Features Archives Page 16 of 24

Bimota Tesi YB

18th October 2017 Sam Hewitt Features

The oddest ball of all Tesi means ‘thesis’ in Italian, and that’s how Bimota’s remarkable alternative motorcycle started out, as a combined effort between the company’s then-chief designer Federico Martini, and two Bologna University postgraduate

Absolutely gorgeous!

18th October 2017 Sam Hewitt Features

When a factory makes a handful of motorcycles – only a handful – to race at the highest level in one of the most competitive championships ever seen, you get this. What a bike. What

Jim Curry Hot stuff

18th October 2017 Sam Hewitt Features

Qualifying a written-off road bike on the front row of a Grand Prix grid ahead of Phil Read and Jarno Saarinen was just one high point in a career that embraced some of the best

The beginnings of a wonderful relationship

18th September 2017 Sam Hewitt Features

So why would Bob turn down these works rides and instead decide to stay with Joe, working at the back of a funeral parlour in Bellshill, Glasgow? The answer: Bob was a man of his

Breathing life back into Clara

12th September 2017 Sam Hewitt Features

Initially, the cammy Velocette was anonymous. The bike came about as the result of a discussion between two of the company’s top engineers. It was based on a standard, 350cc overhead camshaft KTT engine but

Mechanical Marvel – Moto Guzzi’s 500 V8

5th September 2017 Sam Hewitt Features

Moto Guzzi built a total of six complete 500cc V8 motorcycles, and while these differed slightly in design, they all had the same incredibly compact dry-sump water-cooled engine architecture, measuring 44 x 41mm for a

Jim Redman Assen 1964. The best ever

31st August 2017 Sam Hewitt Features

Agostini – 15 times world champion and racing on public roads? Mike Hailwood – able to win anything, in any conditions and against any opposition? Rossi – beating the toughest racers on the planet and

The 145mph TZ750 Flat Tracker: Banned but not Forgotten

7th July 2017 Sam Hewitt Features

Sideways scrubbing. Looking for traction. Riding what is one of the nastiest machines ever made. There’s a reason why many in the racing world love and fear these things. Not least of all because of

Lazzarini – Small bore assassin

5th July 2017 Sam Hewitt Features

In the ultra-lightweight classes Eugenio Lazzarini was a force majeure, with 27 GP victories, two 50cc titles and another in the 125cc class. He was runner-up eight times and won four Italian crowns. As if

Jay Springsteen – Forever Fast

29th June 2017 Sam Hewitt Features

There have been many popular riders in American dirt-track racing across the decades but none have exemplified timeless competitiveness in the Grand National championships across three full decades of continuous racing in the Expert class.