real classic april 2015

&EXECUTIVE TRIUMPH VELOCETTE MOV MOTO GUZZI S3

Running,Riding&RebuildingRealClassicMotorcycles ISSUE 132 APRIL 2015 3.60

BSA R3 vs HONDA CB750

BIGGESTEVERISSUE

RARE RUSTY ROCKET

SUPERBIKESORTOUT

See RealClassic.co.uk for hundreds of classic bike profiles2 I APRIL 2015

BSAROCKET3vsHONDACB750 ................6We all know what happened when BSA-Triumphand Honda went head to head with multi-cylindersuperbikes in the Seventies. But which is now themore desirable classic bike? Paul Miles evaluatestwo iconic 750s, and you may be surprised bywhich one he prefers

EXECUTIVETRIUMPH................................ 30Envious of BMWs executive image? Triumphoffered their own alternative; the BonnevilleExecutive. Rowena Hoseason performed amanagement study

AJSMODEL30CSR..................................... 38Just when FrankWestworth was complaining thatthere were no fresh original and unrestored bikesaround any more, two turn up almost together

AVETERANTRIUMPH................................ 46Acentury ago, bold youngmenwere racingbikes likeAndy Loosemores single-speed, belt-drive 500 aroundthe Isle ofMan.No less bold, Andy tackles an equallychallenging circuit in the ScottishHighlands

VELOCETTEMOV....................................... 52In eight decades, this 250 single had barely movedmore than a fewmiles from its original home.Henry Gregson meets the machine which has justchanged hands for the first time

MOTOGUZZI750S3 .................................... 60Originally considereddisappointing slowanddamningly uncomfortable, Guzzis S3wasoncedismissed as an irrelevant stop-gapen route to the LeMans. NolanWoodbury explainswhy this dog-earedGuzzi suffers in obscurity nomore

SHEDQUEST................................................. 68Daisy theTriumphSpeedTwin andher heroicassistant, GrahamHam, continue their epicexplorationof sheds and themenwho inhabit them.Thismonth theymeet Bryan andRicky Pedder,meetThe Lads, anddiscover endless treasure in theDaisyBungalow.No, really

BACKISSUES ................................................ 82The sumof humanknowledge. In a certain sense

TRITONTRIBULATION!................................. 96Paul Fishburnworkedhard to fulfil his lifetimeambition toownaTriton. Renovating an abandoned1970s examplewas far fromstraightforward

ROYALENFIELDTWINREBUILD................104Lastmonth, StephenHerbert finally securedhisown700cc superbike, ripe for restoration.This time,work starts on theGemini Projects engine

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WHAT LIESWITHIN

SEEP122FORMORE

6

THECONTENTSPAGE ...................................4Stung by criticism that RC features far too manyshiny bikes, weve mounted a campaign to fixthat. As you can see

WEVEGOTMAIL! ...................................... 18Small Heath visit, chains (or not), enduringracers, oil pressure, the perfected motorcycle.Loads and loads and

OUTWARDBOUND.................................... 74Lots of stuff lined up to fill those long warm drydays.Who are we kidding?WE know itll rain!Some RC-only rides approaching, too

NEWS!......................................................... 78Lightweights, bright lights and amuseumgoes racing. Nothing lightweight about that

READERSFREEADS .................................. 84More bikes for sale as the year progresses. Gotake a look. Still no T160 for Frank, which is ofcourse a profound sorrow

PUBTALK ................................................. 112Here be Dragons, and wolves! PUB went all theway to Snowdonia and then forgot to pick upthe all important rally badge! At least exploringtheWulf (as requested in last months RC), anda number of other novel two-strokes from thepast, is a nice, warm, indoor, task

BENDSWINGIN........................................ 118One of the dangers facing any regularcolumnist is that of descending into self-deluding introspection or, if you prefer, self-aggrandisement. Me-me-me can all-too easilyreplace highlighting the quirky singularities ofour shared world and its ways, but humiliationlies around every bend in the road. Dave Mintonin a serious mood

TALESFROMTHESHED ........................... 125First light. It sounds so romantic, doesnt it? FrankWestworth rejoices in a tiny bit of illumination

Howcan it be that despite a

whole longwet coldwinter

of spannering and fettling

andgenerally preparing for

Spring,when that seasonof

optimismactually lands I am

never actually ready toget abike out and just

ride it?

This happens every year. Even keeping and

occasionally riding, thoughnotmuch this time

apair ofwheels on the road throughall the

gloomanddampofwinter has had little effect.

The first decent rideof thebravenewyear is

uponmeandtheNortonsMoThas runout.

Its not physically possible forme to remedy that

strange situationbefore I need tobe away, so Ill

probably need to take the car. Or theRockster,

which is a sort-of two-wheeled car impersonator.

Slightly embarrassingly, I only foundout

about theNortons lack ofMoT certificatewhena

previously unheard-of armof governmentwrote

mea real paper letter to tellme that thebike

wasnt insured. Itwas a faintly threatening letter

and advisedme sternly that unless I either fixed

this (by contactingmy insurerwhohadnt

contactedme, such is theoddity of this electric

age) or SORNed thebike Iwouldbedeported.Or

something.Thebikewas still taxed it still is. As

whichever insurance companywho insured the

Norton last year plainly didntwant to repeat the

experience, I decided to add it to theRocksters

insurance,whichwasdue in aweekor so. And I

did. Discovering in theprocess that in the eyes

of Bennetts theNorton and theBMWcost the

same to insure and that there is nodiscount for

having twobikes on a single policy. Iwill (try to)

remember this next year.

In any case, as theNortonwas insured again,

I decided todeclare it notSORNand tax it from

thebeginningofApril (theolddisc expired at the

endofMarch). At this point, I discovered that the

MoThadexpired lastweek too.Which iswhere

we came in.

All of this has ruinedmy life. Completely.

Would I exaggerate?Never.The reason for

the ruin is that I haveunderstood that I amno

brighter thanabureaucratic limbofgovernment.

Previously I had alwaysbeen simply certain

that I amsmarter than such structures. Now I

understand that theyhave fooledme. Every year

Iwould smugly andentertainingly rant about

howgovernment systemsneed tobe tightened

and tidied so that theyworkedefficiently as

one. Iwouldperform this ritual rant to an invited

audienceof one the cat every year at income

tax andvehicle tax days. How, Iwould chant,

could theybe so rubbish?

Andof course thegrim reality is thatmy

record keeping is actuallyworse than theirs, and

they keep the records of rathermore vehicles

than I do.

So, a vaguely grumpy letter prevented a crime.

It actually did. Because Iwas convinced that the

NortonsMoTexpired inMay (whichmaymean

that another bikesMoTexpires inMayor it

maymeannothing at all) and that its insurance

expired inNovember. It has always expired in

November. Apart fromnow,when it expires in

March. Are you following this?Have youworked

out how I canblame someone formynearly

illegal act of riding theNorton illegally? Simple.

Last time I insured theNorton I toldwhoever

itwas that theyneednot sendmeanypaper

paperwork; that an emailwouldbe sufficient.

Itwasnt. I have learned. Something

Ride safely

FrankWestworth

[email protected]

CONTACT US!By post:By email:[email protected]:www.RealClassic.co.uk

FROM THE FRONTWHOS DONEWHATREALCLASSIC is clobbered together by the Cosmic

Bike Company Ltd, aka FrankWestworth and Rowena

Hoseason. Thismonthsmagazine is actually the

biggest-ever issue of RC, andwed like to thank

everyonewhosmade it possible.

Theres heapsmore RC reading at RealClassic.co.uk,

managed byMartin Gelder

TRADEADVERTISERS should call Sue or Alan,01507 529313, email [email protected] ENQUIRIES should be sent [email protected] or to PO Box 66, BudeEX23 9ZX. Please include an SAE if youwantsomething returned or a personal replySUBSCRIPTION INFO is on page 122, or call01507 529529 to subscribe or renewor buyback issuesSUBSQUERIES, late deliveries, or changes ofaddress should be directed to 01507 529529, oremail [email protected] in RealClassic is copyrightits authors, so please contact us beforereproducing anything. RealClassic is printed byWilliamGibbons & Sons ofWolverhampton. OurISSN is 1742-2345.

THISMONTHweve been reading Snipers Honor

by StephenHunter (hes American sowe forgive the

strange spelling); Peckerwood (gritty backwoods

noir); The Blue Blazes (urban fantasymeets ancient

evil); Bad Blood (ArneDahls excellent Nordic police

procedural). Also DogWill Have His Day, by Fred

Vargas, which is excellently eccentric and French;

Nights Of Awe, by Harri Nyknen, whichwas good but

not thrillingly good, ANasty PieceOfWork, by Robert

Littell, which is a brilliant PI story, andNightmare

Range, byMartin Limn, which is about Korea andGI

cops and is very good indeed.

