December issue out now

Winter drawers on! We’ve been waiting all year to make that joke. We have also decked the halls with boughs of holly for the fabulous festiveness that is RC164. The December issue of the monthly RealClassic magazine is indeed a veritable cornucopia of classic motorcycling. And some dodgy old bikes. And even a shock-horror-hold-the-front-page new one! You can cut to…

Ariel Square Four

In the December issue of RealClassic, Roger Slater rebuilds a four-cylinder Ariel engine. Here’s the historical context to this remarkable motorcycle… The Square Four started as a twinkle in Edward Turner’s eye back in the 1920s when he worked at BSA. After moving to Ariel and enlisting the aid of engineer Bert Hopwood, Turner’s idea was made into metal in…

November issue out now!

Apparently, it’s too soon to make the ‘winter draws on’ joke just yet, so instead we’d better tell you that RC163 is stuffed full of cracking classic bikes and interesting old motorcycles. We’ve a BMW airhead, a Moto Guzzi V-twin and an auto-dramatic Honda, as well as three late interpretations of traditional British bikes: a Triumph Bonneville, BSA Gold Star…

Museum LIVE Open Day

In case you missed us at the Stafford Show this month, the RC Roadshow will be rolling along to the National Motorcycle Museum’s LIVE event on Saturday 4th November 2017. This free-to-enter event not only gives you access to the world’s largest collection of British classic bikes but also incorporates a jam-packed schedule of special attractions. Here’s some of what…

Triumph Thunderbird

Back in the early 1980s, Triumph built a budget 650; a short-stroke version of the 750 Bonneville. These days the TR65 Thunderbird is proving to be a rewarding practical classic bike for one regular rider… ‘As I age,’ says RC regular Mark Holyoake, ‘my taste in bikes has changed. Gone are the days of race-reps and the like; I have…

Norton Commando

The S-type 750 Commando was introduced in 1969 alongside the Fastback, itself a tweaked version of the initial Commando, and the R-type Roadster. The S was intended to capture the hearts and wallets of the American market and it wedded Norton’s isolastic chassis to the street scrambler styling of the P11 desert sled which had been discontinued the previous year.…