250 – 499cc
BSA B50
BSA B50 BACKGROUND BSA built its business and its reputation on big singles. The 350cc and 500cc Gold Star dominated the off-road market from the late 1930s to the early 1960s. By this time of course, the state of the art had moved forward considerably, and the heavy Gold Star couldn’t compete with lighter 2-strokes …
Triumph Speed Twin
TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN CHANGES THE WORLD! From their earliest inception through the 1930s, most classic British motorcycles were single-cylinder designs with a few V-twins thrown in for sidecar duty. But the problem with both these configurations is vibration and a lot of it. As bikes grew in displacement and power output and the engine speed …
Norton Navigator
NORTON NAVIGATOR BACKGROUND Norton has always been known for big powerful bikes like the Manx and the Commando. But they also had a very ambitious line of smaller bikes that they originally built to respond to a change in British motoring law that was announced in 1958. Starting in 1960, first-time British motorcycle riders would …
Velocette KSS
VELOCETTE KSS – WHAT’S IN A NAME? In case you were wondering, the letters “KSS” stand for Kamshaft Super Sport or Camshaft Super Sport. The original owners of Velocette were German, and the German spelling is with a K. The KSS was the final development of the K-series, and it stayed in series production until …
1950 AJS 7R Boy Racer
1950 AJS 7R BOY RACER BACKGROUND The 7R was a factory road racer produced by AJS from 1948 through 1963. It’s 348cc displacement put it in the middleweight, or ‘junior’ class of racing, and hence the nickname “Boy Racer”. With up to 40 horsepower and weighing only 285 pounds, they were fast (120 mph top …
1959 AJS Model 16
1959 AJS MODEL 16 BACKGROUND The Model 16 was AJS’s middleweight 350 single. They were rugged, well-designed and fast for their era and class. Since AMC owned both companies, both AJS and Matchless had nearly identical bikes. Matchless called theirs the G3 and besides styling, the only mechanical difference between the two was that AJS …
1953 AJS Model 18
1953 AJS Model 18S 1953 AJS Model 18C 1953 AJS MODEL 18 BACKGROUND Since AMC owned both brands, the AJS Model 18 is almost mechanically identical to the Matchless G80. Besides styling, the only real difference between the two is that AJS mounted it’s magneto in front of the cylinder, and Matchless mounted theirs behind. …
1964 Matchless G3C
1964 MATCHLESS G3C BACKGROUND Parent-company AMC got a contract to build 80,000 Matchless G3s and G3/Ls for the British government during World War II. When the war ended, these became the foundation of AMC’s middleweight line, including both the 350cc Matchless G3 and the AJS Model 16. As always, both were solid, well-built machines that …
1955 BSA Gold Star
1955 BSA GOLD STAR BACKGROUND By 1955, the Gold Star was well-sorted and had turned into a fine machine. All Goldies were special to begin with, each engine being hand-assembled and dyno-tested at the factory. A copy of the dyno test was included with each new Gold Star. They were powerful and reliable, and they …
1953 Velocette MAC
1953 Velocette MAC 1953 VELOCETTE MAC IS A TOP-SELLER The Velocette MAC debuted in 1933. It had an air-cooled OHV 350cc single cylinder engine that was capable of hustling the 280-pound MAC to 75mph. It was developed out of the 250cc Velocette MOV by lengthening its stroke for the 1934 model year, and the new …
1962 Velocette Venom
1962 Velocette Venom 1962 Velocette Venom CLUBMAN 1962 VELOCETTE VENOM CLUBMAN The Venom was already a fairly low-volume bike, but the Clubman option was even more rare. Just 36 Venom Clubmans were built in 1962. The Clubman package included rearset footpegs and controls, early-style upswept exhaust, TLS (Twin Leading Shoe) front drum brake with cooling …
1957 Norton Manx
1957 Norton Manx 1957 NORTON MANX BACKGROUND The Norton Manx was developed in 1937, in both SOHC and DOHC form, to compete in and win the Isle of Man TT. Before fully developed, World War II intervened, and production of the Manx was delayed until 1946. The Manx quickly gained a reputation for its speed …
1939 BSA Gold Star
1939 BSA Gold Star THE 1939 BSA GOLD STAR IS FAST! The BSA Gold Star was introduced in 1938 in both 350cc and 500cc form. They were hand-built as high-performance machines. The BSA factory offered several performance modifications as options. Every bike was run on a dyno, and came from the factory with a printout …
2007 Royal Enfield Bullet Sidecar Rig
