awful Aubergine colour and lookeda bit tatty. An insult to my vanity!
Around thenI wasintroduced to the greatBob Collier who had atreasurehouse of Nor tonbikes and engines,aswellas some unique developmentprototype par ts thatcame from theclearing out process as Bracebridge Street wasshut down. These included the excellent250 high-camshaft single prototype,the sidevalveDominator prototype forthe MoD, the Unifed Twin, and unmachined castings forsplayed inlet port versions ofthe Navigatorcylinder heads, intended fortwin carburettors,much likea Bonneville.Clearly,Nor tonhad signifcant plans to advancethe lightweight twin design. At the time,Iwas earning about £4 aweek and had an outstanding debt on the Jubilee Among Bob’scollection wasared 1959 Dominator99, thelast year of the wideline featherbed twins. Apal had got anew 1964 AJS31CSR Hurricane,the laterand best version with Nor tonforks andbrakes,lower subframe and seat and other improvements.I had been fortunate enough to ride it and was literally blown away.Fast,smoothand great handling.Whatismore, he wasapar ticularly
good rider. On thatbike,noone ever seemed to be able to catchhim, whateverthey were riding.There wasnoway thatIcould aford anything like that, but the Dominatormight get me close.Could Ifnd away?
Yes! Don’task me how, but Bobfnished up with the Jubilee and MSS and Igot the 99. WasIhappy! TheDominatorhad sidecar fttings on it,quick ly removed, butthe steering head angle and gear ratios had been leftalone. Bobftted it with new piston rings and,toavoid replacing one battered silencer, made me an excellentset of siamesed pipes,cut and welded-upfromthe original twin exhausts.The backtyrewas beyond redemption, buthehad an Avon race tyre lying around,soheftted that. Admittedly, it wasbaldin the centre,but as it looked all rightfor when the bike waslaid over,I thoughtitwouldbeOK! Of Iwent.
Within an hour Ihad the 99 up to over 90mphand went homewell pleased.I t seemed to get valvebounceinthirdgear much earlier than Ihad expected: worr y about thatlater.The following day, Irodeitto work in Birmingham, whereitwas pleasantly docile in the trafc.All day, all Icouldthink about wasmybike.Assoon as work ended,I wasaway. Theroadsweredamp afterearlier rain. Stationar yintrafc,when the cars star tedtomove, Iopened the throttle and operated the clutch. Thebike slid sideways and Ifellofat zero mph, feeling very stupid! Abald Avon racing tyre on awet road was clearly not agood idea and the frst thing I did wastochange that.
The99was apleasuretoride,ver ysmooth and quick ,I wasfascinatedbythe ‘onrails’ feeling in corners.I talmost seemed to steer itself with no real input from me.The
brakesweremorethan good enough and it could certainly keepupwith the standard 650s such as the A10and Thunderbirdina straightline.Mymate’sT110 had the edge, but not by much.
Shor tly after, Itook of the head and found the early valvebouncewas caused by twobroken valvesprings.This gave me the oppor tunitytoreplaceall four,grind the valves in and do abit of polishing in the por ts.The 99 went even better and it became clear thatearly versions of the 88 and 99 thrived with siamesed pipes, as well as sounding very good.The SSversions of both 500 and 600 Dominators had these fttedas standard. They only disappeared whenthe downdraughthead versions of the 88 and 650SS came along and the 99 wasdropped from the range.
