HE COGNOSCENTI WOULD

Task something more specific, but when faced with a person who has never ridden a motorcycle, and for whatever reason feels obliged to make polite conversation, the question is always the same: “So what’s your favourite motorcycle?” What category? What priorities? What price range? What era? The dilemma of the question is already beyond the inquisitor, so the answer will inevitably be something they’ve never heard of. Further clarification of the model, version and year will be entirely redundant. By the time I answer, “1913 Cyclone Board Track Racer”, their eyes have already glazed over, and they’ve moved on to another subject — usually property prices.

Competition machines always epitomise the best in sporting aesthetics, be that dirt bikes or road racers. There’s nothing there that doesn’t have a purpose. “Form follows function”, someone once noted, before the phrase was hijacked and applied to overstyled stuff on which there was little connection between the two. Things don’t get more functional than board track racers. They’re essentially a bicycle with as big an engine as they could stuff in between the frame’s down-tubes. The Cyclone was capable of over 115 mph (185 km/h) in the day, which must have been a scary experience, especially when the wooden boards on the track had a tendency to come loose. Quite why the Cyclone should have an edge over all the other offerings with a very similar layout probably comes down to presentation: one glorious and very shiny one-litre engine and that bright yellow paintwork. Otherwise, it’s just two wheels, a saddle and handlebars. The perfection of minimalism, from which all modern motorcycles evolved and to which they still