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Lansdowne Season End
The last two meetings of the year, both with the CRMC, were at the Donington Festival in August and their Race of the Year at Brands in October. Donington was a four-race programme with 41
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Thermals? Check. ‘I’m just popping out, dear’
All that well-intentioned squit last month I wrote about workshop jobs to do? Well, I, er, there’s an issue. You see, as lucky as it is working around bikes, you are constantly reminded just how
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Passion fruit
Recently, I found myself sitting with cleverer people talking about motorcycle racing. Yes, I quite agree – finding people cleverer about racing than me is not exactly the world’s toughest task – the average empty
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YZR500 The OW60 family line
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
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Lone Rider: around the world by BMW
Back in the early 1980s, Elspeth Beard took her broken heart, packed up her BMW airhead boxer, and rode it
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Sexy Suzuki RGV500 rebuilt!
Kevin Schwantz’s 1989 Pepsi Suzuki RGV500 was restored to full working order at the recent Motorcycle LIVE event. The iconic Grand Prix machine was completely stripped, before being carefully and meticulously restored by Team Classic
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Anniversary Blade book coming!
The 25th anniversary of the Honda FireBlade (or Fireblade post-2004) was in 2017 and a new Mortons’ bookazine is coming along in 2018 to celebrate this fact. Written by our own editor Bertie Simmonds, it
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Mackenzie Hodgson Insurance
Triple British Superbike Champion Niall Mackenzie and World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson have become insurance salesmen! With many race and former race stars fronting up big bike insurance companies for their own gain, this is
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Honda Valkyrie
Honda’s six-cylinder ‘power cruiser’ certainly turned heads when it arrived two decades ago. It turned out to be an inspired
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Vincent Black Shadow
When the Vincent Black Shadow was announced in 1948 it wowed the world with a top speed of 125mph. Since
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Torrens: the classic motorcyclist
Back in the days of black and white, when the Green ’Un and Blue ’Un ruled the motorcycling roost, journalist,
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Ride Of My Life
In Ride of My Life, racer and writer Frank Melling tells of a few of the bikes and experiences, bad
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In balance
Loading the shed The prospect of planning a new workshop is exciting. How often do any of us have the chance to lay out a workshop from scratch? A chance to build what we want
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French sale
There’s a fabulous, eclectic range of machines on offer at Osenat’s sale, at the Salon Moto Legende in Paris, on Saturday, November 25. Ranging from a host of engines – mainly from French machines –
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Lone Rider
35 years ago, Elspeth Beard became the first British woman to ride solo around the world, and she accomplished this
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Only Bounders Ride Motorcycles
By Pete Kelly I sometimes think that Yorkshiremen are born with dry humour – and it simply falls from the pages of Ken Mellor’s self-published book, Only Bounders Ride Motorcycles, 100 Years of Family Motorcycling.
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A Racing Read
For British motorcycle road racing fans of the mid-1960s to mid-1970s there was no better racer than Peter Williams. Usually
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Perspective, perspective
A pretty big chunk of my little downtime these past few weeks has been spent watching some amazing races via my Duke DVD collection. And whilst I’m watching the thrills and spills of childhood heroes
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Feisty talk
Dear CR What an excellent letter from Gordon Chatterton (Classic Racer issue 187). It really sums up the current state of play, particularly with regard to the TT races. No longer the domain of the professional
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Mr Springsteen
Dear CR Thanks for another great issue of Classic Racer. Your article on Jay Springsteen was awesome… but you failed to mention that #9 still road races! He’s been riding an XR at the Barber
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Ducatis are a hit
Recently I was at Newcastle airport in a magazine shop searching for a good read for my flight back home to Hamburg. What I saw I did not expect – I found your good Classic
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Jim Curry Hot stuff
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
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Absolutely gorgeous!
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
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Classic TT 2017
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
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Tears and joy at Gedinne
Local rider Alain Vandriessche was delighted to qualify on pole for the IHRO races one and two at Gedinne, a feat not lost on the Belgian crowds who love to cheer on one of their
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Lansdowne update Cadwell Park and Castle Combe
It’s not often you can visit Cadwell and be blessed with sunshine, but this time we were lucky. Dean Stimpson, the leader in the Bonhams Championship, took pole position on Nick Izzard’s Manx, with Glen
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Harry Pearce 1923-2017
The funeral has taken place at Poole Crematorium of H A (Harry) Pearce, the very first motorcycle road race winner at Brands Hatch, who passed away peacefully aged 94, after a short illness. Originally from
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Colin Edwards Snr
Colin Edwards Snr, 72, of Montgomery, Texas, passed away on September 18, 2017. He was born on September 12, 1945 in Sydney, Australia. Colin, first and foremost a proud dad and grandpa who loved being
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ÁNGEL NIETO 1947-2017
Spain’s 13-time world champion and so-called ‘king of the tiddlers’ Ángel Nieto passed away on August 3, from head injuries sustained in a road traffic accident a week earlier. This saw him thrown off a
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Motorcycling in the 50s
Raiding the bound volumes of the old ‘Green ’Un’ and ‘Blue ’Un’ weeklies in Mortons’ impressive Archive month after month for Old Bike Mart material, this reviewer loved the black and white, almost ‘scrapbook’ design
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Kiwi Aaron Slight brings the sun to a packed Stafford Classic Bike Show
EX-WORLD Superbike star Aaron Slight showed that he really is ‘The People’s Champion’ as thousands of visitors packed into the huge annual event to meet their hero and take advantage of the autumn sun. Compere
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Don’t Miss The Stafford Classic Bike Show This Weekend
STOP what you’re doing, cancel your plans and clear your diary. This weekend is the Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show at Stafford, the weather’s set fair… and you simply HAVE to be there!
