Wednesday 10th March, 2010
Every now and then, I get an email from a gentleman called Seth Dorfler, who is well known in US motorcycling circles. Dorfler presides over a seemingly inexhaustible archive of vintage motorcycle photographs, plus Ducati and Moto Guzzi memorabilia. (Much of this material was gathered from his days working for the Berliner Motor Corporation, one [...]
Did you know that many current Mercedes cars have no dipsticks? And if you buy a new car today, you probably won’t see much of the engine when you pop the hood: it’ll be covered by a giant plastic shroud. I was reminded of that when I first clapped eyes on this lovely picture, which [...]
This beauty isn’t a show bike from the 70s: it’s the actual factory ‘Red Line’-framed 750 cc Triumph ridden by AMA Flat Track star Don Castro. The psychedelic streamlined bodywork came from a sponsor called The Fiberglas Works; it was outlawed by the AMA for violating the anti-slipstreaming rules after just one outing, at the [...]
Sunday 21st February, 2010
By guest writer Richard Fowler of Motorsport Retro. When a young Kenny Roberts first ventured to Europe in 1978 to ride in the 500cc World Championship, no one was expecting him to be a title contender. But he was armed with the brutal Yamaha YZR500 OW35K, and created history by winning the 500 cc crown [...]
Friday 19th February, 2010
Rob North is a name you occasionally hear in classic racing circles, but it seems that few people know much about the man. In the 1960s and 70s he built frames for BSA and Triumph triples, working with factory bikes, and at least one Honda CB750. North’s reputation was high, and the rights to the [...]
Sunday 7th February, 2010
This replica of a works Honda motocross bike is causing a ripple in vintage motocross circles. In the mid-70s, the poster boy for motocross was Marty Smith, and he rode an RC125 Elsinore. Although it looked similar to the Elsinore you could buy at your local dealer, it was actually a seriously tricked-out bike [PDF]. [...]
Tuesday 2nd February, 2010
It’s hard to believe this racebike was built sixty years ago. But it was so far ahead of its time, it was still winning races in the 70s. It’s thought that only seven factory Big Base ‘Daytona’ Scouts still exist; this particular one went under the hammer in 2008. The ‘Big Base’ Indian 648s were [...]
Saturday 9th January, 2010
We’ve got a bit of a thing for Moto Guzzi here, and this vintage racing motorcycle from Japan has got to be one of the best Guzzis in the world. We first noticed it in September but now owner Siroh Nakajimi of Ritmo Sereno has released more pictures and information about his personal bike. The [...]
Monday 28th December, 2009
By guest writer Richard Fowler of Motorsport Retro. This radical motocrosser from 1980 was the result of the Honda factory’s open chequebook—and a desperate desire to see off its rivals. Born in response to Gilera’s twin cylinder motocross bike, the Honda RC125M Twin was nothing short of a beautifully engineered technological marvel. Producing a staggering [...]
