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Duller than a Deauville
Article continues below… Advert Enjoy more classic motorcycle reading, Click here to subscribe to one of our leading magazines. “These large corporate companies won’t force their vision of motorcycles for the masses on me”. Anarchy goes to test ride a new Honda…. On any Sunday, well actually this last one, I rode over to my…
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Are Retro Replicas Good Value?
Martin Gelder goes to Motorcycle Live at the NEC and comes back with a head full of questions and a camera full of inspiration and distraction in equal measure…
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Triumph T100A – Part 4
It’s the Moment Of Truth for Dave’s rebuild project. The Tiger is back in one piece and he’s got to get it going. So. Will it start?
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Triumph Rocket III
After a day’s escapades, Steve The Toaster reckons this is one Triumph which is a classic straight from the crate. Martin Gelder, on the other hand, says it might be big but it’s not clever…
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Triumph T100A – Part 3
We’ve followed Dave’s rebuild from the day he brought home a box of bits, as he attempts to fulfil his dream of owning a top-notch Tiger. Next items on the agenda: paint, and brakes…
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Triumph T100A – Part 2
In the first instalment, Dave found and bought his dream bike (or a large box of bits depending on how you look at it). This time: wiring and shocks and going for a bus ride…
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Riding Reminiscences 2
Ian Caswell recalls more of his early riding years at the Paddock, and one particular episode which became a local motorcycling myth…
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Racing Days at Mocheck, Part 3
John Ryan shares a final selection of his classic motorcycling photographic memories from the days when South London dealer Mocheck developed competitive production racers…
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Racing Days at Mocheck, Part 2
By 1976, Mocheck were enjoying enough success on the circuits that the company produced and sold a proddie race replica. John Ryan rode less and spent more time spannering, and shares a selection of his classic photographic memories of the era…
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Triumph T100A – Part 1
You know how it goes: always wanted a classic bike, never could quite afford one. Dave (aka Molster96) risked domestic distress in order to fulfil his dream…
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Triumph T100 Bonneville
When the need arises for a modern-but-traditional motorcycle, Mike Powell didn’t quite know which one to choose. So he let his Better Half do all the deciding for him…
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1950 Triumph Thunderbird
1950’s Britain was very different to today. So what was it like to run a classic bike then, a Triumph Thunderbird, when it was brand new? David Gambie remembers…
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Triumph Bonneville Versus Kawasaki W650
If you’re talking about modern classically-styled twins, then which is actually better? Brady Davis rides both regularly, and so take us down some parallel lines…
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Racing Days at Mocheck, Part 1
Back in the 1970s, Mocheck of Clapham fielded an array of racers. John Ryan shares a selection of his photographic memories of the time, from the track and back at the shop…
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Famous Last Words 9 – Ignorance is Bliss
Motorcycling and music fit together as well as grease and grit, says Frank Westworth. Possibly…
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SatNav Savvy!
Andreas Ganzera responds to Rowena’s recent grumbling about not using GPS or modem navigational aids. Andreas reckons SatNav makes much more sense on the European mainland…
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Great White Hope or Giant White Elephant
We’ve just received a press release about the launch of a new British Motorcycle Brand, complete with tantalising computer generated images of a range of Buell Blast based singles. Martin Gelder isn’t sure whether to laugh or cry…
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1959 Triton T100
George Wilshaw’s Triton defied classification at the 2004 Stinkwheel RealClassic Bike Show. As we couldn’t figure out which class it belonged in, we had to invent an award on the spot for it…
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Triumph T150 Trident
Roy Bacon gave the early T150 a 5-star rating (otherwise reserved for the pre-unit twins and Thruxton Bonnie). We met two T150 owners who explain what’s so special about their three-cylinder machines…
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1955 Triumph Speed Twin
When is CB350 Paul not CB350 Paul? When he’s Speed Twin Paul, of course. The Speed Twin route to classic motorcycle contentment is not necessarily a straight- forward one, however…
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1970 Triumph TR6C
Ever bought more than you bargained for? Jerry Fiford did when he fell for a classic 1970 Triumph Trophy, and he explains how and why to Rowena Hoseason…
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Where Are They Now?
In the grip of nostalgia, you may be tempted to try to find your P&J from years gone by. We’ve found that strategic enquiries works better than the scattergun approach…
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Riding Reminiscences
What did lads get up to, back when BSA Bantams were the motorcycle of choice for youthful despatch riders in the City of London? Daniel Hicks spins a story which might have a sniff of the truth in it…
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Famous Last Words 7
‘It’s very nice, but…’ Journalists ride other folks’ bikes all the time. Frank Westworth has just loaned his Number One Favourite Motorcycle to someone else…
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Famous Last Words 10: Facing Facts
Fiction is a wonderful thing in its place. That place shouldn’t really be in the description of a motorcycle, says Frank Westworth…
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Triumph T140D Bonneville Special
Was there really anything special about the T140D apart from its name? Steve Wilson rode one, and reports…
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Triumph Speed Twin – Daisy’s Diary Part I
Daisy the Speed Twin has carried Graham Ham half around the country and has become more than a little bit famous in the process. But just how did their adventure begin?
