This is the G. Air-Frame Jacket by Dainese. It’s a modern motorcycle jacket with full front and rear tight knit mesh venting, a removable zip-in liner for cooler weather, CE Level 2 body armour in the elbows, forearms, shoulders and back, it also has stud-tabs along the arms and around the waist to allows you to tighten the jacket and ensure a snug fit.
This 1964 DKW Hummel is a masterclass in ’60s era, futuristic design. It’s powered by a 50cc 2-stroke engine, has drum brakes front and rear, an integrated fuel tank/head light, a very interesting front fork assembly and more style than Cary Grant holding a martini, standing on top of a moving train.
The Sidney Diesel Norton is one of those rare engineering experiments from the middle of the last century for which very little information still exists. We know that the engine was built hand built by Alfred Smith and Arthur Sidney, then fitted to a stock Norton motorcycle, the engine has a large, external flywheel (visible in the above photograph) and a single cylinder, diesel fuelled motor.
The Ducati MHe 900e is a modern classic, originally released as a concept bike back in 2000 the design won so much public adoration that Ducati decided to do a limited number production run on the model.
This bike, named “Egg Salad” for reasons that escape me, is powered by a 500cc Rotax engine, it has a Knight Flat Track Frame, it doesn’t have a kick or centre stand in order to keep weight down and it doesn’t have an electric or kick starter for the same reason.
Radical Ducati produces some of the most iconic high-performance custom motorcycles in the world, many bike builders around the world make great looking bikes, Rad Ducati makes great looking bikes that fly.
In 1950, 2 years after his more-famous-than-Jesus swim-suit speed run at Bonneville, Rollie Free returned to the salt to reclaim his title. This time he arrived with a fully enclosed Vincent Black Lightning, a first attempt at streamlining by Rollie and on day 2 he made his first full-speed run.
Well, I don’t really have a category for this post. I spent about an hour staring at this picture yesterday trying to figure out how the hell this guy was controlling the throttle, transmission and brakes. If you think you know, educate us all in the comments below.
Motor Paced Racing was a huge spectator sport in the early 20th century, tens of thousands of people would turn out to watch the famous cyclists of the day hit speeds in excess of 100kmph on their small, steel framed bicycles.