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

Every picture tells a story • This wonderfully evocative photograph seemingly captures motorcycling at its peak, though it isn’t quite what it seems.

News & Events

THE WAY WE WERE IN AUGUST

Book Review

Ladies go Nuts • This pair of hardy female riders completed a gruelling trial on their matched pair of machines.

The start of something • New Zealand-based Scotsman Bob Burns, posed with his secondhand Vincent Rapide, a machine which led to an absolute motorcycle land speed record.

Readers’ Letters • YOUR VOICE & YOUR OPINIONS

Tangerine Dream • It was passion which led to a succession of exotic machines bearing the Laverda name, with the exotic, ‘road-going’ 750SFC chief among them.

The Scottish play • The Pre-65 Scottish Two-Day Trial is one of the most widely anticipated and hotly contested events in the classic sporting calendar. This year was its ruby anniversary.

Royal Charm • Briefly Royal Enfield’s flagship post-Second World War model, the 500cc twin-port J2 soldiered on into the mid-1950s as uncomplicated, dependable and economical transport, though its utilitarian nature isn’t without its charms.

Mud and glory • It was rather mucky, to say the least, at the Red Marley Hill Climb, held on April 1 – though those there were no fools, having a great time all round.

The Gentleman’s Speed Machine • Boasting brilliant performance and fabulous finish, this 1926 Sunbeam Model 9 was, and remains, the choice of the discerning connoisseur.

Turkish delight • After Istanbul, Ankara and Cunda, the Turkish tycoon Rahmi M. Koç has opened a new museum in Ayvalik, in which many British classics can be seen.

Bopeep’s vintage flock • The popular Snow-Mann Regularity Trial at Selmeston, East Sussex, this year took place on April 28, 2024.

Tales of the City • Separate from the rest of London’s Metropolitan Police, the City of London police had its own different tastes too, exampled by this unusual Greeves.

Picture perfect • It doesn’t get much better, so far as classic riding is concerned, than the Moidart Run – if like this year, the weather is on your side…

Motorcycle musings • What makes one powered two-wheeled offering better than another? There are myriad things to consider and contemplate. Here’s some ideas…

BOMBARDIERCAN-AM (MILITARY MODEL)

Sketchbook Travels presents: MOTORCYCLE SPECIALS • FAHRON Engineering's 125cc Racers

Continuing the theme • Making a motorcycle run is only half the job, you also need to get it running properly, and on the road.

Diary

The good old days? • Every generation has a tendency to look back on its own with fondness, while pitying those belonging to other eras.

Swap shop success… Sort of • The offer of a trade tempts us all, especially when it clears some space and adds another new toy to fiddle with.

Family business • One of the world’s most famous motorcycle carburettor makers, Dell’Orto has supplied carburettors, and more latterly engine management equipment, since before the Second World War. And it still remains owned and run by the founding family.