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Triumph Tiger Cub
All that glitters… is usually a pain in the posterior. And the pocket! David Rooney learned this lesson when he bought a beautiful-looking T20…
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Triumph 650 Twin
It’s not really a Bonneville, but Neil Owen’s individually-tailored twin-carb 650 twin might, just might, be better than a Bonneville…
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Famous Last Words 8: If Ethanol Clogs Your Carburettor…
Frank Westworth muses upon the meaning of magical metal lurgy…
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Historic Motorcycle Racing
The BHR classic racing season started last month. Roy Maddox reckons there was a missed opportunity at Mallory…
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Rules of the Road
Do you wave or nod to every other bike rider you meet on the road? Dave Whiting has undertaken four months of statistical research to see who responds (or not) to his greetings…
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Famous Last Words 18: Cooling Camaraderie?
Not all verbal exchanges need to be disagreements. Frank Westworth has been talking with other riders and wonders whether they’re as friendly as they used to be…
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Triumph 6T – 1961
If the amount your rebuild is costing frightens you, says Derek Foulds, then the solution is simple. Don’t add up the numbers! Can such ignorance be bliss with a Triumph twin?
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Triumph T160 Cardinal: Desert Dawn
The very last production T160 Tridents were several hundred built to Police spec for Saudi Arabia. Steve Wilson rode a refurbished one with less than 30 miles on its clock…
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Triumph T120V and T120TT
The debate hots up. Which is the Best Bonnie of all time? Jon Tait has some opinions, based around his three T120s
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‘Travelling With Mr Turner’ by Nigel Winter
A modern rider retraces a trip taken in the 1950s by Triumph’s top man, Edward Turner. This book tells the tale of both journeys, touching on how motorcycling and Britain itself have changed over half a century…
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Fettling of Parts
There are those who believe that classic motorcycles are poetry in motion. Marc Buffery proves that classic bike poetry can inspire all manner of emotions…
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It Takes All Sorts
Steve Cooper of the VJMC considers collectors, fettlers and hoarders of classic Japanese motorcycles…
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Riding Reminiscences 3
Back in the day, the young lads of The Paddock weren’t averse to a quick sprint to demonstrate their riding prowess. Ian Caswell remembers ones particular evening when things got a tiny little bit competitive…
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Famous Last Words 20: Emerging Classics
Why do so many of us apparently need to categorise everything? Frank Westworth is bemused by the notion of an emerging classic…
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‘Touching the World’ by Cathy Birchall
An 18 year old BMW. A trip across five continents, 31 countries and 26,000 miles. The first global circumnavigation by a blind person on a motorcycle. And a cracking read, says Dave Blendell…
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2004 Triumph Bonneville Thruxton 900
So the caff-race Bonnie has a strange riding position, dodgy stoppers and is more than a little lethargic? BikerBabe reckons you shouldn’t believe everything you read in the papers…
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1957 Triumph Thunderbird
‘Complete 1957 Thunderbird but in pieces’ read the advert. Roy Stockham wouldn’t usually reply to adverts that don’t give a price but the phone number indicated that the bike was only 20 miles away…
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Suzuki 650 Katana
Four-pot Japanese classics are over-complicated, tricky to maintain and expensive to run, right? Not quite. Steve Bergman has clocked up over 120,000 miles on the cut-rate Katana and reckons it has real classic cred…
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Doris Lowe, Her Motorcycling Life – Part 2
David Wright continues the story of a remarkable motorcyclist who took part in trials and displays; rode the largest capacity British bike of its time, and worked behind the scenes for decades for grassroots clubs and the national ACU…
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Doris Lowe, Her Motorcycling Life – Part 1
David Wright remembers a remarkable motorcyclist who took part in trials and displays; rode the largest capacity Britbike of its time, and worked behind the scenes for decades for grassroots clubs and the national ACU…
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What’s Classic and What’s Not
What is a ‘classic’? It’s one of those abstract questions that has fuelled a million internet arguments, ever since the first bulletin board was set up for people to talk about old vehicles. Andy Wegg adds fuel to the fire with a Jawa Mustang and some 500cc Hondas…
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Famous Last Words 6
Some folk fall off their bikes. A surprise, it’s true, but Frank Westworth is one of them. Someone is to blame! Someone must pay!…
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Suzuki Katana
How do you turn a bland UJM into a genuine Japanese classic? You add style, of course. Rowena Hoseason has a thing about pop-up headlights…
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Honda CB400 Twin: Part III