GROOVYTUNESwere dedicated to a day of Gong

classics, to bid a fond adieu to the nowunDivided

Alien

MEANWHILEATTHEMOVIESwe thought

Nightcrawler was a particularly powerful indictment

ofmodernmainstreammedia; rocked onwith Liam

Neeson in RunAll Night; boggled at InherentVice but

enjoyed the trip,man, and endured over two hours

of the KoreanWar in Brotherhood ofWar (whichmay

have been a slightmistake). Any day now, Sean Penn

takes up the old-bloke actionmantle in Gunman

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Real Bikes. Real People. RealClassic: online at www.RealClassic.co.uk APRIL 2015 I 7


Continuing theconversation from arecent RC letters page,it may be too simplisticto blame the demise ofthe British bike industry

on apathy and lack of investment, or even amisreading of a changing market. Fact is, aslong ago as 1962, two engineers, Doug Heleand Bert Hopwood, discussed the importanceof life beyond that staple of the Britishmotorcycling, the parallel twin. They pennedand planned a three-cylinder 750cc machine,a motor powering a new generation ofmotorcycles, delivering more power than the

twins and with smoothness unmatched byany of their competitors. Indeed, the modularnature of the proposed design could evenhave led to a 1000cc four.On presenting this concept to their boss,

the legendary Edward Turner ridiculed thesuggestion that a rider would desire anythingother than a twin. Undeterred, the pairdesigned and built their first prototype, theP1, in 1965, which looked like a Bonnevillebut with an extra pot. By then Turner hadretired and the factory gave the go aheadto bring the three cylinder engine to themarketplace. A production version of the P1could have reached the market in time for

Weall knowwhat happenedwhen BSA-Triumph andHondawent head to headwithmulti-

cylinder superbikes in theSeventies. But which is now the

more desirable classic bike? PaulMiles evaluates two iconic 750s,

and youmay be surprised bywhich one he prefers

THELAST

Photos by Paul Miles


of BritainBATTLE

HONDACB v BSA R3


the crucial US market buying season in 1967.However the decision was made to restylethe bike for the new age and Ogle Design,whose achievements included the ReliantRobin, were entrusted with the task. Duringthis enforced delay, Hele continued work onthe motor and the second prototype, the900cc P2, produced 90bhp, offering true140mph potential.Ogles restyling job delayed the launch

of the triples by over eighteen months, acatastrophic mistake as it turned out. Theresulting machine, the BSA Rocket 3 you seehere, was launched in 1968 to an astonishedpublic and to critical acclaim. The productionfour-speed 58bhp triple was not only 40lbheavier than the P1, but had sprouted allmanner of sci-fi design cues along theway. Gone were the familiar curves of theBonneville tank, replaced by an angular,bread-bin shape. The sidepanels underwentsimilar reinvention and the timeless eleganceof the exhaust curves were replaced byextraordinary ray-gun silencers. I know it wasthe Sixties, man, but really?The Americans, having moved on from

the Ford Edsel a decade previously, hated

the styling. So did the UK, the machinessecond largest intended market. Even thepress, ecstatic about the performance andsmoothness, remained unconvinced bythe styling. But in 1969 it was the fastest,most futuristic mass-production motorcycleavailable anywhere in the world. For fourweeks.Imagine how the sales managers at BSA

/ Triumph must have felt when their triple,despite looking a bit odd, was poised to grabcontrol of the large motorcycle sector, onlyto discover that those pesky Japanese chapsdown at Honda had a 750cc bike of their own.Like the BSA, it was a multi. But it had four

cylinders, not three. As if that wasnt enough,the Honda also had an overhead camshaft,four carburettors, five speeds and a frontdisc brake. At a stroke, Honda had blown anycompetition off the page. Suddenly, the OHVdesign of the BSA was only just better thana sidevalve. And double drum brakes? Howquaint.Honda, unrestrained by the British

necessity of utilising existing tooling, workedup a 100% new concept. The resultantmachine looked unlike anything that had

Alternative technologies. BSAs ohv triple wasthe end of an era; Hondas sohc four the start ofanother


gone before, but in a forward-thinking way.While the BSA recalled the 1950s, the new750/4 was a machine propelling us forwardinto the jet age with its claimed 68bhp(ten more than the triple). A double cradle,vaguely featherbed-esque frame suggestedhandling confidence and the sweep of four(four!) exhaust pipes proudly on displaypromised performance beyond comparison.And the worlds most important motorcycle

market, the USA, loved the Honda. Lets notforget that, to the American customer, bothof these bikes were foreign imports. Therewas little misplaced patriotism on displayhere. The CB was designed to appeal to anew type of customer, the Seventies rider.No longer a dyed in the wool, hands-onenthusiast; he wanted a bike that wouldtake him and his pillion anywhere with theminimum of fuss. A bike clearly looking to thefuture, the appeal of faster, sleeker and neweroutweighed the one-and-a-half Bonneville-engined, Cadillac Dan Dare rocket thingy BSAwere punting.And it was cheaper! The Honda cost $1495,

the Beeza $1800 for a lower powered, leaky,old tech motorcycle. At a 1969 sales meeting,the American distributor of Triumph grouptold his Honda counterpart that they hopedto sell between 2000-2500 motorcyclesacross the importantWestern territory of 19US states, that year. He was somewhat takenaback by the Honda executive informing

him that their target was 5000 machines. Hewent to on clarify that was a month, not peryear! Honda didnt hope, they simply knewthat building a better bike would result inimproved sales.Slightly sycophantic period tests of the

British triple often refer to a slight oil weeporsome misting was evident; dismissing theseproblems as unimportant and to be expected.I wonder if there is a Japanese equivalentphrase to those. Perhaps not. At Honda it wasmore likely to be leaks oil or does not leakoil. You can imagine which option SoichiroHonda preferred. This total approach tomanufacture allows no compromises, so flawsare usually made at the design stage, seldomin the manufacturing process. Time hasproved that they were few and far between.Now, nearly fifty years later, these machines

enjoy a different rivalry, one of classic statusand importance. Early Seventies racingsuccesses undoubtedly improved the lotof the triple brigade and four decades ofrefinement have resulted in some fineclassics that no amount of pre-productiontesting could have discovered. Better gasketsreduce oil leaks, the early propensity to shedprimary chains seemed to have abated andthe troublesome triple points ignitions havebeen consigned to the dustbin of history,replaced by reliable electro-sparks. TheHonda, conversely, hasnt really needed verymuch upgrading; they got it right first time.

As long as the oil and filter were changedregularly, the SOHCmotor just ran on andon, seemingly forever. Being picky, at 40,000miles you might need new valve stem oilseals, but howmany triples would have seena similar odometer reading without moremajor surgery?Looking at the two bikes, the sharp-eyed

reader might recall the Rocket 3 seen here.Featured a lifetime ago (100 issues, anyway)in RC, it is an older restoration of a seriesone Rocket 3. Finished in a special, factory-order blue, time has been very kind to thecontroversial Ogle design; I dont think theBSA has ever looked fresher than it doestoday. Many modern machines seem to haveadopted the clashing angles pioneered bythe British factory, but without the ray-gunsof course. The once avant-garde Honda looksrather dated by comparison, with restrainedpaint and an excess of period chrome and, aswe know, chrome wont get you home. Butthat superb four cylinder engine will.It was quickly apparent that the Honda

motor was not only a reliable gem of a thing,but would tolerate the excesses of tunerseverywhere. Used in everything from roadracing to drag racing, it has been bored to avariety of sizes, sometimes beyond 1000cc.Bolt-on superchargers and nitrous oxide kitshave placed further strains on the originaldesign, but still it came back for more. I alsothink it is one of the most beautiful air-cooled

CB750 /R3FACTPACKHonda BSA

Engine: Air-cooled ohc four Air-cooled ohv triple

Bore / stroke: 61 x 63mm 67 x 70mm

Capacity: 736cc 740cc

Compression: 9:1 9:1

Output: 67bhp @ 8000rpm 58bhp @ 7250rpm

Carburetion: 4x Keihin 28mm 3x Amal 27mm

Ignition: Battery / coil Battery / coil

Lighting: Alternator 150W alternator

Starting: Electric / kick Kick

Front brake: Single disc 2ls 8 inch drum

Rear brake: Sls drum Sls 7 inch drum

Front tyre: 3.25 x 19 3.25 x 19

Rear tyre: 4.00 x 18 4.10 x 19

Wheelbase: 57.2 inches 57 inches

Seat height: 31.5 inches 32 inches

Weight: 499lb fuelled 493lb fuelled

Ground clearance: 6.3inches 6.5 inches

0-60mph: 5.2 seconds 5 seconds

Standing quarter: 13.5 seconds 14.0 seconds

Stopping distance: 32.9ft from 30mph 37.2ft from 30mph

Top speed: 123mph 127mphAnd in the blue corner, Ace TesterMiles welcomes your tweets to @classicrider

HONDACB v BSA R3


engines ever made. If it were Italian, grownmen would weep at its perfect lines while fatwomen sang arias about it.Both bikes look like big, heavy machines.

This is an optical illusion, neither is tootowering. The Honda carries just 13lb of extralard compared to the BSA, but the Rocket 3 isphysically quite small by comparison. Onceyou take into account the extra cylinder,disc brake, electric start, five speeds, fourcarburettors and separate exhausts of theCB750, you begin to see how profligate theBritish factory were with their use of metal.Whatever happened to adding lightness,as pioneered by Colin Chapman? Speakingof which, starting them. Honda: turn key,lift choke lever, which operates all fourcarburettors and press the starter button. Itstarts first time, every time. Then ride away.BSA: turn petrol taps on, tickle each carbindividually until fuel pours out and ontothe engine, including the need to tickle theimpossible to reach without a finger like ET,centre unit. Kick engine through twice, turnignition on and kick again. In fairness, theBeeza always started, but only if I followedthe ritual to the letter.Although Honda and BSA fuel tanks are a similar width their engines are not

Jerry Fiford owns the Honda but has his eyes on the bright BSA


Both machines idle perfectly; I wasntexpecting that from the BSA. The triple emitsquite a mechanical clatter from the top end,typical Triumph rattle, Im informed. TheHonda rustled menacingly, with just a touchof clutch clatter. Both have fantastic exhaustnotes, muted yet latent. The Honda was anespecially pleasant surprise, it seems the earlymachines were less restrictive than the later,more emasculated versions.Out riding and the Rocket feels really

lusty, launching itself off the line andencouraging the rider to twist the handleat every opportunity. It handles beautifully.Hele experimented with weights attachedto a Bonneville to try to calculate weightdistribution and it feels as if all the mass iscentralised and very low down. Swingingthe BSA through a series of swooping bendsis a real joy. The CB750 feels a little flusteredby comparison. The characteristics of theengine are diametrically opposite to theBritish machine; smooth turbine pickup lowdown, but needs winding open to generateany real sensation of urge. Theres hardly anyvibration, either, unlike the buzzy triple. Doesvibration equal character? Discuss.

