Features
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Hidden Gems: Honda SL350
Steve Cooper introduces us to one of the prettiest – and most underrated – of Honda’s 1970s offerings. Some would argue that, when Honda dropped the hugely successful CB72/77 for its follow up K Series 250/350 it somehow cheapened the brand. To a point that’s correct, but for good reason – the outgoing models were…
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Looking back at the sidecar TT
With the news that this year’s Sidecar TT class was cancelled after two massive crashes, Mick Payne takes a look at when Great Britain ruled on three wheels. Mick Payne reports When I introduced the concept of an A to Z of sidecars I admitted it wasn’t likely to be a set-in-stone monthly feature, and…
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The man who made the Manx better: John Tickle’s lighter, faster Norton
John Tickle is a legendary name in the world of Norton, not least because it was he who – whisper it low – improved the Manx Norton. When he had bought the contents of the AMC race shop in 1966, Colin Seeley also acquired all the Manx Norton rights and parts. He decided to concentrate…
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The girl on a motorcycle
Around Hull there was a legend of a beautiful blonde on a big Harley. But, as her friend Mike Cartlidge, tells us, that was no myth – that was Anita Manley. This is a tribute to a lovely lady who, in her younger days, did not need Bill Ivy or Fred Warr in a blonde…
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Singer: the Coventry car maker that began on two wheels
Although best known for its cars, Coventry-based Singer began by making motorcycles, while its connection with two wheels goes back even further. In 1875, George Singer and his brother-in-law, James Stringer, founded a cycle company, and Singer went on to build the world’s first safety bicycle. By 1883, Singer was one of the country’s largest…
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Remembering… The Verus
After the First World War Alfred Wiseman began manufacturing motorcycles in his Glover Street works in Birmingham under the Sirrah name (the name came from reversing the surname of the designer, a Mr Harris), motorcycles which used a number of proprietary engines and were aimed at the budget market. However, to complement the various Sirrah…
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Hidden Gems: Honda CB400N
Well, this one should raise some eyebrows! Steve Cooper is, as the young folk put it, dissing one of the Japanese classic scene’s sacred icons and bigging up its oft reviled successor. Honda’s numerous 350/360 twins of the 70s were never the company’s best work and, realistically, they were little more than rehashed existing models.…
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Hidden Gems: Suzuki GT500
Steve Cooper looks at a machine which survived because of the failure of another Suzuki model. Those that know – or think they do – might tell you to avoid Suzuki’s biggest two-stroke half litre twin. The mighty Titan, Cobra, Charger, T500/5 et al isn’t a sporting two-stroke in the most commonly accepted format. It…
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The Amal Carburetter Company has been keeping British bikes on the road for 99 years
Formed in 1927 under the name Amalgamated Carburetters Ltd, Burlen Ltd rescued the Amal brand in 2004 from the brink of collapse. We took on all stock, machinery, customers, and the brand name itself, and started the long process of reviving the Amal brand.
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Leaping Lena: The daring Australians who built the world’s fastest sidecar
John Milton looks at how a handful of young Australians took on the world to win the sidecar landspeed record. The nickname ‘Leaping Lena’ has been used countless times in all manner of ways – a woman who jumped out of a Philadelphia window to avoid police arrest in 1920, pigeons, racehorses, cars, trains, even…
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