M king the most of lockdown before it’s gone!
W ELL, HELLO ALL OUR OILY-FINGERnailed friends! Hope the shed heater is on, the postie has bought you some parts and that horrible world outside seems a long way away. Hopefully soon it’ll all feel like a bad dream. There’s been little lockdown blues here at Classic Bike Guide towers (Maria was an early instigator of ‘elevenses’, a most welcome addition to the schedule as we’re both working from home), we’re just using it as an excuse for an unheard-of amount of workshop time, along with a new game – how many layers can you get under your boilersuit and still be able to move (our shed roof looks like an observatory so no point heating it)? Maria’s new project, a little-known Eighties Honda called a Bros, is getting much attention, with the alloy frame being rubbed down thoroughly to get through the thick lacquer Honda used. The engine has been stripped of its top end and looks in remarkably good order inside, so we’ll pop in some new rings, give those bores a hone, blast and clean the heads and pop back together for now. Elsewhere, the BMW is coming on. Just trying to get it started has been a mountain to climb with carbs completely gummed up. One kind reader, Martin Brown, has sent in a photo of one of his late father’s bikes, with exactly the same paint scheme! It’s a gorgeous, later RS model, but it all adds interest to the background story. In fact, there’s never been a bike in the magazine that has attracted so many emails as the BMW. Even the club, which I’ve joined, has been in touch about the excellent specialist tool hire they offer for members – what a great idea. Talking of clubs, look out for one that suits you. Bike clubs have had to evolve, but I belong to the local Norton club, BRIMBO, a local club (Norfolk and Suffolk), the BMW club of GB, the VMCC and I get the magazine from the Cossack owners’ club, Horizontal view and the Bantam club – thank you. These clubs have brought me good friends, nice rides, knowledge, spares and tool hire – so they’re most useful and the standard of club mag is great, too. They especially help in the winter, when you’re riding out less. Like life, if you get involved in club politics you'll be in danger of spoiling the good points, so I ignore it. Let us know which clubs you enjoy and we’ll try to feature them. Back in the shed and the Norton hasn’t had as much love, I’m sorry to say. Neville found a spare head nut so I could finally get the engine in, and the rest is slowly making progress. And he’s still up to something, building something… Damn this lockdown – I can’t go and have a peek! Effie wanted to make something for mummy, so we ended up learning to weld – at seven. She picked up the basics quickly! Right, I’ve got to start looking into how to test the dynamo I rebuilt. It was the first one for me and I don’t fully understand them yet, but that’s half the fun. These things would have had to be serviced by the owner when they were newer, so why can’t we do it now – what can possibly go wrong? Oh, and happy 100th, Moto Guzzi! Have a great month, and be good