My main tribulation with early triples isthe gearbox, or the number of ratios, to beexact. Four-speed boxes are absolutely finemost of the time and really easy aroundtown, just leave it in third, relying on thesupremely flexible three pot motor to tug youout of bends on the wave of torque. But atspeed, they suck. At an indicated 75mph, theBSA felt thrashy and stressed, 90 suggestedtorture and beyond the ton, the inquisition.A fifth cog would have really helped on themotorway. But in town its great and I spendmost of my time in traffic, sadly. I really cantdecide which is best. But the clutch andgearbox were faultless, despite the lack ofavailable choice.The Honda was designed from the outset

to be a proper five-speeder and performedlike, well, a Honda. Because you need to pointthe needle towards the red zone in order tomake progress it can feel a little anodyne atlower speeds and it fails to carry its weight aswell as the BSA, feeling a tad top heavy andtipping into slower bends.Wind it on andthings change for the better. The exhaustnote hardens to a low howl and genuinelyrapid progress becomes available. If the

engine is a capable sprinter, the cycle part ofmotorcycle is found a little wanting. At higherspeeds the CB750 feels a bit flappy anddisjointed; the front end too weedy for therest of the bike. Im not sure this is a problemwith the Honda per se, simply that thesublime motor was so superior to anythingelse out there at the time that chassistechnology needed to catch up with it. Ittook the stiffer rails from the Rickman boysor Dave DegensDresda to tame the Hondasqueasiness, albeit at the price of the comfortthe standard machines were able to deliver.Similarly, the front disc brake; the flashy andnew disc on the Honda suggested superiorretardation, but the 2LS drum of the BSAperformed at least as well in the real world.It took the triple six years to even begin

to match the first CB750s five speedsand electric start. In 1974 the classically-handsome Triumph T160 Trident finallybecame the motorcycle it could and shouldhave been half a decade earlier. But it wastoo late for the British, the game was longsince over and the Japanese dominated thelarge capacity market with titans like theKawasaki Z1 and an updated CB750. By the

From the rear, as from the front, bothmachines were instantly recognisable

HONDACB v BSA R3


time the last remaining Tridents shuffledoff the dealership floors in 1976, bikes likethe Kawasaki Z650 and Suzuki GS750 hadnot only made a mockery of the OHV tripleconcept, but totally eclipsed the by nowvenerable SOHC CB750, which struggled onfor another year before, it too, was replacedby a lighter, faster, flashier model. Such isprogress.Had BSA nailed the styling first time and

got the bike to the market even two yearsbefore the Honda, they might have been in afinancial position to release a 900cc versionwith updated styling to combat the inevitableJapanese invasion, but fatal mistakes andunnecessary delays scuppered the entireproject before the Rocket had really lifted off.Forty-six years on, the potential is still thereto be seen and the Rocket 3 is far better thanthe twin cylinder offerings of the period inalmost every quantifiable way. It even nearlymanages to match the seminal CB750, thatseismic shift moment in motorcyclingshistory. But it carried too much of the oldschool with it dated styling, messy starting,oil leaks, which failed to appeal to the nextgeneration. They voted with their feet, Hondawon, BSA lost.The owner of the CB750, champion racer

Jerry Fiford, remembers riding one back in1969. I was running a race school with VicCamp and hed just got one. I had a go andwas completely hooked, ending up spendingevery spare moment riding it. After a hard dayof racing at Brands, I rode home and took mywife out, riding until past midnight. It was thefirst time Id ridden a four cylinder bike and itwas so smooth and fast, it made everythingelse feel like junk.He doesnt recall anyresistance to the CB750 through misplacedpatriotism, either. We all wanted to ride thefastest bikes we could afford, which was the

750/4. It even had an electric start. The fact itwas Japanese wasnt relevant, it was the bestand we all wanted them.How did the famous 1970s advert go?

Honda enters: Honda wins.Today, as classics, both make a strong

argument for inclusion in the fantasygarage. They will exceed the speed limit,are comfortable two-up and enjoy excellentspares backup. Rocket 3s occupy the higherstrata of classic prices; its likely to costa minimum of 10,000 to enjoy the 1.5Bonnevilles experience. Theres a fair bitmore choice with the popular Honda. Theearliest models, the so-called sandcast, nowfetch 20K plus, but this almost identical K1would be yours for significantly less thanthe aforementioned Beeza. The later K6variants can still be had for ropey Triumph500 money; theres a thought. 120mphclassic performance for the price of a scruffy,incontinent rattleship?What I found really interesting was talking

to other riders as they stopped to chatabout the bikes. Almost to a man they saidsomething along the lines of Yes, the Hondawould be the more reliable, but if you got agood one the triple would be fantastic.Andtheyre right, it would. But that statementexposes the fundamental difference inattitude between the two factories. Thecustomer experience would vary wildly frombike to bike with a BSA, but all the Hondaswould be virtually identical. The beautifulCB on these pages is completely originaland unrestored, the engine has never beentouched beyond routine servicing and bothpaint and chrome belie the old myth ofJapanese quality. Both bikes were ridden hardand I could never quite shake the feeling thatI might be pushing my luck on the Beeza,but had no such issues on the Honda, I knewit would be fine. Mechanically, there is littledoubt of the superiority of the Honda four,but for me personally?Barman, make mine a triple!

Nearly the end. And thewinner is?

The BSA carried one of the best of the British drum brakes, while Hondas early discs were never great

You canwork out which clocks fit which bike.Probably

SMALL HEATH INTHE 1950sThe article in RC128 on the visit to Meridenin ye olde days brought back vivid memorieseven after 62 years. In the early 1950s, coachtrips to factories were very popular withmotoring organisations such as the CSMA.I was on one such when a bunch of civilservants went to the BSA factory at SmallHeath.We were nearly all motorcycliststhen, as cars were still like hens teeth. If youworked unsociable hours shifts, as I did at theMet Office, a motorbike was the only way toget to work, especially on nights.The trip went a bit pear-shaped early on

and our coach was late (no motorways then)so we missed lunch and our subsequent tourwas a bit curtailed, but several things stuckin my memory. I too gawped at the wheelbuilders; spokes literally dropped into hubs,rims in a jig, spokes laced faster than youcan describe, into a fork rig, spokes nippedup using self-made cranked nipple-keys,job done and trued in about three minutesflat. Our guide told us that they had built an

expensive, fancy checking rig that used a rimfollower which projected a light onto a scaleto check the rim was concentric and wobble-free. It was quite fiddly to set up and testsshowed that the eyeball testing by the wheelbuilders was just as accurate. With the spokeends cleaned up, the wheel then went tothe tyre mans bench. He put a rim tape, tyreand tube on the rim, mainly by leaning on itand using one tyre lever, and again in aboutthree minutes, which desolated me. OK, theywere using new rims but I had just spent thebest part of an afternoon fighting a new backtyre onto the Triumph 3HW and I still had thedamaged fingers and nails to prove it.Next, Bantam tanks were brought to the

signwriter bloke; stencil-sprayed green withcream panel no transfers. Having stuck histhumb in the filler hole, he gold-lined thetank with a brush that seemed to consistof about 6 inches of hairs and 2 inches ofhandle, putting two thin lines in the troughon the top of the tank and then a thick and

thin line round the edge of the cream panel.All freehand and with the same brush. Again,almost quicker than it takes to tell. Sickeningreally. It had taken me about two hours just totouch up the letters on my front pedestrian-slicer number plate.The frame shop was all smoke and heat,

with welding and brazing going on all round.Most of the spring frames seemed to beplungers but there were some swingers.When a frame was ready, it was placed in a jigwith a bar up through the headstock, then allthe other points such as plunger mounts hadto line up. Gentle adjustments were madewhile the frames were still green, using thebiggest crowbars you have ever seen.Bantams were being built on the only

proper production line mannedmainly byladies. A bike came off the line every eightminutes or so. Batches of them were paintedred for the GPO telegraph boys rememberthem? Golden Flashes were being built onindividual stands which were moved along asrequired, but Gold Stars seemed to be builtby teams in situ. Next we went through thepress shop where my lasting impression wasof a huge press about twenty feet high,crunching up and down, stamping out flattoolbox spanners which was operated by anelderly lady of about 46 tall.We wandered around to where they

were actually making lightweight chains. Itappears that the previous supply had beena bit hit and miss, so chain was occasionallymade in-house. The rollers, rivets and side-plates were all in separate bins and werepicked up on things that looked like multi-pronged forks then loaded into variousparts of the machine, which was mostlyhand operated. The chain emerged in onecontinuous length.The next stop was where the testers

picked up the bikes for their first short roadtest. All the bikes were ridden except theBantams. The new bikes were lined up at oneend of the bay and the tested bikes wereleft at the other end. Intriguingly, chalked


on some of the saddles was the notationGOOD KEEP. Apparently these bikes weresingled out by the testers and put aside forrandomselection for such things as theMaudes Trophy, which BSA had recently wonwith a random trio of A7 Star Twins doinga European tour, then winning golds in theISDT before touring home for a final speedtest.We paused briefly to watch pistons being

matched to cylinders and were told thatif all the tolerances worked the right waythere was an almost perfect fit. If appliedthroughout all the stages of manufacturing ofthe bikes this would account for the eventualGOOD KEEP chalk marks, but converselywould also explain the odd Friday NightSpecial clunkers.It was a very impressive and memorable

experience which I really enjoyed all thoseyears ago. It must have been very hardwork, and elf an safetywould have neededtreatment for shock.

