Features

Mick Payne takes a look at the long-lived Gloucestershire brand. Last time I compiled a set of features on Britain’s sidecar manufacturers, there were more than twice the number there are now. Watsonian was strong then and is, if anything, even stronger now – indeed, it has been around since the dawn of motorcycling! It…

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Having undergone the ‘ruination’ of a BSA C-15 and creating his very own Shuttleworth Snap, Fred Austin was busying himself attending shows all over the north of England. The bike caused great interest at every show that he visited, with showgoers being highly delighted and amused at what they saw, even having their photo taken…

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While traversing his way around Europe on an entirely inappropriate machine for international touring, Stan Bates stumbled across an impressive collection of machinery in a Spanish warehouse. Although this astounding collection isn’t open to the public – and consequently we’re not going to give any clue as to its exact location – it does give…

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In a direct contradiction to John’s winter riding across Europe, Stuart Bennett travelled to the warmth of a museum in Spain. Next time you holiday on the Costa Blanca, and you tire of the sun, the sand and the sangria, why not leave the coast and venture a few miles (or kilometres) inland from Benidorm?…

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Following the editorial in issue 403, John Hersevoort recalls how he used to wrap up for winter trips over 50 years ago. I’m 69 years old and have been riding motorcycles since 1967. I ride all year round and have always done so. The Friday before Christmas, I had to collect a crankcase that had…

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Imagine being the development manager at a maker of mobile phones in 2007. There you are, happily turning out straightforward push button phones by the shipload. Your customers can’t get enough of your designs – and then Apple introduces the Iphone and you suddenly discover your entire range is out of date. Words Oliver Hulme…

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In the motorcycle world there are any number of reasons to create a special with components from various sources. These reasons range from ‘couldn’t afford a catalogued machine’ to ‘the standard offerings weren’t right’ and often include ‘had a load of bits’ and ‘sheer bloody mindedness’ to give just four examples. Some such specials, or…

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One of the most sensational British motorcycles of the 1950s was the ground-breaking Ariel Leader designed by the legendary Val Page from a clean sheet – but sadly, times were changing too quickly for the good times to roll for long, writes Pete Kelly Last month Old Bike Mart raided Mortons’ vast motorcycling archive to…

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Four cylinder motorcycles were nothing new in 1969, but Steve Cooper shines a light on the one that made the biggest impact. If you have never sampled an early Honda CB750/4 I’d urge you to do so before they are all consigned to sterile museums or dark anonymous warehouses. No, we’re not talking about the…

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To celebrate the 80th anniversary of Edward Turner’s transformative ‘Speed Twin’, Triumph has re-introduced an updated version of its iconic motorcycle, but in a look back at the original, ground-breaking machine, David Curry takes a trip into the Mortons archive. When originally introduced in 1937, the Speed Twin received rave reviews from test riders, who…

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