Sam Hewitt

  • The Swallows that really made a summer!

    The Swallows that really made a summer!

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    Mick Payne considers the links between Swallow sidecars and Jaguar cars as Team Katy makes a brief foray into central Wales. Team Katy recently spent a few days riding the sidecar outfit around central Wales, staying at Radnor Revivals which is run by a bike-mad family (see page 16). Tim also has an engineering business…

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  • Pete’s Prattle

    Pete’s Prattle

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    In a world where investing through banking institutions is rapidly becoming a waste of time – and eventually might even cost you – it’s not surprising that growing numbers of people are sinking their money into assets such as veteran, vintage and classic motorcycles. As recent auction results have demonstrated, the prices of certain makes…

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  • NSU – pride of Neckarsulm

    NSU – pride of Neckarsulm

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    Rosie Canning tells the story of the NSU Owners’ Club, which becomes a new listing on our ‘Club Call’ page this month, and the many advantages that membership can bring. Catering for the whole range of NSU vehicles, from Quickly mopeds to scooters, motorcycles, cars with air-cooled-engines, rotary-engined Spiders and Ro80s – even a couple…

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  • One good turn deserves another – rescuing a Nav

    One good turn deserves another – rescuing a Nav

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    Les Orme concludes his story about restoring a Norton Navigator that managed to tow his stricken Model 14 AJS 180 miles across France back in the 1960s. By 1993, with marriage and two children taking precedence over motorcycling, I found myself taking my 17-year-old son, who was more interested in old cars than modern ones,…

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  • 50th anniversary Founder’s Day does Taverners’ Section proud

    50th anniversary Founder’s Day does Taverners’ Section proud

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    Although the Vintage Motor Cycle Club was founded by 38 enthusiasts who assembled at the Lounge Cafe, Hog’s Back, Guildford, Surrey, C E ‘Titch’ Allen has become known as the ‘founder’ in recent years, writes Ian Kerr. While not as old as the club itself, Founder’s Day has been run for around half a century by the…

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  • A phoenix waiting in the wings?

    A phoenix waiting in the wings?

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    Mick Payne delves deeper into the history of Martello sidecars, and wonders if we’ll ever see a ‘Son of Moby Dick’. Last month I touched upon the distinctive and shapely Kent Martello built by Martello Plastics Ltd, and for this part of the story I’m deeply indebted to Steven Lancaster, who has compiled a comprehensive…

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  • Romney Marsh Run regulations available

    Romney Marsh Run regulations available

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    Regulations are available for the Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club’s Romney Marsh Run, starting and finishing at The Star Inn, St Mary in the Marsh, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29 0BX on Sunday, September 25. It will be open to anyone, Sunbeam club member or otherwise, entering a veteran (pre-1915) or flat-tank motorcycle, sidecar combination or three-wheeler…

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  • Sun shines for Graham Walker Memorial Run

    Sun shines for Graham Walker Memorial Run

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    With an entry of 100 riders, this year’s Graham Walker Memorial Run around Beaulieu, Hants, on Sunday, August 7, was one of the best in the area to be organised by the Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club, writes Ian McGill. In warm sunshine, the riders set off over a route laid out by the Southampton &…

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  • Five great riding days in the International West Kent Run

    Five great riding days in the International West Kent Run

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    Based at Aylesford’s 12th century Priory and organised by the West Kent section of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club on August 6/7, the 32nd International West Kent Run Weekend attracted riders from the UK, France, Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, plus two intrepid adventurers from Norway who made it on 175cc Tempo Transport machines,…

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  • Brackley Festival is riding high

    Brackley Festival is riding high

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    When the idea of a Brackley motorcycle meeting in the centre of the Northamptonshire town was first mooted in 2008, little did the organisers know that it would turn into one of the UK’s biggest biking events, raising thousands of pounds for charity each year, writes Ian Kerr. Thanks to all the hard work, enthusiasm…

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