Such is the case with Paul Goff, riding to his local bike club one dark evening he realised there was a queue of cars tailing behind him as he peered into the gloom ahead. “Normally it was me stuck behind the cars,” he says, “but the weather was terrible and my headlight not exactly brilliant, something had to be done.” Paul remembered seeing an advert for quartz halogen bulbs to fit British headlamps but couldn’t find the advertiser. “I did find an Indian company who would happily make me the bulbs in 6V or 12V with a range of Watts too…as long as I ordered a 1000 of each. I continued riding slowly and carefully at night…”
The idea of being able to see at night or in poor weather didn’t go away though and as is often the case, fate took a hand.
At the time Paul was working for a small engineering company making equipment for the food industry, the worker/management relationship became less than ideal and ended up with Paul being invited to explore opportunities outwith the company – made redundant in other words. “I’d been involved in autojumbling for a few years as a way to keep my own bikes running and realised there would more than me who would benefit from better lights, so I invested the redundancy in a few thousand quartz halogen light bulbs, took adverts in Old Bike
Mart and attended as many autojumbles as I could find.” The breakthrough jumble was Netley Marsh when Paul realised there could well be a living to be made from ensuring users of British motorcycles could see where they were going at night.
Denne historien er fra February 2021-utgaven av The Classic MotorCycle.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra February 2021-utgaven av The Classic MotorCycle.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Runs should be fun
The club run is an integral part of the old motorcycle scene. During 2020, a variation on the usual theme emerged, enabling people to ride in the company of like-minded souls.
Hybrid chicken
BSA Bantams come in many forms, and the ability to interchange parts between different models permits an almost endless number of variants.
Green WITH ENVY
Life aboard a 1950s 350cc British single is perhaps as good and as uncomplicated as it can get.
Worth the wait
Captivated by sight of one as a small boy, finally our man has the chance to try an NSU Max.And a ‘Spezial’ one at that…
The Motorcycle: DESIGN, ART AND DESIRE
The concluding part of a two-part feature, in which the history of motorcycle evolution is examined and a new book’s author interviewed.
Cream rises
There were several ‘star performers’ at Bonhams’ winter sale, as the choice machines achieved huge sums.
The Giant of Provence
With so few events to report from, it’s time to look back over a spectacular French event and look forward to its hopeful resumption.
Store cupboard special
A big box of presents? Must be Christmas! More deliveries keep the project on track.
By 1929, CJP Dodson was a bona fide top level road racer, pretty much unbeatable on the sand, too.
The diminutive Charlie Dodson was the last man to win a TT, the 1928 Senior, on a ‘flat-tank’ machine, then the next year became the first (and only) winner of a TT on a saddle tank Sunbeam, as well as recording the last ever success in the Island for the Marston maker.
Cassandra the Canadian Commando
After landing a new job and with time on his hands, a young man in Vancouver decided to restore a British motorcycle considerably older than him.
