Frank Melling
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Our Memorable Motorcycles expert, Frank Melling also is the organizer of the British vintage motorcycle extravaganza known as Thundersprint. If you get passed on the track by a beautiful Matchless G.50 - you just met Frank.
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Tritons were a bike of their age - but some 40 years later new versions of this most famous "special" are still being created.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
There is no question that Colin Seeley was by far and away the most successful British chassis manufacturer - yet, outside the racing world, he is scarcely known.
Monday, June 07, 2004
If there is one classic bike name which still carries immense weight it is the BSA Gold Star. It was the definitive hyper-sports bike of its day.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Of all of the impressive works of the Honda engineers, the CBX goes down as one of the Japanese manufacturer's best bikes ever.
Monday, April 05, 2004
Conceived in 1932, The P&M Panther remained in production well into the 1960's and holds a special place in the history of motorcycles.
Monday, March 08, 2004
By 1951 BSA sold more than 50,000 Bantams making it one of the most successful machines of its generation.
Friday, February 13, 2004
By 1949, Norton's flagship Grand Prix race bike - and therefore its single most important marketing tool - should have been consigned to the museum.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
If the Japanese launched the Ariel Leader today, with a modern four-stroke engine, it would most likely be considered a stunningly creative and radical design.
Friday, December 05, 2003
There's no argument the Japanese have led the motorcycling world in terms of producing efficient, reliable machines as far back as the 1960s.
Friday, November 07, 2003
Soichiro Honda wanted to show the world what his factory could build if it had a no-holds-barred attack on making a super-sports bike. The RC30 was that bike.
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Post-war British motorcycle factories were a perfect example of how not to build motorcycles - but Norton still managed to produce one of the best big bikes of its era.
Thursday, September 04, 2003
If the H1 were a lad, it would be the sort of boy you desperately hoped your daughter wouldn't bring home: fast, noisy and dangerous.
Friday, August 01, 2003
The Monkey was an accident of time and place and was never intended to be a commercial product yet it did and has since become a memorable motorcycle.
Monday, June 02, 2003
In 1978, everyone had a baby Yam in their garage. Beginners got their motorcycle licenses on them. Road riders commuted on them and enduro riders thrashed them like thoroughbred race bikes.
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
While most XRs live in cocooned luxury, two do not. These belong to Georgia car dealer, pilot, bike racer and Harley-Davidson enthusiast Keith Campbell.
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
At a time when even a very good super sports bike was pushed to scrape over 100 mph, the touring Vincent would burble along all day at well over the magic ton.
