Brand new Triumph Thruxton TFC still on offer Tickets: £10 for five (and you have to buy at least five) Here's a timely reminder that the National Motorcycle Museum (NMM)Winter Raffle is still open with a chance to win a Triumph Thruxton TFC. We mention this again because although pretty much all the recent NMM prizes have been good-to-excellent, we think this "factory custom" is an absolute cracker.  Tickets are still five for a tenner. Pounds that is. And you have to be a UK resident to enter (but excluding Northern Ireland; gaming rule laws, etc). The odds on your winning would have shortened over the last few weeks, but they're probably still pretty keen odds.
Makes ya think. Check the full story on Sump's Classic Bike News November 2019.
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He was a songwriter, singer and time-served TV celebrity He toured with the Beatles and had a movie career too We can't close on 2019 without a few words for British singer, songwriter, presenter and all-round TV entertainer Kenny Lynch who has died aged 81. If you grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, Kenny Lynch was pretty much always a welcome face on our television screens. Of mixed race (Barbadian and English), Kenny Lynch hailed from Stepney, East London at a time when the British post-war national identity was being urgently redefined and was looking for new impetus, notably among the disenfranchised youth of the day be it the teddy boy cult, the rocker scene, or the new age Bohemians and beatniks, many of whom would gravitate into hippydom. Kenny Lynch belonged to what might loosely be defined as a Caribbean scene—and we did say "loosely", because there was no hard-line definition of exactly what that scene was. But there was certainly a group of entertainers and personalities working around a vague colour genre and looking to find their niche. In the 1950s, having worked the streets as a fly-pitcher (selling merchandise from a movable stall or pitch) and a porter at Billingsgate Fish market, Lynch did his national service in the British Army where he earned no small reputation as a champion featherweight boxer. And it was around that time that he discovered a pretty good singing voice that people wanted to listen to. After the army, he moved quickly into mainstream entertainment, notably through the music industry and TV, the latter of which was still in its infancy and was ready to embrace the more "colourful" talent from both home and abroad. Times were very different in the UK, of course. Being black, or half-caste, was both a liability and an asset and needed careful balancing. You could be too black, or too white, or not black enough or not white enough. And you were as likely to find such fickle criticism from both black and white audiences. Nevertheless, many performers and personalities of the day—largely through personal charm, talent, tenacity and (probably) a certain amount of luck—managed to get that balance right. Harry Belafonte was one such artiste. Shirley Bassey was another. There was also Millie Small, Winifred Atwell and (in the 1970s) Joan Armatrading and Labi Siffre. There were also any number of American performers and personalities that found huge appeal among British audiences and gave encouragement to black British artists hoping to become part of the more lucrative mainstream—as opposed to being sidelined into the fringes. Two UK chart hits quickly came Lynch's way; Up On The Roof, and You Can Never Stop Loving Me, both in 1963. He was friendly with the Beatles and toured with them. And when Helen Shapiro turned down an offer to record the Lennon-McCartney song Misery (1963), Kenny Lynch seized the opportunity and scored a ... well, minor hit. 
Later still, when Paul McCartney released the album Band On The Run (1973), Kenny Lynch was one of two black personalities to feature on the cover (the other being British boxer John Conteh). Lynch "enjoyed" cameo roles in many TV shows of the era including Z-Cars, The Sweeney and Till Death Us Do Part, and he appeared in many celebrity game shows and suchlike. He also wrote songs for Cilla Black, The Small Faces and Linda Thorson (Tara King of The Avengers). He was also loosely connected on a social level with some of London's gangland figures; but then, so were a lot of celebrities of the era. It was practically a rite of passage. Pretty much everyone loved him. And naturally, plenty of celebrities did what they could to bring his "blackness" centre stage and thereby capitalise on it. Kenny Lynch always held his own and behaved with modest dignity, and in doing do blurred the racial barrier and largely put the "ethnic issue" to one side and simply entertained us with his voice and presence.  He featured in nine movies, the last of which was made in 2007 (The Riddle) where he played Shotgun Ronnie White—proving that the "colour thing" was simply inescapable even five or six decades after he first found his voice. So much for progress.
Ill health slowed him down considerably in his final years, and he died on 18th December 2019. He is survived by two daughters.
