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March 2025

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Miller’s marvels

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February 2025

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Time for a TZ?

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Norton P11

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Petrol: What you need to know

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We want it: History in the metal

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Spark plugs: What you need to know

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The moment of truth

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Classic TT returns

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Enfield Classic 650

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December 2024

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SKY HIGH HILLCLIMBING

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Rick’s Fixes: cold comfort in the shed

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Did this Curtiss really do over 136.36mph at Ormond Beach, Florida in 1907? Nicksy thinks not...

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A RECORD OF EXAGGERATION

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HOW TO: MAKE A JET BLOCK EXTRACTOR

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BARON’S STROKE OF BAD LUCK

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How To: Make vintage bike grips

HOW TO: RECYCLE OLD CAR PARTS

THE ISLAND’S BIGGEST DRAW

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KEEPING THE FAITH

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HOW TO: FIT AN AMAL CARB TICKLER EXTENSION

HOW TO: REPLACE BSA BEARINGS

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#### The **T120 Thruxton** is the most revered of all **Triumph Bonnevilles**. This one is now restored back to its ’60s race glory – but its owner had no idea how extra special it was when he chanced upon it

Words **MICK DUCKWORTH** Photography **GREG MOSS**

When Bernard Kuropka bought a Triumph Bonneville with the registration number MAC 234E in the late 1970s, he had no idea of its historical significance. “I bought it for £260,” the Hampshire-based engineering company director recalls. “It looked like a normal Bonneville with an Aubergine and white tank – but it was quick, always went well and had a close-ratio four-speed ’box. I knew there was some factory connection, but thought it may have been a TT Marshal’s bike.”

What he had actually stumbled upon was not only one of the limited-edition 650cc T120 Thruxton versions made for production racing from 1965-69 that carry the most kudos of all Bonnevilles – it was also one of the batch of four built for 1967 for factory riders and factory-backed teams that are revered as most successful. And the bike’s story is made even more extraordinary by the fact that Bernard has not only owned it once, but twice.

“The wife of a previous owner, a lady called Evelyn, traced me and wanted to buy the bike back for him as surprise. A year later, in 1978, my wife Bernadine and I were saving hard to get married, so I sold to Evelyn for £350.” More than 30 years later, Bernard was looking through a photo album when he found letters Evelyn had written to him.

“One had an address – and after 15 minutes on Google, I had made contact.” Although now divorced, Evelyn was able to put him in touch with her ex-husband who still owned the bike – and within months it was Bernard’s again. While complete, it had a seized engine.

MAC 234E was originally allotted to Elite Motors and later bought by the London dealer. It was raced to fourth place in the 1967 Production TT by Lance Weil and to third in the 750cc class at the 1968 Brands Hatch 500-mile GP d’Endurance by the popular Californian, teamed with Martyn Ashwood. In the 30-lap Production race at the 1968 Mallory Park 2000 Guineas meeting, Ashwood and Joe Dunphy finished second on the bike. The celebrated MACs also include two 750cc Production TT winners: John Hartle’s 1967 machine with registration MAC 233E and Malcolm Uphill’s MAC 232E, on which he lapped the Mountain Course at 100mph in 1969.

When Bernard showed his bike to Thruxton Bonneville registrar Hugh Dickson, it caused much excitement. “We didn’t know where 234 was!” Dickson exclaimed. He also recommended that Bernard contacted Thruxton parts specialist George Hopwood and Claudio Sintich (author of the definitive book Triumph Thruxton Bonneville 1959-1969) for guidance regarding his plan to restore the bike to 1967 condition.

Factory records show that the bike had an ignominious start in life – built as a 1966 TR6 Trophy, it was deemed defective as it came off Meriden’s assembly line. It was subsequently passed to the experimental department to become one of the Thruxton Bonneville batch for 1967. With frame number DU 58464, it was one of four registered by the factory with the denomination ‘MAC’ followed by a three-figure number and the 1966-1967 ‘E’ suffix in April 1967. The crankcase has no number; the original was replaced after being wrecked by primary chain failure in the first major outing at the 1967 Brands Hatch 500-miler. At the time, riders Weil and Peter Carrana were holding third place. It’s likely that there were other major blow-ups during the machine’s racing career, but Bernard found much of the 1960s engine’s special specification intact.

