Features

Sporty Douglas When Douglas released their first announcement about their post-war twin to coincide with the Bristol Engineering Exhibition in September 1945, it created quite a sensation. Although the company had remained faithful to their flat twin engine, it was now mounted transversely in the frame, and not in line with it as had been…

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1934 250cc two port OEC There was something about the word Duplex that really seemed to get them going, down in the OEC works on the South Coast of England. It was duplex with everything when it came to advertising their products – maybe twice as safe, twice as steady and, perhaps, twice as desirable…

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Piatti scooter The austerity years in Britain, following World War II, were times when personal trans­port was out of the financial reach of a large part of the population. A car was a dreamed of luxury and, a full size motorcycle hardly more attainable; a pedal cycle might be a possibility though and, if only…

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Norton model 19 and Roadholder forks Or re-introduced one we should say, because the 350 overhead single cylinder model 50 had been in the Bracebridge Street catalogue right up to 1939, but didn't appear again until the 1956 season. For that year, the 350 (actually 348cc from its 71 x 88mm bore x stroke), formed…

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DMW 224cc Cortina DMW started from a small shop in Wolverhampton known as Dawsons Motors. It was run by W.L. (Smokey) Dawson who, during 1942, designed a plunger-type rear suspension system for converting a rigid frame, followed a year later by his own design of telescopic front fork. Both were marketed locally in the form…

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1938 James Autocycle It was the ever elusive `everyman' market, that was to be the spur which led to the designing of an ultra-reliable, economical, capable, but viceless little motorcycle in the years before World War II. Although Britain was fast emerging from the bad times of the early 1930s, those fortunate enough to have…

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Honda had their CB range, while Kawasaki challenged them with their big Zeds, leaving two-stroke kings Suzuki and Yamaha behind. But not for long, by the middle of that decade Suzuki had come up with their answer in the shape of an affordable, practical and reliable four-stroke model. Titled the GS series it would go…

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First dilemma of the day, blue or red? Thanks to a tie-in with the Indian company in the USA a whole dealership network became available to Royal Enfield. OK so the UK company had to repaint models and rename a few to suit North American tastes but it moved motorcycles and that was all to…

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