2007 Royal Enfield Bullet Sidecar Rig 2007 ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET SIDECAR RIG BACKGROUND Royal Enfield was another classic British motorcycle brand that started out in the late 1800s building bicycles. By 1899 they were dropping other makers’ engines into things and before long they were building motorcycles. Over the following decades they built a reputation …
1947 Velocette KSS
1947 Velocette KSS 1947 VELOCETTE KSS BACKGROUND The Velocette KSS debuted in 1925 as an OHC (overhead cam) 350cc air-cooled single. Being OHC placed it at the cutting edge of engine technology at a time when most machines still used side-valve designs or pushrods. The name KSS breaks down to the K for overhead cam …
1946 Triumph Speed Twin
1946 Triumph Speed Twin 1946 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN – IN WAR & PEACE World War II had been hard on England. British motorcycle manufacturers like Triumph and BSA, did well during the war selling side-valve singles to the Army and lots of other stuff. But, war is hell, right? In 1940, the Germans bombed the …
1967 Triumph Daytona
1967 Triumph Daytona 500 1967 TRIUMPH DAYTONA – WHAT’S IN A NAME? Triumph derived the name of this bike from Buddy Elmore’s win at the 1966 Daytona 200 at Daytona Beach FL riding a Triumph T100T Tiger 500 twin to Triumph’s first-ever Daytona victory, with an average speed of 96.6 mph. By 1967, it was …
1958 BSA Gold Star
1958 BSA Gold Star 1958 BSA GOLD STAR BACKGROUND By 1958, the Gold Star was well-sorted and had turned into a fine machine. All Goldies were special to begin with, each engine being hand-assembled and dyno-tested at the factory. A copy of the dyno test was included with each new Gold Star. They were powerful …
1949 Velocette MAC
1949 VELOCETTE MAC IS A TOP-SELLER The Velocette MAC debuted in 1933. It had an air-cooled OHV 350cc single cylinder engine that was capable of hustling the 280-pound MAC to 75mph. It was developed out of the 250cc Velocette MOV by lengthening its stroke for the 1934 model year, and the new machine was …
1950 Matchless G80
THE NEW 1950 MATCHLESS G80 1949 was the first year for the Matchless G80, the company’s top-line 500 single. Typical of British bikes of the era, it used pushrods and a small bore/long stroke (undersquare). The new bike also had a new frame with a swing arm rear suspension, and “Teledraulic” (telescopic and hydraulically damped) …
1952 Matchless G80
THE NEW 1952 MATCHLESS G80 1949 was the first year for the Matchless G80, the company’s top-line 500 single. Typical of British bikes of the era, it used pushrods and a small bore/long stroke (undersquare). The new bike also had a new frame with a swing arm rear suspension, and “Teledraulic” (telescopic and hydraulically damped) …
1953 Matchless G80
THE NEW 1953 MATCHLESS G80 1949 was the first year for the Matchless G80, the company’s top-line 500 single. Typical of British bikes of the era, it used pushrods and a small bore/long stroke (undersquare). The new bike also had a new frame with a swing arm rear suspension, and “Teledraulic” (telescopic and hydraulically damped) …
1949 Matchless G80
THE NEW 1949 MATCHLESS G80 1949 was the first year for the Matchless G80S, the company’s top-line 500 single, the addition rear suspension. Typical of British bikes of the era, it used pushrods and a small bore/long stroke (undersquare). The new bike also had a new frame with a swing arm rear suspension, and “Teledraulic” …
1947 Matchless G80
THE NEW 1949 MATCHLESS G80 1947 was the first year for Matchless G80 civilian production following World War 2. The company’s top-line 500 single, retained the rigid frame of the prewar bikes, but borrowed the Teledraulic telescopic front forks from the wartime G3/L. They were shared across many other makes and models with parent-company AMC’s …
1966 Matchless G80
1966 MATCHLESS G80- LAST OF THE LINE The G80 was Matchless‘s top-of-the-line 500 single. Launched in 1949, just as civilian production was ramping back up after World War 2, it was soon competing against an entire field of new vertical twins from Triumph, BSA, Norton, and the rest. On the dirt, the mighty G80 faired …
1968 Matchless G80
1968 MATCHLESS G80 BACKGROUND Matchless de-stroked their big 500 single down to an 86mm stroke, creating what they called the “short stroke” engine. The G80 was what they called back then a “scrambler”, which later might have been defined as an ‘enduro’, and today would probably be called a ‘Dual Sport’ bike, capable of off-road …
1967 Matchless G80
1967 MATCHLESS G80 BACKGROUND Matchless de-stroked their big 500 single down to an 86mm stroke, creating what they called the “short stroke” engine. The G80 was what they called back then a “scrambler”, which later might have been defined as an ‘enduro’, and today would probably be called a ‘Dual Sport’ bike, capable of off-road …
