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Honda CB450: buyer’s guide
Before supplies dry up splash some cash and buy a Honda CB450. No, not the later uber-Dream from Brazil but the bike that scared the British bike industry witless…
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Suzuki RS68
The 125 that escaped Suzuki’s crusher. John Nutting describes how the exotic Suzuki RS68 125cc four, the last works racer of the 60s, was liberated from obscurity
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John Surtees at Edenbridge
Another reminder that motor sport legend, John Surtees OBE, the only person to have won world championships on both two and four wheels, will be supporting the Edenbridge Fun Day in Kent on Monday May 27…
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Reference: Velocette Venom
This late Velocette Venom is a fine hard-working example of what to many is the ultimate British single…
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Buying Guide: Lemons: Honda CB250N Super Dream
Sometimes bikes are amazingly successful when there is nothing really spectacular about them: take the Honda 250 Super Dream. ?There was nothing fundamentally or seriously wrong with the machine but neither was there anything magical about it…
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Buying Guide: BSA Gold Star: a history
Some experts consider the Gold Star to be the best bike ever built by BSA. Make up your own mind, after examining our quickfire classic bike guide to the breed…
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AJS trial works model: bike you should ride but probably can’t
The most famous win in the Scottish Six Days Trial – the SSDT – is likely to be the one-dab win by Gordon Jackson in 1961…
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Buying Guide: Lemons: Honda CB250N Super Dream
Sometimes bikes are amazingly successful when there is nothing really spectacular about them: take the Honda 250 Super Dream. ?There was nothing fundamentally or seriously wrong with the machine but neither was there anything magical about it…
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Reference: Velocette Venom
This late Velocette Venom is a fine hard-working example of what to many is the ultimate British single…
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Sidecar crews on parade at the TT Mountain Course
The 2013 Isle of Man TT Races will celebrate the 90th anniversary of sidecar racing at the world famous event with a parade lap featuring some of the sport’s greatest exponents and machines…
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Garden run organisers hoping turnout will be magnifique
French riders and riders of French machines will be given free entry to this year’s 27th Garden of England Run. The event, organised by the Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club, falls on Sunday, July 14 – Bastille Day…
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WD-40 now in seven different flavours
Lubricant maker WD-40 has launched a new range of products intended for use in motorcycle maintenance…
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THIS WEEKEND: The Carole Nash Great Scottish Bike Show!
The Carole Nash Great Scottish Bike Show returns to Lanark Agricultural Centre for its second year – bigger, better and more entertaining. Make a date!
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The way we were: June 1938
Following extended tests in Canada, the Cords Piston Ring Co was established at 30 Hampstead Road, London, NW1, to distribute Cords rings in the UK. Said to be unbreakable, the rings were made in segments fabricated in alloy…
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Scottish Pre-65 Trial and Moidart Run 2013
Despite the weather playing foul, the Scottish pre 65 did enjoy at least one day of the trial until the conditions worsened. Day two was cancelled. For the Moidart run, a popular associated event for Pre-65 attendees, a dryish start lasted until the mid way point and then the heavens opened… Article continues below… Advert…
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Superb prize is simply Matchless
The AJS & Matchless Owners’ Club launched this year’s competition at the recent Bristol Classic Bike Show, with the prize a Matchless G80 500cc single of 1959 vintage…
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Triumph Tiger 100
Belying its factory fresh appearance, this Triumph Tiger has been restored and then used for nearly 13 years. James Robinson takes up the story… Article continues below… Advert Enjoy more classic motorcycle reading, Click here to subscribe to one of our leading magazines.
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Road Test: Royal Enfield Continental
The Royal Enfield Continental was aimed at the younger rider, with its designers aware of what prospective riders would be looking for. It had issues, most notably with the five speed gearbox, but it also had many good points…
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THIS WEEKEND! The 33rd Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show, April 27-28
The 33rd Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show at Stafford has always been the biggest draw in the world for classic motorcycles, with the best club and trade stands, plus celebrities and a massive autojumble, inside and out…..
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Road Test: Royal Enfield Continental
The Royal Enfield Continental was aimed at the younger rider, with its designers aware of what prospective riders would be looking for. It had issues, most notably with the five speed gearbox, but it also had many good points…
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The way we were: June 1913
For some years the press and industry promoted motorcycling for ladies and in 1907 Rex had appointed Muriel Hind as a works trials rider…
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RealClassic 109 out now!