“The crankshaft’s light flywheel fitted from 1966 to 1968 has some more weight pared off,” he explains. “I had it dynamically balanced by Basset Down. After freeing the bores, I fitted new 9:1 pistons more suitable for modern conditions than the original 11:1s, on Thunder Engineering rods. Plus-40 bores give about 666cc. The Spitfire-profile cams have three-inch radius followers in Thruxton tappet blocks and the timing wheels are drilled for lightness. There is some porting in the head, which has Nimonic valves controlled by W&S springs with lightened retainers. The lightened rockers (electronically weighed by Bernard for equality) have spacers on their spindles in place of Thackeray washers \[to cut friction\].”

Full-race Amal GP carburettors were replaced by less fussy 30mm Concentrics early in the machine’s racing life. Bernard fitted 32mm instruments and simplified their head connections with screw-in alloy tubes tapered for optimal flow, with nine inches from throttle slide centre to valve. The gearbox is mysteriously marked as a motocross type: WR (Wide Ratio) MMX and has some metal cut away from the outer cover to save a few grammes. The 20/43-tooth final-drive gearing indicates a potential 70mph in the high first ratio and 125mph in top.

Both wheels have 19in rims and well ventilated brakes. Triumph and BSA raced in 1967 with the twinleading-shoe front brake to be introduced on 1968 production – but Bernard changed the front backplate to the revised 1969 type with an improved cable run, and crafted an alloy air scoop. There are five holes on the other side of the hub where, he says, replica builders sometimes make six, due to misinterpreting blurred action photos. The rear brake has 20 backplate drillings and four larger holes on the right side, while its pedal is the correct factory type.

An original modification for better handling is shortening of the forks’ stanchions by 20mm. They are held in Police-specification yokes without any offset. Bernard added his own tweaks; the shuttle valves’ washers that normally float are fixed with epoxy glue to improve action during hard braking. Not covered by headlamp brackets, the stanchions are black-oxide coated.

Period Thruxton silencers were a lucky autojumble discovery, bought for £45 after some mild bargaining. The single seat, complete with a Screen & Plastic maker’s sticker, was another happy find, while the correct Avon ‘nosecone’ fairing was available from Sprint Manufacturing, descendant company of the original maker. The alloy five-gallon fuel tank supplied by Hopwood was painted by Triumph colours specialist John Critchlow, blowing a thin coat of Pacific Blue over a silver base to replicate the original metallic look.

Although clearly a lot of time and effort has been spent on the restoration, Bernard still likes to ride the bike, so he hasn’t shied away from practical modifications to his rarity. For instance, the 1967 rear lamp and licence plate mounting was replaced by the less breakage-prone 1969 type, a modification he can justify to purists. “The stronger later bracket was on Malcolm Uphill’s MAC 232E when he won the 1969 Production TT,” he explains. He’s also done some non-standard modernising. He replaced the clutch basket with a machined alloy item containing alloy-based friction plates, while a bulge at the rear of the altered timing cover conceals a post-1979 type four-valve oil pump. He fitted a 10ah 12v lithium battery, Podtronics rectifier/regulator, a sturdier ignition switch than the original Tiger Cub type and Smiths-replica electronic instruments. The dash panel includes a colour-changing LED voltage indicator light.

Since getting it back on the road in 2013, Bernard has made three Isle of Man trips with the Thruxton, although unfortunately he did experience another ride that wasn’t so pleasurable. In the summer of 2015, he was riding to visit an old friend in hospital. “A car driver swiped me off at about 25mph on a roundabout,” he recalls. “I was knocked unconscious – my old-style helmet split at the back. I broke my collarbone and some ribs. The fairing was crushed, although I always keep a spare, but the tank had to be repaired and resprayed; it’s cost me £1000 so far!” That incident didn’t put him off riding it, though. MAC 234E still appears at UK and German vintage events – and it’s heartening that such a treasure is still being properly enjoyed, as a machine of this calibre should be.

Lance Weil’s fourth place on MAC 234E in the 1967 750cc Production TT was remarkable for a first-timer on the Isle of Man Mountain Course; the best result by an American since Billy Wells finished second in the twin-cylinder class of the first IoM TT of 1907. In the three-lap race, Weil lay fifth on lap two, but then caught and overtook BSA factory rider Tony Smith to hold third place – until a slipping clutch at Governor’s Bridge allowed Smith to get past and under the flag. Ahead of them were winner John Hartle and second-place man Paul Smart (750cc Dunstall Dominator).

