DRIVING SIDEWAYS
WHATLIES WITHIN
BSAFLATTRACKER ....................................... 6
Acouple of years back, Odgie builta fearsome fattracker basedaroundaBSA B50. We left him with onewin underhis belt andone eye onthe national championship. Here’s what happened next…
HYDEBON NEVI LLE SCRAMBLE R................ 26
Before Triumph launched their ownScrambler in 2006, Norman Hyde had ofered his very own alternative –inadvance,asitwere.Alan Cathcart reports…
NO RTON /DUC ATISPECIAL ........................ 34
Not even the quickest of glances would fool anyone into thinking this is astock Norton. Frank Westworth tookaride on something completely diferent…
EN FI ELDSILVE RBULLET.............................42
It’s not easy to build aretro motorcycle which looks correct and rides just right. Many major manufacturers havefallenatthis very hurdle. Henry Gregson talks us through adesign masterpiece, built by two meninashed
MATCHLESSMODEL X................................. 48
Paul Henshaw has beenlucky enough to ride three diferent vintage V-twins recently. How doesthe Matchless compare to its prewar competition?
BY BI KE TO BUTE !........................................ 58
It’s always the way. You’ve made all the arrangements for abig ride. You’vebookedthe ferry, taken time of and packed your panniers. Even the sun is shining: in Scotland! Andthen, as Marion Thirsk discovers, the gremlins have come with you…
TECH NICALTUBES?.................................... 72
THE CONTENTSPAGE....................................
3
Some really excellent machinery foryou to gaze at. Everything from Odgie’sawesome Beezer tracker, to aremarkable combination of Norton and Ducati bits! It’s all here...
WE’VE GOTMAIL! ........................................ 14
Fine and varied selections of comments, opinions, histories… everything! We love your letters –send more!
READERS’FREE ADS ....................................
68
Lots more bikes this time,some of them really dangerous to the wallet, too. Our faves? Well, a glorious Triumph and afab AJS…
LETTER FROM AMERICA..............................
22
Want to turn back time?You don’tneed a TARDIS and you can leave the Delorean in the drive. You just need the right old bike and the desire to re-livehistory…
PUBTALK .....................................................
82
Vintage Stony on January 1was not cancelled, but only postponed. In March, and blessed with fneweather, the delayed event in Stony Stratford town centre was very busy.PUB reports…
OLLIE’SODD JOB .........................................
88
Components for prewar classics don’t come cheap –ifthey’re available at all. John Lay crafts some suitabletubular stays in his workshop…
Take an allegedly unlovedHonda, and turn it into something almost certainly unique. Ollie may have unearthed agenial gem…
TALES FROM THE SHED ...............................
92
AJSE NG IN EEVO LUTION ............................. 76
Travel with Tony Colman as he develops an AJS 650 into the HarMless 440…
There’s apause in the customary mechanical meanderings while Frank ponders what to do next. Normal service will be resumed shortly. Or not, of course…
WHO’SDONE WHAT
THE MAYEDITION of RealClassic magazine wasmanoeuvred,manipulatedand mildly magicked by Frank Westworthand Rowena Hoseason of the Cosmic Bike Co Ltd. Sanjay and Arun at Druck Media layout the pages and assemble the ar tworkwhile Kelsey Media Ltd(01507 529529) manage publishing,trade adver tising,your subscriptions,special ofers, merchandise and back issues.HappyMayday, ever yone!
READ MORE about old bikes at www.RealClassic.co.uk
TRADE ADVERTISERS forthe magazine or websiteshould call TomLee on 01507 529413 or email TLee@mor tons.co.uk
EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES should be sentto Frank@RealClassic.net or to PO Box66, Bude EX23 9ZX. Please includeanSAE if youwant something returned or apersonal reply
SUBSCRIPTION INFO is on pg98. Call 01507 529529 to subscribe or renew or buyback issues
SUBS QUERIES,latedeliveries or changesof address should be directedto01507 529529, or email subscriptions@realclassic.net
ALL MATERIAL in RealClassic is copyright its authors,soplease contactusbefore reproducing anything.RealClassic isprinted by AcornWeb Ofset LtdofNormanton. OurISSN is 1742-2345
THIS MONTH we’vebeen reading WHITEOUT by RS Burnett(trapped in the Antarctic after the global apocalypse!); OPEN SEASON by Jonathan Kellerman (glossy American police procedural with no think ing required), and GALAXY UNSTABLE by MR Forbes (another amusing but fairly unimaginativescifromp)…
MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES we chor tled with incredulityatG20 in which Madam Presidentgets the better ofHomelander (as if!); despaired at the new version of HELLBOYwhich wasfrank ly pants(bring back RonPerleman!), actually fell asleep during MORDECAI (great cast: rubbish script,plot and direction), and were savedfromthismorass of mediocritybythe excellentoriginal DAREDEVIL series,which purpor ts to be asuperherosaga but is actually achilling commentar yupon individual moralityinacruel world… RealClassic is published monthlybyKelsey Media Ltd, Horncastle,LN9 6JR, UK
FROM THE FRONT
Ever ysooften, Iget an unintended reminder of just howlong I’ve had the best job in the world–writing about old bikes.I’vewritten about alot of new ones,too,mainly through the 1990s when Rowena and Iworked on a couple of modernbike magazines.I t’soddly easy to forget the majorityofthe latter –although it ’s prettyeasy to remember alot of the old bikes Iwas riding to writeabout back then. Why? Aha–aquestionIhave occasionally asked myself…
Theanswer is deceptively simple: everyold bike,with ahandful of owners and many, many miles of maintenanceaswell as actual riding beneath its wheels,isinsomeway non-stock This can vary from simple things, like achange of handlebars,footrests,biggerorsmaller fuel tank,all the wayuptoa total engine transplant, as seen elsewhereinthis issue.Veryoften in fact, as thereisonly so much which even the most enthusiastic writer can writeabout another BSA A65 (for example), it is usually the variances from stock, the development, personalisationorimprovementworkowners have carried out which is the real story.
