Matchless Silver Hawk flies to $60k auction sale
More than $60,000 for a Matchless! That’s the result from the Mecum classic mogtorcycle auction in Las Vegas in January. Well, it is a very special Matchless, a 1934 Silver…
Bike Of The Week
13 posts
Raw and Raucous: 1975 Ducati 900 Super Sport
Somewhere around the mid-1970s, Ducati fever overtook me and half of the motorcycle world. Paul Smart’s win at the ’72 Imola 200 had lit the fuse, and the factory’s road-going…
Scott Flying Squirrel: Two-Stroke Royalty
In the history of great British motorcycles, the Scott Flying Squirrel sits slightly apart — not aloof, just… different. While other marques of the 1920s boomed, barked and thumped their…
1970 Honda CB750: The Original Superbike Heads to Auction
There are few motorcycles that changed the course of motorcycling history quite like the Honda CB750. When it arrived in 1969, it wasn’t just another new model, it was a…
The Curious Case of the 1970 Indian Velocette Venom 500
In the twilight years of the British motorcycle industry, when storied marques were either folding or floundering, an American entrepreneur named Floyd Clymer attempted to write one last heroic chapter.…
1988 Yamaha XT500: Still Crated After All These Years
If you had to pick one motorcycle that set the template for the modern adventure bike, the Yamaha XT500 would be a strong contender. Built from 1975 until 1989, the…
Kawasaki GPz900R: Top Gun Legend That Changed Motorcycling
Some motorcycles are remembered for their technical brilliance. Others for their cultural impact. A select few, like Kawasaki’s GPz900R, manage both. It was the bike that rewrote the rulebook in…
Climbing Legends: 1928 Harley-Davidson FHAD Hillclimber
In the smoky, oil-rich atmosphere of 1920s American racing, the hillclimb was the gladiator arena of the motorcycle world. Stripped of niceties and bred for brute power and control, these…
Fancy a bit of Hollywood history? Bud Ekins’ Matchless G80S
If ever a motorbike could wear sunglasses and a leather jacket, this would be it. This 1952 Matchless G80S isn’t just a handsome slab of post-war British iron — it…
1928 BSA Sloper: A Jolly Green Giant is calling
There’s a certain quality and star status afforded classic motorcycles with girder forks. Partly it’s because many date from a ‘Golden Age’ of motorcycles when there were dozens of manufacturers…
Triumph’s very first ‘unit’ construction twin: the 1957 350cc ‘Twenty-One’
A seismic change in British motorcycle design happened in 1957: the introduction of ‘unit’ construction combining the engine, primary drive and gearbox in one case. The first Triumph twin to…
Moto Guzzi Spada Royale: The Luton Job
Back in the 1970s and early 80s, Luton dealer Coburn & Hughes was the UK agent for two Italian manufacturers, Ducati and Moto Guzzi. Two very different styles of motorcycle…
BSA Bantam GPO: the Little Red Rooster
Mess with institutions at your peril and few have been messed around more than the UK Post Office. Established by King Charles II in 1660, the Royal Mail service was…