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Isle of Man TT, The Golden Years, 1963-1982
Encompassing the years 1963 to 1982, Isle of Man TT, The Golden Years, brings those exciting years back to life with 108 unforgettable images.How this reviewer remembers the crisp, smooth sound of Max Deubel’s fabulous
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Triumph factory insight
The author of Tales of Triumph Motorcycles and the Meriden factory, Hughie Hancox, was a Triumph factory man who started work in the repair shop as a teenager and worked his way up through the
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No MOTs for 40-year-old bikes!
From May next year, MOTs for cars and bikes 40 years or older will be abolished. That means that any bike registered before or around 1978 will be exempt from the yearly safety check and
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Classic Bikes, modern times
Before the interweb, dreams couldn’t be realised quite so easily. When I started riding, my evening ‘blast’ (as much as you can on a Suzuki ZR50, albeit with a slightly tired 80cc big-bore) would
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The Carole Nash Classic Mechanics Show gears up for another huge turnout
It’s just over a month until the world’s biggest and best celebration of classic motorcycles comes to Staffordshire County Showground. The Carole Nash Classic Mechanics Show takes place over the weekend of October 14-15 and
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Suzuki Village at Stafford Classic Bike Show to display a whole host of rare machines
VISITORS to the upcoming Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show – October 14-15 – will have the opportunity to get up close to a variety of rare Suzukis, including the two RG500s which Barry Sheene
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BIKES AT THE BAY SUCCESS!
It was another amazing weekend at the Bikes At The Bay event, down in sunny Kent. The August weather just about played ball and an amazing array of machines turned up over the two-day event
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The beginnings of a wonderful relationship
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
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BHR Cadwell Moore has it
Close finishes, a dominating performance and something of a find in the ‘chairs’ added to the memorable BHR meeting for round two of the championship in Lincolnshire. Read more News and Features in the September/October issue of
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Gear up for the Dirt Bike Show!
You really can’t miss Europe’s very best off-road event: the Dirt Bike Show! The event is once again being held across four days – October 26-29 – at its traditional home of Stoneleigh Park in
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Breathing life back into Clara
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
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Commentator Maurice Mawdsley retires
Long-time anchorman of the race commentaries at the Southern 100 International Road Races, Maurice Mawdsley, has decided to hang-up his microphone, having been ‘the voice of the friendly races’ for 28 years. Maurice took up
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CAUTION WHEN MEETING HEROES
There was much of interest in August’s issue of the ‘Guide‘. I was particularly interested in Paul Miles’ encounter with that well known prewar V-Twin. I too was lucky (unlucky?) to sample the delights
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My memory of Mike Hailwood
Dear CR A sunny morning practice at a very full Braddan Bridge in 1967, it was just like a race day, with everyone waiting for Mike and the Honda. Then that fantastic howl came
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Mechanical Marvel – Moto Guzzi’s 500 V8
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
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Mallory’s brilliant Bonanza
With all the elements for a great weekend of motorcycling nostalgia, the sun-kissed Mallory Bonanza ticked all the boxes for the large crowd of enthusiasts that made the journey to the friendly Midlands track. Saturday
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Brightona 2017 is go!
