The Classic MotorCycle

Started in 1903, The Classic MotorCycle has more to offer the true vintage motorcycle enthusiast than any other publication, backed by Europe's largest motorcycle image archive.

Welcome

GET YOUR FIX • Struggling to get to the shops?

Classic Motorcycle

Paul Smart (1943-2021)

King of the road McCallen star guest at Newark show

NEWS IN BRIEF

Festival of 1000 Bikes 2022

Mike’s Rudge search

Elk shows for 2022

THE WAY WE WERE IN JANUARY

Good reliability trial • There were 108 starters in the 1922 ACU One Day Trial, with only one (a motor assisted bicycle) failing to finish.

New clerk of the course for DJ Run

Modern classics at Great Dorset Steam Fair

Book Review • “Norton Commando Restoration Manual”

Introduction to the rough • With the world at war, during the summer of 1940 motorcyclists were being tutored in the arts of off-road riding, in aid of the war effort.

125 years – and counting • Having now run for a century-and-a-quarter, the London to Brighton veteran car run always boasts some elements to interest motorcyclists.

Setting the Rekord straight

Reynolds and scooters

Making Mike’s return

Stonebridge, not Strawbridge

Number plate query

THIS MONTH’S STAR LETTER WINS

No tricks, just treats • This year, the National Motorcycle Museum’s free open day became a two-day affair, taking place over the Halloween weekend.

Back to Kop • After missing out in 2020, it was all back to the Kop Hill Climb for 2021, ‘just’ 110 years after the first speed event on the Buckinghamshire section of road.

Determination defeats deluge • The South of England Show, Ardingly, on October 31, 2021, battled inclement conditions late on in the calendar.

RESULTS

Triumph’s rare all-rounder • Made in limited numbers for a year and a bit only, Meriden’s rare and now expensive oil-in-frame trail twin can deliver the goods.

Inventor extraordinaire • Rather than do without, Cecil Downer-Groves found a way to make pretty much whatever he required, which in a motorcycle sphere, meant a tandem and a boat-sidecar outfit.

CLASSIC BIKE HUB

MAC is back • Not only is this Velocette MAC back on the road, it’s also back in the UK, after spending many years in boxes, in Denmark.

The little grey fellow • This relatively rare interim 148cc Bantam, between the 125cc and the 175cc, was still a useful step up from the popular D1.

The light brigade • What have ‘round,’ ‘wedge’ and ‘saddle’ in common? They’re all hindsight names for BSA 250cc lightweights built in the 1920s. Although not exciting or sporting, the Beezer vintage tiddler range were favoured by many who needed tough, reliable, economical transport.

BSA Golden Flash

Getting wired • The red/black wire goes to the green/blue wire… Er, no… the yellow/ green wire goes to the red/black one… Actually, where IS the spark?

WIRED

JURY-RIGGED

Sketchbook Travels • MOTORCYCLES, SEEN THROUGH THE SKETCHBOOKS OF MARTIN SQUIRES

BSA three-wheelers continued • Your queries resolved with Richard Rosenthal

ISDT and the Streatham Club follow up information

Vintage trike

Beasley Manxman mystery

Large unidentified racing brake

Diary

Tuner stakes • The grinder is broken out for ‘tuning,’ in an attempt not to make a two-stroke go slower. In a roundabout way, the right result is achieved.

Hooking the buyers • Having an identity, which is easily identifiable and which grabs the mood of the moment, is the key to sales success.

Jack of all trades • After judging development of the new-look flat-slide carburettor to have failed, Amal’s...