Classic Racer takes you so close you can actually smell the Castrol R. With the world's finest archive, and an editorial team who live and breathe the sport, the only way you'll get closer will be to put on your leathers.
The arrival of the Kawasaki KR500, with Grand Prix World Champion as the pilot, must have sent the Suzuki design team in to a huddle. After all, why wouldn’t the KR500 be as equally successful as the 250 and 350cc Tandem Twins that had swept all before them? With Formula 1 space-age technology, from the futuristic aluminium main frame through to the difficult to set up, rocker arm rear suspension, with multi-adjustable progressive rate rear springing, the KR500 should have moved the premier Grand Prix class on in big strides. Sadly, it failed to deliver that promise, perhaps in part because of the complexity of it all. The square four motor delivered peak power at 11-11,500rpm and initially proved very inflexible with nothing in the way of real power happening…
I’ve been focused on the laptop screen for 20 minutes without typing a word. It’s not that I don’t know what I have to write… it’s that I’ve been struggling for aheadline. As usual I’ve trawled the back catalogues of two of my favourite music legends; song titles have long been a source of headlines for many scribes, and this time Neil Young won. Sorry Bob Dylan. After 24 years at Mortons Media Group it is time to hang up the pencil and retire. There, I’ve said it. Retire. I’m guessing that many of you reading this will only know me as the editor of ‘your’ magazine, Classic Racer, but in my almost quarter of a century working in the business I’ve worn many hats. I joined the company when…
Anyone who followed motorcycle racing in the late Sixties and early Seventies will remember the great combination of skilled engineer and brilliant rider that was Peter Williams, and his innovative Arter Wagonwheels Matchless. On the back of the success of the re-creation of the JPN Special, Peter and his team plan to revisit that hugely successful G50 Matchless special, as Peter explains: “We had some great times together, Wagonwheels and I. We were first acquainted at Tom Arter’s workshop at Barham in Kent when Tom and I decided to replace the Arter Special Mk.2 which had recently become a bit bent. “The time had arrived when I needed a new bike, new frame, new wheels and a new gearbox, but with a Matchless G50 motor of well known good performance.…
The National Motorcycle Museum saw huge crowds pack the venue for the third Museum Live open day on November 5. Visitors enjoyed a range of free attractions, and family-friendly activities, including free museum entry, indoor trade displays, alarge autojumble and a Live Fire Up feature. Highlights of the day included four-time World Super Bike Champion and television personality Carl Fogarty MBE joining James Whitham on stage to conduct interviews in two special Stars on Stage sessions. Held in the museum’s Britannia Suite, the two shows saw TT and BSB riders James Ellison, Maria Costello MBE, John McGuinness and Ian Hutchinson join Foggy and Whit for two entertaining hours of banter. The day culminated with Foggy, McGuinness and Hutchinson drawing the winning tickets in the museum’s summer 2016 raffle, with a…
250cc Peatman Brothers Trophy: 1st Peter Robertson, 2nd GordonYule, 3rd Angela Cragg. 350cc Bob McIntyre Cup: 1st Brian Alexander, 2nd Paul Reed, 3rd Dave Beadle. 500cc Bob McIntyre Memorial Shield: 1st Gordon Brown, 2nd Ian Bainbridge, 3rd John Cliffe. Unlimited Class J G Horne Cup: 1st Stuart Gray, 2ndTim Wooley. Best 250cc at Bob McIntyre Meeting (John MillerTrophy): Angela Cragg. Best Club Member at Bob McIntyre Meeting (Syd Lawton Trophy): Steve Mason. Best Sidecar Club Member at Bob McIntyre Meeting (Alistair LewisTrophy): C. Lewis / D. Quirk. Best BritishTwin at Bob McIntyre Meeting (Bobby Steele Cup): Paul Reed. Best Period One 350ccc (Bill LoganTrophy): Brian Nichol. Best Period One 500cc (Ron McCutcheon Trophy): John Cliffe. Best Single Cylinder four-stroke (Bill Cadger Shield): Angela Cragg. Best Club Newcomer (Hamish McLeanTrophy): Gary…
Team Neate racing have won the 2016 European classic endurance championship aboard their Harris Honda RSC 1100. A second place finish in the final race of the championship, at Motorland Aragon, saw the father and sons combination of John, Steven and Sam take the title by the smallest of margins: one point. Runners-up in the series were last year’s champions, Belgian outfit Team Force. Their Harris F1 GSX1100 was ridden by former World Endurance champion Richard Hubin and current WEC front-runner Gregory Fastre. The Italian Team Taurus claimed third in the race and in the championship on their Suzuki GSX1100 XR69. Having qualified in eighth, John, Steven and Sam had a lot of work to do in the race but after agood start and just over an hour’s racing they…
