Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2025 i The Classic MotorCycle

This tremendously evocative picture, which so well encapsulates an era, was apparently the occasion of a visit by the Triumph Owners’ Club to the company’s works, an event which clearly attracted a good deal of interest and machines – including those coming from overseas. This is one of those pictures in the Mortons Archive that doesn’t really have anything attached to it, apart from a message on the back suggesting what and where it was… And that’s about it. However, it’s possible to deduce a few things here and there from careful study, not least the year; the side numberplates of several of the machines sport the year ‘1961’ centrally on their plates, while also bearing the legend ‘TRIUMPH-RALLY WIEN-COVENTRY.’ Now, Wien is the localised spelling of what we in…

Prior to one of our regular journeys to Andy Tiernan’s motorcycle emporium (see www.andybuysbikes.com) in Framlingham, Suffolk, we’d spoken to Andy and agreed a list of motorcycles that he would have available, including some from his private collection at home. Amongst the others we had discussed was a lovely charcoal grey Triumph Thunderbird, but that was sold and collected the day before our visit – such is the situation when arranging to borrow dealer machines. But we, (writer Phil Turner and photographer Gary Chapman) and I still had a full roster to go at, ranging from tiny two-strokes to big capacity four-strokes, and covering about 40 years. There was one machine, though, which had been on Andy’s stock lists for a while, and which we included almost as an afterthought,…

When your day job is looking after and restoring veteran, vintage and classic motorcycles for the National Motorcycle Museum, perhaps you’d not fancy doing your own projects in your ‘down time.’ Not a bit of it. National Motorcycle Museum restorer Wes Wall’s veteran BSA is proof that he takes his work home with him; or indeed, brings his home into work, for the machine resting in the museum, featured here, is Wes’s own. And what a stunning machine it – a 1914 BSA Model K – is too, with quite a story as well. It all started in early 2018, when Wes was contacted by Phil Bull of the BSA OC, to ask if he would be interested in a ‘rough old BSA’ that the club had been contacted about.…

About the time I was getting stuck into my new project, I saw that a celebration of John Surtees was a feature of the 2024 Goodwood Revival. So, my BSA A10 Super Rocket, registered in July 1961 in the buff logbook as belonging to ‘John Surtees (Developments)’ was ‘bang on trend,’ as they say. After a couple of distractions, such as moving house and going to the South of France and Penzance on my BSA B33, I finally got round to taking my A10’s engine apart, as the big ends were knocking. The last time I took apart and rebuilt an A10 engine was in my halls of residence at Bangor University in 1976. I had taken the engine apart the year before as a result of the crankshaft snapping…

After last month’s article featuring three Difazio machines and hub-centre development, this final article focusses on Difazio’s involvement with Mead and Tomkinson; a family run motorcycle and car dealership based in Hereford. Mike Tomkinson had a strong history in motorcycle racing and preparation, particularly endurance racing. In the mid-1950s, one of the first British teams to enter the Barcelona 24-hour endurance race was Stan Dibben and Howard German on their 350cc Velocette. After a successful entry, they persuaded their friend Mike Tomkinson, a Velocette dealer, to get involved. Whilst Tomkinson had raced previously, he wanted to focus on preparation, and readied a Velocette Venom for Dibben and German to ride at the 1957 Barcelona 24-hour event, where they finished second in class. By the late 1960s, Mead and Tomkinson had…

This photograph was published in the February 14, 1952, edition of The Motor Cycle, a Valentine’s Day treat for its owner, who had built the machine as he wanted it, to fulfil his motorcycling dreams. So what is it? Well, essentially it’s a 1945 ‘ish’ Manx Norton with a big, 1935 JAP V-twin engine installed, a motor which had started life as a four-cam ohv water-cooled job, as used in Morgan three-wheelers, but to suit its creator’s ideals – and to fit in the frame – it had been converted to side-valve operation, using the top ends of Royal Enfields. The creator, Mr H Whitworth, of Handsworth, Birmingham, was able to undertake the work himself, being as he was a ‘die sinker and light engineer’ who had his own business,…

We made the journey from the West Cumbrian coast to the small Scottish Borders town of Peebles, dodging roadworks and pesky pheasants, whilst winding our way through the countryside mountains. After almost a three-hour journey, we arrived at the ‘Drill Hall’, to the welcoming sights of two-wheeled machines being wrestled into the town’s community hub. A polite welcoming marshal ensured the sign-in went smoothly, and got all the exhibits in position without any hiccups. Run by the Lothian and Borders Classic Motorcycle Club (founded 1992), the show has been an annual event for the club since 1995. Ever-present, this would have been the club’s 30th show if not for the dreaded Covid – all bar one of the shows have taken place in the same location, the missing year due…

Just over six years ago, the historic Italian Moto Morini marque narrowly avoided ending up on the scrapheap of motorcycling history, when in October 2018, Chen Huaneng, the owner of Chinese scooter and minimoto manufacturer Zhongneng Vehicle Group/ZVG, rode to the rescue to save Moto Morini from extinction, by acquiring 100% equity in it from the previous Italian owner. Since then, ZVG’s route map to Morini’s recovery has proceeded at pace, initially with a range of five models powered by 650/700cc DOHC eight-valve parallel-twin motors sourced from rival Chinese manufacturer – but near neighbour – CFMOTO. With 15,400 examples of its X-Cape ADV model alone sold around the world in the past three years, Moto Morini’s ride down the comeback trail under Chinese ownership is becoming ever-more assured, with a…

