Features

Sparton: the chapel-built British racer that scared the factory giants

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Mark Lancaster

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27th June 2026

For a brief period in the 1970s, one of the most powerful race bikes in the world was being built in a converted chapel in North Wales. Sparton was a collaboration between Barton Engineering and Spondon Engineering. Barton brought the two-stroke engine expertise, Spondon brought the frame-building brilliance, and together they created a machine that…
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ABC Tricar: the Mini that lost a wheel and became a teenage dream

by

Mark Lancaster

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25th June 2026

John Milton takes a look at the ABC Tricar. The ABC Tricar, in short a three-wheeled BMC Mini, was originally created by Ken Heather and Bill Power for Ken’s son, Trevor. Trevor had really wanted a Morgan three-wheeler, but one suspects that, even in the mid-1960s, Morgans were an expensive choice for a teenager. So…
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Len Vale-Onslow: the maverick who gave motorcycles the welded frame

by

Mark Lancaster

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24th June 2026

From childhood crashes to the first welded production motorcycle frame, Len Vale-Onslow’s story is one of invention, risk-taking and what might have been. The name of Len Vale-Onslow needs little introduction. Born Leslie Vale-Onslow in 1900, he was introduced to motorcycles in 1908 when he rode a machine built by his brothers. A police constable…
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How Saracen rose and fell in Britain’s mini trials motorcycle boom

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Mark Lancaster

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23rd June 2026

Along with friend and scrambler Frank Underwood, trials enthusiast and school teacher Ron Goodfellow designed, built, rode and sold the Saracen mini trials motorcycles in kit form, inspired by a desire to create an affordable alternative to the then-expensive Bultaco models. Working in a small Cirencester workshop, Mr Goodfellow brazed up a chassis using preformed…
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Yamaha YR2C: when Yamaha joined the street scrambler trend

by

Mark Lancaster

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20th June 2026

Steve Cooper looks at how Yamaha took its all-new YR1 and jumped aboard the 1960s street scrambler trend. In 1967, Yamaha’s Iwata factory rolled out its most significant machine since the 250cc two-stroke YDS1 of 1959. The all-new Yamaha YR1 350 two-stroke twin was a ground-up design featuring a vertically split crankcase and a clutch…
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Suzuki’s TC200 came here by accident…

by

Mark Lancaster

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19th June 2026

Steve Cooper looks at the street scrambler that came to these shores by accident… So, as we all know, street scramblers were never sold in the UK, right? Well, why would a company do that when we Brits have always had a reputation for being a conservative bunch when it comes to buying motorcycles? Very…
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R A Jones Classic Motorcycles: a family passion for proper classic bikes

by

Mark Lancaster

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12th June 2026

For anyone with a love of British classics, restoration projects and interesting old motorcycles, R A Jones Classic Motorcycles is well worth knowing about. Based in Manchester, close to the Trafford Centre and M60, the business is run by Robert Jones and specialises in classic motorcycles, with a particular passion for British machinery. Whether it…
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Japanese Street Scramblers: Kawasaki W series

by

Mark Lancaster

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27th May 2026

Kawasaki’s 1960s foray into four-stroke street scramblers produced just one model, but, as Steve Cooper explains, it was definitely a machine with merits. Kawasaki’s W series parallel twins stem from the Meguro Company that had produced similar 500s from the early 1950s. Towards the end of the decade a power unit very reminiscent of that…
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Swan Motor Manufacturing

by

Mark Lancaster

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26th May 2026

The Swan Motor Manufacturing began life in Frodsham High Street in Cheshire in around 1910 and exhibited its first motorcycle at the Olympia Show in 1911. This was an open-frame machine with, unusually for the time, front and rear suspension. The founder of the company was FH Thornton who lived in a large house opposite…
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Ural gonna like this!

by

Mark Lancaster

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23rd May 2026

Mick Payne takes a look at a recent build from F2 Motorcycles which marries a Royal Enfield with a Ural sidecar. [STANDFIRST] David Angel of F2 Motorcycles is perhaps best known as the importer of Velorex sidecars, but there are a large number of enthusiasts for whom he is the ‘go-to’ source for all things…
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