New & Features

If you’re looking for a lightweight classic, you don’t have to be restricted to a two-stroke. Bill Wood has brought a little Italian back to life… While British lightweights of the 1960s tended to be utilitarian plodders (with an occasional sprinkling of excitement); their Italian counterparts were almost entirely the opposite. The Latin obsession with…

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Dave Blendell doesn’t like bike books. Great! We’ll get him to review this book by a RealClassic writer then… First off, a confession. I’m not actually a fan of motorcycle books. Books about people’s adventures on motorbikes: yes. Interesting travel books featuring a motorcycle as the means of transport: again, yes, and I’ve read many…

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Ever been given something you just can’t get rid of? If we’re talking about a pottery pig or another set of wind-chimes then that’s something of a tricky situation. But as there’s no such thing as ‘too many motorcycles’ then being given a C15 is hardly a trauma, now is it? Paul Russell’s C15 came…

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In the first episode, Stephen Dunne left the UK on his D14/4 to tackle a three-month tour of Europe. In Yugoslavia, the Bantam turns out to be good for business… Back in England I had been corresponding with well-known Italian BSA man, Giorgio Lanza of Genoa. He invited me to stay with him on my…

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Steve Wilson rides an ex-AA patrol Beesa, and finds terror and delight — at less than 40 miles an hour! Photos by Garry Stuart I’d never ridden a motorbike and sidecar before. ‘There’s nothing to it,’ grinned the cartoon artist Nick Ward cheerfully – but then he would, wouldn’t he, because a) he ran BSA…

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If you’ve revelled in the power and performance of a 750 triple, can you really be happy trading down to something smaller? Andy C shares his early impressions of a 1970’s 500 twin… In life there are always milestones and turning points which you remember: your first day at school, your first love, your first…

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Trevor (Ozboy) Brooks finds an unusual Shed Surprise, and discovers a mid-Seventies Ducati twin, complete with an unusual optional extra… Poking your nose inside another bloke’s shed can bring the occasional surprise (oops, sorry vicar). You know how it is, you drop round to talk about some wobbly wheezer and peeking out from a dark…

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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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