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 WHAT LIES WITHIN ARIEL SQUARE  AJS BIG PORT  AMBASSADOR ENVOY!

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SUZUKI

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52
SUZUKI GS1000S ......................................... 6
These days, Suzuki’s litre-class UJMs have
to downsize his ride. Could a small-block
cousin of his big twin provide the same
REALCLASSIC 193: PUBLISHED MAY 2020

RC REGULARS
a reputation for being robust and reliable satisfaction?
if somewhat ‘solid’. But 40 years ago the THE CONTENTS PAGE ...................................3
Wes Cooley replica was lauded as being BSA M20......................................................52 It’s not often our magazine ventures into the
Japan’s best superbike. Nolan Woodbury BSA’s solid sidevalve single was one of the serious sportsbike stuff, but this issue we have
investigates why… stalwarts of the Second World War. It also no less than four one-litre rockets – a twin and
copes well with the demand of classic life, two fours. Fast enough?
VINCENT RAPIDE ........................................24 says Len Page…
There’s no such thing as a standard Vincent WE’VE GOT MAIL! ...................................... 16
according to HRD lore. Ken Schmidt’s AJS BIG PORT ..............................................60 Loads of letters! This is what we want in these
Rapide has indeed been creatively Almost a century ago, the fast lads rode tedious times – we want to hear from you, so
reincarnated over the decades, first with a bikes like this rip-roaring Big Port. It’s every get those fingers typing and cameras clicking
speedway sidecar and now a cool café racer bit as quick today, says Ace Tester Miles,
and it simply begs to go full-on, flat-out…
READERS’FREE ADS .................................. 69
ARIEL SQUARE FOUR ..................................32
Ariel’s almost unique Square Four has Just a single page! This is surely a sign of the
RE CRUSADER REBUILD..............................70
long held a reputation as a gentleman’s Alistair Matheson’s restoration challenge times…
motorcycle. But what does that actually takes him inside the engine of an Enfield
mean, and is it true? Frank Westworth 250 single. Here he discovers just how PUB TALK ................................................... 86
acquired one to find out… tricky it can be to identify incorrect With the real Pioneer Run cancelled, the Invicta
components or to assemble everything had to substitute its own personal outing,
AMBASSADOR ENVOY................................40 right the first time… which was mostly but not entirely successful.
In the late 1950s Ambassador aspired Then ‘house arrest’ conditions dictated work be
to build a quality! Quality!! Quality!!! DECEPTIVE BENDS......................................76 confined to the garage/shed…
two-stroke with simply outstanding Ever bought a replacement exhaust and
performance. Reg Eyre was almost discovered that it doesn’t quite fit and
OLLIE’S ODDJOBS...................................... 67
overcome with all the excitement… isn’t quite the right shape? Odgie meets
If you really want people to stop and stare
a craftsman who uses traditional tools to
MOTO GUZZI V50........................................44 in outraged admiration, then you need one
create hand-made bespoke exhausts to suit
After years with a heavyweight Moto classics and customs… of these. That’s what our man Ollie says,
Guzzi V-twin, Garron Clark-Darby needed anyway…
ARIE
L RED
HUNT
PROJECT WORLD-BEATER..........................82
STALGIA! ER 
AJS M
ORTON NO
It’s all to do with squat and thrust, TALES FROM THE SHED ............................. 92
NO
BMW R75/5
 ODEL
18
MAC   HO
VELOCETTE
RE X REGI
ISSUE
186
NA!
NOVEM
BER

STOR apparently. No, Odgie isn’t recommending

201 9 £3.

Frank’s mighty Matchless has been occupying

70

Runn

M W
ing, Rid
ing &
Rebu
ilding
Re
Rebuilding
RealC

HURRIC ARN a vigorous form of indoor exercise, but is

Ridiing &
lassic
Running,
Mo torcyc

a vast amount of time. Why does it show so

les

AN
RIDES OE OWNER ING
2019 £3.70
SEPTEMBER
ISSUE 185

UT
setting up the rear end of his home-built little progress?
ENVOY!
flat-tracker instead…
SSADOR
RT  AMBA
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 AJS

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ilding
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WHO’S DONE WHAT
REALCLASSIC is creatively compiled by
Frank Westworth and Rowena Hoseason
of the Cosmic Bike Co Ltd, while Chris
Abrams of AT Graphics designs the pages
very prettily. Mortons Media Group Ltd
at Horncastle are the go-to guys for trade
advertising, subscriptions and back issues.
FAB COVER PHOTO by Nolan Woodbury of
woodburymotomedia.com
READ MORE about real classics at
www.Real-Classic.co.uk
TRADE ADVERTISERS for the magazine or
website should chat with Leon on 01507
529465, email lcurrie@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 a personal reply
SUBSCRIPTION INFO is on pg98.
Call 01507 529529 to subscribe or renew or
buy back issues
SUBS QUERIES, late deliveries, or changes of
address should be directed to 01507 529529,
or email subscriptions@realclassic.net
ALL MATERIAL in RealClassic is copyright
its authors, so please contact us before
reproducing anything. RealClassic is
printed by William Gibbons & Sons of
Wolverhampton. Our ISSN is 1742-2345.
THIS MONTH we’ve been reading SHOGUN
by James Clavell, and it’s taken absolutely
forever to finish. A classic it may be, but it’s
also astonishingly ponderous. Wonder if it
could possibly be published today? More
excitingly, Editor Westworth’s new quick
thriller has just been published, so check
Amazon to find NINE LIES…
SEEN ON SCREEN… STAR TREK VOYAGER
seasons 1 and 2 which aren’t half so awful as
we remembered them; HARA-KIRI, DEATH
OF A SAMURAI which is every bit as grim
as you might imagine; BLOW THE MAN
DOWN, a blackly comedic attempt to ape
Fargo which tried too hard to be whacky, and
NEKROTRONIC, a super-sassy and entirely
snappy Aussie demon-hunting romp which
brought a big grin to our faces
RealClassic is published monthly by MMG
Ltd, Horncastle, LN9 6JR, UK.
USA SUBSCRIPTIONS are $58 per year from
Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd
N #441, Bancroft WI. 54921. Postmaster:
Send USA address changes to RealClassic,
Motorsport Publications LLC, 715-572-4595
chris@classicbikebooks.com
FROM THE FRONT
Inspired, I was. Inspired! By what, I hear you
asking – and trembling with anticipation of
another impending disaster! Inspired by Ollie
Hulme’s recent short story about an Ariel
Square Four, that’s what. And not just any
Square Four, although they’re a rare enough
sight on the roads in modern times. No, Ollie
had written about a Square chop, or custom,
or whatever the current term is for a bike
which has been modified until it’s far away
from the gentlemanly machine its makers
originally produced.
While I was reading it, what remains of
my memory coughed up a couple of heavily
modded Squares I rode a long time ago.
None of them was my own machine, and
to be quite honest I’d not wanted to own
any of them – not even one of the two or
maybe three swinging arm Squares I’ve had
the delight of riding. By their very nature, a
customised motorcycle – of any kind – is a
decently personal thing, a device built by an
individual to suit her or his individual tastes
probably just as well.
and requirements, so I learned very quickly
Not least because Rowena of this parish
never to be too judgemental when writing
sat me down with a stern expression and a
about them.
glass of something non-alcoholic and forcibly
But.. a Square Four? Eventually I had to
reminded me of the things I’d said about my
acquire one of my own. They’re fascinating
own Square at the time. I’d forgotten most of
machines to ride, and you can read about my
that, of course, and the bad bits I did clearly
experiences with my own further on inside
remember emerged from my memory as
this very issue. And as time has introduced a
entertaining rather than infuriating.
rosy tinge to my rear-view mirror, I’ve been as
Which is of course the problem with reliving
positive about the experience as possible!
memories from days gone by when we were
But here’s a thing. I’m not generally a fan of
all younger, fitter, faster, when the bikes were
writing about my own riding history. One of
totally reliable, the roads empty and the skies
the features of our very own, slightly eccentric
the clearest of blues. But reminding ourselves
old bike magazine is that the majority of the
of good things, good times past should raise a
bikes we feature are in use, and although I’m
smile and cheer us all up. I can live with that.
personally always – almost always – fascinated
Ride safely
by other riders’ tales of their own riding life, I
rarely find much pleasure in writing about my Frank Westworth
own. But needs must, when the infernal angel Frank@realclassic.net
drives, as someone might have said.
At the moment, the lockdown means PS. Last month’s magazine contained a
that it’s not at all easy to get out, about and number of mistakes, for which I apologise. I’m
aboard borrowed motorcycles, which makes it not sure how they actually happened, but the
predictably difficult to write about them. This sudden lockdown had a severe effect on the
makes magazine life more interesting than I publishing world, of which RC is a tiny part.
would have expected, and although I had a lot So, I must offer apologies to Robin Smith,
of fun dredging through old Square photos whose BSA A10 tale was messed up – the
and memories – and have lined up another chunk of missing text is in Members’ Enclosure,
personal retrospective for next month – the and if you want a set of the original proofed
writing experience revealed that my memory pages – how they should have appeared –
is pretty rose-tinted. While I was part-way email me and I’ll send you the PDFset. I also
through the story, I found myself scanning the need to say sorry for failing to credit Stuart
ads, searching for a sensibly-priced Square Urquhart for his Mercury story. Hopefully
Four. Didn’t find one, of course, which is things will be better with this issue!
CONTACT US! THE NEXT ISSUE
BY POST: RC194WILL BE PUBLISHED
BY EMAIL: ON JUNE 1ST,
TP@RealClassic.net AND SHOULD REACH UK
ONLINE: SUBSCRIBERS BY JUNE 5th
www.Real-Classic.co.uk
6 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
 SUZUKI GS1000S

Photos by Nolan Woodbury / RC RChive

These days, Suzuki’s litre-class

UJMs have a reputation for
being robust and reliable if
somewhat ‘solid’. But 40 years
ago the Wes Cooley replica was
lauded as being Japan’s best
superbike. Nolan Woodbury
investigates why…

MAY 2020 I 7
 indsight makes it easy
to appreciate the
techno-savvy of Japan’s
motorcycle makers,
even if it wasn’t much
appreciated by British
and European manufacturers half a century
ago. Each of the Big Four took a unique
approach towards the common prize. There’s
plenty to debate when it comes to crowning
a winner from the Big Four, but give Honda
due credit in those formative, big-bore years
between 1969 and 1972. Most agree the sohc
CB750 reset many standards, but so did the
Kawasaki Z900 that followed.
New four-strokes appeared and the title
became increasingly contested. Things
reached boiling point in 1978 when
Quality indeed. Beautiful castings
Yamaha’s XS-Eleven and the Honda CBX
traded punches, only to have Suzuki slip in
between rounds with its smoothly executed
GS1000. The Suzuki’s position as a press and
competition favourite was only dampened by
its underwhelming styling. These things do
matter to many
customers. In the
USA, the success
of AMA champ Wes
This is one considerably big engine
8 I MAY 2020
Cooley and his Yoshimura tuned GS superbike
was well-timed indeed, applying some street
cred to the 1979 GS1000S.
Standing out from the crowd hadn’t been
an issue for Suzuki before. The company
stubbornly stuck to its two-stroke guns by
countering Honda with an off-centre 750
triple and a 500 rotary, the latter styled like
a space ship. Both the range-leading GT750
and RE5 were newsworthy, with liquid
cooling, disc brakes and varying degrees of
impact. With its smooth, polished pots the
three was indeed a kettle of sorts, and Suzuki
sold a bunch while updating it often.
‘Back in the 1970s everyone loved Suzuki,’
says David Smith, a retired, fifty-something
machinist and GS1000S owner. ‘They made
fantastic two-strokes for street and dirt, then
their four-strokes led to the iconic Katana and
GSX-R. The 70s were a magical time for bikes,
and nothing represents that era better than
the Cooley replica.’
Hard on the throttle under a twilight sky
many summers past, my introduction to
Suzuki was a blue flash streaking past my
elbow. I was riding Honda’s finest that day in
1983 – a disappointing showing from my bike
– but the lesson sparked my interest in the

Four big carbs feed the four bores. Air cleaned by
replacement filters in this case
Below: Totally striking, totally of its time and
totally desirable
bsscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs
Suzi and it acquired another fan.
Suzuki were of course founded early in the
1900s by namesake Michio, whose textile
business was aided after WW2 by US-supplied
cotton. Cars and loom equipment led to the
production of small motorbikes, and sales
flourished despite the unlikely combination.
Plans for worldwide export were already
being made in the 1950s. By 1978, Osamu
Suzuki led Suzuki’s charge to continue the
success, steadily growing the Hamamatsu
firm into an international giant.
Barking through its Vance & Hines header
pipes, the tone emitting from our feature
bike takes me back decades. ‘My brother
Tom bought it new in Texas,’ says Smith, who
methodically transformed the former garage
rat into star status. ‘Tom rolled up 40,000
miles over the next six years, but in 1985 it
started having issues.’
The Suzuki sat in a corner until 2003 when
Tom was finally convinced to sell. Reminiscent
of BMW’s R90S with its integrated fairing,
the 1000S calmly leans through the curves
as advertised in its time, shooting forward
with measured twists of the throttle, and
standing up effortlessly to change direction
in transition. Bright in die-cast aluminium,
the engine contrasts against a powder-
coated frame, and was reinstalled only after
a complete strip to lightly hone the bores,
install new rings and fit the rebuilt cylinder
head. Splashed in Suzuki racing blue (or red)
with white, the replica was an upscale UJM
which cost a full thousand dollars more than
the standard GS1000.
‘I didn’t think it would take fourteen years
to finish it,’ smiles David. ‘So give my wife Rita
credit for the push!’
SUZUKI GS1000S
WHAT THE PAPERS SAY
SUZUKI’S SOPHISTICATED
suspension, fine steering and
top-class handling have forced
competitor companies to pull
their socks up. We have not yet
come across another bike able
to provide the GS100S’ mix of
steering, handling and comfort. It is
unarguably Japan’s best superbike
and it may be the world’s finest. Two
Wheels, 1980
POWER FROM LOW REVS is
very strong and the rider has to
take real care when accelerating
hard from corners, because traction
is very easy to lose, even on dry
surfaces. Which Bike, 1979
JEEZ, GETTING THE AIR FORKS
balanced is a hassle. Suzuki supply
an air-pressure gauge but it’s all
too easy to let air escape when you
measure. The legs must be equal
within 1.4psi or they won’t steer
straight. Bike, 1980
THE GS1000 disproves that
Italian myth that you must have
hard suspension to achieve
top handling. Watch a Duke or
Laverda chattering and skipping
through a bumpy corner, then put
the GS through the same corner,
10mph faster, and see if you
can even notice the bumps. Two
Wheels, 1980
GEARCHANGE is slick and
noiseless, except into bottom gear
when there is a noticeable clunk.
Which Bike, 1979
THE FLOATING CALIPER brakes
suffered from an appalling squeal
when applied at town speeds and
needed heavy hand pressure from
high speeds. Braking from the twin
front discs is unaffected by rain,
however. Bike, 1980
THE GS IS spunky-looking
in body line and paint. It betters
the Kawasaki Z1R for spectator
appreciation... but can’t match the
classic handsomeness of the well-
proportioned Laverda Jota – the
bike looks a trifle flat from some
angles. Two Wheels, 1980
THE HANDLEBAR grips are too
small in diameter. Numb hands
were common when touring from
the tight curl of the fingers around
the grips. Two Wheels, 1980
MAY 2020 I 9
 Under the direction of lead engineer Etsuo
Yokouchi an all-new, DOHC GS750 four was
released in 1976, overlapping with the GT
triples and RE5. It was instantly recognised as
a sports machine, and early press analysis of
the 750 acknowledged the factory’s emphasis
on less weight and increased stability. In
these areas and more the GS750 scored
well, besting Yamaha’s equally new triple-
pot shaftie and putting the evergreen sohc
Honda firmly on notice. Some might consider
Suzuki’s first GS a prime example of the UJM
principle, but underneath was the advantage
of engineering from the inside-out. It marked
a milestone for Suzuki, when the company
learned the old lesson of prioritising rider
confidence at speed, instead of simply trying
to generate more velocity.
Beneath the 1000’s wide tank and generous
seating is a strengthened version of the 750
frame. Period literature lists the material as
thin-wall, large diameter STKM-13A mild
steel, with taper roller bearings in the steering
stem (raked to a very Italian 28-degrees)
and caged needles for the chunky 43mm
swinging arm. Angling up, a single T-shaped
strut connects the head on top, putting on
display chassis specialist Hisashi Morikawa’s
recognition of load paths. Welded up, extra
side-plates extend on each side from the
steering tube and down the front to a braced
cross member. The main tube is cross-braced
to the cradle tubes and these are braced
against each other no less than five times,
stem to saddle.
The toolkit contains the items needed to
adjust the rear shocks; a handle to operate
the spring preload cam and a screwdriver to
rotate the disc and alter the rate of damping.
The 1000S has skinny 19/18” alloy wheels
carrying 275mm brake rotors with single
action calipers. These were distinctly mid-
range components even then, hardly cutting
edge technology, yet the GS1000S dutifully
mixed with class leaders for stopping distance.
Ultimately developing a solid, reliable
performer, Suzuki poured plenty of R&D yen
into its new inline four. The two-valve 997cc
DOHC engines are identical for both the 1978-
79 versions, but you can observe the factory’s
thinking by comparing the litre-class machine

GS1100: ANATOMY OF A LUNCHBOX

Don’t let these flowery descriptions of
GS1000 advancement lead you into the
belief that all was rosy in Suzuki land.
Despite the accolades, the bike didn’t
emerge as a sales leader and a large
reason was its runner-up status in the
all-important quarter-mile sweepstakes.
Truth is, the 997cc dohc GS had its hands
full getting past old timers like the Z1000
(now in Mk2 form). The GS might’ve been
easier to live with, but to truly claim the
pinnacle of sports bike stardom, Suzuki
had to produce the fastest bike available.
That mission was accomplished in 1980
by the 16-valve GS1100. Part old, lots
new, and altogether more angry when
accelerating than its predecessor. Stronger
than the formidable CBX and nose-to-nose
with the explosive (and fragile) Z1-R TC,
the GS1100 was directed at the serious
enthusiast. Suzuki’s new superbike was
more durable and owner-friendly than
ever, and buyers flocked to pick between
traditional choices in 750 and 1100cc
guise. Nearly lost in a sea of custom
cowboy cruisers in the USA, Suzuki’s
superbad GS pushed its lunchbox-shaped
headlight through the haze of rivalry
and into the hearts of sporting bikers
– where it wasn’t overshadowed by the
next generation of visually striking race
replicas, like Honda’s cammy Bol d’Or.
Although the 1100 was completely
restyled, there was still a fair amount
of carryover from the GS1000. The
basic chassis design remained but was
strengthened and refined. While Honda
painted steel swinging arms to look like
aluminium, Suzuki grafted on the real model and following 1150 variants made
thing, pinning it to GS1000-like adjustable the good even better, but perhaps still
shocks festooned with even more not the best. Call me shallow, but I can’t
adjustable widgets. Suzuki’s new battleship resist the Lunchbox’s square-to-oblong
had a new leading-axle fork dotted with styling pattern or its plastic in-dash safely
more knobs, a 19” front wheel, 275mm display. Values of the standard 1100 have
discs, but the rear dropped to 17” for a yet to rise, so there should be plenty in the
lower stance. Better clearance allowed the budget to replace unwieldly handlebars
1100 to widen its lead among Japan’s top or to set to with tuning kits. The American
movers, but it was the Eleven’s newfound GS1100 often suffers by comparison with
thrust that made headlines. Bored and the swanky GSX1100 sold elsewhere. I’ll
stroked to reach 1075cc, a four-valve head ride mine as intended and make amends
with bigger 34mm carbs fit over the 1000’s for the best bike I never bought.
redone crankcase, using locknut adjusters
acting on 27/23mm intake and exhaust
valves. Bye-bye shim supply.
Only its considerable heft kept the
GS1100 from seizing the world throne
during its two year production run. Suzuki’s
continuing upgrades to the redone 1982

10 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk

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MAY 2020 | 11

to the original 748cc unit. Looking to add
muscle and lose weight, the 1000’s crankcase
is shorter due to no kickstart shafts. Heavily
trimming the flywheels made the new crank
2lb lighter than the 750’s pressed-up affair,
even with an additional 8.4mm of throw. Split
horizontally, the insides show six bearing
supports fitting caged rollers and a ball
bearing far right, to control end float. Opening
the bores by 5.0mm made the engine slightly
oversquare at 70.0 x 64.8mm using shorter,
stronger conrods with larger gudgeon pins.
Canted forward, the cylinder bank is
topped with a matching one-piece head.
Twin overhead cams are driven by chain, and
valves adjusted via shim over bucket. Power
take-off comes from the crank to a helical
gear fixed behind the clutch basket. Far right,
the crank end mounts an ignition plate; a
12V alternator sits opposite. The complete,
Braking is very much of its time. Despite the speed and mass, there’s none of your 4-pot calipers and
floating discs in evidence
12 I MAY 2020
running GS1000
engine is a full 10lb
lighter at 199lb then the smaller 750.
The GS1000 engine is a delightful match
for its chassis, capable of pushing 550lb of
Suzuki and rider to 130mph. It’s just a few ticks
behind the CBX through the change up, but
more midrange allowed the GS1000 to pull
smartly away, no downshifting needed. This
flexibility came by pairing the 750’s 26mm
Mikunis with larger valves (38/32mm inlet/
exhaust) and a careful bump in compression.
EPA regs kept the plated 4-into-2 exhaust
quiet, and period tests show a half-second
variance in quarter-mile sprints. 70bhp at
8000rpm offered enough zip for Cycle to
record a best run of 11.89 seconds in 1978.
No long-standing criticism exists for the GS
fours, save for earthing issues that can lead
to expensive voltage regulator and alternator
repairs. As with any used performance bike,
many GS1000s have endured a hard life or
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
outright abuse, but riding examples (not
necessarily wearing the ‘S’ badge) remain
somewhat available and affordable. For now.
Attending Suzuki’s 1977 press launch in
Japan, former Cycle Guide and Cycle World
editor Paul Dean remembers the GS1000. ‘I
totalled mine at the company’s Ryuyo test
track,’ he recalls, mentioning the small trophy
made from crash remains presented by host
Etsuo Yokouchi. ‘He had scars from crashing
on the same corner.’ Asked pointedly where
the Suzuki lands among 1978’s best sports
bikes, Paul’s analysis is backed by experience.
‘The GS1000E was exceptionally
comfortable and had generous amounts of
suspension travel. But, because the spring
and damping rates were much lower, a larger
amount of travel was consumed by the initial
sag. This allowed the wheels to just drop into
potholes and big dips rather than sending
the whole bike in. So, while the GS1000 was
pretty fast and agile, its low, wide engine
limited cornering capabilities and that
prevented it from being a fully competitive
rival to the Ducati.’
Bike magazine of 1979 agreed. ‘The GS
doesn’t steer, hold the road or just plain
handle as well as most Italian bikes – but it’s
a far more civilised experience. The GS is as
mild-mannered in deep city use as Ducatis
and Guzzis are long-legged out on the open
roads. The GS delivers its goods in the most
controllable manner. The power band starts
just above tickover, where it’s quite happy
to lope along in traffic queues, and keeps
pumping out bhps until you’re reaching
for the warp factor button at the 8500rpm
redline. At such engine speeds that’s 50mph
in first gear, 75mph in second, 95mph in
third, 115mph in fourth and 135mph in fifth.
‘But that’s all rather academic; what’s
certain is the free ’n’ easy manner in which
 SUZUKI GS1000S

1979 SUZUKI GS1000S FACT PACK

Engine Air-cooled dohc four
Bore / stroke 70 x 64.8mm
Capacity 997cc
Carburettor 4x 26mm Mikuni
Power 90bhp @ 8000rpm
Torque 78Nm @ 6500rpm
Ignition Contact breaker
Primary drive Helical gear
Final drive Chain
Transmission 5-speed, wet clutch
Frame Tubular steel full cradle
Forks 37mm telescopic
Rear suspension Twin shocks
Front brake 2x 11-inch discs
Rear brake 11-inch disc
Front tyre 3.25 x 19
Rear tyre 4.00 x 18
Wheelbase 1505mm
Seat height 31.5 inches
Weight 538lb wet
Fuel economy 44mpg average
Braking 30ft from 30mph
Acceleration 12.03 secs standing
quarter mile
0-60mph 4.2 seconds
Top speed 132mph

Mighty machine looks

impressive on the road, too

Although the engine’s width is clear in this shot, it’s no

A classic Japanese superbike engine. Air-cooled, carb-breathing, dohc and very wider than the rider’s knees, and is a long way away from
well developed touching down on the road

Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs MAY 2020 I 13

 the GS busts wide apart the 70mph speed leaning on the
limits, whisks you past the ton in 12 seconds low-rise, superbike
and will hold a genuine 100mph-plus handlebar.
cruising speed in total comfort and safety.’ There’s even a
Japan’s engineers addressed the GS1000’s toggle switch to
width issue promptly, and technology has disconnect the
since shrunk the still-loved inline while clock’s electrical
doubling power. Plush and hefty, no one draw and an
might confuse the GS1000S with a race accessory socket
bike, except those who actually raced (we’ll presume)
them, like TT heroes Sports Motorcycles in for the DIY radar
1978. Already well regarded in standard detector.
GS1000E specification, Suzuki widened the Suzuki’s big GS Beneath the bubble, the rider gets to admire fuel and
adjustability for the S, adding an option of represents the temperature gauges, as well as a clock to race against
more compression and rebound damping critical point in
to firm up the suspension for the fastest, the company’s
smoothest roads. Those downforce spoilers evolution when the rider’s needs – rather more so. Of all the positive points made
on the fairing are a firm nod to De Tomaso, than outright performance – came in the GS1000’s behalf, none offered more
with smoked glass and extra cockpit dials first. Flash styling alone cannot make a payback than Suzuki’s bet that balanced
recording fuel level, time and oil temperature. motorcycle memorable. Like most 1970s performance and real world longevity could
Smooth, bold and so very easy to ride on road bikes, the big GS is more than up to the earn profits. As the best open-class multi of
open roads, night-time on the Suzuki gives task of modern roads, but as values increase, its time, the fast and flashy GS1000S moved
the rider a red glow from the dash while the rare (500-odd units made) becomes even greatness ahead of compromise.