Over in Brazil, Chico Rasia has been making progress with his 1980’s Honda twin. Just a few things to fix… oh, and then a few more…
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Honda CB400 Twin: Part II
Chico Rasia has finally found his chosen classic: an early Eighties CB400. Now all he has to do is to get it to stop. And start. Which to worry about first?…
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Honda CB400 Twin, Part I
Your definition of a ‘classic bike’ may well depend on where you live. Chico Rasia, from Curitiba in Brazil, dreams of a 1980’s Honda twin…
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London International Classic and Custom Show
More photos from Classic Motorcycling meets Kustom Kuture at Ally Pally…
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Festive Fiction: Midnight at Packhorse Bridge – Part 2
It was a dark and stormy night at the very end of the year. Roy Warren completes his story as midnight approaches and Eddie, our hero, has just been knocked unconscious ()…
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Festive Fiction: Midnight at Packhorse Bridge
It was a dark and stormy night at the very end of the year. Roy Warren tells a tall tale which vaguely involves an old motorcycle…
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Forward Planning
Fresh from surviving the Morini Riders’ Club outing at Cadwell Park, Martin Gelder presents a first timer’s guide to classic bike trackdays. The most fun you can have with your leathers on?
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Sunbeam S8 Adventures – Part 4
He bought it, he broke it (OK; maybe it was broke already…) and now he’s nearly fixed it. Steve The Toaster finally gets his Sunbeam going again. Was it easy? Was it ‘eck as like…
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Sunbeam S8 Adventures – Part 3
Steve The Toaster strips his P&J and finds that the inevitable has indeed come to pass… not only that, there is, indeed, no such thing as a quick fix. Next stop? The bank balance void…
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Sunbeam S8 Adventures – Part 2
After falling in love with the dream of a Beam, Steve The Toast finally bought an S8. The reality turned out to be just a little… leaky!
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Sunbeam S8
You probably have an all-time favourite classic bike. Sunbeam Peter (the name is a bit of a giveaway about the model of motorcycle!) explains how his dream bike became a real bike…
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Safety First!
Jim Peace remembers when the warnings on cigarette packets had nothing at all to do with smoking…
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FLW 12: Chequebook Restorations
We all sneer at chequebook restorers; where’s the skill in writing a cheque? Where’s the achievement? Frank Westworth contemplates the results of his first chequebook restoration…
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Famous Last Words 27: Cafe Racers, Bobbers and Baggers
Always up for a debate about café cuisine, Frank Westworth ponders the subject of bobbers, baggers and café racers…
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Buyers Eye
Richard Jones goes browsing through the classic bikes on offer at Pembrokeshire Classics in south Wales. He encounters a couple of Villiers two-strokes, an Ariel Arrow, a really rare Laverda Jarama and even a Beezer bobber…
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Sunbeam S8 Search
If you frequent the Message Board then you’ll know that Steve The Toast has been successful in his search for a Sunbeam. But how did this fascination begin, and what did he initially discover?
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Sunbeam Show Stopper
Not just a recent show winner, Brian Matthew’s ‘Beam probably also started life on a show stand back at Olympia over 70 years ago…
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Sunbeam S8: Modern As Tomorrow
Frank Westworth revisits a bike he rode several years ago. Years before A Nice Gurl gave him a Sunbeam…
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Short Way Up by Steve Wilson
Few people would choose to ride an unfamiliar old British bike on an epic journey across South Africa. Steve Wilson took the plunge: Roy Workman read the book…
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Bruce Pollard
One of life’s genuine real classic riders rode over the horizon in early 2011. Jim Reynolds pays tribute to him…
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Famous Last Words 15: Maintenance Breeds Reliability
Prevention is better than cure. Maintenance breeds reliability. Frank Westworth finds no comfort in these fine sentiments…
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Britain, From Abroad
Familiarity breeds… you know. Roger Houghton, a visitor from South Africa, takes a fresh look at the UK while he visits its classic motorcycling heritage sites…
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Stocks, Shares and Sheds
Richard McCann discovers that recession doesn’t only affect valve seats…
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Yamaha SRX400 and SRX600
These sleek and sporty single-cylinder machines should’ve been the stars of the 1980s, making the most of the cult of the café racer. Instead, people bought UJMs. Anarchy wonders if history is about to repeat itself…
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Ariel Square Four
The Square Four had a lifespan of over 25 years, and several incarnations of all sizes from 500cc to 1000cc. If you thought that all old British bikes were 650 twins then read on…
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1989 Harley-Davidson 1200 Sportster
