WHATLIES WITHIN
EXCE LSIO RSUPER X.................................... 6
The history of the American Excelsiorisrarely told, and the bikes are rare indeed in the UK. Alan Cathcartdelves into the pastand rides a survivor…
VE LOCETTEVICEROY ................................ 26
Is this the frst –and last–British superscooter? Frank Westworth encountersVelocette’s noble Viceroy…
HO NDASUPER FOUR ................................ 34
When Honda introduced their home-market retro-roadsters in the early 1990s,they crammed all the excitement of the litre-class machinesinto apint-size package.Thirty yearslater, they’re attractively afordable. Paul Miles praises the rise of the worthless machine…
TR IUMPHTRI DE NT 90 0............................. 42
Three decades ago, Alan Thirsk almost bought a Moto Guzzi. Instead, he came home with one of the early Hinckley Triumphs. Togetherthey’ve shared some rare escapadesoverthe years…
TR IUMPHTRW ........................................... 50
It might’ve started life as amilitary machine,but Mark Holyoake reckons his Triumph 500 twin is in fact The Relaxing Wanderer…
MZ TROPHY ............................................... 60
Like Victor Frankenstein, Andy Havill has constructed acreation from undead components. Will his MZ turn out to be a monster?
NO RTON NAVIGATO R............................... 66
Ever fancied Norton’s oddly unlovedNavigator? Paul Henshaw has history with one,and has recentlyfettled another. Here’s what he has to say…
LAVE RDAALPINO..................................... 74
THE CONTENTSPAGE....................................
3
Thanks for all heroic contributors for this month’s typically eclectic collection of motorcycling tales. Really! We have a250 stroker (and how!), aNorton Navigator, a Honda, amighty American and possibly the greatest Velocette ever made. Iwonder what’ll turn up for next month…
WE’VE GOTMAIL! ........................................ 16
All is lively in the letters pages thisissue, which is more than can be said for the ads. Hmmm. Is this ASign?
READERS’FREE ADS .................................... 58
It’s oddly quiet on the selling bikes front.FWis still looking for abargain…
LETTER FROM AMERICA.............................. 22
You, gentle reader, may be entirely familiar with the foibles of old British bikes. It’seasy to overlook quite how ‘challenging’ they can be to someone living half aworld away.KevinLemire shares some serious wisdom…
PUBTALK ..................................................... 82
PUB’s long sufering Scrufy Suzuki fnally demands abit of attention. In mid-winter and just before an MoT is required of course…
OLLIE’SODD JOB ......................................... 88
Last time, Stu Thomson exploredthe history and development of Laverda’s 350 and 500 dohc parallel twins. This time,hestarts taking them apart…
Once again, Ollie has scoured the entireplanet, seeking out something truly remarkable for our delectation. ALavzuki, anyone?
TALES FROM THE SHED ............................... 92
Frank’s totally exhausted! Or… hisBeezer is. A tale of paint and pipes…
WHO’S DONE WHAT
THE MARCH 2025 edition of RealClassic magazine wasassembledaseverby Frank Westworthand Rowena Hoseason of the Cosmic Bike Co Ltd. Sanjayand Arun at Druck Media prepareall the pageswhile Mortons Media Group Ltd(01507 529529) manage publishing,trade advertising, your subscriptions,specialofers,merchandise and back issues.HappySpring Equinox, everyone!
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 EX239ZX.Please includeanSAE if youwant something returned or apersonal reply
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THIS MONTH we’vebeen reading JONATHAN STRANGE &MISTER NORRELL which is even better as abook than aT Vseries; ASCENSION by Nicholas Binge –the meaning of lifeis discovered on topofabrand-new mountain; END OF SUMMER by Anders de laMotte –convoluted Scandi crime; EYEOFTHE RED TSAR, THE RED COFFIN and SIBERIAN RED,all by SamEastland, set in Russia around the time of the redrevolution. Also THE DARK TAKES FOOLS by Mark Hanwick (classy scifstuf ).
MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES we were equally amazed by Alan Moore’sTHE SHOW (surreal neo-noir myster yinNor thampton!) and POOR THINGS (surreal steampunk with no fear of intimate encounters); LOLA (the weirdest WW2alternativehistor ywe’ve ever seen); ELEVATION (daft monsters which apparently can’t climb mountains); SATURDAYNIGHT (possibly means something to fans of American TV comedy); TWISTERS (storm- chasing cowboys!); THE WARRIOR’S WAY(gorgeous visuals,amazing mar tial ar ts in aNippon /Wild West mash-up); CHIEF OF STATION (proves thatAaron Eckhar thas got the moves, but also thataflm really needs at least one aspect of plot,script or adequate direction to make anysor tofsense); SPUTNIK which somehow sidestepped the sanctions (risky!) to deliver a thought-provok ing Soviet sci-fstory with one of the best aliens we’veseen in along while, and THE KILLER’S GAME which let Dave Bautista loose in an action-packedromp withwry style (and excellenteye -candy including aCanAm Spyder!!). Amazing soundtrack,too RealClassic is published monthlybyMMG Ltd, Horncastle,LN9 6JR,UK
FROM THE FRONT
It is always something of aserioussurprise to remind myself of my erratically increasing age.For example,this timelast year we –Rowena and I–werewaiting fora bout of decently serious surger ytofxone of my most major organs.Inprobably inevitable moments of gloom Idecided thatthere waslittle pointinplanning fora future which appeared nebulous at best.Rowena’s suggestionwas simple: drag abike out and take it fora ride.Ialwaysdid and it always made things alot better
Oncemymorecustomar yrealism was restored by decentridesand outstandingly mis-spentafternoons and evenings with friends who should probably know better –as should I, of course –itbecame easier to gaze around and contemplate futureevents. The moreI foundtimetoride around the place, thelessunhappyIbecame. Youmightbe amused to learnthatthe impossibly sk ilful surgeon who did the actual Stuf ambled over to the post-opbed in IntensiveCare to reveal thatall had gone well…and then insisted thatIshould reward the timeand efor tofhis team (a huge number of medical professionals) by getting outthere, walk ing a lot and riding around on my dangerous noisy motorcycles.Kid you, Idonot.
