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How do you turn a bland UJM into a genuine Japanese classic? You add style, of course. Rowena Hoseason has a thing about pop-up headlights…

Over in Brazil, Chico Rasia has been making progress with his 1980’s Honda twin. Just a few things to fix… oh, and then a few more…

Chico Rasia has finally found his chosen classic: an early Eighties CB400. Now all he has to do is to get it to stop. And start. Which to worry about first?…

Your definition of a ‘classic bike’ may well depend on where you live. Chico Rasia, from Curitiba in Brazil, dreams of a 1980’s Honda twin…

He bought it, he broke it (OK; maybe it was broke already…) and now he’s nearly fixed it. Steve The Toaster finally gets his Sunbeam going again. Was it easy? Was it ‘eck as like…

Steve The Toaster strips his P&J and finds that the inevitable has indeed come to pass… not only that, there is, indeed, no such thing as a quick fix. Next stop? The bank balance void…

After falling in love with the dream of a Beam, Steve The Toast finally bought an S8. The reality turned out to be just a little… leaky!

You probably have an all-time favourite classic bike. Sunbeam Peter (the name is a bit of a giveaway about the model of motorcycle!) explains how his dream bike became a real bike…

If you frequent the Message Board then you’ll know that Steve The Toast has been successful in his search for a Sunbeam. But how did this fascination begin, and what did he initially discover?

Not just a recent show winner, Brian Matthew’s ‘Beam probably also started life on a show stand back at Olympia over 70 years ago…

Frank Westworth revisits a bike he rode several years ago. Years before A Nice Gurl gave him a Sunbeam…

Few people would choose to ride an unfamiliar old British bike on an epic journey across South Africa. Steve Wilson took the plunge: Roy Workman read the book…

These sleek and sporty single-cylinder machines should’ve been the stars of the 1980s, making the most of the cult of the café racer. Instead, people bought UJMs. Anarchy wonders if history is about to repeat itself…

The Square Four had a lifespan of over 25 years, and several incarnations of all sizes from 500cc to 1000cc. If you thought that all old British bikes were 650 twins then read on…

In the search for a ‘modern classic’, there’s one marque which inspires roughly equal amounts of devotion and detestation. Jim Peace didn’t think too much of Harleys. And then he bought one…

This clever booklet covers the basics about spark plugs to help you choose the best type for your classic bike, and use it to diagnose what’s going on inside your engine…

This motorcycling anthology of ‘writing from the fast lane’ was selected and introduced by Neil Bradford, and it caught the attention of at least one RC reader…

Most people buy Army-surplus combat jackets or boots. We bought a whole motorcycle! Rowena Hoseason gets de-mob happy and takes the Snarley onto the street…

By popular demand (well, OK, one person) we reveal the pros and cons of buying an ex-Army trailie-bike. Rowena Hoseason actually spent her own money on some old military surplus scrap…

Celia Walton has been riding and passengering sidecars for many a year, so she seemed the natural person to review this new book about riding with three wheels…

In 1933, two students were the first people to ride a motorcycle overland from Europe to India. Their epic adventure aboard a 250cc two-stroke has finally been published in English…

Bill Wood took a real risk with his first Italian classic bike. A basketcase rebuild – and a really unusual model, at that. Is he please with the results?

When we put together a feature for the magazine about the Seeley Honda 750 of the late 1970s, there were some photos which we didn’t have space for. And then, even more info arrived…

Yamaha’s 750-4 from the early Eighties was never top of the best-seller list, but then Jim Peace has never been one to run with the herd. He reckons you could go a lot further and do a lot worse…

Opinion has been widely divided about the merits of the modern Bonnie Scrambler. BikerBabe has to make her mind up. She loves it. She loves it not…

One oft-overlooked aspect of the First World War was the role played by the despatch rider. Dave Minton recommends an extensive book on this very subject…

The ultimate, multi-part manual for BSA unit-construction single-cylinder classics is nearing completion. This instalment covers absolutely everything apart from the engine…

For RealClassic readers who enjoy motorcycle traveller’s tales, Paul Grace recommends this memoir of a remarkable ride through Africa…

Back in the 1960s, the big beasts of British motorcycling still ruled the scrambles roost. This DVD captures some of the flavour of that era…

Reg Everett was a 1960s road racer who found himself up against the likes of Mike Hailwood and Derek Minter on works machines, when he was riding a home-built Greeves-powered special. Colin Sparrow recommends Everett’s autobiography…

Some times we’re asked if we ever review anything we don’t actually like. Well, Dave Blendell really didn’t like this book…

Some time ago, we mentioned Quasar machines and managed to spell the name wrong. Here’s more on the subkject (spelling not necessarily correct)…

So when did the Post Office start using BSA Bantams to deliver telegrams? Paul Wood continues his tale of working motorcycles, from the 1930s through to the heyday of the BSA Bantam…

Motorcycles have been used, in many different forms, for some 92 years in the UK’s mail and communications industry. Paul Wood explains how motorcycles have worked in the Post Office…

A new book commemorates 75 successful Pioneer Runs from London to Brighton on (very) old bikes…

Motorcycling may be an incurable ailment. These books have helped one RealClassic regular survive the experience with his sanity intact……

Two new books about classic bikes are on the way; one for fans of world-class sidecar racing and the other about Panthers…

Old bikes never do quite what you expect them to. Steve Allcott was reunited with his dad’s Ceefer and ploughed a field with a Panther. Just don’t comment on his Thunderbolt!

