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Hurley Wilvert: From mechanic to the world stage
Hurley Wilvert was a mechanic and amateur racer who earned his shot at the big time in the early 1970s. By 1974, he was on the podium of the Daytona 200 with Giacomo Agostini and Kenny Roberts. Norm DeWitt tells his fascinating story.
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ASI MOTO SHOW
Not too far from many iconic two- and four-wheeled factories and museums in northern Italy is the Autodromo di Varano de’ Melegari.
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Mystery Solved
I’VE BEEN LOOKING at the mystery bike photo in April’s issue. Not very good is it? However, to me the bike is not a Cotton, but a New Imperial. You can clearly see the almost-meeting
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IN BALANCE: A sad occasion
Husband, father, brother, uncle and off-road legend – RIP Martin Lampkin. It isn’t only the trials world that will have been saddened by the passing of inaugural world trials champion Martin Lampkin as, like many
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ISDT Decade
I’ve just finished reading your great article about the UK decade of ISDT. I was looking for a restoration project last summer and looked up a friend who used to have a Honda dealership. He
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A Take On The TriBSA
I liked the TriBSA feature in the last issue and thought I’d send photos of my TriBSA that my son, Geoff, bought from Ian Davis. Davis made third place in the Welsh Championship on 2010
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The weather has been frightful… but is bound to improve soon. Meanwhile, a meander through tales of torrents past…
The weather is a recurring theme in UK motorcycle sport, I suppose it is elsewhere in the world too just those who live outside Great Britain don’t seem to take discussing it to such great
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Cadwell park anniversary
In your look back over eight decades of motorcycle sport at Cadwell Park 80th anniversary celebrations you seem to have missed the one major decade I cannot see or read any mention of the 1960s
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Praise For Morris
I really enjoyed the Dave Morris piece in the current issue of Classic Racer about BMW’s ‘forgetfulness’ in their PR for Michael Dunlop’s TT wins this year, but surely you too have forgotten something? If
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Ken McIntosh – the legend lives on
980 was a time when big-bore Formula One racing was catching on worldwide, and the crowds loved it! The bikes were big, made lots of noise and in the right hands they could sometimes take
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BRISTOL BEATS THE STORMS
Star of the wind and rain swept Carole Nash Bristol Classic MotorCycle Show at the Bath & West Showground was local legend Henry Body. Winners all – Despite the inclement weather the Bristol Show winners
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TEAM MOLNAR MANX
Last year proved to be the team’s most successful season, with 116 race starts and only two mechanical failures and Chris Firmin taking bike number 001, the first ever built by Andy Molnar, back in
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Obituary – Steve Murray
Steve giving Tommy Robb some words of advice at Daytona. Cheshire has, over the years, produced many exciting and gifted racing motorcyclists of distinction, but one of the most loved and charismatic of all, Steve
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Square Four evolution
While little cannot already have been written about the Ariel Square Four, it takes only a brief look through the Mortons Archive to reignite the intrigue this distinguished British design has always generated, writes Pete Kelly.
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Yamaha’s XT and SR500 – a singular sort-out
Eyebrows were raised when Yamaha entered the ‘big single’ market in the 1970s – but it had done its homework thoroughly to put some tired old bogeys to rest, writes Steve Cooper.
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Cold hands, warm hearts on Moidart Peninsula Road Run
John McCrink reports on a decidedly wintry motorcycle road run in Scotland on Thursday, April 28.
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Happy feet as Alt-Berg sticks with tradition
Mick Payne visits a Yorkshire bootmaker with a proud tradition, after the very comfortable and practical boots they made for him 20 years ago were swiped from under his nose.
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Picturesque tour proves the classic way to explore Brittany
If your perception of northern France is that it’s flat and boring, you need to experience the annual three-day Tour du Calvados, run by the Lue sur Mer-based Retro Moto Cote de Nacre Club, writes Ian Kerr.
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Foggy to ride Triumph legends at Goodwood Festival of Speed
Four-time world superbike champion Carl Fogarty will return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed from June 23-26 for the first time in eight years.
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‘Tangerine Dream’ winner announced
Peter Allan of Epsom, Surrey, is the lucky winner of the top prize in the National Motorcycle Museum’s Winter Raffle, a 1959 Triumph T120 ‘Tangerine Dream’ 650cc Bonneville.
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Vintage Tyres appoints new managing director
Vintage Tyres, the world’s largest supplier of original-equipment tyres for enthusiast vehicles, has appointed Ben Field, who joined the company last June, as its new managing director.
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More than half-a-million bikes in a year – Royal Enfield’s best financial results ever
After selling more than half-a-million motorcycles in the last financial year, Royal Enfield has announced its best-ever results for a 12-month period.
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Wobbling ‘Dad’s Army’ invades Northern Ireland!
