Old Bike Mart
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Celebrating 100 years of TT Racing
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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Charlie Bruce
Having helped set up the ‘Bellshill Beehive’ collective of motorcycle racers and tuners in Glasgow in the late Forties, Charlie Bruce’s talents were proving vital for the success of other Scottish racers. Ben Waters explains how this relationship became a two-way street… Aside from being the effective team manager for the riders racing with Joe…
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Three wheels on my wagon…
Michael Edwards takes a look at the fascinating early history of motorised tricycles as detailed in The Tricycle Book, 1895-1902 Part One. When Georges Bouton introduced his half horsepower motorised tricycle to the crowds at the Horseless Carriage Exhibition in Tunbridge Wells in 1895, many of the forward thinking and enthusiastic ‘automobilists’ present anticipated rapid…
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Go places! Do things!
If there’s one thing that those of us with a fanatical passion for classic motorcycles are not short of, it’s things to do. Aside from the maintenance, restoration and improvement of our bikes, of course. I’m a firm believer in riding your classic bike, anywhere and everywhere, and not just ‘saving’ it for Sunday best,…
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Classic luggage
While many of us want to ride a classically styled machine that is unencumbered by components that may hinder the good looks of our pride and joy, Dave Manning takes a look at ways in which we can make our classic machines more practical and purposeful while retaining some timeless style. As most of us…
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Game to the finish!: Ariel’s trusty VA/VB side-valve singles
Often forgotten among the Ariel four-strokes that were consigned to history, to make way for the Leader and Arrow two-stroke twins in 1958, was the long-lived 597cc VB. Pete Kelly raids the Mortons Archive to find out more about this well-loved side-valve single, and its stablemates. Ariel’s long production of side-valve motorcycles began more than…
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1969 Suzuki T125
Of diminutive stature, and fighting well above its weight, a Suzuki two-stroke twin, the Stinger, gives Steve Cooper a real buzz. Fifty years ago, one of Japan’s most unusual motorcycles rolled off a production line at Hamamatsu. Despite only sporting 125 cubic centimetres of engine capacity and weighing little more than a moped, the new…
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116 years young
The photo attached is courtesy of Sunbeam stalwart Geoff Morris, and it shows Edwin Cook with his 1903 BSA motorcycle fitted with a 2HP Minerva engine. The machine is now in Geoff Morris’s ownership, and is ridden on many Sunbeam MCC Pioneer Runs. Julie Diplock, Sunbeam MCC Read more Letters, Opinion, News and Views in…
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At the pub gate?
An interesting article in your last issue – the photo on page 23 caught my eye. In the picture at the cottage gate, I noticed there was a shovel above the lady’s head.Could this perhaps be a pub called the Malt Shovel? Maybe near Selly Oak? Richard Wilkinson, Ditton, Kent Read more Letters, Opinion, News and…
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A resting Dougie?
While looking at the website, www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax, I thought I would enter the registration numbers obtained from photographs of my late father’s old bikes. The only one recognised, but untaxed for many years, is PFC 811, a Douglas MK5 first registered in June 1950 in the County Borough council of Oxfordshire. Born November 1932, my father…
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