Weil, whose early Bell full-face helmet was banned by the ACU, added variety to short circuit racing with wins on an 883cc XLH Harley-Davidson with the latest Lowboy frame. His untimely death in 2006 followed a workshop accident.

Bernard traced other former MAC 234E racers, and last summer Peter Carrana invited him and his bike to a reunion barbecue, also attended by former Elite Motors rider Lenny Phelps, visiting the UK from his South African home, and his regular mechanic Graham Veryard. Lenny, who rose to prominence as MAC 234E’s regular rider, recalled racing at Llandow, South Wales. When he beat a local hero, he and Graham also won over his fan girls. Peter remembered being asked by Ron Welling of Elite Motors to take MAC 234E to the Isle of Man as Lenny’s practice bike for the 1969 Production TT. “It stood up to a lot of abuse, but survived.” He praised the bike’s handling, as did Martyn Ashwood, also contacted by Bernard, who recalled rounding Gerard’s at Mallory Park flat in third during the 2000 Guineas race. He contends that he and Dunphy were rightful winners of that event, due to lap scoring errors, and the winning Dunstall team of Ray Pickrell and Dave Croxford privately admitted so.

#### :a[Head into stores to grab your latest issue, or why not subscribe to Classic Bike and never miss an issue! What are you waiting for?]{href='https://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/classic-bike-magazine?utm_source=classicbike.co.uk&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=bau_classicbike&amp;utm_content=article' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'}

Treasure of the track

#### Rebuilding the wheels of Rick’s 1914 Bradbury project was a challenge, as no measurements were taken before they were stripped down. But it did give an insight into wheelbuilding principles

When the hub’s been cut from the rim like this, there’s a fair bit to work out. Was there any ‘offset’? How long were the spokes? What was the lacing pattern? You need to put your detective skills to use...

Different diameter spoke flanges alter spoke angles – they’ll be steeper on the large flange side and cross lower. The spoke holes in the rim will be angled to match, so you need to identify the sides.

Screw nipples to four spokes, fit them in the rim and press the nipples so they settle at the drilled angle. The pair with the steeper angle will cross nearest to the rim – they’re for the big spoke flange.

Spokes are ‘internal’ and ‘external’ – and you need to know which go where. A clue is this bruise, made by an external, clockwise spoke. I marked the angle so it’s still visible with the spoke fitted.

Rims usually fit centrally between the spoke flanges. I need to hold the hub upright, so I can prop the rim to the correct height – a machine vice made a good way hold the hub on the bench.

Next, I put wooden blocks and metal strips under the rim to level it – correct side up – until my height gauge confirmed the rim centre (tyre valve hole) was at the midpoint between the spoke flanges.

To set the hub central, I use these big old dividers – it’s quicker than faffing about with a tape or rule. Checking at four compass points, I keep shifting the vice until the hub’s central to the rim.

Next, I rotated the rim until an external spoke, lined up with the hub mark, aimed directly at the correct hole. Then I fitted an internal in the next hole and adjusted the rim position so they crossed symmetrically.

Do the same for the other side. Then check the hub’s still central and mark the four spokes where they reach the rim; they’ll pull in further as the nipples are tightened, so I cut them there...

… and thread them with a Cyclo tool, but never use these for stainless – it’s too hard. Cyclos are scarce now, but once you know the length, you can get your spokes cut to size by a specialist.

Paint the inaccessible top halves, then fit the left and right side _internal_ spokes first, folding them close to the hub, facing the correct way (clockwise or anti-clockwise) so the rim will easily fit over them.

Before painting the rim, I marked the hole matched to my inked dash on the hub with a bolt; with those points linked by a spoke, insert the rest of this side internals into every fourth rim hole.

You can fit the flipside internals next, but I prefer to complete this side with the externals; it’s easy to see where they go now and firms up the wheel, making it simpler to lace the other side.

Beware odd spokes craftily wedging against the rim, locking everything up so other spokes seem too long to fit; they dig particularly stubbornly into painted rims, so keep all loose spokes clear.

Externals go in last, because you can push them through the hub holes and swing them round to the rim. Not so internals – each one is obstructed by other spokes which you’d have to remove.

No jig? You can true a wheel on the bike, just fix up a pointer. To pull in this run-out gap, I’d tighten these two, first creating space by slackening the three flanking them on the other side.

But for eccentricity, you loosen both-side spokes on the low spot – and if there’s a high spot diametrically opposite, tighten spokes that side; no corresponding low spot may mean a dented rim.

