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Just when you thought you’d avoided the carol singers, Paul Goff presents the Twelve Days Of Classic Biking Christmas… Paul says; ‘I first heard this at a Three Spires rally near Coventry in 1977 or 78, sung by a bike club from up north somewhere.’ The Twelve Days Of Classic Biking Christmas On the first…

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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… I’ve been trying to work out how many AMC twins I’ve owned over the years. And no, before you collapse in horror at the sheer self-indulgent time-wasting nonsense of…

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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 ()… A dull pain in the back of Eddie’s head seemed to slowly increase in intensity as he opened his eyes. For a few…

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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… The old man paused and craned his neck as he approached the ancient Egyptian monument. For…

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A little knowledge is supposed to be a dangerous thing. Frank Westworth has a little knowledge, but worries about those with less… Life is packed with famous last words. Also aphorisms, epithets and acronyms, all of which are the stuff of editorial nightmares; less of a concern if you are a higher being – not…

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In the heyday of the British bike industry, everyone had heard of (or bought a bike from) Pride and Clarke in London’s Stockwell Road. Our readers remember them… In the late 1950s you might have been browsing at Pride and Clarke’s showroom, considering the purchase of a BSA Golden Flash for £265.14.5d, or perhaps a…

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Classic bike enthusiasts can often be found in garages and workshops. How can you make the most of your spannering? Karl Bentley muses upon sheds and other places of violence… As the adage goes, it’s not what you’ve got, it’s the way that you use it, and this could be applied to our sheds and…

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The truth can now be told. One-time motorcycle testing journalist, Derek Pickard, reveals the real meaning behind those bland test reports from the 1970s and 1980s… ‘This European motorcycle maker launched its new model in a cultured European way.’ Should read: They shipped the media to a licensed pizza place for a great party. ‘…and…

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