ENTHUSIASTS & EXPERTS THINKING OF BUYING?

>>Old Skool Suzuki, info and advice: oldskoolsuzuki.info
>>Air-Cooled Suzuki Club: aircooledsuzuki.co.uk
>>Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club: vjmc.com
>>Classic Suzuki Parts in the Netherlands: classicsuzukiparts.nl
>>Robinsons for spares: robinsonsfoundry.co.uk
If a standard roadster GS1000E
sells for between £4000 and
£5000, you can expect to pay 50% more for its illustrious S sibling.
This one sold at Bonhams auction last year for £8000

Offered for sale recently, this 1979 GS1000S has done

just 12,500 miles and is described as being in ‘exceptional
condition.’ The only snag is that it’s in Germany…

This 1980 edition has already been imported to the UK. It’s
showing 38,000 miles, starts easily, runs and rides, but has
scrappy paintwork. As a result, it’s priced at £2k less than you
might expect at a sniff under £6k, from Classic Bike Imports

14 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk

 For anyone interested in Japanese Motorcycles..

VJMC

CLASSIC SUZUKI
PARTS NL
Thousands of NOS parts !
The largest Suzuki 2 and 4 stroke
stock on the internet !
Marcel Vlaandere
www.classicsuzukiparts.nl

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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

CLASSIC JAPANESE MOTORCYCLES

braked. The CL450 has a 2ls front
drum brake, which needs careful
setting up to work effectively.
Handling is good, although the
rubber-mounted handlebars move
a little bit under acceleration and
braking. The first job I did after
buying the bike was to replace
the handlebar mounting rubbers.
The high and wide riding position
is comfortable and the steering
light and accurate. As Mark says,
parts (with the exception of
exhaust systems) are readily and
easily obtained from the specialist
suppliers, with a lot of NOS parts
still available.
The Suzuki in the magazine
would appear to be a 1973 T500K
or a 1974 T500L, painted in the
Candy Lavender colour scheme
of a 1971 T500R (and there is
nothing wrong with that, IMHO!).
The tell-tale signs are the dog
Not having ever read RealClassic bone rear light (introduced on the
until I bought RC191, I was pleasantly T500J in 1972; earlier bikes had a
surprised by it and thoroughly enjoyed roundish tail light) and the oil-tank /
the articles contained therein. I was sidepanel badges. I find the handling
particularly interested in the 500 of the Suzuki fine, unless you move
Japanese bike test. I currently own 2½ of the throttle during hard cornering
the machines tested. 2½? Let me explain. when the bike will wallow and weave.
I am the lucky owner of a 1973 It’s not enough to be dangerous, I
Kawasaki H1D, and a 1972 Suzuki just consider this to be a part of the
T500J. The half? Well, I don’t have a bike’s character. I think the cause of
Honda CB500T in the garage, but this weave is due to the rather long
I do own a 1970 Honda CL450 K3 swinging arm, which is a bit weak
which uses a similar powerplant and torsionally. Good aftermarket shocks
frame as the CB500T. Both of course help cure this.
were developments of Honda’s 450cc Again, if properly set up, the
Black Bomber. As a young mechanical 2ls front brake works well and I
engineering student during the 1970s understand Mark’s comment that
I had another T500J, which I owned for the Suzuki’s braking was better than
almost 10 years and used as everyday the Kawasaki’s. These bikes, being
transport. Based on my experiences, I torquey and having a relatively long
agreed completely with Mark Redfern’s saddle, are excellent for riding with
comments and conclusions. a pillion passenger. Parts are easy
My CL450 has been solidly reliable to get from the specialist suppliers,
(well, it is a Honda!), if a little under- and as so many of these bikes were

16 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk

 LETTERS
sold over a relatively long period, good
secondhand parts are also easy to find.
New pattern exhaust systems are available,
from Classic Suzuki Parts NL, but they are
not cheap!
If any other readers are thinking of
buying a T500, it is worth pointing out that
earlier bikes had a habit of wearing out
fourth and fifth gears. T500 gearbox oil
level is controlled by a weir. Earlier bikes
(up to and including the T500J) had 1200cc
of oil in their gearboxes, and this proved to
be insufficient. Just adding additional oil
to the gearbox doesn’t solve the problem,
as any oil more than the 1200cc that is put
into the gearbox simply flows over the weir
and into the clutch casing.
From the T500K, Suzuki raised the height
of the weir to allow 1400cc of oil to go into
the gearbox, which solved the problem.
Crankcases have the gearbox oil capacity
cast into them next to the oil filler, so it’s
easy to check what you have. Suzuki made
a ‘Mission Oil Plate’, part number 24833-
15990, which is a rubber piece that fits onto
the top of the weir to increase gearbox
oil capacity from 1200 to 1400cc, but you
need to split the crankcases to install it (if
you can find one!). I am currently having
the weir height on my bike raised by 3/8”
by welding a shaped aluminium strip to the
top of the weir, to have the same effect.
Finally, the Kawasaki. These are great bikes
to own, and people always come over to talk
about it. They are nowhere near as bad as
their reputation would have you think – you
can potter around under 5000rpm quite
happily – but at 5500rpm the thing takes
off like a scalded cat. My bike, being an H1D
model, is good for a claimed 59bhp (early
H1s supposedly had 60bhp) and is the last
with a solidly mounted motor (H1E-on had
rubber engine mounts). Braking is poor, and
I am currently fitting a second disc brake
to the front to help solve this problem. The
gearbox pattern, with neutral at the bottom,
takes a bit of getting used to, but late
KH500s had a more traditional one-down,
four-up pattern. Ridden hard, any H1 will
struggle to better 25mpg, but I can assure
you that it’s worth the expense!
Many thanks for an excellent magazine,
rest assured that you now have one more
enthusiastic reader!
Phil Brackpool

Thanks for your insights, Phil; really

helpful comments. And we’re delighted
that you’ve discovered RC – it’s great to
know we’re reaching new people even
after all these years! Please tell your
friends all about us… Rowena

Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs MAY 2020 I 17

BONNIE BOYS
I’ve just read the article about the long-term
Bonnie ownership in RC192. It is informative
and I agree with the improvements mentioned,
but it did give me a wry grin of knowledge
about owner Lawrence’s experience when he
bought his T120R.
When I bought mine, the chap who had
it was an ex-marine engineer. Being young,
I thought it would be tidy and all sorted. I
enquired why the tyre pressures were so low,
and could I pump them up before I rode it
home 30 miles. The seller’s response was that
he hadn’t got a pump. Odd, thought I.
I soon realised why they were so low. Every
time I braked the bike
ANTIVIBRATION INNOVATION
In the Benelli feature in RC192, Alan Cathcart
comments that Erik Buell copied Norton for
his Uniplanar anti-vibration mounts. I did once
ask Erik, and he denied that he’d seen Stefan
18 I MAY 2020
TOP ELECTROPLATING TIPS
In RC192 Andrew Stoker asked about
would cut out. I limped home only using the
electroplating his headlamp shell. First,
front brake, which didn’t affect the bike. I was
look for one with less rust pitting because
too headstrong to take it back, as I was going
you can’t realistically fill 0.5mm pitting
to sort it myself.
by plating. You’d need to dip and strip it
Exploring this weird phenomenon, the
– the alkaline method is probably best as
penny finally dropped. The Bonnie had been
it strips paint too, I think. Copper-plating
wired up without any earths. When the back
onto steel at home is not recommended
brake was engaged, everything would go to
due to having to use copper cyanide. A
earth, hence the cutting out. What a bodge! I
headlamp is quite a large area so YouTube
vowed then never to take anything for granted.
methods using copper sulphate aren’t
Good article. I agree with the opinion about
appropriate. Once the steel is stripped
dynamic crank balancing: both my T120 and
you can ‘strike coat’ it with nickel then
my CSR have had the treatment and it makes so
copperplate it.
much of a difference that it’s worth every penny.
To fill the pitting (including base metals
James Griffiths, member
like alloy or mazak castings) you can use
plumber’s solder and a blowlamp. You
can use solder on bare steel too (tip:
petrol tank repairs) but it takes better on
copper. You spread the solder across as
best you can and sand it down. Then you
can either copperplate it or just paint it.
This would be the car bodywork lead-filler
method and the cheapest way to restore
it for painting. All kits are expensive but
worth it if you intend to do a lot of plating.
My kits came from Gateros as they were
cheaper than Frost’s, but that was about
six years ago.
I’m assuming you want it chrome plated
when finished, otherwise I would just
strip it and fill the pitting. I always use a
filler-primer base coat too to get rid of any
imperfections.
Lionel Yexley, member
Thanks for that, Lionel. Electroplating
is one more of the skills I’ve never
managed to master. I’ve tried a couple
of kits, with consistently terrible
Bauer’s work on the Commando. He attributed results! Frank W
the Buell system to a Harley product. So, whilst
an unnamed Harley engineer may have copied
Norton, it wasn’t Erik.
Ian Woolley,
member 873
My understanding is that
John Favill – co-designer of
the Norton Isolastic system,
later went to Harley-
Davidson and designed
an anti-vibration set-up for
them. I’ve run a couple of
those machines, and they’re
very good. Alan C probably
meant that the Buell system
used the later H-D device.
Frank W
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
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MAY 2020 | 19
MAGNETO LOCATION
SAVED BY A C11
When I left school in 1954 I applied for an
apprentice job. I had to catch a bus for my
all-important interview. My father and I
waited and waited for the bus that never
came. Eventually, he stopped a friend who
was on his way home from work, and I had a
lift all the way on a C10. I got the job!
Mike Broatch, member
OUT OF AFRICA
I was interested to read the letters which
referred to the Nigerian army Triumphs. I
worked in Nigeria between 1980-84. On
Saturday afternoons we use to drive into
Calabar, an old town connected with slavery
and a shipping port. On one of these trips
I found a pile of Triumph motorcycles, all
painted army green, in a Nigerian police
20 I MAY 2020
In 1960 my 1949 Matchless G3L suffered a
major magneto failure due to the fracture of
the armature shaft in the middle of the drive
end bearing. As a new replacement was more
than a week’s pay for a National Service airman,
I had to look elsewhere. A friend told me of
a motorcycle scrapyard in Leicester, 15 miles
away. He gave me a lift, and enquiries about a
Matchless magneto resulted in the possibility
of an AJS somewhere on the site. The owner
wandered off and returned a bit later carrying
this filthy bundle which, when some of the crud
had been removed, resembled a magneto.
Scraping away more crud revealed clean
metal and a quick spin using what remained of
the ignition lead revealed a decent spark. A sum
of ten shillings was agreed and I took it home,
stripped and cleaned it. With a new ignition
pound. I tried various times to get in and
look at them but with no success and they
were still there when I left.
Searching around the mill where I
worked, I discovered a 1920 New Hudson
in an old corrugated shed. I paid about
£11 for it and brought it back to the UK,
later selling it for £50 as spare parts. Later
on I returned to Nigeria and worked in
the north, where I met an English chap
who was exporting
army Nortons back
to the UK.
John Spring,
member 2088
Thanks for this. A
minor frustration
is that somewhere
I have photos of
a container filled
with ex-Nigerian
army Triumph TR7
machines in a glorious
variety of conditions.
Of course I can’t find
them… Frank W
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
lead, my Matchless was restored to life using the
original mounting, as I was not sure if the front
mounting of the AJS would be the same fit.
What were the pros and cons of the two
different magneto positions of early AMC
bikes? All later versions used the front
mounting, so was there any real benefit other
than matching AJS and Matchless fittings? And
are there any motorcycle scrapyards still active
or are they all autojumblers now?
Malcolm Aley, member 10,640
Many and varied are the thoughts on this
small subject. There are those who suggest
that placing the magneto in front of the engine
is silly because it gets covered in road filth.
Others insist that hiding it behind the cylinder
results in its slow cooking to the point at which
it dies. I’ve run loads of both styles, and never
seen any difference in magneto life… Frank W
ROUGH STUFF
PUB’s picture on page 94 of April’s
RealClassic magazine shows her attempting
the Crackington section on the 1987 Lands
End Trial. Crackington, which is known
locally as Mineshop, is one of the classic
sections and a highlight of the trial. It is
straight and steep and the last 100 yards or
so are traditionally doctored by the locals
with a slurry of mud and thick clay. Here
the surface also becomes much rougher,
therefore presenting a real challenge to the
competitors.
One of my friends has never failed it,
others I have heard of have never got out
of the top of the section unpenalised. For
me, it’s a 50:50 section. Sometimes I climb it
successfully, other times not.
I have competed in the LE every Easter
since 1984 but for obvious reasons the
2020 Lands End Trial has been cancelled;
hopefully it will return in 2021.
Phil Hingley, member 247
 CLASSIC BRITISH (HEYWOOD) LTD OL10 1HY
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We sell direct to the customer, so our prices are moderate.
We send them insured to anywhere in the world. We usually have them
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MAY 2020 | 21
 STARTING YOUNG
I thought you may like to see my
grandson who is two years old enjoying
RealClassic. Obviously the mag appeals
to all ages. He keeps on asking why is
Father Christmas riding a motorbike
when he gets to your column.
Great magazine, can we have more
British 2T as there were a lot of them?
David Blackwell, member
Excellent photo! And there will
hopefully be the answer to your
request somewhere in this issue.
Frank W
LAST BUT NOT LEAST…
I subscribe to several magazines, but one stands
head and shoulders above the rest: RealClassic.
RC192 arrived a few days late this month but it
was a case of saving the best till last. I’ve been
with you since issue one and often wondered
what makes RealClassic so special. It’s like an old
friend dropping in.
And then, in Frank’s editorial, he said, ‘RC feels
more like a community than most magazines.’
That’s it, that’s the difference and long may it
continue. Well done RC, thank you Frank, Rowena
and all who contribute, take care in these difficult
times, you deserve a clap!
Ian Massey, member 625
Thanks very much, Ian, and to everyone
else who’s contacted RCHQ to check how
we’re getting on. Fortunately, Frank and I
have plenty of experience in running a small
business from a home office as we’ve been
doing it for decades! But much of the ‘upstream
machinery’ of the publishing industry has been
disrupted – so please bear with us if there are
some hiccoughs in design, production and
delivery. There are a lot of links in the chain
that produces this magazine, and all have been
affected by the current situation. Rowena
22 I MAY 2020
MERCURIAL MYTHS
Can we finally stop this myth that not
many of the Norton Mercurys were built
and dispatched? Over 700 Mercurys
were dispatched from October 1968 to
April 1970, not the quoted number of
160. Of these, 100 went to the home
market in the UK and over 600 were
dispatched worldwide, with engine and
frame numbers 129147 to 129896. There
may well be many more as there are so
many gaps in the dispatch records. There
were far more Mercurys built than P11A
Ranger 750s or the Norton Nomads.
There were also 14 all-black police
model Mercurys dispatched to Malta in
June 1969, and these were some of the
last ones made. I have a friend who owns
one of these Maltese ex-police bikes.
One of the last two went to the Norton
Villiers Corporation in Seattle, which must
have been Bob Budschat’s shop. Bob was
a very well-known off-road racer, and
dealer of bikes from the Berliner Motor
Corporation. That bike was 129895, and
the last one (129896) was dispatched to
Gus Kuhn Motors. I have it on very good
authority that this bike was constructed
from spare parts at the factory and then
dispatched in April 1970.
There were also two sales brochures
produced for the Mercury, one published
inside a Commando brochure.
The Mercury used the same cylinder
head casting as the P11A Ranger 750
and the Commando, as it carried the
same casting number. This is stamped
on the underside of the cylinder head
and it is an ‘06’ Commando part number.
This can clearly be seen as a Commando
casting, as there is a point between the
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
rocker spindle plates that has clearly
been machined to add the side oil
rocker arm screw hole feed that was
used on the Commando engines. My
P11A Ranger 750’s cylinder heads also
have this machined surface, with the 06
number stamped on the combustion
chamber side of the cylinder head.
The Mercury used a different
instrument bracket, 035059. This had
added nodules or prongs on the side
of the cylindrical part, where the Lucas
88SA light switch was inserted via
the cylindrical part of the instrument
bracket. There was a rubber ring or oil
seal band that was also used on the
Commando’s swinging arm, to stop this
switch from falling out while you were
riding your bike. This happened to me
on a very dark ride along the M3 on my
Matchless G15CSR street scrambler in
the 1970s, when all of a sudden all the
lights went out. We stopped to find out
that the 88SA light switch had fallen out.
I pushed it back in, and normal service
was resumed.
After many years of intensive research
and months of looking through the
Science Museum Norton factory
dispatch records, I can prove all of the
above.
In the timeline, you left out the Norton
Nomads but included the Model 77. It
is almost like the Nomad is a forgotten
bike. It is not – I repeat NOT – a parts-bin
special as so many have called it.
Anthony Curzon, member 1010
Awesome product knowledge,
Anthony! Frank W
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08 R/E Electra X 500, choice of 2 from 41 Norton 16H ex MoD, nice
......................................................... £2,250 bike..................................£7,995
60 R/E Constellation 700, great bike .. £5,250
70 R/E Bullet 350, like new ........... £2,295
29 Sunbeam Model 9 500, ride/restore
......................................................... £7,995
75 Triumph X75 Hurricane .......... £22,995
72 Triumph T100C, high piper, beauty
......................................................... £6,995
96 Triumph Thunderbird 900......... £3,500
94 Triumph Trophy 900, bargain triple
......................................................... £1,995 61 Willys/Hotchkiss Jeep, great
76 Triumph TR7 Tiger Special 750...... £5,995 fun .................................£16,995
74 Triumph TR6 Trophy 6509, great bike
......................................................... £5,500
52 Trojan Mini Motor/Hercules bike...... £795
60 Velocette MAC 350, lovely single
......................................................... £6,750
74 Yamaha DT175, Fab/original/500miles
......................................................... £3,495
04 Yamaha XT660R, good hack.... £2,495
73 Kawasaki KH500, mint in white..... £TBA
67 Triumph TR6 Trophy, great bike ...£TBA 75 Suzuki GT550 Ram Air,
superb triple ....................£5,995
ICAL
 VINCENT V-TWIN

L RA

it 32 years later.
Owner Ken started the restoration of his Rapide in 1984 and finished
He was busy, OK?

/
M
y introduction to HRD /
Vincent came about as a fan
of speedway racing in the
1960s in Australia. Riders
such as Sandy McRae and Ron Johnston
from Queensland and the New South Wales
riders, Robson, Treloar, Grocott and Burdis
were famous exponents of the Vincent
speedway sidecars.
I started racing in 1971 when I campaigned
a Triumph-powered outfit at our local track.
As I improved the Triumph, enlarging it from
650 to 750 and then to 850 with a Norton
crank, I started to race at other tracks and
THE WAY IT WAS
Ken’s HRD started life in 1949 as a Rapide. It
spent a lot of its life as a two-speed speedway
sidecar racer before being reborn as a classic
solo. Ken got to know his HRD-Vincent rather
well competing with considerable success on
the Australian circuits
26 I MAY 2020
was selected to compete at special meetings.
At a pairs competition between, I was in a
heat when the race was stopped – one of
the passengers had fallen off his bike in front
of me. To avoid hitting him, I spun my bike
around to stop. Speedway bikes don’t have
brakes, of course!
The rider who caused the stoppage
couldn’t restart the race, leaving me and
two other riders to compete. When I went
to restart my Triumph it wouldn’t go. Flames
were coming out the carburettors, indicating
that the timing had slipped (probably when I
had spun the bike). To make up the numbers
and get a point for third place for my team, I
was offered the outfit of the rider who caused
the stoppage. The sidecar was propelled by
an HRD Vincent.
Some quick instructions on starting and
operation ensued, and I was off. Full throttle
on take-off in second gear, flat out to the
first corner. Throttle off and change to top
gear (it had a two-speed gearbox) and then
you are away. As I was riding someone else’s
bike, which I had never ridden before, I was
apprehensive to say the least. Consequently I
nearly stalled it at the starting line. Grabbing
the clutch and a handful of revs finally got me
away. When I selected top gear going into the
first corner, I looked across to see the other
two bikes, a Vincent and a Norton, exiting
the corner heading down the back straight. I
consoled myself thinking I would at least get
the point for third.
The HRD performed beautifully. It had
lots of power coming out of the corner. We
drifted up to the fence, off the throttle to
flick it sideways to reduce speed for the next
corner, and back on again for a full-power
The mighty V-twin engine may not be entirely standard, but it is entirely effective
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slide through the corner with the passenger
moving back along the bike to increase
traction as we come out of the corner. Then
drift out to the fence down the straight. I was
in heaven.
As we were came onto the back straight
for the second lap, I saw the Norton in front
and managed to pass him by the end of the
straight. ‘Hell, this thing flies,’ I thought. Down
the straight and into the last lap – I could see
the other Vincent in front. As he went into
the last corner he was about a metre off the
inside of the track. I powered on, aiming to
pass on the inside. When he realised what I
was doing, he tried to close the gap, but it
was too late. I went through, giving him a
gentle tap as I did!
Coming out of the corner I had the inside
line and I beat him to the finish. I was ecstatic.
My first ride on a Vincent: I won the race, and I
got three points for the team!
When we returned to the pits I said to
my wife; ‘We’re wasting our time with the
Triumph. We have to get a Vincent.’ I found
a bike in Sydney, sold the Triumph and
bought the Vincent. I raced it from 1975 to
1984, during which time I was selected for
several championships. But when I started
working overseas in 1984 it was difficult to
attend meetings, and then I had a rather
serious accident when we struck the fence
and the sidecar was ripped from the bike.
So I stopped racing and decided to convert
the HRD back to road use. The machine’s
restoration was finally completed… in 2017!
In its form as a speedway racer, the HRD
Vincent consisted mainly of the engine, front
forks and the rear frame member or RFM.
Most of the rest of the machine had to be

