James Superswift Two-Stroke Twin

  ‘It’s the finest and dandiest 250 you’ve ever seen,’ said the launch publicity about the new Superswift in the autumn of 1961. ‘The James twin you have been waiting for!’ The new machines, priced at £181.18.8, offered ‘thrilling performance matched only by its superb styling and finish… Ride it here, ride it there, ride it anywhere – this is…

Win an AJS Model 18

If you’re looking for a typical British bike, then the single-cylinder four-strokes built by Associated Motor Cycles immediately after WW2 are the obvious choice. Small wonder then that the National Motorcycle Museum chose an AJS Model 18 as one of the prizes in their winter raffle. Honest, dependable and free of phoney pretensions, the Ajay 18 neatly balances price and…

Frank Melling: The Flying Penguin

Frank Melling tells a mean tall story. You’d seek him out on Friday night, pint in hand, to hear ripping yarns about being black-flagged on Sammy Miller’s Norton Kneeler, or staring down the wrong end of a Colt 45 barrel in backwoods Missouri. The twist to this second collection of postcards from a riding life is that Frank’s tall stories…

Cafe racer kits for Hinckley triples

How to transform an old Hinckley triple into a rapid café racer, no spannering skills required. Don’t do it yourself – let an expert take the strain… After years of restoring classics and building specials, Ian at Café Racer Kits found a simple way to share his experience and expertise. CRK started offering modular kits for CX500s and Superdreams, then…

BSA A7

BSA twins typically come top of the list in the ‘practical classic bikes’ category. They’re solidly reliable, easy to start and maintain and supported by a good range of specialist spares suppliers. If you’re after a pre-unit machine, then the 500cc A7 is the obvious, still affordable option… The A7 was BSA’s big push into parallel twin market, originally scheduled…