Phil has been on several Magellan tours and spends his time restoring old bikes to beautiful condition in his Shropshire workshop. We caught up with him for a chat about his passion for bike touring and classic motorcycles…
Phil Gardner
Tell us a little bit about you:
I grew up on the Isle of Grain which is between the rivers Thames and Medway and was next to a huge BP oil refinery. It was about an hour’s bus ride from Rochester for school or entertainment, so we had to be a bit self sufficient for fun and there was often a motorbike around somewhere that as teenagers we would ride on the marshes trying to avoid the local copper on his “silent” Le Velo patrol bike. I also volunteered once a month at the Buckmore Park scout camp which had its own kart track (private then before it got famous and Lewis Hamilton arrived) and I got to help on kart maintenance amongst other things. So engines and mechanical stuff came early in life. I left all that behind for college in London at seventeen and after stints living in Essex, South Tyneside, Norfolk and Switzerland have landed finally in Shropshire hills south of Shrewsbury.
Tell us what you used to do for a living:
Not surprisingly having grown up watching all the shipping up the Thames to London docks and the local connection to BP, I got an apprenticeship through the Merchant Navy Engineering Cadet scheme with BP shipping and spent eight years with hem sailing on oil tankers until demand dropped in late seventies and redundancy loomed when I was a third engineer and then a further five years on bulk carriers as a chief engineer. It all finished during the miners strike in the eighties with no coal to carry and I left for an engineering role in manufacturing. I stayed with that company for the rest of my career, finally as an engineering director on capital projects and got to travel all around Europe and Africa supporting various manufacturing plants. It also gave me the opportunity to relocate to Switzerland for three years which opened up a whole new world of the Saturday ride out having the Alps within an hours ride.
When did you pass your test and what was your first bike?
I got my first bike during the summer before my sixteenth birthday, I couldn’t afford a new bike and managed to persuade a neighbour to sell me a Triumph Tiger Cub for £10. The downside of it was the engine was in bits, but after many attempts and two new big ends while I worked out how oil pumps should be assembled and how to check for oil pressure I got it back together and working and so, with a provisional license, freedom was mine on my sixteenth birthday. It wasn’t hugely reliable and leaked oil like a sieve but I kept it until I left school. Nobody was in a hurry to pass a test then as you could ride up to 250cc on L plates for as long as you wanted so why bother until you could afford to buy a bigger bike. In London, I used to walk past Eddie Grinstead’s bike shop on Burdett St in Limehouse and they had a shiny blue CB250 Honda in the window and as I now had an income it was soon mine so I could get home for the weekend. I did take my test on that one but failed for being too cocky on the emergency stop and loudly changing down all the gears while stopping. I didn’t bother taking my bike test again as I passed the car test and biking stopped for a while when I was at sea. I did take it again when I was thirty and started restoring my next bike. I passed it this time.
What you enjoy doing now?
Biking generally is a key focus, before lockdown I had a regular weekly meetup and ride out with Brian Kirkham from the Norway group and John Watson (also Norway) would join us sometimes too. As well as generally getting out for local rides I also try to do a shift for the local blood bikes each month. The bike repair/restoration bug came back when I left the merchant navy and hasn’t gone away and this does still take up a lot of my time. I prefer rebuilds back to original rather than replicas or specials but so far have completed 17 bikes and because of where I live last year I did a land rover as well. Most of the bikes were mine but I did do a couple with a mate, and since living here have rebuilt a Harley for a friend with no mechanical skills whatsoever. This was an approach that worked well for both of us as he got low cost restoration (parts only) and I got zero cost hobby!! I would like to do some more of these.
As I enjoy walking it seemed only right to volunteer for a group that keeps local footpaths cleared and stiles etc maintained. It works well, the council provide the materials and we provide the labour and the banter. Occasional help to a local farmer fills up the rest of my time.
If you could ride any bike for a day what would it be?
