Behind The Ton Up Boys is a short film from the ’60s showing the original era of the cafe racer, the 59 Club and the Ace Cafe. There isn’t much good footage out there of the period – especially footage shot from moving vehicles of the Ton Up Boys in action, so this film is an interesting insight.
The film seems to have been created to show the other side of the motorcycling world, in the ’60s and ’70s the Ton Up Boys made a bit of a nuisance of themselves on British roads, and the death toll amongst their ranks was troublingly high. At only 9 minutes long the film is a quick watch and well worth the time, after watching you might want to read a little more about The 59 Club, in which case you can click here.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
The Ural Air LE is the company’s newest sidecar motorcycle developed for 21st century adventurers who want a third eye in the sky to see the road ahead, scout for campsites, fresh water sources, or to figure out where you are when you inevitably get lost in the wilderness. Ural Motorcycles Ural Motorcycles started out…
This documentary from the 1980s tells the story of MG, the mighty little car company that produced some of the most influential and popular British roadsters of the 20th century. The film starts with the very first MG and discusses the company’s long history, showcasing many of its most popular (and some of the less…
This MV Agusta 861 Magni is the work of Arturo Magni and his sons, Arturo was a legendary Italian engineer who joined MV Agusta in the early 1950s after a stint with Gilera. Any student of motorcycle racing history will immediately recognize the importance of seeing the Magni name on the side of an MV…
This is the Husqvarna 400 Cross ridden by Steve McQueen in the seminal motorcycle documentary On Any Sunday – undoubtedly one of the most important motorcycle films ever made. The closing scene of the documentary famously features Mert Lawwill, Malcolm Smith, and movie star Steve McQueen riding over sand dunes and out across a beach…
The Harley-Davidson JDH Twin-Cam The Harley-Davidson JDH Twin-Cam is one of the most celebrated motorcycles ever built by the Milwaukee-based manufacturer. The 74 cubic inch V-twin featured twin cams with two lobes on each, rather than the older set-up that used a single cam with 4 lobes. This reduced the reciprocating weight and reduced the length of…
The Harley-Davidson Sportster Street Tracker The Harley-Davidson Sportster Street Tracker is by far the best American motorcycle that isn’t actually in production. Custom motorcycle garages like XTR Pepo make light work of turning a stock Sportster into a handsome, nimble, and fast street tracker – but the Harley-Davidson factory in Milwaukee has been very slow…