In the search for a ‘modern classic’, there’s one marque which inspires roughly equal amounts of devotion and detestation. Jim Peace didn’t think too much of Harleys. And then he bought one…
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Spark Plugging The Classics By Stan Dibben
This clever booklet covers the basics about spark plugs to help you choose the best type for your classic bike, and use it to diagnose what’s going on inside your engine…
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Famous Last Words 31: Almost Any Motorcycle is a Delight
Frank Westworth has inadvertently encouraged someone to buy a classic BSA C15. This may be an offence punishable on summary conviction…
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Famous Last Words 16: Anti-Sumping Valves
What’s the best way to stop oil draining into the sump of your old British bike? Phone up Frank Westworth and ask him…
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Famous Last Words 14: Not All Old Bike Shops Were Great
You might expect that everyone sufficiently fortunate to ride old motorcycles would inevitably be cheerful. Frank Westworth can’t understand why not entirely everyone is…
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An Old-Time Tale
Matt Swindlehurst recalls a time of dirty carrots, dodging rugby practice, shooting a Lee Enfield rifle – oh, and there’s a Matchless G3 in here somewhere, too…
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Opinion: AMC Anorak 38
Frank Westworth has been thinking back to days gone by, and to AJS and Matchless CSR twins of ancient memory…
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Opinion: AMC Anorak 37
When it comes to living with classic AJS and Matchless motorcycles, a wise man might learn from his mistakes. Frank Westworth is plainly no wise man…
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Opinion: AMC Anorak 36
Frank Westworth thought that he knew everything about everything AJS did in the past days. He didn’t. Doesn’t…
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Opinion: AMC Anorak 35
Frank Westworth last attended the AJS and Matchless Owners’ Club’s remarkable Alternative Jampot Rally in 1990. Until this year…
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A Christmas Cracker
Time for a little nostalgic indulgence. Take a trip back in time to the 1960s as GeofS pays homage to the bikes which could ‘Stop Anything In No Time’…
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Slip Slidin’ Away – Or How Not to Fall Off in Bad Weather.Probably.
Ever wondered why some people seem to revel in riding their classic bikes in winter, while others just head for the nearest bar – or the nearest ditch. Martin Gelder has some top tips…
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Sons of Thunder ~ Neil Bradford
This motorcycling anthology of ‘writing from the fast lane’ was selected and introduced by Neil Bradford, and it caught the attention of at least one RC reader…
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Harley-Davidson MT350E Army Bike (part 2)
Most people buy Army-surplus combat jackets or boots. We bought a whole motorcycle! Rowena Hoseason gets de-mob happy and takes the Snarley onto the street…
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Harley-Davidson MT350E Army Bike
By popular demand (well, OK, one person) we reveal the pros and cons of buying an ex-Army trailie-bike. Rowena Hoseason actually spent her own money on some old military surplus scrap…
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A Third Wheel: The Eccentric Alternative by Simon Potter
Celia Walton has been riding and passengering sidecars for many a year, so she seemed the natural person to review this new book about riding with three wheels…
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India, The Shimmering Dream by Max Reisch
In 1933, two students were the first people to ride a motorcycle overland from Europe to India. Their epic adventure aboard a 250cc two-stroke has finally been published in English…
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1967 Moto Morini 250 GTI Settebello
Bill Wood took a real risk with his first Italian classic bike. A basketcase rebuild – and a really unusual model, at that. Is he please with the results?
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Famous Last Words 19: A Sociable Activity?
Everyone should be more sociable. Riding a classic motorcycle is a sociable activity. We’re told. Frank Westworth’s ears have become very bent…
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Reasons For Motorcycling
Dave Wooding recalls his time spent with a Triumph 3T, a BSA B31 (and a Reliant but we won’t mention that) among other old bikes, and ponders the attractions of motorcycling in general…
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Famous Last Words 35: Motorcycles Old, New, Classic and Retro
Old bikes are old bikes are old bikes, says Frank Westworth. Except, of course, when they’re new…
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Classic Japanese Motorcycle News
Steve Cooper from the VJMC brings us up to date with some information about next year’s Uttoxeter Show, and contemplates the value of originality…
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Famous Last Words
‘Tell us what you think’ and ‘have your say’ seem ubiquitous these days. Magazine editors listen closely to every word you tell them. Whether magazine editors act upon those words is another matter entirely. Frank Westworth admits defeat…
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Showing Off
Steve Cooper of the VJMC gets controversial with his feelings about show-going trophy-hunters whose classic bikes don’t… actually… work…
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