Editor's Intro

  • Welcome

    Welcome

    by

    It’s official – classic bikes make you feel younger, more attractive and happier… (WARNING – the above statement has no scientific facts behind it but I was told by a bloke down the pub and I believe him)… WELCOME to the June edition of Classic Bike Guide. The sun is out and hopefully you’ve been…

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  • ‘Why do we need so many bikes?’

    ‘Why do we need so many bikes?’

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      There is an amusing – well the first time you hear it – saying doing the rounds that goes something along these lines: ‘X=Y+1’. If X is the perfect number of bikes, then Y is the number of bikes you currently have. According to the insurance companies, classic motorcycle enthusiasts are more likely than…

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  • Money is no object

    Money is no object

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    Snow will be what we remember about last month… but the sun was shining on me as I got to ride a brand-new Norvin. The bike was a revelation to me. I suffered from total sensory overload – the sound, the attention to detail and the sheer riding experience blew me away. Okay, so it…

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  • Winter wonderings

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    I’ve been chatting with friends who’ve ridden the latest phenomenon, Ducati’s Panigale V4. Phrases ‘game changer’ and ‘revolutionary’ were banded around. It’s not ‘just’ the 214bhp (in standard, warranty-friendly road trim) V4 MotoGP inspired engine. Hardened racers talked of the near-perfect balance, the counter-rotating crank and one ex-Superbike racer said “It’s the only bike with…

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  • MoT exempt – hurrah! Or is it?

    MoT exempt – hurrah! Or is it?

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    I don’t watch the news any more. It gives me a little more time in the workshop, and to my less-than-academic mind it seems the world is run by sociopaths trying to look after themselves or their mates, at the expense of the rest of us. Have you watched a session in Parliament recently? If…

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  • Thermals? Check. ‘I’m just popping out, dear’

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    All that well-intentioned squit last month I wrote about workshop jobs to do? Well, I, er, there’s an issue. You see, as lucky as it is working around bikes, you are constantly reminded just how much fun riding them is, like my friend Martin, above, on his wonderful Guzzi Ambassador. Never mind that the temperature…

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  • Welcome

    Welcome

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    Blimey – it’s cold outside. All too quickly, the nights are drawing in and the temperature is dropping like a valve on a botched downshift. So is it time to wrap the bikes up and dream of next spring? Well if you’re like us at CBG, then fewer riding opportunities signal the busiest time of…

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  • Inclusive

    Inclusive

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    My first car was a Morris Minor. Bought it aged 15, learned how to restore it (badly) and loved it. Lowered, twin carbs and silly seats, I’d drive (badly) all over the country. When it broke I could usually fix it, or at least I could work out what needed fixing. Moggie owners are a…

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  • Classic Bikes, modern times

    Classic Bikes, modern times

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      Before the interweb, dreams couldn’t be realised quite so easily. When I started riding, my evening ‘blast’ (as much as you can on a Suzuki ZR50, albeit with a slightly tired 80cc big-bore) would take me down the B-road, via potholes, roadkill and farm detritus to the small town of Wymondham, Norfolk. Wymondham (pronounced…

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  • Age knows no barrier

    Age knows no barrier

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      As you may have read last month, Frank Westworth has now stepped away from creating Classic Bike Guide. Rumours that decades of perfecting the skill of kicking over his trusty steeds taking its toll, are greatly exaggerated. But fear not, our Frank will still be contributing to CBG every month with his always entertaining…

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