Picture the Dad’s Army scene as Captain Mainwaring addresses his mainly past their ‘sell-by’ date squad, writes Ted Bemand.
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Italy shows how to keep classic bikes alive, kicking and FUN!
The ASI Moto Show has to be one of the best-kept secrets of the classic bike world in the UK – which, considering the advertising the Italian club has done over the 16 years it’s been running, is somewhat surprising, writes Ian Kerr, with pictures by himself and Tony Page.
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Welsh Motoring Auction cancelled
The annual Welsh Motoring Auction on June 18th at Cothi Bridge has been reluctantly cancelled by the Auctioneers Peter Francis of Carmarthen.
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Beautiful baby
The 680 ohv Brough Superior was launched as smaller version of the iconic SS100 – and it certainly looked the part. But, for better or worse, does it share its bigger brother’s characteristics?
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Commuting with style
In Germany in the 1950s and 60s, Zundapp was one of several companies to manufacture high-class ‘commuter’ machines.
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The Jubilee Races
The appeal of the 1953 ACU Jubilee Races, which took place in late August, suffered a major blow when many of the big stars were eliminated from the running owing to injury, illness or schedule conflicts. The event went on regardless, and it was those spectators who decided not to attend that missed out on…
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Racing Rudges
This 1933 TT Replica Rudge is a real rarity, taking nearly three decades to piece together.
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Club stand success for DOT at Stafford
The 36th Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle show took place over April 23/24, 2016.
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Guy in Scotland
TV and TT star Guy Martin took to the hills, rocks and mud of Scotland, to take part in the Scottish Pre-65 Trial, aboard an Ariel. He gamely battled on to the finish, classified as the final (157th) finisher in the results.
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Sixth Ixion Cavalcade
On Sunday May 1, 2016, the Sunbeam MCC held the Sixth Ixion Cavalcade, to commemorate Canon Basil Davies, who wrote for The Motor Cycle under the pseudonym of ‘Ixion’ for many years from the earliest days of motorcycling.
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Foggy at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
Carl Fogarty will return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 23-26 for the first time in eight years as he prepares to celebrate Triumph’s heritage.
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Sunbeam and Steve star at Stafford
The Classic MotorCycle backed show at Stafford saw a Best in Show award for a fabulous Sunbeam, with guest of honour Steve Parrish a popular appointment.
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Bonhams breaks records
Bonhams Stafford Sale set a new world-record price for a Brough Superior and for any British motorcycle sold at auction, as the gavel fell at an astounding £331,900 for the 1938 Brough Superior 750cc BS4.
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A Shakespeare appreciation
Vincent Day at Shakespeare County Raceway took place on April 17, 2016, with Stevenage’s finest celebrated in noisy style.
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Gone but not forgotten
Time and time again proof arises that the British industry wasn’t short on ideas or talent. Finance on the other hand… Colin Sparrow looks over the Greeves 500.
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Martin Lampkin: 1951-2016
Having achieved so much in motorcycling, Harold Martin Lampkin – ‘Mart’, ‘Big Mart’ or ‘H’ depending on who you talk to – is the subject of many images in our archive. We hope this small selection of pictures goes some way to show the impact that this true legend – who died earlier this spring…
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Manx Classic Trial
One of the most popular events on the trials calendar is the Manx International Classic Trial. A two-day affair, held latterly on September 5-6, it took riders all round the Isle of Man and provided a variety of terrain to test the skills of all entrants.
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Carole Nash Classic Mechanics Show: October 15-16, 2016
One of the funny things about quarterly publications such as Classic Dirt Bike is that while writing the news about this coming October’s Stafford, April’s event has only just happened…
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International Dirt Bike Show: October 27/30, 2016
Though not a ‘classic’ show as such, the International Dirt Bike Show at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire will still have a lot for the classic, evo and twinshock enthusiast to enjoy.
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Burgundy classic two-day
There are a number of trials and MX ‘weekends’ in the calendar but not so many enduro or trail ones.
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Mallory Bike Bonanza
We would like to apologise for the incorrect advert for the Mallory Bike Bonanza appearing in the June issue of Old Bike Mart. CORRECT DATES: 30-31 JULY 2016.
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Trend setter
If Edward Turner hadn’t built this bike, would we all be riding sports singles?
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Back To Life
Loads of ancient Brits have returned from overseas, ripe for a rebuild. This T160 Trident was an easy job
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SMOOTH OPERATOR
IF YOUR HEAD was turned by the new Norton Dominator featured in this issue there’s a good chance that you’ll be a fan of the original Norton twins too.
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Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle show
STAFFORD always comes up trumps as the top classic event of the season, and this year was no exception.
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Hello world!
