Innehållsförteckning för November 2025 från The Classic MotorCycle

One of my favourite motorcycle books of all time is ‘A Million Miles Ago,’ written by Neale Shilton, once the International Sales Manager for Triumph, before moving onto NVT and designing the Norton Interpol police machine. When the British makers were almost finished, Shilton ended his illustrious career at BMW, helping them get a foothold in the UK police motorcycle market. Although an autobiography, Shilton’s book is arguably the story of motorcycling as far as the British police forces are concerned, at least up to the point of his retirement in the 1970s. Employed by the various factories, Shilton ensured that at least as far as traffic patrol motorcycles were concerned, the bikes were 500cc and 650cc machines and when at Meriden, he is accredited with creating the famous acronym…

The fascination with putting car engines into motorcycles has a long tradition, going back to the early days of motorcycles and continuing right through to modern times. It’s had some noted exponents, too, with probably the most well-known, the work of that genius of self-publicity, George Brough. In 1932, George’s firm Brough Superior took an Austin 7 car engine and installed it in a double rear-wheeled motorcycle, making a machine more suited to sidecar use than as a solo… Though it also added to some confusion, regarding tax classification, according to some sources. At the time of its launch a BS4 (what the model was called) and Cruiser sidecar was listed at £188; an Austin Seven Swallow Sports two-seater was £150, a standard car around £130. The price difference between…

THE SPECIALIST Moto Guzzi has maintained its market presence since its 1970s renaissance. Continued progress had left a plethora of early bikes still in use, but facing a patchy UK spares service. Gutsibits was established with a mission to supply new or second-hand parts for all post-1968 models. Thanks are due to Harris from that company who has helped us with this guide. Gutsibits: 01484 841395; www.gutsibits.co.uk MODEL HISTORY Following lean times in the 1960s, Moto Guzzi was under new ownership and riding high with its revised transverse V-twins, especially the Le Mans model. They were well received in America. To broaden the marque’s appeal, a smaller version, the 500cc V50, appeared in 1977. This was an indirect result of various prototypical efforts based around a 350cc engine and a…

With a project such as the little Triumph, there is quite a bit of scope when putting it together, because it would be a very expensive exercise to return it to original. Consequently, no great adherence to originality is required; instead, I looked at pictures of the competition Triumphs in the 1960s, as when all is said and done my background is off-road sport. Things have moved on a pace in the classic sport world and there is little doubt the bikes in use today – whatever discipline you choose – work way better than they did in the day. One area which has benefitted lots from development is suspension, particularly the front end where the concept of one tube sliding inside another has been taken to incredible levels. To…

This wonderful picture was published on September 9, 1926, in The Motor Cycle with the headline attached as reused above, with the caption: “A group of competitors waiting to start in the cathedral square, Antwerp.” The reports reads: “The Motor Cycling Club’s second London to Lugano run started officially at 9.30am on August 21. This year’s route ran through Belgium via the Belgian Ardennes, crossing into France just beyond Arlon, near Luxemburg. “The first day’s run did not produce much trouble among the motorcycle section, the only rider reporting serious trouble being H E Collier (Scott.) He had considerable difficulty, which was ultimately traced to a spare roller from a big-end bearing having been left in the crankcase and had also caused a fractured oil lead. After attempting several repairs…

In our March 2024 issue, we published a picture of Charles Mortimer, proudly posed on the V-twin overhead camshaft AJS he’d been able to become owner of in 1934, when it was sold to him by the Colliers, owners of Associated Motor Cycles (AMC), who had bought the AJS concern in 1931. The dramatic V-twin, designed to break the motorcycle land speed record, which it never did, passed through several owners, including overseas, before finding its way to the National Motorcycle Museum, in Birmingham, where it now resides as one of the star exhibits. Between the wars there was massive public interest in breaking the world speed records, for cars and motorcycle on land, for boats and for aircraft. The key players were household names and national heroes, their vehicles…

The Bullnose Sunbeam Model 90. To my mind, one of the most desirable vintage machines of all and, if we say single cylinder, then to paraphrase famous old football manager Brian Clough, I’d not say it’s necessarily the best, but it’s probably in the top one… And of all the Bullnoses (so 1927 and 1928 Model 90s) in the world – and there’s not many of them, somewhere around 50 – then this one is arguably the best of all, though honourable mention must be given to our contributor Richard Rosenthal’s example (featured in our June 2023 issue) which almost has a history to rival this machines; almost, but not quite, to me anyway. Though it is very close, but this one, featured here, I’ve known about longer – ever…