Every month, RealClassic features road-tests, owner reports, real-life rebuilds and hands-on restoration projects of brilliant British bikes and international exotica. Here’s what’s in the latest issue…
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VJMC Japfest at Haynes
The Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club (VJMC) is running a Classic Bike Japfest at the Haynes Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset, on Sunday, September 15 (10am to 5pm)…
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From Agrati to Zundapp
Classic scooters of all shapes and sizes were in evidence at the Annual Vintage Motor Scooter Club Extravaganza in Coventry on April 7…
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Old Bike Mart Unearthed – May 2013
This month’s unearthed readers bikes and finds… Article continues below… Advert Enjoy more classic motorcycle reading, Click here to subscribe to one of our leading magazines. Article continues below… Advert
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Caff de Dorchester
It’s early May, 1963 and a bunch of bikers are arriving at the Dorchester, in Park Lane, London. So what’s happening? Here’s what Motor Cycle had to say…
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Brilliant Banbury now includes VMCC Training Day
If you’ve always wanted to climb aboard a Vintage motorcycle but never known how, then this year’s Banbury Run weekend is where you need to be…
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Classic Camera: New Zealand TT, 1950
Kiwi style ‘TT racing’ in 1950 was like a cross between TT racing as practiced in Britain and America; many of the top running machines were cammy Velos, Norton and Ajays, plus GP Triumphs, as used in the Isle of Man road races, though the course was often more dirt and grit covered, as for…
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The Classic MotorCycle on sale
The Triumph Tiger with a charmed life, history and test of Moto Guzzi Bicilindrica, Triumph 3T restoration guide, Brit classics in Holland, pre-war at Donington and all the usual archive features, regulars and columnists. On sale now.
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Royal Enfield appoints new UK distributor
Royal Enfield has announced that MotoGB has been appointed as its distributor for the UK market, taking over from Watsonian Squire with immediate effect…
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Reference: AJS K7
Though the ohc AJS was perhaps not initially the most successful of AJS’s 350s, it is undeniably one of the most handsome, with this a particularly spectacular example, a Best in Show at the Stafford Show, in April 2006…
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Road Test: BSA Gold Star road test
For some building a special means searching out the right parts from this catalogue or that brochure, others take a more involved route and make most of the bike themselves. Tim Britton meets up with such an engineer who turned his hand to his BSA Gold Star…
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Reference: AJS K7
Though the ohc AJS was perhaps not initially the most successful of AJS’s 350s, it is undeniably one of the most handsome, with this a particularly spectacular example, a Best in Show at the Stafford Show, in April 2006…
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Road Test: BSA Gold Star road test
For some building a special means searching out the right parts from this catalogue or that brochure, others take a more involved route and make most of the bike themselves. Tim Britton meets up with such an engineer who turned his hand to his BSA Gold Star…
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‘Shocking’ road users’ bizarre insurance claims revealed
Road users putting on make-up, changing CDs and arguing with their passengers have all contributed to traffic accidents, according to recent insurance claims…
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Classic TT interest grows
The inaugural Classic TT has seen a 25% increase in ferry bookings for the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling…
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Straight from the plate: The Earls Court Show, 1956
Probably the biggest and most important event in the motorcycling calendar in the 1950s was the Earls Court Show, held annually. Manufacturers displayed their wares to the buying public, who were presented with the opportunity to see everything that was on offer to them – and some things that weren’t…
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Bonhams auction, pre sale
The Classic MotorCycle editor James Robinson explains the ins and outs of the star motorcycle attractions and others at the recent Bonhams auction at Stafford, on Sunday April 28th…
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Reference: OK Supreme G39 Flying Cloud
OK Supreme’s Flying Cloud was one of the most romantically named motorcycles and this example inspired an emotional reunion, more than 60 years after its manufacture…
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Buying Guide: Aspirational artefacts: Suzuki T500
Despite the total lack of logic to the basic arithmetic involved, certain machines just somehow conspire to be greater than the sum of their component parts…
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Buying Guide: Yamaha YR2C
Yamaha’s 350cc YR2C may be rare in the UK, but that’s because the twin cylinder street scrambler was aimed fair and square at the US market. It was another landmark product for Yamaha…
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Reference: OK Supreme G39 Flying Cloud
OK Supreme’s Flying Cloud was one of the most romantically named motorcycles and this example inspired an emotional reunion, more than 60 years after its manufacture…
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Buying Guide: Aspirational artefacts: Suzuki T500
Despite the total lack of logic to the basic arithmetic involved, certain machines just somehow conspire to be greater than the sum of their component parts…
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Buying Guide: Yamaha YR2C
Yamaha’s 350cc YR2C may be rare in the UK, but that’s because the twin cylinder street scrambler was aimed fair and square at the US market. It was another landmark product for Yamaha…
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NEW VIDEO! Bonhams auction, pre sale
The Classic MotorCycle editor James Robinson explains the ins and outs of the star motorcycle attractions and others at the recent Bonhams auction at Stafford, on Sunday April 28th…
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Farewell from Stafford
Gates have closed and the team is packing away its stall. Stafford was another phenomenal, celebrity filled event, with unrivalled trade support. Thanks for making the show so special…
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Last chance for Stafford!