Robert Bagshaw, RCmember

A SIMPLE SOLUTIONAs always I enjoy reading Dave Mintonsarticles and in RC131 his evaluation ofthe merits concerning the different formsof final drive; the pros and cons of thetoothed belt, the traditional chain and shaftarrangement. It is a pity he did not mentionwhat is, in my opinion, the best solution:the enclosed chain as fitted to Nortonrotary, MZ, Jawa and others. At the dawnof motorcycle manufacturing, Sunbeamoffered their oil bath casewhich could notbe bettered. Some 100 years later we stillcomplain about chain life and waste moneyon oiler contraptions and spray cans!

Peter Holden, member 8184

Modern belts are brilliant. (For motorcycles, Imean, although other applications do exist,

I understand!) Nomess whatsoever and nogreat lumps of scaffold pole at the back of thebike. DLM can keep his shaft drive, of course,but Im firmly in the belt camp.

Rowena

Nothingwrongwith a chain in a chaincase. Asseen here on a Norton, of course


LETTERS

ENDURING RACERSI unearthed these two photos, taken outsidemy house at Telford in 1971. They showmy own 750 Commando and two bikesowned byTomWaterer. The Commandowasassembled from parts and eventually wenton to become the successful enduranceracer; this is its original pooh-brown livery.The engine had a high-compression headported by John Baker, and a Quaife four-speed close-ratio gearbox. The silencerswere devoid of internals and soundedvery fruity. The front disc, probably aprototype of the Norvil production racer,had a Campagnolo hub and adaptor platesat the Lockheed calliper to suit the largediameter disc. The fork slider may have beenthe same as used on PeterWilliamsArterMatchless, which had a smaller disc. I racedthe Commando in club events, withoutnotable success. Tom, on the other hand, gota second place to Dave Potter on the KuhnNorton at Mallory in 1971.The Bonneville was originally aMeriden

press-demoTrophy, carefully-assembledinthe language of the day, whichwas as fastas a Bonneville and handled impeccably.

When first raced, it had its original steel tankand dual seat, but ace bars and aThruxtonexhaust.WithTomand BobHeath (I think)riding, it won the production class at theZandvoort Six Hour race in 1969-ish. In abusy competition life, it was also raced (andfinished) in the 24 hour race at Zolder in theearly 70s.The third bike is Toms Royal Enfield GP5,

fitted with a T100SS engine and Triumphforks and front wheel. With its original250cc two-stroke engine, it was mostunreliable and hardly ever finished a race.Then at a Darley Moor event, everythingworked and Tomwas leading by severalhundred yards on the last lap when itseized on the main straight. The Triumphengine was mostly standard, and reliable. Iraced it once, but ended up on the grass atBrands South Bank on the first lap

Richard Negus

Ive never been entirely sure that racing doesactually improve the breed. But it does soundlike a whole lot of fun.

FrankW

(DONT) SEIZETHE DAY

Regarding Simon Holyfields loss of oilpressure on his Ariel Square Four: dontignore it! In 1962 Barry Ryerson was usinghis wifes Square Four on a continental trip,reported inMotor Cyclist Illustrated IntoGermany he noticed a drop in oil pressureand eased back on the speed but too late.Major engine blow-up ensued and he wasforced to camp on wasteland, strip downand rebuild the engine there. I can picturethe engine internals now; conrods bent andtwisted, pistons wrecked, an awful mess. Partswere ordered from England and a Germanworkshop built up the engine. You can onlyadmire someone who can rebuild and refit anengine in such difficult circumstances; gettingthe cylinder head off is quite an achievement.Simon, bear in mind that the old VH singles

do not need an oil pressure. Draganfly haveto this day a black museum of smashedSquare conrods

Arthur Pentney, member 9949

STRETCHED BOLTSI found the fact that David Blanchardpicked up onmy use of the stretchmethod for tightening the big end boltsinteresting. I used bothmethods torquewrench and stretch as a cross check /calibration of my torque wrench. I wouldcertainly agree with Daves conclusionson locating NOS bolts where possible.However changing the specification ofthematerial is fraught with hazard. TheYoungs Modulus may be different butthe Izod impact test for shock loadingwould be an equally important factor.Although amaterial may have a greatertensile strength, it may not be as toughwhen it comes to shock loading. Big endbolts get a lot of shock loading on everyrevolution it has to stop the piston at topdead centre and change its direction.In an earlier life at a Ministry research

establishment I did some notch tests ina tensile loading rig. V notches (like thoseon the bottom of threads) can have aserious effect on a materials ultimatetensile strength. The courts may haveto decide, but for my money the personchanging material specifications hassome share of the blame.Dave has made a valuable contribution

to the debate on new-old-stock versuspattern parts. Is it caveat emptororsomething like that?

Ian Copcutt, RCmember


THE PERFECTEDMOTORCYCLEEureka! Thirty-five bikes have graced (andoiled) my shed over the years, but I believethat Ive finally discovered the elusive perfecttwin.Why ohwhy did Triumph discontinuethe Thunderbird in 1966 when theyd justperfected it? The combination of a sensiblelow compression ratio and a single carburettor,combined with the new-for-66 wider frontbrake and better frame geometry, not tomention the (at last!) deleted rear enclosure,have providedmewithmotorcycle nirvana. Itstarts first kick, runs like a watch and tracks asthough on rails. A sneak under the points coverrevealed tomy amazement a set of points!

But hang on. If this is my perfect steed,then Ill never again need to troll the pages ofyour publications, the dealers, eBay, etc, againin search of... Oh gosh. Have I just ruined myhobby? HOW SAD!

Mike Bell, member 10,932

Dare I say TR65? No. Probably shouldnt. In anycase, dont worry about your future browsingbeing disrupted. Youll soon be searching forsomethingmore challenging when you tire ofthe Perfectbirds irritating habit of working theway its supposed to. Thatll never catch on.

Rowena

PIPE DREAMS?I may be biased as it contained my ownTriumph triples article, but I thoughtRC131 was brilliant. Some of the moreserendipitous bits are:1. The old bike world is small. Stuart

Urquhart oftenmentionsWormit.Wormit isa small village on the south side of the Tay.When I acquired the now famousVGT (VeryGoodTriumph) in 1983, where did I live?Wormit. I was soaring up the retail careerladder, as deputymanager at Mr MarksandMr Spencers emporium in Dundee. M&S inthose days were a paternalistic employer, andhad a schemewherebymanagement couldget interest-free loans to buy a car.When Isaw the Triumph advertised, I thought Letsgo for it!but I already had a car bought withsuch a loan. I got my boss to tell Head Officethat I was so poor (remember 11%mortgagerates?) that I couldnt afford the tolls to crossthe Tay Bridge each day, but amotorbikewould be toll-free.Well, they accepted it,and the Tridentbike of choice for cheapcommuting wasmine. So there, my tripplingis bound upwithWormit!2. The bike I secretly covet is a

Constellation. Looking forward to mynaivety being destroyed!3. Exhaust pipes keep you occupied. In

the days before I had a B50, it seemed thatone of the consequences of being a shortdistance motorcyclist was that the bikesdidnt break down and need tinkering with.I used to amuse myself by changing overexhausts and handlebars. Franks Shedrambling brought back happy memoriesof bodging the fit between mismatchedpipes and silencers, and here are a couple ofpictures to illustrate the point. One of thesewill allow you to make swoopy and upswepta system that shouldnt be. See how its bendhas been pushed to the limit. More evidenceof my Herculean grip!

The other is the back end of a Starfire thatwears an Enfield straight-through silencer.This has been uniquely tuned by theinsertion of four lengths of central heatingpipe, each one a different length to createa church organ tone, clamped in place by abroad self-tapping wood screw, and sealedwith gun gum. Unfortunately, the Starfirestill rasps out. Why are Starfires so hard tosilence?Happily, the Enfield silencer does suit it for

looks, and the bike as a whole is rather nice.

Jeff Ellison, member 3630

The old bike world is somehow both hugeand tiny at the same time. Remarkable. Likeexhaust pipes, really. I have also been a busyboy with the hacksaw, but I dont dare revealthat yet Starfires, though? I once had amate with a T25, and that was ear-blastinglyloud. Nomatter what he did with the exhausts,it stayed just as loud. Then he retarded theignition a bit and peace resumed.

FrankW


TRIPLETRIBULATIONSI was interested to read the article RC131about the Triumph Triple. I had decided thatI would like one of the newer Bonnevilles,but money as always is limited. So I askeda friend who deals with damaged vehiclesto let me know if a Triumph should comeup. Quite quickly, he contacted me to saythat hed tendered for a bike and won. I wasthrilled, but a little taken aback when I wentto collect the machine to find it was a 1992Triumph 900 triple and not a Bonnevilleat all. However, in these salvage auctionstheres no guarantee and no saying Thatsnot what I really wanted, so I took the bikehome.It wasnt badly damaged and I spent

a little while searching for the odds andends needed to tidy it up; handlebars,mirrors, levers, a footrest, etc. The biggestproblem was getting the beast to run.It did nothing. I went round and aroundchecking everything; clutch switch, startersolenoid, starter switch. At one time I hadwires sticking out of almost everywhereon the bike, by-passing anything electricalnot essential to the engine. I found thesidestand switch plunger was deformed,and not actuating. Hooray! Once sortedout, the bike had sparks, so on with thepetrol and it started, but stopped again.Encouraged now, I pulled out more wires,each time I found anything slightly dodgy,

fixed that and turned the engine over again.While I was bent over the Triumph, head

scratching, there was an almighty bang thatbrought my wife rushing out to see whatwas going on. What have you done? I knewno good would come of this. Youre alwaysmessing with things you know nothingabout, she said, loudly.Its not me, I didnt do it. Im just bent

over here, fixing and mending, I replied,defending myself with the multi-meter.Well, she demanded. Have they landed?

