Bike
Shed Bikes
It
has crossed my mind that so many people undertake restorations back
to original spec building, in many cases, a motorcycle that is
better than one that came out of the factory. I have been looking
around the Museum to see what we have that is completely original and
what has been adapted during the lifetime of the bike. An example of
that is the Brooklands Sprinter another is the very nicely done
Triumph Custom
and what about Bill Bragg’s sprint bikes? I, for one, have a view
that each bike is individual and the owner makes it so. If anyone has
visited the Museum and seen my “Bike Shed Velocette LE” outside
will see that it has been greatly modified for the job I wanted it to
do. That was green laning in the 70's when I was able to get along many of the stretches of unpaved Fosse Way
I didn't get to finish the
project before moving away from the West Country but did use a '57
Triumph Twenty-one instead. That was also similarly modified. This
brings me on to the question should you restore back to original or
refurbish what another enthusiast has done? I have been in situations
in the 70's and 80's where
I could not get suitable parts for love nor money so had to settle
for what I could get and you can see this from the twisted custom
side stand on the LE. Not my real choice but one I ended up with to
keep the project going. Although I started it in 1974 it took me
nearly 20 years to finish it off and it first appeared back on the
road in 1994 in time for the Kempton Park Southern Classic bike show
that
year.
The LE is registered in 1963 so would someone take it on to restore it to original or refurbish what I have done? If you take the start of
the project in 1975 then it is now 40 years on so is it now a proper
classic bike and would need to be kept close to as it is now? I open
this up for debate and site the Brooklands Sprinter as an example of
a motorcycles evolution during its life. 
It
has a 1922 frame and a 1928 engine, home made front forks and ball
end levers that means it was used in competition in the 1950's. I
think that the Triton is the classic of all bike shed enthusiasts and
that is not original front hub from the 1952 Sunbeam S8 is a
worthwhile change from the single sided unit to a full width one. 
Do
the pedal blocks on the 1913 JES need to be kept as they are required
by the owner to use the machine and if on the bike long enough to
become part of the restorable history? All views are open to debate including leaving it as it is. We have done this with the 1909 Triumph that has many parts missing along with accumulated rust. I am not sure you would want to use it again if restored but it does reflect the history of the machine. Is it better to retain the battle scars of life or to have a pristine example?
Now mentioning battle scars I have been out and about over the week to Warrs at Mottingham to leave more fliers and again at the monthly Wey Valley Advanced Motorcycle Club. It was a social evening with a talk from the man who started “The Bike Experience”. It is all about getting disabled bikers back on their bikes having received life changing disabilities. Talon, who runs the show, is disabled from the chest down and has managed to get back on a modified bike and even go racing. He has on a few more signing offs to go to get his National Racing Licence. He has a very positive attitude and his mantra is to focus on what you can do and not what you can't. He has a group of very good volunteers and is always looking for more. They help get the disabled bikers launched when they set off and then catch them again when they land. There are no charges for individuals for the experience but they do require quite allot of funding and all this comes from donations as it costs about £400 for each person. So far he has had over 170 people take part in the Experience and the ear to ear smile of people who thought they would never, ever ride a motorcycle again is priceless Talon can be contacted by email at talon@tbex.co.uk or you can visit the website at www.tbex.co.uk.
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