Back then Iwas riding the bike to work ever yday,about14miles,and riding with
VicWilloughbyand friend putanearly Dommi 88 through its paces
As ateenager,Colin wasinspiredbythe exploits of Phil Read (onthe left) who rode the 650SStunedbySyd Lawton(standing next to Read) to victory at Thruxton
NOWAND THEN
the café racerbunch at evenings and weekends.Ifondlyrememberarrivingat various cofeebars,with ‘Rag Doll’bythe Four Seasons playing on thejukebox. I still love thatrecord. Long rides and race meetings to Brands Hatchwerepar forthe day. The99was quitefast enoughtokeep me up with the frontrunners
Another member of my riding group hadan88SS. It wasone of the1961 type, inForest Green andDoveGrey, predowndraughthead Siamese pipes and shaped silencer.I tw
in Forest and Dove Grey, downdraught head with twin carburettors, Siamese and the cigarshaped silencer. It was
astonishinglyquick and stayedeasily with the 650s,sounding wonder fulaswell.That wasthe model tested by BruceMain-Smith, recording amean topspeed of 106mph with abest one -way of 111mph. Those fgures were only slightly slowerthan the 650SS BMS tested ayear lateratMIRA, which showed amean of 111mph and best one -way of 118mph. That made abig impression.
Ihaveonly ridden one 88, when Iswapped bikes with achap on the Isle of Man. Iwas
bikes with a chap on the Isle of Man. I was impressed by how smooth and civilised his 1963 machine was to ride, yet still with a good turn
of speed and acceleration. Icould seethe attraction in an 88.
One dayatwork, Iwas askedto take an urgentsmall item to Stoke on Trent. That gave me the oppor tunitytosustain an indicated90for aboutthir ty miles–until I suddenly felt the engine star ttotighten. I pulled the clutchin, stopped and turned it of and then let it cool fora while before restar ting,when it rannormally.I rode it abit moregingerly until Igot home.
Ifound thatthe 11/16”,376 carburettor wasftted with a250 main jet. Although thatwas the described correctsizeinthe
Splendid factor yshot of anew Dominator99. This image wasusedinseveral Norton adsofthe time
Then…
…and Now! Alifetime with Norton’s Dominators
CATALOGUECOUNTRY
It’s 1960, andthe world needs‘bodystyled’Nor tons! Or so theyhoped
manual,Ialso read thatfor ‘sustained high speed,amain jet one or twosizes higher should be ftted.’ Ipromptly ftted a270, as Ihaveeversinceonboth 99sand 650SS ftted with thatcarburettor,single or twin. Despitesustained very highspeeds over long distances onmotor ways,Inever experienced thattightening again.
As summer 1964 appeared,I took a touring holidayonthe Dominator. Therear carrier took asmall suitcase,tentbungeed on topand,with apair of ex-army kitbags as panniers,Iwas in business.Myschool pal Dave came on theback.The year before I’dsuccessfully ridden my Ariel Colt around Somerset,Barmouth and Prestatynwith my girlfriend (nowwife) Pat. By contrast,the Dominatorholidayshould be adoddle… In those days,thatk ind of holiday would cost in total about £15, although that wasa lot of money then. TheM5was quitenew ; only twolanes and it ended at Bristol.We had atrouble -free run, campingovernight and heading forTorquay. Theweather was great, we were enjoying ourselves between
the beach and local pubs,thenmoved of again three or four days later. That continued all the waytoLand’s End,which really did seem to be close to the end of the world. Quitean adventure.
Allthattime,the 99 ranwell.Cruisingas fast as youcouldgoonthose roads and not needing toomanypetrol stops with fuel economyover60mpg.Wespentafew more days exploring,had agoatsur fng in Sennen Cove on boards thatweremoulded from plywood.Wonder ful nights beneath the stars,listening to TheBeatles on apor table record player. ANor tonDominatorand The Beatles: whataheavenly combination!
We set of nor th. In one single day, we reached the Bristol Channel and crossed into south Wales on the Aust Ferr y. No Severn Bridges in those days!Wearrived in Barmouth around teatime: quiteafeat. It ’s 350 or moremiles,and none of it was motor way. We did rather well forlads who hadn’t yetturned 18.
During thatstage of the journey Ifrst heard an intermittentrattle from the engine.The 99’s
per formanceseemed to be unafected and I couldn’t fnd anyobvious cause.Eventually, the holidaycame to an end andweheaded home.The Dominatorhad per formed faultlessly,starting reliably ever ytime,
Another pair of Nor ton’sfamous racers; John Sur tees poses on awideline Dommi alongside Geof Duke on the Isle of Manin1955
SUPERSPORTS
and only needed the drivechain adjusting. However… therewas thatrattle,and onceor twiceIhad felt the back end squirmincorners. Featherbed Nortons don’t do that, even fullyloaded,two-up.Atthatstage,therewere about44,000 miles on the clock.
