Features

Rushing to the burgeoning American off-road market by tarting up heavy bikes that were designed primarily for the road was never going to work — and it was one early lesson that the Japanese soon learned, writes Steve Cooper. If there’s one thing the Japanese bike manufacturers are good at, it’s taking an existing topic…

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After investing in a CNC capstan lathe, Meriden Off Road of Brierley Hill, West Midlands, is now making a wide range of its own high-quality stainless steel fastenings for Triumph Tiger Cubs – and proprietor Chris Davies now plans to produce a ‘look-alike’ road-going version of his ‘world’s fastest Tigger’ sprint machine, writes Pete Kelly.…

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Dim and dimmer – a freezing night ride to remember Bruce Preston recalls the night when the lights went out on a prewar 125cc Villiers-engined Triumph that cost him and a mate £10. I was rather looking forward to becoming a national serviceman, and the RAF decided that I would be trained to be a…

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Pete Kelly takes a look at some of the smaller machines produced by a galaxy of Italian manufacturers during the golden era of the 1950s and 60s. We’ll return to those not mentioned this time, including Mondial, MV Agusta and Morini, in a later issue. What was your first-ever impression of a motorcycle? Mine came…

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With wages now falling below living costs, and interest rates at a ridiculous low, those fortunate enough to have savings are looking for ways to safeguard them – and many see classic bikes as the ‘inflation-proof’ answer. Unfortunately this is making the dream of many a dedicated enthusiast wanting to own a fondly remembered motorcycle…

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This month, for once, Mick Payne look at three-wheelers of a different kind, and points out that the idea goes back a very long time! While looking at the Honda outfit we featured in this column last month, a three-wheeler of a different kind caught my eye. “That’s my wife’s Lomax,” pointed out Anthony of…

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Lindsay Norris, now living in New Zealand, set off on a Honda CB400F with a mate to the Italianate village of Portmeirion, North Wales, where the TV series The Prisoner was filmed. But he had no idea of the challenges ahead… It was January 1978, and I was a 21-year-old student living in London. I’d…

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Back in the day, preparing a well-used bike for winter was simplicity itself, as these tips from the Mortons Archive show, writes Pete Kelly I suppose you have to be of a certain age to remember Albion lorries, but the tops of their radiator surrounds were always embossed with a ‘rising sun’ design to go…

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When you buy a spare engine for a classic bike, you’re never sure about its internal condition – but when Mark Hiscox of Cambridge pulled from his garage shelf a 1954 Ariel Huntmaster engine that he’d bought last year, he found a rolled-up piece of paper telling exactly what work had been done to it…

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Once upon a time, breakdown help was more of a club affair than merely an insurance scheme with multiple marketing spin-offs run by giant companies. Photos from the Mortons Archive tell the story of the good old days, when the sidecar-mounted patrolmen of the RAC and AA were seen as the knights of the road.…

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