Features

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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1935 350cc Excelsior Manxman Great emphasis has always been placed on the need for care when running-in a new engine. Provided simple guidelines are followed and the machine is ridden with restraint, it will have the chance to bed-in properly before anything like full performance is used. The old rule of thumb used to be…

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Triumph Thunderbird Before World War 2 British motorcycle manufacturers enjoyed a healthy export market, selling their machines all over the world. In the USA, however, the offtake was quite small in relation to the size of the country. The reason was not too difficult to see. Although their own industry had declined rapidly soon after…

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BSA ad: from the Bantam to the Golden Flash As soon as World War 2 had ended, motorcycle manufacturers were anxious to get back into the production of machines for the civilian market as soon as possible. For many of them it was not just a case of restarting where they had left off, as…

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Triumph model T Looking back through the pages of motorcycling's history, it is surprising that the concept of a vertical twin four stroke engine took so long to catch on. Werner produced the first really practical design in 1903. Their design was sufficiently advanced to have the customary automatic inlet valve operating in conjunction with…

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Unit construction Triumph When Edward Turner first showed his revolutionary Speed Twin to the Press at the end of July 1937, it was his long-term intention to phase out all of the single cylinder models and replace them by twins. Had it not been for World War 2 this might well have happened much earlier…

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Yamaha DT enduro Did the trail bike, or enduro if you really want to be correct about it, replace the 100-year-old Brit Bike as a winter hack? Look back in time a bit, to those heady days when you could pick up a cooking single or twin for next to nowt, you remember those times…

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192cc Velocette Valiant flat twin When Veloce Limited launched their 248cc overhead valve MOV model in 1933 they were onto a winner right from the start. With a maximum speed in excess of 60mph, widely regarded as very good at that time, it proved a better machine than many of its contemporaries, and at least…

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Ariel Square Four in traditional ad pose Four cylinder motorcycles have been with us for a very long time – longer than many of us would think. The first was the Holden, which went into production during 1901, followed by the Binks of 1903. Others soon followed suit and most of us will be familiar…

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