Started in 1903, The Classic MotorCycle has more to offer the true vintage motorcycle enthusiast than any other publication, backed by Europe's largest motorcycle image archive.
Welcome
The Classic MotorCycle
From another planet • Some of the motorcycles used in GP racing in the 1950s looked a bit like they’d come from outer space, this Ducati among them.
News & Events
First of the Desmo twins • Ducati’s legendary, first-year 750SS is arguably the grandaddy of all the firm’s high-performance motorcycles that have followed.
Splash of colour • In the late 1950s, the majority of press photographs were black and white, making this picture an interesting – and bright, if a little blurry – treat.
Readers’ Letters • YOUR VOICE & YOUR OPINIONS
A vintage day out • Several hundred pre-1931 motorcycles take to the roads around the British Motor Museum, in Gaydon, Warwickshire, for a fitting celebration of historic two and three wheelers.
Daytona training wheels • This Ducati V-twin has a long and distinguished racing career, plus a special significance to the writer of this article.
Ready for the rough • Fought across rough heathland, through bracken and along quarry tracks, prewar scrambles asked much of man and machine. This AJS is just the type of tool designed for the job.
Rear view
Fine turn out at Tenterden • Collaboration between a museum and a motorcycle club brings an interesting event to an old Kentish town.
Looking the part • Though this might not be a ‘real’ 1974 Ducati 750SS, it comes at a fraction on the price – and looks great too.
Mystery machine • Though there’s varying degrees of unknown motorcycle, this one has just about everyone stumped, as it has for done years.
From the vault
Behind the scenes of the auction • Many readers will have been to the Bonhams’ Stafford sale and seen the ordered, nicely presented machines, stood in rows. An awful lot of work has gone into getting to that stage; this is how it happens.
Mobility for the masses • While Ducati is now known for its high-performance sportsters, the firm’s early two-wheel forays were much more simple.
On the road again • Fresh rubber goes on in sweltering heat, a flat battery scuppers the maiden voyage, and the little MZ finally hits the road.
Sketchbook Travels • MOTORCYCLES, SEEN THROUGH THE SKETCHBOOKS OF MARTIN SQUIRES
Going up the Downs • The Snow-Mann Test Day was held on May 10, 2026, providing a good and varied day out for two- and three-wheeled enthusiasts.
Diary
Keeping ‘em rolling • Inadvertently, the ranks of the ‘rolling restorers’ may have been joined, as one job leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to another…
Staying power • For over 100 years, engineers have sought a better solution than the poppet valve for engine inhaling and exhaling. However, despite much time and money being spent developing alternatives, the poppet valve remains the only choice for most four-stroke engines.