Classic Bike Guide - Real rides, real riders

Clarky’s Corner - September 2011

Recently I’ve been asking myself that very same question.

The modern lot here always have a terrific variety of state-of-the-art motorcycles to play with and occasionally I’m allowed to cock a leg over some of them. They are nearly all, without doubt, breathtakingly good in everything they do. They’re smooth, incredibly fast, ride like on rails, stop in an instant, light up the sky at night and are invariably reliable. Okay, so some of them have exceptionally high fuel consumption but you can’t have 200mph performance and frugal fuel use too.

My trouble is, after maybe a week or even less, I’m bored with whatever it might be – unless it’s a Triumph of course, Rule Britannia and all that – and I get a terrific buzz when I get back on a classic slug, with its dodgy brakes, mediocre performance and vibrating engine.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing I like more than getting to where I need to be in comfort and at a good pace, which I can on a modern bike, but it’s nowhere near the fun of riding a classic. Is it me?

Nigel Clark
Editor