Features

When Motor Cycle’s Midland Editor Bob Currie found himself with an 85mph 250cc BSA C15 Sportsman to test in the late spring of 1966, the miles he doggedly piled on included a reporting trip to the Scottish Six Days’ Trial – and it was a pleasure all the way. “What was the name? Sportsman? A…

Continue reading »

After reading and thoroughly enjoying Steve Cooper’s piece about Yamaha’s brilliant 1967 DT-1 trail bike in the last issue, Colin Sparrow, author of the 2012 book Greeves – The Complete Story and an active member of the Greeves Riders’ Association, points out the pioneering role that the Essex firm played in the export of trail…

Continue reading »

What do you do if you want something that’s unavailable? Why, make it – then make it available for everyone else, too. Words: James Robinson Photographs: Gary Chapman It’s oft stated that necessity is the mother of invention and when Gerry Cain (with the help of ace fabricator Baz Moore, he’s keen to point out)…

Continue reading »

Mick Payne opens up a discussion about the merits or otherwise of fitting a brake to your sidecar wheel – and he’d like to know more about your own preferences. Although the sidecar has been around almost as long as the motorcycle itself, there wasn’t a TT race for them until 1923, 16 years after…

Continue reading »

As the TR3OC celebrates the 50th anniversary of the legendary Triumph and BSA triples, Roy Maddox outlines the club’s history and tells of its plans for this very special year. Formed in 1979, The Trident and Rocket 3 Owners’ Club covers the three-cylinder road and racing machines produced both by Triumph and BSA between 1968…

Continue reading »

Ted Fletcher tells the story of the Bown lightweight he bought brand new for £72 in 1952 – and still owns to this day. In the autumn of 1952, just before joining the Army for my National Service, I saw a smart little 98cc Bown motorbike for sale brand new in Boston Motors’ showroom in…

Continue reading »

Although the hallowed BSA and Triumph Group was entering its final years when the then-sensational 740cc triples were launched in 1968, in no time at all they were howling around the race tracks, including the Isle of Man’s Mountain Circuit, to winning effect. The legacy of high-performance three-cylinder engines lives on in today’s Triumph Hinckley…

Continue reading »

Steve Cooper traces the history and development of Suzuki’s TS250 Savage trail bike. As early as 1964, Suzuki had an eye on the lucrative American off-road bike market. Taking one of its commuter bikes based on the successful K series singles, the company produced the surprisingly competent K15 Hill-Billy, aka the Trail 80. This bike…

Continue reading »

Ian Kerr tells the story of a growing group that was set up for the owners of former police and other service motorcycles after a six-bike ride organised by a Royal Parks police officer in 1993. Nobody, whether riding a motorcycle or driving a car, wants to see a police motorcycle appear in the mirror…

Continue reading »

Neil Cairns remembers a nightmare ride in the snow, while serving in the RAF, to visit the girlfriend who would eventually become his wife It was on a cold, damp, overcast November Friday evening in 1969 when I set off from RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall on my 1963 Triumph 350cc 3TA. I’d recently been…

Continue reading »