WHO’S DONE WHAT This issue of RealClassic was carefully crafted by Frank‘double-check’Westworth and Rowena‘proofperson’Hoseason, aka the Cosmic Bike Co Ltd, with editorial design by Mark‘steady now’Hyde. You’ll find even more RealClassic reading online at RealClassic. co.uk, managed by Martin Gelder DISPLAY ADVERTISERS should call Helen Martin on 01507 529453 or HRMartin@Mortons.co.uk EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES should be sent to Frank@RealClassic.net or to PO Box 66, Bude EX23 9ZX. Please include an SAE if you want your bits back or any sort of a sensible reply SUBSCRIPTION INFO is on page 108, or call 01507 529529 to subscribe or renew or buy back issues LATE DELIVERY, changes of address and any other subs queries will be resolved via 01507 529529, or pop an email to subscriptions@ realclassic.net CHOCOLATES never go amiss when sent to our dedicated Typing Person at PO Box 66, Bude EX23 9ZX All material in RealClassic is copyright its authors, so please contact us if you’re thinking of reprinting it. RealClassic was printed by William Gibbons & Sons of Wolverhampton. Our ISSN number is 1742-2345. WELCOME to new Top Chap at MMG, Marc Potter. Apparently, we have to include him in the flannel panel, so here’s his namecheck. From now on, everything awful is definitely his fault. Everything wonderful is of course down to TP. Just so we’re straight on that MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES we were unexpectedly gobsmacked by Gatsby (so good Frank forgot to eat his choccie treats; unheard of); impressed by low-key Brit thriller The Liability (merci, MarkW for the loan); thought that FnF6 and After Earth were missed opportunities; applauded the blunt candour of The Gatekeepers, and enjoyed The Purge and The Trance for the jolly romps they aimed to be. Soon, it’s Superman. Up, up and away! RealClassic is published monthly by MMG Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, LN9 6LZ, UK. USA subscriptions are $58 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI. 54921. Postmaster: Send USA address changes to RealClassic, Motorsport Publications LLC, 715-572-4595 chris@classicbikebooks.com
FROM THE FRONT
I
was chatting with a good friend in an OK Diner last week (the one near Newark), and we were staring out the window, as riders tend to do, at our bikes. His was a Norton, mine a BMW. Only one of them was graced by orange wheels. He chided me gently, as friends do, about the blandness of my bike. He knows, you see, that in The Shed are several Nortons. He built three of them. As you might expect, I came over all defensive. I started to justify my choice of machine for the journey in hand. It’s an easy justification: hard luggage; no fairing (this is summer, as you may know); shaft drive (it rains in summer, as you may know), and a tank bag to carry that essential route map. Of course I got lost around Leicester. After only a sentence or two, I realised that he was in fact taking a rise out of me. Gently, and with a broad smile. So I stopped pretending, stopped making excuses. The truth was simple; I fancied riding the BMW. I get too few opportunities to ride more than a thousand miles and I wanted to live with the flat-twin strangeness for more than a couple of hundred miles. And I fell to thinking. It is increasingly the case that I acquire a motorcycle for reasons other than a simple urge to ride a motorcycle. This year, I will have been riding motorcycles for forty-five years. That’s a lot of motorcycles. And the days when I could possess just a single motorcycle are long gone. So I buy some bikes just because I like the look of them, am curious about their engineering and feel that they would fit one or other of my regular rides. The BMW is one such. With its grunt-packed boxer twin and its advanced bicycle design, it is a unique riding experience. As are the rotary Nortons, but for very different reasons I ride old bikes locally. Fifty, sixty miles is great aboard a bike which is happiest at B-road speeds and has the agility to match. There’s a blue AJS further inside the issue. That’s one of those. And unlike with the BMW (insert your own choice of faintly modern machine here if
CONTACT US! By post: By email: TP@RealClassic.net Online: www.RealClassic.co.uk
you like), I am entirely happy to maintain and repair the Brit bangers which ignite my local fires. In fact, not only am I relaxed about the fettling, I buy bikes for a third reason; because I fancy the challenge of rebuilding them. I enjoy reading all about them, chatting all about them with fellow sufferers, discovering how they were designed and built, and then stripping and rebuilding them. The Shed is all about this. There’s an Ariel NH on the bench in The Shed. I have no real wish to ride it. But the rebuild is a gentle entertainment. I am obviously blessed with good friends, and met up with another one in remote Scarborough for an evening jollity session on the same day as the Newark lunch. He was very different company, at least in a two-wheeled sense, and impressed the heck out of me as we blistered across some seriously thrilling roads heading west towards Alston the following morning. He was hurling a near-new Moto Guzzi of startling performance through the scenery at a rate which certainly kept me awake. Brilliant bike, plainly. But he is a little unhappy with it. Underwhelmed, maybe? It out-performs the BMW in every way, and his riding ability is in a league entirely different to my own, but he plainly feels no bond with the bike. After 1300 miles I found myself chuckling at the BMW’s oddities, its charms and its character. That’s correct; character. The bikes in The Shed may be very varied, but they all ooze (or indeed leak) character. That’s what I like best… Frank Westworth Frank@realclassic.net
THE NEXT ISSUE (RC112) WILL BE PUBLISHED ON JULY 29th, AND SHOULD BE WITH YOU BY AUGUST 2nd
WHAT LIES WITHIN
06
VELOCETTE KSS
BSA M21
SCOTT!
