Motorcycle Mechanics (magazine)

Last updated

Motorcycle Mechanics
Motorcycle Mechanics first issue April 1959.JPG
The first issue, April 1959
Staff writersJohn Robinson from 1968, mostly as Technical Editor
Categories Motorcycles
PublisherMercury House Publications 1959–1974
EMAP 1974–1983
Founded1959
First issue1959 April
Final issue1983 March
CountryGreat Britain
LanguageEnglish

Motorcycle Mechanics (Motorcycle, Scooter and Three-Wheeler Mechanics, also known as MM) was a British monthly magazine founded in 1959 under Mercury House Publications. With the strapline "The illustrated how-to-do-it magazine", it initially concentrated on the practicalities of owning motorcycles as a domestic form of transport with a focus on home maintenance and repairs.

Published between 1959 and 1983, many copies carried the announcements: World's largest sale [1] and Largest sale. [2] When founding-editor Robert F Webb moved on in early 1962, successor editor Charles E Deane's message in June 1962 proudly proclaimed that, in three years from a new start, they had achieved the world's largest net sale of any motorcycle magazine. [3]

As with other motorcycling periodicals, MM moved with the times, changing its name and format to suit readership requirements and fashion and technology advancements, [4] along with a change of ownership in 1974. [5]

In 1972 the masthead was reformatted to Motor Cycle Mechanics (MCM), [6] then reverted to Motorcycle Mechanics, followed by a brief spell as Mechanics & The Biker when it joined with sister publication The Biker.

In 1982 it became known as simply Mechanics, with the final edition in March 1983, from when it became known by the title of Performance Bikes which initially carried the cover-masthead Performance Bikes & Mechanics.

The publication had a long association with the journalist John Robinson, who had been with the magazine from 1968, then with Performance Bikes until his death in 2001. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norton Motorcycle Company</span> British motorcycle manufacturer

The Norton Motorcycle Company is a brand of motorcycles headquartered in Solihull, West Midlands,, England. For some years around 1990, the rights to use the name on motorcycles was owned by North American financiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honda CB750 and CR750</span> Four cylinder engine motorcycle

The Honda CB750 is an air-cooled, transverse, in-line-four-cylinder-engine motorcycle made by Honda over several generations for year models 1969–2008 with an upright, or standard, riding posture. It is often called the original Universal Japanese Motorcycle (UJM) and also is regarded as the first motorcycle to be called a "superbike".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sport bike</span> Motorcycles designed for performance

A sport bike, sports motorcycle, or sports bike is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfort, fuel economy, safety, noise reduction and storage in comparison with other motorcycles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honda CBX</span> Sports motorcycle manufactured from 1978 to 1982

The Honda CBX sports motorcycle was manufactured by Honda from 1978 to 1982. With a 1047cc inline six-cylinder engine producing 105 bhp (78 kW), it was the flagship of the Honda range. The CBX was well-received by the press, but was outsold by its sibling introduced in late 1979, the Honda CB900F.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoff Monty</span> British motorcycle racer

Geoff Monty was an English professional motorcycle racer, constructor, rider-sponsor and retail dealer, initially based in Kingston on Thames and later – under the name Monty and Ward – Twickenham areas, near London, with a move to Edenbridge, Kent by 1968.

<i>Motor Cycle News</i> UK weekly motorcycling newspaper

MCN or Motor Cycle News is a UK weekly motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspaper".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric motorcycles and scooters</span> Plug-in electric vehicles with two or three wheels

Electric motorcycles and scooters are plug-in electric vehicles with two or three wheels. Power is supplied by a rechargeable battery that drives one or more electric motors. Electric scooters are distinguished from motorcycles by having a step-through frame, instead of being straddled. Electric bicycles are similar vehicles, distinguished by retaining the ability to be propelled by the rider pedaling in addition to battery propulsion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mick Grant</span> British motorcycle racer

Mick Grant is an English former professional motorcycle road racer and TT rider. A works-supported rider for Norton, Kawasaki, Honda and Suzuki, he is a seven-time winner of the Isle of Man TT motorcycle race on various makes, including 'Slippery Sam', a three-cylinder Triumph Trident. The son of a coal miner, the soft-spoken, down-to-earth Yorkshireman from Wakefield, was a sharp contrast to the brash, playboy image presented by Londoner Barry Sheene during the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Smart (motorcyclist)</span> British motorcycle racer (1943–2021)

Paul Smart was an English short circuit motorcycle road racer who later entered Grands Prix.

Charles Mortimer is an English former professional motorcycle short-circuit road racer and race-school instructor. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle road racing world championships from 1969 to 1979. He remains the only competitor to have won FIM Grand Prix races in the 125, 250, 350, 500 and 750 world championship classes.

