Features

Ok, so most of us couldn’t even get close to what these things can do. But that’s not the point. In the late 1980s the superbike went crazy. Race tech leaped and bounded and cash-rich Japanese factories were happy to give us Suzuka 8-Hour-developed missiles to ride to work…

The Triumph Métisse models developed for scrambling were streets ahead of the competition on the scrambles tracks of the world. But what are they like on the street asks Tim Britton?

Norton’s International overhead cam engine has been overshadowed slightly by the post Second World War Manx unit but, in various forms, was in the Norton range for much longer…

Super Onslow Special and So Obviously Superior were two suggestions what the ‘SOS’ badge stood for. Whatever the terminology, the bike was an appeal to discriminating riders, to try something different in the lightweight utility market…

It may have looked undramatic, but Kawasaki’s shaft-drive GT550 four proved to be a solid seller for around 20 years. John Nutting rode versions at the beginning and end of the run…

Velocette’s sporting single was the last bastion of the traditional thoroughbred single cylinder sports bike. Tim Britton takes a look at the Velo range, then hops aboard a Thruxton for a test…

Perhaps overshadowed by its more glamorous and sporty sibling, the Red Hunter, although the overall specification isn’t that different, Ariel’s NG is a practical and stylish 30s mount nonetheless. James Robinson tells the story of a special NG and even more special owner…

Take an ex-125 racer with a background in the bike trade, an old Triumph engine, a load of shiny new Metisse bits – and stir…

Vincent’s Black Prince rode at the vanguard of a brave campaign. It was a visionary product, offering rider protection and clean lines in 1954, but the motorcycle buying public, traditionally a reserved bunch, didn’t take to it. Mike Lewis tells the story…

Suzuki, like Kawasaki, adopted the two stroke triple engine in the seventies, but it offered a more rounded product than its performance rivals…