Features

It is the same sort of thinking that decreed rear suspension would never catch on for trials bikes, or that a twin could never achieve the level of grip a plodding single could, and any number of similar examples of accepted wisdom. What’s often forgotten is no matter how trick a bike is it still…

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You need hands… We’ve all experienced the ‘blocked jet’ feeling in a carburettor, the bike doesn’t work as we want it to, it’ll hesitate, splutter, pop, bang and any number of other odd sensations. For us in the off-road world this can mean dirt or water has invaded the space where only fuel and air…

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Since the contest started in 1947 it attracted the best of the best to come and do battle for their country on classic scrambles tracks throughout Europe and the spectacle of the world-renowned greats doing team duty in 1964 was one to behold… if they could be seen. The 1964 contest was a dusty one…

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Finlay originally bought the bike in 1996 as a non-runner. The seller was a local motocross racer, Davie Lawson, who had had the bike lying in his garage for more than four years just gathering dust. Finlay says, “When I first laid eyes on the bike I thought ‘oh my God look at the state…

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Well, when we say ‘we’ pull a Villiers apart we mean someone who knows more about them than us and can actually put it back together correctly (Steve Gollings, Villiers Services). Along the way we’ll tell you something about these engines and how to look after them, what bits wear, what bits don’t wear and…

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Don Rickman on the Mk.II Metisse That the brothers were at the top of their game and talented engineers made the leap of faith a lot less risky than might be expected. Having raced most of the opposition the answer was obvious, a frame here, forks there, an engine from somewhere else and so it…

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In both legs of the British round Jonsson finished ahead of series leader Roger De Coster, his win and a second was good enough to make him the overall winner on the day and squeeze Belgian De Coster’s lead to three points. As the title chase headed to Belgium, Jonsson kept up the pressure by…

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Though Grogg and Husser were involved with some close racing during the event, including challenges by Englishmen Terry Good and Nick Thompson, the outcome never really seemed in doubt. The Swiss pair displayed a calm forcefulness – if such a trait can exist – and their efforts meant that the top two title contenders were…

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Triumph Metisse Reg relates a tale that’s a familiar one in our world – bike mad teenager spends every waking moment involved in either thinking about, fixing or riding motorcycles then gets a job working in a bike shop. "I started in VT Norridge’s at Minster Lovell when I left school. It was very much…

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Mick Andrews at work That he was to make it ‘three in a row’ is well recorded in the history books but for 1971 he was delighted with two consecutive wins. Not that he had it easy all week… as second and third place men Gordon Farley and Malcolm Rathmell were close behind. Pictured here…

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