Second and final day of the 33rd Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show show weekend gets underway and the show ground gates have just been opened. We’re expecting another big crowd of bikers and enthusiasts…
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Sunday: Stafford show winners
Our independent judging panel burnt much midnight oil to arrive at the winner’s list below. The standard of exhibits was extremely high and the ‘bar’ continues to be raised…
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Road Test: AJS H1
This AJS V-twin combination has benefited from a number of tweaks by its owner, classic motorcycle restoration guru Robin James…
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Road Test: AJS H1
This AJS V-twin combination has benefited from a number of tweaks by its owner, classic motorcycle restoration guru Robin James…
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Stafford opens its gates!
The chains have come off the gates and the eager punters are flooding into Stafford’s Show Ground for a weekend of classic motorcycle celebration. Today is the first public day of the Show’s two-day duration…
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Classic Dirtbike experience
Trial legends Mick Andrews and Finn Yrjo Vesterinen will be sharing the benefits of their trials experience with Classic Dirtbike editor Tim Britton hoping to pick up a tip or two and improve his riding, followed by a trials demo…
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Phil Read comes off stage at Stafford show
Our guest of honour at the 33rd Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show is race legend Phil Read and he’s just come off the stage from his first interview with Stafford compere Dave Craggs…
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£1 million Bonhams auction at Stafford
This weekend’s Stafford show also hosts a £1 million Bonhams Auction, which is a huge international draw for buyers. Viewing is today and first thing tomorrow, with the sale commencing at 10.30 on the Sunday…
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Snow-Mann test day
The VMCC East Sussex Section’s annual Snow-Mann Test Day took place at Bo-Peep Hill on the South Downs. The initial test, the slalom course in the farmyard, was eased this year as conditions were extremely muddy…
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NEW VIDEO: Setting up for Stafford show
The Classic Bike Shows team is at the Stafford Show Ground, setting up its stand and organising the traders, ready for a prompt public opening at 09.00 hours Saturday morning. The show runs this weekend, April 27-28…
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Reference: AJS Model 22
The 250cc AJS Model 22 is quite a rarity, though its combination of ‘big bike’ feel and dimensions, plus a willing little engine, should make it a winner…
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Reference: AJS Model 22
The 250cc AJS Model 22 is quite a rarity, though its combination of ‘big bike’ feel and dimensions, plus a willing little engine, should make it a winner…
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Classic Bike Guide on sale!
Ace cafe 1200CR street special, American built Bonneville and Commando specials, stunning Ducatis, Suzuki GT550 buyer’s guide, supercharged 250 DKW, Yam XS650 and all the usual regulars and columnists. On sale now!
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Phil Read, guest of honour at Stafford Classic MotorCycle Show
Phil Read, one of the world’s most successful Grand Prix racers, with eight world titles and eight Isle of Man TT wins to his name, is the guest of honour at the 33rd Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show, which takes place at Stafford Show Ground this weekend, April 27-28…
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Road Test: BSA C15 v Royal Enfield Crusader
Taking a humble 250cc unit four-stroke and turning it into a successful trials machine takes a bit of knowledge and ability. Classic Dirtbike compares two different specialist approaches to the same end – a BSA C15 and Royal Enfield Crusader…
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Road Test: BSA C15 v Royal Enfield Crusader
Taking a humble 250cc unit four-stroke and turning it into a successful trials machine takes a bit of knowledge and ability. Classic Dirtbike compares two different specialist approaches to the same end – a BSA C15 and Royal Enfield Crusader…
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Bonhams Auction at Stafford Motorcycle Show
Bonhams Auction will be its usual busy self at this year’s Stafford Show, and it has the usual rare motorcycling jewels to tempt home and international buyers to dig deep…
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Road Test: Rickman Street Metisse
The components for this Rickman Metisse were all bought in the classic period, but never assembled into a complete machine until 2003. It shows that though Don and Derek Rickman were off-road specialists, the twosome also made high quality road kit too…
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Road Test: Rickman Street Metisse
The components for this Rickman Metisse were all bought in the classic period, but never assembled into a complete machine until 2003. It shows that though Don and Derek Rickman were off-road specialists, the twosome also made high quality road kit too…
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Stafford show ticket money saver!