Wheel jigs and spoke rollers are great to have, but they’re only worth having if you do lots of wheels. Really the only essentials are an easy-to-use spoke key – and plenty of patience!

How to build a vintage wheel

#### Velocette restorers **Ivan Rhodes** and **Bob Higgs** have made a perfect replica of the 1930s ISDT Gold Medal-winning outfit

After years of painstaking work, Velocette specialists Ivan Rhodes and Bob Higgs will present their replica of a historic 1930s Hall Green machine at April’s Stafford Show.

They have recreated the 600cc sidecar outfit driven by Bristol dealer Stuart Waycott as part of Great Britain’s victorious ISDT Trophy team every year from 1936 to 1938. Designed by legendary Australian engineer Phil Irving, the purpose-built outfit’s sohc 595cc (85 x 105mm) engine shared features with Velocette’s factory road racers. The original outfit was broken up long ago; a solo racer in a private UK collection has the engine.

The faithful replica was created without factory drawings, thanks to Ivan’s stock of original and replicated race shop parts, plus Bob’s engineering skills – he is known in Velocette circles for his 100,000-mile ohv Vulcan V-twin special. John Winfield helped with spannering, and rare parts came from Velocette OC officials in Australia.

The engine, with Velo’s massively-finned racing cylinder head, has long-stroke flywheels made by Bob, with a Ford piston giving 8:1 compression. Ivan selected suitable cams and there’s an extra pump fitted to scavenge oil from the timing chest, as on works racers. Ivan had the correct four-speed gearbox in his parts cache.

The aluminium-bodied sidecar’s chassis was copied from a drawing in Irving’s autobiography. Suspension for its wheel is by a transverse swingarm and leaf spring. A spare wheel carried on the bike is interchangeable with the sidecar wheel and, thanks to a fork modification, the front wheel.

Trials outfit recreated

The cover of Classic Bike’s March issue is a colourful celebration of Honda’s original Africa Twin, a bike which makes a fine 21st century all-rounder. The magazine features a buyer’s guide, informing readers how to get the best example of this milestone in the development of adventure bikes that lasted from the late 1980s to the early 2000s.

In contrast to this ‘bike for everyman’, there are two tales of very special machines – the first concerns the restoration of an extremely rare Triumph Bonneville T120 Thruxton, originally bought by an owner unaware of its history of 1960s racing glory. The second is the amazing tale of four friends who decided to build their own two-stroke 500cc Grand Prix bikes, creating four incredible Yamaha YZR500 replicas that gained praise from famous racers when taken to the track.

Adding to the eclectic mix, there’s also a road test on a 1931 BSA Model E, and an interview with the man who gave Ducati £200,000 to sign Carl Fogarty. Topping it all off is the recently revamped Workshop section, choc-full of practical tips, long-term projects and insights into how to keep your classic running sweetly.

#### The March issue of Classic Bike is out now at all good newsagents, or why not :a[subscribe today and never miss an issue!]{href='https://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/classic-bike-magazine?utm_source=classicbike.co.uk&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=bau_classicbike&amp;utm_content=newissue_clb' }

This Valentine’s, we’re giving you **£5 off a subscription**, and with over 40 titles to choose from there’s something for everyone. Whether you’re treating yourself or surprising someone special, it’s the perfect way to show a little love.

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Treat yourself to a Classic Bike Magazine subscription and enjoy £5 off from us! Every month is packed full of real motorbikes you love to own and ride from the 1960's onwards as well as great bikes, rebuild projects, practical workshop tips, buying advice and fantastic tales of full-noise, high-octane, unfiltered motorcycling.

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With just over a week to go until the Devitt Insurance MCN London Motorcycle Show at the Excel, London 14th-16th February, now is the perfect time to start planning your visit!

Get ready for a live-action extravaganza which will see racing heroes go head-to-head, three fantastic stages hosted by your favourite motorcycling celebrities, plus all the new bikes, great kit and accessory bargains.

Take a look at our 2025 list of exhibitors on our website :a[here]{href='https://www.mcnmotorcycleshow.com/retail-zone/2024-exhibitors' }to make sure you don’t miss out.

Below are all the timings you need to know to make the most of your day.

To find out more about our celebrities and stages head to our website.

