Features

It’s refreshing to have a colour photo from the archive for once and Ron Haslam’s smile sums up the love so many have of racing. The scene appears to show a typical club racing scene, with friends helping out. There may be no factory overalls or promo ladies but the Mal Carter Pharaoh team van…

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Fabulous Zenith V-twin transporting a Wimbledon tennis champion and steered by an Olympic gold medal winner. Image: Mortons Archive Published in the May 20, 1915 issue of The Motor Cycle, this picture was shown with the caption: “The late Captain A F Wilding, in the sidecar of Lieut-Commander G W Hillyard’s 10.8hp Zenith machine. Both…

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Covering upwards of 2000 miles, on a 350cc sidecar outfit carrying two full-grown men, in February, sounds like purgatory, though it was in the name of publicity… Image: Mortons Archive   On Monday, February 9, 1925, at approaching 9pm, a crowd gathers to watch the departure of a 350cc OK-Bradshaw, fitted with an OK Number…

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The eight-valve Bonneville twin which could’ve perhaps been original Triumph’s saviour. The ultimate Meriden twin? Perhaps it was, but, like so many things in the final 20 or so years of the ‘original’ British motorcycle industry, 1983’s TSS was more an example of what might’ve been, rather than what actually was. It’s reported that around…

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Slightly mysterious Ariel, ridden by the Cambridge cox, as he arrives for training at Putney Boathouse, prior to the 1946 boat race. Looking at this picture, there are things that don’t tie up, so we sent it over to the ever-helpful Roger Gwynne, at Ariel specialist Draganfly, to try and work out exactly what it…

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France’s Bol d’Or 24-hour race celebrates its centenary this year. Here, we have a brilliant action photograph from the 1924 edition, where solos and sidecars ran together. This rather remarkable action picture is taken from the June 19, 1924 edition of The Motor Cycle, the original caption reading thus: “One of the Rene Gillet drivers,…

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An absolute must-have for motorbike enthusiasts is the VMCC’s new book: Vintage and Classic Motorcycle Diary of 1000 Rides! Bustling with over 1000 rides and biking events you can do in 2022 are listed in this brand new book from the VMCC – the Vintage Motorcycle Club, which welcomes all bikes over 25 years old.  Britain’s…

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It hasn’t just been a ‘normal’ winter, unable to get out for a few months, instead we’ve been locked down and shut out from all those places we love to visit for the best part of two years. So with spring here you are no doubt starting to think about getting back out on the…

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This relatively rare interim 148cc Bantam, between the 125cc and the 175cc, was still a useful step up from the popular D1. Words: STEVE WILSONPhotographs: GARY CHAPMANPublished: The Classic MotorCycle – January 2022 This particular diminutive BSA, a 1956 D3 Bantam Major 150, is unusual in a couple of ways. Firstly, the 148cc variant, usually…

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