Was it a gunshot, gas explosion, what?Someone must find out.I went out to the front of the house,

cautiously, dodging from side to side ofthe driveway (moving targets are harder toshoot), keeping the bushes and gatepostbetween me and the road where theinvaders would come, but could find noone, no reason for the noise.Who wouldinvade a Torbay residential suburb? After acup of coffee to calm the nerves, I went backto the Triumph wiring. Having found otherprobable causes, I was turning the engineover again, and another gunshot echoedaround, Not wishing to be caught dodgingup the driveway a second time, I continuedwith my fault finding. The next time I turnedthe engine over, I happened to be lookingto the rear of the bike and saw the flamesshoot from the exhaust as the Triumph fired

off another salvo. Boy, did it echo!Eventually, I found the problem to be

a corroded connector block inside theheadlight shell. Howmy wife laughed. Youshould have checked that first, she said, shewho knows all. But Id spent most of a sunnyday on the patio, thinking, tinkering andcursing just a little. I was quite happy in thesunshine, and ecstatic when it finally startedand stayed running. My wife thought Idnever get it all back together, she of littlefaith, but how I smirked when I rode off aday or two later, and got the MoT certificatewith no problems.Im glad now the Triumph triple came

my way, rather than the Bonneville. Im alittle over six feet tall, and the bigger bikefits me quite nicely. It rides smoothly andcomfortably, starts OK now, and whileit may not win a concours prize, doesntlook too bad either. Its nice to know Iaccidentally bought an appreciating classic,thanks to a mate who knows very littleabout bikes. (I still need a pillion grab-rail ifanyone has one.)

Richard Harris, member 11,141

Fixing electrical faults is like looking for yourkeys, isnt it? Theyre always in the very lastplace you think of looking. So itd always bebest to start at the last place first

Rowena


LAMPYGOESTOWARDS LERWICKLast year I did a charity ride to Lerwick onunsurfaced roads where possible and thesmallest roads elsewhere; the story appearedin RC127. Several people have asked aboutthe route, and expressed interest in followingit. So this year due to popular demand (asthey say), Im taking small groups on thefirst days run and back. From Colne toNewcastleton it includes seven green lanesand four fords and makes a scenic great daysride. As its a full day, we can either cut it shortfor a day trip, or stay a night in Newcastletonand make a two-day trip of it.I pay my own costs. All I ask of the guys

who come is that they make a decentdonation to the charity Cancer Research

UK. Either bring your own bike or I canrecommend a local hire firm (you need yourown riding gear). None of the off-road ishard going, but it is through some greatcountryside.Weekends or during the weekcan be arranged. If anyone is interested theycan contact me on 07989 446131.Next year I plan another long ride of a

similar nature. Details will appear at www.lampygoestolerwick.co.uk. Please follow itand donate.

Graham Lampkin, member 2894

Sounds like a cracking idea, Graham.May Isuggest you take people on the outward leg tosomewhere suitably isolated and remote, not

too far from The Slaughtered Lamb and thingsthat go howl in the night, then ask for thecharity donation before you reveal the routehome? Thatmight overcome charity fatigue!

Rowena

MIS-BLEADINGJacquelineBickerstaffsuggests, inherPUBtalk inRC131, that theBleaderwithanArrowpowerunit inaBantamrollingchassiswasprototypedby the factory.Notso.TheoriginalBleader,which I rode forCBGsomeyearsago,wasbuiltbyGrahamHorneasaprivateventure.Heworked in thecompetitionshopatSmallHeathat the timeandboughtanex-road test175Bantamthathadbeen riddenoffbysome junior testerfromamagazine,whodidnot realise that theold systemofmixingoilwith fuelprevailedatSmallHeath.Assuming that therewasanoil reservoir likeall two-strokesofhis limitedexperience, the tester simplyfilledup thetankandmotoredonuntil thepowerunitseized inapretty terminalway.Theworkswanted itoutandMrHornebought it,completewith logbookshowingBSAas theoriginalowner.Grahamtoyedwith the ideaof slotting in

aNortonJubileemotor,butdecided itwouldbemorediplomatic tohavesomething fromtheparent company,hence theArrowpowerunit.Heused it for commutingbefore sellingitonandunwittingly startinga trail ofex-BSAexperimentalmodelrumoursaround theMidlands. Its anice littlebike,ownedby thelatePeteSolewhen I rode it, andwhoclaimstitle today Idont know.But if someoneoffersanRC readeranex-BSAexperimentalmodel,remember that caveatemptor should rule inall suchcases.

Jim Reynolds, member 234

Thanks, Jim. Its like all those factoryprototype swinging arm Square Fours, isntit? Didnt the sameGrahambuild those, too?

FrankW

AN EXPERT SPEAKS!The Norton N15CS that Frank has justbought is in remarkable good condition,parts wise. The first hybrid Frank rode ofmine was also an N15CS, a 1966 modelwhich was almost new, very lowmiles.It was being stored in Randy Baxterswarehouse and some of his customerswere helping themselves to the parts onit. Randy gave me all that was missing. Hewas brilliant to deal with, as I bought fourbikes from him. It came from Baxter Cyclein Marne, Iowa, and Randy gave me theAmerican logbook that came with it. I wasthen able to track down the first owner,who told me the supplying dealer who soldit to him originally. It still had the originaltyres on it, the Avon knobbly scramblertype ones. I still have those original wheelsand those tyres, and they are now in theloft. I put another pair of wheels on it thatare more suited to our roads.I took this N15CS to the October 2014

Ardingly classic show, when had it straight-though exhaust pipes fitted (as seen in thephoto). Frank told me the dualseat had a small tear in it, and Icountered that it was like thatwhen I got it, dating back to1966 when it was shipped!The front sump guard clips are

blue, and may have come froma Matchless G50CSR. I thought itwould be a good idea to put theblue sump guard clips on andnot the black ones. Franks N15also has the original sump guardand the original clips, screws,nuts and washers, all fitted the

correct way around. Truly remarkable forthis bikes age. So where has it been storedall these years? Franks Norton also hasthe very rare air filter assembly for the leftand right hand Amal Monoblocs. It has adifferent fitting arrangement to the otherAmal carburettors used on the N15CS,G15CS range of bikes.Frank! You should have a ride on my

Matchless G15CSR street scrambler, as thatis an amazing bike to ride. I have ownedit since December 1970, when it tookme over a two months to save up for thedeposit.

Anthony Curzon, member 1010

Anthony is of course entirely toblame formyAMChybridmadness,which is nothingcompared tohis ownenthusiasm. Backwhenwewereboth rather younger, healso loanedmehis utterly immaculate Ranger 750and insistedthat I thrashoffacross themoors of theCleeHills on it. Ive never entirely recovered

FrankW


GOODNEWS / BADNEWSThree rousing cheers to Frank in RC131,telling us about his recently-obtained Norton750 Scrambler his decision NOT to restoreit must be applauded. Howmany lovely oldmotorcycles have vanished only to reappearagain as brand-new, with their history wipedoff with the grit-blaster?Three rousing cheers also to Dave Johnson

for concentrating on one marque for fiftyyears. Hes not a bike collector or restorer, buta rider, and sticking to his one love.What amoving story. It could have been a whatevermotorcycle, but was in fact love of a Vincent.Three rousing cheers to Jeff Ellison, the

Triumph Trident and Sprint owner, forselecting the Trident as the machine tokeep. I have to agree with him, as it hasdelightfully efficient-looking mudguardsfitted as a motorcycle should, the front evenwith a mudflap to extend its efficiency, anda centrestand as original equipment. Ourworthy Editor previously castigated me fornot drooling over a motorcycle displayed inour compulsory monthly reading its lack ofmudguards left me reeling! He said that thelack of proper mudguarding would never puthim off lusting after a certain motorcycle

Now for some sad news. Overthe past twelve months I havelost four fellow motorcyclists dueto accidents, big offs, and in myview they died unnecessarily.Two of them were riding wearinga rucksack. If the rider lands onhis back then the back is likelyto get broken in two places,at the neck and at the lowerextremity of the rucksack. Thesame riders, if they had landedon their fronts, would have hadthe rucksack banging downon their back as they landed,perhaps not as fatal. Ridingwith a rucksack must be anuncomfortable experience the weight of the rucksack andits contents bouncing abouton your back, the shoulderstraps digging in wheneverthe pot-holes jar. Surely there is room onevery motorcycle for a rucksack to be securedsecurely to the structure of motorcycle? Sothe picture of the happy owner of that superbNorton caf racer really jarred me.

I too suffered an off last June that put mein hospital for three months with a brokenback. But no, I was NOT wearing a rucksack.Would that be QED?