ISSUE 111 • JULY 2013 £3.20
75F a cb hondSUPER CEE-BEE
norman b4 sport AJS 31CSR NORTON MODEL 18 GETTING READY TO RALLY
NORMAN B4 SPORT..................................... 6
If you didn’t know this 250 stroker had been built in Britain, you could be forgiven for thinking it was an import from Italy. Rowena Hoseason reckons it would’ve been a smash hit in the 1960s, if it had been given more than half a chance…
MORINI PRIDE & JOY ................................. 48
Middleweight Marvel! It’s one of the least fashionable Morini 3½ twins available… which means it’s also one of the most affordable. Mark Holyoake celebrates his special K
REALCLASSIC 111; PUBLISHED IN jULy 2013
RC REGULARS THE CONTENTS PAGE ................................. 4
NORTON MODEL 18 ................................... 56
Dave Blanchard fancied being Lost Before The War. And what better way than to prepare a Norton Model 18 to share the ride?
A Honda? On the cover? We’ll be getting complaints. Frank wanted it to be the Norman; Rowena the M21. Who can we blame?
BOXER GOES TO SPAIN .............................. 60
WE’VE GOT MAIL! ..................................... 14
Another entirely amazing range of topics, from a glorious Norton find, via Hawk angles and slick gearchanging. Variety is a spice, they say…
Martin Gelder and Ted are stumbling across the trails of northern Spain on two wholly inappropriate motorcycles, armed only with The Plan. Last month, they rode across a desert, and now The Plan calls for them to ride up a mountain…
OUTWARD BOUND ................................... 68
Places to go, roads to ride, people to see, buns to chew and tea to drink. All the fun of the fair!
SPEEDING UP A SIDEVALVE....................... 86 HONDA CB750 ........................................... 22
Nolan Woodbury meets a special SOHC Honda which has been rebuilt along the ‘less is more’ principle
VOLCETTE KSS........................................... 32
A Velocette with both a history and with its camshaft upstairs. Odgie discovered a truly unusual survivor…
IT’S THE NEWS! ......................................... 73
When his stalwart BSA sidevalve started to struggle under the strain, Shaun Gibbons went on a search for the big squeeze...
Rotary racers at 1000 Bikes (also some other bikes, apparently); Classics in Kent; Thunderfest at Darley. It’s all go. Or something…
REBUILDING A SCOTT ................................ 90
READERS’FREE ADS ................................. 76
Roger Cooper has accepted the challenge of rebuilding a vintage water-cooled two-stroke twin. This month he tackles the primary drive and moves onto the wheels…
Everything from a Rickman Predator to the most comic custom Dnepr we’ve ever seen. Watch your wallet, and enter with care
BSA BANTAM BUILD .................................. 94
TALES FROM THE SHED ..........................110
Sparkling stuff from Frank Westworth this month. Maybe seals and flying cabers. Or not, of course, depending on many things…
The secret Bantam. Part Four: Odgie’s undercover project continues, building a Bantam from bits for his fair lady. This month: perfecting the petrol tank…
GUEST SPEAKER ...................................... 106
Jim Reynolds considers Vincent’s neglected single
• THREE-WHEELERS BMW BUILD • FOUR-POT PANTHER
IAL • BSA SPEC ROADER • AJS OFF-
REBUILD COMMANDO
AJS 31CSR.................................................. 38
The Myth: all 650 twins are the same. The Reality: that’s not true. Frank Westworth discusses development, AMC style…
SEE PG108 FOR MORE 100 19
ON M NORT
110 ISSUE
2011
lsR’ ie r uTaEreA q S E S T N U H U O R £2.95
£2.95
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D IGN
ENFIEL
ISSUE 87 • JULY
PUB TALK................................................... 98 With profound and most grovelling apologies to Ms Bickerstaff, the correct words and the correct pictures present themselves for your entertainment…
MPH
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1 E SUBSCRIB Velocette TODAY & SAVE S YEATR HE OF
PH TRIUDM TWIN SPEE WHY WAS
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PARALLEL S!BRIT TWINFY
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BSA’S BEE
AN ITALIAN E ALTERNATIV TWIN FROM MOTOBI: SE! YOU CHOO
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6 I JULY 2013
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NORMAN B4 SPORT
INSPIRED BY ITALY If you didn’t know this 250 stroker had been built in Britain, you could be forgiven for thinking it was an importfromItaly.RowenaHoseason reckons it would’ve been a smash hit in the 1960s, if it had been given more than half a chance… Photos by Frank Westworth and Rowena Hoseason
A
This splendid B4 sold within seconds from Venture Classics in Somerset, but contact proprietor Chris if you’d like him to seek out something similar for you: 01460 52355
1961 roadtest of the Norman B4 mentioned the two-stroke’s ‘distinctive yowl.’ A yowl? A ‘long, loud, mournful wail’? I swivelled my ears in the direction of the B4 Sport which had just fired up. Any indication of an incipient yowl? Nope. No yowl, distinctive or otherwise, seems to have survived the half century since the B4 was built. Perhaps the person who restored this 250 to show-stunning condition left out the yowl on purpose, judging it to be far too gloomy for such a buoyant little motorbike. Instead the B4 boasts a rather more charming, chirpy burble; an amiable invitation to twist the throttle and see what happens. What happens is a billow of blue smoke, a sudden tug of clutch engagement: an alarming dip in the revs, a corresponding handful of gas and a pleasingly perky pounce out of the drive and away up the lane. There’s a distant drone from somewhere abaft, which hardens in tone and grows in volume as we giddily gallop to velocities quite possibly in excess of 30mph… A quick squint in the single mirror reveals that the smoke has cleared. Third gear would seem to be in order, and selection of that ratio is certain if not entirely swift. Happily, however, the 249cc twin-cylinder motor is not one of those peaky beasts which requires rampant revs and frantic clutch action. It’s fairly flexible for a small stroker and momentum is maintained with minimal mauling of clutch and cogs. Meanwhile, the aural entertainment from the
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JULY 2013 I 7
