1966-69 CA160 Touring 160 Engine Engine Type OHC parallel twin cylinder Displacement 161cc Displacement Duel carburetors DRIVETRAIN Transmission 6-speed Front...
1960 Triumph Thunderbird The 1960 Triumph Thunderbird was similar in appearance to this 1960 Triumph T110 Tiger. Both had ‘bathtub’...
1978 Twinstar 185 (CM185T’78) Engine Engine Type OHC parallel twin cylinder four-stroke Displacement 181cc DRIVETRAIN Transmission 4-speed CHASSIS / SUSPENSION / BRAKES N/A DIMENSION N/A OTHER Color Candy Antares Red Candy Sword Blue The fuel tank and side cover stripes were white, gold, and black The “TWINSTAR” side cover decal...
1973-74 CB200 Engine Engine Type 198 cc, air cooled, 2 – cylinders parallel, 4-stroke Bore and Stroke 55.5 mm x...
1975 Norton Commando ABOVE: 1975 Norton Commando MkIII Roadster in Union Jack paint scheme. TROUBLE BEHIND THE SCENES While the...
Honda CB125SS Engine Engine Type Air cooled, twin cylinder, OHC, 2 valve per cylinder Displacement 124cc Bore and Stroke 44 X 41mm Compression Ratio 9.4:1 Fuel Delivery 2x Keihin 22mm slide type Max. Power Output 15 hp @ 11000 rpm Max. Torque 1.05 kg-m @ 9000 rpm Starter Electric DRIVETRAIN...
1963 Royal Enfield Interceptor 1963 ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR BACKGROUND Royal Enfield hopped up its 692cc Constellation and created a new...
1956 Matchless G9 500 Twin 1956 MATCHLESS G9 BACKGROUND Matchless Motorcycles cut their teeth on the depressed British home market,...
1965 Matchless G12CSR 650 Twin 1965 MATCHLESS G12CSR – A BRIEF HISTORY Matchless built their first vertical twin in 1949, the 500cc G9. In 1956, they punched it out to 600cc and named it the G12 (seen here). In 1959 they punched it out again to 650cc and called it...
1959 Triumph TR6 1959 TRIUMPH TR6 NOMENCLATURE 1959 was the last year that the TR6 did not carry a letter...
1970 Triumph TR6 1970 TRIUMPH TR6 BY THE NUMBERS For 1970, the Triumph TR6 was again known as “Tiger”, as...
1952 BSA A7 Pre-Unit 500 Twin 1952 BSA A7 BACKGROUND Like everyone else in the British motorcycle industry, BSA was caught flat-footed when Triumph introduced its game-changing 500 Speed Twin in 1938. And like virtually everyone else, BSA was relying heavily on single-cylinder designs for its bread and butter. But...
1966 Norton Atlas 1966 NORTON ATLAS HISTORY The story starts not with a Norton at all, but with the 1938...
1967 Norton Atlas 750 1967 NORTON ATLAS HISTORY The story starts not with a Norton at all, but with the...
1967 Triumph TR6 1967 Triumph TR6C Trophy 1967 TRUMPH TR6C TROPHY Triumph built two basic versions of the 650 TR6, the TR6C “Trophy” and the TR6R “Tiger”. The Trophy had high side pipes running along the left side and was set up for off-road use. The Tiger was the roadster...
1962 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1962 BSA A10 – NEARING END OF NON-UNIT CONSTRUCTION In 1962 BSA was in...
1966-67 CL160 Scrambler Engine Engine Type OHC parallel twin cylinders Displacement 161cc Fuel delivery dual carburetors Starter kick start only...
1970 BSA A65 1970 BSA A65 Firebird Scrambler 1970 BSA A65 FIREBIRD SCRAMBLER The term “scrambler” was the word used back then for a bike that might be called a “dual-sport” bike today. In other words, on that can be ridden on the highway, and yet handle itself off-road. These...
1971 BSA A70 Lightning 1971 BSA A70 LIGHTNING IS BORN BSA wanted to enlarge their 650 twin to a 750...
1974 Norton Commando A 1974 NORTON COMMANDO FOR EVERY TASTE The Commando was available in a variety of configurations, all...