Engine essentials. New cylinder liners and barrel
muffs were needed, but the crank assembly was
OK, even after race use
Careful and skilled assembly is crucial. Observe
the dial gauges on the rear cylinder head
obtained or manufactured. I wanted to build
something different so I decided on a café
racer style.
The engine was developed for racing,
and was running 12.5:1 compression on
methanol, 1 3/8” Amal GP carburettors with
Lightning cams, large valves, two-speed
oil pump, multi-plate clutch, two-speed
gearbox, dual point coil ignition, etc. Some
changes would have to be made to return it
to the street.
One of the major issues is that in racing
form the engine had two front heads. To give
the rear carburettor and float bowl more
room, the casting for the generator drive
was removed (a common modification on
This is an unusual tank! It also required a lot of fabricating
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A racer revived. The power unit required some surgery to return it to the road
speedway bikes). I made a new piece out
of a block of aluminium and had it welded
into place after making a jig to ensure the
alignment of the sealing arrangement. The
primary case had to be rebuilt in this area as
well. Once this was achieved then rebuilding
the engine could begin.
The crankshaft had just had a new Alpha
caged racing crankpin fitted which had done
just three race meetings, so it was checked
and the flywheels re-trued. Pistons were
replaced with lower 9.5:1 compression items
to enable the engine to run on pump petrol
at 95 octane. New liners and muffs were
fitted, as there was fin damage on the old
muffs. New bearings were fitted throughout
VINCENT V-TWIN
the engine and gearbox.
The cylinder heads had worn rocker
bearing tunnels, which needed attention.
These were bored oversize until cleaned
up. Oversize bearings are available but they
were still too small, so I machined up some
to suit. New, polished rocker arms and pins
were fitted, as were new valves and guides.
The heads were assembled, taking a lot of
care with tolerances and the alignment of
the rockers to the valves. The modification
to hold the rocker bearing to the top of the
tunnels (RT 100/1) was added to prevent
problems in the future.
The threads in the exhaust ports were
stripped, so these were reclaimed by welding
MAY 2020 I 27
Vincents are fast and Vincents are heavy, so they need good brakes. Happily, there are two of these in the front wheel
and rethreading using a coarser thread. New
finned nuts were made to suit. A stainless
steel 1 ¾” Lightning style exhaust system
with inbuilt baffles was made (by Meerkat
Mufflers) and fitted.
With the crankcase, the major concerns were
the cam and cam follower shafts. Although
these were tight in the cases, they were worn
and a PO had ‘repaired’ them by welding the
ends of the shaft, roughly grinding them round
and driving them into the case. Reclaiming the
holes consisted of removing the old shafts and
setting the cases up on a milling machine. The
holes were opened out with straight reamers
until all damage was removed. Then sleeves
were heat-shrunk onto new spindles and
machined down to the correct interference fit
into the cases.
A new spindle steady plate was made and
the cams, cam followers and decompression
linkages were installed. A lot of care was
taken to ensure that the cam gears and
Few motorcycles have twinned brakes at the rear…
28 I MAY 2020
followers were set up correctly in the area of gear pattern, I modified the Lightning
shimming and backlash. Camshaft timing was pattern gear linkage to achieve this. With
carried out by using a degree wheel on the a multi-plate clutch fitted, the mushroom
crankshaft and dial gauges located on the top headed adjuster and the clutch lever were
of the valves. modified to maximise clutch lift. A new
The transmission was rebuilt, returning it triplex primary chain and rubber-faced
to four speeds. During its racing career some adjuster blade were fitted.
gears had been replaced, so the condition of I wanted to fit Lightning-style pipes, but
the gears was good. Selector dogs had been the original kickstarter fouled the pipes.
modified to allow faster changes through the I observed that other bikes had used a
two-speed box. A new mainshaft was fitted as
the old shaft had been modified to improve
clutch actuation, which had removed the
circlip groove for the kickstart pinion. The
selector spindle was replaced and a method
of locking the spindle securely (and still fit the
generator) was made and fitted.
The selector camplate (G32/3 lightened)
was fitted, and new springs and pawls were
fitted to the selector mechanism, as these
were not used in a two-speed box. As most
of my bikes have the one-down / four-up Twin front brakes require a twin-pull lever
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Twin filler caps. One of these is for
the engine oil
Only one marque
has a straight-
ahead view like this
kickstarter similar to those on a Honda Four, which swung out
and provided additional clearance. A couple of Honda Four
kickstart levers were obtained and modified by lengthening
the arm to the length of the original kickstarter. Then I
changed the spline from 26 teeth to 40 teeth to match the
Vincent shaft. This was done by bolting a plate with 40 equally-
spaced holes in it to the back of a 4-jaw chuck. By holding
the boss in the chuck, the hole was rebored and splined by
a tool sharpened and used as a shaper. By moving the chuck
1/40th of a turn at a time, the spline was cut gradually until the
shaft entered. When mounted, the kickstarter fits in the gap
between the timing cover and the gearbox.
With the basic engine completed, attention turned to
the bolt-on components. The magneto was dismantled and
checked. New insulation washers were fitted to the bearings
and the bearings lubricated and adjusted. The magneto
was re-magnetised. A pair of 32m Amal Concentric Premier
carburettors were purchased and fitted on Jim Mosher
manifolds. Jetting was carried out by the manufacturer after
I had supplied engine information. To tidy the fuel hoses,
stainless carburettor banjo unions were made to suit the
fuel hose available, finished with stainless ferrules. The Miller
generator was checked and serviced with the internal cut-out
removed and an electronic regulator fitted. A small battery box
was made to suit a small 6-volt sealed battery, which mounts
behind the LHS rear engine mount. Regulator and electrics are
mounted under the seat.
With the chassis of the motorcycle, I wanted to retain the
Vincent features, but with a ‘café racer’ style. This meant I
would retain the Girdraulics and Vincent RFM.
In my accumulated spares I have a rear subframe that
someone had built for a road racer, although this was for
a special swinging arm and shock absorbers, so I used the
dimensions to make one to suit the Vincent RFM. The RFM
needed repairs to the axle mounts as sidecar racing overloads
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VINCENT V-TWIN
TAKEN FOR A RIDE
The pre-war Series A Rapide was the fastest production motorcycle
iin the world, capable of travelling 100,000 miles without needing
major mechanical attention. Anyone other than Vincent and Irving
m
might’ve considered that good enough, but instead they greeted
m
tthe post-war world with an entirely revised Series B Rapide. It was
still powered by a 998cc V-twin but almost everything else had evolved.
And back in 1980, journalist Royce Creasey rode one. And he rode one
really rather rapidly…
‘The Vincent is a very pleasant device indeed, having the best match of
bike, flywheel and reciprocating weights I’ve yet encountered. Flexibility
and response are exceptional, the transmission is snatch-free, and the
degree of engine braking just right.
‘The gearbox suffers from the possibility of play between the positive
stop and the selector cam, while a dragging clutch can make first
impossible to engage even though the lever moves. Servo clutches
traditionally suffer from various ills, including sensitivity to weather
conditions and a fairly random mode of operation. All these defects are
detectable in the Vincent unit, but in entirely bearable moderation.
‘With the bike at a standstill, the motor sounds like a worn-out tractor
as it ticks over. But by the time the mid-80s have been reached, all the
rider is conscious of is a distant thunder and the universe rippling past.
Even moderate use of the throttle at this speed gives the impression that
the bike is still while the horizon is being dragged helplessly closer.
‘The front forks are an attempt to combine the rigidity of girders with
the ride of telescopics. The Girdraulics on the Rapide are stuck with a
high unsprung weight compared with contemporary telescopic forks. In
practice, the immense stiffness and stability of the Vincent design easily
compensates for the slightly poorer ride, and the complete absence of
dive under braking is an advantage that telescopics cannot match.
‘The suspension quality of the Girdraulics unfortunately relies on careful
maintenance. It is very probable that the reputation the Vincent gained
in the 1960s for developing killer wobbles at speed was the result of
unmaintained forks in what the VOC would probably call “the wrong hands”.
‘Fitted with Roadrunners and longer than standard springs to improve
ride and ground clearance, the stability at extreme angles of lean is
exceptional. Both ends begin to drift simultaneously, the high degree of
stiffness permits easy control, and the bike leaves corners exactly on the
line. Tight corners get the bike a little out of shape if taken by storm, the
slow-in fast-out approach pays off.
‘This excellent controllability and the engine’s massive torque are
matched by the plunge-free performance of the braking system which,
although badly affected by water, is the match of the best double-disc
units I’ve tried. Tight corners require an application of the rear brakes to
lighten the steering, but the lever pressure is high and more sensitivity
would be useful.
‘On a two-lane blacktop
with hills and curves and
little villages, the bike
followed the road so
easily that I had little to
do but sit there. There
are certainly several
bikes that can attain a
higher speed sooner
than the Rapide, but
few that could match it
cross-country over long
distances.’
MAY 2020 I 29
this area. A jig was made to ensure correct
alignment, and the right and left RFM fork
lugs were replaced. I wanted to retain the
original rear suspension, however, as I did
not have the original spring boxes, so I
decided to make some which could use
Girling springs. This would give me the ability
to alter spring rates at a later date. The centre-
mounted Koni damper was retained.
The Girdraulic front forks were rebuilt using
new bushes, pins and associated hardware.
Stainless steel was used to make small items
such as pad bolts, thrust cups, nuts and
washers. The original Vincent steering damper
was retained, and a Koni hydraulic damper
fitted. A tapered roller bearing steering head
conversion was fitted to upgrade this area.
Linkages!
30 I MAY 2020
Alloy guards were mounted front
and rear, with stainless brackets formed out
of hydraulic tube. Dies were made to press
the ends of the tube into the correct shape.
The headlight brackets were constructed
in the same manner. Engine plates were
drawn up and laser cut from stainless steel
and polished. On reflection, the rear footrest
brackets were quite heavy, even though
they were heavily drilled. I found some old
Lightning-style brackets which I copied in
alloy. The Lightning brake lever is different
fr
from the
sttandard
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one and wasn’t available, so I made one from
stainless steel using photos for the design.
I decided to fit a 19” wheel to the front
and 18” rear. I found a refurbished Black
Shadow 150mph speedo at the Bristol
Show, which meant a Vincent front wheel
was required with the correct speedo drive.
Looking at my Vincent hubs, I found that
they were in poor condition. The front hub
had been narrowed for racing the sidecar,
minus brakes and brake plates. The rear
had cracked through the bolt holes, so new
hubs were machined. Because the grease

seals in the Vincent hub consisted of felt
rings, I thought I would update them with
neoprene seals, so the new hubs were
machined to suit metric tapered roller
bearings with this in mind.
New hollow axles were machined to suit
the alloy brake plates. The original five-bolt
spoke flanges were used on the front and ten-
bolt flanges on the rear. A set of finned drums
were fitted along with new brake shoes. I
obtained some racing style, alloy brake plates
that a friend had cast and machined them to
suit. Air scoops were obtained and, instead
of the gauze that screens are normally
constructed from, I used stainless sheet with
61 holes drilled in them.
The brake levers were made from
stainless steel and feature straight-
pull linkages. Rear torque arms were
constructed out of stainless and lightened,
the original Vincent clips being retained. At
the front the balance beam was replaced
with a compensator at the brake lever and
longer levers on the front brakes, to tidy
the front of the forks and reduce flexing
in the system. A stainless mount was
constructed for the speedo drive, new axles
and captive nuts were machined and the
hubs were laced to Akront Morad lipped
alloy rims with stainless spokes. Tyres fitted
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VINCENT V-TWIN
are Dunlop TT100 GPs. Yellow Akront decals
added a finishing touch to the wheels.
In photos of early racing Vincents I
noticed that some had modified petrol
tanks to increase the fuel capacity. I
decided that this would compliment
the café racer style. I made a buck out
of timber using the standard tank for
the front section and extended the rear
approximately four inches to see how the
riding position would work, and to ensure
other items would not be affected.
Once I had the style, I acquired some
metal-working tools – such as an English
wheel, shrinker / stretcher, shot bag, etc.
As I don’t have the facilities or experience
in welding aluminium, I decided to make
the tank from steel, and bought a Henrob
oxyacetylene torch to do the welding. I
fitted a flip-up type filler cap and a tank
breather to continue the theme. The hump-
back seat was also homemade as well to When finished, the time came to start it.
compliment the tank. The tank and seat The engine was very tight and could not be
were assembled on a frame to send to the kick-started. I borrowed a set of starting rollers
upholsterer to ensure correct alignment. and the HRD started up straight away. After
Finishing the bike consisted of fitting starting and running it several times over the
new control levers, twist grip and cables. A next couple of weeks, the engine freed up and
new wiring harness was made to suit the 6” could be kick-started. It continues to start easily.
Lucas headlight and aftermarket Lucas-style Several Vincent owners have remarked at the
tail lamp. smoothness and quiet running… for a Vincent.
MAY 2020 I 31
 Ariel’s almost unique Square Four has long held a reputation as
a gentleman’s motorcycle. But what does that actually mean,
and is it true? Frank Westworth acquired one to find out…

32 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk


. d
bike history
remarkable engines in British
Photos by Rowena Hoseason, Frank Westworth
an I start straight away by
apologising for the slightly
surreal quality of some of the
photos nearby? Those with
the almost psychedelic shades
were taken a long time ago on what
was known back then as ‘slide’ film, and
modern scanning can sometimes produce
unexpected results. And there are indeed
two different bikes here..
Like many of us, back when the earth was
young and old bikes were merely old bikes,
I was intrigued by Ariel’s almost mythical
Square Four – not least because the idea
of having four cylinders was fairly radical
around 1970, when I was a schoolboy on
a learner Panther 200. Four cylinders! I
knew of Honda’s improbably technical
4-pot 750, but only by reading
about it. I’d never seen one. And
in any case, the Honda’s engine
was almost comprehensible,
being a similar cylinder layout
to my dad’s Wolseley. But four
pots? In a square?
Ariel were keenly aware of the
target market for their gentlemanly
Four. This is a 1939, pre-apocalyptic
advert, depicting a few suitable
cheps and just the one gell
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ARIEL SQUARE FOUR
, nk’ss occasional partner in Square
dancing, and his 2-pipe model, so
called for
obvious reasons
A local breaker had an engine – broken,
inevitably. My nascent riding pals and I
pop-popped over to see it, and stared in
awe as the breaker himself – one Cliff Baker,
if anyone remembers this genuinely good
guy from Hatch Beauchamp – showed us
how it worked. I pretended to understand.
The 197cc Villiers engine in my Panther was
too complicated for me, really…
And then one of my schoolmates
acquired one. Old bikes really were so
cheap in those days that even a sixth
former with a Saturday job in Woollies
could afford most of them – and a
completely derelict Ariel with a collapsed
and decaying family sidecar attached
was just about worthless. This particular
example came from a terraced house,
where the new owners had been surprised
to find it decomposing gently in the back
MAY 2020 I 33
yard. The stuff of dreams today, of
course, but back then? Less so.
The Classic Myth would have it
that just a wipe-over with an oily rag,
a drip or two of paraffin and a single
manly kick had it going. Not so. Proud
Owner couldn’t afford a battery for
it – a new one would have cost more
than the outfit. So we borrowed a car
battery, plonked it into the rotted sidecar
and connected it up. The Ariel was 6V,
the battery 12. The coil smoked for a whiile.
And it never worked again – assuming it had
worked before the gentle roasting.
Eventually, we borrowed a battery from a
parent who ran an E90A Ford Pop – 6V – and
connected that, along with the coil from
the same source I think. Fuel was probab bly
siphoned from that very Pop, and after m many
tall tales and much derring-do, the enginene
fired up. It was astounding, especially to us
impoverished schoolboys, whose collected
two-wheelery consisted of two BSA 250s,
After the first of several attempts to cure its
mysteriously intermittent denials of service, the
bike developed a remote oil filter
When the old Ariel landed in The Shropshire Shed, its
battery was some ugly modern thing. And it still is in
this pic, though that’s been well hidden by a Draganfly
bogus battery box and all the correct fittings
34 I MAY 2020
Simple stuff. How it all works. Or should work.
Or something…
only one of them a modernistic C15, an
appalling Vespa of some description, and my
own free Panther. All those cylinders! All that
noise! All that … smoke.
Describing it as a four was an
exaggeration. It would run badly on any
random combination of cylinders up to the
prime number of three.
Of course we tried to ride it. And then we
gave up. We now understood that Ariel Fours
were for gentlemen, not schoolboys. Gentlemen
could afford a chap to make it work, penniless
boys less so. About the same time – same term,
certainly – we were told of a Vincent nearby.
This one had been found in a greenhouse,
which had collapsed, and a tree had grown up
between the bike and the inevitable sidecar. We
investigated, of course, but with the Ariel Four
fiasco in our minds, we left it where it was…
Fast-forward several centuries to The Great
Classic Age, and the dawn of reverence to
these epic and unique motorcycles. At long
last I was able to ride a Square Four. Better
yet, I was able to ride as many of them as I
wanted to – without actually having to buy
one. And I could try out several of these
rare beasts, such are the privileges of a bike
scribbler’s life. So, try a few is what I did. Not
all at once, you understand. I rode a single
ohc Four, which sounded like it was about to
explode at tickover, so I pottered around very,
very gently for a terrified ten minutes before
returning it to its plainly over-confident
owner, and I rode at least two examples of
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The earlier 2-pipe engine had a reputation
for overheating. Frank’s pal Mike had no
problems at all with his. Frank was possibly
unamused at the time…
the Four Ariel never made – the swinging arm
machine, courtesy of Graham Horne, noted
expert on all things Ariel.
Of them all, the one I liked the most was a
tired 4-piper which I borrowed from a well-
known old bike dealer in Cheshire. I loved it. I
bought it.
Question for you: Does owning and riding
the gentleman’s motorcycle make the rider a
gentleman?
The bike was utterly excellent. With
the assistance of the entirely marvellous
Draganfly Guys I was able to replace the
consumable sundries, and I was able to
fit a brand-new battery carrier to replace
the bizarre confection of straps and
studware which came with it. I was able to
ignore Draganfly’s Roger Gwynn’s several
suggestions that I should (read this loudly)
clean out the sludge traps! And I was able to
potter around the Shropshire hills which were
home in those days. It was great. Really. For a
time I wondered if this was The One To Have
– the only bike I’d want to live alongside my
other quirky tourist, the Norton Commander.
What are they like to ride? They are
remarkable. As different from any other
British machine as is the in-line Sunbeam.
The frame is from the rigid age, in that it
is very low, which suited me then, and still
does today. Although I’ve ridden several
other Fours fitted with saddles, this one
had its original dual seat, and despite the
fairly limited travel of the Anstey Link rear

suspension it was very comfortable
indeed. Some pattern items are rather
less easy on the backside, however.
While the low-slung nature of the
bicycle aids with easy and entirely
relaxed handling, the engine helps too.
It is massive, with two heavy crankshafts
twirling around below wheel spindle
height. Yes, you read that correctly: the
crank centres are below the front wheel
spindle. And this truly does help with easy
direction changes and stability on what is
a decently heavy machine. As does the all
light-alloy construction of the massive top
end, which is a lot lighter than it looks.
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ARIEL SQUARE FOUR
If you get a ‘Space 1999’ joke, let
us know. Ariel’s Four, parked up in
late winter sunshine. Sadly, it was
parked too often
OK: the engines. What are they like?
When they’re running well, running
properly, they are delightful. The problem
with mine was that it rarely ran well. More
about that in a minute.
The big Four is smooth – compared
to a contemporary single or twin –
but it is not modern 4-pot smooth.
Manufacturing tolerances were not as
accurate in the 1950s as they are today,
and I suspect that lots of little internal
bits are often out of balance, adding up
to a degree of tingling. Nothing bad, not
at all, but if you’re expecting 2020 levels
of 4-pot glide you should be prepared Ariiell prod
duced
d a wiide range off mach
hinery
MAY 2020 I 35

Major modifications for the huge US market
consisted of a set of higher bars. Oh, and some
shiny crash bars. Bling was king
Rear suspension was provided by a slightly
patinated example of Ariel’s unusual
Anstey Link system. Contrary to its
appearance, this actually worked well
Instrumentation was
typically minimal, but
which gentleman really
needs more than a
speedo to distract him?
36 I MAY 2020
f a revelation. That said, the
for
engine is an utterly involving
device. It’s basically two ohv
parallel twins sitting one
behind the other, with the
two cranks connected by a
monster pair of gears on the
primary drive side.
Given the all-alloy
construction, you might
expect that the engine is
mechanically noisy – and you’d
be correct. As soon as your The forks worked surprisingly well, as indeed
did
engine is running, remind the basic sls front brake
yourself
o rself that the
th basic design dates from the
1930s, not the 2000s, and learn to savour Because that is the word for this most
the sheer charm of it – as well as the smooth charismatic of ancient Brits. Relaxed. From
power delivery. Because it is very smooth … the moment that you fumble the ignition
for its time, as I’ve already suggested. key to bring life to the ignition, through the
Power? Around 40bhp at 5600rpm. That’s slow, heavy but not hard kicking bit to actual
quite a lot of (iron) horses. I remind myself running, nothing is rushable. No heroic leaping
that my 2017 Triumph Street Scrambler – into the air as with a Goldie, for example. Just
an ohc twin of modern design – offers a push down the kickstart, nice and smoothly.
quoted 54bhp from its 900cc, and it is indeed There’s not a lot of compression resistance, but
similarly relaxed. there are four pistons to shove up and down,
two hefty crankshafts and a heavy clutch to
motivate. Inertia is everywhere. Coil ignition
being what it is, you should be rewarded with
an easy and relaxed fire-up. Even if it might
take a moment or two for all four corners
to chime in.
The fires are fuelled by a single carb
mounted behind the engine, which
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produces a fairly remarkable inlet tract. Well
worth a moment of amazed gazing.
Burman provided both clutch and
gearbox, with the clutch being typically
Ariel in that it runs dry, protected from the
primary chain’s oil by being placed into
its own little compartment outside the
chaincase. The clutch should be light, too,
and indeed most of them are.
Acceleration is good, and decently
vocal, with an excellent note from the twin
silencers. Mine still wore its original Burgess
mufflers, which sounded very good without
being as harsh as some modern patterns.
Comfort is relaxing, with a fine gentlemanly
riding position – I was a bigger boy in those
days, and it was very comfy indeed, handling
my own personal padding with aplomb.
The forks are soft and the Anstey Link’s
plungers hard, which should not make
for a decent ride – but somehow it works
very well. It’s entirely obvious when
riding an original and (mostly) unrestored
machine that Ariel’s bikes were built by
guys who rode the bikes they built. This
is an excellent rider’s machine. Despite its
unique engine, the rest of the machine is
just … relaxed. Bendswinging is a delight,
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ARIEL SQUARE FOUR
although ground clearance is not
racing standard, and the engine
pulls in top gear from walking pace.
I’d read somewhere that it was
entirely possible to ride a Square
Four only in top gear, so I tried it.
And it’s true, you can. But why you’d
want to is another matter entirely.
Even the brakes are … relaxed.
They work well, with the single-
sided drum on my machine being a
Grand historic shot of boys being boys. And an
lot better than the full-width alloy Ariel Four. An ohc example, too
device which replaced it on the last
of the Fours. The rear brake was very good, about these things. The Ariel was running
in fact, and rod-operated, which is another well as we rode down from Bishops Castle
plus in my book. to Clun, then across the fabulous Clun Valley
So why doesn’t this paragon of two- towards Craven Arms. Where we stopped. I
wheeled virtue still live in The Shed? hadn’t intended to stop. But we did.
It was a beautiful, balmy evening. Crisp Everything was dead. No amount of
and cold, brilliant blue sky and mostly dry kicking produced combustion. There was
roads. I’d suffered what passes for a busy fuel, the lights were working fine, so it
day in the office at home and just wanted should just run, surely? It refused. I went
to blow away some cobwebs. A perfect for a walk to let everything cool down, to
evening for a little Square dance, then. see whether that made any difference.
Togged up, fired up, headed out, running It did not. I walked to a pub and called
east so the sun was behind me, and when Rowena, who called Ian and Bryan from
I returned that same sun would have Church Stretton Motorcycles, and Ian came
dropped below the hills – a chap learns out with a trailer, while Rowena came
MAY 2020 I 37
 out with a car to cart me home.
Of course I asked Ian – a seriously excellent
spanner twirler – to fix it. Which he did. He
fixed nothing. Went to the bike the next
morning, kicked it up and it ran at once. Just
like that. I went over to collect the bike and
rode it home. It was great. Collective shrugs
and smiles. Old bikes – what are they like!
About a fortnight later I was off to meet
my mate Mike – the rider of the 2-pipe
Four in the pics – for a refreshing libation
and waistline expansion … and I never got
there. It stopped again. In Craven Arms
again. Same recovery procedure. I called
Graham Horne, previously mentioned Ariel
Four expert, and he came and took it away –
with a very wide smile. Huh.
I also bought my very first mobile phone –
suddenly I could see a use for one.
And Graham rode the Ariel up to meet
me at the Big Breakfast at Prees Heath a
week or so later. It was running well. A
quick one, he suggested, happy to cruise at
a relaxed 65 or so, with something left for
those ungentlemanly frisky moments. So he
dropped it off. Very little money changed
hands, because all he’d done was wander
through the electrical and fuelling systems
cleaning up all the connections and checking
for blockages. He’d also fitted a remote oil
filter because I’d still not cleaned out the
sludge traps – nor did I want to, because
those traps are inside the crankshafts and
I seriously did not want to pay for a
complete engine rebuild. Oh no.
Being a cautious soul, I followed Graham
and his van as far as Craven Arms as he drove
back to Redditch, and the Four was running as
sweetly as any other I’ve ever ridden. All was
light, all was delight. Until it stopped running
again about ten days later. I’d really had
enough by that point and sold it. Which wasn’t
difficult. In some ways I wish I’d persevered,
but in truth I was just fed up. When I set out I
like to believe I’m going to arrive.
Mike, my pal with the 2-pipe Four, rode
his all over the place at Top Speed and I don’t
believe it ever let him down. Sometimes,
just like people, a bike has a mind of its own.
Maybe my Four simply did not want to cart
fat old me around. And who could blame it? I
am, plainly, no gentleman…

That 2-piper again, offering a vague comparis

on
with Frank’s plainly superior (but irritatingly
unreliable) 4-pipe machine

38 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk

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MAY 2020 | 39
Ambbassad
dor iniitiallly off
ffered
d an Envoy mod
dell fi
fittted
d wiith the 8E Villiers engiine,
from 1954. It was joined by the 9E version the following year

40 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk

 AMBASSADOR ENVOY

In the late 1950s Ambassador aspired to build

a quality! Quality!! Quality!!! two-stroke with
simply outstanding performance. Reg Eyre
was almost overcome with all the
excitement…
Photos by Reg Eyre

R
ecent articles in RealClassic about
the current range of Royal Enfield
machines, such as the Interceptor
and the Continental, made
interesting reading since they were thought to
be affordable, fun, useful and different to those
that exist in my shed. Reading that Frank was
going back to a 350 AJS or Matchless suggested
that a small machine might be interesting and
fun, with its totally different ride to a modern or
larger machine.
A fellow rider from the Cotswolds was
parting with a 1959 Ambassador Envoy
for not a great deal of money. Was this an
opportunity to try a small two-stroke, such as a
Francis-Barnett or James, but with a little bit of
pedigree, even if it still used a standard Villiers
two-stroke engine?
Ambassador motorcycles were manufactured
from about 1947 to 1962, in Ascot, by Kaye Don,
an ex-Brooklands racer. He sold his firm to DMW
in 1962. Villiers two-stroke engines powered
most of the machines which did not, shall we
say, possess sporting pretensions. I bought
one of the last, an Envoy from 1959 that was
supplied with the 9E engine and four-speed
gearbox. Both of these were recently overhauled
by Villiers Services and the previous owner has
restored the cycle parts himself. The brakes and
tyres have also been replaced and some work
has been done on the electrical system.
The 9E is only a 197cc single cylinder engine,
so I was not expecting searing acceleration
or speed limit breaking performance. I took
the Envoy on my usual twelve mile run to my
favourite local café. This is a gently winding
road with a long slow climb up to a walkers’
car park, followed by a winding downhill to a
30mph zone before the café.

Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs MAY 2020 I 41

 Keith had explained the starting procedure
when I collected the machine two days before:
switch on the fuel, free the clutch, rotate the
air filter choke to its closed position, tickle the
carburettor, turn the engine over with a couple
of priming kicks, turn on the ignition using the
hidden switch, and then kick. It should, and
did, start on the first undemanding kick. There
was no two-stroke smoke, which I was warned
might happen, and the throttle was used to
warm the engine before rotating the choke to
the off position.
Clutch in, engage gear – no clunk – and we
were off. Perhaps acceleration is the wrong
word to use, since we gently gathered some
speed before joining the main road. Changing
through the gears was noiseless and lacked
drama, but I felt that maybe I should have
warmed the engine more thoroughly since
the sound from the silencers was a bit raspy.
Closing the throttle slightly brought back the
pleasant burble, but the speedometer needle
dropped down to 30mph.
As the engine warmed, performance
eased into the 40 to 50mph range, but I was
expecting a drop as we started up the long
incline. However, we continued at the same
speed all the way up and, once the hill was
crested, we fairly zoomed down the other
side at a more exciting speed. This gave me a
chance to see that the brakes worked well at
controlling the speed.
Villiers’ own tower of power!
six inch brakess and 17-inch
The Envoy came equipped with six-inch
was 30 inches; wheelbase 49 inches and it weighed just 215lb
42 I MAY 2020
The 9E Envoy came with a four-speed gearbox
as standard, but the purchaser could opt for a
three-speed alternative instead
Engines supplied by Villiers came as a complete
package, including a carb, a complete ignition
system and even exhausts. This made them
ideal for use by smaller manufacturers
After a coffee, we returned the same way
we had come by riding through the 30mph
zone and then attacking the steeper climb.
With the warmed engine, it worked its way up
the hill at a satisfactory speed in top gear. The
long downhill was not fast enough to stop cars
sitting within a few feet of our rear, but they did
not choose to pass even where it was safe to do
so. The first run of twelve miles was not enough
to satisfy the urge to go further, but the cold,
damp, air and the warmth of home persuaded
me to stop.
There were no leaks of oil or petrol, the
engine did not tick as it cooled and we had
enjoyed an unremarkable first ride. It needs
more mileage to bed in the new brake
linings but it steered and braked well. The
1 wheels Seat height
wheels.
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Villiers supplied useful handbooks for their engines,
and even put service details onto some castings!
suspension is on the hard side and road
irregularities are all felt through the seat.
Around 40mph is a comfortable speed for
the rider but is uncomfortable for following
traffic, as can be seen by their determination
to pass as soon as possible.
Further runs demonstrated that I have
long forgotten about mixing two-stroke oil
into the petrol and what the ratio should be.
Fortunately, there was no tell-tale smoke trail
following the bike as we rode along the lanes.
Do today’s riders of Oriental two-strokes have
to manually mix their oil and petrol?
Starting is still straightforward, as per the
first run, and indications are that maybe I was
too hasty in not letting the engine warm up
enough. The comfortable cruising speed occurs
aat an indicated 40mph, although the engine
quite happily runs up to 55mph with a certain
q
aamount of vibration felt through the footrests.
Interestingly, the handlebar end mirror still gives
a clear view of vehicles and the road behind.
At the higher speeds, this rider finds the
bike less planted on the road, even though
b
road
r irregularities do not shake the machine
too
t much. The brakes still feel more than
just
j adequate and do a good job in slowing
the
t Ambassador from the less than heady
speeds
s it attains. 60mph has been seen on the
speedometer,
s but the bike feels too light to feel
firmly
fi planted on the road – hence I usually
ease the throttle back a tad so that a reasonable
 AMBASSADOR ENVOY

We could argue all day about whether this bike

needs such a substantial grab rail, but the seat is The cream-faced speedo adds at least another
certainly plush 10mph as well as a sort-of classic style

cruising speed can be held. of interest. It is less fussy to get ready than many
A rear view mirror is absolutely essential on of my much older machines but is not much
this type of bike. Other drivers appear to close faster. There is no great difference in riding it
up very quickly and do not know how to cope compared to a working vintage motorcycle,
with the sight of a motorcyclist moving at such but I would not wish to park a vintage machine
slow speeds, relative to their own speed. in a town motorcycle parking bay. While the
The Ambassador was not designed for use Ambassador is often looked at as an interesting
on fast roads or motorways, and maybe drivers curiosity, it’s probably not worth stealing or
in 1960 did not travel as fast as they do in the fiddling with. Several people have commented
2000s, but it is happy to be ridden along more on the ‘prettiness’ of the Ambassador.
minor roads at comfortable speeds and does It now presents me with a dilemma. Should
not require much effort from the rider. I could I keep my 1954 Ariel 350 or the Ambassador?
happily commute, say 20 miles, to work every Both provide an unhurried approach to riding,
day and arrive unstressed by the journey. I with the Ariel being faster and better braked
wouldn’t want to undertake long journeys and than the Ambassador. Your thoughts?
am glad that I have a more modern – 1982 –
BMW for longer trips.
I have acquired a relatively slow machine
that is comfortable and easy to use. It is light
in weight, which makes it a doddle to park in
a restricted space. I was able to easily push it
into and out of my van, making it a possible
machine for riding on small roads away from
main roads and my local area.
The Ambassador currently fits into my stable
as a steady, if unspectacular, ride to local places

This is Reg’s other classic ride. Which one

should he keep? The Ariel 350 four-stroke
or the Ambassador 200 two-stroke?

THINKING OF BUYING?
If you’re considering a lightweight
two-stroke then there are always plenty
of Villiers-engined machines on the
market. Right now, Andy Tiernan has
this smart 197cc Ambassador Embassy
in stock. The three-speeder has kept its
original registration, starts readily and
accelerates briskly from low revs. Yours
for £3500 from andybuysbikes.com

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44 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
 MOTO GUZZI V50

Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs MAY 2020 I 45

 Moto Guzzi’s V50 in MkIII form. Light, agile
and quite quick enough for everyday use

M
Left: The fork legs appear to be on backwards.
y underlying medical Observe the fascinating brake line lines
issues continue unabated.
The consultant looked me
directly in the eyes and
said in clear and concise tones that even a
stubborn, ageing, slightly-deaf motorcyclist
could hopefully understand. ‘No. More. Big.
Bikes’. And that was that.
My much-loved Moto Guzzi Convert,
restored by me from a wreck many years
ago, the bike that I was going to be buried
with, and that featured in these very pages

Above: Fixing what’s broken…

46 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk


(RC146), was reluctantly put up for sale.
There was some consolation in that I would
keep my little 1961 Triumph T100 trail bike
(see RC148), as that is easy to start and
weighs about the same as a modern bicycle.
Thankfully the Convert went to a good home.
What to do next? Could I live with just the
one bike? There is room for two in the shed.
Although the consultant had clearly said ‘no
more big bikes’, surely that meant I could still
have small-to-medium ones?
What to buy? I prodded and sat upon
various Chinese and Indian machines
but none quite hit the spot emotionally,
and really I like a bike where I can do all
of the maintenance myself. I had a brief
flirtation with a very expensive Sunbeam S7,
something I had always wanted, bought ‘fully
restored’ from a dealer but really just with
a shiny coat of paint and a few new parts. It
had manifold minor mechanical woes and
by the time I had fixed most of them the love
had gone. I sold it to a man with
no legs who just wanted to
look at it, not actually ride
it (honestly).
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MOTO GUZZI V50
I pondered Morinis for a while as I had
never previously owned one, and didn’t
consider Ducatis because I had previously
owned one. I thought quite a bit about a
Triumph TR65 as I have always wanted one
of those too, but decided it was too similar
to the T100 I already had. Being a fan of
automatics, and after listening to Nick Adams
singing their praises, I even thought about
big scooters of the Burgman type but really
not for very long at all.
Then the epiphany. What are the machines
that I know and love? Moto Guzzi and
Laverda of course, and they both do a Above: Cheap paiintt rarelly sttick
ks around
d for long…
suitable 350/500. I soon discovered that they Below: The faintly famous ‘Lego’ switches. When
are not plentiful these days. Not very long theyy work,, theyy work. Other situations are possible
ago there were loads of Guzzi V50s around,
and for not much money, but they were
eminently suitable for the despatch boys
and girls, and those that did not meet that
sorry end all seem to have succumbed to
the hideous shed-built café racer trend. I fail
to see that sawing off the mudguards and
wrapping a bit of bandage around a rusty
exhaust pipe does much for the performance,
but maybe that is just me.
MAY 2020 I 47

Free stickers!
I searched UK and EU websites for some
time, but have still yet to see a Laverda 500
for sale, and the only V50s that came to light
were all true barn-find quality. I really wanted
something that was less of a challenge this
time.
And then I saw it, on Fleabay of course. A
nice red 1981 Moto Guzzi V50 MkIII, around
30,000 miles, looking quite tidy and with an
encouraging description about a careful,
VMCC member previous owner and recent
maintenance (but more on that later). It
was rather more than I wanted to pay but
it ticked all the boxes and frankly I had not
seen another, so I placed a bid. I was the only
bidder, and there may be something of a clue
there, but the monies were paid, a courier
arranged, and it duly arrived.
The MkIII or Mk3 version of the V50
differs in various small cosmetic ways to
the previous models, mostly around the
headlight area and the indicators, and with
moulded plastic mudguards in place of
painted Italian steel, which is always a bonus.
It also has Nikasil barrels, slightly larger carbs
at 28mm instead of 24mm and, to cure a
mid-range flat-spot on the Mk2, went from
electronic ignition back to twin contact
breakers. The later front forks have the oil
pneumatic type shock absorbers, the ones
48 I MAY 2020
with the Schrader valve on the top, and the
brake calipers were moved to behind the fork
legs, rather than in front as they had been on
the previous marks, due to some hype about
improved braking performance.
It still has the lovely linked braking system,
but with the front master cylinder on the bars,
not under the tank and operated by a cable
like the very early models. The rear shocks
on mine are the regular sealed-damper type,
so may well have been changed as originally
they should also have been the oil pneumatic
type, the ones with a valve to let all the air out
just when you need it the most.
First impressions were mostly positive but
a little mixed. The red paint I think is original,
as it still has the factory warning sticker on
the tank. Bar a couple of small marks it is nice
and shiny but very, very thin, a bit like the
sort of finish you get on beer cans. The black
frame paint is definitely original and is OK for
its age. Unfortunately, somebody had given
the alloy swinging arm and both wheels one
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of those ‘OK at six feet away or in a fuzzy
eBay photo’ jobs with a stiff brush and some
bright aluminium paint. Presumably that
same person is the one who had also liberally
painted over every single rusty fastener, in
situ, with the same silver paint – something
that drives me up the wall. New fasteners cost
pennies, so don’t paint them, change them!
The last moan was the profusion of random
Guzzi stickers. There were five on the tank,
two on each mudguard and three on each
side panel; altogether it had more soaring
eagles than a Scottish bird sanctuary.
The good points are that it started on the
button and sounded great, fairly rorty for
a little ’un, with a nice quiet engine. Before
making any further investment in tyres and
the like, I rode it around the block a couple of
times just to make sure that everything works.
It does, including all the electrics and the
original Lego switchgear. It even has parking
lights, which is quite unnerving as that is not
usual for a 40 year-old Guzzi, or possibly for
a four-year-old Guzzi, but I’m sure normal
service will be resumed sometime soon.
A smalll screen is allways a neat way off keepiing
road muck away from occasionally delicate
instruments

Talking of tyres, they were… interesting.
The front was a Metzeler in an old 3.50 size
which I think might even have been the
original from 1981, as I could not find any
form of date stamp on it. The bike had a
current MoT but both tyres appeared to be
made of Bakelite, completely rock hard. The
rear one was oversized and I had a pig of a
job getting the wheel out from between the
swinging arm and the rear drive box. I took
the valve right out of the tyre but it did not
deflate one iota (puncture proof?) so I had
to resort to much dismantling and finally
violence.
My local bike fixer fits my tyres for me as he
has the relevant machine. He really earned his
money that day as they were the worst tyres
has ever had to remove, eventually cutting
them off. It now has Avon RoadRiders, which
some RC folk seem to strongly recommend
and others strongly don’t, so time will tell on
that one. They do seem hysterically narrow
compared to modern stuff; another bicycle
comparison.
It was only when I removed the front wheel
to change the tyre and found an odd array of
spacers that I started to think something was
not quite right. It took me a while to spot that
my brake calipers are in front of the fork legs,
not behind. The forks are on back to front!
Who? Why?
I considered putting it back to standard but
then realised that the nice armoured brake
hoses fitted by a previous owner would then
be far too long, and the newly fitted front
tyre would now be the wrong way around,
so it is staying as is. It all works, so I just fitted
Slender enough?
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Garron’s earlier Guzzi, the Convert, hiding behind his Tiger
some proper clamps for the speedo cable and
brake hoses, in place of the tie-wraps that
it previously had, and all is fine if you don’t
think about it too hard.
Interestingly, another friend also bought
a V50 MkIII shortly after me and his forks are
the same. Either folk clearly like doing it or
contrary to the brochures they really came
like that from new.
When it was delivered the bike
unexpectedly came with a big box of bottles
of oil, funnels and jugs, some old plugs, a
rider handbook, a workshop manual and a
pile of invoices. There were also all the old
tax discs and MoTs going right back to 2001.
It soon became apparent that since 2001 the
bike had covered precisely 460 miles, despite
being taxed and MoT’d every year. To further
add to the air of mystery, the V5C showed 12
previous registered keepers. This didn’t make
any sense to me, given that it looked like the
one owner had it for many years.
The dealer I bought it from knew little
about the history, but one of the parts
invoices in the box of bits had the name and
all the contact details of a previous owner so
cheekily I gave him a call. The helpful chap
was pleased it had found a good home and
told me he was the last true owner and had
swapped it for a car from that same dealer, a
car that was worth rather less than I paid for
the bike (and incidentally turned out to be a
complete dog) but that is business for you.
The previous owner had the V50 for about
a year but didn’t ride it much. He’d fitted the
‘new’ battery and iridium plugs that had been
described in the advert, so they were not
exactly new by now, more ‘hardly used’. He
had purchased the little Guzzi from an older
chap in Scotland (clearly a well-travelled
MOTO GUZZI V50
bike) who owned it for many years and kept
it permanently taxed and MoT’d but allegedly
only used it once per annum to attend the
local Scottish Guzzi Rally. That would explain
the very low mileage, but still does not fit at
all with the 12 former keepers. I contacted
the DVLA again and they confirmed that 12 is
indeed correct. I can only assume that in the
first few years of its life it was a bit unloved
and changed hands many times fairly quickly,
poor thing.
I had never even ridden a small-block Guzzi
before. So how does it compare to a Convert
or to the many other Tonti and loop framed
bigger V-twins I have owned and ridden
over the years? The bike is physically very
small, and I am physically very not small, so
I am slightly concerned that when riding it
I resemble one of those circus bears doing
tricks on a child’s tricycle (Rowena can insert a
‘how it may have looked picture’ here.) [Done.
Rowena]
‘I am slightly concerned that when riding it I
resemble one of those circus bears doing tricks on
a child’s tricycle (Rowena can insert a ‘how it may
have looked picture’ here)…’
MAY 2020 I 49

Well, the first ride impressed with the
light and nimble handling on the new
Avons, but not so much with the half-
gallon of engine oil all over the back
wheel. I know Guzzis are sensitive to
over-filling but that was not the cause.
The bike has K&N air filters and a Le
Mans style breather box and I suspect
blocked rocker breather pipes or a stuck
non-return valve in the box caused back
pressure in the crankcase and the oil
exited up the sump drain hose and out
the end of the breather.
I have since been through it all, wiggled
the valves, shortened and rerouted the
pipes and ridden another 50 miles or so
and it seems to be OK. My next ride was
a brisk 60 miles or so, and 99% of the oil
stayed on the inside which is a result.
50 I MAY 2020
Easy to start, easy to
ride, easy to live with.
Who could ask for more?
Apart from the oil issue it rides very
well, is flexible around town and picks
up crisply. A plug chop shows them
to be very pale, so I suspect it has not
been re-jetted for the new air filters,
something else to check. You can still
feel the family ‘tractor genes’ especially
with reference to the gear change, but
there are no false neutrals and the real
one is easily found, even at a standstill. It
really makes me miss my old automatic
even more.
The V50’s suspension is much harder
than the Convert, but the seat is
comfy enough and everything is well-
positioned. Just over 4000 revs gives
60mph in top gear with no discernible
vibration and an acceptable level of
exhaust and intake noise. Compared
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
to the T100 the V50’s brakes
are a marvel. However they
are really not up to Guzzi
standards and completely lack
feel, especially the front which
hardly works at all at low speeds,
which is of course when you
need it most. I suspect the
brake pads are of similar vintage
to the tyres, so have added some to
the shopping list.
After a bit of titivation I really am
quite happy with what I have found,
and if I keep it for a few years the pain
of the initial purchase price will fade. The
exhausts are hand-painted matt black
over rust on what look very much like
copies of the old Dunstall Decibel-type
silencers, and the black is already coming
off. But they are quite solid, still function
fine and sound great, so will remain.
The wheels and swinging arm may get
stripped of their lumpy silver paint if I feel
brave enough. Most of the soaring eagles
have flown the nest, and there are now
stickers just covering the two small paint
blemishes. I have added a little smoked
screen over the ugly mass of cables, wires
and pipes in the gap between the clocks
and the headlight, and a leather tool bag
on the grabrail as the space under the
seat is very limited.
Other jobs have been to replace all
the minor fasteners with stainless steel,
which cost all of about twenty quid,
check and change or top up fluids, and to
modify the ‘fly-off’ sidestand so it will stay
down when you want it to and not give
you yet another new hernia when the
bike inevitably falls over. There are always
a few more things to do, such as some
of the wiring loom being covered with
sticky electrical tape instead of properly
sleeved, but that is a fiddly job and will
require the right frame of mind and a
warmer shed.
There was some more good news
when I came to add the V50 to the
comprehensive insurance I already hold
for the T100. A whopping additional £12
to pay, and no admin fee either, thank
you again Lynbrook Insurance (highly
recommended).
There were various big bikes I’d
planned to acquire later in life when I was
old enough to be seen on one in public,
such as a Harley. That will never be, but
I do have two sweet little machines to
choose from so still count myself lucky.
May your roads always be dry.
 for all
ENTHUSIASTS

Rallies in the UK and Eu

urope
Tech Help
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Company

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p @motog
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FROM SPADE TO FORK – Receive

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OF SEEDS
ur
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e
plot, when you subscrib
During these uncertain times it
could be easy to resign yourself to

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a weekly shop as your only means
of outside interaction. However,
there’s plenty you can do to not
only get yourself out into the open
safely, but also, to take that small 12 PRINT ISSUES FOR £29
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MAY 2020 | 51
52 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
 BSA M20

BSA’s solid sidevalve single was one of the stalwarts

of the Second World War. It also copes well with the
demand of classic life, says Len Page…

Photos by Len Page, RC RChive

Illustration by Tim Gladdis

Two bikes! The silver one is a 1947 civilian model.

