I Took my 1960 A7SS out for a ride out organised by my local Heine Gericke shop the other week. It was a 140 mile run in the pouring rain with 77 other bikes not one of them less than 30 years younger than mine. To be honest, the ONLY area where my bike was not quite up to scratch was the braking, especially in the wet. I had the power and even the acceleration to keep up with the modern lads, but I just could not go round corners as quickly, and any overtaking had to be undertaken alongside the consideration of just how long it was going to take me to slow down again once I had passed the vehicle in question, and would I be able to do this before I was into the next corner! I put all of this down to the fact that if you are going to ride any bike then you have to make allowances somewhere along the line. In my case it is with the brakes. In the case of the other bikes, they all had to stop and refuel half way round whereas I didn't. And I could still walk in an upright position when I got off!
To be honest, I think that there were more lads that day who went away impressed by the abilities rather than by the limitations of my 50 year old machine. We just need to remember to keep things as good as they can be, and to always ride within the limitations of the bike and the road conditions.
