Classic Bike Guide
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Book Reviews: The Flying Penguin:
More stories of a freelance motorcycling journalist IN THIS SECOND part of his autobiography, Frank Melling continues telling the ripping yarns which he started in A Penguin In A Sparrow’s Nest. The Flying Penguin takes the reader on a personal journey through a remarkable and highly eventful life. There are plenty of near death stories,…
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The art of the motorcycle
LOUISE LIMB WELL KNOWN for her motorcycle illustration work, Louise has been collecting some of her favourite works to display in her popular calendars for the last seven years. Her 2017 Motorcycle Art calendar features a selection of classic images from her illustration archive – and maybe even the odd surprise new piece – and…
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Autumn autojumbling
THE VMCC’S AUTUMN autojumble at Shepton Mallet typically flags up the finale of the riding season and the start of serious winter spannering. A slight shuffle of the calendar means the event has moved to an earlier slot, from its traditional October date to the last weekend of September. So instead of shivering in a…
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The Chiefs from Redditch
Too often overlooked in classic curiosity corner, Indian’s last Chiefs were excellent – and unique – motorcycles WORDS AND PHOTOS BY PHIL MATHER Isolated on our little island, we had no reason to concern ourselves with the last sad days of a once great American motorcycle manufacturer. Yet responsibility for that downfall had, in many…
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Mashing it up
Two new, French-designed retros prove that Chinese bikes are coming of age WORDS BY MARK WILLIAMS Having already proved that they could up the stakes in the Chinese import game, Mash Motorcycles have added two new models which will likely further undermine the cheap ’n’ cheerful image that damns with faint praise our view of…
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Featherbed cafe racer: Trad Triton
Modern technology offers many different ways to build a cracking café racer, but it’s hard to beat the original combination of a Meriden motor and Featherbed frame… WORDS & PHOTOS BY Stuart Urquhart Dave can’t quite recall when he first clapped eyes on a Triton, and never in his wildest dreams did he ever…
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HARDLY A HARLEY
I’VE OWNED MY XLCR since 1991. Wanted one when I was kid, bought one in the States and shipped it back. I doubt there are many bikes that create the same intense feeling of riding a motorbike as the XLCR does. It’s like riding a wild beast. It’s nothing to do with what the engine’s…
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Top honours
Triumph took three gold medals and the team trophy in the 1948 ISDT, and launched a legend WORDS BY Frank Melling: PHOTOS BY Carol Melling WHEN THIS TR5 was built in 1956, a visitor to Triumph’s Meriden works would have found the highest-paid workers in the Coventry area, with boundless pride in the machines they…
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Belting along
When Fabio Taglioni ditched Ducati’s bevel drive, he took a big risk. Four decades later, it’s still paying dividends WORDS & PHOTOS BY Richard Jones “LOOK ON MY WORKS, Ye Mighty Motorcyclists, and Marvel!” is a phrase that might, conceivably, have occurred to Fabio Taglioni as he contemplated the machine he’d designed and which was…
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Self starter
Gentlemen, start your engines! In your own time. Any day now… PHOTOS BY Chris Dickinson AS WE NEVER tire of telling you, the Norton Commando was awarded the UK’s ‘Machine of the Year’ accolade five times on the trot, from 1968 to 1972. Which was great news for the beleaguered British bike industry, but it…
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