Mick Walker's European Racing Motorcycles

Author: Mick Walker. With foreign-built motorcycles generally dominating road and track today, it is perhaps difficult to appreciate that the situation was not always so. There was a time when virtually every manufacturer in Great Britain listed a racing machine in his catalogue and British machines dominated the scene. Between the world wars, Norton, Rudge, Sunbeam, AJS and Velocette shared the spoils of victory despite the efforts of Italy, Germany, Sweden, France and Belgium. It was not until the mid 1930s that success began to come the way of the continentals, at first in the lightweight class, when Guzzi and Benelli from Italy appeared in the list of winners, along with Germany’s DKW. For many years after her decline as a force in world motorcycle manufacturing, Britain (and the Commonwealth) continued to provide great riders; Surtees, Hocking, Hailwood, Read and Sheene, to name but a few. Contents: AJS 7R, BSA Gold Star, Manx Norton, Matchless G50 & G45, JPS Norton, AJS Porcupine & 3-valve, Rocket 3 & Trident, Specials, Triumph GP, Two Strokes, Velocette, Vincent HRD & Thruxton. With over 800 pictures.