It wasgreat advice. Andit’sadvicewhich Ipass on in my ownway to friends who face similar moments.This is personal stuf Iknow, but Ifnd thatattough moments Ireally do need distractions.Bikes provide seemingly endless distractions,almost from frst principles WhydoIwantone? What’s it actually for? How can Ichoose adecentexample of the marque or model Ihavesomehowselected? Will it survivea test ride? Do Ievenneed to test ride it? On and endlessly on. Severalreaders,riders andfriends down the years ask me whether I’mevershortofideas foratale or two? The happyanswer is thatithappens onlyveryrarely –with one condition: thatIwanttofnd funin whichever odd bitofmotorbiking I’mfxated with at the time.
Consider the BSAA65 whichhas been the subjectofmyskill-less attentions forquite some time.I’vebuilt Beezer specials in the
past,but wasstill startled at howlittle Iactually know aboutthem. So Iasked around –the Owners’Club is alwaysthe best placetostart. Although Iknew loads about the 1971 range of oil-bearing framemachiner yoferedbyBSA and Triumph, I’dnever really considered it up close and technical.Sothis time that’swhatI did,and you’ve been able to read theresults in TheShed.Ihope youenjoy reading these tales as much as Ienjoywriting them and per forming sundr yspanner acrobatics
It ’s maybe tooeasy to putofchallenges –bethey ever so small and insignifcant or huge and terrifying –for aseemingly valid reason. I’ve done it lots,and still do,of course.But it ’s nearly March, nearly the better weather time,time forless spannering and research and formoretime in the saddle.I doubt thatany of us can afectthe various global disasters which appear with relentless regularity, but we all can do our best to avoid contributing to the general gloom –which is best accomplished by being as cheer yas possible and sharing thatwith our friends Well…Idotry!
Andride safely
Frank Westworth
Frank@realclassic.net
Legend The Lost
The histor yofthe American Excelsior is rarely told,and the bikes arerareindeed in the UK.AlanCathcar tdelvesintothe past andrides asur vivor…
Photos by Oli Tennent
One hundred- odd years agoat the dawn of the Roaring ’20s, beforeHarley star tedhogging things therewerethree main players in American motorcycling,out of the morethan 200 diferentmanufac turers of varying degrees of fnancial solvenc yand technical prowess which had attempted to car ve out aplacefor themselves in the excitingand potentially proftable new arena of mechanised personal transpor tation. Theso- called Big Three consisted of Indian, Harley-Davidson –and Excelsior.S o, alongside GM and Ford, read Chr ysler –ortoBSA /Triumph and AJS/ Matchless,add Nor ton.
Matchless, add ton.
Supply Companywas Chicago in 1876 by George T. initially distributed sewing before, in the early 1890s, the booming bic ycle hicago had become thecentre cycleindustr y, with collec tively churning out bikes each day, and indeed bic ycles ayear were produced the turnofthe centur y, many ough depar tmentstores’ hopping.But the sales boom ,asthe market inevitably got y1905 US bic ycle sales had uar teroftheir 1900 volume, agrowing interest in powered
The Excelsior Company was formed in in G eorge T Robie, and distributed sewing machine par ts ear 1890s, it branched into the business Chicago the centre of the American cycle industry, with thir ty fac tories churning out thousands of over a million a year were in the USA by n of the century, of them sold through tment stores’ mail order shopping. But was shor t-lived, as the mar got saturated, so by 1905 US bicycle fallen to just a quar ter of their not helped by a growing interest in two-wheelers
’s son Frederick who father to begin ing motorcycles,establishing Motorand Manufac turing to do so.I ts frst model, Triumph Model B, used a cThor F-head/IOE (inletxhaust,aka ‘pocket valve’)singleengine designed by Indian, under license by theAurora Machine Co., 40 miles west lbeit installed in Excelsior ’s
It was Robie’s son persuaded his father to begin manufac tur motorcycles, establishing the Excelsior M otor and M anufac turing Co. in 1907 to do so Its named the M odel used a 1¾hp 344cc Thor F-head / IOE over-exhaust, ak a valve’) singlecylinder engine I ndian, but built under the Aurora Automatic M achine 40 west of Chicago, albeit in own chassis.
In 1908 the frst self-built Model A was introduced, designed George M eiser, joined in the famous line 1000cc X-t These were so -called because, though powered by a 45° and (40°) I ndian rivals, their ofset c ylinders denoted conrods sat side -by-side on the crank pin, rather than the fork-andblade system t wo used
frst 100% self-built Excelsior troduced,designed by oined in 1910 by the frst of of 1000ccX-t win Excelsiors alled because,though 5° V-twin like their Harley rivals,their ofset cylinders ods which satside -by-side rather than the fork-andsy which the other twoused (and Harley stilldoes). TheX-t winwas an instant hit in the fast-growing US motorcycle market of the day, to the ex tent thatthe renamed Excelsior Motorc ycle Co.could not keep up withdemand.S oRobie Jnr.
Not asight we seeevery day in the UK
expanded both its manufacturingfacilities and its produc tline,but in doingsoovertaxed the company’sresources, so alack of capital to fund this expansion lef titripe for atakeover.
German-bornbic ycle tycoon Ignaz Schwinn had emigratedto theUSA in 1891, aged 31.I n1895, with the fnancial backing of afellowG erman immigrant,meatpacker Adolph Arnold,hefounded Arnold,S chwinn &Co. to get whatsoon became alarge slice of the booming American bicycle business. Fuelled by the profts from this,S chwinn snapped up severalsmallerbic ycle frms, but as sales declined he decided to enter the fast-growing motorcycle sector by the simple expedientofpurchasingExcelsior Motorc ycle Co., which he did by writing acheque made out to Frederick Robie on Februar y1,1912 forhalf amillion dollars –the equivalentof$16.5 million today. To house his new acquisition, Schwinnbuilt a new fac tory in Chicago which wasone ofthe industrial architec tural wondersofits day–asix-foor all- concrete200,000f t² building housing the world’slargest motorcycle plant, with atest track on the roof.Perhaps
that’swherethe architec tofFiat’sfamed Lingottofac tory in Turin, which was inaugurated only in 1923 but with the same feature, got the idea forit!
