I’m Rupert Paul and I love
building motorcycle wiring looms

I also love riding motorcycles, which is just as well because it was my job for more than 30 years.

I started writing about bikes in 1985 when I got a job on Performance Bikes magazine. I’d already made my first wiring harness by then, after studying motorcycle engineering at Merton Technical College, and I’d also been a road and race mechanic at Steve Wynne’s Sports Motorcycles. At Performance Bikes I somehow progressed to being the editor between 1988 and 1994, before doing tons of other magazine stuff. What a lark it was.

I’ve ridden about 1000 different bike models over the years. The best one was Nicky Hayden’s 2006 V5 Honda RC211V, but I think even the humblest motorcycle has something cool about it. I’ve also interviewed scores of special builders and race teams all over Europe, and it’s made me fascinated by one-off machines. In 2019 I finished building a custom bike out of my old friend John Robinson’s Enfield 500 twin. It was featured on the cover of Classic Bike in autumn 2022, and in Moto Revue Classic (in French) in spring 2023.

I love racing too. Before the pandemic I helped spanner and cook for classic racer and former British Short Track champion Peter Boast. We went to the Isle of Man, Belgium, Germany and the UK and it was absolutely wonderful.

I’ve just got a 1971 BSA 650. It’s obviously awful, but that’s why I like it.

Besides electric stuff I can also offer restoration/rebuilds for unit Brit twins and Boxer BMWs, and (from Feb 24) paintwork.