My 1st Classic bike ride to Popham yesterday.

Well, it was interesting.

I rode a 1948 BSA B31. 350cc single.

Not a Bantum as I originally thought.

Was quite a nice bike to ride once you got used to the gears. Quite chuggy but surprisingly nimble around corners, scraped the pegs a couple of times due to it being so low. Hit 65mph a few times too which was great. Got lots of looks which was cool and loads of other bikers were waving/nodding too. Rode about 60 miles in total and to be honest I could have done another 60 with no problems. I got used to the reveresed gears quick enough, 1 up, 3 down and gear lever was on the 'wrong' side. Front brake did nothing, back brake just locked up so that was interesting. Stalled it twice on the way to Popham but on the way back was fine. A great bike to ride and if I had the cash I would buy one tomorrow. My mate rode his Ariel Square 4 (with sidecar of course) and a couple of times he had the sidecar up in the air, easily done by the looks of it.

A couple of piccies of the bikes:

I'm not jealous at all... no not me.

[fastdruid]

Originally Posted by Grinch

I'm not jealous at all... no not me.

BAH! I'm jealous of anyone who can ride a bike atm[1] but that sounded like a right hoot!

Oldest bike I've ever riden is a 60's Vespa, would love to ride something like that.

Druid

[1] Broken Collarbone.

Hey Dan, looks like you had fun! Would you rather have the BSA or your hornet though?

Originally Posted by Warthog

Hey Dan, looks like you had fun! Would you rather have the BSA or your hornet though?

Hornet of course. But I would rather have the BSA as a 2nd bike than anything else. Such a joy to ride.

[mister c]

Lucky boy cant beat a bit of nostalgia
I was offered a square four in boxes once for £200, which was a bargain even then, but just didn't have the money

[Bri w]

The Squariel is just, aahhh Bisto. Shame about the 'car on it. *The years have just slipped away, and i have all my own hair again*

Pics much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed the experience.

I'll add more pics tonight. There were so many bikes it was hard to know where to look first!

my grandad used to have an arial sq4 outfit as the family transport and would regularly fly the car with people in it!

love to see some pictures if you have any.

Looks like a lot of fun Dan, and a beautiful bike. Glad you had a good time (and didn't bin it, I bet those things are expensive!)