In 1913 the Excelsior X-twin wasofered with all- chain driveand twofur ther innovations: at wo -speed planetar y transmission, and aleaf-spring frontfork (copied from Indian!). By this time the original Excelsior single had been dropped, beingreplaced for1914 by a250cct wostroke lightweight. Alongside rivals HarleyDavidson and Indian, Excelsior ofered a three -speed countershaf ttransmission for 1915, while at the same time introducing anew frame with acur vedtop tube and a smoothly rounded tank ,and in 1917 deeply valanced mudguards.
‘M ilitar y’ olivegreen wasadopted as the Excelsior liver ythatyear,denoting the fac t thatthe frmfurnished motorcycles to the American Army during WorldWar 1, with soldiers nick naming them ‘BigX’owing to the large letter Xemblazoned on the fuel tank. This would remain the only colour option until 1920, when Navy Blue with fne gold pinstriping became the company’s
house colour forthe rest of itslife. In 1921 a 1210ccBig Xt win- cylinder model wasadded to the range,but by this time Excelsior had acquired the manufac turing rights to the Henderson Four,and the days of thelarger X-twins were numbered.I ndeed,they were all gone by 1925, Excelsior preferring to concentrateits resourcesonthe Henderson Four,and the newly introduced Super-X 750ccV-t win.
Ignaz Schwinn had added the respec ted Detroit-based Henderson marque to his stable in 1917, allowing Excelsior to be the frst of the BigThree to ofer arange of prestige four-cylinder models,onone of which adventurer Carl Clanc yhad been the frst motorcyclist to circle theglobe back in 1913. Henderson only ever made fours: Harley never got round to it,and Indian only didsobyacquiring the failing Acecompany in 1927, which the Henderson brothers William and Tomhad founded in 1919, af terleaving Excelsior in disillusionment with Schwinn’s wayofdoing things –ie. commercially and proftably.The fac tthat the range of AceFours(laterrenamed Indians) wasdesigned by former
THEENG INEROOM
The Excelsior forks arerobust,and thetubes run throughthe mudguard,which was–and remains –unusual.The brake, however, is tooweak for modern roads
How’sthis for aremarkablefront end? The bikewas originally suppliedtothe Dutch police, who presumablyspecifiedthe siren andspotlight
Excelsior engineer Ar tLemon, who left the companytojoin Aceafter Bill Henderson’s death in December 1922 when hewas hit by acar just outside the Acefac tory while testing anew 1923 model,made theAce / Excelsior connec tion all themorepoignant Prestige Henderson ownersincluded Henr y Ford -who also owned an Excelsior X-twin giventohim by his pal Charles Lindbergh, of fying fame
Schwinn’s acquisition of Excelsior had seen the companyswiftly become avolume manufac turer and one of America’sBig Three, as well as amajor playeringlobal motorcycling,with theX-t winsexpor tedto Australia and to Europe,wherethey carried the ‘American-X’ label,toavoid confusion withthe unrelatedBritish andG erman Excelsior marques.
Although amoney man at hear t, Schwinn became akeen rider whorealised the impor tanceofengineering excellence, as well as competition, in raising the profle of his companyand endowingits produc ts with customer appeal.Hence the developmentofthe racing Big-XExcelsiors which collec tedahost of Worldrecords over twodecades,all based on thestock 1000cc IOE X-twin, on one of which in December 1912 LeeHumiston became thefrst man in the worldtobeofcially timed at over 100mph on twowheels,atthe Playadel Rey Motordrome in LosAngeles.
During the Teens and 20s,star Excelsior riders likeJake DeRosier,Bob Perr yand Joe Petrali car vedout daredevil reputations as aces of the US boardtracks anddir tovals, initially riding Excelsior ’s catalogued SC (as in ‘shor t- coupled ’, or shor twheelbase) customer racers to vic tory againsttheir Indian and Harley rivals.Then,inJanuary 1920, Excelsior designer J.A. McNeil –himself an acedir t-tracker –unveiled one of thefnest American V-twin engines
HISTORYINPICTURE S
ever built,the bevel- driveoverhead- cam Excelsior race motor which wasset to make its debutatAscot Speedway in LA in Januar y thatyear.Sadly,the Excelsior team’s lead rider BobPerry wask illed on the new bike just twodaysbeforethe race,fromwhich the fac tory team duly withdrew,and indeed little more waseverheardofthis unique motorc ycle
Excelsior ’s existing IOE engine design never theless helped its riders continue winning into the Roaring 20s,inwhich racing success helped fuel Excelsior ’s sales of itsstreetbikes.These ranged from at wostroke Ladies model,tothe frstever750cc model,the IOE Super-X unveiled in 1924 as acountertoI ndian’s smaller capacit y but never theless best-selling600ccS cout launchedin1920. With its unit construction vertically split aluminiumcrankcase engine fttedwith gear primar ydrive,same as the Scout,this wasanavantgardedesign whose immediate commercial success, and Excelsior ’s infuential presenceatthe industr y’sthree -way powertable,forced
ofcial adoption of the 750ccclass for racing in 1926 –a formula thatremained in forcefor AMAoval-track Nationals rightup until very recently.Thank Excelsior foryour decades of dominance via the XR750, Harley fans
But the harsh efec ts on motorcycle sales of the 1929 Wall Street Crash and ensuing Depression, coupled with the need to devoteresourcestohis conversely buoyant bic ycle business,eventually persuaded Ignaz Schwinn –bynow 71 –toshut down Excelsior.Heand his son Frank held acontrolling interest in over 50 diverse businesses in the Chicago area, so his motorcycle operation wasnolonger integral to the family’sfor tunes.Despite lik ing motorcycles and being reluc tanttoclose the company, which had arespec table order book and wasfar from insolvent, at aM arch 1931meeting with his key management Ignaz Schwinn announced the immediate end of Excelsior-Henderson produc tion with the famous statementthat‘Boys,today we quit.’ Andso they did –just like that. His
