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Sarah bought her Dad a One Hundred Pound Wonder, and we tried to figure out exactly what kind of classic bike it might be… It started as a message on the message board and an email to Frank W. Sarah said: ‘We bought an old Ariel for £100 for a surprise present for our Dad’s…

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If you’re a fan of Triumph motorcycles, then you’ll enjoy this authorised biography of the man behind the brand, written by motorcycle historian Jeff Clew… This is a new, softback edition of Jeff Clew’s detailed biography which was published a few years ago in hardback and with a slightly different title (you might want to…

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After enjoying a hall of classic scooters at the Newark Show, Roy Workman discovers more information on the subject of British-built scooters… This is an A4 soft-cover book printed on good quality paper, with 190 pages full of illustrations, often taken from period magazines. I first heard about Robin Spalding whilst talking to Bill Crosby…

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Not all restorations are accomplished in one fell swoop. Dean Southall’s Beezer has been steadily reconditioned over the years – until it got to be so good that it won its class at the 2003 Stinkwheel Show… When I bought the 650 for £1500 it had been restored about 10 years previously, used a little…

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The end of Philip Rashleigh’s scrambler-special project is in sight. But no matter how close you think you might be to actually finishing a rebuild, there’s always more to do than you might imagine… A new problem had shown itself, how to get the rolling chassis to Bedfordshire for the minimum amount of cost. There…

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Kel Boyce paid £40 for his non-running Continental back in 1979 and, bearing in mind how much work it needed ,that might have been over the top… The first step was to remove the wheels. The hubs and drums seemed OK but the rims and spokes were almost devoid of plating. I set about dismantling…

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Ash Gannicott wanted his own classic bike. One small problem: Ash is only nine. So doting Dad Russ swooped on this ideal opportunity to play with (sorry; rebuild on a tight budget) a miniature Italian cafe racer… OK, imagine the scenario: you’ve got a few(!) bikes in your garage, a couple more at your workplace…

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What happens when you combine classic motorcycle wiring and feminine intuition? Emm lights the blue touch paper and we should all stand well back… Royal Enfield motorcycles bear the slogan ‘Made like a Gun’. Olive, as an example of a Royal Enfield 500 Bullet, is not so much a motorbike ‘made like a battle-ready, empire…

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If you like dipping in and out of an old bike book, rather than following a lengthy narrative, then you probably enjoy the ‘great big list’ formula. Here is possibly the greatest, biggest list we’ve ever encountered… This is one seriously weighty tome, in both literal and content senses. It aspires to replace the once-famous…

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