<i>Performance Bikes</i> (magazine)

Performance Bikes, often known by the shortened form of "PB", was a monthly British motorcycling magazine which evolved during the 1980s from the long-running Motorcycle Mechanics. The first issue dated April 1985 and entitled Performance Bikes & Mechanics published by EMAP also incorporated the previous version of the title Mechanics and The Biker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cooper (motorcyclist)</span> British motorcycle racer

John Cooper is an English retired garage proprietor who was a prolific short-circuit motorcycle road racer during the 1960s and early 1970s. He also entered selected Grands Prix motorcycle road races. His best season was in 1967 when he finished the year in seventh place in the 500cc world championship. Cooper was a two-time winner of the North West 200 race held in Northern Ireland. He is remembered for his upset victory over the reigning 500cc world champion, Giacomo Agostini at the 1971 Race of the Year held at Mallory Park. Cooper rode a BSA Rocket 3 to finish three-fifths of a second ahead of Agostini's MV Agusta, achieving his fifth victory in the race since 1965.

<i>The Motor Cycle</i> British magazine

The Motor Cycle was one of the first British magazines about motorcycles. Launched by Iliffe and Sons Ltd in 1903, its blue cover led to it being called "The Blue 'un" to help distinguish it from its rival publication Motor Cycling, which, using a green background colour, was known as "The Green 'un". Many issues carried the strapline "Circulated throughout the World".

<i>Motor Cycling</i> (magazine) British motorcycle magazine

Motor Cycling was the first British motorcycle magazine. It was launched in 1902 by Temple Press as an offshoot of Motor magazine. It was withdrawn after a few months but relaunched in 1909. The Motor Cycle—which was launched by Iliffe in April 1903—coined the slogan on its masthead: "Established in 1903 and for over six years the only paper solely devoted to the pastime". the front covers often had varying degree of green background, green or contrasting text and B&W illustrations or photographic images. This common theme resulted in almost a 'trademark' appearance, being called "The Green 'un", distinguishing it from its rival publication The Motor Cycle which had variation on blue background colouring with contrasting text and images.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triumph Tiger Cub</span> British motorcycle

The Triumph Tiger Cub was a 200 cc (12 cu in) single-cylinder British motorcycle made by Triumph Motorcycles at their Meriden factory. Based on the Triumph T15 Terrier 150 cc, itself a surprise announcement just before the 1952 show, the 200 cc T20 Tiger Cub was designed by Edward Turner, and launched at the Earls Court show in November 1953. It competed well against the other small-capacity motorcycles of the time, such as those using two-stroke engines from Villiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Featherbed frame</span> Motorcycle frame

The featherbed frame was a motorcycle frame invented by the McCandless brothers and offered to the British Norton motorcycle company to improve the performance of their racing motorcycles in 1950. It was considered revolutionary at the time, and the best handling frame that a racer could have. Later adopted for Norton production motorcycles, it was also widely used by builders of custom hybrids such as the Triton, becoming legendary and remaining influential to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norton Dunstall</span> Type of Norton motorcycle

The Dunstall Norton was a Norton motorcycle made by Paul Dunstall, a specialist tuner of the 1960s and early 1970s twins originally using some parts from Norton's Domiracer project when the Birmingham factory was closed in 1963. In 1966 Dunstall Motorcycles became a motorcycle manufacturer in its own right so that Dunstalls could compete in production races, and set a number of world records before sales of the Dunstall Nortons declined in the 1970s consistent with the demise of the British motor cycle industry and a corresponding rise in Japanese imports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Seeley</span> British motorcycle racer (1936–2020)

Colin Jordan Seeley was a British motorcycle retailer who later became a motorcycle sidecar racer, motorcycle designer, constructor and retailer of accessories. In 1992 he was involved in running the Norton Rotary race team.

Kevin Ash was a British motorcycle journalist and author, who contributed to The Daily Telegraph and to Motor Cycle News.

References

  1. Motor Cycle Mechanics World's largest sale examples, January + October 1966, March + October 1967, January + February 1968. Accessed 2014-05-13
  2. Motor Cycle Mechanics Largest sale examples, April + October 1969, October + December 1970, and March 1972. Accessed 2014-05-13
  3. Motorcycle Mechanics, June 1962, vol.4, no.9, p.3 Editorial by Chas Deane
  4. Motor Cycle Mechanics, March 1972, p.3 Editorial by Chas Deane Between you and me... "New look MCM! The motorcycle is no longer considered to be a poor man's means of transport—it's a fun machine, a hobby....Motorcycle Mechanics' Racing and Sporting Show highlighted the best in motorcycling and the trends for 1972 and like many of the exhibitors at our Show, we too have to stay 'with it' to keep you, our readers, happy". Accessed 2014-04-12
  5. Motor Cycle Mechanics, December 1974, p.3 Editorial by Chas Deane In the Hot Seat. "Following our move from Mercury House to Ludgate House in Fleet Street, we ran into all the usual troubles encountered by any large publication changing its address. There was the difficulty of redirecting all the post...then there was the advice and service bureaux to re-organise with our new 'masters'." Accessed 2014-04-12
  6. Motor Cycle Mechanics, March 1972, p.3 Editorial by Chas Deane Between you and me... "New look MCM!, ...we too have to stay 'with it' to keep you, our readers, happy. Next month, for the first time since the magazine appeared on the bookstalls, we are changing our cover title panel...the new MCM motif...will appear in red and white on the front cover of the April issue.". Accessed 2014-04-12
  7. John Robinson dies, Motorcycle News, 5 August 2001 Retrieved 2014-05-11