Blog

Steve Cooper from the VJMC brings us up to date with some information about next year’s Uttoxeter Show, and contemplates the value of originality… The VJMC Uttoxeter show will be running again in 2011 over the first weekend of July as usual, from the 1st to the 3rd. For the 2011 event the VJMC are…

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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…

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Steve Cooper of the VJMC considers collectors, fettlers and hoarders of classic Japanese motorcycles… It’s a strange old world, ours. Classic biking attracts all kinds of folk from all walks of life. Some are ardent riders, some demon spanner twirlers, others restore to original status and a few write about their passion (like the ever-active…

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What is the attraction of a modern ‘classic’ motorcycle? Paul “The Destroyer” sticks his neck out (and doesn’t mention Triumphs once!)… There are lots of differing views on certain brands of motorcycle which might or might not deserve the label of ‘modern classic’. I found it all very intriguing from my position as a bikeaholic.…

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Different strokes for different folks. Frank Westworth remembers a great British stroker…

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Maligned by many, AJS and Matchless lightweights can be a lot of fun. Frank Westworth, no lightweight, tries to convince himself… My second bike was my first AJS. It was a 1948 Model 18 of fond memory, and although I have recaptured a Matchless G80 of similar scruffiness which has restored those fond memories to…

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The Great British public seem to have bought a basket case. Phil Speakman* applies his experience with old clunkers to the current credit crisis-crash-crunch kerfuffle… I, just like many others out there in RealClassic land, am a member of an intimate little syndicate (of approximately sixty million members) who recently stepped in to save a…

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Old bikes are old bikes are old bikes, says Frank Westworth. Except, of course, when they’re new… Do you remember when old bikes were exactly that? Old bikes. Nothing more. Some were good old bikes and a lot were not. A few were exceptional, and anyone who actually rode bikes – well, more than just…

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One of life’s genuine real classic riders rode over the horizon in early 2011. Jim Reynolds pays tribute to him… Bruce Pollard and the Big 4 Norton he’d owned since 1972 were inseparable friends. When hundreds of his bike-riding friends gathered to say goodbye to Bruce in May 2011, that faithful old rigid framed 60…

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There are those who believe that classic motorcycles are poetry in motion. Marc Buffery proves that classic bike poetry can inspire all manner of emotions… To-day we have fettling of parts. Yesterday, We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning, We shall have what to do after riding. But to-day, To-day we have fettling of parts.…

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