It’s Friday evening, it’s raining and the Snetterton paddock is awash with vans, caravans and awnings all fighting the battering rain and wind. Like a circus, the CRMC racers, officials and volunteers come to call another circuit home for the following two days, all centring around racing those memory-evoking bikes of yesteryear.
But Friday evening (and Saturday morning) the main job of all competitors is to get their bikes to pass scrutineering and wearing the all-important stickers to allow them on track. But unlike a modern race meeting, the technical staff have rather an eclectic mix of bikes to deal with…
Because of the ethos of the CRMC, there are a range of bikes that have to be checked. And the technical staff don’t know what’s coming to them next, as the competitors just line up outside the scrutineering bay as they get there. My guide, Bob Johnson, Ken, John, Graham and the other volunteers will look over a 1986 multi-cylinder Japanese bike one minute, and a methanol-burning 1920s Rudge single the next.
The CRMC hold parades, too, for bikes that may not be able, or don’t want to race, but that spectators would be interested in seeing on track. So what are they looking for?
Safety, in a word. Though these are race bikes, much of these checks can relate to us road riders, especially as many of our bikes are only used occasionally. And while no competitors want to ride a bike that could hurt themselves or others, we are all human and with bikes being regularly pulled apart, things can, and do, get forgotten.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
An A65 As We Wanted It
Jim and Liz knew just how they wanted their A65 Lightning to be
Norton Atlas 750
Hutch’s Norton Atlas 750 has been a good, solid workhorse – until some journalist had a little go on it and the clutch broke…
National Motorcycle Museum Live 2019
Getting more people to come to a museum must sometimes seem like a tricky affair, but the National Motorcycle Museum does it brilliantly. They let you in, for one day only, for free!
Coventry Eagle Flying 8
The little-known range topper of everyman bikes manufacturer, Coventry Eagle, has been a larger influence on biking than you may have thought. Rachel Clegg investigates...
Behind The Scenes Heroes The CRMC Scrutineers
With a variety of machinery to check, can we learn from the CRMC scrutineers?
Aermacchi Harley-Davidson
These Italian/American bikes have a lot to offer, and they don’t cost a fortune
Desert Stormer
It’s not a Nomad by name, but this Norton tourer has clocked up a quarter-million miles anyway
Utterly In Zane?
As a bargain-buy, high-performance classic, Laverda’s 750 superbike makes a strange kind of sense
Verdant Velo
Sporting sophistication for clubmen and commuters
Classic & Custom
MINDFUL THAT MARCH in Scotland can mean ice, blizzards, floods or brilliant sunshine, the Scottish Motorcycle Show is now mainly contained in three large, heated halls.
COOL DESSERTS
Save the best for last: crazy-fun ideas for cakes, bars, ice cream, and more.
Smooth Moves
Full Spectrum Warrior's Combat Mobility System
Tom Cruise: MAN ON A MISSION
THE ACTOR STOPPED AT NOTHING TO MAKE M:1 7 AND 8 AND TOP GUN: MAVERICK. NOW HE'S FEELING THE PRESSURE.
JAZZ ODYSSEY
Freedom has been on a lot of people’s minds the past two years. Jazz-fusion pioneer John McLaughlin made it the topic of his latest solo album, Liberation Time.
Core Sound Cruising
Hmmm. I’m in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a nifty camp-cruiser sailboat on a trailer. I have a daughter on a sailing lake in Michigan, and another daughter on Long Island Sound in Connecticut.
The answer for market volatility? Bet the under
BEHIND THE NUMBERS
Mr. Irrelevant
TGI sat down with linebacker Tae Crowder
FIELD STRIPPED
Original Owner 1966 SS396 Pulled From a Backyard in Charlotte, North Carolina
‘RAGING BULL' DE NIRO GORES ABUSE ACCUSER!
Federal Judge Kathleen Parker granted the 77-year old “Irishman” actor’s petition to move his $6 million state court lawsuit against Graham Chase Robinson to federal court on July 9.
GRAHAM FRANKLIN'S: DREAMS DO COME TRUE
IF YOU ARE A REGULAR READER YOU WILL probably remember this eye-popping XJR-S in edition #162 when it was owned in Perth (WA) by Peter Crisp.