January magazine – out now!

British bikes, Italian icons, Japanese classics and American iron are all featured in this month’s eclectic collection of classic motorcycles and old clunkers. Here’s how to order a copy of the magazine – available in digital formats for your nifty device, or printed on paper for folks of a more traditional inclination… BSA BANTAM TRIALS Odgie goes in search of…

BSA C15

BSA’s stalwart 250 single used to be the obvious choice for learner riders, back in the 1960s. Fifty years later the unit construction C15 has become another obvious choice – this time as a starter classic, a first British bike. We featured a Ceefer in the magazine last year, which inspired John Blackburn to share his experiences on the subject……

The story behind the Arbuthnot Trophy

The Arbuthnot Trial is an annual reliability trial for British vintage and classic motorcycles. David Wright explains how this event commemorates a naval officer who died during the battle of Jutland over 100 years ago. The present-day event incorporates ‘the ambience of the 1920s era’ with the emphasis on rigid machines, although later classics are acceptable. Competition off-roaders rub shoulders…

Frank’s Famous Last Words, #41

On some classic motorcycles, there’s an intriguing lever on the left handlebar. Back in the days before automatic ignition timing, it did something quite important. Frank Westworth has been reminded of its function… A man has been fascinating me on the subject of ignition advance. No no; really. He has, and it actually was fascinating. Strange but true. By way…

Vintage vehicle survey results

The average vintage vehicle travels 1100 miles a year, and there are nearly 300,000 classic bikes on the DVLA’s database. Which classic motorcycle marque do you think is the most popular? Triumph? BSA, maybe? Every five years in recent times, the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs carries out a survey of the historic vehicle scene in the United Kingdom,…