Fool’s gold?

Way back when, I was fortunate enough to be the custodian of a Rocket Gold Star, 369 FLC, which ultimately left me when it was sold to the VMCC to be raffled off. It was actually a pretty fantastic bit of kit, though I struggled to really know what to use it for, but did a few miles on it, while it also featured extensively in Classic Bike Guide of February 2011 – there was even a poster of it, alongside a DB32 and a DBD34. The main thing I remember about it though, was the rudeness it provoked in other ‘enthusiasts’ – everywhere I stopped, someone would come over and start with the line ‘So is it a real one then?’, then sniggering ‘they all are now’, after I’d replied to the original enquiry in the affirmative. I always called it the ‘AC Cobra syndrome’ in that everyone assumes it’s not the real deal and feels entitled, loudly, to pass judgement. So really, you’d be just as well off with a replica like Marcus’s, to avoid the tiresome ‘funny men’! Incidentally, only a Vincent Comet prompts rudeness of a similar nature to the RGS. Stop anywhere on a Comet and someone would generally say ‘Could you only afford one cylinder then?’ Well, yes, actually, that was indeed the case. And equally as grating as the RGS ‘real one’ comments. Editor.

As good as the real thing? Well, it certainly looks it. My brother Simon on the RGS, my Comet behind. Of all the many motorcycles I’ve owned, these two machines far and away garnered the most negative comments.