News

Alan Cole bought a limited-edition café racer, and he’s now spent two months getting to know this very practical modern classic bike… Day One After my test ride on a pre-production Bullet XR and placing my order with Richardson’s of Ripley, the bike (MCN number 06 but with no MCN stickers, just as I’d requested),…

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Warren L Mutz tried to buy a BMW but they wouldn’t sell one to him, so he ended up with a Moto Guzzi T3. And a blister on his toe… In 1979 I was determined to add a European touring bike, a brand new BMW, to my shed. I lived in New York then, about…

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Looking for a bike which wouldn’t lead him astray with humungous horsepower, Bob Rodgerson decided on a real vintage motorcycle. This is how he became a true Humbernut… You may have noticed one or two comments from me on the RealClassic Message Board deriding the qualities of this well known former cycle, motorcycle and car…

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With the parts back from the chromers, Kim Henry starts rebuilding his Real Classic Kawasaki. But will it start? I discovered that it’s a wise idea to remove wheel bearings before the polishing process because mine came back fairly choked up with compound and after cleaning them out I discovered they were stuffed. It’s a…

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Just imagine: you buy a raffle ticket and then you win the classic bike of your dreams. But can it ever live up to them? BikerMarc says yes, it can… Being a cynical old chap I rarely bought raffle tickets on the basis that the devil really looks after his own but strange things happen…

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Most people tend to plump for one of the well-known Morini Sport or Strada models. But at opposite ends of the scale you’ll find the super-sleek Dart and the rufty-tufty Kanguro. So how did Ken Philp comes to own both? I first saw a Kanguro at Earls Court in 1982, and was impressed as it…

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Seeking a winter project, PaulG80 sought something… unusual, and settled on a two-stroke export from the old East Germany. The first part, then of the Diaries of a Sadman… OK. Let’s get it all over with. I’ve bought a 1976 MZ TS 250/1. Finished laughing yet? Good. Right let’s start at the beginning. I had…

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Rob Seedhouse wanted a project to keep him out of trouble for a while. It turned out to be a very long while! But if a job’s worth doing… In 1990 I was bored with my model engineering hobby and though that if I could combine my engineering and my motorcycling then I would have…

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Shed not your tears for the Norton rotary project: there’s no fat ladies singing just yet. Norton Motors has re-surfaced, and they’ve a very special F1 Sport for sale… So less than a year ago we got all snuffly and sad about the closure and sale of Norton Rotary Engineering, the last outpost of the…

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For RealClassic readers who enjoy motorcycle traveller’s tales, Paul Grace recommends this memoir of a remarkable ride through Africa… At the age of 21, Jonny Bealby had never read a book. Truth to tell, he was rather proud of the fact. ‘ Reading’s boring,’ he confidently told his new girlfriend, Melanie, who seemed to devour…

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