Come and join us at this weekend’s The 33rd Carole Nash International Classic Motorcycle Show at the Stafford Show Ground. But if you want to save money on tickets, act FAST, because the advanced online sales cease at midnight tonight, April 23…
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Just like Dunlop
If you’ve followed the development and success of Trident Engineering’s Suzuki XR69 replicas, and marvelled at Michael Dunlop’s winning rides in the Classic Manx Grand Prix, now you can own a road-going version…
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Storm conversion kits
US based Phil Little’s Storm conversion kit fits Yamaha 650 twins – specials and standards – from 1974 to 1981 and are well worth a look…
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TH1RTE3N MOTOS
Remember this name – TH1RTE3N MOTOS – as it’s a new bike restoration company specialising in truly awesome one-off streetfighters based on any model and the popular cafe racer and flat trackers based mainly around the Yamaha XS650…
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Coupes Moto Legende
The 21st Coupes Moto Legende, Europe’s largest gathering of collector bikes, will be held over the weekend of June 1-2 at the Dijon-Prenois racetrack in France…
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Roger Marshall surprise
It was while restoring the ex Machin and Saunders Yamaha TZ750 that Lincolnshire racer and restorer Pete Boast had the idea to unveil his handiwork at a special, invitation only, evening in the Cadwell Park clubhouse, and give the machine’s former rider, Roger Marshall, something of a treat…
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Road Test: Triumph T120 Bonneville
The 1968 Triumph Bonneville was the culmination of the company’s quest to marry ‘precision, power and performance’ and is arguably its best ever twin…
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Road Test: Triumph T120 Bonneville
The 1968 Triumph Bonneville was the culmination of the company’s quest to marry ‘precision, power and performance’ and is arguably its best ever twin…
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Classic Racer news in brief
Sammy Miller at Thundersprint, the lightest ever motorcycle wheel from Dymag, sidecars celebrate and news of the Riders for Health Ball, planned for May 26…
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Last gasp victory
Things couldn’t have been tighter in the third Anglo-American Match Races, run over a cold and sometimes damp Easter weekend in 1973…
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Classic Racer on sale!
Looking back on the radical Britten racer, Dick Creasley and Reg Everett profiles, testing the Scott Russell Kawasaki, recreating a twin cylinder 50cc Honda plus all the usual regulars and archive material. On sale now!
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Buying Guide: Yamaha RD350-YPVS
It’s now 30 years since our lives were transformed by Yamaha’s 350 Power Valve. You’d be rightly forgiven for thinking the average RD350-YPVS had a short, frantic but happy life but we’ve found an example with 156,000 miles on its clock!
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Buying Guide: Yamaha RD350-YPVS
It’s now 30 years since our lives were transformed by Yamaha’s 350 Power Valve. You’d be rightly forgiven for thinking the average RD350-YPVS had a short, frantic but happy life but we’ve found an example with 156,000 miles on its clock!
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Classic Motorcycle Mechanics on sale!
Ducati M900, Maico MD250, project Yamaha FZ750, Honda CBR400RR, LC350 restoration, plus Stan Stephens on tuning two strokes, drum brakes explained plus all the usual regulars. On sale now…
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Nick Nicholls photography comp entries
The Nick Nicholls photography competition has just closed and Nick is poring over the entries. And they were to a very high standard, so congratulations to all who took part. Below is a small selection of entries… Article continues below… Advert Enjoy more classic motorcycle reading, Click here to subscribe to one of our leading…
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The way we were: May 1963
What attracted makers, traders and the public to the year’s Northern Motor Cycle Show at Blackpool? With its 500ft tower and seven miles of beach many happy holidaymakers declared it Britain’s ‘brightest, breaziest and brassiest seaside town’ making it an ideal venue for the mid motorcycle season show…
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Nick Nicholls competition winners announced!
