A brief chat with...Al Osborn

From crystal radio sets to current electrical affairs, Al Osborn has had a lifetime of understanding the mystical substance which ignites our engines.

- TIM BRITTON

None of us in the modern world can do without electricity in some form or other, and closer to our hobby of old motorcycles, electricity plays a part in igniting the fuel/air mixture in the engine, and allowing us to see as we travel the highways and byways in hours of darkness or dull weather.

The electrics of an old motorcycle are a source of exasperation to many owners, actually, I’d say all owners, adding the caveat ‘though there are some who know what to do to make them work again’.

With a wide range of components involved in the electrics on a typical British motorcycle, where do you turn if you’re not that switched on with the current topic?

Well, since 1976, many enthusiasts have turned to Alan Osborn, when he put his ad hoc advice in the pages of Roadholder –the Norton Owners’ Club magazine – and other clubs’ publications, on a more formal footing with the launch of AO Services, to supply electrical components to the British bike enthusiast.

Al’s route to this point in his life began with a fascination of all things wireless, from building crystal radio sets in his early teens to working in the electrical industry, and formal qualifications in the subject too, but the route in to business was a simple chance comment.

Says Al: “I was editing Roadholder magazine and went along to see Mistral Engineering. The outcome was John Carpenter at Mistral offered a trade account to allow me to supply Lucas RITA ignitions and high output alternators to Norton owners and others. A similar chat with Ernie Bransden saw his products join the range.”

It could have been so different though, had Al managed to pass his car test at 17 – the world of motorcycle electrics would have been so much the poorer.