2014 Norton Commando 961 2014 NORTON COMMANDO 961 BACKGROUND When the classic Commando went out of production in 1975, a battle over the rights to the name ensued. Ultimately UK business man Stuart Garner, who already owned Norton Racing Ltd acquired the rights to the Norton Commando brand. His new...
1963 Matchless G12CS 1963 MATCHLESS G12CS – A BRIEF HISTORY In 1963 there were four models offered of the G12....
1968-69 CL175K0 Scrambler Engine Engine Type 174cc OHC parallel twin cylinders Displacement 174cc Cylinders inclined from vertical DRIVETRAIN Transmission 5-speed...
1959 Benly Touring 125 (C92 and CA92) Engine Engine Type 124cc OHC parallel twin Carburetor Single Starter both electric start and kick start DRIVETRAIN Transmission 4-speed CHASSIS / SUSPENSION / BRAKES N/A DIMENSION OTHER Colorst Scarlet Red Blue Black The headlight was square and the headlight shell housed the speedometer...
1954 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1954 BSA A10 Golden Flash 1954 BSA A10 BACKGROUND Like every other British motorcycle...
1970 Norton Commando ABOVE: The 1970 Norton Commando came in a new guise: The Norton Commando Roadster, or Type R....
1971 BSA A65 BIG CHANGES FOR THE 1971 BSA A65 For the 1971 model year, BSA and Triumph changed virtually every item on their big 650 twins, with the exception of the engines. A new frame had been designed by BSA’s hopelessly misguided Umberslade Hall tech center. Instead of focusing...
1972 Norton Commando 1972 NORTON COMMANDO MODEL DESIGNATIONS All four road models became MkIVs & one completely new model was...
1976 Triumph TR7 1976 TRIUMPH TR7 IS A FIRST The 1976 model year was the first full model year under...
1957 Norton Dominator Dominator 88 – 500cc 1957 NORTON DOMINATOR BACKGROUND Norton designed the legendary “Featherbed Frame” for the single-cylinder Manx racer in 1950. In 1953 they dropped the Model 7’s 500 twin-cylinder engine into the Featherbed frame, and created a new bike, the Norton Dominator, in fact a whole...
1970 BSA A65 1970 BSA A65 Firebird Scrambler 1970 BSA A65 FIREBIRD SCRAMBLER The term “scrambler” was the word used...
1947 Triumph Speed Twin 1947 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN LEADS THE WAY At the end of World War II, civilian production...
1952 Triumph Thunderbird This 1952 Triumph Thunderbird is similar to the 1950 T-Bird ridden by Marlon ABOVE: This lovely 1952 Triumph Thunderbird honors the 1953 film “The Wild One”, but Marlon Brando’s was black. This was a huge shot-in-the-arm for Triumph Motorcycles. To capitalize on it, they would come out...
1962 Norton Jubilee 250 twin 1962 NORTON JUBILEE – WHAT’S IN A NAME? The name Norton Jubilee paid homage to...
1949 Triumph T100 Tiger 1949 TRIUMPH T100 TIGER LEADS THE PACK At the end of World War II, civilian production...
1971 Norton Commando 1971 Norton Commando ROADSTER 4 NEW MODELS The 1971 Norton Commando line grew from 2 models in 1968 (Fastback & S), to 3 models at the beginning of the 1969 model year (Fastback, S & R), then dropped back down to 2 models by the end of...
1969 CB175K3 Early model Super Sport 175 Engine Engine Type OHC parallel twin cylinders Displacement 174cc DRIVETRAIN Transmission 5-speed CHASSIS...
1967 BSA A65 1967 BSA A65 LIGHTNING 1967 BSA A65 LIGHTNING The 650 Lightning was BSA’s top-line bike, and meant...
1962 Norton Dominator 650SS 1962 NORTON DOMINATOR 650SS BACKGROUND The story starts not with a Norton, but with the 1938 Triumph 500 Speed Twin, the world’s first “modern” vertical twin. The rest of the British motorcycle industry went nuts and rushed to field their own 500 twins. But WWII got...
1959-63 CA95 Benly Touring 150 (early model) Engine Engine Type OHC parallel twin Displacement 154cc Carburetor Single DRIVETRAIN Transmission 4-speed...