Retrobike

ON GOING RETRO EDITORIAL A FUTURE CUT SHORT In the last issue of Retrobike we published a feature on Speedgeek Motorcycles, and in particular on Christian Langham, the founder and owner. Chris died from a result of injuries soon after the magazine was published after being hit by a stolen car. Speedgeek shut down immediately, for it hadn’t been around long enough for there to be any sort of plan for it to continue without Chris. I instinctively want to write about how I want retribution against the driver, how I want him to suffer … I lost a new friend, a man I did not know well yet felt we had a connection as individuals which went beyond our shared love of motorcycles. Getting angry with an individual I…

Custom buildsBMW R 18 MAGNIFICA Built for Officine Riunite Milanesi, a bar-cum-workshop in Milan, this BMW R 18, named Magnifica, is about as extreme as we’ve ever seen in a bike still recognisable from its host, but also something which started life as a BMW. Built by Andrea Radaelli from Radikal Chopper with support of BMW Motorrad Italia, the Magnifica uses noble materials such as brass, aluminium and wood in its execution to be completely different from almost anything else ever built. “The bike has to be my own creation,” Radaelli said. “I don’t feel like dredging up or modifying a concept already set up and done very well by others.” The inspiration for the design of the BMW R 18 Magnifica winks at the vintage motorbikes of the 1920s,…

It’s been over 50 years since a new BSA rolled off a production line, but it’s back, and the first model has the most legendary name — Gold Star. Like the historical model, the new bike is powered by a big single. Styled to look like the older 500cc air-cooled mill, the new Gold Star has a 652cc DOHC engine with twin counterbalancers to smooth out vibration and a five-speed gearbox with a slipper clutch. Engine performance is moderate, producing 45 bhp/33.56 kW at 6500 rpm at the crankshaft, with peak torque of 55 Nm/40.57 ft-lb delivered at 4000 rpm, but the factory has already said it deliberately kept performance down to make it learner-licence suitable in the UK and Europe (and potentially LAMS in Australia). Now Indian owned —…

First Look ROYAL ENFIELD SUPER METEOR Royal Enfield’s Super Meteor is now available in Australia, the third motorcycle to run the company’s 650 parallel-twin powerplant. Heavily influenced by cruiser designs from around the world, the Super Meteor is going against the trend of recent years which has seen classic deigns favoured over cruiser designs from most manufacturers. Of course, almost all of Royal Enfield’s bikes are retro designs, and they lend themselves to being transformed into cruisers quite readily. The lines run from a 19-inch front wheel — cast, with different sized spokes — and upside down forks to an almost bobbed rear end, a large guard covering a 16-inch wheel. In between is a single big, round headlight, a set of pull-back handlebars, a 15 litre tank above the…

Classic Bike1959 PRE-UNIT TRITON In the fifties and sixties in England there were the Mods and the Rockers. The mods dressed in clothes influenced by Italian or French fashion and rode Italian Lambretta and Vespa scooters often adorned with numerous lights whilst the rockers wore white T-shirts, jeans and Marlon ‘The Wild One’ Brando styled leather jackets emblazoned with pins and studs, engineering boots and a white scarf wrapped around their neck. For transport they rode BSAs, Nortons and Triumphs. It was from the Rockers that the café racer was born. They would ride their bikes between the transport cafés that existed along the arterial roads between the English cities on what were then seen as ‘track like’ roads. At the cafés they would listen to the American music of…

Using one of only three surviving J.A. Prestwich V8 aircraft engines to power a motorcycle is a crazy idea, but Czech toolmaker Pavel Malaník has done it. At 4400cc and nearly two and a half metres long, the rider's feet almost touch the vibrating valve rockers as it’s being ridden at speeds up to 130 km/h. It’s a beast of a bike. “This engine has maximum power already at 1000 revolutions per minute, Pavel told Retrobike. “Therefore, it is not necessary to use first gear. I can start without problems in second gear and reach a maximum speed of 130 kilometres per hour. “It is a completely different style of driving compared to modern-day motorcycles where a lot of actions are automated. Here everything is manual and needs to be…