Thefrst job wastoliftthe head and barrel To my sorrowIfoundthatapiston ring circlip in the nearside cylinder wasfoating loose in the gouge caused by the gudgeon pin as itthrusted sidewaysinthe bore. Therewas no choicebut to get the barrelinfor areline, pronto.NextIfound playinthe swinging arm. TheSilentbloc bush wasinastate of collapse,probably not helped by previously pulling asidecar forIdon’t know howmany miles.Replacing thatwas aspecialist job, so Isentitof, tr ying to work out howtoaford all of this
Iwenttosee BobCollier aboutthe piston problem and he found me abrand new pair of Wellwor thy, solid sk ir tNomad pistons, standardsize. Thestandardcompression ratio on the pre-1960 Dominator 99 was 7.4:1. TheNomad’s increased that to 9.1:1. I soon had the bike back together,with the re -bushed swinging armftted.I tran well immediately.After careful runningin, the per formanceboost wasobvious.My pal’s T110 wasnolonger faster in astraightline.I t doesn’t take alot to make a99goquick ly! So whatdoIthink of the wideline Dominators? What about the width? Many saythatthey fnd it toowide across the tank to be comfor table,orhardto get their feet on the foor.Iamabout 5’8” and could always
get my feet fatonthe foor.Itend to set the footrests high and perhaps thathelped, but Ifoundthe broad,shaped seattobe very suppor tiveand comfor tableonalong distanceride.
Thewidth between your knees is infuenced by the width lowerdown, across thegearboxand clutch. When Ifrst satona modern961 Nor tonCommando,Iwas struck by howpointless the beautifully sculpted tank waswhen my feet were so much fur ther apar tonthe footrests.The only wayI could get my knees close to the tank wasbyforcing them into an unsustainable knock-k need position. There’ssomething daftabout all of this.Evenonmycurrent TriumphSpeed Twin 900, my knees areacoupleofinches away from the tank.I tseems increasingly common to narrowseats down, to compensate for raised seatheights.Sorry,but anarrow seatisn’t as comfor table as awider one, par ticularly when youare satonitall day.
Ican understand thatsome people fnd awideline featherbed to be toowide,but Inever found it to be aproblem.The 99 handled well,had good brakes and asmooth engine with per formancejust as good as anyother standard650. It wasver yeasy to makethe 99 go faster and it without much vibration, and wasn’t heavy on fuel.Withthe standardLucas coil ignition and an 18D2 distributor,mine wasalwaysaneasy starter. Despiteharduse,itwas reliable
Into 1965 when Istartedhankering aftera 650SS. I’dseen them on the road in capable hands, particularlyremembering Tom
Loughridge,and they seemed faster than anything.Iloved the lean, compactlook of the slimline Dominators.The black and silver fnish with chrome mudguards and chaincases just looked like class to me back then. It still does.Inthe righthands,these machineswereproduction race winners.The SydLawton-preparedSSwon the Thruxton 500 milerin1962, 1963 and1964. Norman Overend consistently wonthe 750 production class racesatDarley Moor on aver ystandardlooking 1962 650SS, well into the 1970s Icould just aboutstretch to aHPdeal to buy asecondhand 650SS. Idid adeal with Motor Sales in Birmingham and part-exchanged the 99 fora1962 650SS. It wasindecentcondition except forsome dulling of the chrome on the frontmudguard, butat£200 it wasthe best Icould do.They told me they hadftted new clutch platesand silencers.
