The Strange Death of the British Motor Cycle Industry

This book provides a dispassionate examination of the evidence leading to the decline of motorcycle manufacturing in Britain. Although there are now Triumphs and Nortons available again, the decline during the latter half of the 20th century was spectacular. Steve Koerner is a British motorcycle enthusiast and historian from British Columbia who completed a PhD dissertation on the subject at…

Classic bikes for sale

Warning! Browsing this selection of old bikes and classic motorcycles could convert some of your cash into a great big silly grin. Don’t look unless you want to be led astray… in the nicest possible way. The monthly RealClassic magazine always includes an interesting array of bikes for sale by private sellers or on offer at specialist dealers. We’ve selected…

April issue: out now!

It seems that every other British bike in the new issue is a BSA: not quite sure how that happened. However, the magazine is as eclectic as ever and also features a Morini 3½, BMW boxers and even an MZ, among the other classic bikes and vintage motorcycles. You won’t find RealClassic on the shelves in UK newsagents, but you…

Shepton Snapshots

Once upon a time, every weekend witnessed an autojumble as good as this one. Real barn-find British bikes for sale; stacks of spares, genuinely surplus to requirement; an eye-catching avenue of motorcycles old and new which carried their owners to the event, and an entry fee equivalent to a single cup of frothy coffee. Few traditional autojumbles still exist in…

Triumph Bonneville T140

Considering your first classic British bike? The Triumph T140 Bonneville (actually a range of 750 twins built between the mid-1970s and early 1980s) is still the obvious choice. There’s always a good selection of 750s up for sale at any time, so you have plenty to pick and choose between. Spares supply is superb. There are several specialists dedicated to…

BSA Silver Star

  Even people who don’t like classic motorcycles have heard of the BSA Gold Star. It’s a clear-cut classic bike icon. Its pre-war roadgoing counterpart is rather less well known, however. We featured the 500cc ohv Silver Star in the March magazine, and found some rather wonderful original images in the archive. There’s not a lot of space to see…