For a whole day then I’m going to be boring and say it has to be the GS as I haven’t found anything else so effortless to ride yet, but if it’s just for an hour or two then my 1978 Ducati 900ss was the most fun I ever had on a bike. Raw power and awesome noise and it rode like it was on rails. I particularly enjoyed riding it across the fens when it was windy as it was heavy enough to stay planted but you had to fight the wind to stay in a straight line
What is your favourite local ride-out route?
Living right on the Welsh border we are spoilt for choice but if I had to pick one it’s a regular run I do with Brian Kirkham. From my house through Vale of Kerry to Newtown, from there to Crossgates (awesome biking road) meet up at Crossgates and then through the Elan valley and across the mountains to Devils Bridge and then Aberystwyth for Lunch before heading down to Tregaron across Abergwesyn Common back to Beulah. There we split up and I head back up to Knighton Bishops Castle and Home. About 250 miles of fast main roads, single track mountain roads and great scenery.
What Magellan tours have you been on, which was your favourite?
So far I have dome three; Norway, Sardinia and Balkans. I think Norway was favourite for many reasons. I had been to Norway many times while in the merchant navy and we had a regular run from North Wales to Odda with Limestone for their fertiliser process. After finishing work I wanted to go back there and Magellan’s Norway tour actually went through Odda so I had a chance to stop and look at how it had changed. The group was excellent, gelled very quickly and had a wide range of abilities and experience and from all over the UK. Oh and of course the boss led this tour with Naomi so what can I say? Riding in Norway is also a bit mind blowing as you feel like you are riding in the mountains with the steep sides of the fjords but then you look to the other side and there is the sea. The fact that riding was broken up at regular intervals with ferry rides also seemed to make it more relaxing.
What is it that you find so enjoyable about travelling by motorcycle?
At first it was just freedom to escape from village life, then it became a way to get away from stress of working life and get out with your mates or alone just for an evening blast around country lanes but now I just enjoy it, like lots of people I ride winter and summer and do more miles on the bike than in the car, and more often than not if you pick your route you can find like minded bikers at a tea stop and a good chance now that they have Magellan sticker on the bike as well.
What bikes do you own now?
I currently have the 1200 GS as my everyday bike. It’s three years old with only twenty five thousand miles on it so I will keep it for a while longer yet.
A Moto Guzzi Lemans mk 1 from 1978. This has over a hundred thousand miles on it but is still a reliable fun ride out, cheap to insure and historic vehicle so no tax or MOT needed
I brought a 1965 Norton Atlas as a project while I was in Switzerland. This is a very occasional ride (it’s embarrassing mixing up the brake and gears and shifting gears the wrong way). I probably should sell it as it doesn’t get ridden enough and I am not a believer in having bikes that just sit in the garage.
A café racer built around a 1978 BMW R100 with Ducati rear suspension, This is historic vehicle as well but needs an MOT due to the mods. It passed ok last year and I’ve ridden it a couple of times. It’s fun to ride but its for sale so I need to keep it nice.
Moto guzzi California 3 from 1992. Again over one hundred thousand miles and brought for restoration but now finished and waiting on better weather and its MOT.
Tell us a bit about your Le Mans & Airhead.
When I went to work in Switzerland I had to leave the Ducati 900ss in England, I used to see the Lemans riding around the locality and really liked it. It is a series one and fairly original so when it came up for sale I brought it with the intention of restoring it at some point but it’s been so good that I just maintain it and have kept it as original as possible so the only major work was to rebuild the worn bevel drive. I really like riding the Lemans as the linked brake system is really effective and I find the front brake lever rarely gets used and the bike remains stable under braking.
My plan when I retired was to rebuild bikes and sell them on and the BMW airhead; an ebay box of bits, was the first of these. I think I got an engine frame wheels and drive train but the rest was missing and it took a while to get it all together. The plan was to build it all first and then strip it back for painting and finishing. It started well but then we moved and It got put on the back burner while house renovation took place so it only got completed last year, but it was a fun build trying to fit a Ducati monster rear shock into the frame without all the extra bracing on the swinging arm, I used Yamaha switches controls and wiring and generally pulled it together with parts to suit including a few home-made bits. Yamaha controls and wiring featured as I happened to have a workshop manual for the old Fazer so had a point of reference. Sadly Brexit and then Covid have slowed down the selling piece so I still have it.
