Innholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2025 i Motorcycle Classics

This was one race I didn’t mind sitting out. From my vantage point beside my broken-down Ducati in Daytona’s pit lane, I had a grandstand seat for the dash to the flag in the most exciting race of Cycle Week 1989 — the AMA ProTwins final. The race-long three-way battle between the high-tech, fuel-injected desmoquattro Ducatis of Dale Quarterley and Jimmy Adamo, and the air-cooled carbureted Commonwealth Honda RS750D V-twin special of diminutive Aussie Paul Lewis was coming down to the wire. Suddenly, two riders burst into sight on the run to the line, the little Honda — looking like a 250 against the much bigger and bulkier Italian bikes — edging out U.S. champion Quarterley’s Fast by Ferracci otto valvole desmo by a whisker. That bike was the team’s…

Most of the 50-some bikes in Jason Len’s collection are period-correct restorations. And the majority of those are British machines of the Sixties and Seventies. The Horton, however, is Len’s own concoction, featuring a 2007 Harley Sportster 1200 engine in a replica Norton Featherbed frame. We asked the obvious question — why? I visited Jason one afternoon and looked over his collection of interesting bikes. I was driven to look more closely at the Horton, as it’s called, the latest development in his long-held passion for Featherbedbased customs. With the bike in the California sun, its chrome and polished aluminum gleaming, Jason gave me background on the bike build. Long-time relationship with Featherbed frames “I have several motorcycles in Norton Featherbed frames,” he said. “A stock 1958 Norton ES2, 500cc…

In 1972, racer Paul Smart played a crucial role in shaping Ducati’s future by winning the Imola 200 race aboard a new and powerful 750cc twincylinder machine from the Italian factory. Smart’s impact cannot be overstated, and in 2006, Ducati paid homage to the man by releasing the oneyear-only SportClassic Paul Smart 1000LE. With only 2,000 of the retro/modern machines built for the global market, the LE poignantly stands for Limited Edition, and Wisconsin Ducati enthusiast Gary Heinitz owns one of them. Gary’s motorcycling story will sound familiar to those who grew up in the late 1960s and early 1970s when minibikes and youngsters went together like peanut butter and jam. With money saved from his job caddying at a Milwaukee country club, Gary first bought a bare-bones Sears minibike.…

7/18 Check out the 44th Annual British Bike Cooperative Ride-In Motorcycle Show at Eagle Cave Resort in Blue River, Wisconsin, July 18−20. All makes of motorcycles are welcome. There will be motorcycle rides, a ride-in show, games, live music, and more. More info at britishbiker.net 7/19 Visit the Vintage Motorbike Show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 19−20. In keeping with the spirit of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, all classic, vintage, antique and historic racing motorbikes are invited to participate in the show which runs from 9:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. More info: pvgp.org/car-show-overview/vintage-motorbike-show. For the full lineup of festival events visit pvgp.org/calendar 7/25 AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days returns to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, July 25−27. Enjoy the AMA Vintage Road Racing Grand Championships…

Quarter-mile questions Thanks for another enjoyable issue of Motorcycle Classics. Your “Transatlantic Rivals: British Steel vs. American Iron” is an interesting article. But I think there might an inaccuracy in your comparison table on page 7 of the article where you reference Cycle World period tests. Under the Norton Commando/Fastback column, you indicate a 13.47 quarter mile. I wonder if the Commando tested by Cycle World was a Mk. III? In the March 1970 issue of Cycle, testers had a “shootout” between “Big 7 Superbikes” at that time, the Honda CB750, Kawasaki H1, HD Sportster, BSA Rocket 3, Triumph Trident, Suzuki Titan, and Norton Commando. Unlike Cycle World’s Norton 13.47 quarter mile, Cycle’s Norton cracked a 12.69 quarter mile, to the Triumph’s 12.78 and BSA’s 13.14. In fact, that article…

When you hear the word “Wildsville,” what comes to mind? Perhaps an untamed place where the landscape is wild, or somewhere full of adventure and a lack of rules. Transport your mind to rural middle-Georgia. From untouched rolling fields to dense woods of pine and pecan trees, the landscape is something out of an Allman Brothers song. Decades ago, this farm was active — the land produced corn, soybeans, and cotton, and even served as grazing land for horses, cows, and other livestock. But time went on, industries changed, and the farm was passed on to the next generation in the family. Nowadays, the land serves a different purpose — motorcycles. In the front of the property sits an oval dirt track. Echoes of flat track races can be heard…

Even nowadays, when you can buy a MotoGP or a World Superbike racer with lights — like a BMW M1000RR, Ducati V4R, or Bimota (Kawasaki) KB998 — and ride it on the public highways of whichever country allows it to be street registered, the achievements of London lad Jim Kentish in the summer of 1938 merit attention. Not short of a buck or two, on March 10, 1938, 20-year-old Kentish became the 21st of 78 customers to purchase what was then the fastest street-legal, made-to-order motorcycle in the world. That machine was the Series A Rapide, built by the Stevenage-based Vincent-HRD Motorcycle Co. owned by Philip Vincent. It debuted at the London Olympia Show on November 2, 1936. Designed by legendary Australian engineer Phil Irving, this 998cc high-camshaft OHV 47.5°…

