1966 Velocette Thruxton 1966 VELOCETTE THRUXTON Velocette has a proven design in their 500cc Velocette Venom. Big singles had sort...
1973 Triumph Daytona 500 1973 TRIUMPH DAYTONA – WHAT’S IN A NAME? Triumph derived the name of this bike from...
1957 Ariel Red Hunter 1957 ARIEL RED HUNTER BACKGROUND The 1930s were indeed the Golden Age for the British motorcycle industry. At the time, nearly all of them relied heavily on one basic engine architecture: the air-cooled, pushrod OHV single, and most marques had built their lineup of 350 and...
1969 Velocette Thruxton 1969 VELOCETTE THRUXTON Velocette had a proven design in their 500cc Velocette Venom. Big singles had sort...
1953 BSA B33 1953 BSA B33 BACKGROUND The 500cc B33 and its smaller-sister the 350cc B31, were intended to be...
1934 BSA Blue Star 1934 BSA BLUE STAR SETS NEW STANDARD Prior to the introduction of BSA’s Blue Star-series, motorcycles were fairly unreliable and needed constant maintenance and oiling during long trips. The Blue Star, which launched in 1932, ushered in a new age of reliability and ride-ability, being one...
1933 Velocette KTT Background The 1933 Velocette KTT was the fifth year of the KTT line that would run until...
1962 BSA Gold Star 1962 BSA GOLD STAR CLUBMAN While the BSA Gold Star was famous for its off-road and...
1955 MATCHLESS G45 BACKGROUND Matchless introduced the G45 500 twin in 1951 as a race bike. It debuted at the Manx Grand Prix that year piloted by Robin Sherry, who took 4th place. The G45 was based on the street version of bike, the Matchless G9. The stock G9 was...
1954 Ariel Red Hunter 1954 ARIEL RED HUNTER BACKGROUND The 1930s were indeed the Golden Age for the British motorcycle...
1939 Ariel Red Hunter 1939 ARIEL RED HUNTER BACKGROUND The 1930s were indeed the Golden Age for the British motorcycle...
1947 Ariel Red Hunter 1947 ARIEL RED HUNTER BACKGROUND The 1930s were indeed the Golden Age for the British motorcycle industry. At the time, nearly all of them relied heavily on one basic engine architecture: the air-cooled, pushrod OHV single, and most marques had built their lineup of 350 and...
1952 Norton Model 7 1952 NORTON MODEL 7 BACKGROUND Following Triumph’s lead, Norton, along with nearly every other British motorcycle...
1960 Royal Enfield Bullet 1960 ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET – A LONG HISTORY Royal Enfield introduced the 350cc and 500cc single-cylinder...
1951 Norton Model 7 Dominator 1951 NORTON MODEL 7 BACKGROUND Following Triumph’s lead, Norton, along with nearly every other British motorcycle manufacturer, entered the parallel twin race with its own new 500 twin in 1949. Known as the Model 7, its basic layout followed the established norm of a 2-main...
1956 Triumph TR5R 1956 TRIUMPH TR5R BACKGROUND Triumph offered the TR5/R in limited numbers in 1956 as a top-of-the-line 500...
1947 Triumph Speed Twin 1947 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN LEADS THE WAY At the end of World War II, civilian production...
VELOCETTE MAC BACKGROUND Velocette had great success with their OHC (Overhead Cams) singles, like the KSS, but in 1933, they decided to introduce a new line of OHV (Overhead Valves, ie: pushrods) machines, as a way of reducing their production costs while delivering a lower-priced motorcycle to market. The K-series...
1968 Velocette Thruxton 1968 VELOCETTE THRUXTON BACKGROUND Velocette had a proven design in their 500cc Velocette Venom. Big singles had...
The BSA M20 was just part of BSA’s massive wartime contribution to Britain’s war effort. But it was a very...
