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  • Remember the TWN Cornets?

    Remember the TWN Cornets?

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    Though my passion is for German motorcycles, especially those makes that were available in the UK, I am putting together a register of TWN Cornets and would be grateful if past and present owners could pass on any history, memories or information about the Cornets they might once have owned or still own. The TWN…

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  • They weren’t called Green Elephants for nothing…

    They weren’t called Green Elephants for nothing…

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    While agreeing with Bernie, of the Adler to Zundapp Club, about the weight of the Zundapp flat twin pictured in readers’ letters in OBM (February) it wasn’t called the Green Elephant without a reason. Capable of 85mph in their normal sidecar-lugging guise, these machines powered the fastest outfits of the 1950s, and in such use…

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  • Happy memories from the Manchester Eagles Motor Club

    Happy memories from the Manchester Eagles Motor Club

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    Harry Ingham’s letter about Frank Richardson (OBM February) brought back memories to a few of us in the Manchester Eagles Motor Club. I joined at the age of 17 in 1960, so didn’t know Harry, but the Marple Scramble would have been at Booth Farm, where we ran trials and scrambles until our move to…

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  • Things ain’t what they used to be

    Things ain’t what they used to be

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    May I add a last word on that picture of the gathering of flat-tankers outside the Hunter’s Lodge Inn that appeared in OBM (February)? The venue is at Priddy, about halfway between Cheddar and Wells, well up on the Mendips in Somerset, and the picture would have been taken during a meal break by members…

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  • How I fell for those useless bike gadgets

    How I fell for those useless bike gadgets

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    In response to ‘Pete’s Prattle’ about useless accessories (OBM February), many readers out there must recall the many gadgets that were offered temptingly in the motorcycling magazines of the 1950s. I fell for most of them, and found that they all had faults. Way back in 1956, after buying a 125cc James ML ex-paratrooper machine…

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  • Pete’s Prattle

    Pete’s Prattle

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    Reader Colyn Thomas’s atmospheric recollections of the comings and goings at the petrol pumps at Castle Garage, on the A38 at Trebrown Bridge in Cornwall, and this month’s cover shot of two BSA C15 Sportsman riders at North Bar Garage in Banbury, a control point in the 1966 National Rally, got my memory buds going.…

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  • April 2018

    April 2018

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    Old Bike Mart offers the UK’s largest selection of classic motorcycle classifieds. It features news, racing reports, reviews and newly discovered historic machines plus hundreds of ads to browse. DIARY DATES READERS’ LETTERS STAFFORD CLASSIC BIKE SHOW TALMAG TRIAL IT’S MY BIKE TALKING JAPANESE READERS’ TALES UNEARTHED FEEDBACK A BIT ON THE SIDE CLASSIFIED OBM…

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  • A well-used Greeves Ranger

    A well-used Greeves Ranger

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    After reading about the Greeves trail bikes in OBM (February) David Hamsley emailed us to say that maybe readers would like to see a photo of the Greeves Ranger that he brought back from the USA in 1990. It still looks well, David – and thanks very much. Read more Letters, Opinion, News and Views…

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  • Like mum, like daughter – but Kitt did the ‘ton’ over the Cat and Fiddle

    Like mum, like daughter – but Kitt did the ‘ton’ over the Cat and Fiddle

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    May I introduce your readers to Kitt Stappard, a friend and neighbour who gave up smoking after a year when she realised she could buy a Vespa with the money instead? This lasted a short while until she ‘upgraded’ to a Lambretta. The accompanying colour photo of her on a modern bike was in response…

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  • A snowy day in the Clevelands, 1953

    A snowy day in the Clevelands, 1953

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    It’s that time of year when motorcycling magazines feature snow scenes from yesterday, so here’s one from 1953 that was taken on the Cleveland Hills in Yorkshire. From the left, it shows Peter Martin on a very desirable Goldie, John Hewitt on Rex Young’s works 500T Norton and myself on the only brand new bike…

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