Road Tests

Team Paton was the most enduring privateer effort in Grand Prix racing, with a presence in the world’s top championship, which began in 1967 with the four-stroke twin-effort and, with a short break, ran through until 2001. Malc Wheeler rides the last of the great privateer GP bikes…

University professor Mike Starr admits it was the mystique surrounding the marque which caused him to consider ownership of what must be one of the world’s most famous motorcycles. It’s a stunning example and we can only imagine how our writer felt when offered a test ride…

‘The modern motorcycle’, so proclaimed Ariel advertising slogans. And when the Leader was introduced, the firm could really be considered the makers of such a thing…

Honda’s CB1100F was the last of its classic air-cooled fours and although overshadowed by the exotic CB1100R production racer still pulls a hefty punch with a 140mph top speed…

Cotton, as a motorcycle manufacturer, didn’t stray from the ‘straight tube’ frame building philosophy in the 1920s and 30s. That was because it was a design that worked. Best of all, the frame allowed all of the performance to be used. Roy Poynting explains…

Sometimes steady modification and improvements aren’t just quite enough and a radical rethink is necessary. Rod Ker tells the tale of how Norvil continues to prove that the twin is anything but dead…

Thirty years on, the 500 Kawasaki two stroke triple’s fearsome reputation for all-or-nothing engine power delivery seems over-exaggerated. However, it still provides excitement by the shed load, and at the time it must have been like being hit on the back of the head with a baseball bat. Rod Ker tries one out…

Racing success and track development led to full showroom order books for Ducati’s road lightweights

Moto Guzzi never did improve on the superbly designed original, as Rod Ker finds out in the saddle of its plastic-shrouded successor

Harley-Davidson’s motorcycles earned their stripes in combat during WWII, though this veteran modestly disguises its military background today…