NOVEMBER 2023 ISSUE #526
There is no better feeling in classic biking than the euphoric sense of achievement, joy and relief that comes when a bike that you’ve lovingly re-assembled from a pile of parts fires up for the first time post-rebuild, filling the workshop with the smell of hot oil and exhaust fumes.
I was hoping to enjoy that sensation last month with my BSA Bantam. But it didn’t happen. Instead, I got the other extreme of project emotion – despondency due to disappointment. The bloody thing wouldn’t start.
That low soon passed, because the essential character trait in the Projecteer is optimism. Show us a pile of broken bits and we’re daydreaming of summer rides on a beautifully performing motorcycle. The Bantam will run again. I mean, we’re already four months behind schedule, so what’s a few more weeks?
With no garage of my own, and with limited mechanical skills, I try to keep my ambitions modest and enlist the help and talents of others. But I’m always in awe of people who get really audacious. There’s a few of them in this issue to inspire you to crack on with your endeavours this winter.
Peter Kemp built a swingarm-framed Ariel Square Four, because the factory never made the bike that he wanted. The team at Royal Enfield made a replica of the company’s first bike, starting with couple of photos and a tatty sales leafet. Serial Projecteer Steve Linsdell created hub-steering Yamahas and fast Enfield singles and raced them on the Isle of Man. More at my level, Adam Smallman resurected his worn out Yamaha XT500.
We’ve also got our own Rick Parkington to download his hard-won project experience, and Alan Seeley has been pressing on with our Harris Magnum build.
