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Special brew

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Steve Boakes has built an attractive V-twin, using his skills and a collection of parts acquired over the years.

Words and photographs: James Adam Bolton

The green V-twin special had caught my eye on a couple of occasions at local meets and it always stopped me in my tracks as it didn’t conform, and I like things that don’t conform. “Looks fantastic. But what the hell is it?” had been my first impression to myself.

Out on the road, the V2Mac performs admirably.

At first sight, the bike, with springer front end and V twin motor had, to me, seemed like some kind of prewar Harley EL ‘Knuck’, until I spotted the Velocette badge on the fuel tank. Then, via our local MoT man in the know Dave ‘Tiddler’ Rogers, I manage to track owner and builder Steve Boakes down to his home workshop somewhere in the Chilterns. The green V-twin is sitting there among Steve’s machinery and tools for metal and woodworking, bikes old and new, and the wooden frame of a classic car. We pull out the green bike to have a proper look, and Steve explains what it is, and how it came about.

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Any readers and concours restorers sensitive to a man building his home-brew special out of a 50-year collection of old parts might want to turn the page now…

“I call it my V2Mac. A member of the local vintage motorcycle crowd referred to it as just a BSA with a few Velocette parts thrown at it. If it only were that simple!” laughs Steve.

Read more in the April issue of TCM – out now!

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