Features

It is hard nowadays to believe that during the early Seventies BMW suffered from a poor and staid image. BMWs were well-designed and extremely reliable machines, but they were not seen as the most desirable motorcycles on the planet. Words & photography by Stuart Urquhart Falling sales became a significant threat to the motorcycle division…

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Allan Jackson wanted a new Triumph Thruxton, so took this non-running Bonneville and created his own. Friend of Allans, Stuart Urquhart, recalls the story behind the superb job this first-time builder has done and shows what can be done with a little help from your friends. Words & photography by Stuart Urquhart Allan Jackson is…

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A perfect brace When you commission your dream bike to be built from scratch, if you can’t decide what you want, why not have two? Words Matt Hull Photography Jason Critchell Standing in the workshops of JMC Classics and Restorations, between a multitude of Vincents in various stages of undress, I’m faced with two very interesting…

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Forever young Teenagers, telegrams & two-strokes Hear the highest revs and see through the haze of blue smoke – it’s the GPO’s finest, disappearing from view, remembering great times gone yet still delivering half a century on. ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’ It’s a question I was never allowed to…

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Zeds always turn heads Looks, styling, reliability, the Z1 has it all Words & Photos by Marion Thirsk   In 1968 Kawasaki was on track with its own 750 when Honda beat it in the race to launch the first true superbike, the CB750. So Kawasaki took some time to beef up the engine, developing…

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When Percy Tait started work at the Meriden factory the last thing he must have been dreaming of was that one day he’d be riding a Triumph in a World Championship Grand Prix. This is how it happened. Percy Tait started racing in 1947 on a 350 Triumph. When he proved just how good a…

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Instantly recognisable and loved by millions, it’s easy to fall for the charms of the original pre-unit Bonneville. Words & photos by Marion Thirsk After the Second World War the American market began opening up to British manufacturers – pushed by the government to export. Building on the popularity of Triumph’s 499cc Speed Twin, an…

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The original owner of this Honda 400/4 thought he had found a cheap and easy way to make the engine look as good as new. “He took the motor out of the frame, taped up all the holes he could see, and then got to work with the grit blaster. Then he sprayed it silver…

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Few new bikes have ever been as eagerly awaited as the production versions of the eight-valve, liquid-cooled Ducati 851 Desmoquattro. The prototype, clad in Tricolore livery, took Marco Lucchinelli to a debut victory in the American Daytona BoTT (Battle of The Twins) race exactly 30 years ago, then spent the 1987 racing season developing, before…

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You could describe a Matchless G3, or for that matter its AJS 350 sibling, as solid and dependable, but maybe not glamorous. The first models are a good example of a long stroke, long lasting single and provided unexciting but reliable transport for hundreds of thousands of postwar workers. Like many a British motorcycle of the…

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