Features

These days a monoshock or cantilever suspension system is considered ‘normal’, but in 1962 John Wilkinson must have caused a bit of a stir when he turned up at a scramble with this Goldie. Cantilever Beezer It’s pretty radical even now – in the 1960s it must have really caught the eye. In the competition…

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It started off as a nice idea when CDB was offered a totally original Francis-Barnett trials bike to feature. How many other comp bikes had survived unrestored, we asked, can’t be many surely? Maybe we’d get three or four out of the idea… seems there are more survivors out there than we thought. Anyway, just…

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In 1966, while England’s footballers prepared to write their names in World Cup history, a young Yorkshire lad was putting his on the JR Alexander Trophy. SID’S SCOTTISH… Tyndrum was a long old ride from Fort William and a tricky number to get right. “Does it feel 50 years ago?” I asked Alan Lampkin as…

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This bike created a sensation at Earls Court Motorcycle Show in 1966. In a world in which two-strokes suddenly had taken the lead in motocross, there were still lots of sympathies for classic four-stroke machines. Could the Lito X-cam have rewritten history? Lito X-cam To people with a special interest in Swedish half-litre four-stroke motocross…

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Though history records Les Archer as being European motocross champion in 1956, results, or lack of, at the start of the season suggested a different outcome for the series. That was the year… Les Archer became European MX champion Les could well have graced the tarmac scene, he was certainly good enough. In an interview…

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Time and time again proof arises that the British industry wasn’t short on ideas or talent. Finance on the other hand… Colin Sparrow looks over the Greeves 500. Gone but not forgotten Former Greeves race series champion Greg Radley shows the 500 can go… By the beginning of the 1970s clouds were gathering for the…

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One of the most popular events on the trials calendar is the Manx International Classic Trial. A two-day affair, held latterly on September 5-6, it took riders all round the Isle of Man and provided a variety of terrain to test the skills of all entrants. Rob Bowyer, former winner of the Pre-65 Scottish, concentrates…

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Having achieved so much in motorcycling, Harold Martin Lampkin – ‘Mart’, ‘Big Mart’ or ‘H’ depending on who you talk to – is the subject of many images in our archive. We hope this small selection of pictures goes some way to show the impact that this true legend – who died earlier this spring…

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