Old Bike Mart

The ‘Flying Vicar’ is at it again!

by

Sam Hewitt

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21st December 2016

In the June issue of OBM, we published a letter from Malcolm Walter telling of a bright yellow off-road BSA Bantam built by a clubmate of his called Richard. Well, Richard has been at it again, this time trying three wheels for a change, and regulars at the Goodwood Revival might well have encountered him,…
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Tritons, TriBSAs and much more besides…

by

Sam Hewitt

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21st December 2016

Mention the words ‘café racer’ and many of us will go all bleary-eyed as we remember the Tritons and TriBSAs of old, gleaming in the sunshine with their race-style alloy tanks, clip-ons and rear-sets, alloy rims, swept-back pipes, humped seats et al, and packed into the gardens of hotels and guest houses all the way up…
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Claude Mackenzie – an unsung Highland hero

by

Sam Hewitt

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21st December 2016

I was delighted to see the photo and article from Arran Marshall about his Ariel ‘racer’. During the 1980s the bike was owned by a good friend of mine, Claude Mackenzie, who lived at Tornagrain, near Inverness and sadly died about 10 years ago. He was a brilliant self-taught engineer with a penchant for challenging…
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A ‘dogfight’ with a difference!

by

Sam Hewitt

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21st December 2016

One of the finest descriptions of fast riding ever written was T E Lawrence’s essay, ‘The Road’, describing an impromptu ‘race’ between Boanerges, his beloved Brough Superior 100SS, and a Bristol Fighter in Lincolnshire. It appeared in the December 27, 1962 issue of The Motor Cycle after first being published in a book entitled The…
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Triumph GP best in show at top American event

by

Sam Hewitt

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21st December 2016

Ian Kerr visits an up-and-coming motorcycle concours event in Tacoma, USA, to prove the point that beautifully-restored classics are equally impressive no matter where in the world they are shown. Each year America’s Car Museum at Tacoma, just south of the port of Seattle, in Washington State, hosts a motorcycle concours event that’s fast becoming…
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Downsized to perfection – Suzuki’s punchy T200 twin

by

Sam Hewitt

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21st December 2016

Steve Cooper appraises a significant two-stroke twin from Suzuki’s Hamamatsu factory that lifted customers’ expectations in the sub 250cc category onto a completely different plane. Anyone who’s familiar with the earlier Japanese motorcycles will know just how significant the Suzuki T20 was. In one package, here was the bike that pretty much cemented the blueprint…
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Kick-start your New Year with the Winter Classic

by

Darren Hendley

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12th December 2016

About to enter into its sixth running, the Carole Nash Winter Classic event – supported by Classic Bike Guide magazine – has become one of the favourite dates on the show calendar. Stunning bikes, several traders and star racers will all come under one roof on the first full weekend of 2017, with the Carole…
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Pete’s Prattle

by

Sam Hewitt

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7th December 2016

From the moment I first opened a twist grip – quite illegally, on a Post Office BSA Bantam – motorcycles and those who ride them have been a pivotal part of my life. In 1961, after first working in a wire factory, I settled on journalism as a career and eventually found myself in the…
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Bike-mad TV detectives are on the hunt for hidden treasures in the sheds of Britain

by

Sam Hewitt

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25th November 2016

A BIKE-MAD pair of TV engineering detectives are on the hunt for forgotten and hidden treasures tucked away in the sheds of Britain. Travel Channel presenters Henry Cole and Sam Lovegrove are about to film their next series which sees them rifling through the lock-ups and sheds of the UK. In previous series they’ve unearthed…
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Chelmsford Bike Jumble – 26 November

by

Darren Hendley

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9th November 2016

Chelmsford Bike Jumble, Boreham Village Hall, Main Road, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 3JD Tel. 02082 526831; 07968 080990 Email. [email protected]
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