The Classic MotorCycle

Started in 1903, The Classic MotorCycle has more to offer the true vintage motorcycle enthusiast than any other publication, backed by Europe's largest motorcycle image archive.

Welcome

The Classic MotorCycle

Thunder Flash! • That’s what this 1096cc Norton-JAP special was called, it being a bespoke machine featuring a Manx Norton chassis and big V-twin engine.

News & Events

THE WAY WE WERE IN JULY

Book Review

Darting about • This handsome, modern motorcycle was really only envisaged as a test bed and showcase for an engine which its makers intended to sell to others.

Triumphant gathering • Collection of motorcycles return to where they were built, with some having travelled quite a distance, including a large group evidently from Austria.

Readers’ Letters • YOUR VOICE & YOUR OPINIONS

Pressure and pleasure • Assembling the world’s biggest collection of Brough Superior SS100s proved to be hard work, but it was worthwhile, as the display wooed the Stafford crowds.

Not great expectations • Sometimes, it’s nice to be pleasantly surprised, as the experience with this Royal Enfield Constellation proves.

Polished Peebles • Held on Sunday, May 7, 2025, at the Drill Hall, Peebles, in the Scottish borders, this event welcomed 50 gleaming classics.

Luxury lightweight • In the crowded landscape of post-Second World War Italian motorcycle manufacturers, some names rose to global fame, while others faded into obscurity. This Pirotta 75 Sport Lusso belongs to the latter camp, and offers a glimpse into a forgotten corner of motorcycling history.

A close shave • This veteran BSA so nearly ended up in the scrap bin, after it had already survived for over 100 years. Thanks to Wesley Wall’s persistence, it didn’t.

Doing it differently • With the majority of the rest of the world opting for parallel twins, particularly at middleweight, the Moto Morini provided a breath of fresh air.

Fit for purpose • If golf is a good walk ruined, then is it perhaps best to use the course for off-road motorcycle sport, as here?

Dreams know no boundaries • With memories of A10s from the past prevalent, a project was undertaken to relive those halcyon days.

From bath chair to battlefield • Arthur Westerdick’s inventive spirit – and furniture-making skills – changed the course of his family’s history, and contributed to the Allied efforts during the First World War.

Two steps forward… • The MZ TS125 project sees the chassis come together with refreshed components, before revealing a mysterious fork oil leak and some missing wiring that will both need investigation.

Sketchbook Travels presents: MOTORCYCLE SPECIALS • The Mead & Tomkinson Nessie

Return to the road • Following on from last issue, where nine years of neglect were tackled head on, some more work is done on a bigger Triumph, readying it for a comeback.

Diary

Let your ideals slip • Every motorcyclist has a dream machine, albeit perhaps it’s worth acknowledging the dream changes according to circumstance.

Re-restore, not fade away • Like the proverbial curate’s egg, a 1926 Norton restored 35 years ago is good, but only in parts. It is now time to spend some effort and money on correcting its faults.

Bigger and bigger • When, over 60 years ago, Walter Kaaden developed a 125cc two-stroke engine able to deliver 25bhp, he created a world first, as this was the equivalent of a one-litre engine producing 200bhp. Six decades earlier, the favoured route to more power was to build ever larger capacity engines.