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Ex-Monty Python star and songwriter is no longer with us He also brought us The Rutles and The Innes Book of Records He was a man of a thousand faces, and typically he could go largely unnoticed by the general public. We first saw and heard him in the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. We saw and heard him as one of the Monty Python Team. We saw and heard him in the Rutles. And we saw and heard him in his own show, The Innes Book of Records. This was Neil Innes who has died today (29th December 2019) aged 75. Most people first noticed Innes, if at all, via the 1960s TV comedy show Do Not Adjust Your Set; a madcap adventure romp which narrowly anticipated Monty Python's Flying Circus and starred four of the Pythons-to-be; notably Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam. The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (later to become simply the Bonzo Dog Band) had a regular music gig on Do Not Adjust Your Set and brought us such musical delights as In The Canyons Of Your Mind, and I'm The Urban Spaceman—the latter of which was a UK chart hit in December 1968 and earned Innes an Ivor Novello Award. Paul McCartney and Gus Dudgeon produced that record, fact fiends. And in case you've forgotten, the late Vivian Stanshall (a delightful English comedy genius, avante guardian of the surreal and general fruitcase if ever there was one) was also one of the Bonzos. 
Following the cancellation of Do Not Adjust Your Set (remember Denise Coffey, anyone?) and the break up of the Bonzos, Neil Innes became closely associated with the Monty Python team, notably by writing numerous songs both for the TV show, the films and for the Monty Python albums: Monty Python's Previous Record (1972) and The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973). He also appeared on stage with the Pythons. In 1973 Neil Innes became involved in the UK TV series Rutland Weekend Television, a madcap/left field comedy conveyor similar to Do Not Adjust Your Set and Monty Python. This, you might recall, was the show (centred around a fictional TV station based in the UK's non-fictional smallest county) that gave us The Rutles; an affectionate send-up of the Beatles (that led to some legal disputes that were reasonably amicably settled). The Innes Book of Records arrived on our screens in 1979. Innes had the show to himself and populated it with dozens of colourful and often slightly mysterious characters heavily referenced by the arts, music, history and politics. And if you want to reacquaint yourself with some of Innes's most satirical and infectious ditties, check YouTube as soon as you finish this obit. Your time will not, we suggest, be wasted. In the 1980s Neil Innes became involved in children's TV as a songwriter and a performer, notably on Puddle Lane and Tiswas. During this period he also wrote and performed songs for a Holsten lager TV ad campaign. Much of his later years were spent on the reunion circuit reprising his various roles and characters, and he continued to write songs and develop his musicianship. 
The son of an army warrant officer, Essex born Innes spent much of his youth on military bases in Germany. It was during these years that he learned guitar and piano, and he supplemented his education at the Norwich School of Art and Goldsmiths' College. He married in 1966 and fathered three children, all of whom survive him. His final years were spent near Toulouse, in France; a country that he clearly had a passion for (as you'll see if and when you discover his back catalogue). Neil Innes, we feel, is one of those entertainers who really ought to have had a greater share of the front row limelight. But as a back row artist, he wrote many memorable songs, brought us offbeat humour and subtle wit, bridged the generations with the quirky personas he created, and helped underpin his contemporaries with his general inventiveness. A few more characters like him is just what the world needs. Pity he won't be around to bring them to us.
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Boris Johnson PM gets a (not road legal) TTR 125cc Yamaha for Christmas
Guy Martin fake Irish licence charges dropped. Autism accepted in defence
IOM £14 electric vehicle tax from 2010. Loss of petrol revenue cited
Robert Pirsig's 1966 CB77 Honda Silver Hawk donated to the Smithsonian
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Another phoney claim to fame? Or the real deal looking to tease out big money? People love superlatives. The first of this. The last of that. The biggest. Smallest. Fastest. Slowest. You have to be at either extreme, it seems, if you want to attract more serious attention from the world at large. But being anywhere in the middle is generally of less importance. At Sump we don't see it that way. Anything that's representative of the type or class or genus is okay by us, hence our general satisfaction with the common or garden variety. So when we read that Bonhams is about to flog the last motorcycle built by Meriden Triumph, we raised just the one eyebrow—and mostly in scepticism. We've heard this claim many times, after all. And we believe every one. And we believe none of 'em. We just breathe it in and breathe it out again because it really isn't that important to us. But it is important to some folk, and we therefore recognise that it's newsworthy. So here is that news. 
