Features

It was on the 1st April 1947 that Bert Hopwood joined Norton Motors Ltd, in the capacity of Chief Designer. His immediate priority was to design a vertical twin that would help revitalise the company's range of products. All they had to offer at the time of his appointment were six elderly models; two side…

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Norton ES2 Of all the British motorcycle manufacturers, Norton Motors must surely have held the record for keeping what was basically the same model in production for the longest period. Their side valve models were discontinued in 1955 after 45 years of manufacture, and the overhead valve singles soldiered on in similar fashion. Even the…

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Straight from the dirt tracks of the USA, a superb 750 Bonnie is the ultimate flat tracker Parked up next to the main tent at the 2010 Beezumph – the first at Anglesey and the year of the extreme weather if you were there – was this T140 Triumph flat track racer and it was…

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The evocative sight and sound of a Manx Norton thundering along the roads of a small island are the stuff of motorcycle legend, after all, isn’t that how the ‘Manx’ got its name? Except in this case it would be a ‘Jersey’ Norton as the island in question is just off the coast of France…

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Moto Guzzi Lodola road test This gorgeous red Moto Guzzi Lodola long distance trials motorcycle dates from 1962 when its first rider – Italian Policeman Gianfranco Saini – used it in that year’s ISDT at Garmisch Partenkirchen in Germany. Saini was a member of the works Guzzi team and obviously held in high regard as…

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1947 Matchless, with a little more brightwork than on earlier versions It was the only way the government could conserve this country's precious fuel supplies, which had to be shipped either from the USA or the Middle East. Motorcycling had, for the duration of the war, to become little more than a cherished memory. A…

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Francis-Barnett Light Cruiser classic motorcycle  It was with their 1960 range that, for the first time in over 45 years, the Coventry-based makers of lightweight motorcycles failed to include a Villiers engined bike in their line-up. The culmination of a four year programme, which saw the Villiers Engineering Company lose a monopoly position as suppliers…

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3.4hp OCS Sports Humber Maybe you didn't know that Humber had made motorcycles at all? Car firm Humber, a one time part of the badge engineered Rootes Group. Well, if so, you're quite wrong, as Humber were one of the earliest constructors of motorcycles in Great Britain; a natural progression from the reputation and skills…

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Now when was it that? Book 3 Now when was it that? to give it its true print title, is a compilation of milestone snippets from the motorcycle history books. Originally written by Old Bike Mart founder Ken Hallworth and re-crafted by Jeff Clew for this series, Now when was it that? answers all those…

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Greeves model 25R Unheard of as a motorcycle manufacturer until the early 50s, Greeves Motor valid carriages stemmed from Invacar Limited, a company that specialised in making invalid varriages for the disabled. Founded by Bert Greeves, himself a keen motorcyclist, it was whilst experimenting with rubber in torsion suspension systems for invalid carriage use that…

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