Don’t miss out on an exciting weekend ahead! There’s still time to get your tickets and save 15% on door pricing. What are you waiting for? :a[Book your tickets now]{href='https://www.mcnmotorcycleshow.com/' }

Plan your visit to the Devitt Insurance MCN London Motorcycle Show

#### Devitt Insurance MCN London Show welcomes the cream of Sammy’s collection

A fifteen-strong selection of the most rare and exotic motorcycles ever produced will make their Devitt Insurance MCN London Motorcycle Show debut at the ExCel this February 14-16. Owned and curated by legend of biking Sammy Miller MBE, the bikes are usually only displayed inside his dedicated museum in the New Forest. Now Sammy will be sharing this hand-selected fleet of special machines for the pleasure and delight of all London showgoers.

Among the collection are iconic racing machines including the multi-cylinder 1957 500cc V8 Moto Guzzi racer, as well as the 1953 ex-factory Norton ‘Kneeler’, ridden by Ray Amm on the way to breaking more than 33 speed records, and an ex-works MZ 125cc GP bike raced by legends Mike Hailwood and three-times 125cc Grand Prix World Champion, Luigi Taveri.

Other unique motorcycles making their way to next year’s show include one of the rarest German motorcycles of all time, the 1200cc Münch Mammoth from 1969, which is one of just 150 ever built. The BMW RS54 Rennsport, a 1947 AJS 500cc Porcupine and a BSA MC1 are also part of the exceptional display of historic two-wheeled marvels, with plenty more special bikes to see across the three-day London event.

The eclectic assortment is owned by Sammy Miller MBE, a true motorcycling legend. His career spans eight decades, during which he became 11 times British Trials Champion and winner of over 1400 competition events across multiple disciplines, all while developing and maintaining his own machines.

Somehow, Sammy still found time to restore interesting motorcycles from ‘rust buckets’ into stunning factory condition, which he kept as a private collection until 1980 when he opened the now famous Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum, which displays around 500 beautiful bikes. Now in his 90s, Sammy continues to work six-days-a-week in the workshop restoring soon-to-be new additions to the museum and maintaining existing ones.

The Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum feature at the 2025 Devitt Insurance MCN London Motorcycle Show gives visitors the opportunity to get up close to some of the most unique and historically relevant motorcycles in the world and is a must-see for any enthusiast.

#### **:a[BOOK NOW AND SAVE!]{href='http://www.mcnmotorcycleshow.com' }**

● Don’t miss historic wonders at the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum feature.

● See the biggest names in biking, with a huge line-up of celebrities from TV to track.

● See the latest models for 2025 from top manufacturers.

● Premium motorcycle kit and accessories at fantastic prices!

● The Iconic Auctioneers motorcycle auction gives you the chance to take home your dream ride.

● Live flattrack racing action with Britain’s finest talent.

#### Grab your tickets now to get 15% off on-the-door prices. Book today: :a[www.mcnmotorcycleshow.com]{href='https://www.mcnmotorcycleshow.com' }

The February issue of Classic Bike features an incredible adventure on its cover – a lap of Australia on a 1969 Triumph Trident, in which the bike covered 10,481 miles, and went through three rear tyres and 35 pints of oil.

Other bikes featured include a Moto Guzzi Le Mans MkI beautifully restored and ridden, a 1967 Norton P11 put to the test, plus a buyer’s guide for the Kawasaki GPz1100. There’s also the tale of gritty, straight-talking Aussie Rob Phillis’s racing career, and a tour of Team Bike main man Ian Martin’s Honda RC30-stuffed workshop.

Along with the usual workshop tips, long-term project updates of the CB team’s classics and insights into the classic bike world, February’s Classic Bike is as crammed with essentials as an over-stuffed pannier.

#### The February issue of Classic Bike is out now at all good newsagents, or why not :a[subscribe today and get 3 issues for just £3]{href='https://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/classic-bike-magazine?utm_source=classicbike.co.uk&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=bau_classicbike&amp;utm_content=newissue_clb' } in our January Sale!

#### UK’s biggest collection of Yamaha proddie racers for sale

For much of the 1970s a good club racer could buy the latest TZ from their local dealer, get some judicious tuning and compete in GPs. Yamaha’s production racers were that good. And now you have one of the best opportunities to buy one, thanks to Glyn Marriott.

Glyn is a Birkenhead bike dealer who, over three decades, has amassed the UK’s biggest collection of TZs and their predecessors, the TDs and TRs. He’s selling all 17 of his bikes at the _MCN_ London Bike Show on February 16.

