Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i Classic Bike Guide

WELCOME, LIKE-MINDED LOVERS OF old motorcycles. May your beasts be wrapped up warm, glistening in the thin veneer of protective oily – stuff… Oli, Maria and I are lucky enough to spend a lot of time living the dream on Classic Bike Guide, writing about and playing with old bikes. As the years roll by, we try to bring the accepted bikes forward to incorporate newer classics. The VMCC (Vintage Motor Cycle Club) has a rule of 25 years old, and that’s music to our ears, as every year now we get to feature bikes that haven’t before been seen as a classic. And one we have this month, while featured before, has truly shocked us. The Honda CG125 has been a part of many a rider’s life as a…

Gear up to bid at Bristol: Dore & Rees returns with two-wheeled treasures Following last year’s debut, the Dore & Rees auction is returning by popular demand to The Bristol Classic MotorCycle Show in February. The auction will once again bring an extraordinary lineup of motorcycles to the Bath & West Showground, offering a rare opportunity for enthusiasts and collectors to acquire timeless machines. Among the headline lots this year are two exceptional motorcycles: a 1985 Ducati Mike Hailwood Replica and a 2004 Confederate Hellcat. The MHR is a homage to Hailwood’s legendary Isle of Man TT comeback victory in 1978. This rare and meticulously maintained bike comes from a private collection and features its signature red, green and white livery, along with performance components like Campagnolo wheels and Brembo…

SEELEY, SPONDON AND RICKMAN, Maxton, Harris and Hejira, Dresda, P&M, Tigcraft and CCM – that’s just a partial roll call of the fellowship of British frame specialists, a fraternity skilled in the black art of wrapping metal around an engine to create a good-handling bike. But lest you dismiss them lightly as mere specials builders, do remember that some legendary marques started out in this way. Long before the Manx Norton’s Featherbed frame set standards for handling which are still valid today, James ‘Pa’ Norton was a frame maker who fitted proprietary engines to his bikes – the same as George Brough, of Brough Superior fame, was later on. But few men have become so closely identified with the work they did for an established manufacturer as the late Robin…

IF YOU’VE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS SLIGHTLY UNLIKELY series, all about the most memorable machines from a very, very long life in old bike scribbling, you might be amused by the question I endlessly ask myself. Which is the single most memorable machine of them all? Thinking about it, I’ve probably written 20-plus tales about bikes every year for the last 30 years. That’s a lot of bikes indeed. However, although many of them were memorable – especially those which I didn’t write up because I couldn’t think of anything good to say about them, usually – an early stunner was the big red Commando you should be able to see nearby. I really do like Norton’s Commandos, in most of their variations, and have owned and borrowed squads of them.…

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK makes. The Newark Winter Classic bike show, you see, is usually the first weekend after New Year, and there’s an element of hangover about it. But because of calendars and stuff, this show was on the second weekend into 2025, and the atmosphere was vastly different. Despite temperatures falling to minus six degrees, despite heavy snow in the north and two major road closures making getting there a little tricky, there was one phrase on the lips of show-goers. “Busy, isn’t it?” –and it was. Those who never go out can worry about the state of the classic motorcycling world all they like, but the place was buzzing. A couple of cracking guests in Roger Marshall and Wayne Gardner helped, the old friends happily mixing…

WHEN MY DAUGHTER WAS BORN IN 1977 I needed a car, so I sold my Ducati 860GT and bought a cheap Ford, leaving enough for a two-year-old Morini 3½ Sport as well. Of course, I’d read all the road tests about the little Morini. With impressive torque and a claimed 39hp, it was good for 100mph and would cover the standing quarter in a shade over 15 seconds. It might not have been as fast as an RD Yamaha, but the Sport handled like a racer. It was the perfect lightweight for someone hooked on Italian V-twins. As soon as I rode the 3½ away from the dealer, I realised it needed some work; when I eased on the front brake, the double-sided, single leading shoe Grimeca would reach a…

Quiz the seller What do they know? How long have they had it? What’s the best way to start it? Why are they selling? Find out if you trust them, but also, they should be a great fount of knowledge, which will help. What have they replaced recently? Keep questioning them to find any holes in a story. “It was my late father’s” – that’s fine, but where are the photos, the stories... and why can’t they find the paperwork? I bet they found the will. Does it start? If it doesn’t, ask, ‘why not?’ “Just needs a carb clean” is not a suitable excuse when selling a motorcycle costing many thousands of pounds. You’d much rather hear: “I don’t know what I’m doing and would rather somebody else sorts…

SOME MOTORCYCLES ARE SIMPLY greater than the sum of their parts. Not everything can be legendary and spoken of in reverent, hushed tones, and there are everyday bikes like Bantams and Bullets that are just as important as Broughs – if not more so. Bikes that have lasted long in people’s hearts and minds, and motorcycles that have powered and conquered the world. The Honda CG125 is one of those machines. Designed for the Third World, it is a basic 124cc, four-stroke single that is go everywhere-ride everyday transport for the Average Joe. They can be abused to near-oblivion and still putter on, held together with hope and bent wire. They can be seen slogging through stygian British drizzle, heading down hillsides in India loaded with bundles of tea, dragging…

IT’S NOT TOO CONTENTIOUS TO SAY THAT the ‘new’ Triumph, the one that re-invented the marque in 1983 and has grown into one of British engineering’s great modern success stories, does retros rather well. With a large back catalogue to reinvent, the Hinckley factory balances modern wants and needs with classic looks. The new and updated Speed Twin 1200 is a modern classic, bringing a hint of the past with a beautiful finish – but also genuine attitude and performance. It has an authentic sense of the rebelliousness that made our parents fall for the Bonnie all those years ago. New year, new bikes There are now two Speed Twin 1200 models for 2025: the standard, which has been uprated, and the even sportier RS, which approximately fits into the…

THE PURPOSEFUL VELOCETTE MSS 500 was the quintessential British big single and a cut above the rest at the same time. Upper class and expensive when new, a black and gold Velocette was the machine of choice for the well-heeled enthusiast; at least, one who was not well-heeled enough for a Vincent. Put one next to a more proletarian BSA B33 or AJS Model 18 and the difference is marked, as is the ownership and riding experience. The MSS initially arrived in the mid-1930s as the third in Velocette’s range of OHV high-cam, short pushrod singles. These started with the 250cc MOV, which was followed by the 350 MAC. The first MSS engine had the long 96mm stroke from the 350 engine with an 81mm bore, creating a 495cc long-stroke…

TIME WAS THAT I WOULD RIDE MY ONLY motorcycle all year: rain, snow or shine. Also fog, although I hate fog more than I hate ice, which is a lot. Being able to see where I’m going is oddly important, somehow. After my finances picked up, I could afford more than a single bike, so I rode a succession of cheapies through the worst weather, rather than my shiny new machine. New-ish, that is, because actually new machines arrived relatively recently. And if the late 1980s doesn’t sound recent to you – then, I’m envious. Currently, two bikes share wintry dirty duties. Control your envy, please, when I reveal that one is possibly the greatest Triumph of all time – a 1972 Blazer SS; a T25SS, should you prefer model…