Classic Bike

Classic Bike helps and inspires enthusiasts to get more from their passion for classic motorcycles. The magazine shares their fascination with motorcycling’s heroic past while also helping them buy, fix and improve the bikes in their shed. Our main areas of content are: - Inspirational and entertaining reads that celebrate the glory of motorcycling, from riding stories that put the reader in the seat of history’s greatest bikes to incredible racing tales - Restoration stories and instructional features that inspire and help people get their tools out and sort out their old bike - In-depth technical features from the most expert and authoritative writers in motorcycling If you share our passion about classic motorcycles from the last century, you'll enjoy reading Classic Bike.

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Letters

MAGAZINE NEEDS YOU…

For play not display • The swarms of modern GS BMWs taking up swathes of our roads are all derived from the R80 G/S. But don’t blame this 1985 example – it’s an original, pure-bred adventurer

‘If I had £10,000…’ • Nine-time TT winner Charlie Williams still runs a Gold Flash and an FJ1200 on the road. The 75-year-old stopped racing in 2017, but it wouldn’t stop him blowing his imaginary £10k on race bikes and racing

12 bikes you can buy • Gez Kane is always on the lookout for the tastiest bikies on sale. Here’s what he’s spotted for sale this month – there must be something to tempt you…

Laverda Jota 180 • International Laverda Owners Club chairman Keith Prentice has owned his Series 2 since 1983 and racked up nearly 100,000 miles on it. He knows his Jotas

12 bikes that sold • Auction prices, both live and online, provide a genuine guide to values. Gez Kane selects the most desirable and revealing bikes that were sold over the last month

Twinshock trials bikes • These machines offer a lot of fun for a modest outlay. Here’s an idea of what you can get for your money

Foggy’s RC30 for sale • Going to the Stafford Show? Why not snap up one of the most successful Honda RC30s ever?

RIP: A bike trade stalward and TT racer

What’s new

Return of the G/S • New BMW R12 G/S harks back to the original adventure bike – the R80 G/S

Classic community rallies to fire appeal

Rescued, revived & ridden • The classic bikes that you have found, restored or just taken for a ride

NEXT MONTH • In June’s Classic Bike

Classic Bike

A SLICE OF ORIGINALITY • Owned for 48 years, Mark Ship’s early RD350B has been toured, raced, crashed, stripped and rebuilt, but retains its authentic aura – right down to the ‘bacon slicer’ front numberplate

AT LUNCH WITH… Alan Carter • He beat everyone from Freddie Spencer to Christian Sarron, yet never got close to winning a world championship. We ask Alan Carter what went wrong

BMW K100RS • BMW abandoned their flat twins in favour of the four-cylinder K series – but ten years later, the four was gone and the twins were back. So how does the K100RS rate today as a classic?

Beautiful buy • Jaws dropped when Ducati’s 916 was launched 30 years ago. Follow our guide and you can get one while avoiding problems that make your teeth grind and bills big enough to make your eyes pop

CAR-ENGINED Special • Misguided or wildly creative? You decide, as we present a selection of two-wheelers with four-wheeler propulsion recently unearthed from our archive. Is anyone out there prepared to admit to building any of them?

reshaping the Bonneville • In 1971, American freelance designer Craig Vetter was asked to restyle the Triumph Bonneville. The result received good feedback in the USA – but British bosses disagreed and the bike never entered production

3 ISSUES FOR £5

‘I work on bikes I first touched 40...