Features

While 58bhp and a top speed of 122mph might not seem that much these days, when the 740cc Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket 3 were launched in 1968, the motorcycling weeklies were euphoric. Old Bike Mart takes as look at one of the first road tests of these trend-setting triples to be published. While we…

Continue reading »

In this thought-provoking piece Nigel Stennett-Cox, who’s equally well known in the worlds of old motorcycles and cars, challenges some of the concepts thrown up by the words ‘vintage’ and ‘classic’. “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less…” Those ever fresh and relevant…

Continue reading »

John McCrink, who also took the photos, visits famed bike builder Bob Pearson to drool over a classic special that he acquired at Stafford in 2005 and is well deserving of any gold star. Anyone who knows Bob Pearson would agree that he enjoys building bikes just as much as riding them. Classic road race…

Continue reading »

Steve Cooper tells the fascinating story of Japan’s first successful entry into the burgeoning enduro and desert racing scene in iconic film, On Any Sunday. Rarely can you draw a line in the sand and state confidently that something significant changed in the world of motorcycling, but this month’s subject, Yamaha’s DT-1, allows us to…

Continue reading »

Mark Wood tells how, when his dad John finally parted with his beloved Triumph Tiger Cub, by sheer chance it found its way back to its former owner of almost 50 years ago – who’d been pining away and looking for it for years. My dad John Wood, who’s 79, recently made the difficult decision…

Continue reading »

John Finch recalls the excitement he felt when he secured a job as a design draughtsman with the BSA Motorcycle Division’s Umberslade Hall – but sadly redundancy was already looming just over the horizon. After reading Dave Myers’ recent article about BSA’s Umberslade research centre, I was looking through some old books and paperwork when…

Continue reading »

During the 1980s, Eric Turner spent four years building a stunning replica of Ernie Lyons’ 1946 Manx Grand Prix-winning prototype Triumph GP from boxes of accumulated bits, hours of scouring autojumbles, some skilfully made small items of his own and a little bit of luck. Here, Eric recounts his marathon task. In August 1981 I…

Continue reading »

Seizures, bent valves and cooked batteries were just three of the problems encountered when James Crosby set off on an epic 2821-mile journey around Britain on a Triumph Tiger Cub to raise awareness of the current financial plight of the London Motorcycle Museum, writes Ian Kerr – but dogged determination won through in the end.…

Continue reading »

Regular contributor Colin Rider digs out some family photos of the TT during the early 1950s – and gives us the perfect Christmas quiz idea. Winter… it’s a time when we reflect on summers past and make plans for those to come – and for many motorcyclists it’s a time to look through the family…

Continue reading »

Gareth Tunstell tells of the long and painstaking job of rebuilding the Triumph-engined Greeves that he bought as a project nine years ago. In the autumn of 2008 I saw an advert for a project – a Greeves frame with a 350 Triumph engine. After calling the advertiser in Bristol, Mike Chedzoy and I went…

Continue reading »