Features

If only motorcycles could tell stories then this Indian would surely have plenty to tell, quite possibly from battlefield to silver screen. Words and photographs: James Adam Bolton Approximately one hour and 32 minutes into the epic 1977 war film ‘A Bridge Too Far’ (a staple Saturday afternoon film for Second World War-obsessed kids of…

Continue reading »

In the second part of our feature on the BSA Group’s misadventure in the lightweight market, we come to the nadir – the Ariel 3 and the NVT Rambler. Words: STEVE WILSON Photographs: Jonathan Fleetwood 1970 K2 Ariel 3 What was it? The moped market was growing in the late 1960s. Because UK legislation allowed…

Continue reading »

This V-twin, branded an ‘ECW’, is a real conundrum, without any information about where, when or by whom it was built. Words: Rob Davies Photographs: Rob Davies/Peter March Too many motorcycles, too little time; that’s a saying that could apply to many of us. My small area of interest and perhaps expertise – if I…

Continue reading »

Russell Knight has owned this 1950 BSA B31 single for 43 years, and together they’ve had some adventures. Words: Steve Wilson Photographs: Jonathan Fleetwood Memories can be notoriously tricky. Sitting in a rain-soaked June, those of us of a certain age are still likely to recall childhood summer holidays on sandy south coast beaches as…

Continue reading »

Motorcycle couriers atop new Douglases, delivering press photographs and doing it in style. Words: Adam Rear Photograph: MORTONS MEDIA ARCHIVE This intriguing picture, captured during the 1948 London Olympics, epitomises modernity and a brave new world, with the seamlessly stylish, beautiful looking Douglas twins, not forgetting the equally slick looking gents riding them, posed alongside…

Continue reading »

From September 1959, a royal experience of motorcycling. Photograph:MORTONS ARCHIVE Prince Michael of Kent, then aged 17, poses on a ‘…sleek and shiny motorcycle belonging to his friend Duke Amedeo Di Savoia Aosta, who sits on the bonnet of a small car looking.’ So explains the official statement on the reverse of the photograph, though…

Continue reading »

Flywheel magnetos can be a boon – but they also reduce sane adults to tears. While poor set-up and condition will reduce their efficiency, so too other factors including flywheel speed, limited coil and condenser size, heat and magnetism… Words and photographs: RICHARD ROSENTHAL Although an electrical engineer named Marcus was probably the first to…

Continue reading »

Your queries resolved with Richard Rosenthal Vale-Onslow scrambles barrel and Herman Meier While clearing a late uncle’s workshop and sheds of predominantly car parts, we found a few motorcycle engines and their spares, including an unused cylinder barrel described on its original box as a ‘Vale-Onslow 250cc Conversion Kit.’ We’ve given it to a friend…

Continue reading »