News

Twenty years ago, Goat Maison set off on his 1958 600cc twin to ride halfway around the world. In the previous episode, we’d left him in Iran… After an unpleasant encounter with a big crowd in Qom, I headed out of town and then stopped for a coke. There were some young soldiers there (who…

Continue reading »

The ultimate, multi-part manual for BSA unit-construction single-cylinder classics is nearing completion. This instalment covers absolutely everything apart from the engine… Many moons ago, ‘Rupert Ratio’ of the BSA Owners’ Club produced an invaluable manual, an extremely detailed hands-on guide to maintaining, rebuilding and trouble-shooting the Unit Single engine. That extensive and informative book became…

Continue reading »

Frank Westworth revisits a bike he rode several years ago. Years before A Nice Gurl gave him a Sunbeam… Oh bliss. Oh joy. Oh sweet smiles of happiness! What a pleasant motorcycle this is. Can I ride it for a while or two? I can. Splendid… Some days nothing goes right. Even when I was…

Continue reading »

The debate hots up. Which is the Best Bonnie of all time? Jon Tait has some opinions, based around his three T120s The T120V My dad bought this bike from a guy in Bedfordshire about 15 years ago. It’d been rebuilt but I remember, from riding it home for him, that it was a long…

Continue reading »

We’ve followed Dave’s rebuild from the day he brought home a box of bits, as he attempts to fulfil his dream of owning a top-notch Tiger. Next items on the agenda: paint, and brakes… I had reached a point in the restoration when I really needed to think about getting some wheels. I had decided…

Continue reading »

Forget what you think you know about Ural motorcycles. Today’s 745cc flat twins come with electric start, a Brembo front brake and decent dealer back-up. Steve The Tovarich ventured behind the Iron Curtain (not) for a quick spin… For the second time in seven days I find myself being driven across a bumpy car park.…

Continue reading »

Was Yamaha’s ground-breaking FZR as good as its reputation suggests? A new collection of old roadtests helps to place it in perspective… This collection of 28 magazine articles spans eight years and the several incarnations of Yamaha’s FZR1000, from the original 1987 Genesis through to the final fox-eye EXUP, with a detour here and there…

Continue reading »

A restoration project is a funny thing: it can offer immense personal satisfaction, and immense frustration and self-doubt, sometimes simultaneously. PaulG80 experienced all three while rebuilding Beatrice… This story begins in 1997 when I bought a ratty BMW boxer from a work chum. It was a R60/5 1973 model. I originally bought it as a…

Continue reading »

An American rider recalls his life with motorcycles. Jim Algar reviews a mixture of biography, travelogue, military memoir and personal motorcycle journey… Those who love motorcycles tend to find easy, convivial company with others who share that love. But what leads us to motorcycles and motorcycling in the first place is always a personal journey,…

Continue reading »

Photos by kind permission of Simon Everett Back in 1998, Dave Minton met a very special 750 flat-tracker. The triple was rebuilt from a wreck that had been abandoned in the Mojave desert. It certainly gave Dave the ride of a lifetime, although he still complains about the — lack of — saddle to this…

Continue reading »