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Every once in a while the Japanese produce a motorcycle that takes your eyeballs, stretches them, and then pops them back in their sockets. The sensational styling of the Suzuki Katana made it a motorcyling classic even when it was still on sale…

A Meriden Mini-Bonnie! True enough, brand-new from Triumph for 1967 comes a searing 500 sportster in five-hundred form, with twin carburettors, codenamed T100T

With its range for 1932, Triumph fought shy of radical innovation. But they did list 350 and 500cc competition models for the first time, and by doing so started a trend which all other manufactuers have followed ever since. Alan Berry owns a rare survivor of the 500cc CD version…

Rare in the extreme, so rare that few have seen a Silk let alone ridden one, but a design bristling with incredible ideas as befits the inspiration for the project – the Scott

From fabled racing machines to fabulous road burners, this four cylinder engine has powered them all. Tim Holmes runs through the development

Harley-Davidson’s X90 mini-bike was originally sold to tempt young owners into Harley ownership, under the banner of ‘the great American freedom machine’, but the bikes were actually made in Italy. We take a look at this restored example

Brian Tarbox’s top 20 Japanese two strokes between 1960 and 1990. If you disagree, make your voice heard on the forums! In part one we look at positions 20 to 11…

Pure riding skill and bulldog spirit kept Eric Oliver ahead of the opposition. A 500cc Norton outfit should not have been a match for the power of the Gilera 4, but Oliver won four world titles…

The Royal Enfield Bullet is a machine which has been in production for many years, though few look better than this superb example

The Calthorpe Ivory is best known in its sloping engine guise, but John Pape’s model is the early upright version. Either way the company gained immediate acclaim from the motorcycle press and bike-buying public because of the machine’s clean and attractive design…

With its 100ft wide concrete straights and 30ft high bankings, the Brooklands circuit at Weybridge, Surrey, was a daunting high speed challenge and only the strong survived…

More usually model 221s are 175cc capacity but the owner of this one has gone large…

Rod Gibson orders parts from Z-Power and is told that his Kawasaki twin is an older 400, not what he thought…

A neglected Kawasaki Z400 engine with all its road muck still on and left exposed to the elements without spark plugs fitted. Rod Gibson goes in…

Well aware of the rumours of exotica hiding within the body of Andy Roberton’s BSA, tester Vic Allan was pleased to find the machine was more a reflection of attention to detail by the builder

Norton’s famous – and successful – Commando came in a number of guises, but is any more handsome than the S Type?

The first of Norton’s Commandos was a radical looking machine, as exampled by this stunning specimen

In the last part of the rebuild our Z1 engine was ready for reassembly. Rod Gibson rolls up his sleeves to inject new life into the king of motorcycles

In part one Rod Gibson stripped the engine on our 1972 Kawasaki Z1, despite a struggle to separate the barrels from the crankcase. Now all the components can be examined

The Kawasaki Z1 is the definitive Japanese four-cylinder motorcycle – the bike that launched a thousand clones. Rod Gibson strips an original 1972 model to see what makes it tick

Rod Gibson moves on to the final stage of the Honda’s 125 engine rebuild

In part one I stripped Angie’s Honda CB125TDC engine down to sort out an oil burning problem. Now with the bike in bits I can take some time to examine the engine internals and sort out what work needs to be done to put the bike back on the road

Angie’s Honda CB125TDC has been languishing in a rather unloved state in the back of my shed for over a year, waiting for me to sort it out.

Honda seem to have two ways of doing things – create an ‘everyman’ machine or an out and out world beater. CDB tries an example of the latter

Almost any picture of a scramble in the 50s will show the majority of the entry mounted on Gold Stars. Vic Allan has a look at how this domination came about

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and for this ‘beholder’ the classic red and chrome tanked Husqvarnas are beautiful, CDB goes enduro

“What goes in to making a winner?” is the eternal question of all competition riders. Closely followed by “would we win on it?” CDB tries to find the answers

The Norton Jubilee was launched in 1958, Norton’s Diamond Jubilee year, and though it perhaps wasn’t universally loved, it still has its devotees to this day

Imagine finding a rare TT-pattern motorcycle in a shed and in a dreadful state. Imagine a difficult and painstaking rebuild over eight years. Imagine a result so perfect that, first time out, your Sunbeam wins the trophy of trophies…

The method used to open a Vincent’s valves is quite unusual. The valve stem is made with two guide location diameters and the cylinder head holds the lower guide whilst the upper one fits into a machined location and is held in place. We explain…

The thumping sound at the 1978 Cologne Motorcycle Show came from visitors as their collective jaws hit the floor. Kawasaki chose the occasion to launch its mighty six-cylinder Z1300. We explain how it was conceived…