The bike featured in this story is a 1983 Triumph T140W TSS. The "W" is probably for "Weslake". Weslake, after all, is the firm who helped developed the 8-valve cylinder head that made this T140-based 750cc motorcycle so significant. Triumph (Meriden) produced this 120 - 125mph roadster when it was pretty much all over bar the shouting, business-wise. At that point in history, the standard 4-valve, iron barrel T140 and its offshoots were old and tired. Development funds for a truly new model weren't forthcoming. The best that the troubled Worker's Cooperative could do was re-hash the Bonneville concept and pray for some kind of governmental or private sector salvation. You probably know the story. Well this example, with its reworked one-piece forged crank, aluminium cylinder barrel, double disc front end, Morris cast wheels, Megura switchgear, electric starter and Bing carburettor is carrying the following identification numbers: Frame: SCGB75504CM032213 Engine: T140W 4CM 032213 And that, says Bonhams, is sufficient provenance. And we quote: "There is a letter in the bike's history file addressed to the seller from one Pat Davy, Assistant to the Librarian of The Vintage Moto (sic) Cycle Club Ltd. dated October 6, 2006 – the VMCC is the guardian of the factory 'Build Book'. Quote: 'Your Bonneville (032213) has the latest manufacture date ('21 JAN 83') in the book so I reason it was the last produced." The bike, we hear, was exported from the factory to the USA. It was one of around 400 of its type. The seller has owned it since 1998, and it will go under the hammer on Thursday 23rd January 2020 at the Bonhams Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction at Caesar's Entertainment Studios, Las Vegas USA. 
▲ Extended side panels protect the Bing carburettors and their prominent cables, pipes and whatnot from the rider's legs. The Electro models gave us electric starting and kickstarting (with kickstarting about to be phased out). 
▲ Marzocchi shocks/dampers firm up the ride a little, but you'd hardly know if no one told you. And that silencer was standard fitment on some TSS's (we've also seen plenty with the earlier cigar type). Interestingly, the estimate is a very conservative $17,000 - $22,000 (£13,000 - £17,000) which, at the lower numbers, isn't wildly more than you might expect top pay for a very clean common or garden variety and unmolested TSX. So is Bonhams simply pitching it low to get some juice flowing? Or should we view this estimate as a subtle indicator of what the auction house really feels about the "last of the line" claim to fame.  Fact is, we haven't got a clue. But we'll be watching this one closely to see who's got the deepest pockets when they roll this motorcycle in front of the rostrum.
And if it really is seen as the last of the Meriden line, we'd expect Hinckley Triumph to be present at Las Vegas with a blank cheque and a waiting van outside. Stay with us. See also: Historics of Brooklands Triumph TSS, Sump May 2015 See also: https://sumpmagazine.com/triumph-tss/triumph-tss.htm
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Timely advice on monetising your wheels More marketing suggestions are invited If you're any kind of player on the internet, you have to keep your metaphorical pecker up by stroking it in various ways (so to speak), not least through constantly developing and posting new online content—and even slyly repackaging old content with fresh nuances and artful spin and suchlike. It's a chore, but when the world's on the move, you have to run after it or get left behind. True or false? But that isn't the only reason we've created a page on Sump entitled: How to write a great MOTORCYCLE FOR SALE advert. We did it partly because some things in life warrant endless repetition, and our experience is that most motorcycle adverts fall short of the mark—and in doing so such ads slow the movement of money and general commerce. And it's money, of course, that makes the world go round. So if you're preparing your bikes for the new year (and most of us are getting around to that now that the winter solstice is about to fall upon us; Sunday 22nd December 2019), you might also be thinking of rationalising your collection and flogging those items (that you promised you'd never sell) that are now surplus to your exacting requirements. So if you have the time and inclination, take a look at our page. Share it with friends (if you've got any). And most of all, if you're planning to unload a  bike or two, don't sell yourself short. A few words in the right places will hugely improve your chances of clinching that sale at top money. As ever, we'll be adding to the feature as and when the spirit moves us, and naturally we're always open to new ideas on how to do it better. How to write a great MOTORCYCLE FOR SALE advert
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Prayers, carols and a lot of grovelling to a deity We won't be going Need a little extra religion in your life? Well you're in luck if you live in the Norfolk area because Lind Motorrad in Norwich will be conducting its first ever Christmas service. That's right. Christmas. Service. The Big BMW Blessing will take place on Friday 20th December 2019. The worshipping will kick off in the Lind showroom at 11am. The master of ceremonies is Reverend Bruno, and here's what he's offering:
Call to worship
Prayer
Bible Reading (Gospel of St John)
Short Message from Reverend Bruno
Carol Singing
Biker and Bike Blessing
Mince Pies and Hot Drinks
Everyone's welcome, and it sounds like a hoot. But not to be outdone, we'll be holding our own secular celebration. And what we're offering is:
Call for breakfast Prayers for the National Lottery Readings from The Beano, The Dandy and Viz (The Gospel Truth) Unpublishable message to Reverend Bruno Fairy hunting in the dell Biker and bike polishing Mince pies and a bottle of cold beer We haven't yet decided on a venue for our more modest knees-up (as opposed to a Lind Norwich knees down). But we're currently studying a few pins on the map, notably on Bondi Beach, Copacabana Beach and Acapulco. Applications from anyone with a similar non-religious bent are invited. www.lind.co.uk
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Mince pies and cold beer? What are you thinking? Sherry for goodness sake. Where's your respect for tradition? What do you heathens drink with pizza? I shudder to think.—Merry Christmas, Phil Cowley
When I read things like this I can't help myself thinking of darkest Cornwall, the more isolated areas of Wales and Scotland and the films 'Deliverance' and 'The Wicker Man'....They must be burning a BMW or something at the end of the service.—The Village Squire.