The other is a 1944 WD machine, both owned by Len who wrote the piece

Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs MAY 2020 I 53

Ex-military machines, like this Royal Navy M20, have long made perfect
sense for anyone who’s not in a hurry, but wants to ride around in decent
relaxation mode
R
ecently I have rebuilt a number
of BSA M20 engines. After
heaving around various very
heavy components, I got to
thinking. There’s an almost infinite number of
ways to produce 13bhp. Any number of small,
light, two-strokes exceed this figure with
ease. These lightweight motors can be carried
by one person, who doesn’t need to be an
Olympic weightlifter or a bodybuilder.
Why then did Val Page design the M20
engine for BSA? Overhead valve engines
had been around for a very long time and by
the mid-1930s had proved reliable enough.
The sidevalve design was, I presume, easier
and cheaper to produce, although the M20
engine is very heavy. I once purchased an
M20 motor at an autojumble. I attempted to
carry it, minus magneto and dynamo, from
the vendor’s stand to the car park. I didn’t get
far before returning and asking to borrow his
sack-truck! Even then I had a sore back for a
week after lifting it into the car.
The idea was to produce a heavyweight
machine capable of pulling a large sidecar.
Even in the mid-1930s the clouds of war
The single carb bolts directly to the cylinder,
ensuring that when the engine is truly hot, the
fuel boils…
54 I MAY 2020
A 1947 civilian model with all the mod cons reinstated. 1947 was the last
year of post-war production when the girder forks were fitted, before
telescopic forks were adopted
were gathering over Europe and it became
obvious that the British and Commonwealth
forces would need to be equipped with a
motorcycle that could be produced in large
numbers and at a price that the country could
afford.
So what did the M20 have to offer the War
Office? Reliability and torque at a price that
would keep the bean-counters happy? Well
torque, certainly… but reliability? It would
seem not at first. When in 1936 the M20 was
submitted to the War Office for the standard
10,000 mile test it was rejected for having
excessive cylinder bore wear and it was
regarded as unfit for military service.
Even when it was resubmitted the
following year with a modified cylinder barrel
it was only rated as ‘Fair’, although it was
accepted. By this time the need for an army
motorcycle had become even more pressing.
During the following conflict, BSA went on to
produce 126,000 of these machines.
When you strip down an M20, the first
thing you notice is the massive flywheel and
connecting rod assembly, which weigh 30lb
on their own. This mass is supported by four
Steel-ribbed footrests save on rubber, which was
in short supply during the war, but are perilous
when wet and muddy. Many a slip, so forth
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main bearings, one ball race and one roller
bearing on each side. Interestingly the drive
side bearings are metric and the timing side
imperial. Both timing and drive-side shafts
are riveted to the flywheels. The big end is a
conventional roller bearing type, running on
a crankpin keyed into one flywheel and on
a free taper in the other, held at both ends
by a large nut and locking rings. A hardened
insert is pressed into the connecting rod eye
and is fed with oil through the timing side
shaft. The piston is alloy with a fully floating
pin. This assembly, with dimension changes,
seems to have gone on throughout the BSA
heavyweight single range for more than 25
years.
The cylinder barrel is a mass of cast iron
weighing 31lb. Close examination of the area
round the exhaust valve – accommodated
in the barrel – shows a lack of cooling that
must mean that the valve runs very hot
indeed. The Amal 276 carburettor is bolted
direct to the cylinder with only a paper
gasket for insulation. This arrangement
allows all the heat generated by the engine
to be transmitted to the alloy body of the
Military light switch has four positions, the extra
slot being for convoy duty: rear lighting only
 BSA M20

BSA’S WAR MACHINE

BSA built
a truly
startling
Engine internals on the bench; no wonder the number
whole bike is heavy. These bits weigh as much as a of M20
Canvas handgrips save rubber, and actually work Bantam on their own! sidevalves
well. Levers are mostly unplated brass or dull for the
cadmium various
arrangement continued through the M33 and
branches
carburettor when the machine is stopped, the B-series engines, and even the Gold Stars of the
which, unsurprisingly causes the fuel to have virtually identical bottom ends. It then military.
vaporise after a few seconds. This is a serious becomes apparent that when fitted to an Here’s just
a few of
drawback if you are trying to restart while M20 it is seriously under-stressed. The bottom
them
someone is shooting at you. The cylinder end is able to stand three and even four times
head is also cast iron and adds a further 9lb to the horsepower with ease.
the total weight. With magneto, dynamo and the crankshaft-
When overhauling my first M20 engine mounted shock absorber, the total weight of
I was appalled by the amount of play in the engine is something just over 120lb. Add
the exhaust valve guide, so I replaced it to that the weight of the gearbox, chaincase
and reamed it to a good fit with the valve. and clutch and the total increases to close to
Everything was fine while I was running-in 200lb, approximately half of the total weight As fast
the engine, but on the first long run there was of the bike. as the
factory
a full throttle climb. As the temperature went The primary drive is a single row chain via
delivered
up the valve stuck in the guide, resulting in a crankshaft-mounted spring-loaded shock them,
no compression. I quickly found that if you absorber to a single spring ‘Empire Star’ the bikes
kept the throttle open the cold fuel cooled it clutch. This unit proved to be so good that it were
pressed
and it dropped back onto its seat. ‘That will was used on all the Automobile Association
into
run in.’ I thought. No, it didn’t, and I eventually road service units. It runs in a pressed tin service
gave up and reamed out the valve guide to chaincase. The oil level in the chaincase is
its original clearance which, of course, solved enough to lubricate the chain but not high
‘I don’t
the problem. enough to get onto the clutch, which is know
The timing side cams and gears are also protected by a domed cover. However, as what
heavily made and the outer ends of the these machines have a tendency to wet sump they’ll
do to the
shafts are supported by a heavy steel plate. and have no oil seal on the drive side of the
enemy;
Oil is fed to the big end and camshafts crankcase, if the machine is left for any length but, by
via an oil gallery in the timing cover. This of time engine oil will fill the chaincase and God, they
frighten
me!’ As
someone
The extra-long stand is a side or field famous
stand, intended to prop the bike safely once
when the surface is less than ideal remarked

BSA;
rockin’ all
over the
world…

Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs MAY 2020 I 55

Hefty crank assembly showing the shock absorber
contaminate the clutch.
The gearbox remained unchanged
throughout the war production and is slow in
operation but reliable, although I have known
cases of selector forks failing.
The cycle parts are rather basic, even for
the 1930s. The girder forks work adequately
on the road but are less good on rough
surfaces and tend to develop a pogo stick
action, even with the friction shock absorber
screwed up tight. This coupled with the lack
of rear suspension and a sprung saddle leaves
the rider standing on the steel footpegs while
the machine bucks like a demented donkey.
The 7-inch half-width brakes are
surprisingly good, smooth in operation and,
even with the weight of the fully loaded bike,
they inspire some degree of confidence.
The rear stand that has to carry all that
weight is not user-friendly in operation.
With the weight of tools or, in the case of the
military, ammunition in the panniers, it is an
Herculean task to pull the bike up onto it. This
is not helped by the design of the field stand,
which is difficult to operate while seated on
the bike. It’s retained by a large spring clip
that grips the shaft with the tenacity of a
crocodile. This requires the rider to dismount
to free the stand. Some models were fitted
with a friction steering damper which is
essential for sidecar use on civilian machines,
but is also a boon on solos especially when
braking on rough or cobbled surfaces.
Honour indeed! The M20 has been immortalised
in plastic kit form!
56 I MAY 2020
The con rod exudes a sort-of Forth Bridge solidity
The military specifications included a
rear carrier together with pannier racks and
bags, a tin plate guard under the engine to
protect the crankcase, wider handlebars, the
field stand for use on rough ground and the
deletion of all chrome-plated parts. All rubber
parts other than those essential for use were
removed. Footpegs were ribbed steel and
One good reason for running an ex-WD BSA is the
hand grips were canvas. Some late war bikes availability of NOS spares. Like this handsome
were fitted with knee pads on the tank, but piston – with four rings, you’ll notice
many were left with a bare tank and a rider
with sore knees. Sidecar lugs were removed 1944 and remained in service until 1969. It
from the frame, presumably to hasten has a G registration as it was a ‘government
manufacture. vehicle before that date.’ It was purchased at
There was also provision for fitting a Volks auction by a company in Nottingham who
air filter on later machines for desert use. This sold it to a gentleman in Scotland where
involved the removal of the right hand rear it remained for some years. He moved to
corner of the fuel tank to allow the passage Oxfordshire and I acquired it from him in
of a flexible pipe from the tank-mounted two tea-chests, 25 years ago. It is fitted with
filter to the carburettor. The lighting switch an M21 alloy cylinder head in place of the
was changed to a four-position instead of normal iron head as I have used it for some
three. The first position activated just the road trials work.
rear or convoy light. This allowed the vehicle The other bike is a 1947 civilian model with
following to maintain station. All the military all the
e mod cons reinstated d 1947 was th he last
extras added to the weight of the machine, y r po t-war producti when th irder
and the bash plate under the engine further for were fitted, before t esc ic forks
reduced the ground clearance. p d.
It is somewhat surprising that a 450lb
machine with just 4½ inches of ground
clearance and 13bhp was accepted by the
War Department, even after off-road tests,
but accepted they were. The M20 served in
every theatre of operations and was used
by all branches of the armed services and
civil defence units in WW2 and long into
peacetime. So for the next 30 years the M20
continued in service and was loved and hated
in equal measure by all who used them. It
found its way to many countries and was put
to many uses for which it was never intended.
Some M20s were left behind after WW2 in
India and were converted into three-wheeled
rickshaws which remained in service for
decades. I have even seen a WD M20 engine
powering a saw bench! Belgium seems to
have a large number of M20s that were left
‘ M20 Del n long-
behind at the end of hostilities.
time RC regullar Tim Gladdis. You’’ll fi
find
d him on
One of the machines pictured here was Facebook (search for Tim Gladdis Artist) where he
delivered to the Ministry of Supply in June of frequently posts automotive and other artwork
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
 BSA M20
BSA M20 FACT PACK
MANUFACTURED 1938 to 1955
ENGINE Single cylinder
sidevalve
BORE / STROKE 82mm by 94mm
CAPACITY 496cc
COMPRESSION 4.9:1
POWER 13bhp at 4200rpm
CARBURETION Amal 276
BRAKES 7-inch sls drum
TYRES 3.25/3.50-19
WHEELBASE 54 inches
GROUND 5 inches
CLEARANCE
SADDLE HEIGHT 30 inches
DRY WEIGHT 370lb
TOP SPEED 64mph
OWNERS’CLUB bsaownersclob.co.uk
SPECIALIST draganfly.co.uk

Len Page and his old soldier. Riding onward…

Was it a winning design? Without the
intervention of Mr Hitler things might have
been different. There would not have been
the urgent need to equip the armed services
and the high volume production might not
have happened. But for the circumstances,
the M20 and its 600 counterpart the M21
certainly served their intended purpose.
Could it have been better? It did improve
as the years progressed; girder forks gave
way to telescopic forks and plunger rear
suspension was an optional extra. Brakes
were improved on the AA machines. It is
difficult to believe that production of the
M20 continued until 1955 and that of the
M21 until 1960. Civilian production resumed
in 1946 and sidecar lugs were reinstated on
the frames in 1947.
Even when the M20 was designed and
initially produced it was an outdated
concept. However it played to the War
Department mentality at the time. Given the
large number of different bikes they tested,
it must have impressed somebody (if only
the bean-counters). Maybe there weren’t
any better machines for the money – but I
have a feeling that Matchless G3L owners
would say that there were and they are
better military motorcycles.
What can you expect riding a M20
today? You have a basic, reliable, slow and
heavy motorcycle. On the plus side, you
have an easily maintained machine with
great spares availability. On roads they are
comfortable with a relaxed riding position.
They are tractable going from walking
pace to maximum in top gear. They are, in
civilian form, great sidecar tugs. In fact, BSA
won the 1938 Maudes Trophy with an M21
combination which was ridden through
London north to south and then east to west
locked in top gear! They can achieve 60mph
on the flat and will chuff along all day at
45/50mph and return 45mpg. After the
war you could buy one from Pride & Clarke
for £12.10s. It might cost you rather more
these days as they are becoming sought
after. Given the number produced and the
number still on the roads of the world, I
definitely think the M20 must be considered
a true classic.

Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs MAY 2020 I 57

 Join one of over 20
branches across
the country!

membership@BSAOwnersClub.co.uk - www.bsaownersclub.co.uk

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FOR MAIL
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58 | MAY 2020
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STAINLESS STEEL
LUGGAGE RACKS
No drilling or welding required
Supplied with all clamps & bolts
TRIUMPH T120-TR6
£85 + P&P
BSA A7 & A10 £80 + P&P
SUZUKI 750GT Racks and
Grab Rails from £90 + P&P
Phone for other models:
07742 611811
www.classicbikeracks.co.uk

NA!
IN
X REG
H OR E
EL 18 
 AJ
S MOD
NTER
R E D HU
ARIEL  HO
18
TER  AJS MODEL
orcy ARIEL RED HUN

ing RealC
ebuild
g&R
ng , Ridin
Runni i
g & Rebu
Running, Ridin
£3.70 OVEMBER
2019 £3.70
2019 SUE 187 N


VEMBER
 NO

ISSU E 187

MAY 2020 | 59
s ed
AJS BIG PORT
 desig
A truly classiic d ti e. Easy to
its time
i n off it
understand what’s what, what goes where and
why. And it’s easy to see how it got called the
Big Port, too
I
remember watching the Yamaha
350LC racing series on the television
and hearing them referred to as
‘boy racers’. I’m not sure there was
ever an official classification so-named, but
essentially, I took it to mean that if the blue
riband 500cc class was for men, then it was
left to the boys to battle it out in the 350
category. Throughout racing history, the
smaller capacity has provided thrills and
spills and the riders have often used this
smaller size as a stepping-stone towards their
ultimate aim.
Back in the 1920s it was no different, and
the 1921 TT races demonstrated the full
potential of the AJS ohv 350 single. Revived
in 1920 after the cessation of hostilities,
the TT was the ultimate shop window for
manufacturers and a successful IoM campaign
resulted in big sales on the showroom floor.
For 1921 the works teams were back in force,
this an squeeze . cheering from the crowds
helps, apparently
62 I MAY 2020
Simplicity itself. High quality is everywhere,
along with logical design. Magneto at the front,
carb at the back, and exposed valves on top the ron , driven by c ain an protected from the
deluge by a simple cover. Primary drive is also by
chain, and is unprotected by anything useful
twelve in all for the senior race and 133 riders be in touch with the leaders. Finishing the
prepared for battle. Among them, a young race victorious, the bike remained “in perfect
Howard R Davies, riding the new AJS 350. The fettle”. Examination showed the front rim to
Stevens rockets romped home, taking first, be untouched and Davies confessed he’d
second, third AND fourth places, with Davies never used the front brake during the race!’
coming in second despite setting a new Touching ‘72 or 73mph on favourable
Junior lap record of 55.15mph. stretches of road’, the 202lb AJS was, for a
So impressed was HRD at the performance short while, the greatest racing motorcycle
from the little 350, he insisted on using it in the world had yet seen. It not only dominated
the larger, senior class race. The six-lap race the class it was designed for, but comfortably
turned out to be a classic, with riders
swapping the lead every lap. Davies
was never out of contention and just
before the start of the final lap, surged
into the lead; blasting away from
the works Indians, Sunbeams and
Nortons to win by over two minutes!
To this day HRD is the only rider ever
to have won a Senior TT race riding a
Junior class machine.
This stunning success, winning
both classes and filling the podia,
ensured a triumphant return to
he Wolverhampton works, with
heering crowds and bunting
estooning the streets. Davies later
eflected on his TT escapades in The
otor Cycle: ‘Still only 26, he felt he
hould have won the Junior, but a
econd lap puncture cost too much
ime to make up, so settled for
econd place. The rules stipulated
hat the Senior race required the
iders to use the machine entered
rior to the event, so he instructed
he mechanics to fit the ultra-quick
50 engine into the bigger bike. This is one truly slender
‘The race itself was ‘uneventful’ ma chine. Paul considers
it to be an over-powered
nd he had little idea of his
bicycle, and that seems a
verall position, although the fair description
suggested to him that he might
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk

motored home in front of the best 500cc
machines in the ‘big’ race. Such are legends
forged and AJ Stevens suddenly found they
had one on their hands.
1922 proved little different and AJS
comfortably took the first two positions in
the Junior race with the latest version, now
sporting a large-diameter (1 5/8th) exhaust
port and pipe. You can guess where this is
going: the racing set-up largely defined the
style of their racers and fast road machines
for most of the decade.
Released to the public for the 1923 model
season as the ‘2¾hp three-speed overhead
valve TT model’, the 350 quickly became
known as the Big Port, and was really the first
opportunity for a private buyer to buy an
over-the-counter race bike. The £87 purchase
price bought you a motorcycle in essentially
similar specification to the TT winner of just
a few months earlier, requiring a bump start
and reaching a top speed in excess of 70mph
via a three-speed close-ratio gearbox.
Subsequent years saw changes to the
design. Options included a kickstarter and,
for the 1925 season, a mechanical Pilgrim
oil pump providing automatic engine
lubrication, although the hand-operated
pump remained as standard fitment. Much
engine experimentation went on over the
years and the 1925 and ’26 models actually
had smaller exhausts (although larger inlets);
purists tend to disregard these models as not
true to the spirit of the Big Port ethos.
Fortunately, 1927 saw a return to form and
the exhaust grew to a record internal size
of 1.875” – the Big Port was back! Further
changes were made for 1928, including a
beefed-up frame and a slightly larger 1¾
gallon tank that also housed the oil in a
separate compartment. Additional engine
development brought the motor right up to
date, with tougher top and bottom ends and
a four bolt head. Hence the K6 represents
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AJS BIG PORT
perhaps the pinnacle of Big Port
development.
1928 also proved to be the last year
of the flat tank style for AJS, its vestigial
elegance being eschewed in favour of
the modern-looking, if heavier, saddle
tank models being offered by rival
firms. 1929 brought a clear attempt to
modernise the 350 with saddle tanks and
even, horror, purple painted panels! Over
50lb heavier yet no more powerful, the AJJ
had succumbed to the greatest enemy off
all – fashion. It was still referred to as the
‘Overhead Valve 350’ model until 1931,
when the factory finally cottoned on to
the power of marketing. However, the
great depression caused markets to crash h
and AJS were eventually absorbed into
the larger AMC group later that year.
The machine we are looking at today
is the 1928 model; the last year of the
true Big Ports, and this example has been
restored to an extremely high standard.
The late 20s were very much last knockings gs
for the flat-tanker and it must have seemed from a time when running repairs, including
terribly quaint compared to the rival offerings punctures, were carried out mid-race by the
at the time. This AJ has the optional extras of rider; none of this ‘retiring with a traction-
a hilariously inaccurate speedometer, driven control issue’ nonsense!
off the front hub in spectacular fashion yet The Big Port really is quite lovely, and
reading 25% under and a full set of acetylene superficially reminds me of the same-year
gas lighting. Huge wheels and ultra-skinny AJS sidevalve 500cc I rode at Banbury last
tyres contrive to make the small brake drums summer. With that in mind, I thought it a good
look even tinier than they really are – gulp. idea to compare riding impressions with that
Much slimmer mudguards than found same bike. It was reasonable to assume that
on the sidevalve model enwrap the wheels, the ohv 350 would have no real performance
delivering that quintessential flat-tank racer advantage over the larger capacity K9 500.
profile. A steering damper, turned-down After all, it’s only a 350 when all is said and
TT ‘racing’ bars with inverted levers and done, and may prove to be slower than the
a low saddle complete the look. Further bigger sidevalve. Only one way to find out!
examination reveals other touches like the Starting the Big Port was simplicity itself.
carburettor top, retained by a quick release Just like the sidevalve 500, a priming squirt
clip, and the QD rear wheel. Even the entire on the Binks carburettor float bowl and a
clutch assembly could be removed after long swing on the kicker was enough to fire
slackening just one nut. All these items hail up the AJS and admire the fully exposed
Signs of its times.
Gas lighting, a
mighty cable drive
to the speedo, and
a little wing to
The primary drive is a delight. Observe the
aid the advanced
remarkable kickstart mechanism, the sprung
aerodynamics
engine shaft shock absorber, and the simple but
effective rear brake operation
MAY 2020 I 63
pushrods and rockers going noisily about
their business. The first big difference then
became immediately apparent. Whereas the
500 produced an Edwardian puffle from the
pipe, the huge exhaust on the Big Port barked
like an unsilenced motocrosser. It was very
loud indeed, and would mean cutting the
engine should you find yourself among horse
riders down a country lane.
Next, the gentleman rider could leave the
sv 500 ticking over quietly to warm up while
he donned his tweed riding attire. Not so the
350, whose racing carburettor carried no idle
circuit nor screw, requiring a constant blip to
keep the motor alive. Finally, completing the
initial comparisons between road and race
machines, was the gearbox. First (and for that
matter second) on the 500 is a pulling-away
ratio, with the rider finding third gear as soon
as possible and using the flexibility of the
half-litre sidevalve. The Big Port, however,
pulls a cheeky 30-plus mph in first. Second is
good for around 45 and top will punch the
AJS past the 70mph barrier.
That may not sound especially quick if
As is often the case with bikes of this vintage, the front
end is fascinating. Not least that fine speedo drive
A chap gets few opportunities to restore a kickstart lever these days
64 I MAY 2020
you’ve been raised on a diet of
modern machinery, but 70mph
on a bike weighing about the
same as a cheese sandwich,
running glorified bicycle tyres,
is mostly terrifying. The ‘touring’
sv 500 is quite content to potter
around at 30mph and has a
realistic top speed of 45, just the
moment the ohv 350 is changing
into top gear. The Big Port’s
performance is startling, and
when combined with the roaring
exhaust and faint smell of Castrol R
almost overwhelmingly good.
Remember those tiny-looking
brakes? Typical of the period, they
were adequate on the touring
machine I rode last year, as long
as you kept alert when out riding.
Not so on the Big Port. The extra
performance made them seem
even worse as it carried all that
extra speed; no wonder HRD never
bothered to use them at the TT! Of
equal concern were those rather
lovely-looking narrow racing tyres.
One of them was proudly stamped
as ‘remould quality’; seemingly fine, from a motorcycle weighing 204lb and
they may well be over half a century old. running on big wheels. It’s a bit like riding a
With a riding position that’s pure flat-tank super-fast bicycle.
racer, the 350 simply begs to be thrashed. Out on your own, the Big Port is a superb
The late Titch Allen famously mentioned that bit of kit to ride, it makes a joyous noise
revving a Big Port until the valves floated and responds like a racehorse to small
released even more power as it seemed to movements; every inch the hand-built
alter the cam timing in a positive way. I can thoroughbred. But it’s a different story
confirm that riding one is all stick and no when out with other vintage bikes on a run.
carrot. The three-speed gearbox is typical early A sporting bike provides a sporty ride, so
AJS, robust but notchy and nowhere near as different from the touring machines with
slick as the proprietary Sturmey-Archer unit their smaller wheels, fatter tyres and kinder
used by many rivals. Crunch-free gearchanges geometry.
are quite feasible but at the expense of speed, Furthermore, the ‘2¾hp three-speed ohv
again not really an issue with racers. TT model’ is faster than virtually every other
Handling is sublime, as you might expect bike of similar ilk and begs to be thrashed at
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 AJS BIG PORT

all times. The chances are that the others are riding
just too darn slowly and always shaking their
fists at your noisy bike! Resisting the temptation
to tear off and be first at the coffee stop by over
two minutes results in an unsatisfying series of
lurches as you try to ride at the wrong speed in
the incorrect gear. The inevitable happens and you
become branded as a boy racer. Hmm, where have
I heard that phrase before?
The whole experience felt uncannily like
riding a nascent Clubman Gold Star. Some three
decades later, the BSA jockeys either found
themselves dawdling along with their friends,
wrists aching and the sound of a protesting motor
beneath them as it lugged in the wrong gear, or
hurtling far ahead and enjoying one of the purest
motorcycling experiences ever, albeit a solitary
one. I like to think that the twenty-something
rocker on his Goldie, back in the 1950s, had a dad
who rode a Big Port, back in the day.
Is this the right machine for a first-time vintage
bike rider? No, I don’t think so. It’s quite extreme
and not terribly user-friendly, just like a Gold
Star three decades on. It is, however, something
everyone should try at least once. There is a school
of thought that only the Norton Model 18 – a
500cc ohv – is a better sporting flat-tanker than
the AJS. Now there’s a challenge. Boy racers, eh?
 Photos by Ollie Hulme

Looks like 22mph even standing still!

