Features

It was a 12-day return voyage from Southampton to New York on Cunard’s RMS Queen Mary that started Geoffrey’s bike-storage adventures. I used to be in the British Merchant Navy, and once, while I was on the Cunard liner Queen Mary, I forgot to arrange to get my BSA twin, PAA 515, put away for…

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The South Wales Sunbeam Motorcycle Club attracts some really interesting guest speakers such as Ken Baxter, who told members all about his ride along the USA’s legendary Route 66. The South Wales Sunbeam Motorcycle Club was founded in 1978 by a group of pals in the Cardiff/Pontypridd area who all rode, and enjoyed, their Sunbeam…

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Triumph’s massive belt-drive 270-degree crank Thunderbird twin was clearly aimed at the American market. The original capacity of 1597cc was later raised to 1699cc. With its instant torque, the vertical twin type of engine that powered Triumph’s Speed Twin success in the late 1930s postwar years is still exciting motorcycle enthusiasts today. Let’s see how…

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The writer and his trusty, well-laden MZ Trophy pose for a fellow rider at the 2770-metre summit of the Col de l’Iseran. Back in the 1960s and 70s, my wife and I had an MZ ES250 Trophy that we regularly overloaded with camping gear to take part in rallies and other such events – but…

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We’re sure many Old Bike Mart readers will have called at the inviting Redburn Cafe in Glen Moriston at some time or other. Kate is all tucked up and ready for the road again. Well, my last report was from Scotland, but the mileage has doubled since then and a lot has happened, so perhaps…

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Vic Willoughby, late of Motor Cycle magazine, tries a Norton Dominator 88 for size. As long ago as 1913, Triumph Motorcycles built a 180-degree vertical twin engine designed by Maurice Johann Schulte, but it was never developed, so the story of the British parallel twin really began in 1932, when Val Page moved from Ariel…

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With her sunny disposition June, who turned up on her smart Honda Deauville/Watsonian Monza outfit, brightened up everyone’s day. Where can two people get three nights’ camping with wonderful views and a barbecue cooked for you for £32 all in? At the Culm Vale Sidecar Club’s rally at Wachet in Somerset, that’s where! Situated at…

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The Yamaha XT500 spawned a family of great middleweight singles. Once upon a time in the motorcycle world there was a reassuring feeling of order. Engine capacity brackets came with titles or descriptions and even for the novice there was a general feeling of knowing what was what and where it fitted into the great…

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Although the 1949 Douglas Mk.3 Sports looked purposeful with its upswept pipes, the power output of its 348cc engine remained at a moderate 22bhp. A top speed of 85mph was claimed for some sports models. Founded by brothers William and Edwin in the 1880s, the business started as a blacksmith’s shop, before becoming an ironfounders,…

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An estimated 40% of those pioneering ‘Dragonists’ arrived on sidecar outfits. Try repeating that today! Organised by the Conway Club in February 1962, the pioneering Dragon Rally had been heralded in the motorcycling press, particularly Motor Cycle, as a great international gathering of like-minded riders who would flock to North Wales in the spirit of…

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