featured Archives - The Vintage Idiot

The MGA was always one of the prettiest British sports cars ever made. Now Frontline Cars has given it the performance, handling and refinement its looks always promised. But is…

New Triumph Bonneville T40... can a Bonneville really be a single cylinder bike?

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Retro Bikes

Triumph’s new Bonneville T40: Half the cylinders, all the style?

Triumph has done something rather clever. It’s taken one of the most famous names in motorcycling, removed a cylinder, reduced the engine to 400cc and created a Bonneville that could…

Jeremy Clarkson is selling three cars from The Grand Tour

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Cars

Clarkson clears out three Grand Tour cars – including the very last one he drove

There comes a point in every man’s life when he looks into the garage and realises he owns too many cars. Admittedly, most of us reach this conclusion while staring…

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Preparing an old MG for the road trip of a lifetime

The plan for 2027 was always to take a month off and drive around Italy. We’ve been many times on city breaks, Bologna being our favourite so far but there’s…

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British Classics

Fast 500s with somewhere to put your socks: BSA DBD34 Gold Star and Matchless G80CS

The BSA DBD34 Gold Star and Matchless G80CS earned their reputations through competition. But these two examples show that a high-performance British 500 single could also make a surprisingly convincing…

Older classics such as this 1963 Velocette won't be affected

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News

New emissions law targets post-2001 motorcycles – older classics escape

Classic motorcycles built before 2001 appear to be outside proposed new emissions rules, but owners of more recent machines could face tougher restrictions on modifications and maintenance. The Department for…

Mike Hailwood Honda 350 1966 world championship winner

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Mike Hailwood’s World Championship Honda: £1 million motorcycle?

This is a very very special motorcycle. This is a 1966 Honda RC173, a 349cc four-cylinder Grand Prix motorcycle built specifically for Mike Hailwood, who then used it to win…

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Classic Motorcycles

Ten Great Classic Motorcycles for under £5000

The days of stumbling across a Vincent for the price of a family hatchback are long gone. Prices for the most desirable classics have risen steadily over the last decade,…

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European Classics

Bike Of The Week: 1965 ‘works’ MV Agusta 500 tops Bonhams Stafford auction

If you’re a fan of motorcycling history, it doesn’t get much bigger than this. A 1965 MV Agusta 500cc Grand Prix racing bike – formerly ridden by the legends Mike…

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British Classics

Bike Of The Week: 1937 BSA Empire Star, a pivotal classic but I missed it!

Kick, kick, kick… no, not a reluctant starter but me for not paying attention to this beautiful 1937 BSA Empire Star which came up for auction during H&H’s sale at…

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European Classics

Bike Of The Week: 1975 Ducati 900 Super Sport: Raw and Raucous

Somewhere around the mid-1970s, Ducati fever overtook me and half of the motorcycle world. Paul Smart’s win at the ’72 Imola 200 had lit the fuse, and the factory’s road-going…

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News

Iconic Auction shows classic motorcycle prices ‘resetting’

One of the last big auctions of 2025 was the Iconic Auction on 9 November – what did we learn? Iconic boasted it was a success for classic cars, citing…

1927 Scott Flying Squirrel — water-cooled ingenuity meets inter-war British sporting spirit. A rare survivor from one of motorcycling’s most innovative marques.

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British Classics

Bike Of The Week: Scott Flying Squirrel – Two-Stroke Royalty

In the history of great British motorcycles, the Scott Flying Squirrel sits slightly apart. While other marques of the 1920s boomed, barked and thumped their way along, the Scott arrived…

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Retro Bikes

Honda CB1000F: will the retro Fireblade match original CB900F?

When the Honda CB900F Super Sports first arrived in 1979, it took a little time to realise just how good it was. After all, wasn’t it just another UJM? –…

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Japanese Classics

1970 Honda CB750: The Original Superbike Heads to Auction

There are few motorcycles that changed the course of motorcycling history quite like the Honda CB750. When it arrived in 1969, it wasn’t just another new model, it was a…

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British Classics

The Curious Case of the 1970 Indian Velocette Venom 500

In the twilight years of the British motorcycle industry, when storied marques were either folding or floundering, an American entrepreneur named Floyd Clymer attempted to write one last heroic chapter.…

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Japanese Classics

1988 Yamaha XT500: Still Crated After All These Years

If you had to pick one motorcycle that set the template for the modern adventure bike, the Yamaha XT500 would be a strong contender. Built from 1975 until 1989, the…

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News

Route 66 at 100: EagleRider’s Once-in-a-Century Ride

Some roads are just tarmac and paint. Others become legends. And then there’s Route 66 — the Mother Road. The highway that stitched America together, carried dustbowl migrants westward, birthed…

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Japanese Classics

Kawasaki GPz900R: Top Gun Legend That Changed Motorcycling

Some motorcycles are remembered for their technical brilliance. Others for their cultural impact. A select few, like Kawasaki’s GPz900R, manage both. It was the bike that rewrote the rulebook in…