Amen to that.—Mucky Dave
Considering Christmas is only once a year and if I can upgrade my breakfast to brunch, I'm keen to attend both events. Although it is unclear whether parts are included in the service, and despite my usual reluctance to visit places that I can't pronounce, I would like to invite my application: put simply, one shouldn't quibble when there are mince pies to be had. Perhaps we could also carry the occasion through into the Sunday and thereby celebrate winter solstice.—Roj-Sheffield
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Good ideas to help you get rich quickly? Or slowly? Or idle and impractical speculations on how to improve your financial lot? Okay, we'll keep this short and sweet, baby, because we've got plenty of other cases that we're working on—not to mention a couple of blondes and a bottle of bourbon to undress. Put simply, we've created a new feature entitled: How can I make money with my motorcycle? Sounds straightforward enough, and no doubt you've seen this kind of stuff before; supposedly expert advice suggesting impractical solutions for whatever problem you're currently wrestling with, etc, etc. And we certainly can't promise that any of our own advice is going to work for many people, if anyone. So our suggestions might well amount to nothing more than idle speculation rather than hard boiled tips or guidance. But times are tough for many folk, and if we're not really talking to you with this feature, we're probably at least vaguely talking to someone out there (or maybe a few someones) who might draw something useful from our suggestions. So if you're looking for a few business ideas, check out what we have to say and see if you can bend it into a meaningful shape.  And if you've got any other legal/reasonably practical (or even theoretically practical) notions, fire them across and we'll see who's got nearest to the bullseye. Note that we're still working on this feature, so we might well add to it as and when.
How can I make money with my motorcycle?
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Hiya Sumpheads. Great article and all thought provoking stuff. Vlogging is another way of making some extra cash. Ride around telling people stuff and all. But it's getting pretty crowded. I tried getting into it myself a while back, but it takes a lot of energy and commitment, so I gave up before I really started. Still, it seems that other people have made a go of it. Keep up the great work!—Eggman
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Last year, Hinckley sold fewer bikes at home and abroad But Bloor Holdings has seen a modest profit Who the hell can really read and understand a company balance sheet? Not us. These days, to fully work out what's going on in modern business—what with the manifold boardroom shenanigans, the complex corporate structures, the offshore financial manipulations, the shell companies, the currency exchange stratagems and whatnot—you need a forensic accountant named Sherlock Holmes. So when we stumbled across an email from Triumph Motorcycles telling us that over the past financial year (12 months to June 30th 2019) the firm has enjoyed a 5.3% rise in global revenue to £529.5 million, with profits before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation falling by 3.1% to £24.6 million, and a pre-tax profit contribution to parent Bloor Holdings up 5.6% to £9.5 million, you can understand why we're scratching our crash helmets a little. Sure, we understand the basic numbers. But we suspect that there's a lot more going on behind this black red ink that would reveal other, perhaps more interesting truths. What we do understand, however, are some other numbers from Triumph; notably that (a) worldwide retail sales volume dropped by 1.6% to 60,131 bikes, (b) that UK "domestic deliveries" were 7.6% down to 8,298 units, and that (c) overseas markets lost 0.6% at 51,833 bikes. Triumph, it seems, cites Brexit and challenging economic conditions as the primary reason for falling sales. But without a lot more understanding of the intricacies and subtleties of financial reporting, we're not sure if this is good or bad news overall; hence our ambiguous black party balloons graphic at the top of this story. There's something to celebrate here, if only to say that it ain't as bad as it might have been (and possibly a little better than we're smart enough to realise). We're off down the pub.
