Gallery

We’ve all spent idle hours dreaming up our ideal motorcycle but only a tiny percentage convert their imaginings into metal. One of the few is Irishman Tom Healion who spent six years conceiving and building his 250cc NSU ‘Sportymax’ racer

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…

Norton’s Commando twin was only ever intended as a stop-gap model to put the Norton name back in the public eye, but the ‘stop-gap’ ran for 10 years and is regarded by many as the finest incarnation of the traditional British parallel twin…

Triumph’s Speed Twin was restyled in the late 1950s, its demure appearance suggesting life at a much slower pace…

What is the ultimate classic motorcycle? The model that the whole movement is based on? That’s right, the Vincent V-twin. Jim Reynolds rides a brand new Vincent V-twin…

The Norton Jubilee was launched in 1958, Norton’s Diamond Jubilee year, and though it perhaps wasn’t universally loved, it still has its devotees to this day

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…

The keys to a successful marriage may be hanging in the garage, judging by the longevity of this Velocette-inspired union between two kindred spirits

By the mid-1960s the once-great independent Matchless and Norton concerns had been amalgamated, and the two firms – once great rivals – were now producing identical-bar-the-badge machines

The Honda had given 33,000 miles of solid service but an overhaul was due, so it was time to think about getting the engine out of the frame for a closer inspection of its internals. Rod Gibson dons his overalls…