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1960 BSA Gold Star/Catalina Scrambler Some nuggets of advice, no matter how well intentioned, are far from encouraging. Robin James is telling me how to make a quick start on his Gold Star scrambler; “You just get your weight well forward, stick it in third gear, wind the revs up and drop the clutch.” It…

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II Mulo Meccanico military three wheeler There’s a subtle irony in the fact that the Triking, a sporty little Morgan-like three-wheeler currently built in Norfolk should utilise the power unit and transmission of the transverse vee-twin Moto Guzzi motor cycle; because in truth that engine – or, more correctly, the progenitor of that engine –…

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Harley-Davdison’s distinctive ohv Knucklehead engine There are those who march towards the sound of gunfire. So it was with the executives of Harley-Davidson. Harley's roots go back to 1900 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Boyhood friends and bicycle enthusiasts William S Harley and Arthur Davidson, both with jobs in engineering, built their own sin­gle cylinder engine and…

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FN four cylinder engine FN's first motor cycle was produced in 1902. A 133cc single, it was successful enough to convince the factory that there was a future in two-wheelers. The following year the capacity was increased to 188cc, and in 1904 to 300cc. In charge of development was a young Belgian engineer, Paul Kelecom,…

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Paul Dunstall Norton Dominator 650 (pdf) How about this for a dream? Two-miles-a-minute  top whack; out-accelerate a Manx Norton; cover a standing-start quarter-mile in sprint time yet easily restart on a 1 in 4 gradient; tick-tock idling at 500 rpm. This dream travels under the name, Dunstall Dominator. On road and track it provided me…

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