When Irodeithome,the surging acceleration wasver yobvious.I had arrived! That evening Iwas out with my pals –showing of –when the clutch began to slip It got worse to the pointthatthere wasno drive. Ihad aprecarious,ignominious tow home from amateonhis bike
When Igot the primar ychaincase of,I found outthatthe clutchcentrenut hadn’t been tightened and the clutch had,inefect, fallen of.What’smore, the nutonthe drive side crankshafthadn’t been tightened either.I twas loose and the engine sprocket Woodrufkey wasmangled
It didn’t take toolong to sor tthatout.At the weekend Igot stuckinand went through ever ything.Asusual on Nor tons,wherethe crankcase breather is piped back to the oil tank,therewas aload of condensationinducedsludge in there. Icleanedall of that out.Ichecked ever ything Icould: all engine bolts,valve clearances,chain tensions and in par ticular Imeticulously cleanedand balanced the twin Monoblocs
Afterthat, it rode like adream and Isoon found outhow quick it was. Theacceleration madeyou slide back on theseatifyou didn’t hang on tight. Even with apassenger on the back,you would be clock ing well over the ton. Thedownside wasthatfuel consumption wassignifcantly worse than the 99, generally in the 50smpg,but it could be worse if youwerereally tr ying.A worthwhile pricetopay!
NEXTTIME: accidents,adversity, recovery and…morefeatherbeds!
In the end,Colindid buyhis 650SS. An ambition achieved
RC readers write, rant and rattle on…
Summattosay?Sendyour comments,hints,tips,tales of woeand derring- don’t to RCHQ@RealClassic.net
AWARMWELCOME?
Reading the subscriber newsletter last month, Iwas sorry to read about Lloyd, an AMClightweightowner, having his chosen mountbelittled by other club members.I had asimilar experienceoverthirtyyears agowith my lightweightMatchless G2. One memberwho owned afashy650cc G12 CSR used to taunt me by suggesting I get ridofmyG2and buy amotorcycle!
Ialwaysfound the bike ajoy to ride,and Iwould sayitwas my favouriteofall the bikes I’ve owned.Ihad many, many, very enjoyable rides on the G2,includingriding to AJS&MOC Jampot Rallies in Devon, Nor th Wales,Essex,and Nor th Yorkshire. The1995 Jampot Rally wasatPatley Bridge,Nor th Yorkshire, andIarranged to ride therefromBristol with afellow club member whowas ridinghis 350 Matchless G3. We had aver yearly start, and af teragood run at 9am we found ourselves at the siteofthe former AJS worksinWolverhampton. It wasthena Safewaysupermarket,but never theless we stopped foramomentout of respec t forits former role
Onwardsnor thwards, eventually reaching the Pennines and Holmfr th (no signofNora Batty!), then fnally we were heading across moorland against astrong wind to Pateley Bridge.Wearrived at the rally at 2pm, having averaged around 30mph over 220- odd miles: not bad going on acoupleofold bikes.
Shor tly after we arrived, the owner of the G12 CSR who kept taunting me turned up in his car with his pride and joyona trailer behind.Ipolitely suggested to him thatifhe sold it and boughtaG2hecouldhaveridden it there! That putanend to his jibes
Lloyd,you can have just as much fun on a moped as aBlack Shadow, so ignorethe socalled exper ts,and enjoyyour Model 8!
Alan Freke, member
Rowena’s mentioning of the youngA JS owner receiving rather shameful treatment from some ‘elders’inthe classic bik ing communityreminded me of being on the receiving end myself of some derision
regarding my love of Tiger Cubs.I tcame from sneering Vincentowners,orpossibly the same guy on twoseparateoccasions
Thefrst waswhen Iwas about 14 years old.While admiring aVincentwhich was about to set of on aVMCCrun, Ihappened to mention Ihad an old bike too.
‘Really?’ said our Vincent-mounted chum. ‘Whathaveyou got?’
‘A Tiger Cub’,Ianswered proudly,to which he laughed loudly and announced to his fellowriders; ‘He says he has aTiger Cub! Gufaw,gufaw!’
