Category: Reviews

From the Speed Twin to the first Bonneville, this glossy hardback tells the story of Turner’s iconic twins… Crowood’s MotoClassics series has gradually evolved over the years, so I suppose I shouldn’t have been too surprised to discover that the latest volume in the range is a slightly different format to its predecessors. Spooky, actually: most motorcycle models get bigger…

Before there was Elsie, Yamaha built an equally memorable two-stroke tearaway. Anarchy shows us his 400C… Although there’s an inevitable family resemblance between the RD400 and the 350 which preceded it, the 40bhp two-stroke had been considerably developed to make it bigger, smoother, quieter, faster and longer-lived. Yamaha increased the engine stroke to add 51cc to the engine capacity, which…

This high quality, limited edition book about the Ariel motorcycles of the late 1920s will only be available for a short while. Grab it while you can… The trouble with enthusiasm is that enthusiasm is infectious. Beware enthusiasts, lest you come away from sharing their world with a bad attack of sharing their enthusiasm. Sometimes enthusiasts are unsporting about their…

Phil Speakman reviews a book which wanders from the subject of classic bikes, but which reflects the journey of one particularly distraught motorcycle rider… As someone who is unmarried, with no children, I think it is fair to say that it’s near impossible for me to really appreciate just what Neil Peart has been through. Selena, Neil and Jackie’s daughter…

Restoring a family heirloom is a daunting task, especially if the heirloom is a B33 which spent a decade wrapped up in a plastic paddling pool. Read how Andrew J Davies rose to the challenge as his restoration tale unfolds… From A(JS) to B(SA) ‘Dad, can I wash The Bike today?’ I was always the helpful sort, even at 10…

What was that about ‘once bitten’? it didn’t apply to Phillip Rashleigh. After a bad Britbike experience in the 1980s he’s come back for a re-match… I guess I had better start at the beginning and then move onto where I have got to, and then head to where I am going to finish. Like all good stories this has…