son Frank, no motorcycle fan, and guided solely by the harsh realities of theeconomic depression, took over day-to -day operations, and the only motorcycles built af terM arch 31, 1931 were ahandful clandestinely assembled by Excelsior employees fortheir ownuse
Although already publicised overseas in 1923 via ads in Britain’s twobest-selling motorcycle week lies TheMotor Cycle and MotorCycling,the Excelsior Super X wasintroduced to the American market the following year as a1925 model.I t representedasradical adepar ture from conventional motorcycle technology as the Indian Scout had done on its1920 launch, forits 750ccIOE V-twin engine was efec tively the 600ccS cout gone large,but with improved per formancevia not only its bigger engine, but also its F-head /IOE (overhead inlet valve, side exhaust)format compared to the Scout ’s sidevalvemotor TheSuper Xengine’s genesis wasan improbable one,for it had been penned by Ar thur Constantine when he wasAssistant
The 1925 model.Ver ysimilartothe test machine
Chief Engineer at the Harley-Davidson MotorCompany, and drew up plans fora mid-sized V-Twin to competeagainst the hugely successful Indian Scout. But when he presentedthe unauthorised projec twhich he’d createdofhis ownbat to co-founder Walter Davidson, he wasreprimanded for wasting the company’stime on theprojec t! Constantine thereforeresigned from Harley-Davidson, and ofered both his ser vices and his projec ttoExcelsior.S chwinn immediately accepted both,leadingtothe Excelsior Super Xstar ting produc tion in 1925, efec tively thus replacingExcelsior ’s current mainstream model,the 1000cc X-Twin, which wasdiscontinued during the frst year of Super Xproduc tion.The smallerbike wasviewed as amoresuitable companion model to thecompany ’s Henderson Fours,and fur thermoreprovedin its frst year to be competitiveinall formsof competition –but especially hill- climbs and oval track racing –against bigger-engined rivals.I ndeed,Excelsior aceJoe Petrali set anew record of 107.71mph fora measured mile on aSuper X, the frsttimeasmaller displacementbike had broken the ‘ton’. Theair-cooled Super Xunit construction dr ysump 45º V-twin motor retaining the X-Twin’s IOE valvegear measured 76.20 x81.76mm foracapacit yof746cc. The three -speed hand- change gearboxwas boltedtothe back of theengine’sver tically split aluminiumcrankcases,with aquieter
primar ydrive than the chain it replaced consistingofthree helical pinions running in an oil-tightcase,with an oil-bath clutch. The twin-loop tubular steel rigidframe carried Excelsior ’s ownleading-link girder fork with dual coil springs and aplunger damper. Wheelbasewas aquitecompac t56½ inches –slightly shor terthan the Scout Ahigher-per formanceSuper Spor tmodel wasalso available, and this pair of Super-X models continued with fewchanges until 1929. That ’s when Excelsior launched the benchmark Streamline version of the Super X, whosestyling set the futurestandardfor the American Wayofbuilding twin- cylinder motorcycles,and in doing so createdthe protot ype fortoday ’s American V-twin cruisers.
Long,low and lean, with aseatheight of just 27 inches,the new full-fender Streamline Excelsior introduced design features thathavebeen asignatureofall such bikes (mainly Harleys) ever since. These included the splitteardrop fuel tanks locatedatopthe upper frame tube,rather than belowitasbefore, and surmounted by instruments,with the IOEX-t winengine (a limitededition OHV version allowed Excelsior to win National Hillclimb titles in 1929/30, but wasnever adapted to the street) set lowinthe frame,and theExcelsior trademarkofthe leading-link forkspassing through the frontmudguard. The1929 Super Xalsointroduced the motorcycle
worldtobright, vibrantcolours,including two-tone paintschemes,and had its introduc tion not coincided with the Wall Street crash, would surely have been an even bigger commercial as well as st ylesetting success.
Forsome reason –maybe because Excelsior marketed the moreproftable Henderson Four harderthan its 750cc V-twin –Super Xmotorcycles arerelatively uncommon nowadays,althoughatleast one lives in England.But when Yorkshireman Alan Dalepurchased thatbike in 2015 from aDutch dealer,this American-made motorcycle came with aver ylarge and prominently mountedCorbink ilometre speedo reading up to 100k m/h mounted above the fuel tank ,and direc tly driven via ajockey gear running of alarge dedicated sprocket on the rear wheel. That ’s because this Super Xwas supplied new to theDutch Police, who presumably used it to collec tlots of guilders from speeding cloggies in the days beforethe cameras which proliferate on the countr y’shighways todaywere dreamed up.
I’ve been fortunate to ride several other Early Americans recently,but never yetan Excelsior of anyvintage,sobeinginvited by Alan Dale to sample his 1928 Super Xbearing engine no.L5346 on the wide openspaces of the Bicester Airfeld test course flled thatgap.The bike is undeniablyhandsome look ing,and though the recipient of an
CLOSER LOOKS
older restoration looksver yauthentic,with the odometer on the Corbin speedo showing 21,487 km –maybe from new?
‘I sawapic tureofitabout seven or eight years ago in aDutch dealer ’s ad,and liked thelookofit, so Ibought it,simple as that,’saysAlan Dale.‘Star tingitisabit of a procedure, because youhavetoremember to turnonboth oil taps as well as the petrol, sincethere’sone feeding straighttothe crank ’s big end bearings and one to the oil pump,which does returnoil to the tank –it ’s not atotal loss system. There’sa hand oilpump if needed forjust when it needs an ex trabit of lubrication goingupa hillor suchlike,but I’ve rarely usedit. Thek ickstart is good,because there’sanautomatic valve lif terthatcomesinjust as youk ickit, which I’ve never seen on anythingelse, but worksa treat. Here, let me showyou.’ Andsohedid, with the Excelsior spluttering into lifesecond kick ,after turning of the choke on the topof the Schebler carbasbeing unnecessary even from cold on awarmsummer morning.
