Features

Though Brooklands endured sustained popularity as a venue for record-breaking and high-speed machine proving, it was never really a place that provided much spectator enjoyment and in consequence, crowds numbers were always small – succinctly described in Motor Cycling of October 12, 1927, as a ‘meagre sprinkling.’ Acutely aware of the situation, a plan was…

Continue reading »

With the explosion of cycling during the late Victorian and early Edwardian days, leading to huge businesses yielding gargantuan profits, it is not surprising that many entrepreneurs quickly latched onto motorcycling from the outset as another engineering adventure. Unfortunately, many ‘chancers’ saw the potential for another cash cow. From the outset of motorcycling – initially…

Continue reading »

Though it has taken an awful lot of hard work and effort to construct, Gernot isn’t afraid to use his Super Vitesse. Gernot Schuh is nuts about New Hudson. The 45-year-old Austrian bought the first of his Birmingham-built bikes 16 years ago. That was a 500cc OHV single, one of the 1927 models that had…

Continue reading »

C R Bell (Ariel) trundles determinedly across Darracott. Those behind him would be caught in a small snowstorm that thankfully subsided not long after it began. The 33rd of its kind since the event’s inception, the 1953 Land’s End Trial – organised by the Motor Cycle Club – commenced from three separate locations. Riders of…

Continue reading »

Nottingham man Clive Osman had come along to sample the older machines, though he wasn’t a complete novice to the game, having ridden a couple of veterans before. He’s pictured on the Sunbeam Model 90. Ever since it opened, and like practically every other museum, the National Motorcycle Museum (NMM) has been the subject of…

Continue reading »

Wrapped up against the cold, Colin Archer exercises his motorcycle. Bombing along the wide empty roads of the Mendips with my head tucked behind the Velocette’s race screen, it needed little imagination to transport my mind back to 1967 and picture myself on the Isle of Man heading for the flag in that year’s 500cc…

Continue reading »

The bizarre sport of motorcycle football was first witnessed in the 1920s and it was during this decade that it experienced the bulk of its popularity. The premise of the game was identical to that of its non-motorised counterpart, though motorcycle football saw two teams of six riders battle it out instead of two teams…

Continue reading »

The Firefly has to be considered a bicycle with an engine, rather than a lightweight motorcycle. It’s tempting to think Philip Vincent was an impractical dreamer who bankrupted his company making prestige motorcycles that few could afford, but that would be grossly unfair. For one thing he personally kept his business going longer than other…

Continue reading »

The Sport Scout is urged round a right-hand bend. Despite many tweaks and modifications during its lifespan, the Scout (along with the Chief) was to become one of Indian’s most popular models and would establish a positive reputation as one of the best American twins of its period. The Scout always featured a flathead V-twin…

Continue reading »

This is the stunning 1953 works Rennsport, in the Isle of Man. In 2014, Michael Dunlop, son of Robert and nephew of TT legend Joey, gave BMW its first solo class TT win since Georg ‘Schorsch’ Meier led home his teammate Jock West in the 1939 Isle of Man Senior TT. The first victory was…

Continue reading »