Incoming! RC Readers Write, Sponsored by Morris Lubricants
R ST
OOM
REALC
AZINE PO G
LETTER OF THE MONTH
SSIC MA A L
A HORDE OF NORTONS The husband of a friend of my mother sadly died before Christmas. I didn’t know him but it turned out he lived about eighty yards down the road from my wife and I. My mother said that her friend was selling her husband’s CZ, and wondered if I would go and look at it. I wasn’t really interested in a CZ but I said I’d take a look. Her sons were clearing out the garage and shed when I arrived and I spotted a Norton Atlas in front of the CZ. They said it was sold when I asked, but they had some other Norton bits in the shed which were for sale and that I could look at. This is what there was – and what I bought. All with the wife’s approval, as she said they would keep me quiet! Two Model 19S Nortons from the 1950s; a 1946 Model 18, complete but in bits; two rigid frames; two plunger frames; seven OHV engines and spares and one sidevalve; several gearboxes, wheels, rims and loads of tinware, petrol tanks and oil tanks, etc and tools. Everything was in boxes apart from the Model 19s. So at the moment there’s a Model 18 in the back bedroom for us to look at while I’m slowly building two ES2s in the conservatory. One will be mostly standard and one
14 I JULY 2013
will be built out of the extra bits that don’t seem to fit owt else. Also one rigid frame in the conservatory is being built up into a bobber-type thing. I like the look of the machines which George Cohen builds and I fancy building a machine something like those. The two Model 19s will have to wait: one has a seized big end and the other didn’t have a lid on it when I got it (but that’s since been found).
I’m a mechanical engineer and teach metalwork, engineering and technology in a secondary school so I have access to machines. This is particularly useful as I’ve only two sets of engine plates so I’ve made a couple of sets out of Dural.
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The house is pretty crowded right now – I’m not complaining, though! John Hodge, Member The rest of us can only dream of a find like that, John. No wonder you’re looking so happy. Send more pics once the bikes are hitting the roads again, please? Just to remind us all to keep looking! Frank W
LETTERS
A GENTLE ENGAGEMENT
A few observations concerning points raised in recent RCs. Dirty oil is OK and is a natural product of combustion. Try looking at oil in an air compressor; always clean as there is no combustion to make it dirty. So stop worrying (or get a Scott!). About that nasty clonk when engaging first gear; Arthur Bourne, aka Torrens of The Motor Cycle, hated this and considered it either mechanical maladjustment or a rider
VOLTING AMBITION 1
Some comments on Odgie’s Bantam episode in RC109. No doubt by now someone has told him that the alternator is probably working as intended. The open circuit voltage is much higher than that one load, so that the voltage with a complete system is reasonable. However, this is achieved by having an appreciable battery charging current when no lights are on. This results in gassing with an old-fashioned battery; not good but acceptable, but can destroy a modern sealed unit (don’t ask how I know). The six Volt alternator system is rather crude. In some ways it resembles the old three-brush dynamo system. 12 Volt units with Zener diodes are better, as the excess current is dumped by the Zener, not the battery. David Thomas, Member 1208
lacking in sensitivity! He said that providing the clutch did not drag, or the tickover was not too fast, then an attempt should be made to ‘feel’ the gear into engagement rather than stamping on the pedal. If the gear could not be engaged easily then the bike should be moved forward a little with the spare foot, at the same time easing the pedal into gear. Try that next time on the test bike, Frank, and if it still doesn’t work then blame the bike’s owner (assuming it’s not your bike, of course!). Arthur Pentney, Member 9949 We do possess one or two bikes which snick cleanly into first gear – honest. The TR65 has such gentle gear engagement that I find myself hoofing on the lever a couple of extra times entirely unnecessarily, because I can’t quite believe that the cogs can click quite so silently into place… Rowena
TWO INTO ONE
Continuing the theme about fitting an engine into a different frame, I thought you might like this un-named special. A Norcati, maybe? It was spotted at Moto Legende Salon, in Paris 2012. I prefer the name DUO-R-TON myself. I thoroughly enjoyed the Meriden article in RC110. Although there was no mention in the Ducati article about the involvement of the great Colin Seeley in the frame design. John Kenworthy, Member 2149 Imagine all the effort which went into creating that machine: let’s hope its owner is pleased with it! I can’t help wondering whether two perfectly sound motorcycles were sacrificed to make one weird one, however… Rowena
FrankW had the same trouble, and that these items do indeed fail. So I fitted a new unit which was half the price of first one. The result? Charging restored. Thank you! Terry Hunton-Young, Member 739 There are black boxes and there are black boxers, too. Some of them appear to last forever. Take a look at the image which is hopefully hereabouts; a metal box with writing on it. What is it? I discovered it inside the Lucas regulator box on the Ariel I’m attempting to build at the moment. It does look quite old, and I have no idea whether it works… Frank W
VOLTING AMBITION 2
WHO’SWHO
The riders in the Honda photo are Ron Haslam (2), Joey Dunlop (3) and Wayne Gardner (4), on Honda CB1100Rs. Bill Snelling, Member 6409
When I rebuilt my own AMC CSR some years ago, I converted it to 12 Volts and fitted a ‘black box’ regulator / rectifier unit. After some time it stopped charging. I tried everything except the black box, assuming that it could not fail. Then I read how
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JULY 2013 I 15
The RighT STuff The Myth: all 650 twins are the same. The Reality: that’s not true. Frank Westworth discusses development, AMC style…
Photos by Rowena Hoseason, Frank Westworth
38 I JULY 2013
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1964 AJS 31CSR
P