An intriguing email dropped into the TCM inbox, from a gentleman by the name of John Westerdick Watson. It read: “My grandfather, Arthur Westerdick, made motorcycle sidecars during the First World War. I still have his ledger and his War Service Certificate excusing him from call up. “This is a picture of the first one he made. It was a converted bath chair, for his then girlfriend Nancy, later to be his wife. He felt their usual method of getting around together – Arthur riding his 1906 3½hp Rex, and Nancy on her bicycle, with one hand on his shoulder – was becoming a little too dangerous.” In the accompanying photograph of the pair, Nancy’s not looking too pleased with the new arrangement. Perhaps she preferred the option of letting…

With a need to have some two-wheeled transport on hand to alleviate potential parking problems in Kinlochleven for the 2025 Pre-65 Scottish two-day trial, some much needed attention was required by my sadly-neglected, long-owned 650cc Triumph. A good dowsing in degreaser and then soapy water, followed by hosing off, got rid of the muck which has been its protective coating for a few years – and made it much nicer to work on. Last time we dealt with finding the spark again and gently persuading the bike into life, while this issue will look at a few detail bits and pieces. I freely admit this bike has had a hard life. It arrived with me when old Brits were viewed as second-hand bikes, rather than classics. Yes, there were things…

From the April 12, 1923 issue of The Motor Cycle, under the heading (in capitals) of “17½ HP FROM NEW 350cc ENGINE.” Underneath, the sub-heading (with capitals as reproduced) proclaimed: “Coventry-built High Efficiency Unit – the Dart – with Steel Cylinder, Aluminium Head and Overhead camshaft.” There’s reckoned to be only one Dart engine still about, which is one of the later versions with the overhead camshaft driven by chain, the engine being housed in a Cotton rolling chassis. It’s appeared at several classic shows over the years, and, indeed, won prizes too. There has also been a machine called a Dart, fitted with a 1918 JAP V-twin engine, at various events and such over the last few years, though that machine bears little resemblance to the one in the…

The phrase ‘Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ is, of course, oft overused. It’s apparently a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go on holiday to wherever, or take part in a get-rich-quick scheme – selective use of the truth at best, downright lies at worst. But what happened at the Stafford show over the weekend of April 26/27, 2025, was a bona fide once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the chance to see the biggest collection of SS100 Brough Superiors probably ever assembled, and which will surely never be bettered. There numbered 22 of the machines (which celebrated 100 years since their introduction, hence the display) on the main Mortons’ stand, plus two more in the auction, while, as an added bonus, there were some others outside, too. Incredible. After months of planning in collaboration with the Brough Superior Owners’…

You’d be forgiven for not having heard of Pirotta – I certainly hadn’t. Like many Italian motorcycle manufacturers, they formed during the immediate aftermath of the Second World War to fulfil the pressing need to mobilise a nation’s people and start rebuilding a war-torn country. In the years following the Second World War, few nations experienced an economic upswing quite like Italy. Bolstered by Marshall Plan funding, the demand for materials driven by the Korean War, and the creation of the European Common Market in 1957, the country entered a remarkable period of growth that lasted through the 1960s. New factories sprang up, millions of people relocated from the agrarian south to the rapidly developing cities of the north, and with them came increased demand for housing, transport, and infrastructure.…

For some, the Easter weekend is a great chance to visit the golf course; drivers, irons, tees, balls, and well-manicured fairways, ornamental trees, greens, bunkers and water hazards are what you expect to see. For off-road motorcyclists there is always that thought: ‘What would it be like to ride a motorbike around here?’ Well, there is one golf course, admittedly recently decommissioned, where motorcycles do race around. Welcome to Carswell Golf and Country Club. No drivers, but plenty of riders, no irons but loads of ‘British Iron’, fairways to race down and ornamental trees to race between, raised tees and greens to zoom over, water hazards and bunkers to avoid and, unsurprisingly, the track littered with ‘golf course furniture’, discarded tees and the odd golf ball. But now, it’s the…

It sort of feels like a lot, and, at the same time, not very much has happened with the TS over the last few weeks. With the chassis back on its wheels, my mission was to get the pile of bits next to it on the workshop floor all back on it. The newly painted mudguards were first on the list to go back on. Next to the nicely painted steel rear section, the rear lamp and bracket looked very tired, so they were next to get some attention. The lamp housing would, of course, be treated to a few coats of frame black… I know, but there’s plenty left in the tin! On another one of our regular ride-outs/natters at the greasy spoon, Paul had mentioned chrome paint –…

Tricycles Delightful as they might be, motorised tricycles are bizarre devices. Of the two leading makers in 1895, Leon Bollée and De Dion Bouton, it was Count Jules Félix Phillippe Albert De Dion de Wandonne and his engineer Georges Bouton who took every opportunity to publicise their machines. Apart from the values of reliability and safety, De Dion instantly recognised the value of performance, as did Bouton, who became an early exponent of the performance game. The first De Dion Bouton tricycle (1895) with ½hp 137cc high speed engine – employing for the first time Bouton’s timed electrical ignition – was demonstrated, rather than raced. Then Bouton began to increase engine capacity in small steps, and performance with larger steps. For a few years, De Dion Boutons were the machine…