Features

Engines with more or less vertical cylinders have always been so much the norm that only a few motorcycle manufacturers have consistently adopted a different layout. Harley-Davidson has stuck with its V-twins, which look and sound so good, BMW has persisted with its logical flat twins and sensible shaft drive, and for the last half…

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Don Hitchcock’s last motorcycle journey was clocked from the pillion of the hearse by grandson Matt at 65mph on Wednesday, September 14, 2016. One last blast; a fitting memorial to a life centred around family, motorcycles and speed. Originally, it was my intention to write a tribute solely to Don, but this was not possible…

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It’s not often one is allowed to get too close to a prototype. They’re usually tantalisingly out of reach behind ropes or on an elevated and rotating platform in the middle of a show hall; to stand over one, touch it or sit on it is a rare privilege, to start one up and ride…

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This little James has never left the area in which it was bought when new, serving several owners, just a few miles apart, well. In 1958 the hula-hoop was invented, rock star Elvis Presley topped the charts with ‘Jailhouse Rock,’ Wolves won English football’s first division and in the UK the price of an average…

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With this cleverly modified Meriden-made Bonneville twin, what you see is not what you are really seeing… The illusionists’ art has been in the news recently, when well-known magician David Copperfield was taken to court after one of the punters at his show chosen from the audience to participate in a disappearing/reappearing trick, fell and…

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On my way to examine Adrian Coole’s unmolested-looking Bianchi Gardena 75, I once again ask myself a question that always stumps me when I go and report on a sub-125cc motorcycle from the past. What is it that’s changed so much over the decades that small capacity, lightweight motorcycles have so dropped out of favour…

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Not all Nortons are deserving of the famous phrase, but this one is. To say Norton’s designation of its various models was rather obscure is a bit like suggesting Geoff Duke was quite a good racer – true, but a gross understatement. As well as the occasional use of letters, Norton coined names for the…

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This track-day Gold Star has been built up with many goodies from specialist Phil Pearson, including a 604cc conversion. But don’t worry, owner Barry Winter’s got a stock Goldie as well! Barry Winter is a lucky man, but it’s the kind of luck that comes out of sustained effort. With a successful career as a skilled…

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Magnificent D7 BSA’s Bantam – in all its forms – has built up quite a following in recent years. Sampling a D7 Super variant shows just why. Words: Phil Turner  Photographs: Gary Chapman In the late 1950s Britain had “never had it so good.” To a degree that was true – the scars left by…

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Trevor’s bike Finishing off someone else’s project is never an easy task, but knowing the late owner and his family wanted the machine to stay local means there’s extra pressure to do a decent job. Words: Tim Britton  Photographs: Gary Chapman Looking over this smart Matchless G2M it was clear AMC made good looking motorcycles…

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