Welcome to Mortons Sites. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
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Far Horizons by Andrew Earnshaw
f you’re going to ride around the world in instalments, then America would seem like a fairly safe place to
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The ‘lightweights’ that time forgot
Time was slowly running out for Associated Motor Cycles when it launched its new-style 250cc overhead-valve singles in 1958 – but were the sturdy and neat-looking AJS and Matchless models the best they could have offered? asks Pete Kelly.
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Music to the ears! Suzuki’s GT550 triple
Steve Cooper fondly remembers Suzuki’s largest air-cooled two-stroke triple – the excellent but often overlooked GT550
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Agricultural it wasn’t – farmer Jack’s Zundapp-Arrow special
When OBM reader and Adler to Zundapp Club member Bernie alerted us to a long-forgotten Zundapp-Arrow special, it was a simple matter to visit the Mortons Archive and turn up the original report.
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Here’s a car showroom – turn it into a bike shop!
Concluding the story about motorcycles in his life, Tony Proctor tells how he set up a brand new Yamaha Centre 38 years ago.
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A question of sport
When thinking of a sport to combine with football (or soccer to our American friends) the petrol-fuelled revelry of motorcycling hardly seems conducive, but motorcycle football really was all the rage in the 1920s, 30s and even beyond, with crowds flocking to watch the beautiful game played on motorcycles.
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Pretty special
This attractive 500cc replica of a Production TT winner started life as a 350cc Viper.
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Trying times
Have you ever been to a museum and wanted to ‘have a go’ on the exhibits? Now, the National Motorcycle Museum has decided to allow that to happen.
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Motorcycles dominate at the Land’s End Trial
Previously an event favoured equally by those of the two-, three- and four-wheeled persuasion, the 1953 Land’s End Trial was one in which the motorcycles took centre stage.
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Vitesse with finesse
An exhaustive search led to the resurrection of an incredibly rare, but quite fabulous, model.
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The story of the Ormonde
Modern literature often relates the decline of the British and continental motorcycle industry in the 1950s and 1960s. Arguably the rot set in before the First World War.
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Another record-breaking weekend at Stafford
Visitors flocked to the 36th Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show at Stafford on April 23-24 to make it one of the best yet, with exhibits of the highest quality, another record-breaking Bonhams’ motorcycle sale, hundreds of club and trade stands inside and outside the halls, star guests, special displays and so much more.
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Ravaged by time, but Bodmin BS4 still makes world record £331,900!
A new world record price was set for a Brough Superior – and for any British motorcycle sold at auction for that matter – when a German bidder in the room paid a staggering £331,900 for a 1938 750cc BS4 that came up as part of the ‘Broughs of Bodmin Moor’ collection during the Bonhams’…
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Cubes without vibes – Triumph’s 1200cc Bonneville Black
One of the reasons we sometimes run road tests on British-built retro machines is to compare the old with the new, but is Triumph’s new and extensively-researched 1200cc T120 Bonneville Black muscle bike the best way to go? Frank Melling brings his impressions first-hand.
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Peter Williams Motorcycles plans replica Arter-Matchless, a road-going JPN, Commando parts and an exclusive club!
Lots of things are happening at Peter Williams Motorcycles, including the formation of a PWM club with the many benefits that go with it, a project to build an Arter-Matchless replica, a road bike evolution of the John Player Norton and even hand-painted Bell helmets with Peter’s distinctive ‘Big W’ blue and white motif!
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Herefordshire VMCC invites older machines to new long-distance ride
Starting and finishing at Ross-on-Wye Cattle Market, the first running of a new long-distance ride entitled ‘Herefordshire on the Edge’ takes place on Sunday, June 26.
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Make a date for the Golden Era Run
Organised by the North East section of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club, the highly-regarded Golden Era Run for motorcycles and three-wheelers built before 1931 will take place at the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, near York, on Sunday, July 24.
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Sunbeam Club’s Pioneer Run hits 77 not out
In mid-February 1930, a crowd gathered at Croydon Aerodrome to witness the very first Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club’s Pioneer Run to Brighton for pre-1914 motorcycles – which, it has to be said, were not all that old at the time!
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Spring in the air at Ardingly
Spectators riding in, taking advantage of fine spring weather, soon filled the regular bike parks at the Ardingly Showground for the first of this year’s ELK Promotions shows, on April 3.
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Pioneering spirit
This year marked the Sunbeam MCC’s 77th Pioneer Run, with an eclectic range of machines and riders attempting the famous journey from London to Brighton.
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Chance to join charity end-to-end run for classic BMWs
IF you’re the owner of a classic air-cooled beauty then you could help make a big difference for charity… and enjoy the best of British scenery too.
