RealClassic

  • A Vintage Venture

    A Vintage Venture

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    The Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club is dedicated to bikes built before 1940 – and many of these magnificent machines are regularly ridden. Richard Jones found some real rarities at last month’s Rose of the Shires run. As you can see, there isn’t a better venue than Stoke Bruerne for this type of event, particularly when…

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  • Café Racer Festival

    Café Racer Festival

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    RC regular Ian Woolley found himself short of reading matter, and this minor crisis somehow led him to Montlhéry in June, surrounded by all manner of customised classic bikes. Old skool café racers and trad Tritons took to the track alongside new wave brats, bobbers and street-trackers. Here, then, are the highlights… One of my…

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  • July issue available now

    July issue available now

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    This month’s magnificent magazine offers V-twins from Italy and America, an airhead from Germany, alongside Britbike twins, singles and triples all for your entertainment, education and edification. BMW R80, Part One When you buy a cheap bike on eBay there’s always a chance that one of its minor problems might be something major. In this…

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  • Norton Model 18

    Norton Model 18

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    The price of pre-war British bikes frequently puts them beyond most budgets, but the first bikes built after WW2 offer an affordable alternative. This 500 single was manufactured by Norton in 1946 and it retains many vintage virtues, as its owner explains… ‘It just oozes character,’ grins owner Brian. ‘I’ve owned other girder-fork machines over…

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  • Frank’s Famous Last Words #43

    Frank’s Famous Last Words #43

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    How many motorcycle insurance policies do you have? Just the one? Sensible. Two? One for the ancient and another for the less so? That’s OK, too. Frank Westworth typically has a couple of policies running concurrently and he’s not been too concerned about keeping track of his No Claims Bonus. Learn from his experiences… Years…

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  • Classic Bikes at Cassington

    Classic Bikes at Cassington

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    What happens when you take a rural village to the west of Oxford, usual population less than a thousand people, close the through road and then add something between 5000 and 10,000 motorcycles, their riders and other visitors? You get Cassington Bike Night of course, now one of the great summer events in this part…

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  • Classic Motorcycle Meet

    Classic Motorcycle Meet

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    There were a multitude of classic motorcycles at Stony Straford near Milton Keynes recently. It must take a great deal of effort, enthusiasm and planning to arrange a single classic event each year but to arrange two must require dedication above and beyond the call of duty. However this is exactly what the organisers of Classic…

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  • Royal Enfield Bullet

    Royal Enfield Bullet

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    There are so many Indian- built Royal Enfields around these days that they tend to overshadow the original British bikes. But there are still plenty of Redditch-made motorcycles thriving on the classic scene. We featured a 1956 green-laner 350 in the June issue – and here’s some of the background to the model… The Bullet…

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  • Sidecar Outfits Everywhere!

    Sidecar Outfits Everywhere!

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    You wait for ages for a classic bike combination to come along, and then three turn up at once… The first will be going under the hammer at the Cheffins vintage auction on Saturday 15th July 2017, at the Machinery Saleground, Sutton, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB6 2QT. Looks like a perfect candidate for a wipe over with…

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  • Greeves Hawkstone

    Greeves Hawkstone

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    If you’re looking for a robust and affordable old bike to join the classic scrambles scene, then a Greeves Hawkstone like this 1961 machine could be the ideal entry ticket. Well, maybe not one quite so clean, tidy and well-kept as this near-mint example – better to start with a battle-scarred old campaigner when you…

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