Real Classic October 2019

Famously, variety is the spice of life. I’d not argue with that, and one of the many merry features we enjoy about this often odd magazine is the variety of machinery on view. This issue is no exception, which is also slightly wonderful, and it keeps our lives here in the office in a constant state of entertainment – also amusement, as you might imagine. I opened a file sent to me by Rowena headed ‘Norton Commando’. I like Commandos, always have, always will, but sometimes I think that I’ve read enough stories about them. That’s not any form of poke at Nortons, either; I’ve read literally hundreds of stories about all the most popular machines from the more popular marques. Before reading into the story, I looked at the pics…

Famously, variety is the spice of life. I’d not argue with that, and one of the many merry features we enjoy about this often odd magazine is the variety of machinery on view. This issue is no exception, which is also slightly wonderful, and it keeps our lives here in the office in a constant state of entertainment – also amusement, as you might imagine. I opened a file sent to me by Rowena headed ‘Norton Commando’. I like Commandos, always have, always will, but sometimes I think that I’ve read enough stories about them. That’s not any form of poke at Nortons, either; I’ve read literally hundreds of stories about all the most popular machines from the more popular marques. Before reading into the story, I looked at the…

No matter how long we’ve been knocking around with old bikes, we never know everything. You investigate just one new thing and another whole world opens up… as a recent visit to my mate Brian revealed. There’s never an ‘ordinary’ visit to Brian’s. It was my turn to be showing off and I’d bobbed round to let him see the new race bike I’d just finished. I pulled it out the van and we poked and prodded and made all the right sort of noises between us. Then Brian says, in his usual conspiratorial way, ‘Here. I’ve got something to show you.’ We retire to his barn, and there sits a rather resplendent Velocette he’s just acquired. A 1929 KNS to be precise. I know very little about Velocettes, but I…

Brian mentioned the KTT he owned previously; KTT #534, registration FG 9764, and it turns out there’s a tale there too... ‘I owned my original KTT in 1956. It was a very special bike, it had a great deal of modification. The engine had lots of extra external pipework and, at the bottom of the crankcases, a square hole had been cut and an extra sump screwed on with BS screws. It meant the oil drained into it before being scavenged and of course that reduced any chance of oil drag. ‘I got into a dice with a chap with a brand new Triumph 650, the first swinging arm framed ones. He reckoned his bike was fast so we arranged a few laps of the Perry track, the outer perimeter of the…

No matter how long we’ve been knocking around with old bikes, we never know everything. You investigate just one new thing and another whole world opens up… as a recent visit to my mate Brian revealed. There’s never an ‘ordinary’ visit to Brian’s. It was my turn to be showing off and I’d bobbed round to let him see the new race bike I’d just finished. I pulled it out the van and we poked and prodded and made all the right sort of noises between us. Then Brian says, in his usual conspiratorial way, ‘Here. I’ve got something to show you.’ We retire to his barn, and there sits a rather resplendent Velocette he’s just acquired. A 1929 KNS to be precise. I know very little about Velocettes, but…

Brian mentioned the KTT he owned previously; KTT #534, registration FG 9764, and it turns out there’s a tale there too... ‘I owned my original KTT in 1956. It was a very special bike, it had a great deal of modification. The engine had lots of extra external pipework and, at the bottom of the crankcases, a square hole had been cut and an extra sump screwed on with BS screws. It meant the oil drained into it before being scavenged and of course that reduced any chance of oil drag. ‘I got into a dice with a chap with a brand new Triumph 650, the first swinging arm framed ones. He reckoned his bike was fast so we arranged a few laps of the Perry track, the outer perimeter…