1970 Rickman-BSA 441 1970 Rickman-BSA 441 Background This 1970 Rickman-BSA 441 is the product of years of development. After years...
1972 Norton Commando 1972 NORTON COMMANDO MODEL DESIGNATIONS All four road models became MkIVs & one completely new model was...
1963 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1963 BSA A10 SUPER ROCKET 1963 BSA A10 SUPER ROCKET The Super Rocket was launched in 1957 with the introduction of a new alloy cylinder head and the addition of an Amal TT carburetor. In 1961 a new “357” high-lift racing cam was added....
1942 HARLEY-DAVIDSON WLA – WHAT’S IN A NAME? The nomenclature “WLA” stands for something, as you probably suspected. The “W”...
1959 Ariel Huntmaster 1959 AREIL HUNTMASTER BACKGROUND Ariel was owned by the Sangster family, failed a few times, then ended...
1951 Velocette MAC 1951 VELOCETTE MAC IS A TOP-SELLER The Velocette MAC debuted in 1933. It had an air-cooled OHV 350cc single cylinder engine that was capable of hustling the 280-pound MAC to 75mph. It was developed out of the 250cc Velocette MOV by lengthening its stroke for the 1934...
1949 Ariel Red Hunter 1949 ARIEL RED HUNTER BACKGROUND The 1930s were indeed the Golden Age for the British motorcycle...
1929 Velocette KTT Background The 1929 Velocette KTT was the first year of the KTT line that would run until...
1951 BSA Gold Star 1951 BSA GOLD STAR – WHAT’S IN A NAME? Of course the origins of the Gold Star name is the stuff of legend. When Wal Handley lapped the Brooklands at over 100 MPH in 1937 on a BSA Empire Star, he was awarded the coveted Gold...
1970 Norton Mercury 1970 NORTON MERCURY BACKGROUND The Norton Mercury-series ran from 1968 to 1970 and represents the last model...
1938 VELOCETTE KTT RACING DEVELOPMENT Velocette was not only a trail-blazer in the field of advanced engine design, they were...
1971 Triumph T100R Daytona 1971 TRIUMPH T100R DAYTONA BACKGROUND The Daytona became Triumph’s top-of-the-line 500 twin. The “Daytona” name came from Triumph’s 500cc racing successes at Daytona in 1966 and again in 1967. The first use of the name on a production bike was for the 1966 model year. Like...
1952 Triumph TR5 Trophy ABOVE: This 1952 Triumph TR5 has a chrome tank with a silver panel and blue pinstriping....
1953 Ariel Square Four 1953 ARIEL SQUARE FOUR BACKGROUND The original Ariel Square Four was created by legendary engine designer,...
1949 VELOCETTE KTT BACKGROUND Velocette was an early pioneer of advanced overhead cam (OHC) engine designs. Designed by Percy & Eugene Goodman (sons of the owner of Velocette, John Goodman), all OHCs were designated K-series. The “K” was for “kam”, the German word for “cam”, meaning overhead cam. OHC designs...
1959 Triumph Thunderbird ABOVE: This 1959 Triumph Thunderbird has more than a healthy amount of patina. In fact, if it...
1949 Royal Enfield Bullet 1949 ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET BACKGROUND Royal Enfield had been building sturdy, reliable motorcycles since the turn...
1953 Triumph Thunderbird Sitting in for the 1953 Triumph Thunderbird is this lovely 1951 T-Bird. Very similar to the 1953 model, they share in common the rigid frame with sprung rear hub, forks, brakes, bodywork & cycle gear. Paint colors & minor trim features vary. Unfortunately, no photo was available...
1935 Velocette KTT Background The 1935 Velocette KTT was the first year of the KTT line that would run until...
1958 Triumph Twenty-One 1958 TRIUMPH TWENTY-ONE HAS BATHTUB STYLING. The British home market had been hungry for cheap transportation after...
1948 Ariel Red Hunter 1948 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...
1951 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1951 BSA A10 Golden Flash 1951 BSA A10 GOLDEN FLASH From its launch in...
1967 Royal Enfield Interceptor 1967 ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR BACKGROUND Royal Enfield hopped up its 692cc Constellation and created a new...
1966 Velocette Thruxton 1966 VELOCETTE THRUXTON Velocette has a proven design in their 500cc Velocette Venom. Big singles had sort passed from grace in the 1960s with the advent of all the twins pouring out of Britain, and now the high-revving, and totally-reliable twins coming out of Japan. Velocette didn’t...
1973 Triumph Daytona 500 1973 TRIUMPH DAYTONA – WHAT’S IN A NAME? Triumph derived the name of this bike from...
1951 Triumph Thunderbird 1951 Triumph Thunderbird Background The 1951 Triumph Thunderbird carried the model designation “6T”. All 6T’s were 650’s...
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...
1969 Norton Dominator 650SS 1969 NORTON DOMINATOR 650SS BACKGROUND The story starts not with a Norton, but with the 1938...
1933 Velocette KTT Background The 1933 Velocette KTT was the fifth year of the KTT line that would run until...
1973 TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE MODEL DESIGNATIONS 1973 was a big year for the new Oil-in-Frame Triumph Bonneville. Starting the model year with Engine #JH15366, the T120 Bonneville 650 soldiered on for another year (it would finally be dropped in 1976), side-by-side with the new T140 Bonneville 750, which started with Engine...
1962 BSA Gold Star 1962 BSA GOLD STAR CLUBMAN While the BSA Gold Star was famous for its off-road and...
1957 MATCHLESS G11 BACKGROUND Matchless entered the vertical twin race in 1949 with the 500cc G9 and its sister-bike, the...
1958 Triumph Thunderbird ABOVE: The 1958 Triumph Thunderbird 6T looked very similar to this 1958 Triumph T110 Tiger, with headlight nacelle and full fenders. We need good photos of a ’58 T-bird. If you own one, please send us pictures of YOUR BIKE! RACING WINS FOR TRIUMPH 1958 was a...
1955 MATCHLESS G45 BACKGROUND Matchless introduced the G45 500 twin in 1951 as a race bike. It debuted at the...
ABOVE: 1960 Triumph Bonneville TR7/A Roadster w/down pipes. MODEL DESIGNATIONS The 1960 Triumph Bonneville was designated TR7 by Triumph Motorcycles...
1954 Ariel Red Hunter 1954 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...
1939 BROUGH SUPERIOR SS100 BACKGROUND The SS100 (SS stood for “Super Sports”) was built from the very best components available...