robably the most-asked question from RC readers so far this year has been ‘Why did you sell the £100 Ajay?’ A perfectly fair question, that one, and I have pondered about answering it as honestly as I can. In case you have blissfully forgotten, the £100 Ajay was a 1959 AJS 31 which I acquired for £100. It was not a bargain, even at that price, not really, although I am eternally indebted to the friend who found it for me, because it provided me with years – literally years – of entertainment and reward. After almost a decade of cyclical enthusiasm, frustration and achievement, I built the bike as far as it would go. Rowena Hoseason tested it for
RC100 (there’s a joke there!), pronounced it good, and I immediately retired and toured the world aboard it, singing merry tunes as we went. Or not. In fact, I asked the ever-delightful Chris at Venture Classic to sell it for me, which he did. Hence that question: why did I sell it, after investing a huge amount of time, a huge amount of effort, and a huge amount of money? The short answer is that I have never particularly liked late 1950s AMC models much. I can wax passionate about the rigid singles; I have a jampot twin from which I shall never be parted, and I have a 1965 Matchless G12CSR, a bike which has graced these pages, but not as a feature machine, and which is in regular use. I much prefer the late machines. And, being a simpleton and with no excuses whatsoever, I prefer the AJS name to the Matchless one. That is irrational; they are mechanically identical. I blame Geoffrey, my best schoolmate, who wore an AJS lapel badge all through senior school, Blue skies and a blue tank to match. The tank is from a slightly earlier AJS, as you will have observed…
Real Bikes. Real People. RealClassic: online at www.RealClassic.co.uk
JULY 2013 I 39
‘IN MY MIS-SPENT YOUTH, AN ALLOY FRONT RIM USUALLY MEANT THAT THE BIKE HAD BEEN RIDDEN INTO SOMETHING SOLID, NECESSITATING A REBUILD…’
A little genteel decay sets off the AJS bathroom blue
and although he never owned an AJS to my knowledge, that badge encouraged me to start my full-size riding life aboard one, a 1948 M18. That’s my excuse anyway. And I looked around in a vague way for a late, 1964-on AJS 31 so that I could write about it and explain why that, and not the 1959 model, is the
40 I JULY 2013
one for me. The One To Have. The Right One, if you like. But did any turn up, cosmic bike-like? Nope. I found three G12CSR twins, like the one I already have, and a couple of the 750cc G15s, one of which was very tempting, but no AJS twins. And then, while staggering around the recent
Kempton Park Show with Paul Miles, ace tester of this parish, I was stopped in my tracks by a vision. Paul walked into me. He should go to Specsavers. And there, standing before us, was a 1964 AJS 31CSR, dazzling in a very non-stock bathroom blue. There was more cosmicness to come. Towering over it in his inimitably genial way was Roy Bellett, President of the mighty AJS & Matchless Owners Club. I wondered whose the blue beauty was. ‘Yours if you like,’ he replied, with only a slightly smug smile. And he turned a key (a key? On an AJS?), kicked just the once, and the bike fired up, just like that. It immediately ticked over, too. ‘Electronic ignition,’ revealed Roy, beaming.
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1964 AJS 31CSR
The AMC twin engine in its final form, in this case blessed with AJS badging
‘And no, I won’t deliver it to Cornwall…’ We immediately agreed a mutually excellent arrangement, he still refused to deliver it to Cornwall, and the moment we settled the price the engine stopped. All on its own. What is it about 1964? I can tell that you are agog to know – or you’re bored to rigidity and know already, in which case read on quickly to discover how non-stock this apparent stocker is. 1964 was the last real development of the AMC range. In my view, these machines, mostly registered between 1964 and 66, although some straggled in the showrooms until 68 or even 69, make the best AMC riding machines for modern roads. There are few about, because by that point AMC’s fortunes were very low and they were building very few bikes with the revered AJS and Matchless badges; quite a few Nortons though. In fact, they were so scarce that although I’ve been an AJS (OK; Matchless too) nutcase since about 1970, I only heard about them as rumours until I found my first, a 1966 AJS 31 in standard touring spec, in 1984. It was worth the wait. The last version of the AMC twin engine is the best. It has a high capacity oil pump, which delivers loads of oil, and it boasts the later 3/8-inch top end studs which ensure
Although we generally cannot recommend taps in the engine’s oil feed, we concede that this is a very sensible way of arranging one
The Cosmic Bike Company in operation. Frank found the Ajay at Kempton Park but had no way of getting it home. A man called Andrew announced that he knew a man with a van. This is that man, Maurice Mumford, and he performed above and beyond the call!
that the oil stays inside the engine, at least at the top end, and that the head gaskets fail less frequently. It also drives a 12V alternator, so you can operate decent lights with some aspiration towards reliability. You’re familiar with the AMC gearbox and clutch, so no need to bang on singing their praises again. That same 12V system can also power a coil ignition circuit, thus removing at a stroke the magneto, which I do not understand and which therefore requires expert attention when it fails. Although, possibly pandering to those who believed all those years ago that a magneto’s sparks are more igniting
than those from a coil, AMC fitted magnetos to their sports twins even after they’d vanished from the tourers, and when it was fresh from the factory this AJS would have continued the magneto tradition. Not any longer. More on that in a while. The biggest change for 1964 in AJS and Matchless land was the adoption of Norton’s Roadholder forks and the front wheel to fit them. Also the matching rear wheel, but I find it difficult to become excited by a rear wheel. The Norton front brake is of the 8-inch sls variety, and is generally a rather better operator than
Real Bikes. Real People. RealClassic: online at www.RealClassic.co.uk
JULY 2013 I 41
DAY FOUR: EJEA DE LOS CABALLEROS TO RONCEVALLES
“You can see our house from here...”
