Features

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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Exploring the torque of the 500cc BSA, Allan hangs the rear end out… The myth surrounding this machine was not bestowed on the bike by owner Ken Bayliss, or rider 2007 and 2008 British Classic Scrambles Champion Andy Roberton but by its outstanding results on the track. Having competed with Andy Roberton most of my…

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Our tester found that the important dimensions fitted him well When changing colours it would essentially become a Monark and, one more time, a Lito. Therefore testing the Husqvarna version has to be compared to the bikes of the same family tree, the Monark we’ve already tested and the originator of these three Swedish scrambles…

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Classy Monark Testing the Monark brings all that is good with classic off-road sport together. A thoroughbred Swedish motorcycle owned by the successful International scrambles rider Vic Vaughan, a wonderful venue at Owestery, nr Winchester owned by Brian Lush who has worked with the Winchester MCC for around 30 years and who allowed us the…

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Jean-Francois in action during the 2009 Twinshock MXDN at Farleigh Castle in Wiltshire For many folk the very mention of Farleigh Castle will make the hairs on the back of their neck stand up as fond memories of the Wiltshire circuit come flooding back. Over the past five decades the legendary Grand Prix circuit in…

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Yamaha HL 500 in full flight Our test machine was the 1979 version, the second year of a short two year production run, absolutely stunning in its American livery of black and yellow instead of the European white and red models made at Shenstone in the old Norton factory. The bike belongs to Hilton Green,…

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Francis-Barnett Falcon Mike Matthews and Francis-Barnett go back a long way. The former AA man’s first bike was a Model 60 FB – and he bought that one more than 50 years ago. But this Model 76 – the first of the swinging arm FB trials models – is the bike the young Mike lusted…

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1978 250cc Bultaco Model 221 Ian’s a motocrosser first and foremost – he races a pre-65 650cc Triumph Metisse as well as modern bikes – but he’d always fancied a go at trials and bought this Bultaco from Steve Garlick, who had restored the bike about two years previously. Now Ian has embraced the twinshock…

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