‘WhataRichardthe third’,thoughtI,and wandered of
Some years later, Ipossibly encountered the same guyonone of very fewVMCC runs Itagged along on. Iwas on my Spor ts Cubreplica and Iparked it near aVincent. Theowner sneered; ‘A Tiger Cub? Hasn’t it gone bang yet?’
Iignored him and went forlunch. Afteran hour or so,itwas time to get going and our poor herowas having difcultygetting his
vastly superior machine started. He wasred inthe face, helmet of and sweating like the proverbial pig.Istartedmy Cuband circled by him. Igavea cheerywavewhile informing him he should consider buying aTiger Cub!
Paul Henshaw, member
Hurrahfor the sentimentofMembers’ Enclosurethis month. Thereare fewthings moretiresomethan folks slapping down others forask ing questions about ‘basic ’ stuf to do with running old bikes.
‘Ifyou need to ask,you shouldn’tbe doing it ’isa reply I’ve seen afew times and it ’s crap
Dan Stevens,member
In 1957 the horrendous rail crash at Lewisham which killed manyprompted me to look at alternativewaysoftravel. Result: aBSA Bantam D5 became my wayof life. Riding around the countr yfor work and leisuretook me to manyplaces of interest. During my travels Icame across manyolder motorcycles in sheds and barns,and so my hobbydeveloped.Eventually,reading the press introduced me to the worldofvintage bikes and theSunbeam London to Brighton run wasone of the frst events Iattended
Your mentionofLloyd and his experiencerelating to his contactwith
‘those who should certainly know better ’ brings to mind the similar reactions Igot all those years ago.And indeed Ihavewitnessed those attitudes in recent times.Why aresome people sodismissive of younger riders? If they have anyenthusiasm formotorcycling they should be encouraged.Ifnot…well,the futureis bleak.
David Brindley, member
Indeed,t his wa st he ov er whelming sentiment fr om the co mm un ications on
the sub jec t–w hich is ve ry hear te ning Ap ar tf ro mt he one person who fe lt it nec essar yt op ost an un ki nd meme on ou r Fa ce book gr ou pa bout ho ws tupid the yo unger generations ar ew hen it co mes to mechanical kn ow -ho w.
If I’djustjoinedthe group –lookingfor suppor tinmyold bikeadventure–then that ’s exactlythe kind of nastycomment which would see me leaveand never return. Andwewonder whysome clubs struggle to attractnew members…?
Rowena
LAST MONTH…
Iver ymuch enjoyedOdgie’sstory in RC253 withitbeing so much moreabout the man than the machine forachange Theletters were of course interestingand enter taining as usual,and then Kevin’s Letter from America.Anothergreat stor y and intriguing peek at his past.Sodiferent to me and my recent history of bikes aiming to improveonthose unhappy specimensofmypast
Mar tin Peacock,member
RealClassic is the best of thegenre by agood margin. In par ticular Ienjoy the varietyofbikesand subjects covered; it is really well curated.Myregular favouriteis Ollie’s OddJobs; Ilovethe creativity. Iplan
to have agoataspecial myself soon. Ijust need to fnd the bones of asuitable bike at the rightprice
Simon Huntington,member
Ijust wanted to saythank youand just how much Ienjoyedthe GusKuhn Commando ar ticle. I’msorry to read thatFrank is no longer a‘Commando man’ –that’sanend of an era! You’ve certainly inspired me over the years and Ifnally picked one up in Januar y. IlovePUB’s militar ybike ar ticle: Iwantone now. AndI also want an oil in frame Tiger and aThunderbolt Greatissue,thank you.
Baz Barr y, member
Never say never,Baz. We all know howeasy it is to come home with astray Nor tonor two… Rowena
SUPE RSPECIALS
I’mjust reading theNorcati ar ticlein RC253 and Ithink I’mthe polar opposite of Frank.I personally prefer specials over stock machines. Themoreoutlandish the combination of motor and frame then the happier Iam. Sadly my engineering sk ills are lack ing so Itend to just modify bikes rather than tr yand squeezeanunusual engine between the frame rails.
