News

Following on from last issue’s potted history of Watsonian Squire sidecars, Mick Payne describes the current range of the Cotswolds’ greatest manufacturer of motorcycle outfits. “I bought Peter’s share of the business in 2006 and Mike’s last year,” explained Ben Mathews, a man with the sidecar industry at heart. The Peter and Mike in question…

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Although the Isle of Man TT races were launched in 1907 there has, in fact, only been 100 years of actual racing on the island, as long as you include the forthcoming TT of this year. A total of 12 years were lost as a consequence of the two world wars and the foot and…

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Making its debut at this year’s Bamburgh Run, held in the beautiful village of Etal in Northumberland, is the Vintage Motorcycle Club’s iconic Dreadnought. Regular readers of Old Bike Mart will know of the Dreadnought’s history, of how it was built by Harold ‘Oily’ Kerslake in 1903 and how it covered something in the region…

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As part of the 235 bikes that had been part of the MC Collection in Sweden that were sold at the Mecum auction in Las Vegas back in January, this ‘Big Tank’ Crocker sold for a frankly amazing $704,000! Yes, folks, that’s over half a million quid! I think we can safely say that the…

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Another date for your diary, as the National Motorcycle Museum has released the date for its annual Museum Live event, which is Saturday, October 26 this year. As in previous years, the museum will have free entry for the day, with not only the museum’s exhibits being free to view, but with the added bonus…

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While entries for this year’s Banbury Run will undoubtedly have reached the 500 entry level by now, the event is still very much open and welcoming to all the folk who aren’t riding a machine in the run itself. After all, aside from the spectacle of 500 veteran and vintage motorcycles taking to the highways…

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As a quick reminder, this year’s Stafford Show will see the draw of the National Motorcycle Museum’s raffle for a Norton Commando and a work bench, so you still have just about time to ensure that you have the tickets to be in with a chance. Remember this is a 1977 Norton Commando Interstate 850cc,…

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For many, the litre capacity vee twins produced in Stevenage under the Vincent banner are right at the top of the classic British motorcycling ladder. Being originally marketed as ‘the world’s fastest motorcycle’ certainly doesn’t do the reputation of Rapides any harm, nor does the fact that they have an ability to better 120mph and…

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Reviewed by Julie Diplock Don’t be misled by the title, there’s just tons of interest for the veteran motorcycle enthusiast in this tome. Where records have survived, it covers every single (ie one letter, one digit) UK registration from A1 – Y1 and all of the English and Welsh double-letter numbers issued as at January…

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