1948 Norton Manx 1948 NORTON MANX BACKGROUND The Norton Manx was developed in 1937, in both SOHC and DOHC form, to compete in and win the Isle of Man TT. Before fully developed, World War II intervened, and production of the Manx was delayed until 1946. The Manx quickly gained...
1962 Norton Manx 1962 NORTON MANX BACKGROUND The Norton Manx was developed in 1937, in both SOHC and DOHC form,...
MILITARY ROOTS Long before the first Triumph Trophy came out in 1948, Triumph Motorcycles were cutting their teeth in the...
1959 Norton Manx 1959 NORTON MANX BACKGROUND The Norton Manx was developed in 1937, in both SOHC and DOHC form, to compete in and win the Isle of Man TT. Before fully developed, World War II intervened, and production of the Manx was delayed until 1946. The Manx quickly gained...
1953 Norton Manx 1953 NORTON MANX BACKGROUND The Norton Manx was developed in 1937, in both SOHC and DOHC form,...
1949 Norton Manx 1949 NORTON MANX BACKGROUND The Norton Manx was developed in 1937, in both SOHC and DOHC form,...
1952 Norton Manx 1952 NORTON MANX BACKGROUND The Norton Manx was developed in 1937, in both SOHC and DOHC form, to compete in and win the Isle of Man TT. Before fully developed, World War II intervened, and production of the Manx was delayed until 1946. The Manx quickly gained...
1939 Triumph Tiger 100, first year for this hot new model. Note Rigid frame & girder front suspension. A TIGER...
1953 Matchless G9 500 Twin 1953 MATCHLESS G9 BACKGROUND Like everyone else in the British motorcycle industry at the time,...
1955 Matchless G9B 1955 MATCHLESS G9B BACK STORY The 1955 Matchless G9B has an interesting history, that is also very telling about the British motorcycle industry at the time. Frank Cooper was the US distributor for AMC (Associated Motor Cycles) who produced Matchless, AJS and Francis-Barnett motorcycles. In the late...
1956 Matchless G9 500 Twin 1956 MATCHLESS G9 BACKGROUND Matchless Motorcycles cut their teeth on the depressed British home market,...
1961 Triumph Speed Twin 1961 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN HAS A “BATHTUB” The British home market had been hungry for cheap...
1949 Triumph T100 Tiger 1949 TRIUMPH T100 TIGER LEADS THE PACK At the end of World War II, civilian production of motorcycles ramped up quickly to tap into the tremendous pent up demand for transportation. 1946 was Triumph’s first postwar model year. The 5T Speed Twin, its best seller prior...
1971 BSA B50 SS 1971 BSA B50SS BACKGROUND The “SS” stands for “Street Scrambler”, and was intended as the full...
1968 Triumph Daytona 500 1968 TRIUMPH DAYTONA – WHAT’S IN A NAME? Triumph derived the name of this bike from...
1947 Norton 350T 1947 NORTON 350T BACKGROUND Right after the War, all the British motorcycle manufacturers were gearing back up for civilian production and many were competing in various forms of racing. Road racing, various forms of off-road racing, and trials. Norton revived its last trials bike, used in the...
1959 Norton Dominator 1959 NORTON DOMINATOR BACKGROUND Norton designed the legendary “Featherbed Frame” for the single-cylinder Manx racer in 1950....
1938 Velocette KSS 1938 VELOCETTE KSS AT THE CUTTING EDGE The Velocette KSS debuted in 1925 as an OHC (overhead...
1938 Velocette MAC 1938 VELOCETTE MAC BACKGROUND Velocette, while a relatively small motorcycle company, was always known for it innovative designs and premium quality. In the 1920s, when most engines were side-valves (flatheads) and only a few had OHVs, Velocette introduced it’s K-series (KSS and KTT, first as factory racers,...
1975 Rickman 250MX 1975 RICKMAN 250MX – LAST OF THE BREED After a brilliant career that started in 1959 with...