Veteran observers of Anglo-American crossbreeds will remember the Goodman HDS 1200 of the early Nineties. Also a Featherbedded Sportster 1200, the Goodman was set up as a café roadster, with low bars (below yoke) or higher (above yoke), and some impressive specs: Reynolds 531 tube frame, 42mm Marzocchi fork, Brembo 2x4 brakes, and Koni shocks. Five gallon tank, 58.5 inches of wheelbase, 450 pounds dry. Builder Simon Goodman, whose great grandfather John founded Velocette, had in mind a production motorcycle. Most of the major components came from his own shop; in addition to the frame, Goodman manufactured “the swinging arm, all the aluminum castings, top and bottom yokes, exhaust system, oil and petrol tanks, and side panels.” The wheels and fork were built to Goodman’s specs in Italy, and he…

There’s a great article penned by the legendary Kevin Cameron about Paul Smart (April 23, 1943–October 27, 2021) posted on Cycle World’s website November 15, 2021. In that piece, Cameron recalls finding himself together with English racer Cliff Carr in Italy for the Imola 200 in 1972. When the pair met Smart, who began racing in the late 1960s, they asked what he was set to ride. “It’s some kind of new Ducati,” Cameron reports Smart said. “I haven’t even seen it yet. They’re telling me it makes power at 9,750! Is that even possible?” Cameron goes on to explain that Smart, who was turning 29 on the day of the race, hadn’t volunteered for the ride. Instead, Maggie, his wife, picked up the receiver when Ducati dialed and told…

New Item! PROFICIENT MOTORCYCLING An essential reading for all motorcyclists regardless of their years of experience. Author David L. Hough, a revered motorcycle author, columnist, and riding-safety consultant, lays out a clear course for all riders who want to sharpen their handling skills and improve their rides. In this third edition, each chapter has been updated and expanded to include information on getting started riding, general safety, a description of motorcycle gears and types of motorcycles along with equipment that can be added to the bike. #12613 $24.99 Members: $21.99 THE COMPLETE BOOK OF CLASSIC AND MODERN TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLES: 1937-TODAY, 3RD EDITION The ultimate illustrated reference for Triumph lovers and fans of British motorcycles, this revised and updated third edition collects all the motorcycles from this iconic brand through 2024. Originally…

It often seems that the more things change, the more that they stay the same. In the case of the rapid changes that followed the decade after the introduction of the 1969 Honda CB750 Four, it’s remarkable how superficially similar were the offerings from the Big Four Japanese Motorcycle makers. At the beginning of the 1970s, the premier class motorcycles were a mix of two- and four-stroke twins and triples plus the Honda CB750. Within a decade, they were all fourcylinder four strokes of 750−900cc. What would be coming next? Interestingly, the new UJMs of the early 1980s showed how the niche had converged mechanically but diverged cosmetically. Typical of the machines that made up the class in the early 1980s were the Honda CB1100F, Kawasaki KZ1000 MkII, Suzuki Katana…

Anyone with the slightest interest in motorcycle racing history has heard of the fire engines of Gallarate — the screaming red MV Agusta racers that propelled Graham, Surtees, Hailwood, Ubbiali, Agostini, Read, and Masetti to victory on the Grand Prix circuits of the world. Though not as many people know about the small get-to-work bikes that paid for the awe-inspiring racing effort. Like most Italian manufacturers of the post-war period, MV Agusta built small lightweights that were both beautiful and fast for their displacement. This 125cc single was built in 1964, towards the end of the golden years for Italian singles. Owner Jimmie Lowery said, “It’s eye-catching, and it has good bones.” Post-war Italy needed two wheels Motorcycles were a side project for the Agusta family at first. Giovanni Agusta,…

If there is one man who knows his Velocettes, it is Ivan Rhodes. Here are three of the factory racers that he has restored: Roaring Anna, Alec Bennett’s TT winner, and Whiffling Clara. With black enamel and gold pinstripe finish, the Velocette is the epitome of the classic English motorcycle, but the man who founded the company came from good German stock. Johannes Gütgemann moved to England, married an English girl, and changed his name to John Goodman. In 1896, he started making bicycles before turning his attention to motorcycles. After dabbling with four-stroke engines, he produced his first two-stroke in 1913, which would form the backbone of the company for the next decade. But what really put Velocette on the map was the Model K. The overhead camshaft Model…

Although most of us in this world of old motorcycles have an elevated passion for motorcycles and their history, there are some corporations and individuals who are making it their work to capture, preserve, and even ride and race their historic motorcycles. In coming issues of Motorcycle Classics, we’ll let these people and their often-full-time staffs tell us what drives them to invest time and fortune to hold close to them motorcycles with special meaning. This month our writer Dain Gingerelli ventures into the Kawasaki Heritage Hall in Southern California, located within Kawasaki’s U.S. headquarters. There he talks with long-time Kawasaki executive Norm Bigelow and lets Norm tell us about his six favorite bikes (one watercraft and a historic refrigerator!) in the hall’s exhibition area and what they mean to…

Ifound myself thinking of Matryoshka dolls, those nested Russian dolls, one inside another, when visiting Jameson’s Classic Motorcycle Museum. The motorcycles, the museum, the town of Pacific Grove, and northern California’s Pacific coastal region form layers of hidden gems, just like those Matryoshka dolls. We’ve featured several of them in earlier Destinations pieces, including the Pacific Coast Highway (January/February 2017), Hearst Castle (August/September 2020), and a loop through the Santa Cruz Mountains (January/February 2021). The area has wonderful roads and destinations, a conclusion firmly reinforced by our visit to Jameson’s Classic Motorcycle Museum in Pacific Grove. Neil Jameson created the museum that bears his name, and, by any measure, he was one hell of a man. Born in Hollister, California, Jameson was a sheep and goat farmer; he served in…