Features

Want to find out more about the world of 1920s motorcycle sport? The Classic MotorCycle magazine has produced a special 140 page digital edition of archive material from Motor Cycling, called Seen from the Saddle and originally published by editor Graham Walker – dad of Murray…

Though often accused of sticking with the ohc concept, Norton did have the vision to experiment with a rotary valve engine around 1952. This isn’t to be confused with the Wankel-engined rotary Norton of much later but an alternative cylinder head on a Manx unit…

The Yamaha XJ1100 Maxim was the last in a line of hairy chested, air-cooled, inline fours. Great grandfather was the revolutionary XS750, grandpa was the XS850 and dad bulked up to be the XS1100. Steve Cooper takes a closer look…

Ducati’s Desmo singles and twins hold a special place in the hearts of red-blooded bikers. Rod Gibson rode the biggest and smallest of the breed…

Royal Enfield’s Redditch factory built a reputation for solid, reliable bikes that could surprise the better known opposition with their performance. But the company was innovative too. Jim Reynolds tastes the solid dependability of the simple single…

Derek Rickman, well ahead of the field here in the 1964 Motocross des Nations at Hawkstone Park, was part of the British team that August and helped the home side to its 12th victory in the ultimate team scramble…

Honda’s CB750 took and shook the motorcycle market but Kawasaki’s 900 raised the bar by a similar amount. More power, technology and performance than anything else. And affordable too. Rod Gibson tells the story…

Old Bike Mart has a new editor! Pete Kelly, experienced journalist and avid motorcyclist, has taken the reins from incumbent Tim Britton and began in his new role from the May 2014 issue. Here’s Pete to tell you about himself, and his plans for Old Bike Mart, in his own words…

Teenagers understand just one style of motorcycle riding – throttle to the stop. The Jawa 90 was designed with such discerning youthful riders in mind. Luckily a few survived this full-on abuse including this plucky example, now semi-retired in the Isle of Man…

Low sales volume still didn’t stop Kawasaki from selling its own version of the archetypal British bike. Anyone who knocked about on old British iron might reasonably suggest Kawasaki’s original W-series twins were little more than BSA A7/A10s rip-offs…