David Bullivant, member 1638

The article on the Norton/Matchless inRC131 brought back a good memory of myfirst trip, to the Island to see the Manx. Mybike was a Trophyised1958 T110 with highcomp pistons, E3134 cams and upratedbrake linings. It was quick, for the time, andwith a Siamesed exhaust system had fairlygood ground clearance. This was needed, asdemonstrated by the missing stand levers,chewed footrest ends and a large flat spoton the silencer. Id bought this Triumph afterowning a G12CSR which was as quick as aT120 and handled extremely well.On our first full day, with no racing, my

pillion Geoff and I set off for a lap. Afterovershooting at Sulby Bridge and goingdown a track by the stream we stoppedto admire the view from the Gooseneck. Alarge group of big bikes swept past and Ithought (as you did then): Ill have you lot!Id never ridden over the Mountain beforeso perhaps that was a bit ambitiousA travelling marshall approached and

I thought it best to let him go as Id noillusions about keeping up with him. ThenI identified the bike as a standard G12, not

a CSR. He was carrying an elderly lady withgrey hair, wearing a gabardine mac and nocrash helmet on the pillion. Immediately Irealised he would know the road like theback of his hand, and wouldnt be takingany chances with that lady on the back.I decided to follow him, stick to his backwheel and I couldnt go wrong.I soon realised that his idea of taking it

easywasnt the same as mine! I was revvingthe T110 to valve float and could hardlykeep up.We caught the previous bunch upvery quickly and went past as though theywere touring.What a ride.Where possiblehe was using all the road. As we came ontothe Mountain Mile there was an old coachgrinding uphill with a cement mixer comingdownhill; we both anchored up as hard aspossible but I just sailed past him with my(uprated) brakes hard on!As the road cleared he just nipped out

from behind me and took off again with meon the limit keeping up. I trusted him withour lives and just stuck behind him as wecame flat-out, for me, down the Mountain.Reaching Governors he stopped in the side

road opposite. With my adrenaline at maxlevels I stopped alongside him. I think hemay have been Albert Moule, a former TTracer. I said: Thats the best ride Ive ever had thanks very much!He said hed noticedme behind him from Ramsey and Id donevery well to keep up, which was high praisefrom him.I asked how his bike could go so fast.

He gave me a smile and said: Look atthe engine. I did, and realised it was aNorton motor in a Matchless frame. Heexplained that it was a 750 prototype, beingdeveloped with a view to production. AMChad provided the travelling marshalls withthem for some severe road testing. I vesince been to the Island with faster bikesthan the T110 but have never ridden harderover the Mountain.The final straw was me asking the elderly

lady if she hadnt been scared at thosespeeds. She said she was visiting the IoMfor the first time and it was her first timeon a motorbike which she was enjoyingenormously. Words failed me!

Arthur Bayley, RCmember

ISLAND LIFE


stressEXECUTIVEEnvious of BMWs executive image? Triumph offered theirown alternative; the Bonneville Executive. Rowena Hoseasonperformed amanagement study

Words & photos by Rowena Hoseason


Long before I everencountered a T140Executive, Id pretty muchdismissed it as an oddity,probably a poorly-finishedfactory lash-up. In my

mind it smacked of desperation from thedying days of a failed business, a zombiecompany which couldnt quite comprehendthe inevitability of its ending. None ofthe above applies to my own TR65, youunderstand; I think I took one look at theExecs yoke-mounted cockpit fairing andassumed it had been blaggedfrom the bargainbucket at M&PAccessories.

My instant expert opinion, gleaned onlyfrom blurry internet images and a distantmemory of a dodgy MCN artists impression,was that the Exec was a stop-gap cobble-jobwhich would be horrible to ride. I knew allthat without so much as clapping eyeson one.In my defence, I wasnt alone in forming

that opinion. Over in Vancouver, Canada,in the early 1980s, a couple of BonnevilleExecutives appeared to be welded to theshowroom floor at British Motorcycles for twoor three years. No one wanted them, even

at a discount price. One person tookpity on what was consideredan oddity at the time andgave an Exec a home


TRIUMPH T140 EXECUTIVE

and it still survives in its original trim to thisday. The other bike suffered the indignity ofbeing converted to standard Bonnie spec,and now looks pretty much like any otherT140ES. So I wasnt unique in not beingable to get my head around the idea of afibreglass-clad, sports-touring Triumph twin.Now Ive finally met one in the metal, and

I owe the men of the Meriden co-operativea big fat and fully unreserved apology. TheExec you see here, owned by Tony in Devon,is appropriately proportioned and effectivelyfinished. The Sabre fairing fits perfectly:neatly trimmed and with its mountingsdiscreetly tucked away. The QD Sigmapanniers are surprisingly stylish with sculptedsides, not just blank slabs. The matchingtopbox is a bit of a beast cant say Im a fanof them on any bike but it suits the modelsrole as a long distance traveller. Overall,the Exec makes a favourable impression asa carefully considered concept, one thathas been proficiently executed to create anintegrated motorcycle.The T140EX was in fact a brave stab at a

significant market, one dominated by BMWduring the later 1970s. You only need squintat an R100S/RS to see what inspired the ideaof a sports-tourer Triumph. It was somethingof a bold venture, to try to woo buyers ofshaft-drive Teutonic boxer twins onto a Britishbike, perhaps doomed from the outset thanksto the T140s final drive chain but I admiretheir grit in having a bash.The very first Execs were built in early 1980.

These early machines wore twin Amal Mk2Concentric carbs and were kickstart only. Theelectric start ES soon followed and the Execgained its own self-starter in July. The screen

was initially clear; later tinted, and all USExecs had tinted screens. The machine startedout with chrome Lucas indicators which laterchanged to black rectangular ones. As befitsa premiummachine, much of the Executivesspecification could be tailored to match thecustomers exact requirements. Wire wheelscould be swapped to cast ones; the steppeddual-seat could be replaced with the basicT140s flatter saddle; an upgrade to twin frontdiscs was offered, and owners could even optfor a full, frame-mounted half-fairing withdetachable leg shields.For 1981 the carbs were swapped to

constant vacuum Bing Type-94 carbs tomeet emission requirements. The bikesfitted with (suffocated by) Bings also hadextended sidepanels, designed to protectthe Bings vulnerable side-mounted linkagesfrom careless feet and fiddling fingers. Ourfeature bike has the original-style panels andan original set of Concentric Mk2s which,together with the shiny indicators, suggestthat its an early model. It wasnt registereduntil 1988 like the Canadian machinesperhaps it took some time to find someonewho could make the most its merits?The Exec did find some friends from new.

The chairman of the TOMCC bought one assoon as it was launched. Roy Bacon reckonsit performed in the manner expected of aTriumph twin from that decade. The low-speed vibration made the forks twitch as themachine sat at tickover but smoothed outas soon as the clutch went home. The sheergrunt was still there, as was the nice gearbox,so the rider could be brisk or laid-back as themood took and the Bonnie would respondwell.

The ultimate inmodern conveniences: an analogue clock. Everything tucks away neatly enough, and ifyou suffer fromwind noise, the screens beading can come off


Built: 1980 to 1982

Engine:Air-cooled ohvparallel twin

Bore / stroke: 76 by 82mm

Capacity: 744cc

Compression: 7.9:1

Power: 55bhp at 7000rpm

Carburetion:2x Amal Mk2Concentrics

Clutch: Wet, multi-plate

Front suspension: Tele fork

Rear Suspension:Twin shock,swinging arm

Front tyre: 4.10 x 19

Rear tyre: 4.25 x 18

Wheelbase: 57 inches

Seat height: 31.5 inches

Weight: 480lb fuelled

Standing quarter: 14.96 seconds

Fuel economy: 52mpg

Braking distance: 28ft from 30mph

Top speed: 112mph

TRIUMPHT140EXFACTPACK

Before the Bings arrived in 1981, the Exec cameequippedwith old-fashioned Amals

An American publicity shot of the Exec, fittedwith Bing carbs, showing the longer protectivesidepanels

The scaffolding supportingthe luggagemay not besubtle or handsome, but it iseffective and it is strong. Rearindicators were relocated tothe pannier frames



There were some downsides, however.Triumphs chief development engineerMartyn Roberts remembers that the fairingresonated with the engine, making thevibration seem so much worse. RC regularErumWaheed reports that the fully-fairedversion was prone to weaving at speed. Itcertainly seems that the fairing amplified thetwin engines natural clatter, so although itprovided the rider with weather protection, italso increased fatigue on long hauls. Martyncomments that he may have been spoilt bymany miles spent on anti-vibration policebikes which, of course, were immune fromsuch issues.An AV version of Executive wasdisplayed on Triumphs stand at the 1982 bikeshow, but the large lady sang her last beforeit could go into production.Tony bought his Exec three years ago when

the lure of the electric start seduced himfrom a T100 which had become increasinglyrecalcitrant about firing up on a couple

of kicks. Its travelled under 8000 miles innearly three decades, but during a period ofstorage the rear end had been exposed to theelements to the detriment of the cosmetics.So Tony tidied it up with new paint, polishand some chrome. On our visit the motorspun up from stone cold with a single flickof the button, but (with no little irony, givenTonys reason for buying the bike in the firstplace) the electric hoof did let the side downon one occasion. Tony was displaying theExec at the annual Okehampton show, andwas poised to ride it into the show-ringwhen the starter sprag self-destructed. Anew sprag assembly cost 118 off the shelf one of the benefits of owning a T140 forwhich most consumable spares abound. Thatincident apart, the Exec has provided reliablecomfortable and practical transport.If Triumph had stayed in business (yes, I do

appreciate thats a very big if), then perhapspeople would have become accustomed

to the idea of a semi-faired sports-tourer.I despatched on a nearly-new R80 in thelate 1980s (which nearly put me off BMWsfor life) and, although there wasnt anequivalent R80S or R80CS model, I reckonthe Exec wouldve given it a decent run forits money. The BMW had a slightly biggerengine (797cc over 744cc) and ran slightlyhigher compression (8.2:1 instead of 7.9 to1) but didnt produce any more power thanthe Triumph. The naked R80 weighed 470lbfuelled while the faired Exec tipped the scalesat 480lb. The Execs saddle was marginallyslimmer and half an inch lower than the R80s.The R80 came with twin 260mm front discs,while the Exec had to make do with a single,similarly sized stopper.So theres almost nothing to split the pair

on size or equipment, and the performancefigures also tell a tale of two very similartwins. The BMWwent from a standstill to60mph in 6.4 seconds. The Triumph was


Thrash. Valve thrash. And crash; the resultof the front forks hitting their bump-stops. The first Exec I rode was well worn.I was riding it with a view to purchase,and was so considerably off-put that mywallet survived. It was an electric-hoofversion like this one, had cast wheels andtwin discs. And it had over 50,000 mileson its odo (which had stopped working,presumably in shock at this achievement)and was quite plainly worn if notexactly worn out, then well on its way tothe door.

