Classic Christmas Gifts

The festive season can get a little frantic, what with toy runs, club dinners and chipping the ice off your delicate parts. Here are our time-saving suggestions for stocking fillers to suit classic bike fans…

A Brough Book

No, not any old book about Brough Superiors – THE book about Brough Superiors which Titch Allen worked on for many years prior to his demise. Just published by the VMCC, this comprehensive overview of George Brough shines a spotlight on the man himself, his motorcycles and his most famous customer, T E Lawrence. Titch Allen was a lifelong enthusiast of the BruffSup marque and sought out associates, colleagues and employees of George Brough to build up a unique insight into the character of this larger-than-life character. The result is a substantial hardback publication of over 350 pages with a wealth of illustrations, many of which have never been seen before.

‘Legends in their Lifetime – George Brough and Lawrence of Arabia’ costs £29.99 from www.vmcc.net/vmccshop/mcartfree/product.asp?intProdID=4033 or call 01283 540557

Triple Fantastic

If someone you know owns a three-cylinder BSA-Triumph, or one of the unit twins produced by that concern, then an LP Williams gift voucher should be warmly welcomed.

While LP Williams specialise in the triples they also carry extensive stock for the later 500, 650 and 750cc BSA and Triumph twins – everything from every day consumables to service kits and hard to find, high quality spares.

You don’t have to guess what your chum might like: just give him (…or her) a voucher which will come in handy at just the right moment in future. Vouchers start at £10 and can be redeemed against books or spare parts.

See www.triumph-spares.co.uk

Old and New Tridents on Now…

Super RC Shed Mug

The perfect stocking filler for a keen RC reader, the Mk3 version of our Super Shed Mug has an increased capacity of 450mland holds a proper, man-size brew. It’s also insulated so will keep your cuppa cosy when you’re spannering in the Shed. Comes with optional lid and fits car cup-holders, too. The Mk3 Shed Mug costs £6.50 including UK delivery from: www.oldbikeshop.com/detail.asp?ItemCode=THMUGRC or call 01507 529529.

Top Tees

Red Lizard have extended their chic range of retro shirts, which now includes a Steve McQueen ‘King of Cool’ design and a classic Panther Model 75 advert, plus half a dozen other styles to suit specific motorcycling tastes. We particularly like the ‘Unapproachable Norton’ design, but you might prefer to wear George Shuttleworth or Evel Knievel emblazoned across your taut pectorals. (TP just fainted at the thought). The Red Lizard Tees are printed using ‘distressed effect’ inks onto pre-shrunk heavyweight cotton tees, and cost £14.95 plus delivery. It’s nice that they’re not all black shirts – some of the faded greys and military colour Tees make a nice change from the Henry Ford approach to colour-coordination.

See www.classic-motorcycles.co.uk for the full range or call 01624 814231.

Get LED Astray

If you know someone who would like to ride with his headlamp on more often, but is concerned about the drain on his bike’s electrical system, then LED replacement bulbs from Paul Goff are a great (and inexpensive) idea. These new LEDs produce a bright light through a full180 degrees just like an ordinary light bulb, so they give good lighting for dashboard instruments and can be used as daytime running lights. Fitted inside a headlight as a pilot light they will light the reflector as bright as a 10W Quartz Halogen bulb, but LEDs draw very little current. They’re suitable for positive and negative earth systems, and cost just £5.95 plus delivery.

See www.norbsa02.freeuk.com/goffyleds.htm or call 01494 868218.

To Cap It All

It’s all very well keeping your grey matter snug inside a skid lid while you’re riding, but many classic bike riders tend to suffer from what could be delicately described as ‘slender’ hair, and so bare scalps are exposed to the worst of the winter weather. The knitted RealClassic cap comes to the rescue, providing snuggly coverage for your head when you’re not in the saddle. The woolly cap features our ‘RealClassic: Ride It/Read It’ slogan, and is made from heavy gauge, soft-feel acrylic yarn which retains its shape well and can be machine washed. The charcoal grey colour hides any grubbiness, while the peak helps to keep it securely on your head.

The RC knitted cap costs £9 delivered to the UK. Call 01507 529529 to order, or see: www.oldbikeshop.com/detail.asp?ItemCode=9300

Make A Date!

The AJS & Matchless OC’s annual calendar follows last year’s trend and features a bevvy of bubbly beauties alongside a different bike of the marque for each month. This A3 calendar costs £6 plus delivery from www.jampot.com

Andy Tiernan’s calendar features a selection of gorgeous line drawings by Nick Ward featuring half a dozen genuine enthusiasts and their very real classics. Our favourite is the sketch of Andy himself, wearing trademark overalls, alongside his handsome Goldie. All profits from the calendar go to the East Anglian Air Ambulance, and it costs £5 plus postage. Send cheques for £5 made payable to the ‘East Anglian Air Ambulance’, plus postage stamps to the value of 81 pence (for 2nd class UK postage).

One Man’s Dream DVD

There’s a full length review in the pipeline, but order asap to make sure that this excellent film is delivered in time to watch it this Christmas. ‘One Man’s Dream’ tells the story of New Zealander John Britten, a remarkable engineer who built – to his own design – a V-twin racer in his back yard.

The bike went on to win the Battle of the Twins at Daytona, seeing off factory competition from the likes of Harley-Davidson and Ducati. It’s a fascinating and inspiring film, which charts the highs and the lows of Britten’s progression towards the chequered flag.

Available from www.manxshop.com, ‘One Man’s Dream’ costs £15.99 plus delivery.

Gifts Galore

Draganfly, the BSA and Ariel specialist have a whole gift section on their website, featuring interesting books, badges, pins and postcards; or for the more practical they sell special tool kits suitable for specific models. However, as the Drags team explain, they don’t sell ‘motorbikes in snow globes, sticks of rock or pencils with our name on them’ – just things you might actually want to give or receive, instead!