Features

Pa and His Pa: The Norton Founder, a 1921 Photograph and an Extraordinary Motorcycle Adventure

by

Mark Lancaster

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17th October 2026

Though always known as ‘Pa’ Norton, this picture shows the company founder with his own pa. Plus, some famous faces look on. Simon Robinson reports… The Norton motorcycle company sprang from the Norton Manufacturing Company, which was set up in 1869 by James Lansdowne Norton to manufacture bicycle chains. It was in 1902 that Norton…
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Wearwell: The Wolverhampton Motorcycle Pioneer Brought Down by Scandal

by

Mark Lancaster

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15th October 2026

From bicycle manufacturing to early motorcycles, Wearwell looked set to become a major name in the British motorcycle industry. But financial wrongdoing brought the company’s promising future to an abrupt end. Like so many, Wearwell started out as a bicycle manufacturer. The Cogent Cycle Co was founded by Henry Clarke and the business included his…
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Ken Craven’s 1966 American Adventure: A Triumph Thunderbird, the Wild West and a Black Widow Spider

by

Mark Lancaster

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13th October 2026

In 1966, veteran motorcycle traveller Ken Craven set off alone through the American West on a borrowed Triumph Thunderbird. His adventure took him across desert landscapes, over remote roads and into a Mexican hospital following an unexpected encounter. Once in a while we come across a story from way back that we feel is worth…
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The remarkable story of Joan Crawford’s Bond Minibyke – and its surprising history

by

Mark Lancaster

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10th October 2026

From a chance discovery in a remarkable private motorcycle collection to award-winning appearances at the Isle of Man TT, Joan Crawford’s much-loved Bond Minibyke has a fascinating story. In a letter published in Old Bike Mart, Joan shares how she acquired the little 125cc machine and uncovered its connections to the Bond manufacturing business. For…
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Wartime DKW emerges from the River Danube

by

Mark Lancaster

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30th September 2026

Global warming across the world has resulted in water levels in rivers, lakes and reservoirs dropping, leading to the reemergence of long-submerged buildings and even villages. But in Budapest, a decrease in the level of the Danube has led to a particularly interesting discovery. People walking along the side of river in Batthyány Square opposite…
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Readers’ Tale: A year to remember

by

Mark Lancaster

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23rd September 2026

John Stevenson (aka 5012094 SAC Stevenson J) looks back on a special year in his life. Many people I think have a special year – always to be remembered. It could be national, such as the 1966 football World Cup or it could be personal. Perhaps trivial, perhaps not. Mine was the latter and the…
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The radical TT motorcycle that almost changed everything

by

Mark Lancaster

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9th September 2026

Almond Tinkler was a racer, inventor and engineer whose extraordinary ‘power egg’ motorcycle was unlike anything else at the 1927 TT – but exhaustion, breakdowns and bad luck prevented it from ever making the start line. TINKLER Almond Tinkler was a keen motorcyclist from the time he could throw his leg across a machine. In…
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The Thorough: the short-lived motorcycle that offered unusually long test rides

by

Mark Lancaster

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8th September 2026

At the end of the 19th century George Featherstone was an ironmonger living in Bethnal Green but he had a son who was interested in the great strides that transportation was taking. It seems likely that it was John Featherstone who persuaded his father into producing a motorcycle in 1903. By then, John, now in…
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Ariel Red Hunter: History & Road Test

by

Phil Turner

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8th September 2026

From the 1930s through to the late 1950s, Ariel’s single-cylinder offering was one of Britain’s most enduring sporting singles.
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Vindec Special: The German Motorcycle That Nearly Won the First TT

by

Mark Lancaster

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27th August 2026

The Vindec Special was actually built in Germany by Köln-Lindenthaler Metallwerke AG of Cologne. However, it is an interesting footnote in British motorcycling history because its distribution in this country was handled by the South British Trading Company with the assistance and advice of William Huntingdon ‘Billy’ Wells. Wells had moved to London from his…
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