A paint job worthy of Ed Roth

If you really want people to stop and stare in outraged admiration, then
you need one of these. That’s what our man Ollie says, anyway…

W
hat should the average
attention-seeker choose
as their steed to get the
maximum number of
admiring comments, Facebook posts and
general adoration at a show, rally, bike night
or other gathering? A lot of the time that’s
why people restore motorcycles in minute
detail – so they can show them off at, erm,
shows, with immaculate paint jobs and clean
and polished cases, and absolutely none
of these bikes are trailered in without oil or
indeed engine internals. Perish the thought.
A good special will do the trick, although
curiously one with the odd blemish will
get more of a crowd. There’s something
attractive about a pre-war bike with girders
and a leak or two. And while you might think
that the restored post-war classic might do
the job, it’s more likely a tired Ariel single or
incontinent BSA will get the plaudits. Perhaps
it’s the recognition factor. Many of us have
been there, bolting things back on that have
detached themselves, or finding a workable

66 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.ukk


Which wa
ay did he go, boss?
bodge to get you home. What then should
the aforesaid attention seeker choose if they
really want to cut a dash?
I give you the Raleigh Runabout. the ideal
classic for those who feel ignored or passed
over. One that will draw hushed admiration
and respect. The kind of moped that used
to change hands in the 1970s for 10 John
Player Special or a couple of bottles of Newky
Brown. Raleigh made 200,000 of them. They
were hugely popular in the 1960s and kept
many a bicycle and back street motorcycle
dealership in business.
This is not just any Raleigh Runabout.
This is Sir Walter. Sir Walter is a Raleigh
RM9 Runabout Ultramatic. And he’s the
star of the show at many a Langport bike
night, surrounded by admiring fans and
willing groupies.
A brief history: the Runabout was a
replacement for Raleigh’s earlier moped,
which was a woman’s bicycle fitted with
Pedal assist is rarely needed, but is ever-present in case of a sudden need to be athletic
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OLLIE HULME
Are you ready for 1.7bhp
of pure French power?
a Sturmey Archer engine made by BSA.
To update it they built a Mobylette /
Motobecane under licence. The French bits
were the frame, engine unit, flywheel and
rear hub. Raleigh cut costs by using British-
sourced parts, including simple mudguards,
their own petrol tank and sidepanel pressings
and a lot of British cycle industry components
for the controls and headlamp. Wipac or
Miller supplied the taillight. It was incredibly
cheap transport.
The Ultramatic wasn’t the most
sophisticated Runabout, but it was close to
it. The really posh one was the RM5, which
had a dual seat. There was also a proto
sports moped, the RM12, with ace bars, a
tank between the knees and a flyscreen. An
Ultramatic might have cost you 20 JPS…
Like the RM12, the RM9 had the full power
Mobylette engine that moves about in its
mountings in a curious manner. This knocks
out an impressive 1.7bhp, rather than the
1.4bhp of the standard model. You can tell
the difference between the engines because
the 1.7bhp motor has cutaways in the fins. I
mention this just in case you ever get offered
what someone claims to be an Ultramatic
and you wonder if the vendor has faked this
sporting gem and built an ersatz one from
the frankly inferior RM8.
The RM9 has a two-speed automatic
gearbox too and full-width brake drums, the
one on the back being bigger than the one
on the front. The less sophisticated RM6
MAY 2020 I 67
not required Eve y g y u need and … ah … not much else

had bicycle caliper brakes – which added to Sir Walter has also won a time trial. These Sir Walter represents a period in British
the excitement / terror for the rider. usually involve the rider negotiating a course, motorcycling history when a manufacturer
James, current custodian of Sir Walter, says their time being recorded, and a further really understood what the punters needed,
it was found walled up, like a misbehaving series of circuits follow, with the aim being and it may be the last powered two-wheeler to
nun. Twenty years ago it was shoved into to get as close to your first time as possible. have been abandoned in hedges and pushed
the back of a garage and a false plywood The advantage that Sir Walter has is that into canals when it breathed its last, before
wall tacked in front of it. Surprisingly it had you simply ride it round the course at full classic motorcycles became a commodity.
suffered not from its two decades in isolation. throttle each time, resulting in a series of near I rode it. It’s an experience. A terrifying
It was coaxed back into life and sent off to identical times. experience.
ace custom sprayer Joeby for a refresh, who
added the Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth pinstripes and
gave it the name Sir Walter. Sir Walter Raleigh.
Geddit? Oh, please yourselves.
There was a suggestion that it needed a
new paintjob, but it was decided that the
classy tobacco brown colour scheme on the
frame was too good to obliterate.
It has a few aftermarket luxuries, including
a fine and impressive bulb horn, a 60mph
Huret bicycle speedometer and whitewall
tyres. The fanciest attachment is a cable-
operated rear indicator, made by a supplier
in Llandudno and found in the back of a shed
in its original box. It incorporates the rear
light and when you pull on a handlebar lever
an orange arrow, with a feeble festoon bulb
therein, will flip out and show those behind
which way you intend to go. Which is all very
well, but it seems unlikely that anyone would
actually see it. Looks cool though.
As well as regular trips to bike nights,
James takes it on VMCC runs. ‘It’s rigid, it’s
got a belt drive and a flat tank,’ he points
out, confirming its status as a vintage classic.
It’s also been on many a VMCC trial, usually
accompanied by a chum with a Yamaha V50
step-thru. ‘It can have a bit of trouble coping
with hills, especially from a standing start. I
can get help from the Yamaha rider, who will
stick his foot out and give me a push.’ Raleigh. Made like an … ah … chicken chaser

68 I MAY 2020
  SEND YOUR SMALL AD by
post to PO Box 66, Bude EX23
9ZX, or email words and a pic to
TP@realclassic.net

HONDA DAX, 1972. Rebuilt to as-new condition. Sold mainly in the TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE T100, 2006. Great condition, 12000 miles, BSA B25 STARFIRE, 1969. 12968 miles. Fleetstar engine. Original
US and rare in the UK. Many new parts; cylinder and valves, tyres, service history. Comfort seat, rack, centrestand, original keys, Ikon registration. Custom re-wire. New primary and rear chain, tyres,
mudguards, wheels, saddle and bars. Hasn’t been run for many years. shocks, good tyres. V5C, MoT, service history. £3750ono. Dave, Crewe. Premier carburettor, external oil filter. £2750. 07709 754083 or
SORN. £3450. burdoni@outlook.com Newcastle upon Tyne d.baddeley620@gmail.com or 07772 725861 kabaco@intinternet.com South Yorkshire

HONDA 250 RS, 1981. MoT January 2021, V5. Bit scruffy but runs OK.
New battery, master cylinder and brake hose. Comes with complete,
non-running, electric start 1982 RS deluxe in pieces. Second bike has
powder coated frame, swingarm and yokes. V5, Handbook, Haynes
Manual and some new parts including full Honda decal set. £925ono.
07815 502238, Derbyshire
KAWASAKI GPZ900R A7, 1990. Late forks, calipers, wheels. 26K.
Scottoiler, luggage rack, stainless hoses. Excellent condition. Starts
and runs well from cold or hot. £3400ono. Purchaser has first refusal
on spares collected over 25 yrs ownership, inc standard top fairing,
headlight, relays. 07950 822939
BSA B31 350, 1957. Ariel hubs. 9500 miles on clock. Nice tidy looking
bike. Ally wheel rims, 12 volt electrics, solid state voltage controller.
New parts include tyres, kickstart, air filter. Easy starter, runs & rides
well. V5C present. £4500. May take p/x. 07876 704268, Norfolk

BIKE FOR SALE

TRIUMPH T120C, 1963. Mint. £10,000.
01933 355796, Northants
WANTED
WANTED. One pair of small side
panels for a 1959 Triumph Tiger Cub.
malsanburgess@hotmail.uk.co
TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE T120R, 1966. Beautiful. Runs well, needs a bit
WANTED. 1963/66 Matchless/AJS
of work. New tyres, recent overhaul. £6000. 07365 297414 G2/14 250 CSR high compression
piston, standard size. Richard, 01258
454814 or richardeileen@hotmail.com
EXHAUST SYSTEM WANTED for 1976
Honda XR75 schoolboy scrambler.
Les, 01229 463040, Cumbria

AND THANKS!
TO ROSSK, WHO’S BEEN AN
RC SUBSCRIBER SINCE BEFORE
THE FIRST ISSUE WAS EVEN
PUBLISHED, AND WHO SENT A
SELECTION OF CHOCOLATE
NORTON COMMANDO 850cc Mk2a, 1975. Presented in Mk3 livery. TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN, 500cc. Black bathtub model. Matching BUNNIES WHICH ARRIVED
Runs well. Exquisite bike, loads of new parts including new paint job numbers. Good condition. Medical reason for sale. £6500ono. Buyer
JUST IN TIME FOR EASTER.
and new tyres. £7000. 07365 297414 collects. 01271 343790, North Devon
THEY WERE WONDERFUL;
A REAL TREAT!
TP AND THE TEAM

Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs MAY 2020 I 69

 THE
LEARNING CURVE
Alistair Matheson’s restoration challenge takes him inside the engine of
an Enfield 250 single. Here he discovers just how tricky it can be to identify
incorrect components or to assemble everything right the first time…
Photos by Alistair Matheson

I
n the beginning there was the
cylinder head, which is fitted to the
cylinder barrel, and it shall always
be thus. This head will simply not
come off. Evidence of brutality becomes
apparent. Fitted without the hardened steel
washers under the nuts, the soft aluminium
has squeezed onto the studs, which are
smaller diameter to the thread. I reduced the
threaded top of a nut to reveal the top of
the stud. This I ‘riveted’ with a sharp punch
so that unscrewing brought the whole stud
up and out. It meant new studs and nuts; an
inexpensive solution. Sometimes removing a stud is the only way to remove the nut attached to it
Dismantling was relatively straightforward,
and all the little pieces fitted nicely into the paraffin. A pharmacy supplied a plastic an old gas oven. It all went well enough
ex-Chinese takeaway boxes. But how did syringe and I used pipe-cleaners to squirt except for the roller bearing outer ring
all this peculiar Marmite-coloured muck and poke around the many oilways cleverly (dynamo offside) which would not shift. The
get inside the crankcases? The cylinder embedded in the castings, blowing out other gearbox layshaft bushes were fitted
barrel, head, crank and new piston go to the debris with a compressed air gun. I washed and the gearbox mainshaft ball bearing race
engineering shop for a jolly good rebore to the cases in warm water and mild detergent dropped in fine, with a little tap. This was all
+40, a cosmetic clean up, valve guides fitted, as well, then blew all that away again. going too well, what is all the fuss about?
valve seats re-cut, skimming the head to Gathering the new bearings and bushes so I went back to the engine shop and
remove all the horrible screwdriver scratches, they’d be ready, the cases went into the oven showed them the problem. They put a ring
and polished crank journals. I will put in new at 160°C for 30 minutes. Due to the terrible of weld round it – and it almost fell out. I was
+20 shells when it all comes back in a couple smell and noise (a bit of firm tapping on a impressed: these guys know their stuff. Naïve,
of weeks. block of wood to remove a stubborn bearing moi? I took the new outer bearing ring with
The crankcases got a good scrub in ring) I was banished to my workshop to use me, figuring that if they could get the old one

70 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk


While stripping the engine, Alistair discovered
what appeared to be… Marmite! What is this
stuff? Does anyone know?
out, then they could probably put the new
one in. Con, the main man, eyed it up. Con’s
general appearance speaks to an honest
hearty experience of all things engineering,
surrounded as he is by oil, scrap metal, engine
remains, the acrid metallic atmosphere,
heavy lifting gear, massive sockets and his
own grease-sodden overalls. He exemplifies
a lifetime of oil-ingrained hands and tools,
piled with years of mechanical detritus and
well-used tools.
The crankcase and stuck bearing rapidly
went under the press. The new ring went in.
Con was nonchalant, I had misgivings. I even
peed box looks a lot
The diagram for the five-s
Alistair’s machine,
like the components from
all-important
but the part number for the
erent
mainshaft is entirely diff
Stripping down an unfamiliar engine is always entertaining
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CRUSADER REBUILD
In his enthusia
asm to get going with his fi
firrst
proper project, Alistair didn’t notice
that his parts
book was for a Super 5… when his
bike was a
Crusader Sports
gave him a tenner.
Sure enough, the ring had shrunk and
would not accept the roller cage installed on
the crankshaft. This meant replacing the whole
roller bearing. That meant ordering another
one from Mr. Hitchcock. To compound things
it was now Christmas. Typical. I had to order a
few other items as well to make it less stupid.
That’s how it happens. I wrecked the roller
cage, and waited, fretting and cursing Con in
his filthy overalls.
Now I had to get this bearing ring out
and go back to where I started. My friendly
mate, mentioned last month, sorted this
with his brazing flame. Why didn’t I do that
The crank k was deemedd to be good
d enoughh to use
with a light polish and new +20 big end shells
MAY 2020 I 71
The first attempt to replace an engine roller bearing didn’t go entirely to plan
in the first place? Eventually the new set
were installed the correct way in the oven,
no problem. Stick to the book, that’s the
message. Now the cases could be assembled
around the crankshaft, and I was getting
somewhere.
Happy with the crank turning smoothly,
I carried on. The camshaft was very stiff in
the new bronze bush inside the case next to
the flywheel. It needed easing out, reaming,
ideally. I wrapped a strip of 900 grit emery
paper round a piece of dowel and used
WD40 to ‘ease it in’. I’m not proud of that
engineering fix, but hey. Later, fitting the
timing chain, the camshaft was still tight, so
that cover came off again. I didn’t want the
timing gears to start whining from meshing
too closely.
I’ve understood while taking this bike apart
that the components previously installed or
recently supplied aren’t necessarily the right
ones. There is supposed to be a 30-thou shim
behind the camshaft against the bushing. It
wasn’t there in my engine. The one ordered
and supplied is 65-thou – way too much, and
it pushes the cam into the cover. At the bike
shop in town I rummaged through boxes of
bits and found one, amazing. I honed the cam
Pollish
hing camsh
hafft bush
hes with
h a wood
den dowell and
d fi
fine emery paper, using paraffin lubricant
72 I MAY 2020
followers smooth in the vice, and used the
emery and oil again for a good surface on the
cams. After many attempts to assemble it all,
the timing case was eventually sealed with
Wellseal, no paper gasket here.
The other major error was in the gearbox.
I took out a damaged splined shaft and
replaced it. Wrong! This was discovered when
the gearbox sprocket would not reach into
the oil seal and there was very little thread
for the nut. The clutch and timing side were
all assembled. Then I read something about
five-speed gearboxes. The two splined shafts
are almost identical, but one is slightly longer
to take the more slender five gears. The four-
speed shaft has three oil holes, the five-speed
has four holes. Which one had I replaced?
Everything had to come off and out again.
I had fitted the low gear back to front (idiot)
with the dogs facing the wrong way. Deciding
they were also worn, I added them to another
shopping list, and decided to change to a
sealed bearing while I was at it.
I was very pleased with the invaluable
Spare Parts booklet that came with the bike.
Some kind of selective vision stopped me
reading the ‘Super 5’ bit. With experience
comes comprehension: too late in my case, so
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I had to reverse the work already done… but
this process then revealed other errors I had
made.
Around this time the barrel and head went
back on – but the piston was touching the
valves. Were the valves moving too far? Did
I have the wrong camshaft? No, there’s only
one camshaft for all the engines. I phoned
Enfield expert Paul Henshaw after seeing him
in RC. Skimming the head was the problem,
cured by fitting two head gaskets. I had the
old one, solid copper, and a new one. Both
were annealed on the gas ring in the kitchen
while herself was out shopping.
While talking with Paul, I enquired about
piston ring gaps as my info was a bit vague.
The rings that came with the piston were set
to give me 20-thou on all three, the upper
end of the manual’s suggested 16 to 20
settings. Paul recommended 12-14, and 10
for the oil ring. All a good bit less than mine,
already in place. Pondering this, I ordered
a new set from Hitchcocks at +60 thou so I
could file them down. Wait for the post lady.
Strip down the assembled barrel, etc. By the
end of this project I will have stripped and
assembled this engines four times. Good
practice, I supppose.
 CRUSADER REBUILD

ome aspects of Alistair’s rebuild were more successful than others. To

top the clutch slipping, he substituted an old cork plate to make room
or longer springs

rattling 4mm gap? Where did that come

gearbox bearing wa as la
ate
er replaced by a sealed verrsion not entirely easy to fit
after the engine had been replaced in the frame!
The back wheel came off to reset the
bearings, again. Same with the front wheel,
and I tried to make the lovely brake work. The
chainguard rubbed on the shock absorber,
damaging the fresh paint on my initial
test runs. These little details take hours to
resolve; juggling washers, making up spacers,
dropping a nut and fumbling with the seat to
level it.
Eventually the engine was in one piece
and apparently running pretty sweetly with
a new Concentric carburettor. Yes, guilty,
I dumped the original Monobloc. It was
cleaned and fitted with a new seal kit and still
it poured out petrol. New Concentric, sorted,
although it needed a 130 jet because there
was no air filter and it runs an open exhaust.
Initially it seemed to be running very lean. I
experimented with several plug-chops – and
I think I had the timing too advanced, which
compounded things. Details details. And
more waiting for parts in the post.
And why, after only six miles, did the new
exhaust pushrod suddenly have a whopping
from? It was reset to 2 thou, cold, where it
seemed to stay. Did the new rod have to
settle in the cam follower or what?
The electrics appeared to be charging, just.
Enough to keep the ignition going after the
battery kill switch is off. But the ammeter
swung negative when the lights were on. I
checked all the windings for continuity, so
assumed the alternator was working, but
didn’t know what to do next.
On shakedown runs, the Crusader starts
easily, is very keen to go, very comfortable
and nimble on cornering. I need to be patient
and run-in the new bushes and bits before
becoming a sixteen year-old hooligan

Inside the gearbox. At the first attempt, Alistair didn’t realise he had the
wrong gearbox shaft (note the worn dogs on the gears themselves)

Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs MAY 2020 I 73

(again). The comparison with my 350 Bullet
workhorse is instant. This little sprite is a
real goer. The Girling rear shocks with the
generously upholstered seat are a great
combination for comfort and confidence.
I had Hagons on the Bullet for a while but
found them way too stiff.
In theory, the job was done and all I had
left to do was ride – right on schedule for the
summer season with its first event in May.
And I penned the first part of this story in that
spirit, saying ‘The plan worked out perfectly.’
But after the initial euphoria had died down,
the following four weeks proved frustrating.
A friend told me, ‘You have put it all back
together; well done mate… but now the hard
work begins!’
I soon understood what it meant to assemble
in haste (and blithe inexperience) and repent in
melancholy experience. The engine continued
to run very hot – oil bubbling from the rocker
box was not a pleasant sight. The motor seemed
to loosen up quite quickly and was eager to run
at 40 to 50mph, I felt duty bound to keep down
the revs, especially with what I perceived to be
the overheating.
Did the carb and timing need adjusting?
Easy-peasy (I thought). Short test rides
followed by complete plug chops – but
apparently this is really only useful in race
engines. I tweaked the timing and was
rewarded with a couple of painful kick-backs;
grimacing about the impact on internals both
metal and ligamental didn’t alter the very
pale white plug tip. I lifted the carb needle,
still no improvement. Although the engine
ran well and eager, my concern continued
growing, because a lean running hot engine
can start to hurt inside. Was this exacerbated
Progress, possibly? Possibly not. The stiff cam, slipping clutch, wrong gearbox shaft and other
aggravations meant this all had to come apart again
74 I MAY 2020
by no air filter and no baffles in the exhaust?
I already understood why Paul Henshaw
tunes this little goer for racing. I was very
tempted myself. Zipping round corners on the
suitably named Avon Streetrunners was a treat.
But first I had to sort out the balance between
air, petrol, and ignition timing. And the noise
from the back was hurting my ears and scaring
the horses, cattle, cats, dogs and OAPs. It made
a very rasping bellow, so I popped in a baffle
in the form of a ‘mute tube’ obtained from
Hitchcocks. I have one of these in my 350 Bullet
and it changes a rasp into a pleasant thump.
As a baffle slightly reduces the speed at which
exhaust gases exit, this might also help my
over-breathing scenario, I thought. Maybe.
The Amal Concentric came with a 120 main
jet. This is the accepted 20% less than the 150
in the original Monobloc. Richard at the ever-
helpful Hitchcocks agreed that it seemed that
a bigger main jet was required. I read that the
main jets in the two carbs are the same fitting.
Bingo – I had a new 150 that came with the
refurbishing kit I’d shelled out for the now
deceased Monobloc. In that went and I put
the needle back to the middle notch. But it
was all getting frustrating. The motor still ran
hot, still lean (ish). I was still not convinced the
timing was right and the loosening engine
was starting to make not so nice noises… or
so it sounded to my increasingly mechanically
hypochondriac imagination.
A 2mm change to the gear lever selector
rod was enough to make first gear and
neutral appear on demand. The engine was a
concern, but the gearbox and clutch were a
delight. I very pleased with those mechanical
achievements. But the off-side engine casing
was permanently off side, detached to make
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
access to the points and timing easy.
The auto-advance timing seemed to be
very misleading. The book said that static
timing should be set to 1/64” before TDC.
Every time I inserted the timing tool down
the plug hole, the points seemed to open
at a different place relative to what the
piston was doing. Eventually I compensated
for the 3/16ths auto-advance, discovering
lots of slop in the mechanism (aftermarket
replacement was available). The engine was
effectively running on about 5/16ths advance
on anything other than tickover. Another
revelation. I’d been misled like an Agatha
Christie story, so I made up my own settings.
Getting the thing started needed more
and more leg bending. Test rides weren’t
producing the carefree, fun ride I hoped for
(or a comfortable sounding engine.) Things
weren’t resolving or improving. The first date
in May when I was due to meet up with my
riding friends was fast approaching. After
an entire winter in the shed it appeared that
neither of my bikes would be ready to ride –
my 350 Bullet needed a new gearbox, but I’d
spent all my time on the Crusader. There was
nothing for it: I’d have to take the 250 and see
if a good long run would make or break it…
On the clutch shaft, the thrust washer should be at
the other end, behind the kickstart…
Five-speedd gearb
box mainsh
haffts have four oill
holes, not three…
NEXT TIME: Make or break, indeed. Will
the 250’s first crusade kill or cure it?
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MAY 2020 | 75
76 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
 UNIQUE EXHAUSTS

Ray, both on and off his racing Goldie

Photos by Odgie Himself

Ever bought a replacement exhaust and discovered that it doesn’t quite

fit and isn’t quite the right shape? Odgie meets a craftsman who uses
traditional tools to create hand-made bespoke exhausts to suit classics
and customs…

B
ack in the late 1960s, those of
us building bikes in the north-
west had two great sources for
spares. When we were building
choppers, we went to Jack Bottomley’s in
Manchester for T-bars, Z-bars, peanut tanks,
metalflake seats and chopper-pot silencers.
When we were building café racers, we went
to Unity Equipe in Rochdale, for racing tanks,
bucket seats, clip-ons, swept back pipes,
short and long megaphones, and Goldie
silencers in both right and left hand fittings.
Among all the generic café racer swag,
Unity was well-known for supplying Converta
engine plates, not just for Tritons and Tribsas,
but Norbsas and Tri-fields (not as common
but by no means uncommon). And indeed
all the less-immediately remembered bolt-
on goodies. Who recalls ‘bacon slicer’ wheel
trims, the large alloy discs to enhance your
front wheel? They were notionally to cool
your front brake, but realistically just made
a weedy 7-inch item look more muscular. Or
the cooling springs that you slid onto your
new exhaust pipes until they sat up against
the ‘big fin’ alloy exhaust clamps, in the
(usually vain) effort to stop the new chrome
turning blue from the excess heat of bell-
mouths and megas fitted without recourse to
jetting changes? Or the tiny, narrow fibreglass
‘racing’ front mudguards, fitted with two
Jubilee clips (supplied), that simultaneously
allowed your shiny new exhausts to be
sprayed with road dirt while screwing up the
handling by allowing the spindly standard
front forks to flex even more than usual? A genuine three-generation British business.
Raysons was formed by Ray’s sons, continuing
Yes, I’m being deliberately facetious, but I‘m the trade their grandfather started
allowed to. I was one of the callow youths

Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs MAY 2020 I 77


who turned tidy, standard original bikes into
‘world-beaters’ and ‘roadburners’, much to
the dismay of our elders and betters (and
you think when you call out today’s hipsters
you’re somehow doing something new?).
Whether the serious engineers of the
time were building genuine, performance
enhancing motorcycles, or whether those
of us who had yet to become proficient in
anything other than ham-fisted bodgery
were throwing together dodgy race-track
clones, we all went to Unity Equipe. Although
originally a general spares shop, its wider
reputation was soon built on café racers,
particularly after it acquired the John Tickle
Manx Nortons. It was the one-stop shop, the
go-to place, the veritable cornucopia of café
racer and go-faster delights.
We drooled over the catalogue (roughly
The way they were: Unity’s shop, a favourite haunt
Unity’s stand at an early classic show
78
Pipes, piipes everywh
here. And
them and shape them
duplicated sheets stapled together, in the
days before photocopying), with its finned
rocker caps, one piece alloy rocker feed pipes,
rear-set footrests, and endless 5-gallon tanks
in all manner of shapes and sizes. We rode
over to Rochdale on our heaps and stuffed
rucksacks on our backs with shiny new parts
saved up for out of our pocket money and
Saturday jobs. Unity Equipe was café racing,
and anything else was somehow less.
It’s many, many years since my last visit. The
shop was still there, but it was something of a
shadow of its former glory, half the items we
went for weren’t in stock, café racers having
long fallen out of favour. But the world moves
in cycles, as we all know. How very apt that
several decades and two generations later,
the family connection is still in the same area
and starting to produce bespoke café racer
Inside at Unity. Everything from T-shirts to twin-
leading shoe brakes
The Unity Manx – a seriously trick machine, and
an inspiration to specials builders everywhere
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
d the toolls necessary to bend
d them, beatt
items yet again.
So what of that family connection? Back
in the day, Pete-the-Pipe (Peter Lee), was
co-owner of Unity Equipe and making
exhaust systems but also manufacturing
parts. Then in the 1980s, his son-in-law Ray
Hardman started a company called Unibend
Engineering, to manufacture and supply
specialised exhaust systems, including the
ones very much in demand by Unity Equipe.
Ray was a true petrol-head, combining
real life engineering talent with a passion
for racing, riding for both the Unity Equipe
team and renowned Honda K4 tuner Dave
Gawthorpe. When Ray died in a racing accident
some 20 years ago, Pete-the-Pipe transferred
his own talents from Unity to Unibend, keeping
that side of the family business alive.
So far, so historical. But when Pete finally
decided to retire, after a short spell where
Unibend was managed by an uncle, it was
his grandsons Ben and Tom who took over
from their grandad. At first Ben combined
his love for spannering on bikes with his
working background in sheet metal CAD
work and a degree in automotive design,
and then his brother Tom started helping
with the workload and brought with him
his passion for photography and computer
design, along with an education in motor
vehicle engineering.
Both Tom and Ben were already steeped in
motorcycling from a very early age. ‘We were
surrounded by classic bikes throughout our
childhood, spending our weekends at
the shop watching grandad work, at race
meetings watching dad compete and in
local quarries trying to better each other on
our trials bikes.’
Ben is still firmly established in the same
old stone-built workshop his grandfather
and father worked in, tucked away down the
cobbled back-alley in typical East Lancashire
fashion. Raysons Exhausts’ core business