How much work have you had to do to them and how long has it taken?
Mostly the bikes I have brought have been non runners that need complete restoration so as with most of us who do these projects, they get stripped right back to individual components and then brought back to original specification. The time it takes really depends on what else is going on and when parts are available but as there is no rush I try to aim between 6 months and a year but each one is different.
What was the most challenging/frustrating part?
I think the most frustrating and challenging bike was a 1974 Ducati 750 sport, It was a box of bits that I brought from a local dealer and we spent Christmas Eve with it spread out on his showroom floor with a parts book making sure the important bits were all there. He was trying to make the pile look attractive with a few new bits thrown in and I was trying to make sure I got it all. Getting the engine rebuilt was the biggest challenge as anyone who has done one will tell you that shimming the right clearance on the bevel gears takes a long time. A mate made me a copy of the factory tool needed to remove the gear assembly and finally I got the whole thing rebuilt and turning over smoothly. It started up ok but first check was oil circulation (Remember the Tiger Cub!) and nothing. I took the engine to bits again, rechecked the oil pump it was ok and working but on reassembly still nothing. After a lot of head scratching and trying to prime the system I started it again and on checking the oil tank the bike leant over and oil was circulating stood it upright and no oil, lean it over ….. well you get the picture. So engine to pieces again and there in the casting was a hole at the back of the oil pump sucking air in unless the bike was leant over. Problem solved…
Did you learn any new skills along the way?
I realised early on after a period of working only on AJS and Matchless bikes that it was becoming boring so I tried to keep changing bikes to find something new and challenging so maybe not too many new skills but new experience each time. The Cali is the first one I’ve done with fuel injection and an ECU which was the draw this time.
What advice would you give to someone considering taking on a project?
Don’t rush, enjoy it and don’t be afraid to ask for help there are thousands of people doing this and most are keen to help, I often pose questions on forums if I am stuck.
Tell us a bit about your latest Moto Guzzi California project:
The gearbox on the Lemans was getting a bit sloppy and missing gears so I was getting tempted again to do a rebuild so the idea for the Cali was to get some Guzzi engine experience before getting stuck into a major overhaul of the Lemans, on the basis that any mistakes I made would be on the Cali that was cheap and not worth so much as the much more desirable Lemans. As it turned out having finished the Cali and realising the gearbox was quite robust but the gear linkage was the weak part, when I got the lemans up on the table there was so much wear in the linkage that I decided to fix that first and see what it did before doing major strip down so now waiting for better weather to take it out for test run.
I had planned the Cali just as a project to sell on again, but now it’s done I am quite looking forward to riding it so may keep it for a while. But if I do some of the others have to go.
Tell us a bit about your workshop and the way you work:
The workshop is one of the reasons we moved here. It’s an oversized double garage with a barn style roof and was built by a classic car fan but never finished, I had to finish internal roof and insulation and fit a proper door, but now it’s warm and draft proof and with no close neighbours ,no complaints about noise. There’s room for my bikes on one side and a bike table a lathe and drill on the other and there is still plenty of room in the middle for a car and a working space at the end. Because it’s high enough it has a storage level built above the bikes so lots of room.
I like the space as I have got much more methodical and organised as I have got older and like to lay bits out in an organised way before assembly, but I do still have to force myself to tidy up sometimes as having the space makes you a bit lazy on that.
Is there an old tool you’ve had since you were an apprentice & still use every day or is there something you would love to have but can’t justify buying?
I remember my dad had a canvas tool bag with some spanners in that I used for the first bike and I still have a couple of those in my workshop and I’ve still got a lot of the spanners and things from my first tool set but I have accumulated a lot more along the way. My father in law also took great interest in my bikes and he gave me a lot of his tools as well. I think probably the two things I have had since the early days and still use all the time are my micrometer and Vernier caliper, they are both so old they are analogue not digital but the still measure the same. I would like a milling machine or milling attachment for the lathe but difficult to justify it at present. Maybe one day.