Can I smell a rat…

Another great TCM issue, with the February 2021 edition. I liked the Velo MAC article you crafted. I actually think the best MAC was the early 1950s rigid, with the all-alloy engine as fitted to the RS MACs and Velocette forks. Mine is a joy to ride, and being significantly lighter than the RS MACs, is more sprightly and stops better.

I expect you’ve been bombarded by emails identifying other green motorbikes… Francis-Barnett Plover and Falcons etc. My slimline ES2 is green except for white mudguards, and I’ve seen all-green wideline Model 50s and ES2s too.

Jerry Thurston’s column about get-yer-home bodges, specifically filling gearboxes with sawdust, reminded me that when I was a student at UEA, two bikey friends,

Jerry Brown and ‘Dunk’

Lloyd, carefully removed the gearbox end covers from Steve Shenton’s 600cc Matchless, and inserted one very large and very dead white rat, carefully replacing the covers and dirtying everything up again, to hide the fact.

This didn’t seem to impact on the gearbox performance at all; in fact, it may well have been quieter (there may have been an annoying squeak!). Sadly, not so long after the event the bike was stolen… Possibly by the owner of the rat. Chris Ward, via email.