Old Bike Mart Magazine December 2018 Back Issue

Editors Welcome:

Being regular readers of this monthly missive, you’ll know that the classic bike world has a lot of clubs. Look at Club Call on page 19 if you need that fact reaffirming. So many different clubs, there must be a suitable one for everyone?

I’m not a ‘club person’, but I have learned that being a member of a club doesn’t necessarily mean committing yourself to anything – it can be more of a self-enlightened way of doing something to help yourself, and to help others. That sounds like a bit of a hippy attitude, or the script to a charity advertisement, but I’m referring to this with relation to the passion in which we are embroiled – classic bikes.

Many of you are club members – some have joined for parts or insurance discount, some may simply like the social side, while others join a club to lobby against dangerous changes that may affect our ownership of classic bikes. Yes, while you may think that changes in legislation will only give cause for worry to those who’re buying new bikes, think again. There is much to be concerned about in the world of classic vehicles – times they are a-changin’…

Old Bike Mart has already covered the introduction of ethanol into pump fuels, which may have deeper implications than the removal of lead from fuel in the last century. Time will tell what the side effects of ethanol really are, but it appears that they’re not insurmountable – fuel hoses, filters and seals can be changed, and fuel tanks can be sealed against the effects of the new fuels.