Features

Yamaha’s RD56 factory racer which took Phil Read to the 1964 250cc World title really did use a disc-valve motor which profited from MZ technology – purloined by Suzuki from the DDR’s MZ, by enabling

Where else other than the Isle of Man would you find a top current British Superbike contender, a leading female racer and an OAP all in top-six contention? In five years the Classic TT has

When a factory makes a handful of motorcycles – only a handful – to race at the highest level in one of the most competitive championships ever seen, you get this. What a bike. What

Qualifying a written-off road bike on the front row of a Grand Prix grid ahead of Phil Read and Jarno Saarinen was just one high point in a career that embraced some of the best

So why would Bob turn down these works rides and instead decide to stay with Joe, working at the back of a funeral parlour in Bellshill, Glasgow? The answer: Bob was a man of his

Initially, the cammy Velocette was anonymous. The bike came about as the result of a discussion between two of the company’s top engineers. It was based on a standard, 350cc overhead camshaft KTT engine but

Moto Guzzi built a total of six complete 500cc V8 motorcycles, and while these differed slightly in design, they all had the same incredibly compact dry-sump water-cooled engine architecture, measuring 44 x 41mm for a

Agostini – 15 times world champion and racing on public roads? Mike Hailwood – able to win anything, in any conditions and against any opposition? Rossi – beating the toughest racers on the planet and

Sideways scrubbing. Looking for traction. Riding what is one of the nastiest machines ever made. There’s a reason why many in the racing world love and fear these things. Not least of all because of

In the ultra-lightweight classes Eugenio Lazzarini was a force majeure, with 27 GP victories, two 50cc titles and another in the 125cc class. He was runner-up eight times and won four Italian crowns. As if