Old Bike Mart

Ted Fletcher tells the story of the Bown lightweight he bought brand new for £72 in 1952 – and still owns to this day. In the autumn of 1952, just before joining the Army for my National Service, I saw a smart little 98cc Bown motorbike for sale brand new in Boston Motors’ showroom in…

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Although the hallowed BSA and Triumph Group was entering its final years when the then-sensational 740cc triples were launched in 1968, in no time at all they were howling around the race tracks, including the Isle of Man’s Mountain Circuit, to winning effect. The legacy of high-performance three-cylinder engines lives on in today’s Triumph Hinckley…

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Steve Cooper traces the history and development of Suzuki’s TS250 Savage trail bike. As early as 1964, Suzuki had an eye on the lucrative American off-road bike market. Taking one of its commuter bikes based on the successful K series singles, the company produced the surprisingly competent K15 Hill-Billy, aka the Trail 80. This bike…

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Ian Kerr tells the story of a growing group that was set up for the owners of former police and other service motorcycles after a six-bike ride organised by a Royal Parks police officer in 1993. Nobody, whether riding a motorcycle or driving a car, wants to see a police motorcycle appear in the mirror…

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Neil Cairns remembers a nightmare ride in the snow, while serving in the RAF, to visit the girlfriend who would eventually become his wife It was on a cold, damp, overcast November Friday evening in 1969 when I set off from RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall on my 1963 Triumph 350cc 3TA. I’d recently been…

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Lindsay Norris, now living in New Zealand, recalls achieving his dream of owning a Ducati 750 Sport, and then riding it to Italy for a tour of the factory where it was born. One day in 1975, while I was still at school, a fellow pupil turned up on a brand new Ducati 750 Sport…

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Two cylinders, two seats and three wheels adds up to a Lomax 223 – and Mick Payne starts off the new year by taking a close look at one of these unusual three-wheelers. Powered by an air-cooled flat-twin engine, Citroen’s quirky 2CV has always been a firm favourite among the many cars I have owned.…

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