Velocette LE: the perfect commuter classic?

Looking for a classic lightweight? You’re not alone. RC regular Geoff Stovold has tried a 1960s two-stroke, then a four-stroke unit single. Finally he’s discovered the perfect commuter classic: Velocette’s ‘motorcycle for everyman’… I always enjoy the articles in RealClassic about lightweight bikes like the Triumph Blazer SS seen in RC202. It brought back memories of my own quest to…

Velocette MSS

‘The article in the August issue about a Velo MSS reminds me of an incident that still brings me out in a cold sweat when recalled,’ says RC reader Phil Rich. More than half a century ago he cheekily borrowed a bike, and never said ‘thank you’ properly. Ted, if you’re still out there… My motorcycle timeline began in 1965…

January issue out now

We start the New Year with a space rocket (doesn’t everyone?) and a truly unusual example of Italian ingenuity. The January magazine – available on old-fashioned paper or in pretty digital pixels – also features a brilliant bunch of British bikes, from the epitome of a golden age icon to a stalwart single-cylinder slogger, and even one of those new-fangled…

June issue out now

  British bikes, Italian classics and Oriental excellence – all make an appearance in the June magazine. Old English singles from Ariel, AJS, Norton and Royal Enfield sit alongside three-cylinder superbikes, big twins and fab fours. Here’s the full range of featured machines and how to read all about them… ARIEL VH 500 Somehow, Ariel suggested that their bikes were…

Try A Classic Bike Day

  One of the benefits of becoming an official ‘Friend’ of the National Motorcycle Museum is that, besides free entrance to the museum and other goodies, they invite you to events like last weekend’s ‘Try A Classic Bike’ training day. For the nominal sum of £10 to cover insurance you get to ride a number of the museum’s exhibits around…

Classic Bikes at Boston

  Overlapping events meant that classic motorcycles and sidecar outfits converged on Boston in Lincolnshire, bringing a bunch of BSAs and other old Britbikes into close contact with some awesome aircraft… This is a regular event for the Tri-Anglia Wheels Sidecar Club, which is my local club. The campsite is adjacent to the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby,…