Aprilia has decided to dip deeper into the world of small displacement bikes – and it looks like a mini-RSV4....
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ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET BACKGROUND Royal Enfield had been building sturdy, reliable motorcycles since the turn of the century. They produced...
2007 Royal Enfield Bullet 2007 ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET BACKGROUND Like all modern, Indian-built Royal Enfields, the 500 Bullet is a descendant of the original British-built Enfields of the late 1940s. Despite being completely redesigned in modern times by parent company Madras Motors, and sprouting modern features like electric starters and...
Miltary Motorcycles YEAR-BY-YEAR 1937 BSA WM20 1941 BSA M20 1941 Harley-Davidson WLA 1942 BSA M20 1942 Harley-Davidson WLA 1943 BSA...
Of all the Japanese Motorcycles ever produced, the Honda CB750 epitomizes the effect that they had on the British Motorcycle...
The Harley-Davidson Factory Tour I TOOK THE HARLEY-DAVIDSON FACTORY TOUR While on a business trip (my day job) to Kansas City MO, I visited Harley-Davidson’s Vehicle & Powertrain Operations, a 358,000 square-foot facility. Time for some disclaimers. First off, without special arrangements (which I’m working on), you can’t take any...
ABOVE & BELOW: 1977 Triumph Bonneville T140V was essentially carried over from ’76, as would be the practice from now...
SHORT MODEL YEAR The 1974 Triumph Bonneville was built in very low numbers. It was a very odd year in...
ABOVE: The 1976 Triumph Bonneville is the first to adopt left-side shift. Note shifter coming out of primary case. SPANISH AMALS? Engine mods were few. A new muffler set were now almost cylindrical reverse-cones (very little taper) & noise reduction revisions. The twin 30mm Amal Concentric carburetors were now being...
1960 TRIUMPH TWENTY-ONE HAS BATHTUB STYLING. The British home market had been hungry for cheap transportation after WWII, and commuter...
INTRODUCING THE 1938 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN It’s hard to overstate the significance of the introduction of this bike. Until the...
OVERVIEW Ariel Motorcycles have acquired an image & a level of respect that is perhaps greater than the volume of motorcycles it sold would dictate. The legendary Ariel Square Four, designed by Edward Turner (who would go on to create the seminal 1937 Triumph Speed Twin), has gone a long...
BSA MOTORCYCLES RULE THE WORLD! From the mid-1930’s through the early 1960’s, BSA was the world’s largest producer of motorcycles....
TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLES WERE LEGENDARY Triumphs are at the center of the Classic British Motorcycles universe. Names like the Triumph Bonneville,...
BADGE ENGINEERED Matchless Motorcycles and AJS Motorcycles were, for most of their history, essentially rebadged versions of the same machines. Collectively owned by Associated Motor Cycles (AMC), the two brands were operated like Ford & Mercury, or Dodge & Plymouth, in an early version of “badge engineering”. Together, they enjoyed...
ALL BROUGH SUPERIOR MOTORCYCLES ARE UNIQUE Brough Superior was established by George Brough in Nottingham, England in 1924. He bucked...
1947 TRIUMPH 3T DELUXE BACKGROUND Triumph production reverted to civilian machines in 1946, following the end of World War II....
1959 TRIUMPH TWENTY-ONE HAS BATHTUB STYLING. The British home market had been hungry for cheap transportation after WWII, and commuter motorcycles helped fill that role. But England being…well, England, was wet and rainy and to prevent rust an owner needed to wipe his bike down each night after getting home...
1946 TRIUMPH 3T BACKGROUND As Triumph production reverted to civilian machines immediately after the end of World War II, the...
1961 TRIUMPH TWENTY ONE HAS BATHTUB STYLING. The British home market had been hungry for cheap transportation after WWII, and...
THE 1973 TRIUMPH X75 HURRICANE As an interesting aside to the Triumph Trident / BSA Rocket 3 story is the X75 Hurricane. Having insisted on a slightly different 3-cylinder engine from the Triumph’s, BSA wanted to make an impression and show their dealers something exciting for a change, and something...
ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR BACKGROUND Royal Enfield hopped up its 692cc Constellation and created a new model, the 700 Interceptor in...
MY 1979 TRIUMPH T140D BONNEVILLE SPECIAL I own a ’79 T140D myself. It’s pictured above, on display at the Quail...
1977 Triumph Bonneville Silver Jubilee US-Market Version ABOVE & BELOW: The US-spec version of the 1977 Triumph Bonneville Silver Jubilee had a typical US-style teardrop tank. (Pictures courtesy of MidAmerica Auctions.) CELEBRATING A QUEEN Elizabeth II was crowned Queen of England in 1952. 1977 was the 25th, or Silver Anniversary...
With countries like America and Canada promising net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, it’s no wonder that more and more motorcycle...
Yamaha Motorcycles THE JAPANESE INVASION Yamaha Motorcycles were part of the onslaught of low-priced, high-quality Japanese motorcycles that overwhelmed and...
Honda Motorcycles HONDA MOTORCYCLES – THE BIKE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD This is a very early 1969 Honda CB750 with sand cast crankcases. Before the 750s launch, Honda was unsure of its success & so held off in making the bigger investment in die casts. Once it became apparent they...
Representing the peak of Royal Enfield Motorcycles evolution, was the 750 Interceptor. This 1963 Royal Enfield Interceptor Mark I was...
KAWASAKI MOTORCYCLES – A BRIEF HISTORY Kawasaki Heavy Industries got its start in 1878 building Western-style ships in Hyogo, Japan....
Corndogs, live music, tattoo contests…what’s not to love about a motorcycle rally? Given that restrictions are finally loosening up, it’s a relief to announce the revival of a couple of well-loved favorites to Muskegon, Michigan – just in time for the heat. Buckle up and bring some water bottles –...
2007 Royal Enfield Bullet Sidecar Rig 2007 ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET SIDECAR RIG BACKGROUND Royal Enfield was another classic British motorcycle...
1965 Royal Enfield Interceptor 1965 ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR BACKGROUND Royal Enfield hopped up its 692cc Constellation and created a new...
Rumours of the death of the Harley-Davidson Sportster brand seem to have been greatly exaggerated! Instead of replacing the 883cc and 1200cc Evolution-powered Sportster with a water-cooled 1250cc Revolution-engined Bronx, Harley has kept the 64-year-old model name alive with the new Sportster S. It may be Harley’s attempt to keep...
2014 Royal Enfield Continental GT 2014 ROYAL ENFIELD CONTINENTAL GT BACKGROUND At the time of its introduction, the Continental GT...
1999 HARLEY-DAVIDSON MT500 BACKGROUND It’s rumored that Harley built just around 500 MT500s for the US Military. The design genealogy...
1941 HARLEY-DAVIDSON WLA – WHAT’S IN A NAME? The nomenclature “WLA” stands for something, as you probably suspected. The “W” signifies the ‘family’ of motorcycles within the Harley family tree. The W-series was their 45 cubic-inch flathead (side valve) single (only one seat) that was their entry-level V-twin in the...
1942 HARLEY-DAVIDSON WLA – WHAT’S IN A NAME? The nomenclature “WLA” stands for something, as you probably suspected. The “W”...
1949 Royal Enfield Bullet 1949 ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET BACKGROUND Royal Enfield had been building sturdy, reliable motorcycles since the turn...
1967 Royal Enfield Interceptor 1967 ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR BACKGROUND Royal Enfield hopped up its 692cc Constellation and created a new model, the 700 Interceptor in 1960, for sale in the US and Canada markets only (on England). They’d just lost their contract to rebadge Constellations with Indian Motorcycle regalia then...
1960 Royal Enfield Bullet 1960 ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET – A LONG HISTORY Royal Enfield introduced the 350cc and 500cc single-cylinder...