When Triumph introduced the Speed Twin in 1938, every other English manufacturer knew they had to offer two-cylinder motors of their own. AJS was the last of the major Brit builders to join the party (that pesky World War got in the way) when they released the Model 20 (and its Matchless twin, the G9) ten years later. Designed by …
1966 Triton
Two days ago I shared a Norton frame with an unexpected engine inside of it – today we’ve got something a bit more traditional: a Norton slimline featherbed frame that’s been stuffed with the 650cc engine from a Triumph T120R Bonneville.
1954 Norton Manx Kit with KLR650 Engine
Now that’s a headline I never thought I’d type before! The seller of this bike built it after falling in love with the Norton Manx while watching an AHRMA race, but he wanted to ride on the streets. He had just bought a KLR650, and…well, you can guess the rest.
1939 Triumph Tiger 70
When Edward Turner was moved from Ariel to become the General Manager and Chief Designer of Triumph, one of the sweeping changes he made was to update the naming of the 250, 350, and 500cc Mk.5 singles. There were other changes but the bikes got an actual name of “Tiger”, which a suffix hinting at the what the claimed top …
1948 BSA B31
BSA’s first new model after WWII, the B31 was a single-cylinder four-stroke designed to be used as basic transport. The 17 horsepower engine was sufficient to get the bike up about 70 miles per hour.
BSA Framed – 1964 Velocette MSS 500 Custom
First released in 1935, the Velocette MSS was a semi-stalwart that was built until 1968. The long production run is a little misleading, as the MSS was interrupted by World War II. The model was relaunched in 1954 with the same name but a complete redesign – it featured a MAC frame, optional bags, and sidecar mounting lugs on the …
Trackmaster Framed – 1960 BSA Rocket Gold Star
This gorgeous street tracker combines a Trackmaster 4130 chromoly frame with a BSA Rocket engine: at one point the seller calls it a Rocket Gold Star motor and at another point he calls it a Super Rocket, are you able to confirm?
1970 Triumph Trackmaster 750
Trackmaster frames can trace their roots back to the 1960s, when Triumph Motorcycles approached Ray Hensley and commissioned the famed race tuner and engineer to build a handful of bespoke chassis to be used in competition. Henley’s earliest frames were chromoly steel units with much more race-oriented geometry compared to the stock Bonneville chassis of the era. In the years …
1954 Royal Enfield Meteor
Nowadays, Royal Enfield offers up a parallel twin engine in their Continental GT and INT650 models, but back in the company’s heyday the p-twin of record was the Meteor (and its successor, the Super Meteor). It was introduced in the early 50s because the US market wanted bigger engines – RE responded with a 692cc OHV twin that was basically …
1938 Brough Superior SS80 Deluxe With Petrol Tube Sidecar
The SS80 was named because Brough Superior guaranteed that each model would be able to top 80 miles per hour. Motor Cycle magazine had a different name for it – they called it the “Rolls-Royce of Motor Cycles.” Some people just consider it to be the predecessor to the SS100 – but no matter what you call it, it’s an …
238 Miles – 2000 Harley-Davidson MT500
One of the rarest bikes ever built by Harley-Davidson, the MT500 was originally built by the British in the 80s. Rights to the design were sold by Armstrong-CCM to HD, who sold just 355 copies of the MT500 in 1999, and a few more the following year. Only select HD dealerships were allowed to sell these bikes.
1939 Vincent Series A Comet
In 1934, Phil Vincent debuted a new OHV motor that would go on to power multiple models built by the famous brand that bore his name. At first, the 499cc single was utilized in the Meteor and the Comet, though over the years the company would focus more on the famous Rapide and its V-Twin motor. here’s one of the …
Japanese Metisse – An XS650-Powered Rickman Mk3
Back in the 1950s, two English brothers named Don and Derek Rickman decided to jump into the motorcycle market by building frames of their own design. Both experienced dirt riders, they took experience racing motocross around Europe and materialized it in the form of the “Metisse.” Beyond its premium craftsmanship — it was machined from a lightweight chromoly, and there …
1974 Gus Kuhn Seeley Norton Commando 850
After a successful career in trials, scrambles, and TT racing, Gus Kuhn founded a dealership with his namesake in 1932. His wife fell ill in the 40s, and he took a back seat and let Vincent Davey start taking over the reins. When Norton released the Commando in ’68, Vincent thought it’d be a great model to start a race …
Gene Romero Tribute – 1972 Trackmaster Triumph T120R
Over on the auction site we’re mixing things up a bit with some great flat trackers and dirt bikes from a local collector. This one’s my favorite – a T120R engine (with a 750cc Routt big bore kit) stuffed inside a Trackmaster/Ray Hensley frame that’s been built as a tribute to Gene Romero’s 1972 National Championship-winning bike.