Features

Rare 1929 model USS Velocette When Veloce Limited entered the motorcycle market by acquiring the assets and goodwill of Kelecom Motors in 1904, the latter's 2hp four stroke was renamed Veloce. This name continued to be used on the company's own four stroke designs that followed, which sadly were not quite the success intended. Their…

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Maserati 250/T4 (Gran Turismo lusso) Maserati conjures up the image of highly successful racing cars finished in Italian racing red, with legendary drivers such as Fangio, Ascari, Bira, Moss, Taruffi, rabham and Hawthorne, to name but a few. Formed by five brothers, the company had entered the industry comparatively late, in 1926. They soon made…

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A.W. Grady takes on Australia Ever since the early days of motorcycling, riders have sought challenges of various kinds. Sometimes they were factory inspired, to draw to attention of the general public the outstanding qualities of a new model and how well it would perform under arduous conditions. The resultant publicity not only helped boost…

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Hesketh superbike During Christmas 1977 Lord Hesketh decided to build an all-British Superbike. As former Patron to World Champion racing driver James Hunt, he had that year already installed facilities in the stable block of his country home at Easton Neston, in Northamptonshire, for testing rebuilt Formula One racing engines for the Grand Prix teams.…

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Pierce Arrow classic motorcycle The story goes Percy Pierce, the son of the owner of the Pierce Great Arrow Motor Company in Buffalo, was visiting Europe in 1908 and was so impressed by the FN four that he brought one back with him. His father George had been looking for something to take up some…

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Rudge Ulster Rudge was another of the better known names in the British motorcycle industry. Although the company had started in Wolverhampton during 1868, when Dan Rudge began making velocipedes, it was not until 1911 that the first motorcycle to bear this name left the production line. By then the company had re-located itself in…

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Triumph Roadster It is widely believed that Triumph acquired its 'trusty' nickname as a testimony to the outstanding service given by the model H during the 1914-18 war. Although true to a point in view of the arduous conditions under which 30,000 of these machines had given exceptional service in the mud and devastation of…

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By 1930 the recession that followed the Wall Street crash in October the previous year was beginning to take its toll, not only in the USA but on the Continent too. Unemployment in Britain soon reached 2,000,000 and would stay at that level for some time to come. All but the basic essentials of life…

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AJS ‘Dracer’ AIthough it is widely believed that the first speedway meeting to be held in this country took place at High Beech, in Epping Forest, on February 19, 1928, this is not strictly correct. Whilst it was undoubtedly the first such event to attract a massive attendance and maximum publicity, an earlier meeting had…

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Scorpion’s ‘focused’ two stroke By the early 1960s the Villiers engine no longer suffered from the image of being little more than a power unit best suited for use in lawnmowers. All that had changed in 1950 when Jack Botting put up the best class performance in the 1950 British Experts Trial. Although too much…

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