Features

Ever heard of a Mi-Val? Not many have, but this rare example of the 200TV proves that many are missing out. Words: PHIL TURNER Photographs: GARY CHAPMAN You’d be forgiven for never having heard of Mi-Val, so rare a machine are they here in the UK; they are and were in fact fairly scarce anywhere…

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This beautiful 650cc Bonneville from what was arguably the pre-unit T120’s top year, does not disappoint. Words: STEVE WILSON Photographs: GARY CHAPMAN What goes around, as they say, comes around. Back in the day (the early 1960s) Barry Winter, while already a committed Gold Star owner (see TCM Aug 2018), had succumbed to the allure…

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A true sportsman and gentleman, who will forever be associated with the Royal Enfield marque. Words: TIM BRITTON Photograph: MORTONS ARCHIVE To document the life of a rider such as Johnny Brittain, who passed away on March 7, 2019, aged 87, is not an easy task. One could simply list the sporting successes achieved by…

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  The Oxford Dictionary is uncompromising. You and I might think of a ‘scamp’ as a lovable rogue, a mischievous little tyke, but the OED defines the word as “rascal, good-for-nothing,” and if it’s a verb, as “to do work negligently.” So as an unfortunate choice of name for a new two-wheeler, it’s right up…

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  Edward Turner was probably the best-known personality in the British motorcycle industry, but that didn’t mean he had an unblemished record. He made his name with the Ariel Square Four, but the model which endured until the late-1950s owed little to his original concept except its cylinder arrangement. And while ET’s prewar Speed Twin…

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Most of us can recall that magical moment when we first saw the motorcycle of our dreams. For me, it was an August day in the early 1960s when I witnessed Mike Hailwood on his howling MV Agusta win the main race at Thruxton on the Italian ‘fire engine.’ But, for a young lad from…

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It’s hard to think of something to say about the BSA Gold Star that hasn’t been said already, such is the impact it’s had – and arguably still has – on motorcycling and its followers. In engineering terms the Goldie is simplicity itself, yet in both 350 and 500cc guises it represents a true high…

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A plus B2 It was machines like the 250cc B2 that helped BSA build their reputation for rugged, reliable motorcycles. But these little singles prove that dependable definitely doesn’t have to mean dull. Words: PHIL TURNER  Photographs: GARY CHAPMAN It was during the 1930s that BSA cemented their reputation for building dependable motorcycles. Of course…

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Start of something… The Moto Guzzi V-twin has enjoyed 50 years in production and this relatively early version proves the formula was right from the off. Words: ANDY WESTLAKE  Photographs: GARY CHAPMAN With the rumbling of the big ‘V’ reverberating across the water and the late autumn sun dappling through the trees, it took little…

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Mixed identity Its cowhorn handlebars and footboards are rather at odds with the lusty overhead valve engine of the Douglas OB. Words: ROY POYNTING Photographs: TERRY JOSLIN If motorcycles can be said to have characters, then the Douglas OB is an out-and-out extrovert. From its unusual engine and gearbox layout, to handlebars like the horns…

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