New bikes arenot like this.Bydefnitionthey areas close to stock conditionasit’spossible to be –although it’s probably awell-known fact thatback then eager suppliers would carefully preparethe bikes they placed into the always gentle hands of the Press.For example,take aYamaha TDM850, ahandsome parallel twin boasting lots of the features Ipersonally value in abike: greatlooks,anextremely comfortable riding position, abig grunty engine and awesome anchors.Couple those with abang up to the minuteDeltaboxframe supplying superlativehandling and youhavea machine which wassurely irresistible,no?
At this pointyou could be forgiven for expecting me to argue with myself –but I can’t.The bike wasgreat.Was the importerin the early 1990s still Mitsui? Ican’t remember. Anyway,Idropped of my ownmachine –a NortonCommander–and rode home aboard the Yamaha. It wasadelight. Thebikestayed withmefor afortnightand during thattime it wascompletely excellent, fulflling all of my preconceptions –with just asingle exception: the frontfork, whichwas simply toosoftfor my ownconsiderablebulk.
Ireturned the bike and wroteglowing things about it.I twas great.
Imagine my surprise whenRowena revealed thatshe had owneda TDM850 for awhile,and wasless than entirely fattering about it.Iwas surprised.New motorcycle testers liveinasor t- of bubble,where ever y bike they ride –apar tfromtheir own–isnew or thereabouts,and carefully prepared.But I still didn’t entirely understand Rowena’s less than kind comments about abike which I had genuinely enjoyed. What to do? Simple: I went and boughtaused one.A revelation. It wasquiteremarkably diferent It wasjust as comfor table and the forks were still alittle softfor my taste, butitwas both louder and slower. Anditwas alousy star terand the steering wasachallenge… New bikes modifed by enthusiast specialists were awhole lot moreinteresting. Areally good example wasanearly Hinck ley Bonneville conver tedintoa street scrambler by Norman Hyde,aserious expert on all things Triumph. Iborrowedthe bike while Norman wasvisiting Watsonian Squire, noted sidecar exper ts.Loved it.Imagine my surprise when Alan Cathcar tsentoverhis stor yfor this issue. Yes, it ’s thatexact same bike.I t’sa classic!
Told youI’vebeen doing this foralong time…
Tr ack Bac kO n
Acouple of yearsback,Odgie built afearsome fattracker basedaround aBSA B50. We lefthim with one win under his belt andone eyeonthe national championship.Here’s whathappenednex t…
Photos by Odgie himself andJon SealeyatBraking Point Images
It’sbeen awhile sincethe fnal par tof the B60FT race bike build-up series, and while you’ve been readingabout the Star freT Tproject, youmay have wondered howthe B60 wasdoing.So, in the hope of tellingareasonablyinteresting tale, here’sa bit of an update...
If yourecall,weleftthe B60 having wona round of the National Championship vintage class frst time out.Ithink thatwas as much asurprisetomeasitwas to ever ybody else It wasmid-season,and I’dalreadybeen doing well on theold A65,and the B60hit
the ground (or the track) running.Somuch so thatIused it forthe rest of the season and ended up winning the championship.I t wasonly my second year racing at national level.I’d been racing at ourlocal track in Scunthorpe fora while,and had only entered one round of the DTRA National series the year beforejust to see howIfared.Iexpected to get my backside handed to me on aplate, but Iwon thatround,and it convinced me to competeproperly the following year
So doing afull season in 2022 ended very much on ahigh. TheB60 had gone really well
all year,Ionly had one retirement, thankfully at the local track when the engine suddenly went dead on me.Ik icked it over but it had no compression, so Ipusheditbacktothe pits and investigated. Pulling the plugout revealed the inlet valvestuck open. That would be it forthe daythen.
Further investigation back home involved pulling the motor to get the rockerbox and cylinder head of.The rattle from the topof the motor as Ilifteditout didn’t bode well, butI wasn’t expecting to fnda brokenrocker arm. As youmightimagine,racing BSA unit
BSA FLAT-TRACKER
singles as Ido, Ik nowa lot of people with vast experienceofthem and nobody had ever heardofthatbefore.
Closer inspection revealeda clearly fawed forging,obviously from new,which had stood the test of time on gentle road use but called it aday when subjectedtoabigger cam and morerevsunderracing.Pulling of the head showedthe valves both fully back on their seats.Mmm. I’dsuspected they ’d tangled and got bent, buttheywereboth per fect.Maybe overheating had caused the inlet valvetostick open, although Icouldn’t see anysigns on the stem.
Ireamed the guide slightly to be on the safeside,but it wasonly whenIstar tedto putthe motor back togetherand the rocker boxwouldn’tgoonthatthe full extent of the problem became clear.The inlet cam follower wasstuck up.Removing the side covers and very close inspection of the par ts told the stor y. Normally the twofollowerssit side by side,which keeps them aligned. When the exhaust rocker had broken, thatallowedthe exhaust cam followertofoat, so the side faces didn’t stayaligned.The inlet follower came up and cloutedthe edge of the exhaust one,bending it so thatthe next time it came up,itstuck up in the crankcase
Allitneeded wasa good secondhand followertoreplaceit, ever ything else was fne.The outcome could have much more catastrophic...
