If Tonka made motorcycles, then one can’t help thinking they’d make something like this chunky and purposeful TT Special.

The old adage of what looks right is right applies here.

BSA’s well loved pre-unit twins culminated with the Rocket Gold Star, pretty much a hot Super Rocket twin engine in the Gold Star cycle parts. Overshadowed by its Triumph Bonneville counterpart, the Super Rocket was arguably as good a machine. Jim Reynolds takes a ride out on one, which is probably as good as it gets...

Benelli’s 650 twin was a radical take on the British parallel twin design.

When standard just won’t do, in comes the special builder with the Triumph-engined, Norton-framed 'Triton'. It’s not an easy route and it is quite possible to create a dog of a bike, but not in this case as Phil Mather finds out...

The AJS S3 was a bright and bold new design from AJ Stevens of Woverhampton. Unfortunately, its release couldn’t have come at a worse moment...