60 I JULY 2013
When we’d parked our bikes the previous afternoon, the BMW had decided not to tick over. It’s old, worn out and generally saggy, so the lack of idle was more of a niggle than a major concern, until we started the bikes and rode across the road to the filling station. The BMW coughed and spluttered its way to the petrol pumps despite me switching to reserve. Ted and I had been timing our fill-ups based on the range of his Harley Sportster, but if the BMW was on reserve now its miles-per-gallon consumption must been have in the low 30s while riding off road. It wasn’t on reserve. So why was it spluttering now? Heading out of town past solar energy farms and deserted plantations, the BMW seemed to clear its throat as it drank in the cool morning air. All was well with the world, until we hit the first town; there was definitely a hesitation when getting back on the throttle. We pressed on, but I began riding in that hyper-aware state that comes with a faltering motor. On the steady speed runs between towns and villages it was fine. Pulling away from a stop, or when slowing for traffic or urban speed limits, the BMW was becoming a bit of a handful. One cylinder seemed to be cutting in and out while the other carried on as if nothing was wrong. After thirty miles of this we pulled over in a shaded garage forecourt, thinking that I’d rather be stranded somewhere with shade and a supply of crisps and fizzy drinks than on the flyblown edge of a scorched desert plains
road. The plugs confi confirmed rmed my suspicions; one was a delicate biscuit brown, the other sooty black. We checked the HT leads, cleaned the plugs and turned the engine over; sparks on both sides, although not great ones. The BMW’s float bowls are easy to remove, so they were next; no sign of grit, float valves working as they should, main jets clear. We decided to press on, working on the theory that whatever was wrong would either get worse – and so be easier to diagnose – or clear up of its own accord. Our little stop did show the difference between touring on a 35 year-old classic and touring on a three year-old Harley; while I had a tool box full of spanners, screwdrivers and various oily rags, Ted had hand cleaning wipes and cotton buds. Back on the road, and the BMW was better. Briefly. Before long, the hiccups were back. The Plan called for us to use a section of new and fast motorway, and I hoped that a high speed blast might blow out a few cobwebs – an Italian tune-up for a German bike – but no such luck. The bike wasn’t unrideable, but it wasn’t right either, and every village and junction had me juggling revs and clutch to keep moving forward without lurching into whatever was in front of me. And the most annoying thing? It was a perfect day for riding, and we were on perfect roads. As we moved from the scorched plains to the foothills of the Pyrenees the roads got smoother and twistier, the landscape lusher and greener, and – wonder of wonders – we started seeing more motorbikes.
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A BMW ABROARD
OFF THE BEATEN PART TRACK Martin Gelder and Ted are stumbling across the trails of northern Spain on two wholly inappropriate motorcycles, armed only with The Plan. Last month, they rode across a desert, and now The Plan calls for them to ride up a mountain‌ Photos by Martin Gelder
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TWO
JULY 2013 I 61
NEWS
OCTOBER 2009 JULY 2013
ROTARY RACER DEBUTS AT 1000 BIKES
T
heVMCC’s Festival of 1000 Bikes is famous for bringing historic racing motorcycles back to life and reuniting them with winning riders.This year’s event on July 13th and 14th has an added extra attraction in the shape of a brand new, British-built rotary-engined racebike.The CR700P is the latest creation of rotary racing expert Brian Crighton, and the 135kg machine will take to the track at Mallory Park for its first public appearance. JamieWhitham will ride the 200bhp beast alongside its historic counterparts in JPS Norton and Duckhams livery, being piloted by some of the riders –Trevor Nation,Terry Rymer and Steve Spray – who so successfully campaigned the original 588cc Nortons at the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s. If that isn’t enough to tempt you to attend, then another 1206 road and race machines will take part in this massive festival of classic motorcycling during the weekend, making Mallory the ideal place to see and hear old bikes in action.Those bikes will be ridden during the public sessions on both days, when the man in the street gets to let his classic off the leash for some spirited laps of the Mallory circuit.You can expect to see examples of every kind of P&J, from the very earliest veterans to superbikes from the 1970s; some being ridden just for fun and others taking things rather more seriously… On top of that little lot there’s an entire pantheon of Past Masters who’ll perform effortlessly rapid display laps on the Sunday, headlined byWorld ChampionWayne
Gardner on a works GP Honda 500. Look out for John Cooper on the Rocket 3, Manx GP winner Grahame Rhodes on the supercharged Velo Roarer, Ken Sprayson on an Enfield GP5, Phil Read MBE aboard an RG500, Ray Knight on a Triumph Trident, Mick Grant, Neil Hodgson, Nick Jefferies, Rob McElnea, John McGuinness, Jim Redman MBE, Michael andTony Rutter – plus Carl Fogarty and Jamie Whitham who star in their very own head-to-head special track session. There are opportunities throughout the weekend to meet the stars in the race paddock and to get a closer look at the unique machines on display; check the event website for the schedule of personal appearances.You’ll need to plan your weekend somewhat to make sure you don’t miss any of the action: there’s a pre-65 trial on the Saturday morning and a sprint demo on the start/finish straight on Sunday lunchtime.The 50-plus club displays and hundreds of autojumble stalls are open both days, with live entertainment starting in the BigTop on Friday evening alongside the real ale bar.The‘Stars on Stage’highlight on Saturday night starts at 6pm and will featureWayne Gardner, Carl Fogarty, Jamie Whitham, Neil Hodgson and Christian Sarron, with a stunt show on Friday and Saturday on the Stebbe Straight from 7.30pm, followed by a grand firework finale. Weekend and camping passes are available as well as single-day tickets, with prices from £20 per day, and you’ll find all the info at festivalof1000bikes.co.uk
Real Bikes. Real People. RealClassic: online at www.RealClassic.co.uk
JULY 2013 I 73
NEWS
CLASSICS IN KENT
SIDELINES
O
ver 300 bikes were ridden to the sixth Medway classic bike event in June, organised by the local branch of the TOMCC.The substantial turnout made this the most successful Medway event to date, and branch officer Bill Hardy reports that theTOMCC team ‘worked flat out to feed the masses.’ An estimated 500 visitors browsed the bikes parked outside and inspected the more formal indoor displays. Prizes were awarded for the BestTriumph-Powered Special (a Rob North triple); the Best Meriden Machine (a 1959T120) and the Best Hinckley Bike (an Adventurer), while a BSA Lightning was judged to be the best visiting marque and a tastyTriBSA was the chairman’s choice. The raffle and other fund-raising activities helped to generate over £600 for the KentAirAmbulance.