Onwardstothe 2023 season. Iwon the frst round and then –asyou mightrecall from the Star frefnal episode –Ihad abit of a mishap.Swapping between bikes,mybrain hadn’t recalibrated from one to the other. This meantmyfoot missed the brake lever, Itangled wheels with the guy in frontand highsided prettyspectacularly.Thatresulted in abroken leftwrist,bursitis of the left knee, grazes,tendon damage,and my favourite bit; ‘Terry Thomas Syndrome’, where the ligamentdamage pushes the twolittle bones in the wrist apar tsothey look like his teeth.
Previously I’ve only damagedone limb in acrash, to damage three wasak nock both physically and mentally.I’d scored no points, and would Ibeftfor the next round?
That following round wasatMallory Park, some four or fveweeks later. Iwasn’t really ft but Iloaded up and went along.Come race daywewereall set.Icould kickstar tthe bike so Igot all my race gear on, took my splintof, and strapped my wrist as tightly as Icouldwhile still being able to pull in the clutch. Iwas all ready to go outfor practice when… the heavens opened. Thetrack
Here’s Odgie himself,taking an outside line because the inside is still abit tooslick
In case youdidn’tread the original series,inwhich Odgie turns an innocent B50 intoa fre-breathing B60, it star ts in RC224 andfnishes in RC231
Nearly three seasons of hard use,sotime for aquick rebuild
The manwho can. Dropping the motor of with Roger Taylor at RTSRacing
frame
This is no ordinary BSA. This is an Odgie BSA…
wasfooded,and it wasalready latein the daysothe racing got cancelled.Probably for thebestasfar as Iwas concerned,saved me from myself.But at least Ididn’t fallbehind anymoreinthe points standing.
By the next meetingIwas moreor less race -ft physically,although notsurehow fast I’dbe. Thecrash had knocked me about abit mentally.Idon’t thinkI ever got quiteback to peak form all the rest of that season, but Ifought back with some wins and good positions to be within sightofthe championship by the last round. Irodewell during the heats.Thereweresome European riders cameoverfor the big meeting,some real fast kiddies whowerebeatingall ofus, but all Ihad to do wasfnish ahead of my UK rivals.Iwas doing OK in the fnal,behind the Europeans but ahead of one of my rivals and just behind theother.Iwas probablyall right whereIwas,but if Icouldpass him as well,it wasa certainty.
I’dbeen following forafew laps,and I reckoned Ihad the measureofitwith a reasonable plan. Push hard up the inside into the last turnonthe penultimate lap, and sneak through foranovertake and hold the position forthe last lap.I tk inda worked too. Iwas up theinside,coming out the turn alongside,getting on the gas early –the move wasasgood as done.And then... Andthen Ilost all the drive.
What!!!? Icrashed the gears up and down but nothing. Ilooked down and the blinkin’chain hadcomeof. What!!!? Theverylast lap of the
verylast race of the season, in achampionship winning position, and the rear chain comes of? ‘Flip’orsomething Imight have said Andthatwas that. Icamesecond in the championship but,aseverybody knows, second placeisjust frst loser
It did hit me quite hard, to be honest. Fighting back from injury only to lose out on almost the last lap.The weirdthing is, the chain told me it wasgoing to come of earlier thatweek.Really.Iwas prepping the bike,going all round it like youdo, mak ing sureeverything is absolutely spot on. I’dhad the wheel out to change the tyre around.We onlyeverturnleftsothe leftside wears and the rightdoesn’t,which means youcan swap the tyre over to get vir tually anew treadto race on.
BSA FLAT-TRACKER
I’dlined it all back upagain, just like I’ve done dozens of times before, youdon’t really think about it.But something said to me,just make surethatchain’s right. Idon’t know whyIfocused on it, butitwas telling me something.Ik nowhow to setthe tension, done it hundreds of times,but this time Iwas super careful. Ievengot aratchetstrap and tightened it across the seatand down to the swinging armtoget the tension rightatmidpoint. Inever do thatnormally.
Andthen halfway through the meeting, I’dchecked and adjusted it again. That chain wastelling me something.But despite that, despiteitbeing agood chain on good sprockets and set absolutely in line and tensioned per fectly,itcame of.I thad made its mind up.I twas coming of no matter what Idid.Hmmm.
So thatwas that, tr yand regroup forthe following year.Idid my best to console myself.Itoldmyself about the F1 teams with abudget of millions of pounds,a few hundred of the best motorspor tengineers in the world, simulations and diagnostics and testbeds,and still they can have ablowupor apar tfail,whereas I’mjust abloke in ashed with ahammer and an angle grinder. But still it hauntedme.
It had been adifcult year in otherways, too. I’ve alwaysbeen the underdog,the madcap oddball with the home -made bitsa, whereifhefnishes at all thenhe’sdone well. Don’tget me wrong,winning aNational Championship wasfabby, but it came at an unexpectedcost.All year I’dbeen subject to,‘Oh, defending champion, will youwin it again?’ It wasmeantinthe nicest possible way, but it preyed on me
Dittothe attention. People star tedto followmyraces.‘Ithoughtyou had him there.’‘Howcome youmadea bad star t?’,
Home ground
TROPHY CABINET
Rider Of The Day: congrats, thatman!
‘Pityabout ’
Istruggled withthe scrutinyand the expectations.Atleast I’dstar t2024 as anonchampion but therewas stillsome pressure. Istill felt alittle exposed and under scrutiny. Andtruth be told,I’d built such agood bike, abike prettymuch capable of winning any vintage race it entered, thatanythingless than awin felt like alet down, like I’dnot done the bike justice. So Igavemyself a goodtalk ing-to, reminding myself thatthis is meanttobefun.
