Features

1957 Ariel Cyclone The Ariel Cyclone is not a particularly well-known model – but if there is one thing an enthusiast will know about the model, it’s that rock and roll god Buddy Holly had one. While the rest of the Crickets went for Triumphs, Buddy plumped for the rather rarer glamour red Ariel. The…

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The number 39 BSA 650cc ridden by Donald Face and Eric Denyer coasts into the pits The track, once home to RAF and USAAF aircraft, and also used in the D-Day landings, accommodated a large crowd of excited spectators ready to watch their heroes fly around the track at high speeds. After winning the Thruxton…

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Triumph TR6SC Now, we wouldn’t normally follow last month’s TT Bonneville with a machine that looks – and basically is – so similar but then we decided to put this TR6SC in straight after the TT Bonnie, pretty much for the purpose of compare and contrast. And though the TT Bonnie last month was a…

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BMW R12 A casual glance at David Kemp’s booking form for my group trip to Coupes Moto Légende 2005 revealed he was making the trip on a BMW twin. Not that there was anything unusual in that as, over the last 80-odd years, the venerable boxer has earned an enviable reputation for its capabilities as…

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Historics at Brooklands included a motorcycle section The variety of machinery on offer had attracted interest around the world. As well as commission sales, bidders from the US and Australia kept in touch via telephone or the i-bidder on-line service. Quite a few lots remained unsold, in spite of the best endeavours of auctioneers David…

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BSA M24 Gold Star What has a new girlfriend, the Fire Service, marriage, WWII, Uncle Frank, the Civil Defence Corps, economies, a collapsed shed, the tome Speed From Your Motorcycle, The Blitz, Maurice Cann… and… got to do with this BSA M24? Well, in fact, everything. In June 1951, young Roger Barlow proudly escorted his…

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Indian Model 741 The question of originality has proved to be a thorny subject over the years, attracting almost as many letters to The Classic Motorcycle as the ‘What constitutes a classic?’ debate. To my mind, a motorcycle that is ridden regularly may be modified as much as its owner pleases. Whether the result is…

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1925 BSA S26 Owner and restorer of this side-valve BSA is Swindon enthusiast Alan Smith, who actually provided the first motorcycle we featured in this Spotlight series, his 2006 Stafford best in show 1928 AJS K7, which featured in the September 2006 issue. This side-valve BSA is pretty much from the opposite end of the…

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Norton-Vincent special I bet quite a few Norton and Vincent fans have glanced at the photographs accompanying this article, and felt it was a desecration to amalgamate their favourite marques, no matter how desirable the outcome. Well, in response to that, I can do no better than quote the machine’s original owner, who wrote in…

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