Its owner loved it and was sellingit with huge regret to fund its Tridentreplacement. It was cheap, the pricematched its condition, but I didnt enjoy itat all. The engines electric leg was merelyan ornament (Just needs a new battery),the engine itself was a strange mix of oilytop end and corroded alloy bottom end(I dont get much time to wash it), andthe clutch slipped fairly badly, so muchso that it felt like riding an automatic; youchanged gear dropped the clutch and therevs rose the speed rose to meet it sometime later. The suspension was entirelyundamped. Everything which could wearout had done so. A great bike not to ride.You can take patina only so far, and afterthat its just plain worn out.

The next Exec I encountered had a fullfairing and was at a dealers. Much lowermileage and in excellent well-presentedcondition. The valve thrash was still there,but so was that familiar feeling of engineintegrity which Triumph engines in goodcondition can present. It felt very togetherindeed; started on the button, ticked overin a comfortable healthy way, and workedabout as well as a T140 can. It was almostas good a ride as a stock T140, helped nodoubt by Progressive fork springs and aset of remote-reservoir shocks Konis,

probably. I borrowed it for a couple of dayswhile my own Commando was having aquiet lie-down, and rode it from Cheshireto Derbyshire to compare it with anotherCommando, a Mk3 Interpol, for a story Idont think I ever got around to writing.

It was good, too. Apart from beingsteered by its luggage. At the time Iblamed the top box. The Commando had aset of Avon panniers but no box and didntfeel as though the tail was performingthat dog-wagging thing. I preferred theNorton, but thats just a personal foible.The Triumphs fit and finish was excellent.It boomed back across the Cat & Fiddlethrough a summers evening in a mostcomfortable and competent manner. Iwas glad of the twin discs up front onthe twisty bits, and remarked to mycompanion that his GPz750 could stop alot more easily than the Triumph.

The only other Exec I can actuallyremember riding was another low-mileage, high-shine showroommachine.Very like the bike you can see here; samespec, pretty much. I rode that one up intothe hills of NorthWales, suffered a lot ofhead-buffeting which I dont recall fromthe others, so maybe it had a differentscreen. All of the trad Bonnie virtues andvices with added carting capability.

If youre buying one, simply rememberthat a loaded luggage set as big as this canadd an awful lot to the bikes mass. Thatsnot a problem so long as you do indeedremember it. The luggage is large and wellmounted; its always tempting to simplyfill it up, especially if your passengercomes too, which places a great strain onthe drive chain and the suspension andthe brakes. An interesting machine, theExecutive. It should have sold a lot betterthan it did.FrankWestworth

TAKENFORARIDE

Its obvious what inspired the Exec, unless this isa previously unidentified example of convergentevolution

Inside that substantial topbox there was enoughspace for Triumph to supply a first aid kit withevery Exec

The rear disc lives tucked awaybehind the pannier,and deserves checking over and cleaning, as doesthe drive chain on the opposite side



timed at 6.5. The R80 topped out at 111mph.A T140 fitted with Bings was timed at112mph. High mileage riders would possiblyhave preferred the BMs final drive systemover the Triumph higher maintenance chain although not everyone can get along withthe boxers shaft drive shenanigans. And adrive chain enclosure wouldve solved theproblem on the Exec. Triumphs switchgearcould be challenging. So could BMWsModern technology can probably

provide solutions to the Execs moreserious weaknesses, most notably its lack ofsuspension sophistication when laden withluggage and travelling two-up. A decentset of progressive fork springs and fullyadjustable modern shocks would civilise itsride no end. Id also want to add a seconddisc brake to the front end to cope with thecompetitive nature of modern traffic. Thevibration and noise issues might be harder tofix ear plugs, perhaps?It seems a shame that the Executive was

so under-appreciated when it was built thatfolks found it desirable to destroy the bikesunique characteristics, and turn it into justanother Bonneville. But I cant blame themtoo much. After all, until this year, Id alwaysdismissed it as little more than a marketinggimmick. In fact it is that rare beast indeed: atruly practical classic.

The familiar Triumph engine in its posh suit. Very reliable andmostly civilised by this point

Frank offers owner Tony the traditional 100. Owner Tony hasmore sense than to accept, so the Execmay still be available. Call 01237 476658 tomake a better offer


38 I JANUARY 2015

JustwhenFrankWestworthwascomplainingthattherewerenofreshoriginalandunrestoredbikesaroundanymore,twoturnupalmosttogether

Photos: Rowena Hoseason

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RUSTYrarity

APRIL 2015 I 39Real Bikes. Real People. RealClassic: online at www.RealClassic.co.uk

Digging intoAJS cataloguesproduced thisbrochure shotof the1958 sports twin. Somewherein the story, FWcommentson thehorn; seewherethe catalogue claimed itwasfitted

1958 AJSMODEL 30CSR

Find hundreds more real-life rides online at RealClassic.co.uk40 I APRIL 2015

characterful rangeof roadbikes. AMC tried theideaonce, in the formof the very unusual, USmarket onlyG50CSR, but basically AJS andMatchless catalogue sportsterswere clear andclosedevelopments of the roadster puddings,including their considerably heavyweight frames.The engineswere also clearly roadster-based.Theres nothingwrongwith that consider BSAsGold Star, for example.

Cast your mind back onewhole month; all theway to the last issue ofthis only slightly grubbymagazine. You dont haveto dig around inside it,

no scrapyard challenge this, just look atthe cover. Then look at the cover of thismagazine (thats the one youre reading,in case two magazines is too many tocope with). Can you spot the similarity?Its nothing subtle or clever, like the factsthat the bikes are both twins and wereboth built by the same factory in London,nothing like that. The important similarityis that the bikes are both unrestored andmostly original.

Theres an important difference, too.No no, not the fact that one bikes red andthe other bikes blue; the difference is thatunlike the Norton on last months cover, theAJS on this one runs and rides, which is aconsiderable improvement on last monthsNorton.Which still doesnt actually work,in case youre interested. However, from anentirely personal perspective, the good newsis that the FW wallet was so depleted by theacquisition of the red Norton that when I sawthe blue AJS up for sale at the Bristol show Isimply couldnt afford it. This is apparently agood thing. So Im told. I am unconvinced.

First things first. A fact or two. The AJS isa rather raremodel. So rare that your humblescribbler has only ridden a couple of others,andoneof thosewas aMatchless, andwas red.Unforgiveable.This is anAJSModel 30CSR, and

dates from1958.Thatsmore rare than you think theywereoffered for sale in that year and thatyear only. As a long-termwearer of the sharpestof AMCanoraks, I haveoftenwonderedwhyAMCdidnt built someparticularly interestingmodels for very long,while theypersistedwithother less interestingmachines for ages. In thiscase I can actually share the answer.

TheAmericans whoare toblame for allinsane attempts at extractingperformancefromweary Brit twins of course wantedAMCto supply evermorepowerfulmachinery. Nosurprises there;most youthful riders (andmanywho should knowbetter)would like endlesslymorepower. AMC in all their 4-strokeguisesasAJS,Matchless andNorton drewa clear linebetweenhigh-power exotica and roadster-basedbikes.The formerweremostly theAJS 7R (agreat sohc mostly 350 single), theMatchlessG50 (the sameengineonly a 500) and theNortonManx,whichwasproduced in somanyvariations that a short comment inbracketscannot do them justice. And I have ignored theAJS Porcupine, and theMatchlessG45; I knowthat; I didnt forget them.WhyMatchless didntproduce aRocketGold Starbased around theG45 Ill never know.

AlthoughAJS andMatchless followed thesamemarketing approach as eachother;denyingmagazines bikes to test and insistingthat their compmachineswerebased far tooclosely on the lumpen roadsters, Nortonweredifferent.Well, theymanaged tobedifferentfor quite awhile. Nortonproduced their rangeof Internationalmodels, usingohc race engineengineering topower aquirky, exclusive and

Another image from the archive, showingaMatchless near-equivalent (a G11CS, soslightlymore off-road biased) in the trim thefactory expected it to be used

Plenty of patina here! On the comp bikes, AMCoften routed the speedo cable upward to thetop of the frame rather than forward along thebottom rails as it headed towards the speedohead. Presumably to reduce the risk of off-roadsnagging

APRIL 2015 I 41Real Bikes. Real People. RealClassic: online at www.RealClassic.co.uk

The snagwithAMCs deliberate, considered,matured approach to 1950smotorcycledevelopment canbe summedup in a singleword:Triumph.Triumphbuilt bikeswhichwerefast and light.Theybuilt lots and lots of them.Fast lads loved them. Fast lads alsobought them,particularly in those crucial exportmarkets,whereAMCneeded to survive if theywere towellsurvive.

Its toooften said that racing improvesthebreed. Ive never been surewhether thatis actually the case success in competitionmakespeoplebuy thebikes, to somedegree,butwhether going ever-faster in circles actuallydevelops roadbikesmonstrously has never beenvery clear tome. Imoftenwrongabout thingslike this. AswereAMC.Which is possiblywhytheir bikes always appeal tome.

