The Classic MotorCycle April 2024

Talking to a friend the other night, he expressed the opinion that: “For me, the Velocette Venom is arguably the finest all-round motorcycle. It could genuinely be ridden to work on Monday having been raced on Sunday.” That’s a true statement, of course, but that’s also the case for various other motorcycles, which I started thinking about. My 1927 Norton Model 18, for example, could fulfil the race/work criteria, though its shed-mate, the 1929 Velocette KTT, perhaps it’s not so true of. Not to say the KTT is temperamental, just it is rather more focussed. It’s an actual ‘production racer’ rather than a roadster which could be production raced, in the manner of the Venom, say. Taking that theme further, a BSA DBD34 Gold Star could be raced at the…

Presumably a publicity shot, we recently shared this photograph with our sister title The Railway Magazine, from where the following information is taken. The original image was published in The Motor Cycle of February 15, 1923, used to illustrate an article comparing the engineering and performance characteristics of locomotives and motorcycles. As The Railway Magazine notes in its January 2024 feature ‘…the conclusion [of the original 1923 story] perhaps understandably given where it appeared was that future locomotive development was ‘prohibited’ whereas motorcycles had ‘almost unlimited scope.’ William Beardmore and Company was a Glasgow-based company which, at its peak, employed 40,000 people from the Glasgow and surrounding Clydeside area. London-born Beardmore had moved to Glasgow at a young age (his fifth year) with his family, when, in 1861 his father,…

Spring Stafford getting set The countdown is now well and truly on, for what is still the blue riband event, certainly in the first half of the year, for classic enthusiasts – April Stafford. This year, the springtime extravaganza takes place on April 20/21, with, as ever, the expected, mind-boggling array of machines assembling, as well as the great, good and the rest of us, from the classic world. Star names this year are TT star and TV personality Guy Martin, the enthusiastic Lincolnshire man who made his name at the TT, then cemented his place in the wider public consciousness with his memorable, often enthralling television shows. A true motorcycle and engineering enthusiast, he’ll be at Stafford on the Sunday. Meanwhile, the Saturday sees another TT ace, this one…

Published in Motor Cycle (‘The’ had been dropped by then) of April 6, 1967, this photograph shows a section of the ⅓mile TT course, in a feature detailing all manner of events the hosting club held on its 80-acre site. The smaller picture shows riders in TT action, two BSA unit twins, with number eight a Triumph. American journalist Richard Renstrom was responsible for the piece and explaining the genesis of the venture. He begins: “The story started when a group of enthusiasts bought a tract of land close to the western slopes of the famous Rocky Mountains. The steep hill climbs are just the job for hill climbs, cross-country trials and scrambles, while they provide ideal grandstands for spectators of dirt-track races held on the floor of the narrow…

Fantastic rare Norton pictures While it was great to see Barry Stickland’s cammy Nortons in the March 2023 issue, my favourite picture in the whole issue is the line drawing (or early air-brushed?) picture of the 1936 works Norton, on page 79. It’s a picture I have never seen before – fantastic. It’s very rare to see such a line drawing of a works bike – and one that is correct. Pictures like that are almost always the catalogue line drawings of the production models; see picture (right) of a prewar ‘Manx’ from a 1938 brochure. It has the same type ‘Big plunger’ frame, but different from the works bike. Those 1935/36 bikes signified some of the major changes, and when, in my opinion, the works Nortons really started to…

Around 75 years ago, the Vincent Black Shadow delivered the most performance from a street legal series production vehicle that money could buy – on two wheels, or four. Officially timed at 122mph, it outsped by 2mph the Jaguar XK120 sports two-seater, which was then the world’s fastest production motor car (hence the model’s name), making the Shadow the first true Superbike of the modern era. Vincent’s countless road racing and speed record successes testified to the inherent performance wrapped up in the British firm’s 50-degree V-twin engine – so much so that attempts to run a 1000cc Clubman’s TT in the Isle of Man foundered after just three races, all won by Vincents with the rest nowhere. Indeed, in the final 1950 edition, only Vincents took part. Nothing else…