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KOP HILL CLIMB, 2015
[Words and contemporary images provided by Colin West - historic research and editing by pd'o]A 1922 shot of DF Fitzgerald on a Norton 16H with sidecar - look at that crowd! And the lack of spectator...
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BLOCKBUSTER STAFFORD SALE OCT 17/18TH
One of two Brough Superior SS100 'kits'; this one a 1927 Alpine Grand SportsI've been as guilty as the next 'good intentions' collector of hauling boxes of rare motorcycle bits from home to home over...
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WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE BASKET CASES
The 1926 Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sports basket case which fetched $400k at the Bonhams Stafford saleTwo Brough Superior SS100 basket cases sold for big money at the Bonhams Stafford sale...
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ROAD TEST: 1928 WINDHOFF 4-CYLINDER
A drying barn mimics the bold finning of the Windhoff's 750cc oil-cooled OHC 4-cylinder motorThe creations of Hans Windhoff began in Berlin with radiator production for cars, trucks, and aircraft. In...
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1915 'RACE FOR LIFE' - THE FIRST WALL OF DEATH?
A 1915 program for the Panama Pacific International Exposition, showing the Tower of Jewels, set with 102,000 'novagems' of Czech crystal, lit by 50 arc lamps. Behind is the Rainbow Scintillator, the...
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EL MIRAGE, VIA WET PLATE
Shinya Kimura with the 'Spike', his much-modified Harley-Davidson '47 EL KnucklheadThe romance of the place is captured in the name, redolent of the invisible goals of speed. El Mirage is nominally a...
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THE LAST GREAT BROUGH HOARD?
Rarest of the bunch; the 3-wheel Austin-engine Brough Superior 'BS4', built for sidecar work. This one is ex-Hubert Chantry, and subject of a famous period press test. They can be ridden solo, but...
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MOTORCYCLE BOOK OF THE YEAR: 2015
The slipcover of 'The Book About My Bike', published by Niels SchoenA host of terrific motorcycle books cross my desk every year; in this I'm very lucky, as books are one of life's great pleasures....
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AND THEN CAME RUDGE...
Carey 'Loftin' the front wheel of his 1947 Velocette MSS in the hills of SoCal.A friend sent this to me today; an episode of the classic 1969 motorcycle TV show 'Then Came Bronson', in which James...
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WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS...
(Originally published in CycleWorld.com)My favorite machine of the week, a 5/8ths scale Indian board track racer, which runs! The Las Vegas motorcycle auctions, held early January for the past 25...
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THE BEST EXCUSE FOR PARIS - RETROMOBILE 2016
Celebrating the odd; a selection of 'rhomboid' cars, with wheels in perpendicular axes, was a highlight of the 2016 Rétromobile show. The 'Automodule' of 1968...The august Parisian vintage motor show...
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The World's Fastest...Single!
Dennis Quinlan was kind enough to forward an email from Stuart Hooper, the arch Velocette enthusiast who's been tweaking his 650cc Velo-based motor, and this year added a supercharger! The Reilly's...
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'HIGH AND LOW'
[Reprinted from my monthly column for Classic Bike Guide, March 2016 issue]A still from Akira Kurosawa's beautifully shot 'High and Low', a huge influence on cinematographers in subsequent decadesOne...
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GENDER UNSPECIFICITY: BECAUSE ITS TRANS-PORTATION
Still the only individual to install a motorcycle in the British Museum, Grayson Perry is the role model for The Vintavagenta.Starting today, in support of poly-gendered riders globally,...
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'HOLES IN THE MEMORY'
[This is my current Cycle World column; this issue (May/June 2016) features the first ever hand-painted cover of the magazine, without a motorcycle photo! It's an historic issue, and the cover looks...
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MALICK SIDIBE - 'THE EYE OF BAMAKO'
1962 - a well-off Malian couple shows off their Honda CA72 Dream. (c.Malick Sidibé)Malian photographer Malick Sidibé died today at 80 years old...ish - he could never remember whether he was born in...
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THE ENGLISH DIRIGIBLES
A 1929 BSA S29 Sloper Deluxe ca. 1929/30, likely at Cardington, the home base of the R100 and the British Dirigile ProjectA picture proverbially equals a thousand words, but if those words are lost to...
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2016 QUAIL MOTORCYCLE GATHERING
Buy your tickets HERE for the Quail Motorcycle Gathering on May 14th, 2016It's Quail time again! What's become the best moto-Concours show in America has its 8th edition next week, with the Quail Ride...
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MOTORCYCLE SPECIALS #1 - GRINDLAY-PEERLESS 'HUNDRED MODEL'
[This is the first of a new series featuring artist Martin Squires' fantastic illustrations!] I was overjoyed to see this machine at Stafford Showground on 26th April 2015. I had seen the Original Bill...
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'NORTON' GEORGE COHEN
Dr. George Cohen at the Brooklands Centenary in 2007One of my favorite characters in the old bike scene has left the saddle, and the world is poorer for his absence. Dr. George Cohen, otherwise known...
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