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

Classic Motorcycle

Royal engagement • The Queen’s father, George VI, was known to be a motorcycle enthusiast, and before he was king he both rode and sponsored riders, including his chauffeur.

RNLI charity ride

NEWS IN BRIEF

Hamstreet Velocette meet

Grab a Goldie

The lucky winners are...

Book Review

THE WAY WE WERE IN JULY

Guzzi’s 100 party planned

H&H at the NMM

Local produce • The Ashford Classic Motorcycle Show on April 18, 2022, was supposed to have happened a couple of years ago, but it was a case of ‘better late than never.’

Weslake

RESULTS

Noisy neighbours • Members of The Motor Cycle’s editorial team take to the residential streets, for a noise testing experiment.

Old style Barry • Britain’s last 500cc (now MotoGP) world champion was Barry Sheene, in 1977, when he successfully defended his 1976 crown.

Readers’ Letters • YOUR VOICE & YOUR OPINIONS

Reunion festival • The closest thing there’s been to a ‘normal’ Stafford for a while, welcomed plenty of people to the bustling showground, as showgoers reunited – as did the Class of ’78.

An American Best in show

Tribute twin • Ariel enthusiast Dave Owen owns one of a small run of alloy-engined KHA twins built to celebrate the marque’s fine achievements in the ISDT.

Donating to the cause • While the majority of the bikes held in the collection at the National Motorcycle Museum (NMM) have been bought and are owned by the museum, some are loaned, and others have been donated. It’s the latter we’ll look at here, in the first of a two-part series.

Intricate excellence • The 1930s was actually a time of interesting and innovative design, particularly in 250cc class GP racing, with none more novel than Excelsior’s effort.

RICH MIXTURE

SAMMY MILLER MUSEUM

The book of Mike • Extracts from the new, exclusive book, which details the life of the world’s greatest ever motorcycle racer in intimate fashion.

Daydream believer • One man’s obsession with Triumph’s TR6 model becomes a reality, although the road to motorcycling nirvana never runs that smoothly…

Avian connections • Through much of motorcycling and motoring history, makers have opted for model identification using numerical and/or alphabetical codes, or names, or a mix of both. One British maker, Francis-Barnett, opted for ornithological names in the early 1930s, and, aberrations apart, maintained this theme.

MZ ES125 and 150 1962-75

A brief update • It’s time to take stock and start tidying the ancillary parts.

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

You were asking • Your queries resolved with Richard Rosenthal

Diary

Seller beware • Increasingly, legitimate sounding, plausible scams are being perpetrated, as exampled here. It’s all too easy to be caught out, though the moral is, give your card details to no one without huge amounts of checking.

In praise of plain • Classics can be quite ordinary and still qualify as ideal, when one considers the qualities looked for.

The Mills concentric carburetter • Mills’ Carburetters first built conventional instruments, some of which were fitted by motorcycle makers to the Villiers engines powering their products. After the First World War, Mills launched a game-changing concentric design, which suited the exact mixture requirements of two-stroke engines.