Retro Classic

  • XSR900 DB40 Prototype Breaks Cover at Goodwood Festival of Speed

    XSR900 DB40 Prototype Breaks Cover at Goodwood Festival of Speed

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    Yamaha’s Sport Heritage range is a marriage of classic design and modern engineering. It pays homage to the iconic racing machines of Yamaha’s past while still offering cutting-edge performance. It is a nostalgia-filled nod to the brand’s roots without sacrificing current advances. For 2023, Yamaha’s racing heritage continues to be celebrated. Earlier this year, the…

  • We Ride: Herald’s Brute 500

    We Ride: Herald’s Brute 500

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    Herald’s made a big leap forward with the release of its raucous, stripped-back custom-style single – the Brute 500. The (mostly) British-built naked is similarly spec-ed and similarly priced to the brand-new BSA Gold Star – and probably could appeal to the type of riders BSA is aiming its bike at: young, trendy types (not…

  • Cost-Effective Classics: Benelli 2C and Moto Guzzi 250TS

    Cost-Effective Classics: Benelli 2C and Moto Guzzi 250TS

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    An alternative take on 70s stroker twins – WORDS: Steve Cooper PHOTOS: Mortons Archive Italian bikes come with reputations of various kinds. Generally, they handle better than many of their Oriental counterparts, have malevolent electrics, can be unreliable and difficult to repair and, very often, are fearsomely expensive. This month we aim to set the…

  • Norton’s Cafe Racer Cool

    Norton’s Cafe Racer Cool

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    Bob Pickett takes a look: With just 200 to be built, the hand-built superbike café racer is the first brand-new motorcycle produced by TVS-owned Norton, following on from the re-engineered V4SV and new-generation Norton Commando 961 launched last year. It is also the second motorcycle to be powered by Norton’s own liquid-cooled 1200cc, 72-degree V4…

  • BMW’s Latest Funky Roadster

    BMW’s Latest Funky Roadster

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    The Bavarian firm is celebrating 100 years of building bikes with its new R 12 nineT – and it looks great. The first-generation BMW R nineT was revealed on BMW Motorrad’s 90th anniversary back in 2013 – and 10 years later, the factory has created the BMW R 12 nineT. Described by BMW as a…

  • Cost-effective classics: Kawasaki Z650

    Cost-effective classics: Kawasaki Z650

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    Possibly the best VFM classic Japanese four you can buy! Steve Cooper takes a look… Classic, old-school, air-cooled multis don’t come more attainable than the Z650. Essentially a second generation Japanese four, it has similar performance to Honda’s seminal CB750/4 but with reduced mass… and cost! Background Kawasaki’s move into air-cooled fours occurred late 1972…

  • Ridden: Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650

    Ridden: Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650

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    Royal Enfield has added a cruiser to its wildly successful 650 twins range – and Alan Cathcart has been out to India to ride it. The Super Meteor 650 is available in two versions targeting different slices of the middleweight cruiser market – and they’re both powered by the same proven 648cc parallel-twin engine, which…

  • QUICK SPIN: The BSA Gold Star

    QUICK SPIN: The BSA Gold Star

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    BSA is back. Despite the 50s and 60s glory days (one in four bikes was a BSA) a trading deficit of £3 million was recorded in 1971. BSA closed for good in 1973. Bob Pickett takes a look at the new Gold Star… When the Mahindra Group purchased the company there could be no other…

  • Norton announces major expansion of UK dealer network

    Norton announces major expansion of UK dealer network

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      Norton Motorcycles has launched its flagship retail location, the Norton Atelier, at the Bike Shed in Old Street, London –          Visitors to the Norton Atelier can view and buy Norton’s motorcycle line-up as well as browse the brand’s newly launched apparel collection –          Five further sales partnerships with established dealerships have also been announced including: Krazy Horse London, P&H Motorcycles,…

  • Test ride a Norton – from your house

    Test ride a Norton – from your house

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    Norton’s new service aims to make it a doddle to test ride the new Commandos. Here’s how: The resurgent British firm has just announced a cool new service which offers the chance to get a brand-new £16,499 Commando 961 Sport or £16,999 Commando Café Racer straight to your door for a test ride. Since being…

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