Features

From the archive: The ‘lightweights’ that time forgot

by

Sam Hewitt

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18th June 2020

Time was slowly running out for Associated Motor Cycles when it launched its new-style 250cc overhead-valve singles in 1958 – but were the sturdy and neat-looking AJS and Matchless models the best they could have offered? asks Pete Kelly. By the time Associated Motor Cycles launched its apparently unit-construction 250cc overhead-valve Matchless G2 and AJS…
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From the Archive: Only the best will do – ‘Vincents are my life’

by

Sam Hewitt

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11th June 2020

Andrew Kenningley, who’s built up a fine reputation as a skilled Vincent restorer, tells why he’ll be showing off his work atthe forthcoming Stafford Show. In recent years the word ‘iconic’ has been over-used almost to the point of becoming a throw-away cliché, but one motorcycle that truly merits the description is the Vincent. Andrew…
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From the archive: Summat to be proud of – the Yorkshire legacy of Phelon & Moore

by

Sam Hewitt

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4th June 2020

For more than 60 years P&M, whose well-designed motorcycles became known as Panthers in the early 1920s, provided sensible down-to-earth transport along with a surprising amount of innovation, particularly during the inter-war years. This is their story, with research and photographic material from the Mortons Archive. Renowned for decades for their tireless sidecar-lugging ability, the…
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From the archive: Getting into line – with the experts

by

Sam Hewitt

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28th May 2020

When you’re setting up a sidecar, the smallest of adjustments can make all the difference to handling. Mick Payne trawls around to get the opinions of today’s specialists in the field. Last month I tried to give an insight into the various alignments necessary to keep a sidecar outfit handling as well as possible. This…
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From the archive: How I bought a BSA A7 – at the ripe old age of 14!

by

Sam Hewitt

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14th May 2020

Stirred by Old Bike Mart’s request for bike shop memories, Tony Proctor recalls his own early motorcycling days, which grew from mimicking his scrambling heroes. Emulating the scrambling we watched on TV, my friends and I built ‘dirt track’ bicycles from all sorts of bits and pieces, and spent many an evening charging about in…
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Trio of Brough Superiors, right? Wrong.

by

Sam Hewitt

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13th May 2020

Photo: Mortons Archive Three big V-twins, featuring plated petrol tanks and even at a glance a fine specification, with speedometers and lighting sets apparent. Brough Superiors, right? Wrong… At a glance – and to be fair, even a reasonably sustained look – for all intents and purposes, this is a trio of Brough Superiors, posed…
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Can you help find this wedding BSA Shooting Star?

by

Sam Hewitt

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7th May 2020

Classic Bike Guide reader John King is trying to track down his old BSA for a romantic reunification. Could you help him? John writes: “I’m hoping for readers’ help. In 1960, I bought a BSA A7 Shooting Star and later that year my fiancé and I were married, on July 23, 1960, in Chester. Following the…
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Can you help find this wedding BSA Shooting Star?

by

Sam Hewitt

–

7th May 2020

Classic Bike Guide reader John King is trying to track down his old BSA for a romantic reunification. Could you help him? John writes: “I’m hoping for readers’ help. In 1960, I bought a BSA A7 Shooting Star and later that year my fiancé and I were married, on July 23, 1960, in Chester. Following the…
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From the archive: Made in Japan – Laverda 500: the twin that came oh, so close

by

Sam Hewitt

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7th May 2020

’Ullo, ’ullo! What’s an Italian motorcycle doing on Steve Cooper’s Japanese pages? It’s all about comparisons and giving praise where it’s due, that’s what – and something the more extreme ‘Jap knockers’ might consider reciprocating once in a while? Classic motorcycles from Italy tend to polarise opinion perhaps more widely than just about any other…
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From the archive: Take five – whichever suits your style

by

Sam Hewitt

–

30th April 2020

Before Royal Enfield’s sensationally-styled Continental GT made its debut, the 250cc Crusader line had already evolved into two variations on a very agreeable five-speed theme – the leading link front fork Super 5 and the sporty-looking Continental. This is how the road testers of the day saw them. When Royal Enfield launched the unit-construction 250cc…
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