Classic Bike Hub

  • From The Classic Motorcycle Archives: Proving a Point – The ACU Heads West in 1919

    From The Classic Motorcycle Archives: Proving a Point – The ACU Heads West in 1919

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    In 1919, the Auto Cycle Union sought to demonstrate that it was more than a London-centric organisation by holding a major gathering in Bristol. In this historical feature from The Classic Motorcycle, Simon Robinson explores the event, the motorcycles pictured beside Clifton Suspension Bridge and the notable visitors who attended. Simon Robinson reports… In 1919…

  • Wearwell: The Wolverhampton Motorcycle Pioneer Brought Down by Scandal

    Wearwell: The Wolverhampton Motorcycle Pioneer Brought Down by Scandal

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    From bicycle manufacturing to early motorcycles, Wearwell looked set to become a major name in the British motorcycle industry. But financial wrongdoing brought the company’s promising future to an abrupt end. Like so many, Wearwell started out as a bicycle manufacturer. The Cogent Cycle Co was founded by Henry Clarke and the business included his…

  • Ken Craven’s 1966 American Adventure: A Triumph Thunderbird, the Wild West and a Black Widow Spider

    Ken Craven’s 1966 American Adventure: A Triumph Thunderbird, the Wild West and a Black Widow Spider

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    In 1966, veteran motorcycle traveller Ken Craven set off alone through the American West on a borrowed Triumph Thunderbird. His adventure took him across desert landscapes, over remote roads and into a Mexican hospital following an unexpected encounter. Once in a while we come across a story from way back that we feel is worth…

  • SURPRISE! Motorcycle racing legend Johnny Cecotto is coming to Stafford this weekend!

    SURPRISE! Motorcycle racing legend Johnny Cecotto is coming to Stafford this weekend!

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    Two-time motorcycle world champion Johnny Cecotto is making a special appearance at the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show this weekend, giving fans the chance to see the racing legend alongside one of the most important machines of his career – his 1978 Formula 750 World Championship-winning Yamaha OW31. In a fantastic late addition to the line-up,…

  • Hidden Gems: Kawasaki Z650

    Hidden Gems: Kawasaki Z650

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    Steve Cooper takes a look at the Kawasaki Z650, now rather overlooked but with a claim to being one of the best middleweight machines ever built. Most fans of Japanese classics will know the story of the Z1’s development, how Kawasaki was pipped at the post by Honda’s CB750 with its first four, but then…

  • National Motor Museum to leave Beaulieu

    National Motor Museum to leave Beaulieu

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    It has been announced that Beaulieu will not be renewing the lease of the world-famous National Motor Museum which expires in 2030. The museum can trace its origins back to 1952 when Edward, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, put on display five veteran cars as a tribute to his pioneering motorist father, John, 2nd Baron…

  • Wartime DKW emerges from the River Danube

    Wartime DKW emerges from the River Danube

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    Global warming across the world has resulted in water levels in rivers, lakes and reservoirs dropping, leading to the reemergence of long-submerged buildings and even villages. But in Budapest, a decrease in the level of the Danube has led to a particularly interesting discovery. People walking along the side of river in Batthyány Square opposite…

  • Readers’ Tale: A year to remember

    Readers’ Tale: A year to remember

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    John Stevenson (aka 5012094 SAC Stevenson J) looks back on a special year in his life. Many people I think have a special year – always to be remembered. It could be national, such as the 1966 football World Cup or it could be personal. Perhaps trivial, perhaps not. Mine was the latter and the…

  • The day I didn’t say hello to Mike Hailwood: a Daytona opportunity missed

    The day I didn’t say hello to Mike Hailwood: a Daytona opportunity missed

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    You know those moments when you later think “Why didn’t I do that?” Philip Ridley recounts one of those incidents in his life. I lived in Toronto, Canada, for ten years throughout the 1970s. I was then and still am interested in motorcycle road racing, as is my brother, Ralph. Ralph went to live in…

  • Iron Offroad: the Leeds parts shop with 115 years behind it and a catalogue that goes back to 1974

    Iron Offroad: the Leeds parts shop with 115 years behind it and a catalogue that goes back to 1974

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    It is November, the Evo-class CR250R is on the bench, and the list is the usual one. Piston and rings. Base and head gaskets. Fork seals, because the left leg has been weeping since Farleigh. Rear pads. A chain that stopped being a chain somewhere around the fourth round. None of it is exotic. All…


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