Lights FANTASTIC

Sometimes you just get that ‘new bike’ tingle in your belly. A seductive mix of mischief and desire, irrational yet irresistible. All those thoughts of perfection that will be the new bike you’re now dreaming of are, of course, based entirely on an over-active imagination and a disconnect from reality. But there it was. I suddenly needed a woolly two-stroke twin. I blame lockdowns of course but it wasn’t a feeling that was going away, so there was only one sensible course of action – buy one!

I had quite early on decided on a Jawa 350. Modern yet old, practical yet entirely charming and quirky. Easy then. Well, no. I had a thousand quid and it seems any ideas I had of prices for those splendid machines were about five years out of date. I was late to the party. Again.

What else would fit the bill? There was a Russian contestant – the IZH Jupiter, but they were similar money to the Jawas. a Villiers twin-powered something. The logic was obvious and infallible as I recall There was more choice at least, even if the prices still seemed stubbornly high. Sun, Royal Enfield, James, DMW, Greeves, Panther and Ambassador all offered machines using the Villiers powerplant, some with the earlier 2T engine and others with the later but not wildly different 4T. Some manufacturers used both through their production years.