1956 Matchless G9 500 Twin 1956 MATCHLESS G9 BACKGROUND Matchless Motorcycles cut their teeth on the depressed British home market,...
1958 Ariel Huntmaster 1958 ARIEL HUNTMASTER BACKGROUND Ariel was owned by the Sangster family, failed a few times, then ended...
1961 Triumph Speed Twin 1961 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN HAS A “BATHTUB” 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...
1949 Triumph T100 Tiger 1949 TRIUMPH T100 TIGER LEADS THE PACK At the end of World War II, civilian production...
1949 Vincent Rapide 1949 VINCENT RAPIDE BACKGROUND Vincent built its reputation on it’s robust 499cc Comet single. Prior to the...
1956 Triumph Blackbird ABOVE: The 1956 Triumph Blackbird was essentially a 6T Thunderbird painted black. This earned it the name “Blackbird”. STUCK WITH THE IRON HEAD The 1956 Thunderbird retained its old cast iron head and all its overheating problems, while the new alloy “Delta head” debuted on the Triumph...
1971 BSA A70 Lightning 1971 BSA A70 LIGHTNING IS BORN BSA wanted to enlarge their 650 twin to a 750...
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 Buddy Elmore’s win at the 1966 Daytona 200 at Daytona Beach FL riding a Triumph T100T Tiger 500 twin. It was Triumph’s first-ever Daytona victory, with an average speed of...
1947 Norton 350T 1947 NORTON 350T BACKGROUND Right after the War, all the British motorcycle manufacturers were gearing back up...
1963 Royal Enfield Interceptor 1963 ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR BACKGROUND Royal Enfield hopped up its 692cc Constellation and created a new...
1962 BSA A65 1962 BSA A65 – NEW UNIT TWIN After 15 years of great success with their pre-unit twins, the 500cc A7 and the 650cc A10, BSA had a real challenge ahead of them. How do you follow up a ‘home run’ like the A7 & A10? They had...
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...
1964 Triumph Thunderbird 1964 TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD AS A COMMUTER? When the 6T Thunderbird launched in 1950, it was the first Triumph 650 (up from the 500cc 5T Speed Twin, and was the largest British-made parallel twin at the time. As such, it was a true hot rod in its day....
1938 Velocette MAC 1938 VELOCETTE MAC BACKGROUND Velocette, while a relatively small motorcycle company, was always known for it innovative...
1958 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1958 BSA A10 BACKGROUND BSA’s A10 was the 650 version in it’s twin cylinder...
1956 Triumph Thunderbird ABOVE: This 1956 Triumph Thunderbird wearing black livery was nicknamed “Blackbird” by the public and it stuck. STUCK WITH THE IRON HEAD The 1956 Triumph Thunderbird retained its old cast iron head and all its overheating problems, while the new alloy “Delta head” debuted on the Triumph...
1966 Norton Atlas 1966 NORTON ATLAS HISTORY The story starts not with a Norton at all, but with the 1938...
1959 Triumph Tiger Cub 1959 TRIUMPH TIGER CUB BACKGROUND The 200cc T20 Tiger Cub was produced from 1956 through 1968...
1975 Rickman 250MX 1975 RICKMAN 250MX – LAST OF THE BREED After a brilliant career that started in 1959 with the creation of the first Rickman Metisse prototype, the Rickman’s brothers’ line of MX race bikes came to an end in 1975. Market changes certainly had something to do with...
1954 Triumph Speed Twin 1954 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN BACKGROUND In a few short years, the 5T Speed Twin went from...
1970 Royal Enfield Interceptor 1970 ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR BACKGROUND Royal Enfield hopped up its 692cc Constellation and created a new...
1939 BSA Silver Star 1939 BSA SILVER STAR BACKGROUND The brilliant engineer Val Page designed BSA’s new 500 single in 1937, while at the same time bringing some rationale to BSA’s complex product lineup. It was now made up of 250 and 350 singles in what was called the “B-class”,...
1957 Triumph Thunderbird 1957 TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD IS THE COOKING VERSION The 1957 Triumph Thunderbird was fast becoming the ‘ugly sister’...
1951 Ariel Square Four 1951 ARIEL SQUARE FOUR BACKGROUND The original Ariel Square Four was created by legendary engine designer,...
1962 Triumph TR6 1962 TRIUMPH TR6 NOMENCLATURE Of course, this is tFor the 1962 model year the only Triumph TR6 produced was the Triumph TR6 S/S Trophy. Gone were the “C” & “R” designations, leaving the TR6 to become very much a Triumph Bonneville without the second carb. 1962 Triumph...
1961 BSA Gold Star 1961 BSA GOLD STAR GETTING LONG IN THE TOOTH The Gold Star originally evolved out of...
1969 Triumph Daytona 500 1969 TRIUMPH DAYTONA – WHAT’S IN A NAME? Triumph derived the name of this bike from...
1967 BSA A65 1967 BSA A65 LIGHTNING 1967 BSA A65 LIGHTNING The 650 Lightning was BSA’s top-line bike, and meant to do battle with the market-dominating Triumph Bonneville and had twin carbs just like the Bonnie. The Lightning was certainly fast enough and handled well. It just never had the...
1966 Triumph TR6 1966 TRIUMPH TR6 BY THE NUMBERS For the 1966 model year, the model lineup were TR6, TR6R,...
1971 Rickman-Weslake 1971 Rickman-Weslake Background This 1971 Rickman-Weslake is typical of the Rickman dirt bikes running around in the 1960s...
1948 Velocette KSS 1948 VELOCETTE KSS BACKGROUND The Velocette KSS debuted in 1925 as an OHC (overhead cam) 350cc air-cooled single. Being OHC placed it at the cutting edge of engine technology at a time when most machines still used side-valve designs or pushrods. The name KSS breaks down to...
1955 Ariel Red Hunter 1955 ARIEL RED HUNTER BACKGROUND The 1930s were indeed the Golden Age for the British motorcycle...
1932 Aerial Square Four 1932 ARIEL SQUARE FOUR GROWS TO 600cc The first production Ariel Square Four was the 1931...
1976 Triumph TR7 1976 TRIUMPH TR7 IS A FIRST The 1976 model year was the first full model year under the newly-formed, worked-owned Meriden Co-op. It was also the first year that the big twins (Bonneville and TR7 went to left-foot-shift, as mandated by US law. It was a big...
1961 Triumph Cub 1961 TRIUMPH CUB BACKGROUND The 200cc T20 Tiger Cub was produced from 1956 through 1968 and sold...
1960 Triumph T100 Tiger “Bathtub” 1960 TRIUMPH T100 TIGER BATHTUB STYLING Bathtub styling was part of a brief flirtation with...
1955 Triumph T110 Tiger 1955 TRIUMPH T110 TIGER CONTINUALLY IMPROVES True to the British style at the time, steady, continuous improvements were applied to all their bikes. The 650cc T110 Tiger was their hottest bike in 1955 (the TR6 wouldn’t topple its top spot until 1956), so much attention was...
1959 Triumph TR6 1959 TRIUMPH TR6 NOMENCLATURE 1959 was the last year that the TR6 did not carry a letter...