Real Classic May 2021

One of those familiar waves of introspection has been sloshing around me over the last couple of weeks. A mysterious – and entirely unexpected – email landed, and as well as making me sit back in startlement also produced one of those excellent opportunities to sit and think back to my favourite bikes down the years. There have been many years, too. It’s some 51 years since I rode my first powered two-wheeler, which is quite a while. And that two-wheeler was actually a scooter and not a motorcycle, hence my use of more exact terminology than you might expect. A Vespa. It was faster and less effort than my Triumph Palm Beach bicycle, but apart from that the appeal of scooters has never been obvious to me. Not back…

One of those familiar waves of introspection has been sloshing around me over the last couple of weeks. A mysterious – and entirely unexpected – email landed, and as well as making me sit back in startlement also produced one of those excellent opportunities to sit and think back to my favourite bikes down the years. There have been many years, too. It’s some 51 years since I rode my first powered two-wheeler, which is quite a while. And that two-wheeler was actually a scooter and not a motorcycle, hence my use of more exact terminology than you might expect. A Vespa. It was faster and less effort than my Triumph Palm Beach bicycle, but apart from that the appeal of scooters has never been obvious to me. Not back then…

Sunbeams are motorcycles unlike the others. That’s as true of the high-camshaft B-series bikes built by the Collier brothers’ Associated Motor Cycles concern during the Wolverhampton-derived marque’s brief sojourn in Southeast London between 1937 and 1943, when it was purchased by – some say, offloaded to – the BSA Group, as it is of the unique S7/S8 tandem-twins launched in 1946 after its return to the Midlands. Sunbeam was only in AMC’s ownership for a mere six years, three of which formed the first half of WW2, so AMC deserves some credit for what it achieved in the short time available to it. Like so many early British motorcycle marques, Sunbeam’s antecedents date back to its origins as a bicycle manufacturer – though that in fact only came about because…

Sunbeams are motorcycles unlike the others. That’s as true of the high-camshaft B-series bikes built by the Collier brothers’ Associated Motor Cycles concern during the Wolverhampton-derived marque’s brief sojourn in Southeast London between 1937 and 1943, when it was purchased by – some say, offloaded to – the BSA Group, as it is of the unique S7/S8 tandem-twins launched in 1946 after its return to the Midlands. Sunbeam was only in AMC’s ownership for a mere six years, three of which formed the first half of WW2, so AMC deserves some credit for what it achieved in the short time available to it. Like so many early British motorcycle marques, Sunbeam’s antecedents date back to its origins as a bicycle manufacturer – though that in fact only came about because cycling…

Looking for even more RealClassic reading? You’ll find brand-new and previous unpublished features at Real-Classic.co.uk; the articles we couldn’t quite fit into print. The internet has all the room required to give our expert and experienced contributors the space to explore their subjects in depth. For instance: THE AUSTRALIAN DOMINATOR investigation runs to four full episodes of evidence about this unusual 500 twin which appeared Down Under in the early 1950s THE MIGHTY MONSTER: a new book about Ducati’s most profitable model tells the behind-the-scenes story of the accessible Italian sportbike THE PIONEER RUN unveils an all-new destination for the 2021 event READERS WRITE about the perils of getting back in the saddle after so long in lockdown… All this and much more at www.Real-Classic.co.uk…

Looking for even more RealClassic reading? You’ll find brand-new and previous unpublished features at Real-Classic.co.uk; the articles we couldn’t quite fit into print. The internet has all the room required to give our expert and experienced contributors the space to explore their subjects in depth. For instance: THE AUSTRALIAN DOMINATOR investigation runs to four full episodes of evidence about this unusual 500 twin which appeared Down Under in the early 1950s THE MIGHTY MONSTER: a new book about Ducati’s most profitable model tells the behind-the-scenes story of the accessible Italian sportbike THE PIONEER RUN unveils an all-new destination for the 2021 event READERS WRITE about the perils of getting back in the saddle after so long in lockdown… All this and much more at www.Real-Classic.co.uk…