The machines range from a 1969 TR-2– Yamaha’s first ever 350 proddie racer – to a 1994 TZ125, with almost every other Yamaha TZ in between. There’s a matching-numbers 1973 TZ700A, a similarly well-restored matching-numbers 1981 TZ500H and a brutal-looking 1977 Maxton TZ750D – one of only six built by the recently deceased chassis guru Ron Williams. All three have a guide price of £25-30,000 (though we suspect they’ll go for a lot more than that).

“Glyn Marriott was a racer back in the day, but he didn’t ride any of these,” says Mark Bryan from Iconic Auctioneers, who are selling the collection at the _MCN_ Show. “He wanted to collect every variant of Yamaha’s production racers and kept an eye out for matching-numbers bikes. These were quite rare, because race bike frames and engines are changed a lot \[due to crashes and blow-ups\]. We don’t know of a bigger collection of TZs in the UK.

“Glyn’s had the bikes on display in his dealership for years and wants to move them on to people who might do more with them – maybe recommission them and put them back on the track. We’ve already had a lot of interest, with people trying to do deals before the auction.”

**•** **More info: :a[iconicauctioneers.com]{href='https://iconicauctioneers.com' } & :a[mcnmotorcycleshow.com]{href='https://mcnmotorcycleshow.com' }**

#### :a[Head into stores to grab your latest issue, or why not subscribe to Classic Bike and never miss an issue! Right now you can enjoy 3 issues for just £3 in our January Sale - what are you waiting for?]{href='https://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/classic-bike-magazine?utm_source=classicbike.co.uk&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=bau_classicbike&amp;utm_content=article_TZ' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'}

#### When the big names of the British bike industry amalgamated, it didn’t take long before cross-breeding took place. This month, our Rick tries out one of Norton’s more desirable desert sled hybrids

Words **RICK PARKINGTON** Photography **GARY MARGERUM**

**I**t may seem a bit weird, the whole Norton/Matchless thing. We’re all used to hybrid concoctions like Tritons and Norvins – shed-built specials where enthusiast has mated one maker’s engine with another’s chassis – often the Norton Featherbed – but this is a factory bike. What’s more, it’s a Norton without its Featherbed; an Atlas engine stuck in a Matchless frame, of all things. It’s also an off-roader, built in the late sixties when the UK café racer boom was at its peak – and stranger still, a 750. Few people associated engines that big with knobbly tyres until over a decade later, when those crazy continentals started going for the big trailies that ultimately spawned today’s huge ‘adventure bike’ market.

Well, I have to admit riding the P11 off-road feels a bit of an adventure. It’s certainly got the low-down power to kick up a rooster tail when asked, but I feel a bit uneasy riding around this field. Admittedly, the ’bars are pulled back a bit further than I’d choose – and I’ve never claimed to understand handling and how to alter its characteristics, but while it feels stable enough I’d say there’s enough understeer to suggest that the front end is kicked out a bit too much for this type of riding. So I find myself hovering a supportive foot off the peg more than I’m used to. The motor is certainly gutsy enough to pull up a bank – although, again, the gearing really isn’t low enough for that type of work, at least if you want to use any finesse.

But the P11 was no more intended for some fool to ride round an English meadow than it was for the Scottish Six Days Trial. This is a desert racer, born to blast across a shimmering, sun-bleached surface to some distant point – commonly marked by a pile of burning tyres – and race back again. Desert racing is a kidney-bashing speed event where the most nadgery work will probably be getting the bike on and off the pick-up. These bikes needed to be geared for high speeds without losing bottom-end grunt, and to have good straight-line stability over rough ground. Looked at that way, the P11 scores well – and not only in the desert.

These qualities also make for a good scratcher’s bike; I’ve said before that I wish I ’d realised in my untamed youth how good desert racers like this are for hassling newer bikes on twisty roads, and I’m reminded of it once again. There’s something hugely confidence-inspiring about narrow tanks and wide ’bars that may help explain why those who learn to ride on dirt bikes are typically capable in other disciplines. Sitting up high is more relaxed than hunching down on a café racer – and relaxed and confident is a good place to be on a bike.

I’m really impressed with the P11. The Norton gearbox and clutch are strong and positive as usual – and one advantage with all the hybrids is that the closer spacing between engine and ’box allows use of AMC’s cast alloy chaincase, where other Nortons had to make do with their pre-war, leak-prone pressed tin case right up to the Commando. Unusually among the hybrids, the P11 uses AMC rather than the larger Norton brakes, but they worked well on the test bike – probably aided by the bike’s low weight.