The Brightona Charity Riders show takes place once more on the front at the famous seaside town and it’s going to be one helluva event. This is a one-day charity event, taking place on Sunday,
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Excited (and excitable)
The past few weeks have seen me attend several meetings with some major players in the racing world . You may be surprised to hear not much of what was discussed centred around modern,
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Age knows no barrier
As you may have read last month, Frank Westworth has now stepped away from creating Classic Bike Guide. Rumours that decades of perfecting the skill of kicking over his trusty steeds taking its toll,
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Jim Redman Assen 1964. The best ever
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
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Thanks to generous IOMSPC travellers
Collections on board sailings to the Isle of Man during the 2017 TT Festival raised a record £19,465 for the Rob Vine Fund. Since the Steam Packet Company first instigated the collection, a total in
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To maintain forward motion
I’ve pretty much kept out of this whole ‘stop’ ‘no-stop’ debate where trials riding has been concerned, but have been goaded into placing my opinion on record… it is my opinion rather than
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Montesa Cota
I read the last Classic Dirt Bike and liked the short story about the Montesa Cota 310, also as the bike had quite a unique colour scheme. Thank you very much for showing up with
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Diary Dates
Make a date for these upcoming events in your classic calendar… AUGUST 2017 23 Bike Night, The Plough Inn Town Street, South Leverton DN22 0BT Tel: 01427 880323 27 LE Velo Lancs & South Lakes,
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Honda “6” RC165 Isle of Man Classic TT, August 2017
The extended rebuild of Team Obsolete’s 1964 Honda RC 165 250cc six cylinder Grand Prix racing motorcycle is finally complete and will return to the Isle of Man for the 2017 Classic TT to take
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Three cylinders good
FRANK MELLING’S VIEWS were definitely a different slant on the 750 BSA-Triumph triple and, while thought provoking and informative, the article was also bizarrely negative. The collapse of the British bike industry is tragic and
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Feet Up In The Fifties
This is the third book in the ‘Classic Images’ series which uses original photographs that first appeared in the Green
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Want to see Barry Sheene’s World Championship winning Suzuki RG500?
Advertisement feature Two of Barry Sheene’s iconic World Championship winning Suzuki RG500 motorcycles will be on display at the end of this month during the annual Cumbria Steam Gathering. Alongside Sheene’s machines, The Broke FMX
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Want to see Barry Sheene’s World Championship winning Suzuki RG500?
Advertisement feature Two of Barry Sheene’s iconic World Championship winning Suzuki RG500 motorcycles will be on display at the end of this month during the annual Cumbria Steam Gathering. Alongside Sheene’s machines, The Broke FMX
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The 145mph TZ750 Flat Tracker: Banned but not Forgotten
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
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Lazzarini – Small bore assassin
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
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Slighty for Stafford
If you’re a fan of the 1990s when World Superbikes was at its best, then you can’t miss this October’s CMM Stafford Show. Why? Well, Kiwi Aaron Slight – undoubtedly the best rider never to win the
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Classic TT 2019 to celebrate ‘illustrious’ Steve Hislop
‘Back to the Future: The Hizzy Years’ will be a celebration of his career 30 years after his milestone.
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Good as Gould
Dear CR In the November/December issue of Classic Racer, you covered the career and success of Rod Gould. He, along with his mum and dad lived next door to me and my parents, and Rod
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Jay Springsteen – Forever Fast
There have been many popular riders in American dirt-track racing across the decades but none have exemplified timeless competitiveness in the Grand National championships across three full decades of continuous racing in the Expert class.
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TT wheelchair challenge
The son of an Isle of Man TT racer is bidding to make his mark on the legendary Mountain course, by pushing a specially-adapted wheelchair. Graham Inchley, from Andover, intends to cover the equivalent distance
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Keith Heckles Tribute
Both sons of the late Keith Heckles will return to the Isle of Man to ride in the Classic Racer Lap of Honour at this year’s Classic TT and Festival of Motorcycling in August, as
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Landmark IoM stamps
This four-stamp issue, TT Winners, features Joey Dunlop, Steve Hislop, Ian Simpson and Ian Hutchinson, who, between them, have achieved more than 50 TT victories. 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of Dunlop’s first win, Hislop’s
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Lansdowne – The season so far
The Lansdowne season kicked off at Pembrey over the Easter weekend as guests of the CRMC, and ran in unseasonably warm and sunny weather. Thirty riders entered the various classes to kick-start their points tally
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New Davida Leather Liners
If it’s to match your bike, riding gear or simply to enjoy customising your helmet, the interior leather liners on both the Davida Speedster V3 and Ninety 2 can be removed and retro-fitted with Davida’s
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Hengelo – 50 years of Road Racing
Words and photographs: Jan Burgers In the Seventies, over 30 road races were organised a year in the Netherlands on public roads. Most of them under FIM regulations and up to 20,000 spectators came to
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One man’s mate
PART OF THE endless entertainment of a magazine editor’s life is the steady drizzle of complaints. No no; this is not a plea for sympathy – this particular editor enjoys all comment, whether it’s positive
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Retro Beemers blew us away
BMW’s new R nine T Racer and Pure have been launched and this is what Benjamin J Kubas Cronin from our sister title Fast Bikes, had to say when he went along for a ride.
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Zero-miler RG!
