Real Classic

Every so often I like a bike which I actually own so much that I decide that I should write about it, never mind simply riding it – or in fact just throwing spanners, hammers and invective at it, which is too often the case. Some bikes, I think, are great as projects. And when they’ve done the whole project bike thing and I’ve put a few miles onto the clock I wonder what to do with them. This is not as easy a question to answer honestly as you might think. I mean, who buys a bike purely for the unreliable entertainment of rebuilding it – or simply making it work decently well? I do, as you must have noticed by now. All too often, I can reveal only…

Winning any race is always a big thrill, and winning a championship run over several rounds is deeply satisfying. But winning races and a major title by defeating the factory team run by the company which built your motorcycle – especially if they’ve gone out of their way NOT to help you do so – must be the ultimate dream of any privateer team, even if so very rarely achieved. One of the handful of privateer equipes which pulled off this feat in the upper echelons of British National road racing down the years was the London-based Gus Kuhn Norton team, whose riders Dave Potter, Charlie Sanby and before them Mick Andrew several times defeated the works Nortons at both National and International level in Production and Formula 750 events…

RC readers write, rant and rattle on… Summat to say? Send your comments, hints, tips, tales of woe and derring-don’t to RCHQ@RealClassic.net PO BOX 66 BUDE EX23 9ZX TRIXIE MIX I’m relatively new to the Yamaha TRX850 motorcycle world but, like many other TRX owners, I’m hooked and will keep mine for as long as possible. The Yamaha TRX850 has a healthy following around the world with an almost cult-like appeal. Currently, there is no UK TRX Owners Club per se, but one is fast approaching – look for ’Yamaha TRX Owners Group UK’ on Facebook. Originally built in 1995 as a sports bike mainly for the Japan and east Asia market, the TRX was promoted in Europe after a decision was made by Lin Jarvis to ask Alan Cathcart…

I note in Members’ Enclosure that some people have their vehicle’s MoT and annual service at the same time. I was advised by an employee at VOSA, now DVSA, to split them to six months apart as this means the vehicle is checked twice as often for the same cost but a little more inconvenience. Not so important with a classic that does under one hundred miles a year. Nick Crook, member Mmm. Possibly not convenient if you have half a dozen vehicles in one household which need MoTs and servicing each year. We would be visiting a garage/dealership every single month! Rowena…

Reading Jacqueline Bickerstaff’s PUBTalk in RC251, where she recounted the unpleasant side effects of siphoning petrol, brought back memories of an early event in my motorcycling life from nearly 70 years ago. I was a 13-year-old schoolboy with a Saturday morning job at a small printing firm. One fellow employee became a good friend. Johnny Wellman was a printer, and he showed me all the dodges to make life easy. Johnny’s normal means of transport was a BSA A7 500 with a Jet 80 sidecar attached, which he also used for rallies. One day he asked me to be his navigator. His wife Sheila had played that role, but they had recently had a baby so she was busy at home. I enjoyed many road trial competitions with Johnny, sat…

After the recent correspondence about modern batteries, I asked Yuasa’s technical help desk about whether AGM-gel batteries are suitable for old motorcycles like my Moto Guzzi over long distances. They replied: ’Generally speaking, the AGM motorcycle battery will be superior to the conventional wet flooded battery. Smart chargers will adjust the current output depending on the battery response to charge to reduce the possibility of over-charging the battery. ’Infrequent journeys will not necessarily shorten the battery life, a lot will depend on your battery maintenance. A battery that is marked as ”maintenance free” only means that you do not need to monitor electrolyte levels or top them up. All lead acid batteries (including AGM/GEL) need to be kept in high states of charge, especially during the winter months or when…