Despite the big engine, it was also an easy starter – the P11 was also the first hybrid with coil ignition, rather than a magneto. That was unpopular among desert riders, but Lucas were keen to cease costly magneto production and had just created their 2MC capacitor that permitted battery-free running. I had no further criticism of the steering as I swung through Macadamed curves, suggesting that I’m right to think it’s set-up for faster work than grass. I was also surprised how smooth it felt, with nothing intrusive at the 50 70mph speeds I was doing – even though the Norton Atlas was famous for severe vibes.

Like other British parallel twins, the Norton started as a sweet 500. It was designed by Bert Hopwood in 1948 as a quick response to post-war demand for parallel twins. Hopwood saw it as a quick-fix design that should last until something better could be conceived – and later expressed his anger that management never investigated a more future-proof design. Instead, his ‘Dominator’ twin grew from 500 to a useful 600cc, then a 650 – until, with the 750 Atlas, vibration started to become a real problem. Rubber ‘Isolastic’ engine mounting on the 750 Commando successfully dodged the problem and justified a further increase to a blistering 829cc.

Let’s hope Hopwood drew some satisfaction from how well his ‘temporary’ design coped – especially considering the John Player racers. Like the Atlas, the P11 doesn’t benefit from Isolastic rubber mounting, but whether this bike’s had the crank balanced or it’s just a feature of the different chassis, the impression I got from the P11 was that it wasn’t a shaker.

The background of the P11 lies in earlier Norton/ Matchless hybrids. After a decade as part of Associated Motor Cycles (the AJS/Matchless conglomerate), in 1962 Norton moved south from Birmingham to the Matchless works at Plumstead, London. For some years, all the three makes had in common was the gearbox; as Nortons retained their defining Featherbed frame, its widely-spaced horizontal top tubes dictated a stye of tank and saddle very different to AJS/Matchless models. But the TT-derived Featherbed was not at all suitable for off-road use, and with increasing demand for scrambler models from the States the only option had been to use the earlier single-downtube pre-Featherbed frame to create a more appropriate model – the 600cc twin-cylinder ‘Nomad’. But it was an obsolete frame, and with Norton’s move to Plumstead it made sense to employ an existing AMC chassis for future export scramblers – and that wasn’t simply an economic decision.

Matchless was a popular brand in the States; it had been one of the makes distributed by Indian after their own production ceased and was then taken on by the Berliner Corporation of New Jersey. Much of the good name Matchless enjoyed in the States came from their off-road big single, the 500cc competition model G80CS. In 1966 the G80CS became the G85CS, which had a bespoke frame that leaned heavily on the Rickman Metisse design. Better braced, it was of largely welded construction, in contrast to the old roadsterbased heavyweight, brazed-lug Matchless type on the G80CS which made it some 45lb lighter.

But while these singles were good sellers in the States, the twins fared less well due to increasing reliability problems as capacity grew to 646cc and was then squeezed for more power to provide sports CSR outputs. _Cycle World_ brutally recalled the history of the 650 Matchless as ‘punctuated with the thud of exploding engines’, so we can’t be surprised that Joe Berliner, head of the import corporation, was taken seriously when he suggested the Matchless twin might be easier to sell if it was fitted with the tough Norton 750 motor – making it more reliable under the guise of enlarging capacity.

The factory acted and the result was the Matchless G15/AJS Model 33 hybrids. Although primarily aimed at the US market with open pipes and dirt tyres, they were also available for road use with lights and room for a pillion. UK models were marketed as CSR sports roadsters; but despite being equipped with fashionable aluminium mudguards, flat ’bars, rearsets and sweptback exhausts, the legendary status held by the Featherbed frame in café racing circles resulted in limited UK sales compared to Norton’s 650SS and 750 Atlas.

And anyway, there was much more than that to worry about. The AMC empire was foundering and in August 1966, the Official Receiver was called in to sort out the situation for AMC’s many unhappy creditors. The company was sold to Manganese Bronze Holdings who, having already pulled Villiers Engineering Co from the cliff’s edge, formed Norton Matchless Ltd as a division of a larger company, Norton Villiers Ltd, of which more would be heard in subsequent years.

