Features

1948 Panther Model 60 From the Pioneer days on, many Panthers had the distinctive design feature of being sans a front down tube, the engine doing the job instead. This of course continued right through the production cycle, with the final machines (645cc Model 120s) produced in 1966 still having the same set-up. Model description…

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BSA A65 Spitfire Hornet Derek Gothard is a regular face on the classic concours scene, with his stream of brilliant and quite beautiful unit BSA twins regularly picking up prizes and wowing judges and the public alike with their factory-fresh finish and obvious painstaking preparation. And this Spitfire Hornet is no exception. Meanwhile, Derek’s work…

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1955 BSA C10L 250cc Now, I love little lightweight motorcycles. I always feel much more at home in the saddle of a ‘tiddler’. I think it’s a psychological thing as much as anything; I like to be able to feel fully in control, and being able to put both feet comfortably on the ground also…

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1938 Ariel Square Four Model 4G Ian Munro is a lifelong motorcyclist whose taste for the unusual even shows in his favoured flat twins, where rarities like a Ratier (TCM February 2003) have featured alongside the expected BMWs. During the years his machines have varied much more widely than that, though, starting with a Trojan…

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1963 Triumph Tiger Cub Triumph supremo Edward Turner knew a thing or two – more, in fact – about motorcycles and subsequently motorcyclists. He knew that a bit of extra ‘flash’ attracted them (see the Ariel Red Hunter and Tiger range of Triumphs when he arrived in Coventry), he realised that conservative tastes meant a…

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1923 James Model 10 “It’s a mixture of fate and circumstance,” says Don Hunt, recalling the day in 1978 when he suddenly became the owner of a 1923 James Model 10 combination. “I used to go to auctions with my pal Dan Geary and we’d bid as high as we dared for all sorts of…

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250cc Honda four racer Last year's star racing power unit, the Honda two-fifty four earned its laurels by both speed and reliability. As this drawing shows, the engine follows orthodox design apart from employing four valves per cylinder – unusual when the bore measurement is only 44mm. With a stroke of 41mm the engine is…

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Some of those putting on a performance were already established, while others were to be near the top of the racing tree even after the Second World War, which was still six years away. Commented Motor Cycling; “There can be no doubt about the popularity of small circuit road racing, and entrants had been attracted…

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1955 Triumph Tiger 100 This Triumph Tiger 100 has had a couple of narrow escapes in its life. Its previous owner had decided that he wanted to build himself a TR5 Replica and had bought this original and largely complete Tiger 100. He duly took it completely to pieces and promised himself he’d get on…

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