CATEGORIES

Training run

Sidecar ace and passenger, plus a future winner, learning the TT’s Mountain Course.

Store Cupboard Special

On to part six, and momentum is still being maintained, I though the shopping list is growing ever-longer.

Changing times

As the Roaring Twenties drew to a close, JAP focussed heavily on improvements, including to lubrication, though, happily, they still found time for the odd whacky engine.

Engine timing

It’s worth making sure your engine is timed correctly. Here, it’s explained and exampled on an engine which is all a motorcyclist really needs (according to some, anyway…) – the single cylinder four-stroke.

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.

EVENT: STONHAM BARNS BIKE NIGHTS

WHILE THE MAJORITY OF EVENTS, BIKER EVENTS, WERE CANCELLED IN 2020, FOR THE TWO BRIEF MONTHS OF FREEDOM WE HAD, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER (AND, OKAY, OCTOBER, BUT IT WAS BLOODY COLD AND WET SO NOTHING REALLY HAPPENED), THE NEXT BEST THING WAS BIKE NIGHTS.

MR BATCHELAR'S SCRAPBOOK PART 1

ONCE IN A WHILE A PACKAGE GETS PUSHED THROUGH THE LETTERBOX OF THE BSH EDITORIAL ORIFICE, AND ISN’T, FOR A CHANGE, A BILL, OR A DEMAND FOR SEXUAL FAVOURS FROM TOP SUPERMODELS – IT’S SOMETHING FAR, FAR BETTER (OR AT LEAST FAR LESS IMAGINARY).

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST NEW SKOOL

OF ALL THE CLASSES IN THIS YEAR’S CUSTOM CHAMPS, ‘NEW SKOOL’ WAS THE ONE I HADN’T A CLUE AS TOWHAT WAS GOING TOWIN. THE BIKES IN IT – TOMMY’S XS650 FLAT-TRACKER, STEVE’S INSANE TURBOCHARGED CAFÉ RACER, JESSE’S 250 VIRAGO FLAT-TRACKER RACER, AND BEN’S DIMINUTIVE SIDECAR OUTFIT – WERE ALL SO DIFFERENT, SO ECLECTIC, THAT I COULDN’T WORK OUT WHICH ONE’D TAKE TOP HONOURS.

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST CUSTOM

PICKING THE WINNER OF THE BEST CUSTOM CATEGORY IN THE 2020 BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS WAS SOMETHING I REALLY WOULDN’T’VE RELISHED DOING AS ALL THE BIKES (DANIEL’S IRONHEAD, GRAHAM’S XS, MARK’S TRIKE, AND MATT’S SPORTSTER) WERE ALL SO DAMN GOOD THEY WERE ALL, IN MY EYES, IN THE RUNNING. THE JUDGES, THOUGH, WERE UNANIMOUS IN PICKING MATT’S.

EVENT: HAYLING ISLAND BIKE NIGHT

I’M SURE IT’S NOT JUST ME, BUT ANY EXCUSE TO GET A FEW MILES UNDER THE BELT’S A GOOD ONE THE WAY THIS YEAR’S BEEN GOING, SO GRABBING THE OPPORTUNITY OF A DRY THURSDAY I HEADED DOWN TO THE REGULAR HAYLING ISLAND BIKE NIGHT, AS ADVERTISED ON THE BSH FACEBOOK PAGE.

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST ENGINEERING

WE KNEW ‘BEST ENGINEERING’D BE A HARD-FOUGHT CLASS ‘COS THE WINNERS WERE ALL SO GOOD (TONY’S TOTALLY ONE-OFF VICTORY, NICK’S SUPERCHARGED HARLEY RACE BIKE, AND JOHN’S COMPLETELY HOMEMADE SINGLE), BUT THE WELL-DESERVED WINNER WAS DUSTY JOHNSON’S MONSTER-WHEEL EVO’.