Praise be,this Excelsior waseither supplied new or had been conver tedinHolland to aright-hand throttle,with the advance/ retardtwistgrip controlled by your lefthand Compared to the contemporar yIndianScout 101 I’ve ridden with its left-hand throttle thatInever quitegot my head around, the Excelsior wasa paragon of normality–though stillwith thatgreat American period piece, afootclutch.
‘I bu rn tt he clutch out on my ve ry fir st tr ip anyw herew ith the bike!’ said Al an Dal e with aw ry smil e. ‘They jus td on’t li ke towns, and Itook it to al ocal sh ow,b ut got stu ck in tr affic all the wayb ack .Icoul ds mel lt he clutch co mpl aining,t ill even tually it jus t gave up on me.It hen had al ot of has sl e getting re placemen tc lutch pl ates because I’db ur nt it out co mpletely.There’sn othin g like the same spares back up fo rE xcels i or a st herea re fo rv in tage In dians an dH ar leys –i tm ay have been one of the Bi gThree in Am er ica back then, but it ’s ab it of a fo rg otten marque nowa days.Eve nt ually I
got some speciall ym ad e, and it ’s been fine si ncet hen.’
Oncethe Super Xengine’s fred up you press the clutchpedal down with your left foot,lock it on, and then youhavetoget the left-hand gear lever into Lowbypulling it backwardstowards you, feelingitcautiously into gear to avoidgraunching it toomuch. Then let out the clutch slowly with your foot, which you’ll fndengages rightatthe very end of its travel,mak ing this very much an acquired sk ill thattakes abit of getting used to if you’re to avoidstalling the motor.But thirdtime luckyImanaged it OK and wasof and away,though almost at onceI had to change up to second gear,which wasalmost as lowasfrst!
On my second run Itried star ting of in second,which didn’t distress the clutch at all –and afterAlan’stale of burning it out the frst time he rode the SuperX,I waspaying good attention to that!
High (top)gear is whatitsaysonthe label. There’sa huge gap between it and second
gear,and themile -eating per formanceof the Excelsior ’s motor really comes to the fore onceyou selectit. Theridingpositionis quitecomfortable,with the well-shapedbut minimalist leather saddle actingasthe rear suspensionthe Excelsior is devoid of as far as you’re concerned,with acantilever strut attached to the upper frame tube whereit runs over the tank,and twosubstantial coil springs delivering prettygood ride comfor t.
Theright-angle handlebar runsstraight back towardsyou with fattwistgrips for each hand,and the crossbar surmountedby aspotlightonthe rightand ak laxonhorn on the left,with arather amateur-looking operating switchonthe lefthandlebar –both doubtlessused by Dutchspeed cops to get errant motorists to pull over! Themain
headlamp also has ‘Dim’ and ‘Bright’ buttons on topofthe fuel tank,right next to the ammeter
TheExcelsior leading-axle fork provided surprisingly good suspension compliance over the bumps and lumps of the Bicester test track.This is in somewaysa very modern bike,and it certainly doesn’t feel as Vintage amodel as the contemporar yIndianScout Irode–well, that’suntil youhavetoslow down from anysor tofspeed! Thepunyfveinch single leading shoe frontdrum brake worked by alever in the conventional place has little stopping powerwor thyofthe name, leavingyou dependentonthe contracting band rear stopper wrapped around the rear hubtohelp youslow, which it will do onceortwice in reasonably swiftsuccession
beforegoing on strike afteroverheating,and howling in complaintifaskedtoper form any brak ing duties beforeit’scooledof.
Considering this rear brake wasasked to slowthe Super Xonits ownwhenthe bike wasnew in 1925, with the option of an internal expanding brake within the rear hub and operated by your rightheel,maybe the frontdrum which laterreplaced that, as on this DutchPolice bike,was asmar tchoice. Just could have been bigger, that’sall
‘I treally does fy when it ’s in topgear,’ says Alan Dale,‘but really Isuppose it goesfar toofast formodernroad conditions,and especially forthe brakes.But on the open road on aSundaymorning in Yorkshire, if you get up early enough and beat the trafc,it’sa wonder fulride!’
RC readers write, rant and rattleon...
Summattosay?Send your comments,hints,tips,tales of woeand derring- don’t to RCHQ@RealClassic.net
BATTER ED!
John Hassall’s letter on AGM batteries in RC249 struck achord.
I’ve been look ing at the longevity of these batteries in arange of my motorcycles and thatled me to go dig into their technical specs.Mainly because theMotoBattAGM batteries on my MZ Skorpion didn’t seem to last formore than ayearorso. My conclusion is that the batter y’slifeexpectation couldbedownto its location.
On MZ Skorps it ’s situatedbetween the hot air streaming back under the airbox from the toasty660 single engine,and the oil tank.This oil tank is builtintothe rear mudguard, so snug up to the batter y. This creates, it seems,anenvironmentthatis a bit tootoastyfor the AGMbattery.Onthe tech sheets its max charge temp is 50°C and discharge max temp is 60°C.
NowIcould have just insulatedthe batter y compar tment, as Ieventually did on my BMW R80RT, but it ’s atight squeezealready and a lead acid batter ydoes quitewellturning the Skorpoveranyway(unlike the Beemer in cold weather). Other bikes I’ve owned wherethe AGMbattery is isolatedfromany engine heat or oil tanks hadnoproblems.
ROTTEN RUBB ER
I’ve mentioned rubber components before. Themodern kind being used by motorc ycle par ts manufac turers thatjust doesn’t seem to last as longasit used to.Herewegoagain.This carb-to -head hose wastaken from my T140E last week ,after
Andyes,Itested the charge voltage, etcfromeach of the bikes.Onthe typical Motobatt spec sheet it recommends 14.815V until charging currentdrops to 180mA, then use afoatvoltage charge
Theother thing about AGMbatteries is thatthey prefer to be stored at or near full charge (above 80%) in acool environment, other wise they star ttolose whatthey call ‘retention capacity’.Somaybe it ’s worth think ing about wherethose AGMbatteries aresitting and sometimes it is worthhaving alook at the spec sheets forthese things Just afew thoughts.