Ialso tend to build bikes (slowly) fromthe frame up,rather than buying acomplete machine and swapping par ts.I t’snot the easiest or most cost efectiveway to do things,but the huntfor par tsisone of the most enjoyable things of theproject and Idon’t tend to get so much grief for ‘destroying’a classic
I’ve only ever boughtfour completebikes in my lifeand currently have twocomplete bikesand around four or fveprojects in various stages of being built.Most of these star tedwith aframe purchase,like 1953 Panther Stroud mongrel. Anotherwas fuelled by the luckychance of acquiring a250 Red Panther motor and then apileofPanther M65frame par ts.
It has just dawned on me that thereason Ihaven’t purchased abrand-new machine is because I’dhavetowait until thewarranty hadrun outbeforeIcouldattack it withthe spanners…and I’mnot sureIcould do that!
Shaun Veness,member
Thebuilder of the Ducati /Nor ton used to go to theLog Cabin in nor th Devonona Wednesday lunchtime.Heused to tell that he wasoferedbig money forthe Velocetteengine so pulled it out and decided to ft theDucati engine
he had lying around.Apparently,the bike wasonthe road one monthafter the Velo engine wasextracted: he’s areal grafter!
Andrew Dockree, member
Frank ’s review of the Norcati got me delving into my photoarchive, being certain thatI’d encounteredthe bike in Nor thernSpain… onlytofnd thatitwasn’tthe samebike.A Pantah engine?
At the same rally (2011) wasthis very well engineered Velo 1000 outft.
Oily
Boot Bob, member
It is said that‘beauty is in the eyeofthe beholder ’whichisably illustrated in RC253
across three consecutive articles.‘Convenience with added cool’, portraysthe Hinckley Twin which to thisbeholder looks like ablock of lard. Thesecond,‘Featherbed Fun’,inwhich the Norcati looks alittle busy.But the third, ‘The Silver Bullet’, just looks RIGHT.Obviously Gordon is aver yskilled engineer and has the eyeofagreat designer.Tome, hisbike it is better than anyfactory RoyalEnfeld to date
Mar tin Richardson,member
Ihad atestrideona newBSA Goldie and liked it so ordered aDawnSilvermodel Iplanned to modify it,infuencedbythe early 1970s Beezer street scramblers and competition machines.Ipicked it up and set about the tedious task of runningit in, planning on stripping it down over Christmas.Thatidea went south when a couple of warranty issues came up andthe bike had to be fxed
When it came backIstar tedstripping it straightaway. I’ve never liked stock bikes and treatthem as ablank canvas. Ineeded higher and wider handlebars as the stock ones were uncomfor tably lowand narrow. Ichose aset of BSA Westernbars with 8” rise as opposed to the 4” standardrise.Toft all thenecessar y equipment, Ihad to ft 30mm extension slugs,machined locally,intothe ends
Of came the rear mudguard to cut and shape the odd rear lightmounting.The sealed LEDrear lightunit wascut open.I separated the lightboardand its mounting, and relocateditintoanaftermarket Lucas light. Themounting wascopiedfromBSA’s lighting units andwas powder-coatedwith the bars and afew otherbits
Longer cables came from Venhillsand alonger frontbrake hose in black from Wemoto. Therewas enough slack to bring the headlightwires and connectors out, wrapped in self-amalgamating tape for protection andwaterproofng. This doesn’t catchthe eyebecause it ’s black,which gets lost amongst all the black ness aroundthe clocks and lamp brackets.
