Reviews

After a day’s escapades, Steve The Toaster reckons this is one Triumph which is a classic straight from the crate. Martin Gelder, on the other hand, says it might be big but it’s not clever… A large number of people would have you believe that good things come in small packages. What about chocolates? Ask…

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Velocette LE: There once was a day when an everso ‘umble Velo LE overtook an Enfield Interceptor. Mick Merrick was there, but rather wishes he hadn’t been… This is a story about a young, gullible, and simple youth back in 1968/69 (not much has changed since then; only the age). The story goes like this.…

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It’s probably good news when the only item you need to fit to a 44 year old British bike is a bicycle bell. John Whapshott tells a rider’s tale Like many Marters before, I reluctantly packed away my crash helmet soon after I got married twenty years ago. Mary and I both liked bikes, and…

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Common fault No.37: Martin Gelder never throws anything away, ever. From the dusty shelves of obscurity comes this tale of a written off and rebuilt Boxer, and a list of funky foibles… BMW. Three letters that impress estate agents and middle-managers, but will have every shoulder-chipped 250 riding courier reciting a list of ‘common-faults’ that…

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Are you a TT enthusiast? Geof Staples reviews the story behind the Clubman’s TT races and reckons this book will fascinate you… I was very pleased when this book dropped through the letterbox, as it fills a gap in my knowledge of the TT races. It is quite a large volume, in softback, a little…

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BSA’s smaller twins are often overlooked, while the 650s grab all the attention. Steve Bergman cast a modern bike rider’s eye over the A7 and its emulators… During those irritating times when The Empire wasn’t at war with someone and the market for weapons was poor, the Birmingham Small Arms Company, or BSA to you…

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Phillip Rashleigh has been sourcing parts for his scrambler special. Now he knows what he’s got, he just has to figure out how to fit it to the B31 chassis… Once I’d found the right pieces and got my project bike together in large lumps, it was time to tear it all down and start…

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After taking a test ride on a new Bullet Andy C just had to own one. So did the reality live up to the dream? I really wanted a 5-speed electric start Clubmans but, as I said in the previous episode, no such animal exists (at least not directly from Watsonian). I was offered such…

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Wherein small bits and lumps come together to form a recognisable larger lump… all without major problems. Puzzling. Jim Algar wonders if he should start to worry?… The bike has been sitting untended in my garage for a depressingly long period of time. There was, of course, the wait while Norvil tended to my crankshaft…

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Phil Speakman has unusual tastes in motorcycles, and finding parts for them isn’t easy. His search for spares finally led him into the eagle’s eyrie… The Ardennes in late January is no place for a motorcycle. Piled up snow from the verge encroaches onto the carriageway, poised to envelop the unwary rider who runs slightly…

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