If at first you don’t succeed (and indeed your Bantam conks out before it even leaves Europe), try, try, try again. And then write a book about the experience…

After a series of high powered modern bikes, Noggy 88 is inspired to return to the Brit Iron of his youth. This in turn provokes another purchase – he explains all, in this tale of two twins…

Chapter 5. Wherein two steps forward are followed by a giant step backwards, and Jim Algar gives a nod to Archimedes and the inclined plane…

After travelling through the world’s troublespots two decades ago, Goat Maison finally made it to Pakistan aboard his pre-featherbed twin. But the going had been tough…

Twenty years ago, Goat Maison set off on his 1958 600cc twin to ride halfway around the world. In the previous episode, we’d left him in Iran…

Shed not your tears for the Norton rotary project: there’s no fat ladies singing just yet. Norton Motors has re-surfaced, and they’ve a very special F1 Sport for sale…

Back in 1984, aged 22, Goat Maison set out on a Great Adventure aboard a Norton Dominator. In the first chapter he discovered the M25, then the English Channel, and then Greece…

Got an old British bike? Check. Read ‘Jupiter’s Travels’? Check. Must be time for an extraordinary adventure, then. Goat Maison’s Dominator took him halfway around the world…

Chapter 4. Wherein a letter arrives, a crankcase departs, a gearbox re-build goes awry… demonstrating why Jim Algar doesn’t rebuild classic Nortons for a living…

John Blades always dreamed of owning a Norton Featherbed twin. And now he does: the last of the Dominator line…

Chapter Three of Jim Algar’s Dominator Diary, wherein the engine gets torn down, and the news is… not good. So let’s take the gearbox apart, shall we?

Chapter Two of Jim Algar’s Dominator Diary, wherein the classic Norton twin gets naked (small children to leave the room, please), and the cylinder head gets the better of him. Twice…

Remember Howard’s Big 4 which was undergoing a mechanical overhaul? We can now show you the photos of it. And David Yeats explains how the Big 4 got its name, and reveals his own collection of Norton singles…

Riding a race-replica: Steve Jenkins lets rip on a 1970s JPS Norton – an unusual oldster which gets ridden all year round

Little girls beware; Barry Granger’s Norton Commando is out to get you…

Jim Algar’s Dominator Diary start here: the first (and hopefully not the last) of a sporadic, irregular series of reports, updates, musings, questions, tirades, victories and defeats as an American neophyte takes on his first classic British bike…

We can’t all be expert spannermen. Howard H reminds us what it’s like to be fixing up a classic bike with little mechanical skill (and even less time)…

You know how it’s just… so… easy to click a bid in when you’re visiting an online auction? That’s how Jim Algar transformed a mild midlife crisis into a Featherbed Norton Dommi 99…

A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, they say. Andy Sochanik discovered that no knowledge at all is ideal if you’re looking at a Norton lightweight!

After years of hard work, Rob Seedhouse had his wreck of a Norton lightweight nearly ready to run. But then came… the paperwork!

Rob Seedhouse wanted a project to keep him out of trouble for a while. It turned out to be a very long while! But if a job’s worth doing…

Ever have that sinking feeling that something is missing? In Tom Rodford’s case it was all of his Norton Lightweight’s tinware. But he persevered, and built a motorbike out of a pile of bits…

You might think that a 1931 ex-works Norton racer belongs in a museum, and indeed Steve Lacey’s Manx GP bike had pride of place at Brooklands for a while. It was originally raced by Ron Harris, then ridden by Phil Heath, and owned by Titch Allen. Steve tells its story

Roy Workman gets a bit nippy and meets any number of Norman cycles, and the Norman Cycle Club, and a windmill…

Ken Phelp is so keen on this unusual breed of vintage motorcycle that he wrote a book about them. So how did his fascination develop?

Phil Speakman takes an unusual first ride on his latest classic bike. From the middle of nowhere to the other side of the country on one of the coldest days of the year — aka hypothermia for beginners…

After main bearing failure and repair, Phil Speakman finally arrives at his destination in Finland. Now all he needs is an ice-lolly…