>>SPARES FOR SALE: Bill Little is looking to clear some space in his big barn and is offering job-lots of spares for British bikes. These are original components, not modern repro; available in bulk (but not being sold as individual parts, because there’s just too many!). Contact 01666 860577, or chat to Bill on August 3rd at his Classic Bike Meet from 10.30am to 3.30pm, at Oak Farm, Braydon near Swindon. classicbikesuk.com >>TRI-SUPPLY ON THE MOVE: Triumph spares specialist Tri-Supply are relocating to new premises at 6 South Farm Court in Budleigh Salterton, EX9 7AZ. There may be a new phone number to follow, but the web address remains trisupply.co.uk
DASH ALONG TO DARLEY MOOR
E
ntries have opened for the Thunderfest time trial on 15th September at Darley Moor in the Peak District. This event takes place on a general racing day but with its own classic paddock and scrutineer. Competitors in the classic time trial choose their target speed of between 50mph and 75mph, and the winner will be the person who manages an average speed nearest to their declared target.
Road bikes as well as race machines are welcome to take part. If you don’t fancy competing but would like to ride your old bike along, then all classics are also invited to join the static display in the paddock next to the Thunderfest entrants, with souvenirs for display participants. Entrants to the classic bike display will get one vehicle admission pass and two free tickets. 01928 740498 or info@thundersprint.com
PIONEER RUN REPRINT?
E
arlier this year, the Sunbeam MCC published‘The Story of the Pioneer Run’, a comprehensive and entertaining overview of this annual event. Publication was timed to coincide with the 75th Pioneer Run – but reality intervened and the 2013 run had to be cancelled.The first edition of the book swiftly sold out in any case and now its compilers, Baz and Jenny Staple, are considering producing a second edition for 2014… which in theory will be
right on time to celebrate the 75th run. Second time around! The new edition would include additional material which has come to light since the first was compiled, as well as an extra chapter covering the events of 2013. If you’d be interested in reserving a copy of the second edition, Baz would love to hear from you – customer feedback will help the Sunbeam Club decide how many copies to produce. Please express your interest to jennybaz.staple@gmail.com
>>NORMOUS SUCCESS AT NEWARK: the second revitalised Normous Newark autojumble in June attracted its biggest crowd for years, including bargain hunters from all over the Midlands – and far further afield. One chap had travelled from Germany, seeking spares for his BSA restoration amid the thousand or so trade and autojumble stalls. The next Newark jumble is on July 21st, with a further four dates during the autumn. See classicbikeshows.com >>TT ATTRACTS OVER 11,000 RIDERS: more than 11,000 motorcycles and 35,000 passengers travelled by ferry to the Isle of Man for the TT races. That’s much the same as last year which was particularly busy, and already bookings for the Manx GP are up by 25% compared to the same time in 2012. So if you’re hoping to the head the Island in August then you may want to book your bikes onto the boat, pronto… >>CALLING CLUBS: if your marque club branch or local enthusiast group would like to make the most of the Popham Megameet on August 18th, you’re invited to contact the organiser in advance to arrange FREE passes for club members bringing a bike to display. Contact pophamairfield@btconnect.com >>GO RACING AT AINTREE: if you fancy testing your mettle (and your metal) in classic competition then there are still three race days at Aintree circuit at Liverpool this season, with classes for 125, 250, 350, 500cc and unlimited machines, plus modern motorcycles too. Club membership costs £15 and then £95 secures you two race entries at an event, with options for more races if you’re feeling feisty. 01942 670370 / aintreemotorcycleracingclub.co.uk
Real Bikes. Real People. RealClassic: online at www.RealClassic.co.uk
JULY 2013 I 75
SEND YOUR SMALL AD by post to PO Box 66, Bude EX23 9ZX, or email words and a pic to TP@realclassic.net
BUY AND SELL FOR FREE!
Send a Small Ad to the fabulously delicious Typing Person and she’ll post your wants, bits and bikes for sale on the RealClassic website straight away. Of course, your Small will also appear in the very next issue of the magazine, too. You’re also welcome to include a clear photo to show people just how great your bike is! MODEL
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SMALL ADS
BSA ROAD ROCKET, 1957. Reimport. VMCC dating cert. Comprehensive rebuild, includes TT carb, all important parts are correct, wheel hubs, etc. 12V. Completed last August. £6250 ono. 01773 608827
ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET, 450cc Tollgate conversion, 2008 model, 3800km (c1800km on new engine). Good condition. Disc front brake, stainless silencer, Boyer powerbox, motor internals all new. £2450. 02380 255851, Hants
TRIUMPH DAYTONA 500, 1968. Restored 2 years ago. MoT Oct. Matching numbers. New complete clutch. Engine top end rebuilt. Steelwork repainted. £4250ono. Paul, 07900 924347
HONDA GL1000 GOLDWING, 1976. Blue, rechromed, original paintwork, s/s spokes, new battery, fork seals, rear shocks, MoT and tax. 57,000 miles. £2850ono. 01945 589482 Cambs
DNIEPER 650 in full custom trim, leather saddlebags, apehangers, custom mirrors, etc. Fully restored and very smart, year is 1989. Full MoT. £1600 Nigel, 01692 406075.