That wasalesson IthoughtI’d learned many years ago,back in the early 1970s, when me and my mate Harold frststartedtrials riding. Rattyold Villiers or Bantam in the back of the Moggie Thou van, up Rochdale or Bolton. We bladdered around, fell of ever ywhere, got stuck in bogs and generally laughed our heads of at it all.Then we progressed to a Montesa and aBultaco,decentbikes which were only acoupleofyearsold
Eventually,westar tedtoget higherupthe results.And thenonceyou star ttroubling the topten,awhole new thingtakes place. You star ttotake it seriously.Whereas tumbling back down ahillusedtobehilarious,now it wasa disaster. Even aslackdab would irritate forthe rest of the day, perhapsawhole week. Youcan ride forfun, or youcan tr ytowin, but it ’s very hardtodoboth.
Itried to keep thatlesson in mind. Andto be fair,itmostly worked.I’d be haulingout of aturnand feeling the fabulous power and tractionofthe B60 dig in and hur tle me down thestraight, and have abig grin undermyhelmet.But competitiveisas
competitivedoes,and as the season wore on Igot into atitle fght yetagain. Riding loose instead of tighthad seen me get the better of most of my UK rivals,but ayoung French guy on aTriumph-framed 750 becamemy main challenger.Atmost tracks he wasjust a shade quicker than me,mainly because of his do -or- die attitude
One time,wewalked the trackatMallor y together.Iliked him, we got on well –heeven used to call me ‘dad’. He said,‘Nowdad,today youmust give me space,for Imust beatyou, even if Idie or break aleg,Imustbeatyou.’
Iadmired both thathonestyand that commitment, but Ireplied,‘No son, Iwill beat you. Andyou must have respectfor your elders.’
He wasfun to race with, but he took no prisoners.Imanaged to qualify in frst placefor the fnal,ahead of him, and we lined up sideby side on the start. Ibeathim of the line and was holding frst placedespiteall his besteforts. But my racecraftwas lacking.Duringthe day the track had been alittle toodamp on the inside,and aslightly wider line wasquickest.I stuck to thatinthe fnal,but he’d noticed that the inside had dried out, and towardsthe end of the race he made abig pushupthe inside. We came outofthe turn side by side,and he simply kept coming out and coming out until Iran outoftrack and had to shut of.I t washardracing,but just about within the limits of fair.I’m not saying Iwouldn’t have done the same myself in his position.
Chain gang!
We went into the fnal tworoundsver y close on points,with him just alittleahead It wasatwo daymeeting, down on thehalf mile trotting track at AmmanfordinWales, each daybeing aseparateround.I wonthe frst day, so nowwe’re only onepoint apar t. Whoever wins thesecond daywinsthe championship.Nopressurethen…
We didn’t meet up in theheats,but we were both riding well.Iqualifed in frst place, with him second,sothatwouldbethe gate choices forthe fnal.After the experience at Mallor y, Iwas older and wiser.We’dline up fveabreast at the star t, the grid front rowrunning from 1onthe inside to 5on the outside,and the general consensus is alwaysthat3or4isthe best slot.But Igame planned the scenarios,and Ifgured if Itook one of those,he’dline up on my inside.IfI didn’t get thefrst bend farenough ahead to claim the corner,he’drun me wide againand into the fence. So Iwentfor slot 2. Nobody wantsnumber 1, it ’s the graveyardslot.So the next three riders would go outside ofme, and the ffth fastest would have to slot into 1. That wayIshould be on the inside at turn one and controlthe corner
It wasa Good Plan, but then yerman lines his Triumph up on the inside of me,with the rest on the outside.Mmm, OK. Then he decides he wantstogooutside of me after all,and tries to shiftthe guy on my right, who quiterightly refuses to budge.Sohehas to come back to slot 1, but nowhe’sevencloser to my left. I’mthink ing to myself,I know what he’s done,he’stold himself whereverI go he’s going to go inside of me,so he can run me wide,and I’ve foiled him by going for2,and nowhe’sgot himself stuck in 1.
Iwasn’t unduly worried.The track ’s really rough rightonthe inside,and it ’s alongrun to the frst turn. If Ilaunch well and keep it tight, I’mgoing to be able to pullfar enough ahead as we go through the gears and line myself up forthe turnwhen we get there.
Thelights countdownand away we go!
I’ve only gone acouple of yardswhen a handlebar hits me from the inside.I swer ve to the right, but it keeps coming, and now I’mhitting the handlebar on the other side of me.I’m trapped in the middle, banging handlebars at both sides.I t’satad scar y. I fgureifI’m going down then we’reall going down, and let Godsor tusout.SoI keep the throttle pinned and get ready to change into second –but then my bike just dies.Really?
Away go the feld,and it turns out I’dbeen forced so far into the guy on therightofme, his handlebar had yanked of my ignition
cut-out lanyard –despitemekeeping it very shor tjust forthatver yreason. Iget the bike fred back up and go chasing,but I’mnearly a lap behind.Ionly had timetocatch and pass the last couple of riders.Gameover. With hindsight, Ishould probably have put aprotest in. Knowing he’d got himself trapped on the inside,and knowing in afair fghthe’dnot beatmeround the frst turn, he’dopted to be far tooaggressiveright from the star t. I’msurehedidn’t mean formybike to stop,hejust wanted to push me outofthe wayand take my spacetoget to the frst turn frst.The video evidencelater clearly showed that, and aprotest would have disqualifed him. But Ididn’t protest,it’snot really my wayofgoing racing.And nowI’d lost two championships through no fault of my own...
It wasn’t an easy pill to swallow. Butthere were twothings to remember.Firstly,I’d star tedthe season with the intention of ignoring championships and just riding my bike forthe fun of it.Secondly,mymate Dougie Reed waspitted next to me,and he lost hischampionshipclass win in the fnal whenhis fuel line came of.While we were commiserating each other,hesaid,‘It ’s like this.You thinkyou’reenlightened,you think you’ve got ridofyour ego,and the Universe goes,“Oh really?” and givesyou abit of atest.’
