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  • Laverda SF750 Part II

    Laverda SF750 Part II

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    Thinking of buying a 750 Laverda twin? Dave Minton rings the changes between the models and offers shoppers well-proven advice… In the first installment, Laverda introduced their 750 twin parallel twin and – against the odds – it proved to be one of the best. They could hardly keep up with customer demand it first,…

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  • 'The Sammy Miller Museum Collection: Racing and Sporting Machines' by Roy Poynting

    'The Sammy Miller Museum Collection: Racing and Sporting Machines' by Roy Poynting

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    If you enjoy drooling over exotic racing motorcycles, then this book captures the gems of the Miller Museum between its covers, and does them ultimate justice with glorious presentation… Redline Books, who’ve produced this 228-page softback, really know how to publish beautiful books about motorcycles. Honestly, the subject matter could be scruffy old Bantams and…

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  • Moto Guzzi Breva 750V IE

    Moto Guzzi Breva 750V IE

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    RealClassic readers have requested info on those modern bikes which fulfil the role of the classic motorcycle. So, by popular demand, Steve The Toast tests Moto Guzzi’s new middleweight streetbike… Brand loyalty is one facet of being a biker which I lock well away inside the back of my head whenever testing a bike. You…

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  • MZ ES250/2 Trophy Rebuild – Part 5

    MZ ES250/2 Trophy Rebuild – Part 5

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    It’s in one piece and ready to ride. Phil Speakman does the unthinkable, and actually concludes a rebuild saga. Steady on, Phil… Beep beep, beep beep beep beep… I felt like throwing my phone through the window at 7am on Saturday morning, but I’d only myself to blame for feeling like I did. I could…

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  • Norton Commando 850 Interstate

    Norton Commando 850 Interstate

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    Little girls beware; Barry Granger’s Norton Commando is out to get you… Apart from the front brake, Barry Granger has very little to complain about when he thinks about his 1974 Norton Commando Interstate. Bought in 1982 for around £700, Barry sees his Commando as; ‘the last of the hairy-chested bikes. Large, heavy and grunty…

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  • Sidecar Racing and Panther Motorcycles

    Sidecar Racing and Panther Motorcycles

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    Two new books about classic bikes are on the way; one for fans of world-class sidecar racing and the other about Panthers… Panther Publishing produce a selection of books for the classic motorcyclist. As the company’s name suggests they started out producing a book in conjunction with the Panther Owners’ Club (‘The Panther Story’) but…

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  • India, The Shimmering Dream by Max Reisch

    India, The Shimmering Dream by Max Reisch

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    In 1933, two students were the first people to ride a motorcycle overland from Europe to India. Their epic adventure aboard a 250cc two-stroke has finally been published in English… Max Reisch and his companion Herbert Tichy were determined to travel overland to India through the Middle East in the early 1930s, despite an array…

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  • Sunbeam S8 Adventures – Part 4

    Sunbeam S8 Adventures – Part 4

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    He bought it, he broke it (OK; maybe it was broke already…) and now he’s nearly fixed it. Steve The Toaster finally gets his Sunbeam going again. Was it easy? Was it ‘eck as like… One of the major pitfalls of disassembling engines is they refuse to self-reassemble. A nightmare, ’tis true. Also, the cheapest…

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  • Triumph T140D Bonneville Special

    Triumph T140D Bonneville Special

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    Was there really anything special about the T140D apart from its name? Steve Wilson rode one, and reports… On summer weekends throughout the early 1980s you would still see quite a few Triumphs on the road, before they became classic, often in the company of two or three big Japs, because (while working) they could…

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  • Triumph T100A – Part 7

    Triumph T100A – Part 7

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    After 14 months of hard labour, Dave has turned a miscellany of motorcycle spares into a real live classic bike. But now he has to make it legal… The bike ran and rode well, so my attention now turned to the MoT. I rang my local motorcycle tester to arrange an appointment. But unfortunately they…

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