Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126833
no ted Carlson, 49, a Santa Ana resident wh o sells shop eq u ip me nt to mo torcycle dealers. To the British motorcycle enth usias t, the uncomp licated singles a nd twins on ce made in England are objects of adoration. T hese motorcycles are highly ma ne u vera ble - even by modern standards - able to lith ely 'g lide a long twisty southern Ca lifornia roads. As th ey pass, the tall grass at the side of the roa d bends, and occasionally, a quai l is p u lled out of h is h iding place , left to flap in th e breeze. They certainly lack the speed and rapid acceleratin of roda y's dou bleove rhead-cam roc kets. But the classic British bi kes boast other charms . T here's the tenor rum ble fro m the ex ha us t, a staccato th at is far more p leasing to the ent h usiast's ear than th e near-whisper o f many modern j apanese st reet bik es. Man y o f th e 350 rid er s o n th e run were middle-aged men wh o relived fond mem or ies o f their yo ut h wh en British steel was th e wor ld stan dard. Les Ide n, 46, is o ne exa mp le. His BSA Spitfire is a legend that he pai nsta kingl y updated. T he twin -cylinder. 650cc bi ke is set up a s a flat -tra ck racer fitted with racin g-qualit y compon ents such as stain less-steel oi l lin es an d dual di sc brak es. He spent $7000 on hi s machine. -" Whe n I was a kid . I followed racing a t th e tim e and these bikes seemed to a lways end u p in the win ner's circle," said Iden , a city wor ker. " Bu t a ll I co u ld a fford back then was someone else's $ 100 beater," The more popu lar wa y to go, ho wever, is not to update a cla ssic, but rather restor e it to facto ry-original co nd itio n . T his means livin g with co m ponents like stock drum brakes th at are somewhat ma rgi na l, even wh en in top cond itio n. But the Lim ey mo torcycle enth us ias t loves th e decades-o ld tec h no logy a n d acce p ts quirks suc h as dripping oil. . But there are pitfall s. j ohn Studden , 34. wh o is in th e sign bu siness in Holl ywood, bought his 1974 Norton Commando. a n 850cc twin , wi th a gea r box th at was litera ll y blown in half. " T here was a faulty bearing that ca used th is to happen to a lot o f them ," he sa id. "The sto ry I heard is th a t th e factory bo ug ht-a cheap bearin g from Portuga l or som ew here that ca used th e tro u ble," Various eru h usia st cl u bs were represented o n th e run. Steve Coburn, president of the Sa n Diego Norton Club, 100members strong , com p leted th e run o n a No rton Commando. The Commando may well be the zeni th as a mass-prod uce British stree t bik e. La rge, fast, a n d responsive in handl in g , its most astonishing trai t is that it does n' t rattle a rid er's fillings loose a t h igh speed like a lmost every other Brit ish mo torcycle. T he reason is th e No rton Co m ma ndo has special rubber bush ing s (ca lled lsol as tic moun ts) on the mot or mounts. " T h is lets the engi ne and exha us t vibra te as a sing le un it . bu t th e vibratio n isn 't trans ferred to the frame (a nd rider ) because of th e bushings." Coburn expla ined . The feature was int rod uced in 1967. Many .com p la in tha t the Brit ish failed beca u se their m o torcycl es changed litt le over the years . The Brit ish man ufact urers cl ung to ba sic designs for years. content to make on ly min or im provemen ts year-toyear. Today the j apanese, in co mpariso n, revise th eir offeri ngs a t wh at is a fren zied pace next to the Bri tish standa rd. Bu t the fact that so many British mot orcycles a re still on the roa d today is a testament to the British philoso p h y. Pa rts are interchangeable through many yea rs of models, a nd in some instances. even between British makes. Kirk Stone's 1 954 BSA M20 sports modern telescopic front forks; early versions des igned for use in World War II employed a girder front suspension. Winner of the "most unusual" award, Dick Brown's 1968 Indian Velo 500 was reconstructed with a Suzuki frame . Brittllnill rules IIgllln - By P. Robert Marich FOUNTAIN VAL L EY. CA. J ULY 28 For 350 vintage mo torcycle enthusiasts, . Britannia ruled the road once again. The aficionados gathered to roar down southern California highways for whatwas the fifth 22 c. . annual All British Motorcycle Run , sponsored by J.R.C.lTri· 'I IIIIII JII I u mph Engineering of Fountain Valley, California. The event attracted a heal thy contingent of well-known marques Triumph. BSA a n d Norton. Mat ch less, Aj S, Vel oceue a nd Vin cent. Si nce th e hey-da y o f Brit ish motor.cycl ing was in th e 1950s a nd I960s, a bo u t half the Lim ey iro n wa s fro m th is period. And so me had intriguin g h istories. For instance, th ere was a 1954vin tage BSA M20 mod el th a t sta rt ed life as a Sa udi Arabi an police motorcycle . Its present ow ner, Kirk Stone, a 32-yea r-old ma ch inist , said th e 500cc single-cylin der mo to rcycle is one o f two acq uired by an American oil executive while sta tio ned in th e Middle Eas t. "There were th ree pa lm trees pa inted where th e licen se p late goes; I can' t tell you wh y," sai d Stone. " It was eq uip ped with j apanese-mad e tires th at h ad Arabic words impri nted in the rubber." " T hey ha d wh at seemed like ca me l dung inside th e cylinders," joked Pete C harbonnea u . 36. wh o bought th e o ther Saudi cru iser. " And everywhere inside. th ey had a real fin e sand." added Cha rbonneau, wh o ma in ta ins g ro u n d su p port eq u ip me nt for an a irli ne. " It had th e consistency o f flour. It go t into everything." Bu t Stone's Sa ud i cr u iser is road wo rt hy an d, li ke th e ot he r vintage iro n o n hand , was a ble to co mplete th e 160-mi le run wi tho ut suffering a cala mity. From th e starting point in Foun tain Va lle y. th e route went so ut h, at times passing by go lden beach es o n th e Pacific Ocean a long Pacifi c Coast Highway. At Ocean side. riders headed in land a nd snaked through roads in nort hern Sa n Diego County. The course cu rved north . pa ssing by La ke Elsinore. where it sw u ng back to the ocea n an d a freeway to -Fo u n tain Valle y. At the Lookout resta urant, pe rched h igh on a bluff o verlooki ng La ke Elsi nore . Bo b Carlson was amon g the first o n the Brit ish run to arrive a t what is a regular motorcycli sts ' han g o u t. H is shi ny, blue 1959 BSA G ol d ;~~~~~Occ single, immediatelYdrew " So me people wo uldn 't giv e yo u $300 for one of th ese, wh ile to so me bod y else. it's wo rth more than $3000;" liii=:: •. . ... . . . .• . .. •.••• .• .. . . ...... . ~ .•• ••••• ••. ...•...• •.• •••• • l~' .)jj