With our Stan Stephens special on the super square-four Suzuki RG400 and 500 starting this month, we thought we’d show you an as-new, unregistered 1987 RG500 Gamma. She sits proudly with the Suzuki class of
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IN BALANCE
A momentous occasion It is the aim of all trials riders to go clean… … and record the perfect score, of course the better the rider then the more chance there is of this happening.
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One man’s ceiling
ONE OF THE more entertaining parts of this strange job is the annual ritual of working out fresh prices for the guides. I say it’s entertaining – which it is, in a peculiar anorak nonsensical
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Island Racer 2017 – Your ultimate guide to the Isle of Man TT races
Island Racer 2017 is the ultimate guide to this year’s TT, featuring 148 packed pages of amazing TT action – and it costs just £7.99. Island Racer 2017 gets straight to the heart of this
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Triumph Thruxton Bonneville
Claudio Sintich (aka l’Inglese) has drawn from a wide range of resources to research and publish this definitive work on
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What might (and should) have been: John Kirkby and the Alpha Centauri engine
How two men pointed the way to Britain’s racing future, but were eventually beaten by bureaucrats Words by: Pete Parnham Pictures by: Mortons Archive Lincolnshire’s John Kirkby was an extremely able racer and a man
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Opening days: CRMC round one
The CRMC’s 2017 opening day, mid-March, saw all classes limited to one race following weather and oil issues but the Sunday at Snetterton saw dry, windy conditions and a full programme of races that
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FROM OUR ARCHIVES: Bob Smith – the peoples’ champion
EVERY now and again there arises a rider who could hop on any bike and blast the hell out of his peers. Mike Hailwood was one, Bill Ivy another. But there’s another example – albeit
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Vince French: Mechanic to the superstars
There is an old saying that ‘behind every great man there is always a great woman’. But on the motorcycle racing scene, while women have always been plentiful, that saying should be more suitably paraphrased
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Classic GP: Anderstorp 1974
Drama rears its racing head for Barry Sheene and Giacomo Agostini in Sweden. Words and photographs: Jan Burgers The eighth round of the 500cc World Championship took place at a quiet, open place in the
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Transatlantic Trophy: Part 4
As the world moved into a new decade in 1980, the Transatlantic Trophy (or the Anglo-American Match Races as the series was also known) was about to celebrate its own first decade in existence when
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The Matchless Colliers
The old AJS and Matchless marques, aka Associated Motorcycles, have an extensive and illustrious history which dates back to
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Barry Sheene: A Long Way To The Top
From our 2016 archive Jan and Hetty Burgers lived the gypsy life, travelling with the Continental Circus during the 1970s and recording some great images of just what it was like to live that exciting
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John Surtees: The man who wouldn’t settle for slow development
Dear CR, It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter having just heard of the passing of John Surtees. Surtees was everything that I thought a racing gentleman should be. He always
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John Surtees tribute: Four Wheels and the remaining interests
Having through the years renovated a lovely 16th century Tudor house near Lingfield, Surrey after the competitive part of his career, John now built up a property business, while devoting time to motorsport consultancy, and
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Paul Goldsmith: Right place – right time – right man
When the Davidsons offered him a ride in the 1940s it was a gateway to a life of racing on the ragged edge. And a beach. And alongside life-taking fireballs. By Norm DeWitt Born in
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Video: Vintage revival Montlhery 2017
Action from the recent Vintage-Revival Montlhery, near Paris. Video: Colin West
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The Strange Death of the British Motor Cycle Industry
This book provides a dispassionate examination of the evidence leading to the decline of motorcycle manufacturing in Britain. Although there
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Book Review: Where BSAs Dare! BSA’s 1952 ISDT Golds and Maudes Trophy
Author: Norman Vanhouse – with updates by Graham Vanhouse C.Eng., F.I.Mech.E. Foreword by: Jeff Smith MBE. Published by: Panther Publishing Ltd, 10 Limes Avenue, High Wycombe, Bucks HP11 1DP Tel.: 01494 534778. E-mail: [email protected] www.panther-publishing.com
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Bubba Shobert: All American Champion
FROM OUR ARCHIVES Bubba Shobert was following the established American path to the World Championship. A three time AMA flat track Grand National Champion, a US Superbike Championship, and a Honda ride in the 500cc
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CRMC News: Donington Festival
Stan Woods, winner of the 500cc race when Donington reopened in 1977, will be back at the 40th anniversary meeting and riding in the special parades. Stan will also be bringing the magnificent 500cc winner’s
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AJS pair steals the headlines at a sun-kissed Stafford show
A PAIR of rare AJS machines have made history at the world-leading Stafford classic bike show by becoming the first joint winners of the event’s coveted Best in Show award.
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A Flying Finn in France
FROM THE ARCHIVES After Chas Mortimer gave Yamaha its first 500cc class win at the last Grand Prix of 1972, riding a 350 twin, the 1973 season marked a new dawn for the Japanese factory
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