well OCT 554N must have been crushed as its details are no longer available with dvla
-would have gone picture hunting in the allegro owners club archives if it was still on the road

It was GCT554N - I can't imagine that it would still be around but you never know, some fool might have kept it going.

The strimmer cord is too thin. Buy some heavy duty stuff (make sure it will still fit through the hole), it lasts for nearly two minutes before it breaks. Better still, buy a bush cutter. A bit more expensive as it uses metal blades. Be careful though cos when those metal blades snap...

Clutch-less up shifts and downshifts should be perfected so that you can ride home when your sodding clutch cable snaps and you don't want to wait 3 hours for a recovery truck where the mechanic knows f-all about bikes and has to call another truck... This is also easily achievable in a car but it requires a different technique.


Blipping on the downshift is something you'll either do or not understand why others do it. You don't have to be riding fast for it to be beneficial. It does make it easier to understand if you use your engine to assist your brakes to slow down. If you purely rely on using your brakes to slow down then you'll never understand the point of blipping. Try dropping a couple of gears on the approach to a junction, you probably already know how much this can help you slow down - maybe it felt a little jerky/jumpy... Give the throttle a blip just before you let the clutch out and it will be a lot smoother. All you are doing is trying to match the engine speed to what it will be when the clutch is let out - this saves the clutch having to suddenly speed up the engine to match the gear change.


Clutch-less up shifting in a car can be done easily. Next time you change gear look at how much the RPM goes down. Lets call it 1,000 rpm. This will be roughly the same for each gear change. So you change gear at 3,000 rpm and it now says 2,000 rpm - it is important to remember this. To change gear without the clutch... Get to 3,000 rpm. Slightly reduce pressure on the throttle while gently easing the gear stick into neutral, now let the revs drop to 2,000 rpm as you gently select the next gear. It takes a bit of practice.
Downshifts are slightly trickier - Remember those RPM values. At 2,000 RPM ease off the throttle and gently ease the gear stick into neutral. Rev the engine to 3,000 rpm (this is a more controlled blip) and gently select the next gear down. That's it. This takes a fair bit of practice to get it into gear without crunching.
I used this technique to get a mates car home very late at night when his clutch cable broke - Just put it in 1st gear and turn the ignition and away you go! Plan junctions and roundabouts in advance so you can avoid stopping and you'll be fine.

Ahh! The good old Austin All Aggro, I owned only one of them, not quite sure how anyone managed to own two of them?
Mine was the colour of baby shit, that nasty fawny beigey colour.

To be fair my first All Aggro only cost me £50 with a years MOT on it. It was baby shit brown too. It only lasted about six weeks before it blew up. Went well though. 1750 sport (with square steering wheel...)


As I needed a car rather urgently I ended up buying another one as the Capri I was eyeing up had been sold 10 minutes before I got there. This time I had bought the Vanden Plas 1500 version! Oooh very posh    It was actually a nice car. Broke down just about every week for the year I owned it. Drove me crazy with all the things that went wrong with it.


This was the last time it broke down on me. In the friggin middle of no-where with an hours walk to the nearest house with a telephone. I had it repaired and I took it straight to the auctions and got rid!

Hi Dom.
For photo's I upload them to FLIKR and then copy a link onto here. There's probably other ways but it works for me.

It can be tricky to get the old seal out without causing damage to the forks so be careful.
I won't say 'Don't do it like that' as I've done it myself but the last time I tried the seal wouldn't budge and I had to strip the fork down. It is easier than it sounds and didn't take too long.