Features

Kawasaki KX500 There’s no question that the motocross scene took on a new urgency once the Japanese factories got their heads down and decided to win. With seemingly unlimited budgets the Big Four stormed across the sport and upped everyone’s game. Naturally there had always been factory teams but until BSA started playing around with…

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Francis-Barnett ready for work… There are the odd one or two actual pre 65 bikes still being used in trials that are as they were in the 1960s. Two that spring to mind are an SSDT winning Lampkin BSA that was used in the pre 65 Scottish a year or two back and a 1964…

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Suzuki RM125S In just a few short years since the launch of the TM range in 1971, motocross had moved on – and it was time for Suzuki to do likewise. By 1975, the TM series ranged from the tiny TM75 (launched in 1974) to the mighty TM400 – the first of the TM dynasty.…

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Fantic 245 The Fantic 245’s moment of glory came in 1989 when Steve Saunders, the then works rider, won the Scottish Six Days Trial on one. It was an interesting week with the early part being horrendously wet then the weather picked up and at the end of the week it was baking hot. So…

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Can-Am 250 needed some tlc So, there I was, in the office after doing Vinduro last year and spouting forth to anyone who would listen – or couldn’t escape – about how fabulous the event was. And that the twinshock enduro scene was sure to be a growth area, combining the speed of MX with…

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Honda RTL For four-stroke fans there was a glimmer of hope when Honda announced the launch of its TL125 in the early 1970s. At last, it seemed, the sound of those ringadingding two-strokes would be drowned out as the throaty rumble of a single cylinder four-stroke would be heard again. Classic fans were to be…

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Still to be done is the wiring and some paint on the side cases Part of the aim of this project was to produce a bike that could give its owner a lot of fun and be a practical proposition as a ride to work machine. You see, we reckon in today’s financial climate there…

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Can-Am 250cc dismantled. Oops… In part one of our Can-Am rebuild project we unveiled our project bike (actually, it was unveiled at Wrighty’s show in Telford but the wider audience saw it in Issue 19), a 250cc Rotax engined Can-Am built for the British Army. Opinion ranged from “you’ve a task on your hands” to…

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Can-Am at dry run stage… At one end of the Classic Dirt Bike office there is Racer Boy who goes quickly, very quickly actually, in modern bike racing and a little closer to the CDB desk is Hill Climb Bloke, who looks like he’s going to be a champion at the end of the season.…

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First stage at road legalness… I’ve got to admit that by this point I’d expected to have the bike in a much prettier state than it is. The intention was to have the frame painted, lights sorted, engine rebuilt and all that sort of thing. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always work that way and the death…

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