Features

Tonkin Tornado: Steve Tonkin’s take on the ultimate café racer

by

Mark Lancaster

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12th September 2026

Steve Tonkin took on the task of building the ultimate café racer. After John Tickle sold the rights to Unity Equipe, they would eventually be acquired by Andy Molnar in 1994. A former TT racer who won the Junior TT in 1981, Steve would partner with Andy Molnar to build the Tonkin Tornado. Built to…
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Hidden Gems: Yamaha YDS6

by

Mark Lancaster

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3rd September 2026

Steve Cooper looks at a single year model that you can still pick up for not a lot of money. That the Japanese motorcycle industry plagiarised the work of others is well documented. In the modern business world such artifice creates what’s known as a second-to-market product and often such offerings have some of the…
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Hidden Gems: Honda CB400N

by

Mark Lancaster

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16th July 2026

Well, this one should raise some eyebrows! Steve Cooper is, as the young folk put it, dissing one of the Japanese classic scene’s sacred icons and bigging up its oft reviled successor. Honda’s numerous 350/360 twins of the 70s were never the company’s best work and, realistically, they were little more than rehashed existing models.…
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Hidden Gems: Suzuki GT500

by

Mark Lancaster

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15th July 2026

Steve Cooper looks at a machine which survived because of the failure of another Suzuki model. Those that know – or think they do – might tell you to avoid Suzuki’s biggest two-stroke half litre twin. The mighty Titan, Cobra, Charger, T500/5 et al isn’t a sporting two-stroke in the most commonly accepted format. It…
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The Amal Carburetter Company has been keeping British bikes on the road for 99 years

by

Web Editor

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9th July 2026

Formed in 1927 under the name Amalgamated Carburetters Ltd, Burlen Ltd rescued the Amal brand in 2004 from the brink of collapse. We took on all stock, machinery, customers, and the brand name itself, and started the long process of reviving the Amal brand.
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Sparton: the chapel-built British racer that scared the factory giants

by

Mark Lancaster

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27th June 2026

For a brief period in the 1970s, one of the most powerful race bikes in the world was being built in a converted chapel in North Wales. Sparton was a collaboration between Barton Engineering and Spondon Engineering. Barton brought the two-stroke engine expertise, Spondon brought the frame-building brilliance, and together they created a machine that…
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Yamaha YR2C: when Yamaha joined the street scrambler trend

by

Mark Lancaster

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20th June 2026

Steve Cooper looks at how Yamaha took its all-new YR1 and jumped aboard the 1960s street scrambler trend. In 1967, Yamaha’s Iwata factory rolled out its most significant machine since the 250cc two-stroke YDS1 of 1959. The all-new Yamaha YR1 350 two-stroke twin was a ground-up design featuring a vertically split crankcase and a clutch…
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Suzuki’s TC200 came here by accident…

by

Mark Lancaster

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19th June 2026

Steve Cooper looks at the street scrambler that came to these shores by accident… So, as we all know, street scramblers were never sold in the UK, right? Well, why would a company do that when we Brits have always had a reputation for being a conservative bunch when it comes to buying motorcycles? Very…
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R A Jones Classic Motorcycles: a family passion for proper classic bikes

by

Mark Lancaster

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12th June 2026

For anyone with a love of British classics, restoration projects and interesting old motorcycles, R A Jones Classic Motorcycles is well worth knowing about. Based in Manchester, close to the Trafford Centre and M60, the business is run by Robert Jones and specialises in classic motorcycles, with a particular passion for British machinery. Whether it…
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Honda CB400 Super Four and CB-1: Everything you need to know

by

Matt Hull

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29th May 2026

The earliest of these Hondas may be 36 years old, but they look great, offer modern practicality and reliability, with classic status, and the ability to work on them. We look at two of the finest…
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