INCOMING!

At 68 I have just bought a BMW R1150GS. Nice machine, once I had performed the mandatory ABSectomy on its defunct servo assisted braking system. But my! What a lump to move around, for example, on a gravel drive. At 19 stone and 6 feet tall, I’m no midget. I realise now why so many older riders seek out lighter machines such as Guzzi V50s, Morini 3½ s, older Honda 250/350s – even humble MZs, of which I still have two.

As would-be rufty-tufty riders, we tend to deny that in our advancing years it is not just our libidos, waterworks, eyesight and hearing that go into decline (if not some of our higher mental faculties!) but also our muscle strength. Muscle strength peaks around 25 years of age, plateaus through 35 or 40 years of age, and then shows an accelerating decline, with 25% loss of peak force by the age of 65 years. The scientists who study these things tell us that changes are greater in the legs than in the arms, possibly because there is a greater decrease in use of the legs with aging. Loss of strength progressively impedes everyday living. Women are limited by a loss of strength at an earlier age than men. Muscle strength can be improved a little bit by training, but not that much apparently.

I was amused therefore by the comments about the apparent nimbleness of an Enfield 500. Yes, I too, in my youth, used to regard a 500 as a ‘big’ machine. But with bigger and faster meaning allegedly better and more desirable, you can’t help wondering whether today’s manufacturers and their designers, who, after all. are chasing the retired with their pension drawdowns, etc, are not shooting themselves in the foot. At my time of life, 450lb is still about as heavy a machine as I’d want to ride up a muddy lane, and have to pick up when I fell off. Next year it will probably be even lighter. The excellent 1150 may have to go up for re-sale.

What do others ageing RC readers think?

Roger Bibbings, member

I agree. And disagree. (Of course!) Outright mass doesn’t matter so much as how it’s distributed – the new Triumph Bobber (be still my beating heart) weighs a whopping great 521.4lb (look how I translated that from metric, to give everyone’s grey matter a break). That makes it a monster 110lb heavier than an old T140 Bonnie. But I bet I know which bike is the more wieldy, and it won’t be the Meriden-made one. On the other hand, I just bought a teeny-tiny Honda Grom for exactly these reasons – it’s about as big as a BSA Bantam and nearly as quick… And on the other, other hand, exercise and weight training will have a significant and beneficial effect on muscle strength. Losing strength with age is not an inevitability. Sarcopenia is another of life’s little jokes which responds well to improved diet (eat a broad range of proteins) and increased activity (weight-based resistance training). Don’t sell the BMW just yet!

Rowena

WHATEVER IT IS…

The recent article on the Ariel 3 reminded me that the Department of Transport was not quite sure how to classify them either and listed them as motorised tricycles, rather than as mopeds. This resulted in them being issued with the same petrol ration as Reliants, Bonds, etc, during the oil crisis following the Yom Kippur war in 1973.

David Ingleson, member

I wouldn’t in any way argue with such an authority as Mr Melling and totally accept his opinions regarding the documented failings of such a contraption as the Ariel

3. However, I feel obligated to report that my not unfeminine sister, when about 20 years old,