Classic Bike

Classic Bike helps and inspires enthusiasts to get more from their passion for classic motorcycles. The magazine shares their fascination with motorcycling’s heroic past while also helping them buy, fix and improve the bikes in their shed. Our main areas of content are: - Inspirational and entertaining reads that celebrate the glory of motorcycling, from riding stories that put the reader in the seat of history’s greatest bikes to incredible racing tales - Restoration stories and instructional features that inspire and help people get their tools out and sort out their old bike - In-depth technical features from the most expert and authoritative writers in motorcycling If you share our passion about classic motorcycles from the last century, you'll enjoy reading Classic Bike.

Welcome

Festival of Speed • After two years of Covid-19 interruptions, classic racing returned to Sydney in style – with a new class bringing out some of the bikes mothballed after the demise of Phillip Island’s International Challenge

Showground showdown in Peterborough

Next month in Classic Bike

Cam chain rattle

YOUR LETTERS

Classic Bike

Show us yours • Classic Bike readers share news of recent acquisitions, regular rides and progress of ongoing projects

250 STROKERS OF GENIUS • From 1960-1999, the two-stroke 250 transformed motorcycling with an intoxicating combination of speed and agility. We celebrate four decades of quarter-litre smokers with first-hand accounts of why the crackle and buzz of these little beauties gets under your skin

1960s The charge begins • The 1960s saw a seismic shift for two-stroke 250s, from humdrum commuters to tear-away humdingers… Mick Duckworth takes us from Leaders to Hustlers

1970s RD and GT go to war • New learner laws backfired and soon more of us were on manic 250s than ever before. Hugo Wilson delves into his own misspent youth to recount a hectic decade

1980s High noon for 250s • The end was nigh, yet the stream of rapid 250 strokers continued. Mat Oxley, who raced them in the ’80s at the Isle of Man, recalls the breath-taking buzz of it all

1990s Going out with a bang • As legislative vultures circle, Suzuki and Kawasaki show us exactly what we’ll soon be missing. Former Editor of Bike, Tim Thompson was right there road-testing the last-of-breed 250 strokers

From stodgy to sublime • The 250cc two-stroke developed out of all recognition from 1960-1999. Here’s how performance escalated over that time

ANGLO-AMERICAN MATCH RACE MALLORY PARK

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LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE UNDERDOG • In the mid-1970s, Julian Soper’s Hadleigh Honda gamely battled with factory bikes in Unlimited class racing. A unique combination of Rob North chassis with Japanese four-stroke power, TT winner Michael Rutter will race the bike at April’s Goodwood Members’ Meeting

SCOTTISH SIX DAYS TRIAL, FORT WILLIAM

A FLIGHT OF ITALIAN FANTASY

1955 Bianchi Tonale & 1956 Moto Guzzi 160 Lodola

1958 Ducati 125 Sport & 1957 Ducati 175 Turismo

FORMULA ONE TT, ISLE OF MAN • When the sun’s shining, there’s nowhere better to be in the first week of June than on the Isle of Man. In 1982, the Formula One TT was the week’s first race, and Mick Grant led from the start. But, on the fifth lap, his works Honda expired and team-mate Ron Haslam inherited the lead, winning the six-lap race at 113.33mph. Here he’s exiting Braddan Bridge just over one mile into the 37.73-mile lap. This year’s TT week is June 3-10, and if you’re going, we’re jealous.

June 2023 RACES, PLACES & EVENTS FOR THIS SUMMER

MAKE IT A VINTAGE YEAR • June’s Banbury Run is a key event for riders and lovers of pre-1931 bikes, with hundreds out on the road and on display. But what if you’re all booked in and...