Fabricating an exhaust system for a Seeley G50 isn’t entirely easy, though the result is a work of wonder
is creating one-off exhausts for specials
and race bikes. Ben can build just about
anything, but obviously can’t compete with
the cheap Far Eastern imports when it comes
to standard pipes for common models. As he
says, his chroming bill would come to more
than a Taiwanese pipe would sell for.
Of course, many old bike owners don’t
have a big budget and so they accept
exhaust systems off the shelf, ones which
don’t quite fit, with pipes of the wrong
shape featuring incorrect curves, and
brackets that don’t line up. But you don’t
buy an exhaust system for a G50 race bike or
a T100 Triumph flat tracker or an Edwardian
flat-tanker off the shelf. In a world of
diminishing engineering skills, people from
all over the country make the trip to Raysons
to call on Ben’s particular talents.
‘My dad had all sorts of frames and
engines lying around at one stage,’ he says,
‘so he could easily make up pipes using
them as jigs. They were all sold off as not
being relevant when my uncle ran the
business and these days I mostly build
systems to fit the actual bike. Even bikes of
the same model might have been altered
over the years, the only way to guarantee
everything fits properly is to build it to the
bike itself.’
True enough, he showed me the high-
level race exhaust for a Seeley G50 he’d
just finished. The original pipe had been
routed around the outside of the frame
tube, but Ben had managed to route it
through the inside.
‘It took a long time to make it fit, the
clearance is really tight in places, you try and
fit it, mark up where it doesn’t clear, then start
with a little dent, then slowly keep fitting and
trying till the dent is in just the right place
and just the right size to give clearance. And
there’s a lot more than one dent needed, you
might have the whole exhaust on and off the
Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs
UNIQUE EXHAUSTS
bike a couple of dozen times or more. But
with the pipe on the inside, it makes the bike
much more comfortable to ride. It might not
matter as much on a short circuit race, but
for three laps of the TT course it makes a big
difference.’
It’s that painstaking attention to hand-
built detail that appealed to me. Nothing
is pre-formed, nothing is production-lined.
The raw tubes are initially bent in an
original 1950s mandrel bender, imported
from Italy when new, then in the traditional
manner they are packed tight with sand
(to stop them kinking), then heated until
cherry red and bent into the exact shape
to suit whatever bike is being worked upon.
For race bikes which need a taper on the
pipe itself as well as the megaphone, the
pipe is created by hydraforming. Either an
existing pattern or a new one-off created
by Ben is used to cut the initial shape twice
out of flat sheet steel. Then the two halves
are welded together at the edges before
being filled with water under high pressure.
The water forces the two sides apart, and
a combination of more welding and more
pressure, followed by a fair amount of
delicate (or not) hammer work, eventually The prototype B50 racer, complete with its
produces an exhaust pipe Triumph box
that tapers as it bends.
The long curving tapered
megaphones are made in
the same manner.
But like any tale I write
for RC, what really delights
me are the stories. Ben has
a wealth of them, from
being taught how to bend
metal as a small child by
his grandfather to tales of
his father and his various
racing exploits. One time
Ray and his mechanic Mick
Five of these BSA/Triumph hybrid racers were built in the
Payne were discussing if end
MAY 2020 I 79
 Anything involving pipes and bending them is possible, it appears

they could make Ray’s B50 as fast as a Goldie. world. And you can see that passion in Ben’s
With much work they fitted as many Goldie face as he talks, that indefinable light that
engine parts as they could to the B50 motor. springs up in someone’s eyes when they
The result was quick, but the transmission get started on something that they just love
then proved fragile. through and through.
‘The clutch broke, the gears broke,’ Ben tells Ben’s not a businessman: building exhausts
me. ‘They couldn’t make the transmission will never make him rich. His mum still does
handle the power. One day as my grandad his books, like she did for his dad, and like
came into the workshop, they had the engine she did for his grandad. But when the snow
out of the bike and sat on the bench, and is blowing under the door at the unit, Ben
were hacksawing the gearbox off the back of will still be in there heating and bending
the crankcases. “Oh good, can you weld us a pipes, just like his dad and grandad before
Triumph gearbox onto the back of here?” he him. So if you need something a bit special,
asked my grandad.’ be it for race or road or vintage or whatever,
The plan worked, and in the end five B50/ I’ve no doubt Ben will take great pleasure in
Triumph motors were built. creating it for you. And even if you never do,
‘My dad raced in the States with Ted be content in the knowledge that there are
Hubbard. He was a legend, he tuned Dick those of the younger generation who are
Mann’s and Mike Hailwood’s bikes for keen to follow in our footsteps, to keep the
Daytona. He stayed up all night rebuilding old traditions alive, and to help keep our old
Bugsy’s engine for the race, and when Dick motorcycles in fine fettle for very many more
won he donated the trophy and winner’s years to come. The art of the pipebender…
purse to Ted in gratitude. My dad often talked
about seeing Dick Mann’s actual Daytona
trophy sat on Ted’s shelf.
‘Ted loved his B50s too. When my dad was
talking about building a Seeley-style frame
for one, he said why bother, you won’t build
it better than a B50 one to start with. He liked
the Triumph gearbox idea though. My dad
swapped services with Ted, Ted sent engines
to dad to get the conversions done, while dad
sent dimensions for cams and conrods to Ted,
to be made at Megacycle and Carillo. So there
were already four conversions in the States,
and when dad died his bike, the prototype,
got sold over there too. Somewhere in
America there will still be my dad’s five
conversions being used hopefully.’
As ever, it’s the passion that I love. When
I hear passion it inspires me to get back on
the keyboard and present it to the wider

80 I MAY 2020 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk

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 PROJECT
WORLD
Photos by
Odgie Himself
BEATER
It’s all to do with squat and thrust, apparently. No, Odgie isn’t
THREE

recommending a vigorous form of indoor exercise, but is setting up the

rear end of his home-built flat-tracker instead…

B
uilding bikes is a fascinating figure it must be to do with
endeavour. I don’t mean the in the horizontal plane – by
work itself (although it usually relationship between gearb
is), I mean stepping back and swinging arm spindle and r
obserrving the whole process. It’s never the allied to swinging arm angl
samee day twice. You can spend a day and can add anti-squat and aid t
get ab bsolutely loads done, and other days it I’ve never been backward
can taake most of it to make one small part or forwards, and as I followed
fix onne small problem. Some jobs you put off track frame builder in the St
becau use you think they’re going to be hard frame for a Can-Am. Sure e
work,, and when you finally get round to was tilted forward. Nothing
them, they’re an unexpected doddle. gained, so I messaged him,
Oth her jobs you think you’ll just rattle off I’m just a poor uninformed
quickkly, and then they take on a life of their country that doesn’t do flat-
own and swallow time like a giant bike- trying to build a Can-Am an
building black hole. In that respect, bike it’s not a total trade secret d
building is just another metaphor for life. he angle the motors forwar
And now I’ve managed to cunningly give alter the anti-squat? And he
some e purpose to this preamble, I can admit kind enough to message ba
I had to think it up because this month isn’t along the lines of ‘It’s to do
the most exciting of episodes. But then the angle between the spin
again n, all jobs need doing anyway, and if and the gearbox sprocket a
this iss to be a true insight into the workings that’s all I’m prepared to sa
of the e Shed of Destiny, then you need to Good enough for me then,
see th he process in its entirety. game on!
How wever, hopefully this bit of background Bike building, as I said, is
info will be mildly entertaining and a fascinating business. The
inform mative. As I said at the start of this series, good days, the bad days, th
I’ve leearned a lot about flat-track chassis design endlessly frustrating days,
since I built the A65. I haunt American flat-track the periods when nothing
forumms gleaning every snippet of information seems to be happening,
I come across, and one thing I noticed was a the periods when loads
tendeency to tilt the motors forward a little. seem to be happening,
It wassn’t a huge amount, just a few degrees, the bits of information and
but it was noticeable nonetheless. It didn’t understanding that might
seem enough to alter the centre of gravity to arise through diligent rese
any great extent, but I’d already come across or through total random
the exxtent to which swinging arm angle was coincidences. An exact
imporrtant for setting up squat/anti-squat. I metaphor for life itself...

82 I MA
AY 2020 More old bikes onli
 CAN-AM
CAN AM TRACKER

I simp
plyy cut the
e old mounts off
ff,, bored some steel
bar in the lathe, dropped the motor as far as
it would go, and welded the sleeves in place. If
needed I could have cut into the frame tubes to
get the motor even lower, but the limit is found
further up, there’s only so far you can go before
bes, the cylinder head and barrel hit the front down-
tubes, so as it worked out the sleeves could just siit
on the old cut-down mounts. Perfect

es were already sleeved for the original engine plates, so

really easy in fact. I’m undecided yet whether I’ll drill some
e
les in these plates. I’m not convinced the high frequency
ldn’t tend to make them fracture if I did

bs are relatively straightforward; cut a bit of scrap steel

up and weld it in. They don’t take long but they are quite

/subs MAY 2020 I 83

Another little job was lightening the front wheel spindle. It sticks out and has a hole
to allow for a tommy-bar to be inserted. Probably a Good Thing for efficient militar
use, but superfluous on a racer, seeing as how there’s also a clamp on that fork leg,
so if need
ds be I can use that to stop the spindle turning while I do the nut up on the
other endd

the MX models have a low exhaust and hence full finning. You can usually
find themm on eBay US, but they aren’t cheap, then shipping is expensive,
plus the riidiculously high import tax, and I didn’t fancy blowing well over
a hundred d quid on one. Then this one was advertised in this country at just
£29 plus P&P. God knows how it ended up in the UK, I was so surprised I very
nearly boought it outright. But you know me. So I reined myself in, haggled a
bit, and got it for 23 quid including shipping! I wanted to fit a decompressor The
though, so the casting needed a little modification. First job was to break use
off the tw
wo fins in the way, then get down with a little rotary cutter in the then
old hand drill to clean everything up the

84 I MA
AY 2020 More old bikes onli

The decompressor in place. A mere 8 quid from India including postage,
but it looks decent enough quality
Anyway, once made I could weld it to the frame tube. Can you
tell what it is yet...?
FEATURE NAME
CAN-AM TRACKER
n opened up the hole and tapped it to spark plug thread sizze
Oh, and there are always little bits of things to sort out, like this tiny
bracket... You wouldn’t believe how long it took to make this from scratch,
I could have made one three times as big in a third the time. You can cut
and bend decent sized lumps of metal easily, but little bits tend to not bend
where you want, or fly out your hands, or just get eaten by the angle grinder
Aye, it’s the fuel tap holder. In-line taps are great, but they tend to be a nuisance
if you just leave them dangling. So a little bracket and a couple of my favourite
copper-wire twists, and the job is well sorted
/subs MAY 2020 I 85
With the real Pioneer Run
cancelled, the Invicta had to
substitute its own personal outing,
which was mostly but not entirely
successful. Then ‘house arrest’
conditions dictated work be
confined to the garage/shed…
P
UB is a SAD person (ie. suffering
with seasonally affected disorder),
so struggles through winter
by looking forward to spring,
and the summer events, rides, and renewed
acquaintances. Now all that looks gone, or
probably gone, for 2020 and all she has to
look forward to is next winter. Boo. That is the
There is not a lot of room between the cylinders of the Millyard Velo twin, so the manifold is an intricate piece
of work, with not much room for the studs and nuts. On the rear (left) cylinder can also be seen the adapter
plate necessary to mount the ‘right way round’ rocker box onto the ‘wrong way round’ cylinder head
I Y2
Allen Millyard’s MAC Velocette V-twin, seen in 2019. The slightly Brough Superior look was a driving
factor, which demanded the reversal of the rear cylinder head. The exhaust is, of course, Millyard-made,
with balance pipes there for appearance only and not actually interconnected
pessimistic view, but more optimistically the
dire forewarnings of the ill effects of enforced
isolation are not worrying her unduly. As
a single retired person (with fixed income)
PUB hasn’t yet noticed much difference (but
sympathises with those out of work). Originally
Government requested that she should not
leave the house for three months, and also
exhorted for no stockpiling of food. PUB was
expecting to be very, very slim by the end, but
now supermarkets are providing special old
folks hours on certain days (‘old folks’, PUB …
re b s o ne: al-Cla ic.c .uk
does not compute, does not compute).
However, the lack of events or shows in the
near future will cut off the supply of news and
pictures, so that subject matter will have to
come from closer to home for a while, such as
from the workshop. For example Frank’s K2F
magneto is successfully resuscitated, as will
probably have been revealed in Tales From The
Shed. It had been intended as an illustration
for readers of a complete recondition, and
probably the fitting of an EasyCap, but turned
out to have been rebuilt some time ago and
needed little doing to it. If it ain’t broke, don’t
fix it. So some additional material will have to
be assembled before it makes up a complete
article.
The very last event that PUB did get to was
a Banbury VMCC evening, when the amazing
Allen Millyard gave a talk on his equally
amazing specials. It came as a surprise to learn
how many he has done, for those that readers
may have seen or read about are only a few
of them, a number of the 3s, 4s, 5s, and V8s
have actually been duplicated for friends or
museums. Nor are they fragile showpieces, and
for example one of his creations has been used
for racing, winning most of its events. Being
a VMCC evening the machine he described
building in detail was the unique V-twin MAC
Velocette – except that it is not unique because
the engine he brought to show was actually
the second one he has built. How does he
do it – maybe there are identical twin Allen
Millyards, but only one ever comes out of the
garage at a time?

The Invicta was not the only bike that arrived for potentially the last Sunday ride for some time to come.
This very smart faux Inter also turned up, its pushrod engine almost possible to overlook
The Pioneer Run was cancelled of course,
and this year would have been PUB’s first
proper ride on the Invicta, as well as the
event’s first use of Brighton City Airport at
Shoreham for its finish point – which would
have been interesting to report upon.
Nevertheless she was determined to ride
the machine on Sunday anyway – lockdown
was still more advisory than compulsory, and
riding a motorcycle in helmet and oversuit
is pretty ‘socially isolating’. Jacks caff made a
suitably identifiable photo point destination,
JACQUELINE BICKERSTAFF
The Big Port gearbox shaft length suggests that
it was intended for this cunning conical type
of spring and nut, with a locking split pin. But
beggars can’t be choosers, and the bike came with
a conventional spring
More worrying, however, was a reluctance to
stay in gear (never a problem on the single-
speeders). This tendency had been observed
in low gear on earlier short test rides. With the
current gearchange low gear is engaged under
even though café closures had just become spring pressure when the handlebar lever is
compulsory. She was not alone in her choice, released. PO assured PUB that any gear issues
with one or two others also turning up – which must all be in the adjustment, because the
of course is the problem, as that does threaten gears inside were new not long ago due to a
social isolation. major mechanical malfunction (and a welded
Unfortunately the ride was not an unqualified up underside is confirmation of that fact).
success. For one thing ‘paddling’ it into life However, the cable cannot be adjusted looser
(there being no kickstart) proved harder from than completely slack.
cold than hoped, although OK when warm. A look underneath revealed an added (but
Left: The 81st Pioneer Run is probably Above: The sociable Pioneer Run may have been called
cancelled for 2020, although the off, but a solitary ride on the veteran Invicta on the
Sunbeam Club is considering whether appropriate day was still possible. A ride to Jacks Hill Café
an alternative date later in the year and home again added up to a substantial part of the real
might still be possible run distance, although it was not an unqualified success
e ve: eal- a .co. /s Y 20
To accommodate both a plain spring and kickstart pinion the existing nut
requires a longer thread. Turning one from scratch would have been hard
work, so an extension was welded on – not pretty but it should work. The
shiny washer is a pressed-on addition to centre the big spring
The mismatch of clutch shaft, spring and nut, means that the slot does not
damaged) ‘helper spring’, so perhaps it has reach the shaft for a locking pin. As a substitute, the central stubby screw
(previously a shaft extension) is intended to be a sort-of ‘locknut’ when
happened before? A significant increase of the
screwed in hard
spring pressure was arranged, which appeared
to provide a solution at least for the present. she will have to strip the gearbox and examine was rather poor due to clutch slip and stiff
However, on the ride it was a nasty surprise to it to ascertain how much wear / damage has kickstart gears – both inadequacies in assembly
find that the same thing could happen in high accumulated, and how best to recover the work. The clutch shaft, spring and nut are not
gear, which is theoretically positively engaged situation. A half-hearted attempt was started, a factory compatible set, and the workaround
by the Bowden cable. The run was completed but was foiled by the unwillingness of the had been a threaded sleeve to hold a short
successfully, but only by holding the handlebar pulley retaining nut to come undone – it is not extension. Unfortunately this proves not to
lever tightly all the time. nut shaped, and there is nothing on the pulley allow it to tighten up enough. Turning a longer
That should not have been necessary, for to get hold of either. Some special tools seem flanged nut from solid would work PUB’s little
once gear dogs are engaged there should be to be indicated. No doubt it will be fuel for lathe hard, and her arms even harder to cut off a
little or no pressure pushing them apart again, future columns, although the inability to test suitable blank. So instead, she has now welded
unless those dogs are worn and rounded. In ride any fixes may prove to be a problem. the threaded sleeve onto the existing nut – not
order for the new handlebar lever ratchet to Nevertheless, on a more positive front, very pretty (the nut was presumably not simple
click into engagement, the cable adjustment the bike did plod along nicely, and manfully mild steel) but it should work. Sorting the
cannot be too tight, but that, in combination surmounted the main road hills in high gear kickstart issue remains for another day.
with the cable being a light throttle wire type (just), and warm-started fairly easily, so it The easiest job to get on with is the PWP
left too much ‘spring’ in it. Unless held tightly, appears to be a good bike otherwise (of (pre-war project), which has the most to be
the dogs would push apart and slip. In both course, being a product of Mr Barnett). done to it and is in the garage and not an even
low and high gear, the spring (or springy After the Pioneer it had been intended to more cramped shed. Theoretically it is bottom
cable) promptly re-engaged gear, but only to swap attention from the Invicta to the Big of the list, but one RC Forum contributor will
repeat the problem at intervals. PUB certainly Port, to tackle a couple of little problems on be pleased with any progress as he mentioned
cannot bear to ride it like that, which means the latter. On its own test ride the AJS starting a friend with a Series A Vincent project that

A crudely shaped piece of wood provided a ‘buck’ to try and shape an open primary chaincover around for the PWP

I Y2 re b s o ne: al-Cla ic.c .uk


needs encouragement.
The last job requiring to be done on the
drive side, before spinning the bike around
for access to the other side, was to fashion
a primary chaincover. The pile of bits does
have some original, but extremely damaged,
roadster chaincase parts, but none of these
would be right. The factory racing bikes
were fitted with the crudest of strip steel
covers over the exposed primary chain (and
no rear chaincases at all). Most surviving TT
Replicas have home-made variations, the
extent of coverage often determined by the
b ribe
JACQUELINE BICKERSTAFF
Just for looks, a hole was cut in
the chaincover front. A holesaw
would not do the job (probably
intended for wood only), so chain
drilling and filing were resorted
to. Easy on thin metal (but the
weight saved is negligible)
needs of race or parade scrutineering or an
MoT. An open primary but with a reasonable
coverage is the aim, but nothing suitable and
commercially available has been found.
Not long ago B44 Clive fabricated an alloy
chaincase for a project bike he is building on
and off. It is a lovely piece of hand-beaten and
riveted work, as always with Clive. It provided
some inspiration for PUB to try making her
own, although she has no skill, and no suitable
tools (the reader is referred to Odgie’s articles
where occasionally are seen strangely shaped
panel beating hammers in steel or even wood).
ve: eal- a .co. /s
A sheet of 1.2mm aluminium was bought
on eBay (1050 H14 from Droitwich Aluminium,
who supply very quickly). Actually, it should
have been a larger sheet, as the decision was
taken subsequently to bring the cover down
over the clutch sprocket, almost to the lower
chain run. However, ‘seizing the day’ meant
not delaying for another order, so the backside
flap was fashioned from one of the offcuts, and
riveted on out of sight afterwards.
A cardboard template was made first, by
trial, error and eye. Then the alloy sheet was
cut to that shape – with a little allowance for
changes and misjudgement. Following Clive’s
example, a wooden buck was fashioned,
around which the aluminium could be beaten.
Never one to take time making special tools,
PUB should have spent much longer on this
buck, and fashioned it more closely to the final
shape needed – although ideas on that did
tend to evolve as the work went on.
A start was made by placing the cut-out
on the buck, then gently bending the front
and rear around as far as possible. A ratchet
strap passed around lengthways retained it in
place for a time, and the hammering began.
Unsurprisingly, pushing metal about tended
to push nearby metal in unwanted directions,
and then a really serious wrinkle began to
form. This was a warning to stop, think, and to
remember that Clive had explained that the
metal should be annealed frequently because
it tends to work harden. With only a little gas
torch to hand, PUB probably did not do this
enough, but nevertheless it clearly helped
The finished chaincover. Not
exactly the shape originally
planned, and not a finish that a
RealEngineer would be proud of,
but it will do
Y 20
where the metal was being reshaped the most.
Time to do some work on the timing
Eventually a tolerable shape emerged,
side of the PWP (footrest mountings,
albeit rather less closely fitting than had been etc) and perhaps on the rear end, so
intended, but PUB is not skilled enough to offer it needed turning around. Bye bye
any ‘how to’ advice, other than give it a try. The drive-side for a while
curvature provides reasonable rigidity, so that
the central bolt fitting, with an extra clip fore
and aft, made the whole thing secure. Just for
show, a hole was cut in the front face, initially
trying a ‘hole saw’, but it was presumably a
woodworking item, because it did little more
than mark the aluminium. However, that
proved useful to guide the subsequent chain
drilling and filing. It is just for looks, as a hole
in the thin metal saves no weight – it often
amuses PUB to see where ‘lightening holes’ are
drilled into relatively thin alloy components
whilst leaving chunky lumps of iron and steel
untouched (harder work to drill).
The mounting bolt, however, was drilled
down its plain section for lightness, then
plugged at the open end with an alloy button!
This is also a negligible weight saving (so laugh been given up in disgust for the present. brass a large and coarse thread to grip). A few
at PUB if you wish), but hey, it was a race bike However, in the detritus where the seat was minutes in a vice proved this to be so, and had
and that’s the way to assemble one. slumbering, PUB found a pair of rear brake rods the core out. A few (actually quite a few) more
For the time being that completes work that she had forgotten about (duo brakes of minutes on the lathe reproduced the core
on the drive side, so the bike could be spun course). That will make the stainless rod she with its ¼ BSF inner thread, and 3/8 BSF outer.
around for access to the other side and the rear bought for the purpose redundant, but no Screwed into place, secured with Loctite, and
end. Actually ‘spun around’ is a euphemism doubt it will come in useful some other time. then peened over for extra security, the second
as there was no room to do that and various Frank (and any readers) can be comforted that wing nut was reclaimed. The small success
dodgy wriggles of the heavy lump were he is not the only one who buys items that he offered a satisfyingly good place to stop.
required before it could be wedged and tied a already has. However, whilst cleaning them It may stop there for a while, since the
little more securely once again. With the back up it was revealed that one of the wing nuts PWP remains low on the ‘to do’ list behind
end now sticking out, it seemed that fitting had a stripped thread. Oh dear. Wing nuts will the Invicta, AJS, and Triumph, even without
a seat might be possible. This will not be a undoubtedly be available from the VOC Spares anything else going wrong. What is clearly
correct 1937 assembly, but it is the seat that Co., but (anorak alert) the pre-war ones sit with needed is time, without interruption.
appears to have last been fitted. However, their wings vertical but the post war ones sit Oh, that’s what the future has in store. Where
it is never as easy as that. Firstly the support horizontally aligned – which would never do. is that ‘Manual of Alternative Excuses’ when I
uprights, with built-in friction dampers, are Then a slumbering brain cell awoke long need it?
proving to be difficult. Post-war Vincent friction enough to remember that these wing nuts are
strips are far too narrow, and substitutes such actually composite items, consisting of a steel
as leather and canvas have proved to be too core threaded into a brass outer (giving the
flexible and do not stay in place. Looking
around at the next autojumble is required, but
oops, that might be a long time happening.
Ignoring that issue for now, the seat was
offered up, at which point it became obvious
that the tank needs to be in place first. In its last
incarnation it had a teeny little tank bodged
on, which made no demands on the seat
placement, but the series A tank that is destined
to be fitted may do. If indeed it can be fitted,
because this machine is technically not a series
A, although it looks like it. Very like it. But when Vincent rear brakes are adjusted by wing nuts
it comes to the tank it is just enough different (rod and nut shown bottom). One of these was
to present difficulties, and a correct tank is stripped, but as they are a composite item it was
possible to remove the old steel centre (top left), The pre-war racing bikes had dampers built into
certainly unobtainable, not even to borrow for then turn and fit a new replacement (top right), so these seat supports (unlike the normal series As).
a pattern. A ‘dent doctor’ may be required, not recovering the pre-war item. Available post-war Trial and error for the friction material has so far
to remove dents but to put some in! So that has spares are interchangeable, but not the same only resulted in error

