Table of contents for April 2026 in Real Classic

This is the editorial page we expected to appear last month, but which somehow got lost in production. It seems a shame to waste it, so… There is a thoroughly modern saying which involves a person disappearing down rabbit holes. Virtual rabbit holes, of course. Few folk these days chase fluffy little bunnies down muddy holes in the wilds of the countryside. At least, I assume that's the case. We've lived in decently wild countryside for a couple of decades now, and bunny hunting doesn't seem to be a particularly popular pastime among our fortunately few neighbours. High speed quad chases around muddy fields? Yes of course, but although they're fun, they make so much noise that I can't see many bunnies falling victim to quad attack. The rabbit holes…

Recently my thoughts turned to the passage of time, and my apparent inability to deny it. I am seventy years old now, a sneaky feat of time that somehow just happened when I wasn't really looking. I have a bit of a hard time believing it, but the mirror, the scales, and the wife reinforce that fact on a regular basis. I am still riding my bicycles and motorcycles, although two broken feet slowed me down a bit. The final song I saw the late great Toby Keith perform was ‘Don't Let The Old Man In’, which was a nod to the health struggles he was going through. So here's a nod of thanks to Toby as we strive to keep the old man out. Don't let the old man…

‘The Norton Model 18 is a classic British motorcycle that holds a special place in the annals of motorcycling history. Introduced in 1923, it featured a 500cc single-cylinder engine that became renowned for its reliability and performance. The Model 18 was particularly noted for its innovative overhead valve design, which was a significant advancement at the time, contributing to its impressive speed and power. Over the years, the bike saw various improvements and modifications, including better brakes and suspension, making it a favourite among racers and enthusiasts alike. Its iconic status was cemented by its sleek design and the distinctive Norton badge, which came to symbolize quality and engineering excellence. The Norton Model 18 is not just a motorcycle; it's a piece of history that represents the golden age of British…

PART THE SECOND When I said that the N15-style bike we featured last issue was the only one of its kind, that wasn't entirely true. There are two running examples of Norton's Unified Twin. However, the 650 motors are fitted into two very different frames, giving each machine a very different appearance and feel. With the featherbed-framed bike, I started by putting some oil in the oil tank, after making sure the crankcase wasn't already full of the oil tank's contents. After some basic checks, I attempted to start the engine. This one was fed by a single Monobloc carburettor, rather than the twin Concentrics found on the N15-type bike. The engine started easily enough and appeared to run well, with no rattles or smoke. It sounded quieter mechanically and…

PART THREE Here we are again folks, another month, another bunch of bodgery, er, skilled technical innovation and engineering…. And really we're getting down to the final details. As I write this the bike is still yet unfinished, we've gone through a whole series of ‘I've only got this bit to do now and then it's done’ several times, and each time a new set of ‘things that need to be done’ came flying my way. So I'm not tempting any sort of fate, just crossing my fingers hopefully. In many respects bike building is just life in microcosm. If you want to navigate life as easily and successfully as possible, you need to remain unattached to outcomes. Do your best, if you feel like it, but whatever happens after…

‘The CB200. Where do I start? When I was sixteen, I was hanging out with a group of bikers mostly riding British bikes, many of whom were members of the back patch ‘Freedom Riders’ club / gang based at the Peggy Bedford Pub in Hounslow, by the airport. I remember many a jolly evening in that pub. ‘I had my Gilera 50cc Trials moped but most of my pals, those only a little older than me, were riding things like BSA Starfires, although a few of them had crossed the line to Japanese bikes. Not the Coca Cola tin (as we called them) 2-strokes, mostly things like the Honda CB175s and CB200s, some CB250s. I still remember very clearly when one of them offered me a swap for the ride,…

My old Bonneville - the one which is regarded as cool by my granddaughter -was wakened from its mid-winter slumbers surprisingly easily. I drained off the old petrol and introduced some fresh. It required a few kicks but burst into life it did, with a healthy growl. I hurriedly donned my riding gear and took it for a spin to warm up the oil. We had a most enjoyable thrape around the local Cotswold lanes on one of the few dry days of the winter. The oil drained out easily, but I am bracing myself for the removal of the oil filter base plate and the fitment of a new filter. The four bolts that hold the plate in place - and particularly the threads that they run into -have…