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www.britishdealernews.co.uk Disappointing Nov 2019 UK new bike sales. 6004 units; -2.4% on Nov 2018 Vincent Spares Co "Goes global" and now boasts £500,000 annual turnover
www.revzilla.com 
No drinking & cover your tats: 2020 Dakar guidelines (now in Saudi Arabia) What should BMW really do with the R18 "big boxer" engine?
An interview with motorcycle photographer Yve Assad
www.motorcyclenews.com BMW's E-Power Roadster could be their missing link Best electric motorbikes of 2019 Guy Martin's Great Escape
www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial Where are all our old bikes and spares going? Guy Martin attempts famous Steve McQueen jump on TV
www.visordown.com How to overtake on a motorcycle Is it safe to ride a motorcycle after an accident? Ewan McGregor and Charlie spotted in Nicaragua and now Guatemala “Don’t be daft!” – Watch the trailer for Guy Martin’s ‘Great Escape’
www.motorbikewriter.com Guy Martin jumps into Switzerland
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17 magnificent cars from the golden era Event to be held at the Louwman Museum It starts on 20th December 2019, and it finishes on 2nd February 2020. But most folk will have to travel a little if they want to see it. We're talking about a new exhibition of Alvis cars which is being held at the Louwman Museum in The Hague, Netherlands. There will be 17 cars on show—and 17 Alvis's under the same roof is a treat for anyone with a little petrol in their blood. The featured models were built between 1920 and 1967. The exhibition, we're told, is a result of initiatives driven the Alvis Owners Club, Nederland. Alvis was founded in 1919 by Thomas George John, an English businessman who developed and marketed a range of products from carburettors to stationary engines to motorised scooters. The company name changed in 1921 from T G John & Company to Alvis Car and Engineering Company—and speculation is still rife regarding the origin of the "Alvis" monicker. But so far, arguably the most credible story is widely attributed to Geoffrey de Freville (1883 - 1965) who designed the first Alvis engine. And his take is simply that "Alvis" meant nothing, except an interesting word that pretty much anyone could pronounce. Alvis. Based in Coventry, West Midlands, the company hit the ground running and put its first car on the market by 1920. These were high-quality vehicles featuring advanced technology and running 1.5 litre four-cylinder engines. The company took an early interest in racing, largely underpinned by its front-wheel drive engineering and independent front suspension technology. The company raced at Brooklands, Le Mans and at the TT. Alvis is also said by many to be the first production car manufacturer with a fully synchronized gearbox, and the first production car with front-wheel drive (a distinction that's also claimed, with varying qualifications, by other marques, not least Citroen). By 1927 six-cylinder engines were being offered together with deluxe bodies from a range of English coach building firms (Mayfair Carriage Co, Mulliners, Tickford, Vanden Plas, Weymann Fabric Bodies, Arnold of Manchester and many others). Alvis cars were soon comparable to the designs and build quality of Lagonda and Bentley. The company, which during WW2 was razed to the ground by German bombers, was also heavily involved in aircraft engines and military vehicles. 
▲ Alvis TC21/100. 100bhp. 100mph. At least, that's how the ad-men chose to market it, or so we're told by the Alvis Archive. Between 1953 and 1955 726 of these stately 3-litre saloons were built. Overall, the Alvis survival rate is said to be around 20 percent. Post war, Rover took a controlling interest in Alvis which led to ownership by the ill-fated British Leyland. Since then the company's identity has been merged, subsumed, suppressed and adulterated by multifarious commercial interests and industrial tie-ups. Its more noted cars include the 12/70, the Crested Eagle, the Speed 25, the 4.3 Litre, and the Three Litre series IV—and all are beautiful and high quality pieces of luxury automotive engineering. In 1967, Alvis car production came to an end. But more recently a reborn company (The Alvis Car Company Limited) has arisen and has introduced the "Continuation Series" of cars; faithful (but discreetly updated) classic models from yesteryear—with a price tag too expensive to mention. So much for the mini history lesson. 