Imade asmall aluminium adapter plateto fick up the clocks which arefat mountedas standard. Alocal metal fabrication workshop put abend in the 5mm alloyfor afverinthe teak itty. Iremovedthe headlamp and fork shrouds as Iwasn’t interested in the1950s look and used generic aftermarket mounts forthe lamp and the indicators plus apairof
fork tube protectors.Nextupwas to replace the huge frontmudguardwith adropon shor tone from R&G Racing,designed specifcally forthe Goldie
Thetank and mudguards went of to Q in Llanellitobesprayed,and the bike was dropped of with James at Profab stainless exhaust systems near Swansea. Theexhaust systemisa directreplacementfor the stock one. It can be swapped over in about 10 minutes tops; handy forMoTsinfuture. The silencer is astainless,reverse cone mega from Weslake,intended fora Triumph 900 Street Scrambler.The system hasa nice sound to it withoutblasting out, and the fuel injection has adapted itself nicely to it –star ts and pulls cleanly when riding
TheseatwentovertoAlltwenPontardawe and Chaos Customs,whereDiane and Lucy worked their magic –another lady then embroidered the BSA on the rear
Apair of Hagon shocks with preload and damping adjustmentwereftted.The BSA fashes on the tank were made by alocal printer, mounted using laser guidance, and protectedwith four coatsofanti- ethanol lacquer.A bag of stainless fttings completed the job.
Next up?When Hagons fnish their developmentIwill ft aset of progressive fork springs.The back end is great nowbut as speed and cornering angles increase that’s showing up the front end.I’m going to ask the printers to knock up acoupleof vinyl decals forthe
side panels,similar to the onesonmy1969 Firebird, thatsay ‘Firestar 650 Scrambler ’. In total I’ve spentaround £1600, and that’s with mainly cash prices and me doing lots of the running around!
Glyn Phillips,member
A-TE NG -SHUN!
Ialwaysrenew my magazinesubscription at the Winter Classic showatNewark. This year ’s free gift fordoing so wasthislittle Teng tool set.I tisper fect forremoving the nut and pilot jet,being niceand smallinan awkwardtightspace.
So nowmyTriumph’s pilot jet is unblocked and we’vereturned to nice easy star ting.Ialso gave herafull3hole oil change –just to see whereitdecides to leak from nowall the levelsare high again!
TomWatson, member
REMEMBER ROD?
Iwas glad to read RodKer ’s nameinlast month’s shed tales.Idon’t remember the TR65 butthe ‘WhiteElephant’ Ariel Leader and the XS750 he cobbled together were excellentseries.His writing style wassuperb.
Fred Harrington, member
Rod and Iwereinregular(ish) signals until he became illabout fiveyears ago.Hewas agreat writer,and when Isaw his old bikeupfor sale FrankW
SERVICESTARS
On Wednesdaylordered anew drivechain from the Classic Bike Shop at Redditch. Being tighter than aduck’s backside,I chose the cheapest and slowest postal option and settled back, expecting at least a fveday wait.Inever believethe deliver y estimates anymore.Iwas pleasantly surprised when it arrivedonFriday morning,less than twodaysafter ordering it.Well chufed,tosay the least.
Chris White, member
I’dlike to give aser vicestar to Hitchcocks Motorcycles.Iordered some parts formy Meteor 350 yesterdaymorning.They arrived this morning in timetobeftted forthe MoT this afternoon. Superbser viceasalways.
Dave Jones, member
NOTSUCHAHOR RI DHON DA
Having read the latest Ollie’s OddJob,I just have to respondand defendthe much maligned Honda CB500T
Ugly? That comes down to personal taste. I’ve oftenbeen told whatagood look ing machineitisand Itendto agree. When Iboughtitback in 1983 with 10,000 miles on the clock,Ithoughtthe bald and rather sk inny4.10 x18AvonRoadrunner on the rear wheel made it look abit out of propor tion. A4.25 x18T T100put that right. I’ve alwaysseen atouch of Velocette Venom and RoyalEnfeld Interceptor (the original one) going on in thelooks depar tment, especially with thefork gaiters Iadded yonks ago.
Gutless? Anything but. Mine is an absolutetorque monster.The clutch will give in beforethe engine drops below 4000rpm in topgear on steep hills.I actually geared my machine up by one toothonthe
gearboxsprocket,asitseemed undergeared as standard. Getting up to an indicated70mph while towing amateinhis broken-down Mini doesnot suggest it’s gutless fora500! And neither does hitting the tonwhile hauling a Tiger Cubminus engine.Lock me away formy ownsafetyimmediately,ofcer!