Classic motorcycles can end up in collections for all manner of reasons. Tucked away in the big BSA displays at the National Motorcycle Museum near Birmingham there lurks an unassuming 250 unit single. You could easily walk right by without paying it very much attention - there are many more glamorous machines all around, after all -but behind any 57 year-old motorcycle there is bound to be a story. And so it is with this little white bike. This particular BSA is a 1969 Fleetstar, a cobby wee character which followed in the tyretracks of its C15 and B40 predecessors. Both had previously been built in utility configurations for the Home Office, foreign governments and various UK constabularies. At the end of the 1960s, it was only natural that BSA…

If you attended the first International Classic Motorcycle Show at Belle Vue in 1980, then you're part of the generation who cheered on Barry Sheene MBE as he claimed his two successive Grand Prix 500 titles in 1976 and ’77. The Heron Suzuki RG500 (‘experimental racing’) XR14A upon which Sheene secured his second world championship is one of the bikes up for sale in the Bonhams auction at this year's Stafford Show on 25/26 April. Estimated to sell for around £200k, this is the bike which took the lap record for the old circuit at Spa, before the chicanes were introduced. Sheene rode it with the throttle pinned to the stop for three-quarters of the lap, reaching 180mph and circulating at an average speed of 137.15mph. That's a little bit…

PO BOX 66 BUDE EX23 9ZX READERS RIDING The sudden arrival of Spring – bang on schedule on 1st March – meant that many RC readers have been out and about on their old and classic motorcycle. Thanks to Charley, Andy, Janner, Adam, Erum, RichardK, RichardP, Simon, Graeme and everyone else for sharing a breath of fresh air on the RealClassic Facebook group!…

I have been watching Asian craftsmen on YouTube bash out bike pieces, just using primitive hand tools, and realised I had seen this before. At AMC in the 1950s, when labour was cheap. Workers were not sitting cross-legged, but still used primitive tools, often self-made. An example: a warm afternoon. Really muscular man, handkerchief around his head to catch the sweat. Big wire cage full of exhaust pipes, ready to have the slots cut with a punch press, a manual press. Very strenuous work, so when fatigue set in a quick dash down the back stairs to the Maxey Arms pub on the corner. Down a couple of pints and back at it. These manual operations were going on in every department. Back in the modern world, with Frank's rebuild…

Peter Williams was the king of rider-engineers – men who proved the validity of their own innovative designs by racing them to victory against more conventionally-mounted rivals. Pee Jay's legendary win in the 1973 Isle of Man TT on the John Player Norton Monocoque he'd personally created epitomised his ability to successfully think outside the box – an ability which led to top design jobs at Cosworth and Lotus, after injury sadly cut short his racing career in 1974. But sixty years earlier another such man had achieved comparable success, when youthful London-born Cyril Pullin, 22, won the 1914 Senior TT on his own modified Rudge Multi. This was a singlespeed design whose variable belt drive transmission gave an effective option of more than twenty gear ratios, uniquely addressing the…

Every year in New Zealand, Classic Action Motorcycle Sport hold a classic festival. The 2025 event catered for 28 classes of solo machines and outfits, from vintage prewar to ‘Period 95’ superbikes, two-stroke GP machines to ‘F4 Buckets’. Nearly 200 individual entries came from all over New Zealand with two even travelling all the way from Florida. The bikes race in nine groups made up of machines with similar performance to create full grids and entertaining racing. The event also hosts the New Zealand Classic Bike and Sidecar Grand Prix events, which were run as separate races. The 2.4km long motorcycle circuit is relatively flat, with two long straights and ten corners ranging from long, sweeping 180-degree bends to a first gear hairpin. The riders enjoy the grippy, technically demanding…

PART THE LAST Two 5/16” bolts fix the seat centrally through frame gussets to nuts between frame and mudguard, inaccessible for anyone except ET. Not one of AMC's better designs, it's a well-discussed challenge amongst AJS and Matchless owners about how to hold the nut in place behind the frame gusset, with restricted access from the mudguard and the oil tank bracket on the eight. Sticking the nut to the spanner with plasticine or tape works – eventually – but would be far too fiddly at the roadside if I needed to get access to electrics beneath the seat. So I made my own nuts from scrap aluminium and attached long wire handles which can be rotated out of sight. It's not a pretty solution but no one will know.…