Since the birth of the motorcycle the preferred way of joining the hub to the rim of the wheels are with wires called spokes that had a bend on one end to pass through a hole in the hub and a thread on the other end to pass through the cent

Finally I’m back after what seems a long time. Sometimes life gets in the way of bike building. I still haven’t finished the Honda 750 four project yet, but I felt it was time to to start another project bike. I am re-thinking s

Stainless Steel Petrol Tanks We regularly have enquiries from people asking if we can make stainless steel  petrol tanks for their vintage and veteran cars or bikes. Our reply is “of course we can, as long as you supply have a pattern

Motorcycles through the ages have metamorphosized to produce what we have today. But sometimes this is not the principle of what the buyer wants, but it is close, hence people find Stotfold Engineering is the place to find that enhancement

Performance tuning a Ducati Mach 1 The first thing to do is lighten everything throughout the engine, but not compromise on the strength and reliability of the working parts. The project was carried out by me to contest a Ducati Mach 1 in a

The bicycle in question, ripe for a complete restoration is a 1954 Rory O’Brien racing bicycle. My father purchased the frame and forks for £17.10s unpainted. The frame was manufactured from Reynolds 531 tubing and all the tubing was brazed

A 1930 s triumph tank was brought into the workshop with the customer saying he cannot find anyone to restore it to it’s original fuel capacity. The problem being it had been “Petsealed” 30 years ago and the modern fuels contain

Following a steady season in 2009, when significant improvements in times had been achieved, I decided that some more speed was required so asked Terry Ives to investigate the compression ratio in the JAP engine. I had thought, but never ch

In this blog I just wanted to tell some of you about my Commando as I ‘ve been asked about the bike by a few people. People always say “that’s a nice bike, it must have cost you fortune”. I tell them it didn’t

Here at Stotfold Engineering we don’t just work on pristine bikes. We work on many bikes that have had a hard life and are in need of bringing back to a good working standard. This one of our customers bikes. He had bought it after it

When we require a classic motorcycle restoration to be undertaken by an ‘expert or professional’ motorcycle restorer we have to expect the complete job to cost more than the classic bike is worth. This is a very common occurrenc

What types of four stroke lubrication systems are there?  There are four main types that are used on four stroke motorcycle engines: The  splash or spray system The total loss system The dry sump system The wet sump system 1. The splash or

From day one of this cafe racer project I have always had it in my mind that all wiring should be well and truly hidden. To many really good creative bikes are made with little or no thought for the wiring. I like my wiring tidy and when ev

 From time to time we get the same inquiries about various aspects of motorcycle building. Brakes is one of those subjects. People come into the workshop, phone or email saying ‘my brakes are spongy and how can I fix them’ or &#

Finally I have reached the stage of reconstruction. The frame has returned from the painters (‘Full Range Finishes’ – Letchworth) and the swinging arm freshly chrome plated (‘Doug Heath’ – Baldock). First