Karl Bentley, member
Iappreciate John Hassall’s comment regarding batteries; I’mgradually gaining morek nowledge astime goes on. Itoo haveftted anumber of Motobatts and destroyed one by charging it with aquality trick le charger.Arecentepisode with my Guzzi Cali has again caused some confusion. Thebike won’tstar t: batter ydischarged Jump star ted–tofnd no charge voltage. Isuspectedthe regulatororpossibly the generator,but found the problem to be the connectorblocks under the tank.All the otherconnections arethe super-seal type but not these.
Ireplacedthem with Wago connectors, so nowthe bike star ts and there’scharge voltage present. Wago nowdo41Amp
an outbreak of pinking and fast tickover. Ican see why. It did tear more when being taken of,but either wayI should surely expectmorethan 15 months’use from apar tlike this?
Simon Spoerer,member
fttings and 30Amp in line fttings which I used to repair the Guzzi. Coveredinheat shrink,they make aneatsmall detachable connection. Personally,Ithink they’re great.
Ialso ftted avoltmeter so there’s no more myster ywhen on arun. When star ting,the voltmeter drops considerably,too much in my opinion. Ihaven’t been able to load test it as yet, buthaveaconcernabout the batter y. Ithink it ’s agreed thatthese batteriesneeda smar tcharger…however is the charge from the bike itself ‘smar t’?Evenonalate2009 Guzzi, Idoubt it.Shor truns arepossibly OK but a200/300 mile trip? Ihavenoidea. Am I reducing the batter ylifeconsiderably?
To anyGuzzi folks reading this,the blocks under the tank areaweak point. Mine were coveredingreen corrosion. Similarly, the ‘quick release’fuel fttingfrankly is not: I’ve had afghtwith thesebefore. Iamgoing to make aconnectorpipe so thatyou can run thebike with the tank of.Whatastupid idea, putting the pump in the tank –early EV models had the pump behind the side panel. Love the mag
Roger Rowland,member
Iuse HunterEngineering products nowfor this very reason. Most modernstufis very poor quality. Thestuf from Hunters,although not cheap lasts
James Griffiths,member
DREAMON
Nice article on the Ariel Leader in RC249
As Frank laments,‘sadly,like all dreams, it came to an end’. If Ariel had continued manufacturing anicefour-stroke,itmay have been close to aHonda CA77 as seen here.
Marketed in the US (and maybe elsewhere) as theDream, the CA ofered apressed frame, enclosed chain, similar suspension to the Leader and16” wheels. It has anice, mellowpowerband and four speeds,iseasy to maintain and reliable.A little faster thanthe Leader,the Honda pulls me and my gear in thevicinityof 65 easily, and will pull up to 75 on alevel straight. It ’s
TH EN &NOW
morelimited by suspension and ner ve than by power!
TheCAhandles prettywell; brak ing requires forethoughtand common sense It ’s usually my frst choice forrunning errands and tooling around,although Ido get some ribbing.At6’5” and 250lb,Ido look like Imay have outgrown it! Butfrom the saddleitrides like adream.
Ross Blake, member
Thanks for this.The early Hondas arever y rare on the roads of theUKnow. FrankW
SE RVICESTARS
ASer viceStar awardtoInfnity Motorc ycles.Iboughtapair of Alpinestars heatedglovesonline twoyearsago as I had alot of grim wintermilestocover They were fneand were only usedwhen the weather wasreally bad.Last week,one glove stopped heating up. Aquick email to Infnityhad the faultyglovesreturned, tested and anew pair delivered free of charge within three days
Greatpeople to deal with!
Phul Mulheren, member
SURE START
Thir ty-two years ago,Iwas riding around India on my freshly purchased 500 Bullet.This is the onlybike I’ve ever boughtnew (for £930), an early exampleof the recently launched 500.
TH EN AGAI N
Ifound an old list of spares prices that I boughtfor my Triumph Bonnyin1979 and 1980 from Globe Motorc ycles in Pompey Abit diferent to today’spricesbut my wages were only 20- odd quid aweek as an
Yesterday, Iwas out foranMoT.Having passed,wewentmooch around some of my favouritelanes.How timefies
Jon Tait, member
That is truly impressive, Jon! FrankW
apprentice. Thepicture is of my old chop outside Globes in about1984.
Jon Hurst,member
YesterdayIftted aBT-Helectronic magnetotomyVenom. What a revelation. Theold magwas ok,but wasn’t 100% confdence-inspiring on longer runs,par tly due to health issues being aconcernasIgrowolder. The new one has turned agood bike into an excellent, regular use,go-to machine Istill have the original if Ieverwish to change it back,but nowfeel I’ve future proofed my bike foryears to come.I t’s nowa one or twok ickstar ter.
James Griffiths,member
LEADER OF THE…
r some bizar reason I have alw s been
Forsome bizarre reason Ihavealwaysbeen fascinatedbyfull dress models.Let me rephrase that: ‘fully enclosed motorcycles’. Always an Ariel enthusiast,I wasmesmerised by the new Ariel Leader of 1958. Isimply had to have one,byfair means or foul.Phoning round all the Birmingham dealers came up with nothing but the ofer that ‘wecan order one foryou,deliver ynot known.’ Clearly, demand far exceeded supply.Ispoke to the Grange Road factory and they suggested I mightfnd one at Claude RyeinLondon.
When Iphoned Claude Rye, it turned out they had three bare-bones versions and two fully equipped. ‘Whatcolour doyawant?’sang a Cock ney accent.
‘Red ’un,’said me
‘Givemeyer details and Iwillhold one fo yerfo twodays.’