Iwill admit thatamate’sYamahaXS500 wasfaster –just –but thathad ashor ter stroke and eightvalves. It didn’t pull so hard from lowdown, though.
Ihavecovered over 60,000 of my own miles on the CB,not without trouble and rebuilds,but Ilike to think it has ser ved me well.I tplayeda par tingetting me the girlfriend who laterbecamemywife, and both arestill with me.Our longest and toughest ride on the Honda wasa non-stop run in torrential rain all the wayback from the Lake DistricttoCardif, two-up with tons of stuf and camping gear on board.
It has tried to kill me afew timesover the years, so gets acoupleofblack marks forthat, Isuppose.Improveitbyadding a hardtail? Iwill defnitely be leaving mine as it is!
Paul Henshaw, member
THANKS TO THECB500T
Very unusually fora Honda, Idon’t recall anyfavourable comments ever being made about this machine.I ndeed,the only positive Wikipedia recorded fac tfor this rather insipid, brown, 425lb 34bhp 101mph bike is thatit has ‘a comfy seat’!Ithereforefeel obliged to provide it with some credit fora rather obscure reason…
In 1975, as a24-year-old pending marriage, Iwas reduced to aver ysecondhand 150cc Francis Barnett Plover as my means of daily commuting transpor t. Aworkcolleague asked if Icould assist withser vicing his motorbike,an L-reg750 Combat- engined Nor tonCommando Interstate.This wasthe newest machine Ihad been involved with at the time
Thebike’s rear chain wasastightasa bowstring,and despitelow mileage,its rear sprocket and brake disc needed replacing
BOUNCY BARS
BillHanna’s experiencewith rubber-bushed handlebarslast month reminded me of a problem they caused on my 1972 Bonnie in the early 1980s.I twas ftted with the high US bars which exacerbatedthe play.
Thebeast wasfast,loud,shook,snapped brackets and blew bulbs ever ytime Ihit the ton but the bars remained largely vibration-free
This,asplod pointedout one dayonthe Morden bypass,was because therewas unacceptable playinthe bushes. It wastrue: the bars could be rowedback and forthsometwo inches.Ithad never causeda problem, Iwas just used to it
When thatand tenother construction and use ofences were being dealt with by Wimbledonmagistrates,mycourtroom conduct impressed the PC who reads outthe charges so much thatheoferedmeajob with the Met. Ididn’t takethe job.
Although it wasa smar texample overall,for some reason it had been ftted with an incorrect Triumph/BSA triple shor tfat-backedheadlight shell which had been paintedblack to match the nowalso incorrect black Commando headlightbrackets.
Iquoted aprice to ser vicethe bike and suggested ftting anew headlamp shell to put it back to standard. This received the reply that the Commando wasdue to be tradedinpar texchange fora new Honda 500T.IfIwished,I could buyitfor the agreed trade -in price. This wascontrar ytomyfnancial plans butat£300350 it seemed toogood an oppor tunitytomiss, especially when he agreed to reduce the price by the cost of the suggested repairs
Back then the Commando wasunderthree years old and hadn’t even experienced its frst MoT. Ihavenow owned this bike for approaching ffty years.I tmust have had a Superblend main bearing update as it has successfully managed to record over 30k miles It still looks like the photograph and Ihave replacementpistons forwhen Iget around to it Iwonder whathappened to the Honda? Without it Iwouldn’thaveboughtthe Nor ton, or perhaps anyofits 24 stablemates!
Phil
Rich, member
have been critical had they beenpresent. Ijust tightened up the nuts and plain washers under the yokes by acoupleofturns and the rubber bars becamerigid again. Wouldn’t stand for it nowofcourse,but back then Iwas made of rubber too.
Jon Williams,member
Neither did Iworry toomuchabout the orientation of the dished washers thatmight
You’ll be glad to learn that Inow havetwo sets of the correcthandlebar fittings! FrankW