News

Honda and Kawasaki fours tend to grab all the glory, but Steve The Toaster reckons there’s a very strong Yamaha contender for Best Japanese Classic Bike… Some things are just right. Design parameters can be spot on from the word go: the engineers who build up a first prototype can be on a high that…

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Inspired by the world’s fastest Indian, Woodie explains that you don’t need a big bike to go fast. In fact, he knows of some really fast Bantams… In no way discrediting Burt Munro, the New Zealander of the world’s fastest Indian fame, I wonder now if the film industry will travel to that other Antipodean…

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Just in time to celebrate Brooklands’ centenary, Jonathan Hill has found a splendid hardback book packed with rare images of racing from the 1920s… Published in 1968, Dr Joseph Bayley’s renowned book ‘The Vintage Years at Brooklands’ is a photographic record of motorcycle racing there in the 1920s. It reflected his years of observing and…

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They used to say that the ultimate cure for a B25 was a quick trip to a canal — how cruel! Arthur Langman proved them wrong. He bought his 1971 B25SS from a breaker, after it had been retrieved from such a waterway — and dried out, of course. Well, mostly… As you’d expect, the…

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We’ve heard Shaun’s story about his Beesa’s rebuild, but now Mike The (Geordie) Mechanic tells the tale of the engine’s internals…… I thought I’d fill in some of the gaps in Shaun’s A10 engine rebuild story… of course, this is only my side of the story and so all of the events are true and…

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Jonathan Hoare meets three BSA twins (and a Bantam) and revels in that old Miller magic at the Manor I never realised that the supposedly humble BSA could be quite so glamorous. Just look at that glorious gold on their Golden Flash and the pearlescent green on the A7 Shooting Star (the term ‘metallic’ came…

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Every so often, small scale publishing turns out an absolute gem. We’re delighted to recommend this excellent book about the motorcycle sport scene in Cornwall… ‘Champions 4 Celebration’ is subtitled ‘A profile of Cornish motor sport champions’ which immediately limits its potential readership. This is a shame as it’s a very well written, meticulously researched…

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Kel Boyce bought a Spanish-built Mototrans 24 Horas by mistake, believing it to be a Ducati. No problem; it was built to go racing and so that’s what he did with it… So the road-going race replica I’d bought added up to a very overweight bike, right? Yep! But don’t get too carried away because…

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Every inch of Russ Gannicott’s 250cc Enfield racer has been tweaked and tightened or gas-flowed and lightened. Time to give it a try, then… With the bike finally built we got permission to do our testing at Hurn Airport, and on a sunny February day the Super 5 first burst into life. On first push,…

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Ambassador built small two-strokes during the 1950s and 1960s. This new book should be hugely helpful to any restorer, says Tony Gutteridge… Ambassador’s first production motorcycle was a 197cc lightweight fitted with a Villiers 5E engine. It came out in 1947 with a rigid frame and girder forks, and a three-speed gearbox. This model was…

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