Next day, aSaturday, my dad dropped me of at Birmingham New Street Station forthe frst steamertoThe Smoke.Iarrived at Euston, grabbed ataxi to the Fulham Road whereIfound thesalesman, did all the paper shufing and handed him 210 pounds,shillings and pence.
‘The bike’soutside on the pavement.’he announced
Dofngmycoldweather clobber,Iscooted out to the Ariel. Petrol and choke on, kick kick kick:not asoundfromthe engine.Back inside to explain to salesman thatitwill not star t.
‘O fcourse not,’ he scornfully replied.‘ You’av to put petrol in it!’Hepointedtoaflling station, severalhundred yardsdownthe street
Gobsmacked at such cost-cutting by the dealership,I pushed my new found P&J to the
petrol station. While thereIcheckedthe tyre pressures. Both were miles out,clearly the bike had not enjoyeda PDI…
Of we went to fghtwith London buses and taxis.Ik new my wayround London fairly well, so Ik new whichexitIneeded on the several huge roundabouts.Thereseemed to be areally rough lot of rude drivers as they honked on theirk laxons at ever yjunc tion. It wasarelief to fnally clearthisnightmaretosettle down to a leisurely pace, heading forOxfordand then the nor th-west
TheLeader wasrunning superbly,carburation wasa treatwith none of the four-strok ing that efectedsomanystrokers.Evenonaver ylight throttle the Leader engine two-strokedsweetly Itsfuel tank capacitywas twogallons on main with half agallon in reser ve.With aclaimed consumption of 80mpg,this somewhatmeagre capacitywas per fectly adequate. So Iwas most surprised when the engine ranout of main tank fuel at only 80 miles from London. This wasonly 40mpg! Must have aleak,Ithought–nono, the bike,not me
Astate of mild panic ensued as therewereno petrol stations anywherenear.Atonly 40mpg the half-gallon of reser ve fuel would run out after about 20 miles.Whatarelief to spot through the murkalit-uppetrol station ownedbyArthur Taylor of Taylor Dowfame in Banbur y. Thetank took 2.4 gallons to fll, so we’d been running on fumes
Thenextmorning,Iwas soon up to admiremy P&J tucked away in the small haybarn. Fiddling with the direction indicatorswitch belowthe leftgrip, Idiscovered whyI’d been cursed and honked at by London’s fnest.When Ipushedthe lever forwardtopointlogically to the left-hand blinker…the right-hand blinker star tedfashing! Howonear th Iwas not trampledonisone of nature’sunsolved mysteries.Not comfor table with Ariel’s logic,Isimply swappedthe wires at the switch to render it intuitivetomygreymatter. TheLeader then set outona four year odyssey of daily commuting,club events and camping trips at weekends all over the countr y. Fuel
consumptiongraduallyimproved to an average 70mpg as the engine freed of.My topspeed ever recorded was81mph onthe drop from Greg Ny Baa to Brandish on the Isle of Man. Themost splendid panniersand dummytank carried all our food whilethe tent and cook ing utensils were allbungiecorded to therear carrier;the kettlewas prominently and safely strapped to the top.
TheLeader never missed abeat. Maintenanceconsistedofoccasional decokes and piston ring replacements.The Burman gearbox wasajoy to useand utterlyreliable, getting its oil changed ever y5000 miles.The rear chain, being automatically lubricated and completely enclosed,received ariveted master link to replacethe OE spring link. Theoriginal chain wasstill on the bike when Itraded foranAriel Huntmaster at 42,000 miles.The primar ychain and CB points were changed at 25,000 miles.
Thefront brake wasjust about adequate when the bike wasonly lightlyloaded,but both hobnail- equipped boots on theground were needed to stop the plot in anysor tof emergenc y. Achange to Ferodo AM4green linings rectifed that problem.
My Leader did smoke copiouslywhen cold but this died down to amildhazewhen hot. If we had today’ssynthetic two-stoke lubes at 50:1 instead of thefactory-stipulated25:1 then the problem would be cured.I gave some thoughttothe highercompression, squish-type heads as fttedto theAriel Arrow, but grandad pointedout thatifitain’t broke then don’tfxit…
Ariel’s slogan of ‘fully equipped’was no exaggeration. My Leader wasftted with ever ything except the kitchen sink.There
wasasmall stand thatlodged underthe frontofthe engine to facilitate frontwheel removal. Asmall lamp thatwouldclip to the batter yfor ferreting about in the dark,and it even came with adecenttoolkit.
Back then, my employersentmetoafvedayLambretta training courseinLondon. This entailed pottering to and frofrommy digs and the Lambretta facilityinLondon’s heavy trafc. Free to head homeonFriday night, Iheaded out of London on the WesternAvenue.Keen to get home, Iturned up the wick. Aftera while Inoticed areddish glow in my rear-view mirrors.This developed into fames andsparks comingout of the Leader ’s silencers! Iassumed the week ’s accumulation of crud had set on fre, thus doinga super job of cleaning the exhaust system most efciently
One of the clubeventsIsubjectedthe Leader to wasthe 24 hour MCC’sLand’s End Trial.Mychosen star ting pointwas Kenilwor th and the fnish wasatNewquay in Cornwall.Look ing at my fellowcompetitors’ mounts at the star t, Iwas somewhatstartled to see thatmost of the steeds were pukk a trials bikes with knobbly tyres. To fur ther my consternation, therecameaquestion from achap with atrials Greeves.Heasked if I had anyexperienceofthe stony, goattrack,
hillclimb special sections.Whatonear th had Igotten into now?
Riding through the night, Iwas smirking at the obviously uncomfor table trials bike riders as Ifoatedalong in the Leader’s lap of luxur y. As we progresseddownto Devonand Cornwall,all competitors were routed to special obser vedsections.Not to be confused with the highly specialised balancing acts of one -day trials,the sections we were faced with were mostly steepish hill climbs of goat-track type,usually littered with loose stones,water and mud
Theold sawof‘if in doubt,gofat out ’ sprang to mind.Asthe fag dropped, Idid afair impression of aT Tstar t: big handful of throttle in frst gearand hang on. The centrestand wastak ing fakfromloose stones and variousfotsam, but it was simply acase of press on underfull sail.This tactic worked very well,Inever stopped or dropped the bike and came home to a fnisher ’s award.
