Author: Classic Bike Hub UK

The Classic Bike Hub gives you news, views, features and reviews from the UK’s biggest classic motorcycle magazines. It is the essential website and app for any classic motorcycle lover. From the sump to the handlebars, we cover everything from pre-war and off-road machines all the way to modern classics. Collating content from Classic Bike Guide, The Classic MotoryCycle, Classic Motorcycle Mechanics, Old Bike Mart, Classic Racer, RealClassic and Classic Dirt Bike, there is no other place for classic bike news, archives and reference material.

Famous Last Words 15: Maintenance Breeds Reliability

31st August 2015 Classic Bike Hub UK Blog

Prevention is better than cure. Maintenance breeds reliability. Frank Westworth finds no comfort in these fine sentiments… I am developing a tedious tradition. Every year, either the beginning or the end of the serious riding season is marked by a breakdown. I’ve just checked back, and it’s true. It has become such a regular feature of my riding life that…

Britain, From Abroad

31st August 2015 Classic Bike Hub UK Blog

Familiarity breeds… you know. Roger Houghton, a visitor from South Africa, takes a fresh look at the UK while he visits its classic motorcycling heritage sites… I am a classic motorcycle nut and my dream trip was to visit the ‘pilgrimage sites’ of the now virtually extinct British motorcycle industry – once the largest of its type in the world.…

Stocks, Shares and Sheds

31st August 2015 Classic Bike Hub UK Blog

Richard McCann discovers that recession doesn’t only affect valve seats… The headlines have been relentless. ‘Dow plunges another 600 points.’ ‘Consumer confidence slips again.’ ‘Banks in every country facing liquidation.’ So despite watching a recent BBC TV interview with a group of young ladies in Birmingham who claimed not to have heard about the credit crunch until questioned by the…

Famous Last Words 31: Almost Any Motorcycle is a Delight

31st August 2015 Classic Bike Hub UK Blog

Frank Westworth has inadvertently encouraged someone to buy a classic BSA C15. This may be an offence punishable on summary conviction… Knowledge, so they tell us, is power. They tell us this, whoever They are, and it sounds good, so it must be true. Which is how politics works, also political correctness, which is not the same thing. I have…

Famous Last Words 16: Anti-Sumping Valves

31st August 2015 Classic Bike Hub UK Blog

What’s the best way to stop oil draining into the sump of your old British bike? Phone up Frank Westworth and ask him… Many sights common in today’s world are a puzzle to me. Prime among them is the endless parade of folk marching about with cell phones nailed to their ears. Cell phones are marvellous devices, not least because…

Famous Last Words 14: Not All Old Bike Shops Were Great

31st August 2015 Classic Bike Hub UK Blog

You might expect that everyone sufficiently fortunate to ride old motorcycles would inevitably be cheerful. Frank Westworth can’t understand why not entirely everyone is… Gloom. You get to recognise it as it walks towards you. ‘Another old one’s gone.’ I gaze with a familiar sinking sense of inevitability at a man who has materialised before me. I must have dozed…