Real Classic October 2020

REALCLASSIC is composed entirely by experts and the odd enthusiast (very odd, some may say) and edited by Frank Westworth of The Cosmic Bike Co Ltd, who is delighted that Rowena Hoseason has returned to work so he been able to have an afternoon off. Several afternoons. Chris Abrams of AT Graphics converts your words and photos into the perfected pages you see before you. Mortons Media Group Ltd at Horncastle handle all the admin, trade advertising, subscriptions and back issues on 01507 529529 READ MORE about real classics at www. Real-Classic.co.uk TRADE ADVERTISERS for the magazine or website should call Sarah on 01507 529418 or email SMitchellSavage@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 something returned or…

Picture this: a beautiful September afternoon, sun shining, temperature temperate, main roads still unusually clogged with city refugees seeking a little solace in the West Country. An etheric message lands from a friend. It suggests coffee and cake at a café in Devon, about an hour away in an area with which I am entirely unfamiliar. I consider the glory that is Google Maps, understand where it is – down a minor road off a B-road off an A-road and apparently by the side of a cycle track which was previously a railway track. I didn’t even know the place existed. Don’t you just love spontaneity? I should have been doing other stuff, but hey – coffee and cake! Pulled out the Triumph, made sure that the phone was charged and…

REALCLASSIC is composed entirely by experts and the odd enthusiast (very odd, some may say) and edited by Frank Westworth of The Cosmic Bike Co Ltd, who is delighted that Rowena Hoseason has returned to work so he been able to have an afternoon off. Several afternoons. Chris Abrams of AT Graphics converts your words and photos into the perfected pages you see before you. Mortons Media Group Ltd at Horncastle handle all the admin, trade advertising, subscriptions and back issues on 01507 529529 READ MORE about real classics at www. Real-Classic.co.uk TRADE ADVERTISERS for the magazine or website should call Sarah on 01507 529418 or email SMitchellSavage@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…

Picture this: a beautiful September afternoon, sun shining, temperature temperate, main roads still unusually clogged with city refugees seeking a little solace in the West Country. An etheric message lands from a friend. It suggests coffee and cake at a café in Devon, about an hour away in an area with which I am entirely unfamiliar. I consider the glory that is Google Maps, understand where it is – down a minor road off a B-road off an A-road and apparently by the side of a cycle track which was previously a railway track. I didn’t even know the place existed. Don’t you just love spontaneity? I should have been doing other stuff, but hey – coffee and cake! Pulled out the Triumph, made sure that the phone was charged…

We’ve all, I’m sure, regretted selling a bike. In my case it’s usually due to the siren lure of something shiny that needs to be in my garage instead. Despite the hundreds of machines passing through my greasy hands there are very few that I truly regret parting with, perhaps just a handful. Two of those were Laverda 750 twins. At one point I owned three of these machines. The first was a full-blown SFC race replica and possibly the most uncomfortable bike I’ve ever owned. The other two were the short-lived SF1, featuring the newly uprated big-valve motor and large accelerator-pumped carburettors, yet retaining the slightly old-fashioned silhouette of the earlier model and proudly sporting the famous super freni drum brakes. Unlike certain magazine editors, for whom even 38…

We’ve all, I’m sure, regretted selling a bike. In my case it’s usually due to the siren lure of something shiny that needs to be in my garage instead. Despite the hundreds of machines passing through my greasy hands there are very few that I truly regret parting with, perhaps just a handful. Two of those were Laverda 750 twins. At one point I owned three of these machines. The first was a full-blown SFC race replica and possibly the most uncomfortable bike I’ve ever owned. The other two were the short-lived SF1, featuring the newly uprated big-valve motor and large accelerator-pumped carburettors, yet retaining the slightly old-fashioned silhouette of the earlier model and proudly sporting the famous super freni drum brakes. Unlike certain magazine editors, for whom even 38…