Old Bike Mart Magazine August 2013 Back Issue

Interacting with other enthusiasts is an extremely enjoyable part of the specialist publication world, I’m meaning in general and not just for us on the motorcycle titles. Usually, when among kindred souls, such as the other evening during a talk at Sheffield and South Yorkshire VMCC, I’m on safe territory. Okay there’s a bit of banter back and forth as various motorcycling preferences surface as those of us who know the sun shines out of Meriden exhaust systems receive the pity of others for whom the world’s roads begin in Bracebridge Street, or Armoury Road for instance.
It is all good natured though, just as it should be since we all recognise that our hobby of restoring valuable classics to full health can appear odd to those not involved in it. However, in a room full of people more or less dedicated to old vehicles, two of us managed to ‘out sad’ the rest. In order that these talks don’t just mean me standing in front of a crowd of enthusiasts and talking for an hour, thanks to the modern benefits of computers and projectors I can run a small slide show... at least I can when I remember the power lead...
This show gives a brief look at the life of the editor and how the paper goes together, as well as including a few things that make me tick. These things aren’t always motorcycle orientated but do come under the heading ‘old machinery’. One of the images is of a vintage woodworking machine and for a bit of light relief I chuck in the question ‘anyone know what this is?’ Normally there’s silence, occasionally there’s a decent guess, rarely does anyone come back with ‘aye, it’s a mortise machine and I was using one like it this morning’. One could hear pins drop. I don’t know if there is a VWWMC but if there is there could be two new members here. Tim.