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Retro Bikes

The BSA Bantam 350 flies again

Some names in motorcycling carry more than just letters on a tank. They carry memories. The smell of two‑stroke smoke on a damp morning. The sound of a waspish little…

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American Classics

Climbing Legends: 1928 Harley-Davidson FHAD Hillclimber

In the smoky, oil-rich atmosphere of 1920s American racing, the hillclimb was the gladiator arena of the motorcycle world. Stripped of niceties and bred for brute power and control, these…

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Retro Bikes

BMW R 12 S: Boxer with a Dash of Daytona

BMW has a knack for this sort of thing. Reach back into the archives, pull out a design that had us all swooning in the ’70s, and give it a…

National Motorcycle Museum is throwing its door open

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News

Insider Guide to National Motorcycle Museum Live 2025

If you love bikes, banter and a good rummage through an autojumble, then clear your diary: NMM Live 2025 is rolling into the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull, on Saturday 25…

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British Classics

Fancy a bit of Hollywood history? Bud Ekins’ Matchless G80S

If ever a motorbike could wear sunglasses and a leather jacket, this would be it. This 1952 Matchless G80S isn’t just a handsome slab of post-war British iron — it…

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1928 BSA Sloper: A Jolly Green Giant is calling

There’s a certain quality and star status afforded classic motorcycles with girder forks. Partly it’s because many date from a ‘Golden Age’ of motorcycles when there were dozens of manufacturers…

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American Classics

Slice of Americana: 1918 Harley-Davidson Model F

Meet the 1918 Harley-Davidson Model F, a motorcycle that predates television, the BBC, and sliced bread — but still manages to look like it could roar into town and cause…

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Classic Motorcycles

Six Of The Best: Classic Motorcycles at Bonhams’ Spring Stafford Sale 2025

Bonhams has announced an extraordinary lineup for its highly anticipated Spring Stafford Sale, set to take place on 26-27 April 2025, at the Staffordshire County Showground. Coinciding with the International…

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Retro Bikes

Triumph launches 2025 range of Modern Classics

Triumph Motorcycles has announced a new collection of seven Modern Classic Icon Editions for 2025, featuring a Triumph logo dating back to 1907. The new bikes will be in showrooms…

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British Classics

World record for Olympia Vincent at Bonhams £3.2m autumn auction

A new world record price was set at Bonhams’ Autumn Stafford Sale in October for a very famous motorcycle: the 1936 Olympia Motorcycle Show Vincent-HRD 998cc Series-A Rapide. The price?…

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Retro Bikes

First Look: 2025 Triumph Speed Twin 1200 and 1200 RS

Looking for a modern bike with retro looks and plenty of style and performance? Well, at first glance, Triumph has nailed it with the 2025 Speed Twin 1200 and its…

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British Classics

Triumph’s very first ‘unit’ construction twin: the 1957 350cc ‘Twenty-One’

A seismic change in British motorcycle design happened in 1957: the introduction of ‘unit’ construction combining the engine, primary drive and gearbox in one case. The first Triumph twin to…

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News

Barber Vintage Festival beckons US classic motorcycle riders

UPDATED US classic motorcycle enthusiasts are gearing up for one of the events of the year: the Barber Vintage Festival, held over 11-13 October 2024 at Barber Motorsports Parkway in…

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Moto Guzzi Spada Royale: The Luton Job

Back in the 1970s and early 80s, Luton dealer Coburn & Hughes was the UK agent for two Italian manufacturers, Ducati and Moto Guzzi. Two very different styles of motorcycle…

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British Classics

‘Special’ Brough Superior SS100 sells for £241,500

A very special 1938 Brough Superior SS100 sold for an incredible £241,500 at the Iconic Auction staged at the NEC Classic Motor Show, Birmingham on Sunday, 12 November 2023. The…

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Classic Motorcycles

Mixed fortunes at Charterhouse October auction

What to make of the results from the Charterhouse auction of classic & vintage motorcycles on 26 October 2023? There were some good prices made, a number of bargains, but…

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British Classics

Bike Of The Week: Triumph TR5, The original ‘Trophy’

Over the years, Triumph has bandied around the name ‘Trophy’ willy-nilly. Sometimes it’s attached to a trail bike but more often to a tourer – as recently as 2017 –…

1952 Mondial 125 Monoalbero GP in original unrestored condition, as raced by factory riders and privateers

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European Classics

Rare Mondials to appear at world’s biggest motorcycle auction

FB Mondial is one of those motorcycle manufacturers bathed in myth and legend, dominating grand prix racing during the early and mid 1950s. Created by a band of brothers named…

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Retro Bikes

Triumph Scrambler 1200: modern day TR5 (sort of)

In case you haven’t noticed, Triumph is really going for it at the moment. Not only are brand new road models coming out – including this latest Triumph Scrambler –…

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British Classics

Brough Superior SS100 Pendine replica sells for $220,000

Top of the top ten results at the Mecum John Parham auction earlier this month was a 1927 Brough Superior SS100 Pendine Replica, said to be one of the finest…