He’s as cosmic as Iam, bless him. That wasthe best thing anybody could have said to me.Yes,ofcourse it ’s greattowin a championship.But it is just an ego boost.I t doesn’t makeyou abetter person, it doesn’t change who youare.I tcan even make youa worse person if youend up not playing fair to win it.Goodpoint, well made.I tevenhelped
me resolvemyangst about the previous season, thatwayward chain which had been haunting me fora year.
Of course it ’s nicetowin, but it doesn’t defne youoryour life.
So therewego, gang.Irode as well as I could,Iplayedfair throughoutand Ididn’t get injuredorbreak anybonesfor achange. That ’ll do for2024.
And2025? By the timeyou read this my season will already be well underway.Over the winterthe B60 engine went back to Roger Taylor at RTSfor astrip and checkover. There’snothing much amiss,it’ssur vived two and half season’s racing very well,just needs new big end,valves, springs,clutchplatesas amatterofcourse
As Isit herebeforethe season star ts,I’vea fewideas in mind.Mostlytolearn from the last fewyears (and the last fewlifetimes), and continue to tr yand race just forthe fun of it,like Idid when Istar tedand had no hope of winning.I’m 71 this year.Every year Ithink it mightbemylast,and at the end of ever yseason Igivethatsome thought, and somehowdecide to carry on foratleast one moreyear.Istill enjoythe racing,but time gets moreprecious.Racing is massively demanding on all resources, mental, emotional,time and cost and energy and motivation, and thereare otherthings Iwant to ft in while I’mstill activeenough. Plus I don’t want racing to defne me anymore than winning championships: Ihaveabigger lifethan that.
But all my race bikes aresat in the shed and my year planner is flled up with dates. Let’ssee whatthe season brings!
At frst glance, this looks likeOdgie’s simplyleaning over to corner.Lookmore closelyand obser ve how farthe back wheel is outofline to the front.That’sthe ar tof‘laying it in’, andagreat waytoget to the chequeredfag frst
RC readers write, rant and rattle on...
Summattosay?Sendyour comments,hints,tips,tales of woeand derring- don’t to RCHQ@RealClassic.net
TR IUMPHS &TRI BULATIONS
Ihavebeen followingFrank ’s adventures with the 1972 Triumph T120V and 1971 BSA A65 Lightning /Firebirdand have greatly enjoyedthe stories.I’m surprised at how much nostalgia Ifeel formy1971 OiF T120R despiteonly owning it foralimited period during 1974/75.
Themarketing depar tments at Small Heath and Meriden must have been doing something rightinthe early 1970s.Asmy friends and Imoved up from 250/350s, we between us owned twoBonnies, three TR6s andaBSA Firebird, completewith amattblack exhaust system. Allofthese bikes were the OiF variety. They allstar ted lifewiththe US westernbarsand the bikes were greatfun andfast forwhattheywere.
Iwas infuenced by the road test published by BruceMain Smith in his book of Superbike Road Tests (a recommendedreadifyou like real classics from the early 1970s), but as a group we tended to visit the local bike shops in Edinburgh everySaturday. It wasatone these thatIfrst sawthe used 1971 T120R. Thefactthatmyfeetwould barely touch the ground didn’t seem to bother me,I wassoon partedwith my cash.
When Icollectedthe T120,I realised that my previous bikes didn’t provide me with the experiencetok ickstar ta650 twin.I wasa lightweight19year-old who could stand on thek ickstar tand it wouldbarely turnover. One of the West Pier employees, George Gunn, had to star tthe bike forme beforeIner vously rode home,praying I wouldn’t stall it at the manytrafc lights on the way!
Im ade it home and wa sa mazed at th etorque,p ower an de specially th e handling and ro ad holding.It hink this wa st he USP of these bikes.They hand le d ex tremely we ll and have ve ry natural
steer ing.M yf ri end Keith boughtt he T120 Va nd Iwas impres sed with thatb ike
An other fr iend,Colin ,b oughtt he BSA Fi re bird, which wa ss tu nning to look at and wa sf ast –l ower gear ing,p er haps?
It had the standard, fac to ry-fitted matt black ex haust but wa sa ls over yl oud especially on aw ide open th ro ttle! These were greattimes,with runs ever y weekend forfsh and chips or icecreams None of these bikes leaked oil and were all quiteeconomical on fuel,but they would eatpistons if the timing wasnot checked on aregular basis –strobes then were exotic tools.Boyer ignitions becamereally popular.At19, we seemed immune to vibration but the bikes weren’tsoyou got used to carrying sparelightbulbs.
Speed cameras were very rare,but the local policeontheir Commandos would enjoypuling us over to check our bikes foranimpromptu MoT: lights,tyres,horn, etc. Thepolicemotorcyclists were pretty decent, but the unmarked policecars were adiferentbreed.Webecame adept at spotting the twin VHF aerials…
Many of my friends arenow riding over weightBMWsand lament the loss of the easy handling of theirOiF 650s.This photos shows my T120 with ayouthfullook ing me,taken in 1975. Happytimes.
PeterTait, member
This missivearrived RCHQ on the same day as the following one… Rowena
I’ve been reading Frank ’s talesofhis T120V with greatinterest as Iboughtone brand new,52years ago, from the Triumph dealer Iworked foratthe time.Itstar tedeasily and idled reliably as Frank ’s does, but therethe similarities end. At 400miles thetop end of the engine wasoftofxthe manyoil leaks. Qualitycontrol at the factory wasclearly non-existent. On lifting thefuel tank Ifound afolded-up cigarettepacket (Players No6) holding the centre retainingbolt in place.