EVENT: ROUTE 11 TRIUMPH DAY

ONE SUNNY SUNDAY MORNING I CALLED IN AT ROUTE 11 CAFÉ ON THE NORTHBOUND CARRIAGEWAY OF THE 11 NEAR ATTLEBOROUGH IN NORFOLK, BECAUSE THEY WERE HAVING A TRIUMPH DAY.

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST PAINT

OF ALL THE CATEGORIES IN THIS YEAR’S CHAMPIONSHIP, ‘BEST PAINT’ WAS THE ONE I THOUGHT’D GIVE THE JUDGES THE BIGGEST HEADACHE AS THE FOUR WINNING BIKES WERE ALL ABSOLUTELY AMAZINGLY PAINTED. I, PERSONALLY, HAD IT DOWN TO TWO, AND SO I WAS QUITE PLEASED WHEN VIC AND LIN, PAUL, DUTCH, AND MURRELLS PICKED ONE OF THEM – CHRIS LINDSAY’S S&S, PAINTED BY GUS AT MUDDY BEACH CUSTOMS.

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST BUTCHERED CLASSIC

AS SOMEONE WHO IS, AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN, A FAN OF BIKES THAT GO FAST, THE BUTCHERED CLASSICS CLASS WAS ONE CLOSE TO MY OWN HEART, AND IT’S ALSO THE ONE IN WHICH I’D HAPPILY’VE VOTED FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE (ANDY’S SCHIZOPHRENIC LC, CARLOS’ VERY EIGHTIES GSX, STEVE’S UBER-BLING GIXER, AND RICHIE’S SUBLIME TDR) BUT, PROBABLY SENSIBLY, I’M NOT A JUDGE.

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER & BEST IN SHOW - BEST CHOPPER

WHEN IT CAME TO JUDGING ‘BEST CHOPPER’ THE WINNER WAS ALMOST A WALK-OVER, WITH THREE OUT OF THE FOUR JUDGES PICKING LAYLA LEATHAM’S BSA. I’LL LET HER TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT. N.

Time management

The engineering journey of a 24-hour race

The all-seeing eye

The role of the NASCAR crew chief is changing, thanks to the relentless march of artificial intelligence

Spring brake

Understanding damping ratios and the notion of critical damping

Power play

Incremental development is the philosophy in F1, and Mercedes has proved it’s at the top of the engine game

My gang

The GT2 class is taking off, with four manufacturers now building cars and more coming. KTM launched its offering in October

Engineering success

Dallara Automobili is a major player in global motorsport. Racecar spends an hour discussing the present and future with the company’s founding father

In a spin

Revisiting the perennially complicated problem of tuning the differential

Black Arrows

Racecar investigates how Mercedes has stayed ahead of the F1 pack in 2020, and how it intends to continue doing so in 2021

Endless summer

Japanese brake manufacturer sets new milestone in GT racing

Continuation Or Abomination?

The case for and against clones of historic racecars

Sparks to Norwich

Loco-powered services between Liverpool Street and Norwich came to an end earlier this year, although unlike the cessation of HST workings on the East Coast Main Line at the end of 2019, coronavirus meant there was no big farewell. David Russell looks back at 35 years of electric traction on the route.

£9 million awarded to heritage railways

Money from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund will help preserved railways get through the pandemic.

‘Late life' Class 31 locomotives

WITH Bachmann about to release its newly tooled Graham Farish ‘N’ gauge ‘refurbished’ Class 31/1 with cab roof headcode boxes as part of a new batch of six new Class 31/1 models in its winter release schedule, the diverse appearance of the class is given a photographic airing in this issue of D&E Files.

LSL's Midland Pullman breaks cover

THE much-anticipated first look at Locomotive Service’s Midland Pullman HST set occurred on October 30, when the blue and white train – styled like the 1960s diesel Pullman sets that ran between St Pancras and Manchester – was released from Eastleigh Arlington.

Will dual-modes be the new ‘standard' loco?

The drive towards lower carbon emissions could see an uprated version of the Class 88 become the new mass mixed-traffic locomotive.