1958 AJSMODEL 30CSR

Anyway, by 1958 it was plain that if AJSandMatchless wanted to competewithTriumph and BSA in particular and in the USA,then they needed somethingwhich not onlylooked halfway sporting butwhich also rodelike it was halfway sporting. They had a rangeof competition singles, all based around theextremely elderly roadster-based engine, buttheir range of twins whichwere by now thebest-sellers was a little lumpen. OK. It was alot lumpen.TriumphsTrophies in US-specweregreat to look at, light and fast, and sold loads.Selling loads is a good thing for companies.Sellingmakes profits; profitsmake a future.AMCproduced a couple of sporty-lookingtwins.Withwit and style all their own theycalled the sporting 500 AJS theModel 20CS,and the sporting 600 AJS themodel 30CS; theCSdesignation referring to the Competitionand Sprung frames. Then they added a roadsterelement by adding anR for Road. Thuswasborn the CSR, usually known in the UK at leastas the Coffee Shop Racer.

The excellently unrestoredbike in thepicturesis oneof themost rare; a 1958AJSModel 30CSR.Itwasbuilt just for that year, as I said already, and

wasdroppednot because therewas anythingwrongwith it but becauseAMChad theirinevitable 650 ready for 1959, and abovemostelse, Americans love their cubes.

So, what did you get for your 299/8/0d?For the extra tenner or so above the cost ofa standard road bike?The biggest functionaldifferencewas probably the scrambles frame.Look closely. Find a pic of a standard AJSModel30 and compare them.The frames are actuallydifferent, but only the rear subframe is verydifferent. Before you ask, the roadster rearframes have a folded andwelded bracket oneach side to carry the pillion rests and silencermounts. The comp frames did awaywith thosecompletely, instead hanging a lug higher up toperformwhichever of those functions the riderwanted. And the angle of the rear suspensionunits is different. This was 1958; none of yourCarlos Fandango single-sided swinging armsand all alloy beam frames here! And although Ihave been assured by a couple of experts thatthe front frame on the CS and CSR twins differsfrom the roadmodels, no one has actually toldme how it does so. RC experts will know, sotell me

Despite their rusty condition, the forks workedwell, and the brakewas particularly useful if a littlesoft. The 600cc sports bikes originally had all the fork tinware chromed hence the rust here

Plenty here for the true AMC anorak. This isalmost exactly as the factory built it, back in 1958,even down to the brake light switchmounting,which shows how on the compmodels at least theswitch wasmounted inside the bracket. The rearshock shrouds were also originally all-chrome

Another image from the archive, showing aMatchless near-equivalent (a G11CS, so slightlymore off-road biased) in the trim the factoryexpected it to be used

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Themost obviousdifferences are cosmetic Ill return to themechanicals ina littlewhile.Themudguardsarenice lightalloy,with theseriouslymassive steeloriginals left in the factory.Thisensuredyearsof anoraknightmare for restorers,because thebracketswhichholdon the rearguardvary in their availability andaccuracy soImtold.Up front, the skimpyguardsare retainedbyapairofneatandslender stays, andanunusualassortmentof fastenersagain, their accuracyandavailability canvary, fun foranoraks likeme.

One truly striking stylistic flourishwasthat the fork shrouds andheadlight bracketswere chromed.Thismust really have amazeddedicated followers of AMC fashion, and its noteasy towork outwhy theywouldhavedone it.

Therewere severalotherdetail touches too,like theold-styleQDheadlight,with thespeedomountedonabracketon the topyoke rather thanfitted into theheadlampshell; like thechoppedrider footrests, usuallywithno rubbers,which

musthavebeenachallengewhenthegoinggotslippery.Oneexpert toldmethat these framesdidnthaveasidecar lugon the frontdowntube,but Ivenever seenone like that.And theseatwasmuchsmaller than thecapaciousdualseatfittedto thestock roadbikes. It hasa lot lesspadding,but in themiraculouswayofoldbikes it is in facteverybit as comfortableas thestock item,andquiteabit slimmer, too,whichadds to thecompfeelingof themachineson themove. It helpsthemfeel lessporky than theyactually are.

Meanwhile, aswell as theneatly tucked-awaysiamesedexhaust systemclaimed to supply 2bhpover the stock arrangement, the engine rana single atmospherehigher 8.5:1 compressionratio to supply thepower-starvedoff-roadwarriorswith a fewextra stout Plumsteaddobbins tohelp themkeepMeriden650s inview. Itmight haveworked. And then again.

The ideabehind theCSRmodels, as opposedto theCS specdescribed above,was that these

Just checking that the bikes legal beforeriding it (a joke! And it was on closedroads anyway)

The bikes owner, Roy Bellett. Will it start, wewondered? Of course it will, he replied. And it did


bikeswould combine thebest bits of the compCS twinswith thebest bits of the roadsters. Ineffect, thismeant thatwhile theCSwasofferedwith thehandsome small competition fuel tank(I forgot tomention that!)with theoptionof thestandard roadster tubby item, theCSR camewiththe stock tubby road itemas standard. Hardlya great sales incentive just aswell theywereoffered at the sameprice. Similarly,while theCSmachineswereofferedwith fat off-road rubber,theCSR camewith stock roadster tyre sizes.Tough times for decisionmaking, huh?

Joking aside, theCSRswere rapid. In a famousinterlude in the insaneAMCpolicy of refusingpress bikes for testing, they sentVicWilloughbyfrom TheMotorCycleoff toMIRA toput onehundredmiles into a single hour. Hedid, too. Nomean feat for 1958, and theres no evidence thatthemachinehadbeen tweakedmuchbeyonddropping thehandlebars and raising thegearingby a single toothon thegearbox sprocket.Serious stuff.

And quite suddenly it was 1959 and the650s took over, making the very excellent 600CSR obsolete.

It actually is an excellentmotorcycle. Soexcellent that the early owners thrashed themachines,making it very rare to find one inoriginal condition andwith its original numbers.Most compmachines of all marques rapidlylose contact between the original bicycle andthe enginewhich the factory fitted to power it.The reasons for that are plain.

Due to fairly onerous time restraints, I onlygot to whizz around on the bike in the pics fora sadly shorty time while allegedly manningthe RC stand at this years excellent Bristolshow. But, its as true as it ever was to revealthat if a bike is going to be good or indeedthe other thing this is usually very obviouswithin a very short time. As here. I let RoyThe Owner (but not for long) start it.Whichhe did, with surprising ease, although theengine fluffed a lot from cold and shared its

displeasure in being rudely wheeled off a dozyshow stand and kicked unexpectedly into life.There was no smoke. This is a little alarmingwhen a bikes not in regular use, especially abike with a gear oil pump and a tendency tosump! However, there was plenty of oil and itwas returning to the tank in the familiar AMCspitty way. There were plenty of rattles

which is sometimes agood sign. Like lotsof riders, I get all flattering aboutmechanicallyquiet engines, but the truth is that as theyloosenupwith themiles andenthusiastic use,so two things happen; the engine rattlesmoreas toleranceswiden and thenenginedeliversmorepowermorewillingly. As here. Becauseofthe spitting andpopping, Roys viewwas thatI should keep the revs up.Whoneeds tellingtwice? I did.Which revealedPDQ that the 35 -38horses in therewere kicking alongvery happily.Winding the throttle on the showgrounds closedand empty roads found us fairly flying throughthe four gears. It was fun.

1958 AJSMODEL 30CSR

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One of the other unexpected features ofthis CSRwas its faintly flat front tyre. Itwascertainly soft. Royoffered to rushoffand locateapump, but am I not amaster of amillionroadtests and capable of riding anything?Actually, no, Imnot, but Iwanted tohave ablast and it felt fine, if a little soft.

Guesswhat? It rodefine, evenwith a softtyre. If a frames a good frame, then it shows.Id not actually recommend riding abikewitha soft tyre (itwas about 5psi light), but Id notpanic and call theAA, either.

Thebrakesweregood tooby1950sstandards.Twindiscs they are not.Which isnot aproblemona loose surfaceor grass andwith soft front tyre. Completely confidenceinspiring, oddly.

I spentmore timeexamining thebike than Icould riding it,which is a shame in someways,but intriguing in others. Like theN15CSNortonlast time, it appears almost entirely stock.Thereare a fewobvious changes, like thehorn, buteven that rang a chord,mostly becausewhilerewiring theG80Matchless inThe Shed Iwasamused todiscover that the leads for thehornexit theharness directly above the cylinderhead, and I recalled seeing some shots of AMCmachineswith thehornup there. All beingwell, there shouldbe a catalogue shotwhichshows it.

Onemanwhohas at least asmuch interestin unrestoredmachinery as I, andwhohas afar better nose for finding them, is theownerof this excellent device; RoyBellett. Roys

President of theAJS&MatchlessOC, andhe isjustly famous for putting inhugemileages onsome seriously scruffy (ie. unrestored)machines.Thanks tohim for taking thebike from theclub stand at Bristol sowe couldhave aplay. Iwonderedwherehed found it?

Itwaspurchased formBonhamsOctoberStafford sale,he revealed.Toget it running, themagnetohad tohave a replacement armatureandnotmuchelse.Therewas a small amountofwiring that had tobe replaced; just theoilschangedandfilters cleanedor replaced and itstartedon the fourth kick. Andall the lights andcharging systemworkOK.

Theydid, too.The intention was that it was going to be

my ride to attend this years club InternationalRally in Denmark, so I would have changedthe tyres and tubes. But this has changed.Now four of us are riding 4 x 1955 AMC twins(three Model 20s and a G9). All these bikeare of the same condition and have not beenused since the late Sixties; theyve just beenre-commissioned the same as the 30CSR.Roysent me a pic of one of theModel 20s; an eBaybuy at 1000.Roy again: Fact. I just love to find these old

untouched bikes and bring them back to lifeand not rip all the history from them by fullyrestoring them.Me too. Me too. Sadly, the change in plans

meant that the 600 CSR was up for sale, andwas I think sold. Someone has a veryinteresting bike

Purists will of course be outraged here. The correct headgear forthe periodwas a beret or a flat cap, certainly not awoolly hat!

Whatever, despite th

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