Features

While the Hinckley Triumph twin cylinder engine has now been developed into a 1200cc water-cooled behemoth, the smaller capacity version is still being used to expand the range, as Dave Manning discovers. Although it isn’t as radical as Hinckley’s big bore retro off-roader, the Scrambler 1200, the Street Scrambler 900 is actually far more accurate…

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For many of us, this time of year only means one thing, and it’s the same for Graham Baldwin, as thoughts turn to travelling over the Irish Sea to the road racing capital of the world. Every year when May comes around my mind drifts back to May/June 1957 when Charlie, that’s Charlie Freeman, said…

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Pete Kelly forages through the Mortons Motorcycle Archive for comparison tests between two amazingly close-matched 500cc British pushrod sporting singles – the BSA Gold Star and Velocette Venom Thruxton. When comparing two of Britain’s best-loved 500cc overhead-valve sports singles – the BSA Gold Star and the Velocette Venom Thruxton – I’m hesitant to use the…

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Yamaha have long been known for their two-stroke, twin-cylinder machines. Steve Cooper takes a look at a machine that kickstarted the trend In 1966, Yamaha produced an apparently inconsequential small-capacity machine called the AT90. With just 90cc, but two cylinders, this tiddler would go on to spawn a raft of similarly constructed motorcycles that would…

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Ian Stallard regales the story of Richard Norman Wade, a Southport gentleman who had a positive effect on anyone he met, motorcyclists in particular Norman, as he was known, was born in Jarrow in the early Twenties and moved to Southport when he was 11. He cycled more than five miles to school, just to…

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Could we make one ourselves?

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Pete Kelly delves into the Mortons Archive once again to recapture the spirit of the road and racing machines that were produced by one of the most famous names in Italian motorcycling history. Italian motorcycling pioneer Eduardo Bianchi, born in 1865 and brought up in an orphanage, was in business by the age of 20…

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Creating a reputation for a factory with just one machine isn’t easy, yet Steve Cooper shows just how Kawasaki managed it. Whether you like two-strokes or loathe them, you need to give thanks to Kawasaki’s launching of their mad-as-cheese 500cc triple. This bike, above all others, marks a line in the sand whereby motorcycles cease…

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While he’s not particularly weary, Mick Payne is getting tyred this month, as he takes a look at rubber options for sidecar combinations. It’s been a long time since tyres had names like ‘All Non Skid’ and ‘Grasshopper’ but in the 1950s these were the names given to Firestone and Goodyear products. Neither of those…

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Having helped set up the ‘Bellshill Beehive’ collective of motorcycle racers and tuners in Glasgow in the late Forties, Charlie Bruce’s talents were proving vital for the success of other Scottish racers. Ben Waters explains how this relationship became a two-way street… Aside from being the effective team manager for the riders racing with Joe…

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