As if in anticipation of this, there were two Nortonbadged hybrids produced for 1967. The first was simply the G15 with Norton badges, unimaginatively named the N15. The second, though, was much more convincing. ‘Project 11’, so the story goes, was the work of Berliner’s Western Distributor, California dealer Bob Blair. The hybrids had always been on the heavy side and Blair decided to make a lighter, more competitive version by adapting the chassis of a wrecked G85CS in his workshop to take an Atlas motor.

After convincing Joe Berliner that it was a good idea, the bike was shipped across to the UK for factory evaluation. It became the Norton P11, having its show debut that autumn – sharing stand space with the new 750 Commando, illustrating the direction the company was headed. The P11 was in production for less than two years. For 1968, it became known as the P11A and later the ‘Ranger’, indicating a move to increase the P11’s appeal for everyday use by adding a dual seat along with more convenient low-level exhausts.

That makes sense to me; despite my off-road doubts the P11 is a stonking bike to ride on the road – and while I don’t regard motorcycles and sand as a good mix, I’d risk it to give a P11 a good blast across the desert. Dammit! Dreaming of powering through the scrub toward those burning tyres, I inadvertently got onto the slip road to a busy dual carriageway – not the place for an old off-roader... or so I thought.

I gunned the Norton up and it stormed into the melée like a pub brawler, subjecting the occupants of executive cars to its impressive war cry. I’d forgotten that while big Norton twins develop a lot of power low down, that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a lot higher up too. I came off at the next exit, having made my point; that riding position would soon get tiring at speed – but the P11 isn’t a contender for ‘classic adventure bike’, it’s made for high-adrenaline ride-outs and makes a great way to blow away the sticky cobwebs of modern living, which is what classic bikes are about in my view.

**1958** The enduro-style Nomad is introduced using the old Norton Model 77 single-downtube frame. Equipped with a 21in front wheel, tuned twin-carb 600cc Dominator engine and lights, it is aimed at the US market.

**1962** Norton production moves to the AMC works at Plumstead, South London – and a new model, the 745cc Atlas, is introduced, initially only for export and UK Police use.

**1963** The Atlas engine is fitted into a Matchless CSR-type frame to create the hybrid Atlas scrambler. As well as the engine and gearbox, it uses Norton wheels and Roadholder forks.

**1965** With the Norton Atlas already available on the home market, its engine is fitted to a sports roadster hybrid – the Matchless G15 CSR (or AJS Model 33 CSR) offered for sale to UK buyers.

**1966** The AMC company goes into receivership and is incorporated into Norton Villiers Ltd.

**1967** A Norton version of the G15 – the N15 – is created along with the P11, another hybrid this time using the lightweight Matchless G85CS competition single frame and forks with Matchless wheels.

**1968** The P11 is now the P11A, made more suitable for all-round use with low exhausts and a dual seat. It is then named ‘Ranger’, but is discontinued before the end of the year along with all other Norton/Matchless hybrids, leaving just the Featherbed Norton 650 Mercury and the new 750 Commando.

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#### Modern fuel is a giddy mix of petrol, ethanol and additives. But how does it all affect your classic bike?

'I run my classics on super unleaded and have never bothered with additives. They seem to run fine.’

Under the terms of the UK Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, 10% of all road vehicle fuel now has to be from ‘sustainable renewable sources’.

Of course, ‘sustainable renewable sources’ means ethanol. This is made by fermenting grain or sugar cane. Ethanol is claimed to be partially carbon-neutral, because the plants absorb more CO2 as they grow than is released in the production or burning of ethanol.

Any fuel company that retails more than 450,000 litres of fuel a year, defined as ‘major suppliers of fossil fuels’, is obliged to add ethanol to their fuel.

In the UK, standard unleaded fuel is E10. This indicates that it consists of not less than 90% regular unleaded and up to 10% ethanol. Its Research Octane Number (RON) is 95.

Super unleaded is E5, denoting 5% ethanol, 95% unleaded. Its RON rating is typically 97/98, although Shell’s V-Power unleaded is 99 RON.

The E10 and E5 tags do not necessarily indicate the exact proportion of ethanol, merely the maximum, as fuel manufacturers are able to meet their obligations across all road vehicle fuels, including diesel.

All UK fuel comes from the same refineries, so all brands and retailers have the same base fuels. They differ through the addition of so-called ‘additive packs’. These are added at the terminal, then the delivery tankers are filled with fuel.

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