Features Archives Page 27 of 52

The Toastmaster Challenge, Part the Fourth

8th July 2019 Sam Hewitt Features

If you’re going to rebuild a burned-out Ariel Huntmaster, then you’re going to need spare parts. Lots of them. We present Frank Westworth’s guide to autojumbling for idiots… What do you do when faced with the realisation that you’ve started a project which is not what you expected? Do you shovel the whole lot into a deep pit and pretend it never…

The Toastmaster Challenge, Part the Third

1st July 2019 Sam Hewitt Features

Is this any way to restore a traditional British classic bike? The story of Frank Westworth’s improbable rebuild continues. Slowly… ‘That’s an Ariel Huntmaster, that is.’ ‘What is? That pile of bits?’ ‘What pile of bits? That’s an Ariel Huntmaster, that is…’ My first Ariel, my first Huntmaster, was not in fact mine. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t ride…

The Toastmaster Challenge, Part the Second

24th June 2019 Sam Hewitt Features

Only an expert or an optimist would attempt to rebuild a totally burned-out classic motorcycle. So here’s Frank Westworth’s guide to stripping down for idiots… Every sane treatise on the subject of rebuilding motor vehicles insists that any successful restoration follows a few rules. This is in fact the case, and any sane person should ignore the way I do…

Ariel Huntmaster Rebuild Part 1: The Toastmaster Challenge

17th June 2019 Sam Hewitt Features

How to spend uncounted piles of money over many years in the fond hope that a shiny Ariel Huntmaster will arise from its own ashes. Frank Westworth tells an episodic tale from the shed… Everyone likes a challenge. At least, I hope that’s true… I was sat in a local pub, chatting with one Sam Whitehouse, when he mentioned that…

Classics in Cuba

5th May 2019 RowenaH Features

In what might be a cunning plan to seduce the younger generation to the dark side of motorcycling, one RC reader asked his offspring to keep an eye peeled for interesting old bikes on his travels in Cuba. And this is what Vincent Wood discovered… I haven’t had to do homework on holiday since I went on a school trip…

Swedes in Vegas!

21st December 2018 Andy Features

Rarities under the hammer in gambling capital of Nevada The Crocker Big Tank, built in 1939 and just one of only 72 vee twin Crockers. Previously a resident of Indiana, will it return? It’s logical to think that any kind of museum will always be going to hold onto all of its exhibits ad infinitum, but that’s not always strictly…