Features

The film Derby’ had a special – unique? – place in motorcycle sporting history, as it was still, in 1925, a true race, in contrivance of the ACU’s ban on speed events on the road…

A gap in the chilly rains of late January made a test of this lovely 1950 Triumph Trophy trials bike practical. Never mind the cold, the Trophy sat there looking gorgeous, slim and minimalist in the way of machines born of competition use. I don’t mind getting cold to ride such a gem as this…

Irish road racing legend Ernie Lyons has passed away, just short of his 100th birthday. Lyons will always be remembered for his win in the 1946 Manx Grand Prix, the first ‘big’ race held after the Second World War…

Yamaha’s original XJ900 was biggest of a line of slim shaft-drive fours produced in the 80s that acquired a reputation as a wobbler. But John Nutting, who tested the bike at MIRA, thinks it’s undeserved…

The ACU Spring One Day Trial of March 12, 1914, attracted a record entry of 178 and offered a challenging day’s riding in the Peak District, which The Motor Cycle described as “tests of flexibility, restarting and weatherproofness in the Peak District”…

Kawasaki’s GPz600R was the first liquid-cooled 600cc four, a breed that has defined sports machines in the 21st century. But was it launched too early with flawed technology? asks John Nutting…

This bespoke Royal Enfield Bullet was built in 1966, when the model was obsolete, to tackle the International Six Days Trial…

A case of dissatisfaction with the products of the factories they were racing motorcycles for and the feeling they could do better was the catalyst for Don and Derek Rickman to make their own scrambler…

The early 80s was a hot-bed of motorcycle development where two-strokes took on four. Suzuki built both. The GSX-R750 and RG500 were about as hot as it got. 25 years on CMM stages a re-match…

In early spring of 1955, Motor Cycling pulled off something of a coup; in the magazine’s own words: “Exclusively Penned for this Journal by the Brightest Star in the Motor Cycling Firmament… here is the Champion’s Own Story of Experiences Down Under”