TRIUMPH 3TA, 1964. Tax/MOT 2014. Everything works. Selling for health reasons. £3500ono. 01543 483321, Midlands
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SEND YOUR SMALL AD by post to PO Box 66, Bude EX23 9ZX, or email words and a pic to TP@realclassic.net
VELOCETTE LE, Mark111, 1965. T&T, running well, fitted winkers for safety. Ex-Hull Police. £1195. Richard, 01842 819969, Norfolk
RICKMAN CRE PREDATOR, 1980 W-reg. 2 owners, much history. Z1000J motor, Wiseco 1105 big bore kit, electronic ignition, Goodridge oil cooler, full build sheet & dyno chart. Dyno’d at 118bhp. SORN. £4500. 02380 255851, Hants
SUZUKI GSXR 1100. Tax and MoT. 26k miles. Standard apart from sports exhaust. Real head turner. £2500. South Wales, 07852 194868
BSA B31, 1956. Good starter and runner (new magneto). Maroon. £3300. Roger, 01354 741099 (Cambridgeshire) or rog.jac@virgin.net
SUZUKI 650 BURGMAN EXECUTIVE. 59 plate 15K miles. FSH, good condition. New rear disc, brake pads and tyre. Both wheels refinished. Top box and spare exhaust. Superb tourer. £3450. Cornwall 01209 212034
HONDA DEAUVILLE, 2000. 35.6k miles, Tall/short screen, h/ grips, hand guards, HID headlight, Halogen fittings, 45l top box, good tyres, toolkit, spare bulbs, T&T. £1750. Carl, 07745 089853 or carl_g_cope@yahoo.co.uk, Wilts
TRITON 650 café racer. £6000 ovno. Dry use only since rebuild in 2008. Chrome, some nuts / bolts a bit pitted. Runs and is very loud! No T&T. conwaya173@yahoo.co.uk or 07900 087943
TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE T140V. 750, 1976 P-Reg, 5-speed. Unused 12yrs. Few parts missing, indicators, light lens, ign switch, battery, speedo, rev counter. Paintwork/chrome OK but not perfect. £2750ono. 07760 429797, Blackpool
TRIUMPH 3T 350, 1947. Low seat, easy start, very pleasant ride, all complete and original, tele forks and rigid rear but comfortable. No need for T&T. £4600ono. Reg, 01242 870375 B4 9pm, Cheltenham
ARIEL VH500, 1954. Special built for charity ride, interesting recent BMW R80/7, 1978, 800cc. Considered to be the best of history. Oil leak keeps engine free from rust! Plenty of patina. No the airhead Boxers. With twin front brake discs and rear need for T&T. £3500ono. Reg, 01242 870375 B4 9pm, Cheltenham panniers. P/X small British bike. WHY? 01666 860577 (T) North Wilts
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BSA STARFIRE, 1968 B25 250cc. Original bike and fairly respectable too. Would PX towards bigger BSA or sell £1850. 01666 860577 (T) North Wilts
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CLASSIC TECHNIQUES
When his stalwart sidevalve started to struggle under the strain, Shaun Gibbons went on a search for the big squeeze...
Photos by Shaun Gibbons
BOOSTING A BEESA
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This is a cast-iron BSA cylinder head. It’s in a condition sometimes referred to as ‘patinated’. Also ‘rusty’
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’ve got me a very nice 1960 BSA M21, known in America as the Commander, and with its 37 cubic inches of raw power it has proven to be just about OK. But – and you’ll notice that’s a big ‘but’ – as I’m man-sized, when loaded it does tend to climb hills like a fully freighted lorry. Drop a gear or two, and the engine just screams. Nothing else seems to happen. Something had to be done, but what?
A friend with an M20 did something that had me jealous. His thing goes up hills like a rat up a drainpipe. The extra capacity of my M21 should have given my bike an awesome 2bhp advantage over the smaller sidevalve. So I asked him what had he done to make it so wonderful? It was all a bit involved but I thought I’d give it a go. It seems the secret of it all is down to compression. The more, the better. Both the 496cc M20 and 596cc M21 run at 5:1 compression as standard.
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CLASSIC TECHNIQUES
The underside of the head reveals two things. It’s as rusty as the topside, and the sidevalve combustion chamber is a thing of wonder This is the original alloy head. Observe how it is not rusty. It is a very handsome head…
This slightly disgusting-looking mixture is a rust-removing plant. And it works, too
After the rust-removing chemistry set, here comes the advanced re-finishing chemistry set…
So the search was set. First I needed to get a cast iron cylinder head. My M21 is a 1961 model so has an alloy head fitted, and the combustion chamber needed to be welded up. Doing ally welding isn’t in my remit, but my chum had a pile of nickel welding rods so it was far easier to get a cast iron head. I placed a wanted advert in the VMCC mag, and as soon as it dropped on the door mat, the phone called out to me. Just seven miles from my front door a FREE cast iron head was waiting. All was well with it, but the lad wasn’t into BSAs. And sadly it was caked in rust, due to him leaving it out in the garden stashed in a tin box. There was so much rust on it that the head looked like more a boat anchor. Being lazy and having no time to get it blasted, I started a search to find an easy way to get the rust off. It didn’t take too long to find the answer: a battery charger, washing soda, water, and a lump of iron. Connect the negative to the head, the positive to the lump of iron, bung it all in a solution of soda, and leave it be. A few hours later and the head was almost rust free. Blimey! It worked. Then I placed it in a bucket full of Coke – that’s the real Coke, not that cheapo muck. And another day or two later, what I pulled out was a nice black cast iron cylinder head. Job’s a good un. Now to get it welded, after spraying a little bit, just to keep it rustfree you understand. So my chum Barry took the head into his fettling shed and a heartbeat later, there it was, with half the combustion chamber all welded up with nickel.
