RealClassic Archives Page 2 of 57

BMW R65 Restoration | Part One

30th January 2024 Web Editor Features, Workshop

Some time ago, Ric Campbell took on the restoration of a really ratty BMW boxer… Words and photos: Ric Campbell Archive images: RC RChive One day the phone rang. It was an old mate who’d bought two bikes as a job lot. One was a 250 Honda and the other a BMW R65. They’d been left rotting in a derelict…

Norton Model 50: Something a little different

19th January 2024 RowenaH Features

Norton was long associated with sporting singles, especially the firm’s highly competitive cammy racers of the pre-war era. But in the mid-1950s a very different single-cylinder 350 joined the line-up, as Rowena Hoseason reveals… Not to be confused with Norton’s pre-war Model 50, the post-war 350 arrived for 1956 and shared many of its cycle parts with the Model 19…

The BSA Rocket 3 with three lives

10th January 2024 Trevor Drury Features, From The Archive

Over the years, we’ve featured many (many!) BSA and Triumph triples in RealClassic. Trevor Drury explains how his much-modded Rocket 3 evolved into the machine you see here… Words and photographs by Trevor Drury The Rocket 3 was built on 9th June 1971 and shipped the next day to California. It returned to the UK in 2007, repatriated by the…

January 2024

30th December 2023 Alex Bestwick Latest Issue RC

RealClassic revels in the nuts and bolts of running, riding and rebuilding real classic motorcycles. Expert and enthusiastic real-life riders from across the world share their passion for old bikes. This month: BMW R69S BMW’s R69S is undoubtedly a record-setting icon with a highly polished provenance. But is it a suitable steed for a spirited classic rider? Ace Tester Miles reveals…

The history of the AJS V-twin: from birth to rebirth

19th December 2023 Rowena Hoseason Features

Vintage V-twins almost took over RealClassic issues 225 and 226, with roadtests of litre-class prewar beasts from Royal Enfield and AJS. Rowena Hoseason investigates the background to the Ajay family… The Stevens family built their first V-twin more than a century ago, when AJS were still firmly rooted in Wolverhampton. Introduced in 1912, the sidevalve Model D initially used a…

Classic Choice: BMW or Moto Guzzi?

5th December 2023 Web Editor Features

A while back we wondered which 1970’s sports-tourer would you want to call your own, if you had to choose between a pair of Continental classics? We’re talking big twins: one boxer, one V-twin, both shaft drive. If you could own either, then which one would you want in your shed? We asked RealClassic readers – in an entirely imaginary…