News

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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You meet the nicest people on a Honda. And Jim Peace… Once upon a time, many years ago, motorcycle engines had proper capacities like 250, 350 and 500cc. And motorbikes knew their place. Two-strokes and Tiger Cubs were for commuting, 350s could be used for modest touring, 500s were more sporting, and 650s and thousands…

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It was big. Really big. Really extremely big for the 1980s. Steve The Toast debates the virtues of blunderbuss motorcycling and Kawasaki’s classic six-cylinder machine… If anyone ever tells you that they have never made a mistake, you would be relatively safe to draw the conclusion that they have never made anything, as the saying…

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Frank Westworth reports from the saddle of a 750 Matchless, and includes a great big chunk of personal anecdote, revealing why he has never been comfortable in a leather hat… Motorbicyclists are a strange breed. We pride ourselves on our individuality; yet we join clubs and wear club regalia. We pride ourselves on our independence;…

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It’s a winner! When Graham Holt’s gleaming Morini 350 appears at events it has a habit of stealing the show… When Graham Holt bought his 1976, 344cc Strada for £1850 some eight years ago it was in pretty good nick. But ‘pretty good’ wasn’t good enough, so Graham set to work and transformed the Strada…

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