Mark Williams- Affordable Patriotism

Old age and a shrinking wallet are obliging Williams to figure out if he can back.

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Britain once again

AS SPRING HAS now finally sprung, I have persuaded myself that I have got to downsize and get rid of the bikes that I really can’t ride anymore. Or more precisely, ride without worrying that they might not reach their destination without breaking down, discarding bits and pieces, or bestowing me with white fingers and a numb bum along the way. Which, inevitably, means I’ve got to get rid of the Honda CB400N street-tracker oft mumbled about in this column.

This is both a shame and something of a travesty because it’s a unique and although I say it myself (which of course I would) sprauncy looking concoction painstakingly and lovingly put together at a cost I daren’t even tot up, but we’re talking well over three-and-a-half grand. In the process it’s had a top end rebuild, all new electrics, exhaust and refurbed carbs, and is therefore reliable, oil-tight and goes like the clappers… well certainly for a 400 twin. So why flog it?