▲ circa 1900 de Dion-Bouton tricycle; one of many permanent exhibits at the Louwman Museum in The Hague. Based near Puteaux, Paris, de Dion-Bouton was one of the greatest automotive pioneers of the Edwardian age and built tricycles, cars and trains. Post WW1 saw the company founder and stagnate. But the De Dion badge continued until the 1950s. We should mention now that if the promise of 17 resplendent Alvis cars isn't sufficient to lure you from your sofa, workbench or bed to The Hague, the Louwman Museum (founded in 1969) also boasts a collection of over 200 classic cars, plus some classic motorcycles. Adult tickets are around €16. Sounds like our idea of a Dutch treat. What do you say? Louwman Museum Leidsestraatweg 57
2594 BB Den Haag
info@louwmanmuseum.nl
www.louwmanmuseum.nl
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BMW G310R up for grabs Open only to 2019 customers We checked the odds, and they're pretty good. If you've bought, or buy, a new or used motorcycle at any time in 2019 from Allan Jefferies Motorcycles (either the West Yorkshire or South Yorkshire branch), you're invited to enter your name into a prize draw. And if you're the lucky customer, you'll be given a brand new BMW G310R, no questions asked. Sound too good to be true? Well it is true. We checked with Allan Jefferies. Twice. The reason for this munificence is to mark the 100th anniversary of the business which was found by Joseph Jefferies. It was he who, together with friends, established the Ross Motor and Cycle Company in 1901. In 1917 that business became Allan Jefferies, named in honour of Joseph Jefferies' son. And the firm has gone from strength to strength. If your maths is sharp, you'll realise that the 100th anniversary actually passed in 2017. And that, says the company, was because they were too busy taking care of business and flogging bikes to mark the moment. But they're marking it now, and one of their customers is going to ride away with the prize. As for the aforementioned odds, Allan Jefferies tells us that they sell around 1,500 bikes a year overall. So if you've bought one in 2019, that's a 1 in 1,500 chance of winning. And if you've bought two bikes from the company in 2019, you'll get two cracks at the prize, and so on. Meanwhile, if you're thinking of buying a bike from Allan Jefferies, you've got until 23rd December to make your play and be in with a chance. The draw will take place the following day (on Christmas Eve). Finally, the image at the top of this news item isn't necessarily the bike on offer. We've used that simply for illustrative purposes. But when you've just been handed a free lunch, our advice is to eat up and not pay too much attention to the menu. Someone's probably going to get an extra happy Christmas. www.bmwbikes.co.uk
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18th - 19th July 2020 is the date The Prescott Bike Festival is the location If you're of "a certain age" we hardly need to tell you how quickly July 2020 will flash past in blur of history and leave you gasping for oxygen, but we're going to remind you anyway. And that's because we've been reminded by Lorne Cheetham who organises the annual Kickback Custom Show National Championship. He's looking for entrants for the coming event—the 20th, apparently—which will take place on 18th - 19th July 2020.  Sponsored by Devitt Insurance, the Kickback custom show and the National Championships will be staged at the Prescott Bike Festival and Speed Hill Climb in Gloucestershire GL52 9RD. And if you want your latest creation to be considered as a contender, you need to apply now.
