Reviews

Part of the pleasure in going to a classic bike event is getting your machine ready to ride. Always up for a challenge, Humbernut doubled his trouble and opted to get two vintage motorcycles ready for Founder’s Day… It was my intention to have both Humbers available for the 2005 VMCC Founder’s Day so that…

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Who can catch a Kawasaki? Message board regular Kevin sets the bait for a Z900 but reels in a pristine KZ650B2… I always loved the look of the Kawasaki Z900 from the day I saw an old friend turn up at the local pub on his new one, in fact that was part of the…

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It’s not the most fashionable of British twins, but the 600cc Matchless has a lot going for it, says Neil Thomas of Classic Bike Provence… Christmas came early last year for the folks at Classic Bike Provence, and Santa delivered a rather fine 600cc parallel twin in the shape of a Matchless G11. Sarah and…

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With Beezumph looming, Martin Gelder tackled his to-do list. Forks, brakes, chains, sprockets, gaskets and cam belts all needed attention. The front end, the back end, and the bitter end? Episode “cinque” saw me out riding my bike rather than getting down to some last minute revision, and making lists of things to do rather…

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‘What I did on my summer holidays’. Rebuilding a real classic two stroke single almost earned KarlB an A*, but smoking is not permitted on school grounds… I was going to rebuild the original motor for my MZ ES150, but another MZ TS250 Supa 5 came along and as that needed paintwork doing outside, or…

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A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, they say. Andy Sochanik discovered that no knowledge at all is ideal if you’re looking at a Norton lightweight! Back in 1972, Andy was searching for something cheap and cheerful (although the first item was essential; the second bit would be a bonus), and he ended up…

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After travelling through the world’s troublespots two decades ago, Goat Maison finally made it to Pakistan aboard his pre-featherbed twin. But the going had been tough… Weeks of travel through the desert had taken their toll. The jarring of the corrugations of the ‘road’ had caused the oil in the forks to disappear (I don’t…

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One oft-overlooked aspect of the First World War was the role played by the despatch rider. Dave Minton recommends an extensive book on this very subject… My evenings have been spent recently engrossed, and I use the word intentionally, in a study of dispatch riding through the Great War of 1914-18. Before going further let…

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Not just a recent show winner, Brian Matthew’s ‘Beam probably also started life on a show stand back at Olympia over 70 years ago… Isn’t this bike a beaut? It was judged to be one of the best at last autumn’s Stinkwheel Show at Beaumanor Hall, where it collected the award for Best in Class…

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The very last production T160 Tridents were several hundred built to Police spec for Saudi Arabia. Steve Wilson rode a refurbished one with less than 30 miles on its clock… It looked like a very smart but pretty stock sort of T160 Trident, big and handsome with the 4.8 gallon tank in Cherokee Red and…

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