From The Archive

Velocette Model K The Mk.I (distinguished by the exposed valve gear) was to continue until 1935, when it gave way to the more sophisticated (enclosed valve gear, so cleaner) Mk.II, for road-going use anyway. By then, the racers were differently ‘coded’ though the lineage was clear. Mk.Is continued to give good service to sporting riders…

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1951 Vincent Rapide Bill Bewley, a well-known face on the classic scene, is a dedicated Vincent man, though his tastes are not restricted purely to the Stevenage-built machines, as other steeds in his stable include a pair of vintage Sunbeams, a featherbed cammy Norton and a Douglas 90 Plus, to name a few. Obviously, then,…

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1947 Royal Enfield Nowadays, Royal Enfield is known for its solid, dependable, four-stroke Bullet singles. But it is easy to forget the company made other machines too – while the parallel twins are still widely recognised and enthused over, there were others as well… Royal Enfield offerings are just about the most affordable 1920s/30s V-twins…

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1955 NSU-Vincent Fox Chuck Jackson has owned this 98cc rarity for 46 years – and was given it in the first place. “The bloke I was an apprentice with gave it to me… when the tax ran out in 1967 I then took it all apart and put it in the loft,” explains Chuck. That…

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1914 James TT Model In the period before the First World War and in the 1920s and 30s too, James made a number of varying machines, including some quality two-stroke lightweights and a range of four-strokes, a single cylinder side valve and overhead valve versions of mainly 350 and 500cc. But James’s biggest, longest running…

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1949 AB Jackson 99cc To view other content within this reference work, you must be a subscriber. ABC Skootamota 1919-23 UK Best of a rash of primitive scooters built in response to an expected public demand for cheap personal transport after WWI. The Granville Bradshaw designed Skootamota comprises child’s scooter-like tubular steel welded frame, engine…

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Norton-JAP ‘Thor’ Legendary Norse hammer-carrier Thor lends his name to this machine (and incidentally also to the ‘new’ JAP V-twin powered beastie built by Alec Card and Cameron Engineering) – it’s an apt title for a thundering V-twin. The original Thor (the one featured here) was built by sprint star Francis Williams using a 1952-54…

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BSA Bantam D1 – back to basics Although originally of German conception ‘DKW RT 125’ this pre-war advanced design impressed the British who took it as war reparations – since then the Bantam has become quintessentially British. After the austere war years a simple and economical commuting motorcycle was ideal and became very popular. Two-stroke…

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1930 Ariel Square Four The big Ariel started life as a lithe sportster in an era when big sidecar machines were commonplace, it finished up as one of those self-same heavyweight sidecar tugs in a period when fast solos had become the norm. To help the transformation, its capacity was doubled along the way –…

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Hesketh 1200cc Vulcan “We should have thrown the whole motorcycle and engine away, and started again,” sighs Mick Broom, as he recalls post-production problems that tarnished the Hesketh V1000’s image as ‘the finest motorcycle in the world’. “It definitely needed more money and development time. I was an engineer, but suddenly I found myself involved…

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