Retrobike

ON GOING RETRO EDITORIAL FLAT-TRACK CUSTOM? I was lucky enough to ride the Royal Enfield Scram 411 recently — it was a bit of a hoot. The group of journos on the launch got to ride them through the twisty roads on the NSW/Qld border and up to Queensland Moto Park, where we proceeded to thrash them around a natural-terrain motocross track. It was a heap of fun. It was slow. A retro-styled machine based around the idea of something versatile, something to blat down dirt roads or through traffic, and something to ride to work or to the shops but also out into the country for rides with your mates. However, it would also be a great platform for a custom flat-tracker. I thought I’d be exhausted after a…

Custom Show BIKE SHED 2022 BIKE SHED at Tobacco Dock is established as Europe’s largest and most coveted showcase of custom bikes as well as a world-leading event of innovation. It was back in 2022 after the COVID lockdowns, with thousands of bike builders and custom motorcycle fans keen to be back at the London, England, show. With 495 exhibitors, this year’s show was one of the biggest ever and went down a treat despite the 30-degree weather — stupidly hot for London. Both amateur and professional builders had bikes on show, with over 300 machines on display for the 19,000 visitors who came to check everything out. The diversity of machines on display was breathtaking. Denver-based Ronin Motorworks showcased the Horibe Takeyasu, the Buell-based blockbuster from what could be…

Modern RetroROYAL ENFIELD 350 HUNTER YOUNGSTERS wanting to get into motorcycle customisation usually start with an old, cheap bike. Stripping and cutting and welding and tweaking a new one would just be crazy, right? Maybe not. The Royal Enfield 350 Hunter is the company’s new roadster. Aimed at young riders who love some retro style and want something easy to get around on, the bike was a hit with bike journos who rode it at the world launch in Bangkok, Thailand, in August, including me. We got to tear around one of the busiest cities in the world and we had a ball. But all the while I was thinking this is a bike ripe for customisation — Royal Enfield encourage it, for a start. The company would, of course,…

Classic Event WALCHA ROYAL CAFÉ "…RACING VINCENT SIDECAR TO SMALL ITALIAN MACHINES AND SOME VERY RARE EXAMPLES OF BRITISH MACHINERY…" THE WALCHA Royal Café is one of Australia’s top touring accommodation and eating spots for motorcyclists, and not just because it’s located near the Oxley Highway and Thunderbolts Way. It’s also because Toni Heaney, the genial owner of WRC, loves the bikes she has on display and the company of bike riding friends. That was how it came about that well-known classic racing enthusiast Ian Milton brought down numerous examples of his race and street bike collection for a big weekend at the café recently, displaying the bikes and talking about them to all comers — and plenty of people stopped by to have a look. Indeed, the post I…

Classic Ride HONDA CB500T TURBO I KNEW ALL ABOUT the turbo lag — I’d been reading about it for 40 years. It still surprised me. I’d cracked the throttle hard, but the small V-twin wasn’t about to be hurried on its way, at least not until the forced induction was ready to help. But when it did, boy, I knew all about it. Eighty-odd horsepower hasn’t been so much fun since the last time I rode a two-stroke. I wasn’t licensed to ride a Honda CX500, let alone the Turbo model, when it was launched in 1982. I was a pimply teenager riding to work in a fast-food restaurant on a moped, which was the only motor vehicle I was legally allowed to operate on a public street at age…

Classic RideRICKMAN MÉTISSE TRIUMPH 650 BRITAIN’S ILLUSTRIOUS Métisse motorcycle marque was founded in the ‘50s by brothers Derek and Don Rickman — off-road aces and household names in Britain back then, thanks to BBC-TV showing the Scrambles racing in which they excelled every Saturday afternoon in winter. After achieving dirtbike dominance with their stiff, good-handling frames powered by British twin and single motors, they then did something comparable with road bikes. Rickman went on to briefly become Britain’s largest streetbike manufacturer after the demise of Norton first time around, and before John Bloor resurrected Triumph [see History sidebar]. The Rickmans’ creations not only represented a key stage in the evolution of the modern off-road bike, they also played a role in helping the Japanese manufacturers discover the black art of…