Real Bikes. Real People. RealClassic: online at www.RealClassic.co.uk
JULY 2013 I 87
FRANK WESTWORTH one talking algebra with an idiot, that he does know that his chaincase leaks because … well … it leaks. I ask him whether he recognises the difference between a drip and a leak. He inevitably starts looking for an exit at this point. But I am relentless. I explain, slowly and carefully that although oil can drip from that chaincase it rarely leaks from it. AMC, with the wisdom for which they are unfairly ignored, designed their chaincase so it can breathe. The twin engine in particular breathes through the drive-side main bearing. Into? You’ve got it; the primary chaincase. Which in turn needs to vent that pressure. If the crankcase pressure is not vented, the chaincase will leak. So AMC’s ace designer, probably Phil Walker but possibly Charles Udall, put a hole high up in the inner chaincase. This is great, and it vents merrily. With the onset of the classic mania, where bikes prices rise absurdly as their usage falls in sympathy, owners discovered the expression ‘sumping’, whereby oil can drain slowly from the oil tank, through the gear oil pump, and into the engine’s crankcases (they don’t in fact have a sump, but who cares about facts?). When, after a variable but too lengthy period, Proud Owner fires up the engine, the oil pump valiantly returns the oil to the tank … but until it’s done that task, which may take a while, crankcase pressure blows it into the primary chaincase and out – had you guessed? – of the breather hole at the rear. Generations of the demon bodger have tried, heroically, to seal that hole. I must have discovered a dozen chaincases with the breather hole sealed using big washers, bath caulk and bolts – even on one memorable occasion by two old pennies. Sealing that hole cures the drip, but creates a leak – the pressure needs to go somewhere. And it always does. Ariel singles do not breathe through the primary chaincase: they breathe through crankcase breathers. So there’s no pressure in the chaincase, and it should never leak. Well… it should never leak if the aforementioned and endlessly despairing demon bodger hasn’t been at the joint faces with the hammer and cold chisel, attempting with customary vigour and idiocy to remove old Hermetite. Red is easy to remove with patience; Green far less so. An old blunt screwdriver and liberal and environmentally catastrophic solvent abuse works well. But of course I cannot recommend this. Oh no. Soak the old sealant and appalling gasket remnants with your favourite solvent until all is sloppy, then slide the edge of the blunt screwdriver blade and watch the mess lift away.
In the great confusion which is a magazine’s production cycle, we somehow omitted this picture. It reveals how a magnet on an extendable stick can be used to pull a filthy oily drive chain through the darkness of a full-enclosed chaincase. FW included it a month late because The Reader asked about it, and he always aims to please
The secret to chaincase oiltightness is good preparation of the surfaces. This is best done before fitting the inner case to the engine. Well…
A few months of careful scraping and solvent abuse will almost always produce a clean, flat surface
And here’s the other half of the chaincase, all ready to bolt up
Real Bikes. Real People. RealClassic: online at www.RealClassic.co.uk
JULY 2013 I 111
Frank this time. Sparkling stuff from ing cabers. Or not, Maybe seals and fly g on many things… of course, dependin
M O R F S E L A T
D E H S E H T M
uch has been said and much more has been written about the various ways of sealing joints. No no, not that kind of joint, I mean the joint faces between components, of which there are many on a motorcycle. Tsk… Flushed with understandable if simpleminded success at the successful reassembly of the engine’s primary side, and twitching with nervous excitement at the thought of getting to grips with the clutch (that was a subtle joke, in case you missed it)(getting a grip … clutch?? OK. Forget it) I set to with the hammer and cold chisels which RealBikers use to ensure that their bikes always leak lots of oil. Oh all right; that was another attempt at humour. What I should say is that I cleaned up the joint surfaces of both halves of the primary chaincase. And I will tell you how I did this, and I hope that you will write in and tell me some better ways. Not because my way (pause for a brief Frank Sinatra moment) is the wrong way, simply because I like to learn. Joint faces leak oil for two main reasons. The first of these is that they have been butchered by some brainless barbarian, to the extent that the surfaces are damaged beyond the point of rescue by a sympathetic but unskilled soul like me. The second reason they leak is that the assembler is an idle person like me and hasn’t bothered to clean off the remains of the old attempts at sealing the joint. Primary chaincases appear to be more victims of the demon bodger than other joints. This is probably because loads of enthusiastic but cretinous enthusiasts believe that they will improve their lives by failing once more to cure a leak. The third reason they leak is because they are designed to leak. This prompts an aside. An Aside. A regular question on the RC events stand wonders how to cure the leak from the excellent cast-alloy AMC primary chaincase. I gently explain that the chaincase very rarely leaks. It requires a peculiar absence of both skill and understanding to make one of them leak. They are not as leak-proof as a Norton Commando chaincase, but are very good. Humble questioner explains kindly, as
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