New & Features

  • Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500-T

    Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500-T

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    Big wide bars? Chunky tyres? Single seat? Someone at Royal Enfield is going the distance to tempt her into buying a new Electra, reckons Rowena Hoseason. But she’s more likely to get a T-shirt for Christmas… The guys at Watsonian reckon that they’ve created the Trials Electra to reflect Enfield’s historic ISDT successes in the…

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  • Precise In Every Part: The world of Francis Simpson, technical artist, in the 1920s and 30s

    Precise In Every Part: The world of Francis Simpson, technical artist, in the 1920s and 30s

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    When a treasure trove of vintage motorcycle drawings, press cuttings, notebooks and more were discovered, a classic bike enthusiast resolved that they should be shared with the world. So here’s the cream of the crop… RC reader Alan Freke is a regular volunteer at his local village Museum at Frenchay near Bristol and helps to…

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  • Moto Guzzi V1000 Convert

    Moto Guzzi V1000 Convert

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    These days you can buy a bike from Italy and have an old Guzzi delivered direct to your door. Talbot Coleman gave it a whirl In 1999 Talbot Coleman took the plunge after 50 years of owning and riding British bikes and bought an Italian import V1000 Convert, built in 1975. Not only was Talbot…

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  • Triumph Hurricane X-75

    Triumph Hurricane X-75

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    An ongoing tale, which as yet has no end in sight, about a girl. And a motorbike. And a misfire! Rowena Hoseason loves her Hurricane but doesn’t get to ride it much… Once upon a time, my dream came true. I have odd dreams, and this one involved a bright orange motorcycle. Said tangerine dream…

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  • Egli Laverda 3C

    Egli Laverda 3C

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    This Laverda triple, says Dave Minton, was a memorial to an heroic age, when mighty power made uncompromising demands and the consequences were thunderous. Boom! In the early 1960s Fritz Egli campaigned the European Hill Climb Championship on a Vincent Black Shadow tuned to full race Lightning trim. Dissatisfied with its roadholding up the excruciating…

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  • 1958 Royal Enfield Meteor Minor – Part II

    1958 Royal Enfield Meteor Minor – Part II

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    A quarter of a century ago, Gerry Atric started a restoration project on a 500cc Royal Enfield twin. And was ably assisted by… a muppet… So I’d acquired a vehicle suitable for restoration (or a pile of scrap, according to your viewpoint), and the next step was to examine each item and plan the renovation.…

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  • Moto Morini Three and a Half: Sette

    Moto Morini Three and a Half: Sette

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    It’s been a while, but Martin Gelder cracks open the toolbox for part seven of his Moto Morini Saga. Time for a burn-up… The last episode finished with me setting out to change the cam belt and stripping the threads out of the centre of the flywheel in the process. Various trips to all the…

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  • MZ ES250/2 Trophy Rebuild – Part 2

    MZ ES250/2 Trophy Rebuild – Part 2

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    Phil Speakman has stripped down his MZ, ready to start restoring it to glory — which involves lots of decisions. To shot blast, sand blast or vapour blast? What sort of finish to opt for? And does copper really have the devil in it…? Once the strip down of my 1972 MZ ES250/2 Trophy was…

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  • Norton Big 4

    Norton Big 4

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    We can’t all be expert spannermen. Howard H reminds us what it’s like to be fixing up a classic bike with little mechanical skill (and even less time)… Have you ever had one of those days in the shed where everything you do goes just right? No, me neither, though I suspect Humbernut might be…

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  • 1959 Norton Dominator 88

    1959 Norton Dominator 88

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    After a series of high powered modern bikes, Noggy 88 is inspired to return to the Brit Iron of his youth. This in turn provokes another purchase – he explains all, in this tale of two twins… Some of you may remember a time some four or five decades ago, others may not, so for…

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