There has been some confusion of late regarding website log-in details for would-be participants, so the simplest thing is to give you Lorne's email address and website details (see below) and let you sort it out in your own time as and when the dust settles. And note that if you want to sponsor the show or take some trade space—or if you have some other wizard commercial wheeze in mind—you know what you have to do. Lorne's a listening man. lorne@rwrw.co.uk www.thecustomshow.com
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New feature from Sump How to stay biking for longer Getting older can be depressing. We learned that awful truth when we first discovered hair under our arms—and, worryingly, not just there. The only consolation for many of us was the promise of a motorcycle licence and, of course, the manifold delights of girls (or boys, as applicable). Beyond that, we wanted to stay young and beautiful and unsullied by the ravages of time. But until the scientists discover the Peter Pan gene, we'll just have to do the best we can with what we've got. Meanwhile, the good news is that as we collectively age, so we're all living better and healthier lives. And that means many of us can extend our biking habits to ripe old ages—provided we look after ourselves, and provided we've got a little luck on our side. To that end, we've knocked-up a feature called: Older bikers: health & lifestyle tips. Most of it is egg-sucking stuff you already know. But there might be something in the mix to help you keep your pecker up as the sands run out (and all that poetical stuff). So have a look, if you will. See if it helps. We'll perhaps be adding to the feature as and when the mood arises, and as and when we get some helpful feedback/suggestions from Sumpsters. And if you know of anyone who might be in need of a little encouragement, please share the feature. Depression is the real enemy. Let's keep it in check while we can, huh? Older bikers: health & lifestyle tips
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Vic Eastwood, 1960s motocross legend turned Honda dealer, dies aged 72
Triumph London officially opens in Vauxhall, SE11 5AW (opposite MI6 HQ)
Suzuki releases Barry Sheene motorcycle restoration video on YouTube
No Time To Die (latest 007 movie) to feature two Triumph motorcycles
Triumph voluntary recall; 466 US/Canadian Speed Triples. Quickshifter fault
Eddie Stobart (UK's favourite trucking firm) gets £75m "bankruptcy" bail out
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New product from Sump Magazine £15.99 plus P&P These 1925 980cc Coventry-Eagle Flying 8 signs are not actually tin. They're heavyweight steel and printed direct-to-metal. And we were hoping to get these ready for despatch a month ago. But things being what they are, and us being us, and beer being beer, they took a little longer. However, they will be ready in the new year—and we do actually have one in stock ready to go. It's our own sample sign that's just arrived, and we think it looks great. So we won't be changing it. The size of these signs is 400mm x 300mm. The price is £15.99, plus P&P. And yes, that's a pound more than we charge for our other metal signs. But costs are rising, and for years we've pegged our prices down as much as we can. More to the point, we think this sign is worth it. If you want to try and be first to grab this piece of lowbrow biker art, just fire off an email saying HOLD THAT SIGN, PLEASE! and we'll put it aside for the first guy or girl in line. We'll also send you a simple payment link*. You'll have that by the following day, if not the same day. But if you miss out on this one, let us know if you want to reserve a sign for delivery in early new year (probably the first week of January 2020). We'll be printing just a small batch, so better get in line while you can. Pity we didn't get these ready in time, especially as this is our busy season. But life doesn't always go the way you want it to. Meanwhile, you might want to check the other signs that we have in stock. See the link below, chaps and chapesses.
* We've now put up a page for this sign with the payment link in place, so you can order direct. There are also a few words there on the Coventry-Eagle company and products. See the links below... Coventry-Eagle Flying-8 sign Sump metal motorcycle signs
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Motorcycles are not (apparently) yet affected Prices for rhodium, palladium and platinum soar So far, this problem hasn't hit the UK motorcycle scene very much, if at all. But it's certainly on the increase in the car world. We're talking about a significant rise of catalytic converter thefts during the first six months of 2019. In 2018, official figures claim that 2,894 catalytic converters were stolen from British vehicles. That compares to 1,674 theft for the first six months of this year. What's fuelling the theft increase (no pun intended) is simply the rising price of scrap metals, especially metals such as rhodium, palladium and platinum, all of which are widely used in catalytic converter technology. Vans, 4x4s, and hybrid vehicles are prime targets; the vans and 4x4s because the cats tend to be larger and are often easier to access, and the hybrids because the cats are used less often such as when the car is in full electric mode. That means that corrosion in the devices is reduced. So what's the value of these precious metals? Well, platinum is around £750 per ounce. Palladium is currently trading at £1,300 per ounce. And rhodium is a whopping £4,000 per ounce. Gold, by way of comparison, is currently trading at £1,222 per ounce. The car trade is fighting back by introducing devices such as "Catlocs" and protective trays, and also by relocating the cats in hard-to-get-at locations. But naturally, the thieves are also on the move and becoming ever more daring. The concern here is that as the cats get harder to steal, and/or if the price of precious metals rises further, the crooks could look towards easier targets. And that might well be the motorcycle world. We should say that we couldn't find a single instance of a motorcycle being stolen and tampered with specifically for its cat. But that could change. Meanwhile, if anyone has any definite and reliable info on such thefts from bikes, we'd be interested to hear it. Meanwhile, we're hearing that many drivers are completely unaware that their cat has been purloined until an MOT tester or other mechanic tells them the bad news (often prefacing their announcement by asking the owner if they were actually aware of the huge racket blasting out from under the floor pan). There's not much bikers can do until this problem manifests itself in the motorcycle world, except by being generally vigilant and reporting thefts. Take heed, people.
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