Real Classic

RealClassic magazine features the very best British motorcycles from all eras, plus charismatic Continental machines (and the odd Japanese classics crops up occasionally, too). Long term classic riders will recognise many of the members of the RC team, which includes authors, historians and journalists like Steve Wilson, Dave Minton, Matt Vale, Odgie, Jacqueline 'PUB' Bickerstaff, Rowena Hoseason and editor Frank Westworth -- but the magazine's key feature is that it is firmly grounded in the real world. Our articles are written by real life riders and reflect far more than a simple road test ever can. We're never scared of getting grubby in The Shed (and we even admit it when things go horribly wrong!)

Real Classic

FROM THE FRONT

New-Born Twins • The seemingly interminable Norton saga opens a new chapter with the reintroduction of the 961 Commando. Alan Cathcart rides them both, with appropriate vigour

‘WE’RE MAKING JOY MACHINES’

INCOMING! • RC readers write, rant and rattle on… Summat to say? Send your comments, hints, tips, tales of woe and derring-don't to: RCHQ@RealClassic.net

ASBO BSA • Is a bright yellow hue a warning that a bike is a bit of a brute? frank Westworth chills out with a Firebird…

HACK IT! • Which old bike is such a robust all-rounder that you'd choose to ride it only through the worst of the winter weather? Andy Havill argues that if Carlsberg did motorcycles then his Honda would be one of them

Practical CLASSICS • Compact classics are all the rage these days. Bob McGarth shares his top tips for how to live happily ever after with Big Jim, a typical Villiers-powered two-stroke…

FRONT END FUN

REAR END REBUILD

THINKING OF BUYING:

BACK ISSUES • Find your favourite bike in this index and then order that issue at ClassicMagazines.co.uk or 01507 529529

A Ride to REMEMBER • Jumping into the saddle of an unfamiliar old bike can be a challenge. Paul Henshaw girds his loins to encounter not one but two vintage V-twins…

OUT OF THE ARCHIEVE

JOIN THE OWNERS CLUB

WRITE4REAL • Have you got something to say about your old bike? Would you like to see your P&J preserved on the printed page? Claim your 15 minutes of fame and write for RealClassic…

OUTWARDBOUND • Here comes the New Year! Now’s the time to plot, plan, dream and decide your old bike's outings and adventures for the next 12 months…

FLAT OUT! • Odgie's search for exactly the right sort of propulsion to push him around a dirt circuit leads him to a BSA four-stroke motor…

KRAFT WERK • John Lay has been reviving a 250 ohv single. He’s restored compression and started to untangle the electrics. Now it needs brakes and another attempt to debug the dynamo…

IF IT AIN'T BROKE… • But Martin Peacock decided to fix it anyway. This time, he puts his oil-in-frame, single carb 650 twin back together again, to find out if it still works…

TALES FROM THE SHED • More Matchless stuff. Surely a competent fettler would have been able to build a complete new machine from a pile of iron filings by now?

PUB TALK • NMM open day, and another project - where did that come from?