Allwas well afterthis until 6k miles when the rear wheel bearings came loose in the hub.Bythis timethe Meriden sit-in was well under wayand no warranty existed,so all repairsweredowntome. Idid 16k miles in the frst year of ownership,duringwhich the only original bearingsinthe bike to sur vivewerethe frontwheel bearings
Alittle lateron, around20k miles,the frst gear drivingdog on thelayshaftbroke
Aused replacement wasfoundand lasted another 10k miles beforeitbroke
AfterthatIconverted the T120V to a four-speed gearbox, which wasnot quite as straightfor ward as it appeared because the selectorpar ts in the outer casing arediferent, as well as the gears,shafts, camplate and selectorforks. With hindsight, the gearboxfailures maynot have been helped by theMorgo 750 kitwhichwas
ftted quiteearly on, around 4k miles. The T140 gearboxwas considerably morerobust but almost no par ts interchangeable.
TheT120 then ranwell until the winter of 1976 when an encounterwith aditch on adark, muddy countr ylane necessitated acomplete rebuild at 42k miles. It wasthe only brand new bike Ihaveeverbought and Ihad greattimes with it,despitethe grief it gave me.
Afterthe rebuild Isold it in 1977 and boughta Commando 850 Interstate which put me of Nor tons forlife. I’dhad enough of it aftera year,sold it and boughtaBMW
BARRINGDISASTERS…
RC252 has just plopped through my letterbox andwhile fnishingofmylunchtime soup I scanned through it –star ting, as is my wont, withTales From TheShed.Myattentionwas immediately drawn to Frank ’s description of removing the rubber-mounted handlebars fromthe topyokeofthe BSA Lightning, and his description of theBSA-Triumph group’s efor ts to protecttheir riders from vibration.
Wayback in 1990 Iboughtarunningbut dilapidated1968 Triumph TR6 Trophy andset to on acompleterestoration.The bikehad the same handlebar mounting arrangement with rubber bushespressed into theforkyoke top. Some years later, it wasvir tuallycomplete although it had not yetrun.Afriend gave me acopyofanAmerican magazine,the voiceof the Triumph International Owners’ Club.
One ar ticle had me racingtothe shed and stripping the frontend of theTR6 to check
and have been riding them ever since. This is the modifed R100 Icurrently ownwhich I built about 20 years ago.
George Gunn, member
Nowgoback and read the name of thechap at the bikeshop who helped Peterstar this brand-new Bonnie,back in the day.Now read George’s opening paragraph wherehe explains that he worked for aTriumph dealer, back in the day.Now boggle at the sheer magnificent coincidencethat the universe has delivered.Only in RealClassic! Rowena
whether Ihad committed apotentially lethal mistake.IHAD! One handlebarclamp wasOK but the other wasnot.
In fairness,the Triumphworkshop manual statesthatthe radius on ‘Washer A’ must have the radius towardsthe eyebolt head.Ihad missed this as it wasn’t emphasised sufciently TheAmerican ar ticle wasquiteexplicit about the implications ofgetting thiswrong,asyou can see from the pages.
Iver ymuch appreciate your efor ts with the magazine.Thank you.
Bill Hanna,member
Thank you, Bill! Of course Irushed off to check, and youare entirely correct. Isee that Draganflylist all thesmall bits,sothe nexttimeIremove the bars I’ll fit new ones.The only washers Ifound while working on the BSA were flat ones. FrankW
SUPERSMALLS
Thanksfor the Small Ad ser vice–my Triumph T150 sold on the same dayIreceived the magazine through the post! Keep up the brillworkwith the mag and ads
Ian Magson, member
You’re welcome –and thank YOU for the amazingly generous donation to our ‘Keep TP Tubby’ campaign. We’d also liketo thank the very generous folk who found us at the VMCC jumble and donated even moredelicious
things.I would say that the chocolates will be shared among thewhole RC Crew,but we know that isn’t true! Rowena
SERVICESTAR
Topmarkstothe team at Classic Transfers.Frank ’s new Triumph wasblightedbyanugly aftermarket decal –one promoting some inferior form of foreignbourbon, the horror! Adam at Classic Transfers responded instantly to ouremail enquir yand could certainly assist with acustomised decal to the correctdimensions and our owndesign. Topchaps! Seeclassictransfers.co.uk Rowena
TOPFLIGHT
In RC251 youpublished aTriumph TR W ar ticle by Mark Holyoake which, like all the stories youpublish,was of greatinterest. Howeverthis one waspar ticularlysignifcant to me becauseIser vedasa technician in the motor transpor tsection at RAFLaarbruck at the time when arrangements were made forthe air race between London Bridge and theArc de Triomphe.This wastomarkthe 50th anniversar yofthe Blériot cross-Channel fight.
My par twas to preparetwo TR Ws foruse by the RAFpilots afterlanding in France. The twomachines were taken at random from thestation’s stock of machines.They had very little preparation, just decarbonising the cylinder heads,grinding in the valves andcheck ingthe controlcables. Irodeeach machine for50miles or so beforetheywere dispatched to the Parisdetachment. This included aspeed test down therunway, whereeach managed astaggering62mph.
In France, the bikes were used to transpor t the pilots from the landing pad to central Parisduring the race.The frstwas crashed by Group Captain Norman Ryder.Despite injuringhis leg, he still fnished third. Theother TR Wsur vived without mishap. Triumph’s publicityofthe time claimed that‘the superiorityofthe motorcycleover all other types of transpor tin heavytrafc conditionshas never been so dramatically demonstrated before.’
Theoutrightwinner of the race was Squadron Leader Charles GMaughan. From Marble Arch,Maughan wasdrivenata furious paceasa pillion to Chelsea Embank ment, wherea Bristol Sycamorehelicopter took him to Biggin Hill.ThereaHunterT7was cleared forimmediate take -of. This streaked across the Channel at high subsonic speeds and touched downonthe south side of Paris, whereanother helicopter waswaiting to get him to the centre of Paris. There, the TR Wwas waiting to get Maughan as close to the Arcde Triomphe as it could withoutinfringing Paris’s trafcregulations
Thewinning team coveredthe route from Marble Arch in London to the Arcde Triomphe in 40 minutes and 44 seconds, averaging morethan 300mph.
