Real Classic August 2021

First things first, as is only right. Apologies if you rolled up to the recent Stafford Show expecting to find me manning a trestle table in RC's traditional on the balcony by the bar location. I failed to make it! Well, OK, you'll know that if you were there and I wasn't, or if you follow my meanderings on Facebook. What happened? What was the excuse? Mechanical failure, surprisingly. The modern conveyance boasts final drive to its rear wheel by belt. Belts are great - one great improvement in my (modern) riding life has been the end of endless fiddling with drive chains. Belts are improbably strong and reliable, too - fit and forget, as we probably suggested when they were introduced as aftermarket primary drive kits for Norton Commandos…

First things first, as is only right. Apologies if you rolled up to the recent Stafford Show expecting to find me manning a trestle table in RC's traditional on the balcony by the bar location. I failed to make it! Well, OK, you'll know that if you were there and I wasn't, or if you follow my meanderings on Facebook. What happened? What was the excuse? Mechanical failure, surprisingly. The modern conveyance boasts final drive to its rear wheel by belt. Belts are great - one great improvement in my (modern) riding life has been the end of endless fiddling with drive chains. Belts are improbably strong and reliable, too - fit and forget, as we probably suggested when they were introduced as aftermarket primary drive kits for Norton Commandos and the…

There's really nothing I can tell you about a Triumph Bonneville that you don't already know. They've been around for so long that it's possible that cavemen rode Meriden twins; certainly, Neanderthals seem to have worked on most of them at some point. Mainstay of the British motorcycle industry and so iconic that pretty much any classically-styled vertical twin cylinder bike will be likened to a Bonnie; even Yamaha's XS650 and the Kawasaki W800 are flattered by the association. Does the Tl 20 deserve this elevated reputation? Or did Triumph somehow fluke their way into the minds and souls of generations clad in leather, helped along by some brilliant marketing? There's only one way to find out! In the interests of fairness, I should probably share with you my slight bias against…

There's really nothing I can tell you about a Triumph Bonneville that you don't already know. They've been around for so long that it's possible that cavemen rode Meriden twins; certainly, Neanderthals seem to have worked on most of them at some point. Mainstay of the British motorcycle industry and so iconic that pretty much any classically-styled vertical twin cylinder bike will be likened to a Bonnie; even Yamaha's XS650 and the Kawasaki W800 are flattered by the association. Does the Tl 20 deserve this elevated reputation? Or did Triumph somehow fluke their way into the minds and souls of generations clad in leather, helped along by some brilliant marketing? There's only one way to find out! In the interests of fairness, I should probably share with you my slight…

RC206 was another action-packed issue! I particularly enjoyed Frank's re-acquaintance with the Model 18. My first'real' bike was a 1948 16H attached to a stylish Watsonian Avon sidecar, which I bought in the early 1970s when my previous transport - a Ford Anglia - disappeared in the usual cloud of ferric oxide. The Norton, in both outfit and solo form, and latterly with an ES2 engine fitted to make a Model 18 very similar to Frank's, served us well for several years as our only transport. It took us on rainy camping trips to the Lake District and miserably cold treks from Birmingham to County Durham for several family Christmases as well as providing everyday transport. On one of the return journeys from the icy north we stopped to thaw…

RC206 was another action-packed issue! I particularly enjoyed Frank's re-acquaintance with the Model 18. My first'real' bike was a 1948 16H attached to a stylish Watsonian Avon sidecar, which I bought in the early 1970s when my previous transport - a Ford Anglia - disappeared in the usual cloud of ferric oxide. The Norton, in both outfit and solo form, and latterly with an ES2 engine fitted to make a Model 18 very similar to Frank's, served us well for several years as our only transport. It took us on rainy camping trips to the Lake District and miserably cold treks from Birmingham to County Durham for several family Christmases as well as providing everyday transport. On one of the return journeys from the icy north we stopped to thaw out at…