British motorcycle racing success on track and road in the Dutch East Indies – a country now known as Indonesia – was reported in The Motor Cycle on Thursday, December 20, 1923. There was no
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Tangible technical Triumphs
Early Yamaha XS1 The Japanese take on big parallel twins was something of a mixed bag. Despite the successes with two-strokes and air-cooled fours, the lure of the big twin proved too much. Two of
Read moreBSA brake-through
Cable operated rear brake on BSA Road Rocket The more you ride older machines, the more you start to value a good rear brake. It seems to play a disproportionate role, not least in providing
Read moreArchive: Triumph’s Brooklands Speed Trials reported
The team which put the Triumph 6/1 through its paces at Brooklands included (left to right); Len Crisp, S Slader (passenger), Tim Robbins, Harry Perrey and RR Holliday (passenger) Tucked away in the bottom corner
Read moreWhen Harley-Davidson went ‘super speed’…
Harley-Davidson has just announced plans to water-cool an area around the exhaust valves in the cylinder heads of its all-new 2014-model Ultra Limited. It’s a ‘ground-breaking’ move for a company that’s built its entire heritage
Read moreMiniatures on ACU test
Riders heading out on the road during the ACU Miniatures test The September 20, 1923 issue of The Motor Cycle carried a report of the Miniatures Test, carried out by the Auto Cycle Union. The
Read moreRoad Test: Triumph Metisse
Triumph Metisse Most classic enthusiasts will be aware that Triumph created the Trophy range from the three machines that the experimental department had converted for the 1948 ISDT by adding a few lightweight parts to
Read moreRoad Test: Norton military prototype
Norton military prototype motorcycle Simple fact of life: motorcycle makers need to move bikes through production, out of the despatch department and on to customers who will pay for them. If they offer a wide
Read moreReference: The Grigg side-valve V-twin – August 1923
This photo is from the Mortons Archive Eight different capacity engines were on offer: 247cc (67mm bore x 70mm stroke), 349cc (67 x 99), 494cc (80 x 99), single cylinders and 494cc (67 x 70),
Read moreDouglas Special
A 1931 596cc overhead valve twin formed the basis for this well-engineered sidecar outfit Mills wrote: “In the motor cycle movement this is a sprinkling of enthusaists who derive almost as much pleasure from building
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