The Nick Nicholls photographic competition has closed and Nick has been poring over the submissions, to pick the top three. The standard of entries was extremely high…
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200 Miglia di Imola Revival 2013
An Italian flavour will be in evidence at the fourth edition of the 200 Miglia di Imola Revival, which will take place at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit over April 19-21 2013…
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All geared up for Gaffers Gallop
In October 1953, Edward Turner and two colleagues successfully completed the ‘End to End’ (Land’s End to John o’Groats) aboard brand new 150cc Triumph Terriers, and under the watchful gaze of the ACU…
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Bikes to ride but can’t — Rennsport BMW
With Germany readmitted to motorcycle sport’s governing body, the FIM, in 1951 the world could see the BMWs in action again. The factory had not been idle of course and despite very trying circumstances had managed to field teams for a national race series for the previous six years…
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Bright sparks
This is the latest electronic magneto from BT-H Components. The OBM editorial Triumph has had a BT-H early version on for years and it has been superb but it doesn’t look like the original magneto. But that has changed…
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Sunbeam 3½ hp
Sunbeam always had an image of being a machine for ‘gentlemen’ – and this three-speed veteran single certainly fits the bill… Article continues below… Advert Enjoy more classic motorcycle reading, Click here to subscribe to one of our leading magazines. Article continues below… Advert
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McGuinness and Molyneux immortalised on TT course
TT organisers have taken the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of today’s two most successful competitors, John McGuinness and Dave Molyneux, by naming locations on the Mountain Course after each of them…
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Mile munching Francis-Barnett
The Francis-Barnett Owners’ Club was pleased to welcome Dave Shaw as part of the club’s display at the Elk Promotions Show at Ashford Cattle market on Easter Monday…
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Win a professional tool kit worth over £740!
We’ve teamed up with Draper Tools to offer one lucky reader the chance to win this fantastic professional tool kit worth more than £740…
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Triumph Tiger 110
With the Goodwood Revival deciding on introducing a set of rules encouraging the use of early to mid-1950s type ‘club’ racers, Triumph pre-unit specialists Ace Classics and fellow London shop, the Baron Speed Shop, decided to join forces and get involved… Article continues below… Advert Enjoy more classic motorcycle reading, Click here to subscribe to…
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Workshop: Camshaft teach in
Rod Gibson gets to grips with the science of camshaft design, and enters a world full of ramps, overlap, lift and durations. But will it make the bike go faster?
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Pioneer Run
With the route under a blanket of snow, the Sunbeam MCC’s Pioneer Run was cancelled, so let’s look back to the first run in 1930 and wish them well for 2014 when all eligible bikes will be over 100 years old…
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Workshop: Camshaft teach in
Rod Gibson gets to grips with the science of camshaft design, and enters a world full of ramps, overlap, lift and durations. But will it make the bike go faster?
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Honda CB750/4 – spotter’s guide
The original Japanese superbike, Honda’s CB750, shook the motorcycling market upside down when launched and ran for nine years almost unchanged. Here’s how to tell them apart…
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Classic Camera: Matchless motorway mile-eater
British ISDT team manager and AMC’s competition guru Hugh Viney wasn’t prepared to give away any details to The Motor Cycle when it went calling looking for stories to do with that season’s competition…
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The way we were: May 1938
‘Perseus’ of The Motor Cycle proved the value of cheap economical transport in the hard pressed times of the late 1930s. Riding a Villiers powered Cyc-Auto, which he cruised at 18-20mph, Perseus travelled from his home to Brighton for a planned late afternoon swim…
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Buying Guide: Ducati 900SS Final Edition
There’s an honest simplicity about the Ducati 900SS and one which wasn’t lost on me as a bike-mad teen heading into his twenties…
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Buying Guide: Ducati 900SS Final Edition
There’s an honest simplicity about the Ducati 900SS and one which wasn’t lost on me as a bike-mad teen heading into his twenties…
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Vincent and Broughs to headline Bonhams sale
Pick of the Bonhams auction at Stafford this year will be, again, V-twins. There’s the Montlhery ‘record breaker’ (tested TCM November 2002) Vincent Black Shadow, a hugely desirable piece of kit estimated at £110,000 to £130,000, which will get the Vincent enthusiasts all aflutter…
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