Features

Your queries resolved with Richard Rosenthal Setting the record straight You may recall some years ago a correspondence about the Royal Enfield endurance machine AFO 81D and its owner/rider Billy Mills. This machine has recently been acquired by Hitchcocks Motorcycles and, interestingly, its engine number follows on in sequence from the two ISDT (International Six…

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As progress continues, it’s apparent there are different ways to measure things and some misplaced components make a reappearance. Words: Tim Britton Photographs: Tim Britton and Fiona Watson There are readers out there, I’m sure, who do know how many different combinations of BSA fork, wheel and brake plate parts there are. However, I’m not…

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Everybody’s favourite and a wonderful rider, Mrs Louie McLean is no longer with us. When the trials rider who rose to prominence as Louie Ball died in 1932, Motor Cycling noted: “Everybody’s favourite and a wonderful rider, Mrs Louie McLean is no longer with us. It is the sad duty of Cyclops to record her…

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Unlike comic book superheroes with questionable outfits for their alter egos, when Dave Smith dons a waxed cotton jacket he becomes… Words: TIM BRITTONPhotographs: BRIAN SLARK Rupert Ratio – dedicated to unit Beezer singles. The ‘Smith’ route to motorcycling and, ultimately, authorship of the BSA singles bibles wasn’t exactly straightforward and he admits to not…

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Many enthusiasts have built attractive ‘specials’ using motorcycle components from various sources, while a similar number have failed, making dangerous, ugly monsters instead. If you want to make the job even harder, try installing a car engine into a motorcycle chassis… Words: Richard Rosenthal Photographs: Mortons Archive What is a special? Many of the first…

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As hoards of TT fans make the mass exodus off the Isle of Man after this year’s races, a 250cc Rex-Acme affords the opportunity to step back to the 1923 Lightweight TT. Words and photographs: RachaEl Clegg Archive photographs: Mortons SOME things need to be seen in their proper context, so with the mighty Lightweight…

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The BSA Fleet Star was one of a number of smaller capacity modified ‘civilian’ machines that were used by the police. Words: ROY POYNTING Photographs: TERRY JOSLIN Mention of police motorcycles tends to conjure up images of Triumph, BMW and Velocette twins, but a surprising number of other manufacturers managed to get a toehold into…

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Dismissed by some, derided by many, Norton’s 400cc push-button start and indicator-equipped Electra was nonetheless a valiant effort by the British motorcycle industry at competing with the Japanese. Words: Phil Turner Photographs: Gary Chapman Berliner Motor Corporation was the US distributor for all but a handful of European motorcycle marques from the 1950s right through…

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From the veteran days through to the 1920s, the Zenith marque possessed a deserved reputation for excellence – it’s not hard to see why. Words: ANDY WESTLAKE Photographs: GARY CHAPMAN A ‘revolutionary in motorcycles’ was the way the period press described the new hub-steered ‘Bi-Car’ when it was launched at the Crystal Palace show in…

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This collection of British ultra-lightweight losers should have been depressing – but putting them through their paces proved a right hoot! First off, the BSA Dandy and Beagle… Words: STEVE WILSONPhotographs: JONATHAN FLEETWOOD Ken Powell is a welder from the Isle of Wight and the Other Island seems a suitably eccentric time-warp for his extensive…

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