Mike Hallam, member
POWERPULSES
Thanks forthe most interestingpieceon the Triumph TR W, it bringsback memories of my National Service. OurREME detachmentoperated ateam ofridersthat took par tininter-servicetrials.Wealways admired and envied the RAFteams who had the darkblue Triumph TRW twins. Us cannon fodder had the Matchless G3L. One time,wewereatatrial heldon the tank testing grounds at Bovington. It waswet and muddy,upalong climb then down to awater-flledbomb hole.Onthe uphill climb theBrylcreem boys with their Triumph twins did not have the grip that our singles had
This is nothing new.John Deeretwocylinder tractors had acrankshaftlayout that avoided even sequential fring. They fred
POP POP[GAP GAP] POP POP [GAP]. Thegap ensured much moregripthan even fring.This principle showedup years laterin GP race bikes.The 500 four-cylindertwo-strokes had aserious tendencytohaveviciousrearwheel powerslides thattossed the rider of Some bofn realised thatthe constant steam of powerstrokes wasthe culprit Theresultwas the introductionofthe Big Bang engine thatfredtwo cylinders together,giving agap in the powerpulses
Thanks for that info,Mike. Youinspired me to read up on therace. Iwas impressed to learn that the prizemoney for the topthree finishers wasdonated to charity. That would be over £100,000 today… Rowena
Roger Slater,member
Indeed –I think Iwas editing Motorcycle Racer magazine around the time that Mick Doohan controversially switched back to the ‘screamer ’
version of Honda’s V4. Iseem to recall that the higher-powermotor wasbetter at some very high velocitycircuits,while the Big Bang motor wassuperior at race tracks whereacceleration mattered morethan outright topspeed The mix-and-match approach must have worked: Doohan wonfive consecutiveworld championships,after all!
Rowena
Th re ea ppositewords we re used in the photos of Go rd en Ge skell ’s Roya l Enfield spe cial last mon th: details,d etails,d etails.I wo uld like to add three more: re sp ec t, re spec t, re spec t. Al though not a fan of bobb er st yling,Ic an fully apprecia te the time and though tt ha th as gone in to this build.I ti st ruly amazing the detail tha t has been engine ered in to producing such as tunning produc t. Ip ar ticular ly liked the humour of the du mmy oil tan kw ith its tap.Ib et th at gets afew ignor an t to ngues wa gging!
On aseparatesubject, Frank ’s wrestling match withthe Firebirdhandlebars. Ever y time Iread of these issues Idespair of the British bike industr y. What an ear th was in the mind of the designer to build in a problem that waslook ing forasolution? Theeasy answer wassurelytoproducea conventional,split clamp mountwith a spigot to locate in the rubber anti-vibration bush.Thatway,the bars can be simply removedinthe conventional manner
TH EAPPR ECIATION STATION REAL RESPECT
Alternatively,why not produce an engine thatdoesn’t rattle your fllings andcause your eyeballs to rotate backwards?
Youmighthavegathered thatIam not agreat fan of old British iron butIdo appreciate RC forits eclectic mix of bike genres and the Shed tales of oil leaks,badly ftting par ts and howtoaccess the most hideously designed fxings. It is the only bike magazine Iread now, the rest being
I’djust like to sayhow much IenjoyPaul Henshaw’sarticles in RC.His adventurewith the hot blank ing plug in RC251is extremely diver ting! Thank you, Paul
Mar tin Hughes-Games,member
It horoughly enjoye dt he la te st issue and especially Ollie’s Od djobs.I t’s re ally good to see acoupl eo ft he mo re sa ne members of the migh ty Pa nt her Ow ners’C lub in pr in t. Yo uc an see why yo ungsters areh appytoj oin in and get i nvolved wit ht he club.I th as absolu te ly no pretension so fgra nd eu ro rd is mi ss a l of anything as long as it ’s Pa nt her re la te d. Th ey even acce pt me and my full- on mongre lo bs ess ion!
Shaun Veness,member
Iloved the letter from Roger Slater, Ido enjoyhis writing.Likewise StuThomson’s latest project. Greatreading and Iaminawe of hisabilitytoreturn wrecks to the road.
Roger Saunders,member
While away from home Icaughtuponmy reading.IreallyenjoyedOily Boot Bob’s storyofhis epic continental adventures on his RoyalEnfeld 250, which shows whatis possible.Also, Iparticularly empathised with Marion Thirsk’s graphic storyabout her and Alan’s also epic Island Ride.Frommyown experiences of battling theweather between remote fuel stations in the Scottish Highlands,
either too classic-oriented or too k nee-
down and 180bhp.
Tony Bishop,member Iagree with youabout both Gordon’s awesome RE specials –asseen in this issue too! –and about thestrange BSA Triumph handlebar mountings. Rubber mount them by all means,but the cost savings of halving the number of bolts used must have been very small.It’salso impossible to fit bars with across-brace! FrankW
Icould really identify with it and understand whatanachievementthatreallywas!
Colin Leighfield, member
Iwould like to sayhow much Ienjoyed RC249, the Super LightweightSpecial.This brought back so manyhappymemories of when Iand my friends had just star ted to ride motorbikes which, of course,led to faster and bigger bikes.I twas amagic time in our lives
Mal Burgess,member
Thanks for all these –and for theother generous commentswedon’t havespacefor!! R&F
EASY OUT
When Iowned aBMW R1100RS Ihad the sameproblem as the chap who rebuilthis R1100GS. Theexhaust studscorrode to a pointsothatwhen the exhaust nuts are removed, the studs shear and thereisonly asmall length of stud left. Iwas livingout of the UK at the time with minimal workshop facilities.SoIhad to devise amethod of removalusing only the length of thestud, which is alittle longer than asingle nut.
