Classic Bike

My grandfather was a Norton M man. He’d owned a flat-tank 500 as a young blade in the late 1920s, and when he was approaching retirement bought himself a Featherbed Dominator (despite grandma’s ban on bikes). This was kept a secret, in a garage at the other end of the village. He’d leave for work by car, drive to the end of the village, swap car for bike, and then carry on. Of course, grandma found out soon enough and the Dominator had to be sold, but the ban was modified to allow for vintage bikes and projects. Grandpa played a big part in fostering my youthful bike obsession, encouraging that first ride and helping to fix my Cotton Minarelli trials bike (TUP 92K, it’s still on the DVLA database…

PAGE 63 Gez Kane In the early ’80s Gez worked as a salesman at Motorcycle City in Reading. “We shifted a lot of Yamaha XS650s,” he reckons, “but if a Kawasaki Z750 twin came in part-ex, you knew it’d be stuck on the showroom floor for weeks.” PAGE 38 Richard Fincher A former editor of Bike magazine, Richard owns a modern BMW twin and an old Norton Commando 750, but was looking for a bike that sat between them. Judging by his enthusiasm for the BMW R80ST, it looks like he’s found it. PAGE 50 John Surtees Classic Bike is blessed with an amazing archive of features that are too good not to be shown again. This story from August ‘86 by the ex-world champion about his own home-brewed Vincent…

February 2023 The Pied Bull at Farningham in Kent has hosted a New Year’s Day classic bike meet for years, and it always makes for a great start to another year. This January the first was no different, as dozens of classic motorcycles descended on the pub, a well-known favourite and regular haunt for VMCC members. The cups of tea and bacon butties were flying out the pub doors as riders enjoyed the chance to catch up with fellow riders and have a good old gander at the diverse collection of bikes. Here are some of the hardy souls who braved the British winter on machines ranging from World War I era Triumphs to Vincents and 1980s two-strokes. Happy New Year to you all! • vmcc.net Ken Lee 1934…

IN 1894 THE (rich) public were given the chance to buy a production motorcycle for the first time when Hildebrand & Wolfmuller began making their ‘Motorrad’ in Munich. Between 800-2000 were made, some under licence in France – and 129 years later, one is being sold by auction in Paris. Coming from a time before the form of the motorcycle had become established, the H&W is a kind of intermediate step between steam power and viable petrol propulsion. Think of it as the Neanderthal of motorcycling. Two parallel 744cc (90 x 117mm) cylinders are mounted horizontally with long conrods running to the crankshaft, which is also effectively the machine’s back axle. So, as with a steam locomotive, the wheel is also the flywheel, and there is no clutch. To stop,…

Andre Malherbe, one of the giants of 1980s motocross, has died at the age of 66. Known for his smooth riding style, quiet confidence, incredible determination and hard competitive edge, he started racing aged 17, winning the Coupe d’Europe championship on a Zundapp in his first year – and successfully defending the title the following year. Moving up to 250 GPs on a KTM in 1976 and 500s for 1978, his talent caught the eye of Honda, and for 1979 he was a full factory rider. He claimed his first title in 1980 and went on to defend it in 1981 before claiming his third and final world crown in 1984. He retired at the end of 1986 and successfully turned his hand to touring car racing before agreeing to…

BE THERE February  Y ou can almost smell the passion for the sport the minute you walk into the Classic Dirt Bike Show at Telford’s International Centre. Now back to its traditional February date after a couple of years of Covid-induced turmoil, the show should be back to its best this month. Whether you’re a superstar ex-rider, clubman dabbler, specialist manufacturer, parts dealer, restorer or autojumbler, Telford is the place to be in Februaryif you love doing it in the dirt. If you’re looking hard for a particular part, project bike or ready-to-ride machine, you’ll need to get to the show early on Saturday. There’s an outside autojumble area (it opens at 9am) and that should be your first port of call – it never seems quite so busy…