Features

The words ‘Popular’ and ‘Universal’ were once commonly used to describe a car, motorcycle or bicycle manufacturer’s cheap and cheerful bottom-of-the-range models. In 1962 Excelsior went a step further by offering its three-speed 150cc Universal in a box so that the customer could assemble it himself and thus avoid the payment of purchase tax, writes…

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With the days of bottomless sources of cheap Japanese parts for classic machines now well and truly over, Steve Cooper brings this thought-provoking article. When the classic Japanese scene really took off in the late 1980s, restorers didn’t know just how lucky they were. Pretty much anything they needed for their mouldering project was on…

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When we’re involved in a motorcycle project and research the specifications for use of certain components, do we really understand what their code numbers mean? Take wheel bearings, for instance. Ronnie McLaren, who established Classic Bikes Scotland in 2015, and has been restoring British bikes since he was 15 years old, tells us that customers…

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PART 2: Ted Bemand concludes his story about the Wirral Wobblers’ recent ‘invasion’ of Holland on their mopeds and autocycles. During our big Sunday run in the Netherlands, the narrow 4ft wide Tarmac dyke top strips were also being used by walkers, some with dogs, along with joggers, bike riders and other moped riders too…

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Reader Perran Newman fondly recalls his regular long-distance travels on a single-cylinder BSA. Although my dad had no interest in mechanical things, I have to thank him for arranging for me to learn some of the basic skills of motorcycle maintenance. A local garage in Bexley supervised me while I repaired a 1949 D1 Bantam,…

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Recalling his days at the BSA Group’s Umberslade research centre, reader David Myers – not, incidentally, the Hairy Biker – reveals some of the things that went on there, and after reading our recent Last Drop Saloon feature, concludes that the group had proved itself perfectly capable of incompetence long before the establishment opened. I…

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You could buy a car for the same price – but would it be as much fun? Mick Payne discusses the choice that’s now available in off-the-shelf combinations. Not so long ago, it was just as easy to buy a ready-made new outfit as it was to buy an off-the-peg suit. In the home town…

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If you actually ride an old Japanese motorcycle rather than simply show it off, there are plenty of good reasons not to keep it absolutely original, writes Steve Cooper. In some areas of the classic world there’s a slavish desire to stick with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) components, and sometimes such a stance is quite…

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Although different in appearance, the 650cc BSA A10 Gold Flash and Ariel Huntmaster FH parallel twins offered identical performance as their engines were the same unit produced at BSA’s Small Heath factory in Birmingham, making them equally proficient at fast two-up touring or lusty sidecar lugging. Pete Kelly explores the Mortons Archive to compare the…

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Last month Mick Payne told about Bill Moore’s abiding love affair with Yorkshire-built Panther motorcycles and here he continues the story. According to popular reason, “Panthers have got that enormous cylinder because they have such a long stroke.” True, but not true, if you know what I mean! Certainly they do have a stroke/bore ratio…

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