YOUR CLASSICS
We love to see your acquisitions, regular rides and projects – keep ’em coming to the address above
Restored
Raleigh Model 26
This is my Raleigh Model 26 Super Sports, which was discovered in an overgrown garden in a village near Salisbury in June 2022. Judging by the condition of it, I think it had been in the hedge for well over 70 years – and to cap it all, it had no spark plug in it!
Although there were a few parts missing, the bike was in remarkably original condition, and after more than 1000 hours of restoration work by me, I got it on the road late last year. Getting used to the lever throttle and hand change makes riding it something of an adventure, but I hope to put some serious miles on it this year – I have already entered the VMCC’s Giants Run for girder-forked bikes and the Banbury Run.
In 2026 I hope to follow in Marjorie Cottle’s wheel tracks and ride from London to Edinburgh, just as she did in 1926.
NIGEL SAXON
Restored
Yamaha DT175
Back in summer 1978, I’d had an eventful year on an FS1-E – and, with my 17th birthday approaching, was positively itching to get something faster.
I think a lot of riders of a certain age look back fondly at their time on sixteener specials, but I hated it. Sure, it gave me freedom – but the Fizzy was so slow and I felt like a gangly idiot with my 6ft 3in frame wrapped around the minuscule proportions. My birthday was in June and most of my mates, with whom I’d been thrown tog