Thesolution wastodrill asmallhole, the diameter of around thatofawheel spoke. This was50/50 into the stud andthe nutas seen in the photo. Ithen placed apar tofa spoke into the hole.This locked thenut to the stud,and then with care Iwas able to remove the seized stud
Theadvantage of this is thatthe threads arenot ruined and it is possible to coax the stud clockwise and anticlockwiseuntil it
DOUGLASDAYS
Approaching60years ago, my father was the local senior Scout leader.Herecruited ayounger assistant named Chris,who had just movedintothe area. Chris wasa life-long motorcyclist.Ibelievehestar ted as aGPO telegram boy, then continued riding in the militar y. He hadpreviously owned asquarefour Ariel but now, with afamily,ownedadistributor equipped Triumph 5TAand an ex-RAF TR W. Hispride andjoy wasa 1926, clutchless,fore-and-aft fat-tank Douglas twin thathehad rebuilt Chris had rescued it manyyearsearlier in aver ydilapidated statefromahen coop. he wasunusual at thattime in specifcally searching foranolder,non-saddle-tank machine
Chr is to ld me thath e’db een co nt ac te d by afor mer co lleague who ha dfou nd some nondes cr ipt glass negatives in as econdhand shop.Pre su mab ly the co lleague didn’t shareC hr is’s inte re st o r kn ow ledge of motorcycles but on eo f the images he sentwas o fa nu nk nown elde rl yb ike
Wh en tha ti mage wa si nspec te d closely,i tt ur ne do ut to be not only a fla t- tw in Do uglas but also…C hr is’s ac tual mac hi ne! Th eD ouglas co uld be iden tified by twod istin ct par allel inden ta tions on the ex haust pi pes,ar are, believed
frees of.Because the lock is mechanicaland not frictional,itispossible to use plenty of releasing fuid.
Maybe this solution would help others with similar issues?
StuThomson, member
Thanks or this,Stu.Generations of BMW owners will be grateful! FrankW
aeroplane model mascot on the fron t mudguard, cove re dw heel sa nd other unique fe at ures
Afew years ago,after Chris’s 80th bir thdaywhen bump -staring the Douglas became difcult,hesold it to afellow member ofthe Douglas club. When Ilast attended the StafordShow, thatDouglas wasondisplay on the owners’clubstand. Thedisplayrecorded its past owner, proudly publicising it as ‘ex-Chris Collier ’s bike’.
This wasbroughttomind by last month’s Members’ Enclosureaboutphotographs and fle sizes: Iwonder if the original glass plate would be suitable forpublication?
Phil Rich, member
It all depends on thescanner,and the exper tise of theperson operatingit! Glass plates and old negatives canbescanned at very high resolution so they look fabulous in print –asthe ‘Classic Images’series of books demonstrates.But it does takea lot of trialand- error tweaking at the softwarestage to bring out the finedetail in the photos.I’ve actually found that thesoftwareonmost modern phones means that taking adigital photoofanold image,and then letting the robot optimise thelight and shade,tends to producereasonable results.Which is,I suppose,progress… Rowena
TIMI NG ISEVE RY TH ING!
Imust share with youan extraordinar y75 minutes.The key to this is remembering thatImentioned in aletter acouple of months ago the importance of having friends who know more about classic bikes than one does oneself.Ihavetwo such friends, Peter SprotofVincent fame, and John Hood,a most knowledgeable man on all things motorcycle -related.
11.30. Phone rings.I t’sPeter sayingheiscoming over on his recently acquired Black Shadow, one of three Vincents has just bought from a92year-old friend.Thatwill meanhehas sixinVincents in total plus various other makes.
nipplehas pulled of the throttle cableat the handlebar end.Iofertocollecthim, but toolate, becauseJohn Hood is alreadyon his waywith anipple repair kit.
11.40. Post arrives, includingRC252. Open ituppronto, and I’mreally pleased how my letter looks.Think: per fect timing,I will showPeter as soon as he arrives.
11.50. Phonecall from Peter. He has broken down comingintothe village.The
11.55. Pedal up on my bic ycle to where Peterwas stopped,carrying the samecopy ofRC, of course.Admirethis spectacular Shadow, while Peterreads the letter.
12.15. John Hood arrives, with the neatest kityou haveeverseen forreplacing an errant nipple
SE EYOU IN SCOTLAND?
Thepopular Scottish Classic Motorc ycle Showwill onceagain take placeonSaturday 14th June.This will be our 33rdshowand will,asusual,beheld in the Princess Royal Func tion SuiteatAyr Racecourse.Our guest ofhonour willbeex-motorcycle racerAlex George.Alexisathree -timewinner at the Isle of ManT Tand wasa familiar faceon the Grand Prix circuit during the 1970s.Alexwill be reliving his career,telling anecdotes and meeting fans.
At previous shows we have had over 120
12.30. Job done,Peter heads forhome John reads the letter as well,professes to be no cleverer than anybody else (not true,he is), and also heads forhome 12.45. Itoo am home. Youcouldn’tmake it up,could you?
Andy Bone,member
Brilliant! ImakesureIalways have afriend with… avan. FrankW
bikes on display, from the early 1900s through to the 2000s.This year,therewill be aparade of bikes and classic racers.Plus anumber of traders, including those catering to modern marques, will also be present. Theadmission charge has been maintained at £10 per adult and under16s arefree.
Allexhibitors,clubs and traders who are interested in attending areasked to contact showsec@ayrclassicmc.com
Paul Wilkinson