1959 Matchless G80
1959 MATCHLESS G80 BACKGROUND As was the case with virtually all Matchless motorcycles, sister-company AJS had a nearly-identical version which they called the Model 18. Matchless had cut its teeth, and built its reputation fielding fast, robust and reliable big singles (ie: 350cc and 500cc). The Matchless G80/AJS Model 18 were pushrod-operated OHV singles with …
1937 BSA WM20
1937 BSA WM20 Background The 1937 BSA WM20 was part of BSA’s massive wartime contribution to Britain’s war effort. 1937 was its first year of production that would last until the late 1950s. The “W” in the model designation signifies that it was specifically-deisnged to be a military bike (just like Harley’s wartime WLA). Designed …
1999 Harley-Davidson MT500
1999 HARLEY-DAVIDSON MT500 BACKGROUND It’s rumored that Harley built just around 500 MT500s for the US Military. The design genealogy is quite convoluted. To begin with, it has an air-cooled 500cc single-cylinder Rotax engine (made in Austria). The design of the overall bike originated in Italy in the early 1980s, was then picked up by …
1942 BSA M20
1942 BSA M20 HELPS WIN WORLD WAR 2 BSA, already a manufacturing powerhouse, built 126,000 M20s that served during the War, making it the most-produced motorcycle of World War II. The BSA M20 was also one of the longest-serving military motorcycles in British motorcycle history. BSA’s Small Heath factory was bombed by the Germans in …
1946 BSA M20
1946 BSA M20 History The 1946 BSA M20 was the first year of production following World War 2 and BSA’s massive wartime contribution to Britain’s war effort. 1937 was its first year of production that would last until the late 1950s. Designed to be simple, rugged and reliable, the WM20 was a side-valve (flathead) 500cc …
1954 BSA Gold Star
1954 BSA Gold Star 1954 BSA GOLD STAR BACKGROUND Throughout the 1930s, BSA created and developed a strong line of single-cylinder motorcycles. In 1937, they introduced the 500cc Empire Star. When Wal Handley lapped the Brooklands racetrack at over 100 mph average speed, he was awarded a Gold Star. The name stuck and was applied …
1951 Norton International
1951 Norton International 1951 NORTON INTERNATIONAL BACKGROUND The International was sort of the road-going version of Norton’s factory racer, the Manx. It came in two sizes: the 490 cc (500) Model 30 and the 349cc (350) Model 40. Both came with the Manx’s exotic shaft-and-bevel-gear-driven single overhead cam in a heavily-finned all-alloy top end. Because …
1956 Triumph Speed Twin
1956 Triumph Speed Twin 1956 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN RELEGATED TO THE BACK SEAT The 1938 Triumph Speed Twin was the first vertical twin to hit the market, just prior to WWII, and it changed everything. Almost the entire British motorcycle industry rushed to copy their success as soon as the war ended. At that moment …
1943 BSA M20
1943 BSA M20 Basics The 1943 BSA M20 was part of BSA’s massive wartime contribution to Britain’s war effort. Designed to be simple, rugged and reliable, the M20 was a side-valve (flathead) 500cc air-cooled single. It had a rigid frame and BSA’s pre-war girder front end. Everything on the bike was extra-heavy duty for military …
1941 BSA M20
1941 BSA M20 HELPS SAVE DEMOCRACY BSA was already one of the world’s largest producers of motorcycles, when World War 2 started. They built 126,000 M20s that served during the War, making it the most-produced motorcycle of World War II. The BSA M20 was also one of the longest-serving military motorcycles in British motorcycle history. …
1970 Rickman-BSA 441
1970 Rickman-BSA 441 1970 Rickman-BSA 441 Background This 1970 Rickman-BSA 441 is the product of years of development. After years of racing motocross in the 1950s in England and Europe, brothers Don and Derek Rickman decided to design their own frame. At the time, most dirt bikes were simply stripped-down street bikes, which were too …
1951 Velocette MAC
1951 Velocette MAC 1951 VELOCETTE MAC IS A TOP-SELLER The Velocette MAC debuted in 1933. It had an air-cooled OHV 350cc single cylinder engine that was capable of hustling the 280-pound MAC to 75mph. It was developed out of the 250cc Velocette MOV by lengthening its stroke for the 1934 model year, and the new …
1949 Ariel Red Hunter
1949 Ariel Red Hunter 1949 ARIEL RED HUNTER BACKGROUND The 1930s were indeed the Golden Age for the British motorcycle industry. At the time, nearly all of them relied heavily on one basic engine architecture: the air-cooled, pushrod OHV single, and most marques had built their lineup of 350 and 500 singles. As the 1930s …