Ariel Leader XYH148 whereare younow?
Roger Slater,member
I’mreally pleased to hear that I’mnot the only person who entered the Land’sEnd Trial without quiteknowing what Iwas letting myself in for.Inow know what Idid wrong. Hang the Wasp trials outfit: we should’ve ridden an Ariel Leader! Imight ’veearned my ownfinisher ’s awardand escaped with my ribs intact… Rowena
ything except the k itchen There for. I now I did wrong Hang the Wasp trials outfit: we should’ve ridden an Ariel Leader! I might ’ve earned my own finisher award and with my ribs intact…
ANTI-SOCIALOFFICERS
Having experienced around 50 examples of Commandos,inmyopinion the most obvious and immediately perceived trait is surprisingly the signifcantreduction in engine braking of the larger-engined annular discharge exhausted version over its smaller cousin. Having said that, Ihaven’t knownofabeancan ftted 750orexperienced apeashooterequipped 850.
Ifnally achieved my ambition and teenage reason forjoining the policewhen Ibecamea trafc motorcyclist in 1976 with justoverfour years’service. This included twoyears asacadet, twomoreasa probationaryconstable and over four months of driver /rider training at the taxpayer’sexpense.
My forcepatrolled three geographical areas,central,easternand western, of which Iwas posted to thelatter, operatingout of the twopolicegarage bases on its patch. One of these wasatWalsallwith theother at the main garage complexnear Brierley Hill.Thatalso housed the rolling-road facility which wasrequired forofcial policevehicle speedometer testing
Themotorcycle feet at the time almost exclusively consisted of Commandos in 750, 850 and electric star tforms.The bikes based at Walsall were ridden the dozenmiles to Brierley Hill to have the accurac yoftheir chronometric instruments checked forthe required corroboration needed forspeeding prosecutions.This week ly task wasallocated to the motorcyclists,aka the (dir ty)scrufes
on the ‘early turn’from7am to 3pm each Sundaymorning
I’mnot in anyway suggesting thatthe three or four ofcers assembled to takethese bikes treatedthis journey as anything likea race but as we startedour journey at the same time, and it wastothe same destination, an element of ‘competitiveprogress’was hardtocompletely eliminate.Intrue time-trial fashion, aselfimposed twominuteminimum time interval between bikes leaving the garagewas imposed
Approaching 50 years ago,inthatfar more forgiving bygone era, even 15mph above the 30mph limit wasanunofcial common ‘allowance’ grantedprior to public speeding prosecutions.Inone urban 40mph zone, the result could oftenbeapoliceInterpol ‘progressing’atabout 60mph, and not necessarily in topgear! Allwell and good when equipped with annular discharge,beancan silencers but defnitely moreaudible via peashooters
One ofthe ofcers on ourshiftwas alovely self-efacing,softly-spoken, mild and gentle man who wasaccredited with the nick-name of ‘Godders’. This wasaderivationofhis surname and refected his work as alay preacher.One Sunday, Godders set of last and,asusual,quite gently on his quieter Mk3 Norton, some time behind his two, earlier model,750 Commandoequipped colleagues
That 40/60mph straightwas closely lined by aterrace of villa properties,creating something like along,tunnel style, echo
ATHRIVING BIKE BUSINESS
chamber.Imagine an elderly male occupant of one of the houses who had his Sunday morning lie -in disturbed anoisy motorcycle apparently ‘racing by ’, with asecond identical example just afew moments later.
Unaware of the policeconnection and convinced thata local tearaway wasracing around the block,the man rushedtohis window, determined to witnessthe ofender’s re-appearanceonhis next circuit.Hewas just in time to see Godders passing by and at aspeed slowenough to record the bike’sregistration. Then followedareportofwhattodaywould be described as anti-social behaviour,instigating an ofcial complaint.
Godders,being the gentleman he was, admitted his presenceonthe bike at the relevanttime and to save further aggravation didn’t questionathing,taking allthe blame Godbless him.
Thelater BMW/5 750sand 800s never sounded as good, or loud !
Phil Rich, member
Superb story! Thanks,Phil. FrankW
If youkeep up to date with events in the motorcycle trade,you mayhaveheard thatsadly some large motorcycle chains and also well- established businesses have gone to thewall in recent months. It ’s a refreshing change to learnthatone of the UK’s oldest motorcyclebusinesses is actually goingfromstrength to strength. Bill Lomas Motorcycles in ClayCross became amotorbike shop in 1947 and adopted his name when Bill wonthe world championship in 1955. Afamily run frmfrom the outset,the business has seen many diferent chapters over theyears.The business was amain agent
forNorton, Triumph, BSA, Lambretta and Puch, among others, then became one of the very frstHonda main dealers in the country.
Threeyears ago,Tim Lomasannounced his retirementafter manyyears at the helm. That ’s when we stepped forwardtotake it on –myself,mypar tner Donna and son Sam. I’dbeen coming heresinceIwas thir teen, and Samwas aSaturdaylad when he wasstill at school.Now at the heady age of 64 Inaturally know the business quite well
outset, the many diferent the years The was a main agent
When Timannounced his retirement, we had avision to take the business forwardselling and servicing all kinds of classic bikes from 1920 to 1980. More than that, we wanted aride-to venue and small museum, wherepeople could just come and enjoybeing around classic bikes and other like-minded enthusiasts.Tothatend, Donna‘scaféhas proved pivotalinour plans andwehavegained an enviable reputation,
even in the wintertime,when youcan sit in and enjoyDonna’s home-cooked food by the log burner to warm up.
We’vebeen at the helm nowfor three years now. When we took over we didn’t know whattoexpect, but the business has continued to grow beyondall expectations and we nowemployfour specialist mechanics.We’re locatedonthe edge of the Peak District, which is of course motorcycling nir vana,and welcome any riders who arepassing ClayCross
David Lander