Features

Peter Morley brings a heartwarming story about his late dad’s determination to return to a decent civilian life after the war, and the motorcycles that helped him to do it. Motorbikes first came into my life in the early 1950s when my dad bought a 175cc Excelsior to get to and from his first proper…

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Jim Plant waxes lyrical about his favourite Velo and says everybody should have one. Was it all downhill after 1931? If you are a dedicated Velo man, or woman, you probably don’t realise that your life is not complete if you have not yet owned, or at least had a decent ride on, a Mark…

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Still passionate about bikes at 97, Frank Authers concludes his story about a remarkable motorcycling life. By 1944, by which time the war was progressing favourably for the Allies, I was in 249 Spitfire Squadron based on the Adriatic coast of Italy as part of the Balkan Air Force. The MT section had a squadron…

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The concept of the three-cylinder motorcycle engine has been a debating point among enthusiasts for many years. Steve Cooper looks at some of the best made by the Japanese, and gives a respectful nod to some European manufacturers too. Without exception, three-cylinder motorcycles have caused a stir whenever they’ve been launched upon an unsuspecting public,…

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Mick Payne looks back fondly to the marathon round-Britain sidecar journey that he and partner Kate made to raise funds for research into Alzheimer’s disease, and wonder how one of the new 350cc overhead-camshaft Jawas, coupled to a much-improved Velorex Sports sidecar, would fare. It’s three years since Kate and I started our ‘trip of…

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Nobody needs an excuse to go to the Isle of Man, especially during the first week in June, but Dave Manning knows that there’s a place away from the Mountain Circuit that is a hidden gem. Many folk will know of Murray’s Motorcycle Museum from when it was located at the Bungalow, nestled into the…

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Mick Payne reflects on the late Ray Doran’s cleverly modified BMW/Watsonian GP Sport combination. Last month, our editor Pete gave a tantalising glimpse of the sadly deceased Ray Doran’s lovely BMW outfit, and this got me thinking. Many years ago, I wrote a regular sidecar feature for Motorcycle Sport magazine and was lucky enough to…

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In the last of his features about Japanese trail bikes, Steve Cooper takes a close look at Honda’s XL250 that was first revealed 46 years ago in 1972. By the end of the 1960s, Honda’s drive to be all-powerful on both two and four wheels had created some significant market sector gaps. As we’ve previously…

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Colin House brings more evocative images of the Sixties as he describes the accident that resulted in him rebuilding his Norton Dominator as a café racer, and some of the cafes, coffee bars and pie stalls he and his mates frequented. I thoroughly agree with Gerry Allen’s interesting letter headed ‘Café racers just aren’t what…

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Now in his seventies and still riding a Suzuki SV650, Leslie Wye looks back fondly at the magical motorcycling years of the 1960s. During the now-far-away 1960s, motorbikes played a much more important role in our society. They were our only affordable means of transport and were a respectable addiction, playing a major role in…

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