Automotive
The Classic MotorCycle
Runs should be fun
The club run is an integral part of the old motorcycle scene. During 2020, a variation on the usual theme emerged, enabling people to ride in the company of like-minded souls.
3 min |
April 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Hybrid chicken
BSA Bantams come in many forms, and the ability to interchange parts between different models permits an almost endless number of variants.
7 min |
February 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Green WITH ENVY
Life aboard a 1950s 350cc British single is perhaps as good and as uncomplicated as it can get.
9 min |
February 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Worth the wait
Captivated by sight of one as a small boy, finally our man has the chance to try an NSU Max.And a ‘Spezial’ one at that…
10 min |
February 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
The Motorcycle: DESIGN, ART AND DESIRE
The concluding part of a two-part feature, in which the history of motorcycle evolution is examined and a new book’s author interviewed.
7 min |
February 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Cream rises
There were several ‘star performers’ at Bonhams’ winter sale, as the choice machines achieved huge sums.
4 min |
February 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
The Giant of Provence
With so few events to report from, it’s time to look back over a spectacular French event and look forward to its hopeful resumption.
8 min |
February 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Store cupboard special
A big box of presents? Must be Christmas! More deliveries keep the project on track.
6 min |
February 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
By 1929, CJP Dodson was a bona fide top level road racer, pretty much unbeatable on the sand, too.
The diminutive Charlie Dodson was the last man to win a TT, the 1928 Senior, on a ‘flat-tank’ machine, then the next year became the first (and only) winner of a TT on a saddle tank Sunbeam, as well as recording the last ever success in the Island for the Marston maker.
3 min |
February 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Cassandra the Canadian Commando
After landing a new job and with time on his hands, a young man in Vancouver decided to restore a British motorcycle considerably older than him.
8 min |
February 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
A brief chat with... Paul Goff
Interviewing for these ‘chat’ features has revealed a regular theme – the subject has become involved in fettling old motorcycles because of a personal experience.
5 min |
February 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Pitching a ride
The long-running sport of motoball arrived at Brooklands for the first time, in September 2020.
10 min |
January 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Muddled Tiger
‘Looks like it’s standing still when it’s doing 100mph’, rockers sneered. What’s the truth behind Triumph’s first unit sports 500?
8 min |
January 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Where does the passenger go?
Dictionaries inform the sidecar is: ‘a jaunting-car; small car attached to the side of a motorcycle; kind of cocktail.’ We’ll forget jaunting-cars and cocktails, but how did the world arrive at the sidecar? And what came before?
10+ min |
January 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Training run
Sidecar ace and passenger, plus a future winner, learning the TT’s Mountain Course.
1 min |
January 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Store Cupboard Special
On to part six, and momentum is still being maintained, I though the shopping list is growing ever-longer.
9 min |
January 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Changing times
As the Roaring Twenties drew to a close, JAP focussed heavily on improvements, including to lubrication, though, happily, they still found time for the odd whacky engine.
2 min |
January 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Engine timing
It’s worth making sure your engine is timed correctly. Here, it’s explained and exampled on an engine which is all a motorcyclist really needs (according to some, anyway…) – the single cylinder four-stroke.
7 min |
January 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
A brief chat with...Al Osborn
From crystal radio sets to current electrical affairs, Al Osborn has had a lifetime of understanding the mystical substance which ignites our engines.
4 min |
January 2021
The Classic MotorCycle
Money Matters
In 1977, when this example was made, the 250cc CZ twin was the cheapest motorcycle of its capacity and class on the market.
7 min |
December 2020
The Classic MotorCycle
Brotherly love
Colin Jansen built himself a BSA café racer twin just like he’d wanted in the 1960s – his brother liked it so much, he had Colin make him one too.
10+ min |
December 2020
The Classic MotorCycle
The brilliant Benellis
World title success in 1950 was the highlight for the family firm from Pesaro, on the eastern Italy coast.
8 min |
December 2020
The Classic MotorCycle
Go with the flow…
... or not, as the current peters out, meaning that there’s some more figuring out required.
7 min |
December 2020
The Classic MotorCycle
Store cupboard special
This is the fifth monthly instalment, t and we’re back on track – of sorts, at least.
7 min |
December 2020
The Classic MotorCycle
Hero hacks
A rarely seen original Royal Enfield 250 Clipper on the Isle of Wight provides an interesting contrast with the writer’s side-valve BSA from the same era.
10 min |
December 2020
The Classic MotorCycle
Five-studs
In double-quick time, the JAP speedway engine became the unit of choice if you wanted to win, a situation which remained for more than three decades.
3 min |
December 2020
The Classic MotorCycle
Fitting tribute
This replica of the 1970 and 1971 British ISDT Trophy team machines is a testament to their creator, Eric Cheney.
10 min |
December 2020
The Classic MotorCycle
Deeprose and Pertwee
Doctor Who tries out a rejuvenated Triumph.
1 min |
December 2020
The Classic MotorCycle
A brief chat with... Patrick Bramman
Of the many reasons to join the VMCC, wanting to race isn’t perhaps the most common one – and once you’re in...
5 min |
December 2020
The Classic MotorCycle
Top Level Twosome
The second and final part of our story on the racing careers of the New Milton-based Rickman brothers covers the glorious days of the 1960s.
10+ min |