Features

It was a simple premise – build a upmarket commuter motorcycle for everyman, one that would appeal to everyone and be capable of doing all things for all men. And it succeeded when others fell by the roadside. So why was Velocette’s flawed LE so special?

Two rotary-engined bikes but they’re as different as chalk and cheese. Bob Berry is surprised to discover that it was the troubled Norton factory that got it right while Suzuki went high tech and high cost and must have lost a packet…

When American motorcycle manufacturer Indian sought to increase sales in the late Forties, they hoped success on the race track would filter through to the showrooms. Ian Kerr finds a rare survivor of their marketing strategy…

Yamaha’s V-Max is a two-wheeled thug, created so impressionable American bike buyers took notice. The scoops and tank were fake, but the high-octane performance was real. We look behind the scenes at the development…

Brought back from a 40-year exile in Tasmania and now fully restored – the world’s fastest challenger that didn’t quite make it. Bob Currie tells the story of a very special ‘Special’…

Maurice Keen’s love affair with his Honda Gold Wing spans 30 years and two countries. It all started when he bought a mint low mileage KO model, one of the first batch of Wings imported into the UK, at a local dealership. We tracked him down at his home in Eire

In the hands of its first owner, this Ariel VB covered over quarter of a million miles, usage which obviously took its toll on the machine, but an exacting restoration has given it a new lease of life. Roy Poynting takes up the story…

The programme for the 1922 Olympia Show listed 310 exhibitors of one sort or another, of which no fewer than 94 were displaying complete motor cycles. All the well-known names were there, of course – but also some less well known, but innovative nonetheless

Second part of Rod Gibson’s reassembly of Yamaha’s XT500 single engine

Well aware of the rumours of exotica hiding within the body of Andy Roberton’s BSA, tester Vic Allan was pleased to find the machine was more a reflection of attention to detail by the builder