I Y2 re b s o ne: al-Cla ic.c .uk

 BUY
Y SELL
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GE

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assic motorcycles
less
Vie
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ockk at:
www w.ClassicSuperBikes.co.uk
Tell: 0125252 625444
M ile
Mob l : 0780
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Lower Road, Northfleet, Kent DA11 9SN Clarke’s Classics British & American bikes always wanted.
Call Phil now or fax on 01322 383431.
Evenings 01732 822475.
E-mail: info@clarkesclassics.co.uk

Triumph Trophy Trail .........................£7500 BSA A65 1963....................................£5500 Triumph Bonneville 1969................£10500 Triumph Trident T150 restored ...... £11000
BSA A65 1963 ........................................... £5500 Triumph T120 US Spec, 1967 Restored .. £10500
BSA Rocket Goldie Replica ....................... £9000 Triumph T120 US Spec, 1968 Restored .. £10500
GILERA San Remo Corsa ..........................£POA Triumph T120 US Spec, 1970 Restored .. £10500
Norton International 1953 ...........................£POA
Triumph T140 1976 .................................... £4500
Triumph TR6 1967 Restored................... £10500
Triumph TR6C 1971 Restored .................. £7750 Velocette Venom 1958 ............................... £8500
Triumph T120 US Spec, 1966 Restored .. £10500 Velocette Venom 1964 ............................... £8500
Please visit: www.clarkesclassics.co.uk
BRITISH BIKES ALWAYS WANTED - BRITISH BIKES CAN BE FOUND TO MATCH YOUR REQUIREMENTS - SHIPPING AT COST
Velocette Venom ...............................£8500 Classic Motorcycles; Norton, Triumph, BSA, Harley Davidson and many more. British and American Bikes are our Speciality. Triumph Bonneville 1972..................£7750

www.drclassic.co.uk Andy Tiernan Classics Ltd Est 1972

1937 AJS 2A 990cc v-twin long term ownership both books.......................... £28,000
1953 Ambassador Embassy 197cc lovely low mileage .....................................£3500
(Burton-upon-Trent) Tel: 01283 536379 1959/61 Ariel Leader 250cc choice of 3....................................... £3000/£3500/£2650
1954/55 Ariel NH 350cc choice of 2 ....................................................... £3250/£5000
1958 Ariel VH 500cc late model ......................................................................... £5350
Post-war British & German Classic bike enthusiasts
1960 Triiton, wiidelline 750cc pre-uniit, lovelly examplle.............................................................................. £8950
1918 Bown 343cc rare one ................................................................................ £7500
1952 Bown auto roadster 98cc made in Tony Pandy ......................................... £3000
1953 Bown standard 98cc rare Welsh lightweight ............................................. £4000
1936 BSA B2 250cc OHV lovely pre-war model ................................................. £6000
1947 BSA C10 250cc early post war model ...................................................... £3650
1954 BSA C10L 250cc pretty machine ............................................................... £3250
1947 BSA B31 350cc in regular use.................................................................... £4150
1925 BSA S25 500cc smart flat tanker .............................................................. £8750
1932 BSA W6 500cc very smart local machine .................................................. £8000
1948 BSA A7 500cc early longstroke .................................................................£6500
1926 BSA H26 557cc large vintage single REDUCED ....................................... £7850
1936 BSA Y13 750cc selling for customer....................................................... £47,500
1973 BMW R75/5, 750cc 1970 Norton Commando 750cc 1957 Triumph T110, matching 1937 BSA G14 v-twin 1000cc tidy bike ........................................................... £18,750
beauty................................. £6450 Roadster.............................£7450 frame, eng & reg...............£6950 1939 Excelsior 150cc lovely barn discovery ....................................................... £1500
1961 Excelsior R10 197cc Roadmaster lot of money spent ............................... £2650
1920 Favor 250cc unusual flat tanker ................................................................. £3250
1937 Federation 250cc nice JAP engine Co-op bike.......................................... £5150
1951 Francis Barnett 98cc nice autocycle .......................................................... £2150
1962 Francis Barnett 89 250cc twin smart cruiser ............................................£3850
1934 Francis Barnett cruiser 250cc new in.........................................................£4750
1929GriffonG505S350ccinterestingvintageOHV REDUCED..............................£6850
1957 James Commodore 250cc rare early model .............................................. £1400
1960 Matchless G2 250cc restoration project ...................................................... £700
1960 BSA A10 Super Rocket 1930 Sunbeam Model 9 500cc, 1953 AJS 18s, 500cc, original 1957 Matchless G80S 500cc smart riders bike .................................................£4500
650cc..................................£5950 great runner........................£9950 eng/frame & reg.................£4150 1958 Moto Guzzi Falcone 500cc stunning!...................................................... £10,500
1988 MZ 125cc interesting East European bike ................................................ £1250
1956/57 New Hudson 98cc autocycle choice of 3 ...................................£750/£1000
Export no problem! 1946/51 Nimbus C 750cc choice of 2.............................................................. £10,000
1938 Norman Autobyk 98cc first year of manufacture ....................................... £1750
“CLASSIC & WANTED! WANTED! 1927 Norton 16H 500cc fine looking example REDUCED .............................. £20,000
1954 Panther 75 350cc presentable ................................................................... £3850
CLASSIC
VINTAGE MOTORCYCLES MOTORCYCLES
1955 Panther 100 600cc charming tele rigid ..................................................... £9250
1959 Panther 120 650cc nice big pussy ............................................................£7000
ALWAYS WANTED, ALWAYS WANTED!
1924 Raleigh 350cc flat tank project...................................................................£3850
1926 Raleigh 350cc pretty flat tanker ................................................................. £6500
Bikes & collections bought 1957 Ratier L7/8 750cc Boxer French police .....................................................£7000
ANY CONDITION INCLUDING outright for cash! 1992 Royal Enfield India Bullet 350cc good usable............................................£2500
1949 Royal Enfield G 350cc presentable REDUCED ......................................... £3750
BASKET CASES!” In all conditions.
Delivery & Collection Service
1940 Royal Enfield K 1140cc one of the last made ......................................... £27,500
1938 Rudge Rapid 250cc nice bike full history................................................... £8750
1950 Scott Squirrel 596cc last of the Yorkshire Scotts ......................................£8000
1965 Scott 596cc nice Birmingham model ........................................................£8650
D.R. Classic Motorcycles Ltd. 1955 Triton 750cc outstanding electric start REDUCED .................................... £9850
1955 Triumph Terrier 150cc lovely oily rag .........................................................£3650
VIEWING STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT ONLY!!! 1956/58/59/60 Triumph Tiger Cub 200cc choice of 4...... £4350/£4000/£3000/£2850
1939 Triumph T80 350cc sporty bike ...................................................................£7750
TEL 01283 536379 MOB 07889 292536 1928 Triumph N 500cc sound flat tanker ............................................................ £8150
1954 Triumph T100 500cc matching numbers.................................................... £8250
1929 Triumph NSD 550cc beautiful bike ............................................................£7650
richard@drclassic.co.uk 1966/67 Velocette LE 200cc choice of 2................................................ £2000/£2250
1947 Velocette MAC 350cc older restoration ......................................................£5650
Many more bikes!! Range of 50-60s & 70’s classics always in stock – For current stock plus loads of info on all bikes see our website:-
Check out the website! www.andybuysbikes.com • Tel: Andy or Jo 01728 724321
07802 896114 • Email andybuysbikes@hotmail.com • Bikes shipped Worldwide
www.drclassic.co.uk Viewing by appt only: Old Railway Station, Station Road, Framlingham, Woodbridge, IP13 9EE

MAY 2020 | 91
 tc h le ss h a s b e e n occupying a vast
Frank’s mighty Ma
h y d o e s it sh o w so
amount of time. W
W
riting these stories of chaos,
disaster and derring-don’t
is always an entertaining
process. Not least because
I write the words, and then write them again
until I’m at least vaguely happy with them,
and then I sit down with the photos and
choose which to use, depending largely
on how the story worked out. This time is
different. I’m wondering which pics to use
first, because it could dictate how I write the
rest. And you will never know whether that
is what I did, or not. Which doesn’t matter at
all, because I want to share with you my own
offering in that unknown secret competition;
the quest to find The Greatest Displacement
Activity ever.
What do you mean, you don’t know what
displacement activity is? Of course you do.
While he was working himself up to refitting the magneto, FW decided to replace the headlamp. Then
while working himself up to replace the headlamp, he decided to replace the rear mudguard…
92 I MAY 2020
One Lucas K2F m
little progress?
returned. Like
packed with spar
It’s putting off the job which really does need
doing by doing something else. Then getting
bogged down in that displacement activity
until it’s finished, and then deciding to tackle
the actual important job. And then staring
horrified at the realities of life and finding
another displacement activity to protect a chap
from the important job. It is possibly possible
that a chap could prevaricate and procrastinate
forever, and never actually complete the
important task. Or indeed start it.
About what am I talking? Fitting the
revived – miraculously revived – magneto
to the CSR. I’ve fitted loads of magnetos. It
is not difficult. Three big fasteners, a drive
pinion and then sliding the timing cover
back on. That’s all there is to it. Apart from
setting the ignition timing. At which I was
quite proficient for some time, because I ran a
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
agneto. It wen
ntt away, and then
k a boomerang. it
Plainly this device is
ks
Matchless G9 for a while in the late 1970s (27
HPB, where are you now?) and every so often
its advance / retard mechanism would slip,
reducing the ignition timing to a profoundly
random setting which rarely produced
combustion in the otherwise excellent
engine. This was my commutercycle, so
needed to be decently reliable. It was … apart
from the timing travel.
The snag – in case you’re interested to
know why I didn’t simply fix the problem,
which was a severely worn magneto camring
– was that there were no new camrings
anywhere. This was 1978 or so, the classic
bike had only recently been invented, and
shops which had previously been agents for
Matchless (and many other now sanctified
marques) had thrown away all their old stock
spares. And the internet hadn’t been invented,
while autojumbles were only just rising from
the ashes of the old bike retail sector.
In the end, I found a new camring at a
Bolton Autojumble, fitted it, and promptly
sold the bike, like you do. With the proceeds I
bought a 125 MZ to replace it. My first brand-
new motorcycle, and a fine machine indeed.
So, the magneto…
 FRANK WESTWORTH

Dismayed by the generally ratty condition of

the original rear number plate bracket, FW was
delighted to uncover a refurbished one. Except…
the top mounting has no captive nut. And never
has, apparently…

Meanwhile, The Plan was to get the bike

I’ve been somewhat frustrated by my
less-then-shiny replacement mudguard, but
decided that I should fit it anyway. Why?
Because the whole thrust of the CSR project
has shifted. Can you guess why? Correct! The
virus disaster, which has resulted in chromers
and painters and similar enterprises vanishing
down wormholes, presumably to an
alternative dimension where they’ll emerge
as Klingons, or something. In practice, this
made it impossible to perform the cosmetic
resto that I’d decided was the best way, which
included rechroming my smart – but un-
shiny – mudguard. And the more I delve into
the cosmetic condition of the CSR the more I
understand that it needs a lot of cleaning up.
New paint, certainly, and several fairly major
new parts – such as the exhaust, for example.
I also decided – in a typical moment
of madness – that I would replace the
headlamp, as I’ve mentioned before.
Which has produced a few completely
surprising discoveries – like, for example,
the complete unavailability of the correct
type of ammeter. There are lots of pattern
ammeters, and several of them claim to be
‘genuine Lucas’ although they don’t actually
locate to the headlamp shell like real Lucas
meters should. They also don’t fit the hole
properly. Annoyances like this are of course
minor, trivial maybe, but in a rare moment of
common sense I decided that I would rebuild
the bike to as close to stock as I can actually
manage without actually stripping it all the
way down. I would make a list of the genuine
bits I’m prepared to pay for, and once the bike
was actually on the road again I would do
my best to find those bits and when freedom
of movement is finally restored I will get
everything sorted.
on the road for summer.
Then the lockdown descended and it all
became academic.
This is not entirely a bad thing – at least so
far as the CSR project is concerned – because
all of a sudden there was no tension, no
urgency. Instead, a sense of calm descended,
which is actually not at all unpleasant. And I
quite suddenly had a lot more time to waste
in The Shed.
I’ve said this before and I will certainly
say it again: this bike has been bodged a lot.
It can’t all have happened at once, so the
bodging – as with my G9 back in 1978 – was
probably the result of unavailable parts.
Lots of them. Among these parts are all the
fasteners which fit properly, of which there
are plenty on an AMC machine.
So, like a lot of what we refer to as ‘older
restorations’, this machine has been rebuilt
with lots of wrong bits. And yes, I can hear
the muttered accusations of ‘anorak’, ‘rivet
counter’ and so on, so predictable. The sad
truth is that a bike built using the right bits
will be a much better bike than one built
using whatever was to hand. That’s not a

Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs MAY 2020 I 93


This Allen bolt is so long that it completely stopped the mudguard sliding into place
mad attack of anorakiness, but the result of
decades – literally! – of messing about with
old bikes and with riding old bikes belonging
to lots of other folk.
So, to the magneto…
My almost-but-not-quite correct rear
mudguard, as well as arriving with some of
the most challenged chromework I’ve seen,
also arrived bare. That is to say that it arrived
without any fittings, including the rear light
/ number plate bracket. Not a problem, of
course, the outgoing guard has one – and
it’s the correct item for the year. I’ll just swap
them over.
Which was when I discovered that only
two of the three fasteners were present, and
one of those – the main one at the top – was
There’s plainly a mysterious pleasure in fitting
new fasteners where no one can see them. This
is the stud which holds the brackets which hold
the front of the rear mudguard. It’s under the
swinging arm, for heaven’s sake…
94 I MAY 2020
certainly not an AMC original bolt. This is
slightly irritating, because the fitting the bolt
fits is a captive nut, which had suffered the
traditional fate of having the wrong bolt with
the wrong thread forced into it – which has
been a theme on this particular machine,
sadly. I scratched my head and thought
about it – like you do. And I dredged up a
faint memory of having a spare bracket, left
over from another rebuild. This is remarkably
common in The Shed, mostly for AMC
machines, unsurprisingly. The question was
this: where had I carefully stored it?
More head scratching suggested that at
some point and for a forgotten reason I’d had
it refinished. In which case… It was where
it should have been, part of a small stack
of late AMC tinware which I’ve been saving
for a rainy day – or for exactly the current
situation. However, that would suggest both
Although it was possible to get a ring spanner onto the nut and spray the nut with penetrating stuff, it
was really difficult to shift it
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
intelligence and planning, so is unlikely. I
unwrapped the bracket, gazed at its shiny
blackness with a cheery smirk, and observed
that clever old me had left the two bolts
for the lower fittings in place, so even the
threads would be good. And at the top, the
big bolt… it wasn’t there. And neither was
the captive nut. Baffled of Bude stood back in
wonder. How could this be? And how come
I’d not noticed before getting it refinished?
There’s no sign of a nut ever being fitted, so
I’ll need to find out what size / thread it is
and find one. Then work out how to retain it,
that being rather the point of a captive nut.
Another delay… and we don’t need that, so
I returned to the CSR’s original bracket. Of
course there was only one of the two lower
bolts in place because the other thread is
stripped. And I can’t tap a new one because
there’s no room for a tap.
What the heck, it had been like that for
years, so it can stay like that until I can find
the right nut and bolt for the shiny bracket.
As you may have observed, fitting the
magneto is a complicated and long drawn-
out process, involving as many excuses as
possible to avoid actually doing it.
Once more I hung the replacement guard
into place and set about actually attaching
it. There are two main anchorage points: at
the top of the suspension units, where the
excellent handles provided by Steven at AMC
Classic Spares are gripped by a special bolt
and a special nut and spaced out by a special
spacer, and right at the front bottom end,
where two small bolts grip the guard to a pair
 FRANK WESTWORTH
of small brackets which are held in place by a
stud passing through the frame’s seat tube,
down below the swinging arm pivot. Nice
and neat and fairly easy, except that access
to the front lower mountings is not easy with
the wheel in place – and I most certainly did
not want to remove the wheel. Oh no. I’m not
a fan of fitting Norton wheels on my own –
and in any case, they’re heavy!
Got the stud and its brackets in place, after
only a little sweating, cursing and cursing
again – more creatively this time. Got the top
mounts in place after a little squeezing and
juggling. Versatility is the key, as you can tell.
Not everyone can both squeeze and juggle
at the same time. It is a talent. And so to the
front, for those two small bolts and their nuts.
Except… Spot the stainless…
Except that something was stopping the
guard lining up with the brackets and their The correct front mounting bolt for the the way of gripping a spanner. I believe I may
little bolts. Something deep in the darkness chainguard is the correct length for its have uttered a profanity or two at this point.
between the wheel and the frame’s seat tube. task, but the one fitted was some bizarrely It is also possible that I may have stamped
Darkness where even angels fear to tread. lengthy Allen bolt. The threaded bit was way back into the house for a refreshing libation,
Sorry, I went all fictional for a moment there. too long and extended into the path of the the current favourite being Big Peat, and if
The impediment was a long bolt sticking mudguard, preventing it from lining up. It you’re a whisky fan it comes recommended.
out from the chainguard and preventing was also considerably rusty, which meant Of course I needed to remove the wheel.
the mudguard from lining up. What’s this, as that even with repeated dousing from my last Then I could remove the stupid Allen bolt and
we say, although online we might say WTF!! remaining can of DeGrip-all, turning the rusty fit the chainguard properly. Did I mention
It’s the original chainguard and a proper nut on the rusty bolt was both difficult and that of course I had at least one of the correct
mudguard, so… slow due to the wheel beiing in replacement chainguard bolts in the big

And it was going

so well. OK, out
with the wheel

As this new chainguard bolt is nickel-plated,,

it may be an original spare. Light die job to
remove the plating so the nut will turn
margarine tub which passes for my BSCy
fastener store? Of course I did. Once again my
tendency to buy two of everything I need had
paid off. I even equipped it with a nice new
nut and a spring washer, in case it felt like
leaving the premises for some reason.
Removing rear wheels is not entirely my
favourite occupation. For a start, they’re
heavy. Also filthy, unless a chap had the
prescience and common sense to clean
the bike before putting it on the bench.
Somehow this never occurs to me until the
bike is perched in space and half-dismantled.
Remember at this point that The Plan was
to replace the magneto… well, nearly. The
other part of the plan – and it’s a secret, so do
not tell anyone – was to dig The Other Best
Bike In The World from its slumber of at least
a decade and once the magneto was off the
CSR, do a little gentle fettling to restore it to
the road for spring.
There are several flaws in this otherwise
excellent plan, as you may have observed.
Not least the cheery fact that to drag
TOBBITW out of the damp at the far reaches
of The Shed involved moving a handsome
350 Matchless out of the way and of course
I instantly needed to know whether I could
get that to go, and I did, and… You may have
read about it recently.
Anyway, out with the wheel. I believe that
these Norton wheels are QD, which involves
unbolting the alloy hub from the brake
drum / sprocket device and leaving both
the drum, sprocket and drive chain in place,
Observe how the correctt bollt is the correctt lengtth. Usiing the correctt
bits is not just for anoraks and rivet counters
96 I MAY 2020
The joy and delight of getting a nut to the seat
bolt. FW failed to get a washer in place…
but faffing around with this is never a great
entertainment. Other views are available, as
in all things. So I split the chain, disconnected
the speedo drive and brake rod, and applied
great huge spanners to the spindle and its
nuts. Only after removing the wheel did I
remember that the brake plate anchors by
using a very neat attachment to the brake
plate called – officially – the rear brake torque
pivot pin. You so did need to know that.
This pin slots into a slot – as you might
expect – machined in the left-side arm of
the swinging arm. It’s a neat system and
it works very well and with considerable
safety, because there’s nothing to come
Job done. Almost. Next… the seat
More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
loose and fall off, either locking the wheel or
removing all braking effect in the process,
neither of which is a great thing. The snag
is that if a chap is mauling the wheel about
on his own – it’s heavy enough to require
two hands – the third hand required to stop
the stupid brake plate rotating stupidly and
losing the alignment of the rear brake torque
pivot pin with its slot is essential. Or, as in this
case, a considerable blast of profanity can
sometimes be effective. Followed by beer.
Anyway. Wheel out, bolt replaced and the
mudguard’s lower front brackets and bolts
duly fitted. I even applied stainless steel bolts
and locking nuts – but do not mention this to
any purists who may be lurking nearby. The
rest of the fittings are easy enough, though I
was irritated to discover that the wiring clips
inside my rusty but correct-ish guard were all
broken off. Maybe sticky tape will work this
time to hold the cable away from the wheel?
It never has before, but hope springs eternal.
Next, the seat. This is of course easy, being
gripped at the front by the big bolt which
also holds the rear subframe to the main
frame, and halfway down its length by a pair
of slot-head bolts and their nuts. That sounds
easy, does it not? Except that… before we get
to that, and in a moment of entirely pointless
madness, I decided that as I had what looked
like the CSR’s original seat bolts, along with
their nuts and washers, I would clean up the
threads – which were considerably rusty –
and re-use the original nuts too. No idea why,
but it passed a happy quarter-hour with a die.

The story so far. If everything
looks grubby, that’s because it
is grubby. And rusty, too
And then, the simple task of fitting the bolts,
with their nice clean threads, back in place.
How easy is that?
Of course it’s entirely easy. A chap
simply reaches between the frame and the
mudguard, pops the spring washer and the
nut onto the nice clean thread of the bolt and
tightens it all up. Except… Had you guessed?
Correct. There’s no way a chap with hands the
size of mine – delicate and artistic guitarist’s
hands, remember – can actually reach the
inside bit of the bolt, never mind slide on a
washer and a nut.
I tried a magnet on a stick. The washer fell
off, and so did the bolt. But… I have done this
before, and indeed many times, so I know it’s
possible. Scratches head again. The answer is
to slip the nut inside the ring of a ring spanner
and manoeuvre it by the light of a torch until
it’s neatly perched over the end of the bolt.
Sounds easy? Yes it does. And it probably is,
except that it took me an absolute age to
manage, because every time you attempt to
apply a little pressure to the nut so that the
Subscribe and save: www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs
Who cares if the cable cllips insiide th
he mudguard
are no longer there?
bolt’s thread engages… the nut falls out of
the ring spanner. Of course it does.
And of course I could never manage
both the spring washer and the nut at the
same time. I am indeed that artless bodger.
Which made me understand something.
Which was? That this bike deserves an actual
proper refurb, rather than a few attempts
FRANK WESTWORTH
at replacing the worst bodges with lesser
bodges. So, with no effort at all and the ease
of long practice, I dropped the last remaining
shreds of ‘I want this on the road for summer’
like a vaguely warm spud, and decided
that what I should do is get it running and
roadable and then – if we do actually have a
summer – rattle about a bit locally with it. The
CSR would make a fun comparison with the
BSA A65T which preceded it on the bench, in
fact. Maybe this was a secret plan all along? A
plan so secret that I was unaware of it! They’re
the best kind.
And then, as the wintry wet draws in, I
could strip it right down, get the paint done
and even re-chrome the rear mudguard.
Amazing. And while stuff was away being
made less bad, I could actually repair those
irritating remaining bodges and end up with
a nice shiny Matchless. Hmmm. I mentioned
this to the Better Third, who promptly said
‘Norton Electra’ in a vaguely threatening kind
of way. Hmmm again.
Meanwhile, back to that magneto…
MAY 2020 I 97
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