Restoring And Tuning of Classic Motorcycles

BOOKS

RESTORING AND TUNING OF CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES

Restoring and Tuning of Classic Motorcycles by Phil Irving Motorsports 6115 Gravois, St. Louis, Mo. 63116 $14.95 plus 75~ postage

The title of this book is somewhat of a cheater, even if it is written by the cerebral Phil Irving MBE, a man who has brought to fruition more good ideas than we have had hot dinners. Jeff Clew wrote probably the best tome on the restoration end, even if it could have been two or three times as long, but of course he didn’t go much into the “tuning” part. What we have here is a nice collection of column reprints from the English weekly Motor Cycling, the “Green ’Un” which with its blue counterpart the Motor Cycle covered every facet of civilized old chep Our Sport for donkey’s years. Another old load of columns you may say BUT! old Phil works through a selection of British bikes from stem to stern, letting fall drops of ineffable wisdom in every line. When these columns were originally written, new spares were in very short supply and when he talks about rebuilding such and such, he not only says well when such and such a part gets to such and such a state it should be replaced (the hardest part of restoration) giving permissible clearances, etc., but also adds if you can’t get a replacement for it Do This. As most folks rebuilding old bikes these days can’t find replacements, Doing This becomes important. He also tells how to build homemade tools (a bearing puller out of a cigar box and a Cadbury’s cocoa tin lid), how to ascertain clearances, and when not to force things because there is a dirty great flywheel on the other end. Also inside are dissertations on ohv vs flathead combustion chambers plus how to speak to them, aaand ... well all the stuff that takes years to accumulate. My old friend Steele Therkleson, a red hot machinist and racing mechanic, said, “Can I keep this one just a bit longer? There’s a lot of good meat in here.” Including tuning.

Henry N. Manney III