Vintage motorcycles
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Pa and His Pa: The Norton Founder, a 1921 Photograph and an Extraordinary Motorcycle Adventure
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Though always known as ‘Pa’ Norton, this picture shows the company founder with his own pa. Plus, some famous faces look on. Simon Robinson reports… The Norton motorcycle company sprang from the Norton Manufacturing Company, which was set up in 1869 by James Lansdowne Norton to manufacture bicycle chains. It was in 1902 that Norton…
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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…
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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…
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The remarkable story of Joan Crawford’s Bond Minibyke – and its surprising history
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From a chance discovery in a remarkable private motorcycle collection to award-winning appearances at the Isle of Man TT, Joan Crawford’s much-loved Bond Minibyke has a fascinating story. In a letter published in Old Bike Mart, Joan shares how she acquired the little 125cc machine and uncovered its connections to the Bond manufacturing business. For…
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The Thorough: the short-lived motorcycle that offered unusually long test rides
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At the end of the 19th century George Featherstone was an ironmonger living in Bethnal Green but he had a son who was interested in the great strides that transportation was taking. It seems likely that it was John Featherstone who persuaded his father into producing a motorcycle in 1903. By then, John, now in…
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Hidden Gems: Yamaha YDS6
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Steve Cooper looks at a single year model that you can still pick up for not a lot of money. That the Japanese motorcycle industry plagiarised the work of others is well documented. In the modern business world such artifice creates what’s known as a second-to-market product and often such offerings have some of the…
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Vindec Special: The German Motorcycle That Nearly Won the First TT
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The Vindec Special was actually built in Germany by Köln-Lindenthaler Metallwerke AG of Cologne. However, it is an interesting footnote in British motorcycling history because its distribution in this country was handled by the South British Trading Company with the assistance and advice of William Huntingdon ‘Billy’ Wells. Wells had moved to London from his…
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Netley Marsh Eurojumble returns in September
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The Netley Marsh Eurojumble is back this September – and for 2026 there’s an important change, with the popular Hampshire event taking place on Thursday and Friday. The Netley Marsh Eurojumble returns to Hampshire on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 September 2026, bringing two days of bikes, parts, spares, tools, projects and plenty to rummage…
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From shed-find moped to classic bikes: Pete Chatburn’s motorcycling story
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Pete Chatburn tells us about his start in motorcycling (and that’s how he titled his letter – we’re not being rude!) and wonders whether might be buried treasure on a local airfield. It all started for me in 1965 when I found my Granpa’s abandoned 1959 Raleigh RM1C moped in the shed behind his tailor’s…
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Historic Ford Model TT bus & classic bikes set for Shrewsbury Steam Rally
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Classic motorcycles will once again form part of the varied vehicle line-up at this year’s Shrewsbury Steam Rally, but one particularly well-travelled exhibit is set to attract plenty of attention of its own. From Welshpool and Oswestry to the National Motor Museum, Nick Onions’ Ford Model TT bus has travelled far during its long life.…
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