Features

When Featherbed based specials are mentioned, several variations of power unit come to mind but hardly ever would P&M’s slogging old sloper feature in the list. Jim Reynolds meets one such man for whom such ‘prejudices’ do not exist and finds that even the most bizarre concoction can produce remarkable results…

This four-valve sporting Ariel single was only catalogued for the single season, though its name lived on…

The BSA G14 was, by the 1930s, a far-from-advanced piece of kit. But the qualities it possessed were still popular – and indeed still are today. This G14 has been restored by well-known Hertfordshire restorer Robin James and is a super example…

Yamaha’s FZ750 was possibly the biggest leap forward of any Japanese motorcycle ever. Just 12 months after Kawasaki’s GPZ900R had seemingly secured the title. 25 years on much of the FZ’s design remains a blueprint for motorcycle engineering…

‘Versatility’ and ‘expediency’ were two buzz words in the British motorcycle industry. Versatility for the amount of uses an engine is put to and expediency for the reuse of components from earlier engines. Tim Britton traces the roots of the Norton Commando engine…

What does it take to stop you in your tracks at a motorcycle show? This beautiful BSA Gold Star did it for the Classic Dirtbike editor, Tim Britton….

Pioneer riders, on direct drive motorcycles, struggled on steep hills and with starting their machines. The advent of clutches, along with methods of altering drive ratios, broadened their horizons immeasurably…

Triumph’s three cylinder Trident provided the signature sound for racers in the early Seventies and led to the best of the bunch, the T160, made for just a year from 1975. John Nutting explains…