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American idol
BSA built some of their best bikes for the USA, including this fast, fiery and flamboyant 650
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Second attempt
MV’s first road-going four was an unmitigated failure. If at first you don’t succeed…
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Gentleman’s relish
Tired of clip-ons and rearsets? We recommend something altogether more refined
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Standing tall
As the new Bonnevilles go on sale, so the old Scrambler will be discontinued. No problem: just build your own
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Make it so
It takes some audacity to dismantle an original old bike to create your first classic custom – but the results of a good build can be simply brilliant. Go on. Be brave…
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Henry’s Cat
It’s a Triumph of course, but Henry Pinney’s 500 twin is more than it appears to be
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70 AND GOING STRONG
THE VINTAGE MOTOR CYCLE CLUB celebrates its 70th birthday this year, and the anniversary events kicked off at the club’s AGM in April.
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Top honour for Manx maestro
THE OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS of Isle Of Man TT legend John McGuinness (who just happens to be the current lap record holder, too) were lauded last month when McGuinness was presented with the prestigious Segrave Trophy.
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ENDLESS SUMMER: A Month of Racing in the Isle of Man – 1966
The Isle of Man is reliant on the services of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company to transport the vast majority of the Island’s needs, not least the tourists that flock to Mona’s Isle, especially for the TT and Manx Grand Prix.
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Thierry Rapicault TZ250: That’s a works bike!
Every racing motorcycle has a story to tell, but a chance encounter with Carlos Lavado revealed that this TZ may have a more interesting history than most. At that moment we could not have guessed how interesting it was. John Parnham charts a journey of painstaking research.
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HIGH OCTANE THRILLS AT SANTA POD IN MAY
THERE’S less than a month to go until Race, Rock ‘n’ Ride – the brand-new biking extravaganza from Santa Pod Raceway, Fast Bikes and Backstreet Heroes.
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OBITUARY: STEVE MURRAY
Cheshire has, over the years, produced many exciting and gifted racing motorcyclists of distinction, but one of the most loved and charismatic of all, Steve Murray, passed away in his sleep at home on February 22, 2016, aged 83.
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Take five – whichever suits your style
Before Royal Enfield’s sensationally-styled Continental GT made its debut, the 250cc Crusader line had already evolved into two variations on a very agreeable five-speed theme – the leading link front fork Super 5 and the sporty-looking Continental. This is how the road testers of the day saw them.
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Laverda 500 – the twin that came oh, so close
’Ullo, ’ullo! What’s an Italian motorcycle doing on Steve Cooper’s Japanese pages? It’s all about comparisons and giving praise where it’s due, that’s what – and something the more extreme ‘Jap knockers’ might consider reciprocating once in a while?
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How I bought a BSA A7 – at the ripe old age of 14!
Stirred by Old Bike Mart’s request for bike shop memories, Tony Proctor recalls his own early motorcycling days, which grew from mimicking his scrambling heroes.
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Getting into line – with the experts
When you’re setting up a sidecar, the smallest of adjustments can make all the difference to handling. Mick Payne trawls around to get the opinions of today’s specialists in the field.
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Calendar girl Rachael hosts NMM workshop training day
Hosted by journalist and Milestones TT calendar girl Rachael Clegg, a workshop training day was enjoyed by 50 Friends of the National Motorcycle Museum in that establishment’s Premier Suite on Saturday, February 27.
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Better displays planned for Sidcup Club’s big bike night
This year’s Sidcup Bike Night, organised by the welcoming Sidcup & District Motor Cycle Club at its spectacular Canada Heights venue at Swanley, Kent, will take place on Friday, June 17.
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Spring has sprung – and all wheels point to Stafford
Spring is here at last, and with it Britain’s best classic motorcycling gathering by far – the 36th Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show at the Staffordshire County Showground (ST18 0BD) over the weekend of April 23-24.
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Vincents burning rubber again at Long Marston
The Coventry section of the Vincent Owners’ Club is organising a quarter-mile sprint day at Long Marston Airfield’s Shakespeare County Raceway on Sunday, April 17.
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Show call for Triumph Terriers and Tiger Cubs
Scottish Old Bike Mart contributor and Triumph Tiger Cub enthusiast Gorgeous Biker Chick is appealing for more Cubs and Terriers to come forward to be displayed at the Cub Fest stand at the 36th Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show at the Staffordshire County Showground on April 23-24.
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The remarkable feats of Harry Lorraine
Always the showman, film star (and stuntman) Harry Lorraine sought to thrill audiences across Great Britain in the 1920s with his many acts of daring astride his Douglas flat-twin motorcycle.
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Flying machine
There are few motorcycles which are in an elevated class, separated from the vast majority of their peers. This, though, is one of them.
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Replicas, specials, fakes and forgeries
The seamy world of fakes, replicas and specials is one which can be navigated when armed with an understanding of what constitutes those terms, as well as a bit of nous to ensure you’re not being taken for a ride.
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Spiritual homage
With lots of late 1960s and 1970s BMWs ending up as café racers this more authentic take, paying tribute to the beautiful Rennsport, makes a refreshing change.
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