After 27 years, running uneventfully over basically the same street circuit in the centre of the small town in Western France, in 2025 the GP Rétro at le Puy Notre-Dame ceased to be. In those years, the event had grown from small beginnings to become one of the most popular and prestigious vintage motorcycle events in France, attracting ever increasing numbers of participants, from across Europe and the UK, and huge numbers of spectators, with the tourist income they bring. But running such events, on public roads, requires official sanction and, ultimately, that’s the domain of the prefect – essentially a ‘super civil servant’ – in whose department it takes place. Le Puy Notre-Dame is in the Maine-et-Loire department, to which a new prefect was appointed in September 2023. After…

The last episode, the MZ’s engine was finally beginning to resemble, well, an engine again. Crank in, piston on, barrel and head fitted – a few small victories that gave me a spring in my step. This month, my attention turned to the clutch, which meant holding the basket still while torquing the retaining nut up. On paper, that doesn’t sound too tricky. In reality, it quickly became clear that on my own, I was never going to have enough hands to hold everything steady on the bench. So, I decided the easiest way forward was to mount the engine back in the frame and let the bike itself take some of the strain. This plan would of course require mounting bolts, which up to now I hadn’t come across.…

Like other components, including frames, early motorcycle brakes followed cycle practice. Karl Drais designed a pivoting shoe rear brake for his Laufmaschine unveiled in 1817, with the shoe pressing on the rear wheel’s iron tyre. Later, spoon brakes, which pressed their ‘spoon’ against the tyre, were developed. Then, back pedalling brakes were developed and of course riders of fixed wheel machines could slow their cycles through the pedals. Until 1873, brakes operated on the cycle’s rear wheel. John Kean changed this with his front wheel brake, improving braking efficiency to such a degree, the majority of cycle makers began fitting front wheel brakes. The Duck brake – thin pull-on rollers operating on either side of the cycle’s tyre – gained favour in the late Victorian period and were found on…

Reported in Motor Cycle (by then ‘The’ had been dropped) of July 18, 1963, the report began: “Imagine giving up a night’s sleep, riding 600 miles – and paying for the privilege! That is just what 600-odd competitors did in last weekend’s ACU National Rally.” It continued: “They started from control points all over the country at 11am on Saturday and contrived to arrive at London’s Battersea Park 25 hours later with 600 miles in the bag – and average of 35mph. At least, some 70 per cent of the finishers did. “Impressive as it was, machine reliability was not the most striking feature of the rally. After a day and night stint the competitors at Battersea Park gave the impression that they had just returned from a Sunday afternoon…

Like any Sunday morning the country over, the garden centre at Poynings, a hamlet in the South Downs, a few miles north of Brighton, opened its doors to the usual horticultural enthusiasts. On this mid-July Sunday, a number of them were distracted from the day’s gardening ambitions by finding a section of the car park given over to old motorcycles. The Sunbeam MCC’s Summer Pioneer Run had been obliged to find a new HQ for the occasion and the Rushfield Plant Centre kindly made it easy for the established event to continue. Both club and event title were pertinent. As vehicles and trailers were unloaded ready for the day, it was in the prospect of weather conditions closer to that of the export markets of the bikes when they were…

Eight times a World champion – seven times on 350/500cc MV Agusta motorcycles, once in Formula 1 with Ferrari – the late John Surtees remains the only man ever to have won world titles on both two wheels and four. But as well as an ace rider/driver, he was also a skilled mechanic who actually fabricated an auxiliary fuel tank for his F1 Ferrari in the Silverstone GP paddock, as the only member of the Scuderia Ferrari team present able to wield a welding torch! More importantly, Surtees also built a unique 350cc AJS 7R-powered bike in his home workshop during the winter of 1959/60, which he intended to race in British short circuit races in between his MV Agusta GP commitments. Later known as the ‘Surtees Special,’ this bike…

As related last issue, in the winter of 1997/1998 I was contacted by the Belgian publisher Luc Freson to write a book about the BMW motorcycles, which in 1998 would celebrate its 75th anniversary. I gladly met that wish and wrote in this book as much as I could about BMW’s racing motorcycles. In doing this, I developed a better relationship with Dutchman and former BMW racer Piet Knijnenburg (see last issue) and also several new contacts in Belgium, where my book also sold well. As a result, I made contact with a BMW collector in the Antwerp area, who invited me to visit him. His main interest was in the older BMW automobiles, as he owned several BMW 507s and 503s, really the top of the bill as far…