TALES FROM THE SHED
Although this little bit of comment is plainly a spoiler in the ‘will he ever make that Sunbeam run again?’ story, I must reveal that I’ve just returned from a couple of miles with it. On the road – not on a trailer or in a van. Sorry about this, a little doubt and suspense helps keep things a little more interesting, but I simply needed to shout out what a remarkable machine this is! The journey to reach its renewed and probably temporary mobility will take a while to discuss in these only slightly grimy pages, but I simply had to reveal that not only does it run, but it rides as well. How remarkable.
The next comment I must add is this: if you had ever entertained the notion of sharing some road miles with what is surely one of the most unlikely British motorcycles – possibly second only to rotary Nortons in terms of sheer unlikelihood – then my suggestion is that you grab one at once. After a ride of a just a couple of miles I was genuinely reluctant to return the bike to The Shed, and only did so because I’d not put much fuel into it, so much so that I risked a long push by turning around and riding the same route again. Our farmer neighbour, returning from vital agribusiness somewhere, drove right off the lane and bounced his Mercedes along the verge, waving and grinning with obvious surprise as I hurtled towards him. It’s that
