Features

British Bike enthusiasts were willing Lord Hesketh to fulfil his dream of building a competitive all-British superbike, but it was not to be. The bikes were badly received and suffered from noisy transmissions and production faults, forcing the company into receivership during the summer of 1982…

Jimmy Shaw leads team-mate Alec Bennett in the 1925 Ulster GP. Shaw was to go on to win the 205-mile handicap race, claiming the Ulster GP Trophy, aboard his 490cc pushrod Norton, though he wasn’t the fastest…

Motorcyclists who grew up in the Seventies and had more than hint of fire in their veins would have had to try a Yamaha two stroke twin. In whatever size they came – 125cc, 200cc, 250cc, 350cc or 400cc – they were fast and furious and could punch much more than their weight…

One of BMW’s first satisfied customers was none other than Man­fred von Richthofen. The legendary first world war German air ace, nicknamed the ‘Red Baron’ because he painted his aircraft scarlet, wrote in 1917 to thank designer Max Friz for the

When Suzuki’s 492cc two stroke twin was revealed in 1967 for the domestic Japanese motorcycle market it looked like a 250cc T20 Super Six on steroids. But it was doomed to become extinct before its time, John Nutting recalls the bike that started the Hamamatsu factory’s big-bike era and the last of the line…

The Hesketh V1000 was conceived from an aristocrat’s ambition to produce ‘the finest motorcycles in the world’, yet the glamorous debutant lacked sufficient pedigree to impress motorcycling society…

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…

The BSA Cyclemotor was an ingenius, lightweight (27Ib) power unit which incorporated a gear drive through a three plate clutch. With claims of 25mph and an average fuel consumption of around 200mpg, it was a must have…

Motorcyclists in 1999 have grown used to the idea that Honda’s CBR600 has been consistently the best selling machine of its class. It’s almost a permanent fixture at the top of the sports bike chart. But it wasn’t always like that…