Greetings! Ever fancy change?
Is that a six-volt glimmer of light I see at the end of the last year’s dreadful tunnel? Wave your pullovers and petticoats above your head – it may well be! From all here at Classic Bike Guide ,we hope you enjoy those first forays out; mind the hedgehogs and deer, and remember those car drivers are as rusty and blind as they ever were…
It has been busy here in the workshop, trying to give everything a ‘birthday’ in preparation for ‘getting out there’. The Suzuki has had a carb and tank clean, the BMW ‘pig’ started first time from hibernation but needs fettling, the Benelli has gone to Maria’s Uncle Dee for some electrical gremlins to be banished, and the B31 needs a number of little jobs – none of which we’ve done. With cautious positivity, we should be getting in some miles as you read this. There’s also been some noisy and smokey neighbours starting up, too, with the Mid-Norfolk Railway testing, fixing and sorting. They’re like an old bike, just larger. And more expensive. And I would say more smokey, but I’ve just started the CZ.
The past year has brought change. Some have had lives changed forever, some have had it bad, most have just had to change their ways, and some have benefitted, but change has come to us all. Which led me to think about the bikes we ride. I’m not saying change, but ever thought of a different style of bike?
Trying a different type opens up a whole new world. Used to a Commando? Try an off-road lightweight. Different, yes, less capable of long distances, definitely; but it’s light, easy to start (hopefully) and could open up a myriad of back lanes you didn’t know existed.
Ride a Honda? How about falling for the charms of a Cossack or Ural? You’d be going from familiar mechanics with tight tolerances and easy parts supply for something more agricultural, some may say, but the roads you choose would be different and the owners I meet seem magnificent characters, so your whole experience could change.
These examples are from the fantastic club magazines I’m lucky enough to get; the Bantam club’s Bantam Banter, and the Cossack club’s Horizontal View, which I always enjoy reading; and I’ve never owned a Bantam or a Russian twin. They feel like they’re written by someone who’s wearing a smile, who knows they are among friends, and who enjoys their bikes.
Something I found through being lucky to have a number of different machines is that I feel most in tune working on old BMWs. They seem to have been designed in a way my brain understands. Working on the R100, I find myself checking the manual for a torque setting, not looking it up. I understand boxers, I feel confident with them; whereas with the Norton, while I like it, I have to look everything up – none of it is automatic or intuitive to me. It’s not age: the ES2 design is from the ‘20s and so is the boxer – so maybe I just don’t like imperial nuts and bolts! And riding them are equally rewarding, in their own ways. Hear of a project or something different? Think about how it may add a little something to your life.
Enjoy the mag this month and have fun out there. I’m off to blast the R100 frame and make some cables for the Norton.