Peter James Insurance Blog
Moto Guzzi Grand Prix Greats: Part One
THE MOTO GUZZI 500cc V-TWIN A Grand Prix contender for twenty years Moto Guzzi’s 500cc V-twin was the longest-lasting Grand Prix contender of all time. It competed with success in top-level international races for two decades, winning its first race in 1933 and its final World Championship GP race...
Peter James Insurance announces exclusive partnership with the Kettle Club
Peter James Insurance are delighted to announce an exclusive partnership with the Kettle Club, where they will provide a new scheme ‘Kettle Club Insurance’ to members of the club. Making a roaring start with this partnership in 2024, it continues Peter James Insurance’s 2023 success with club focused initiatives...
Christmas 2023 Opening Hours
Please see below for our Christmas 2023 opening hours at Peter James Insurance. We would like to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to all our customers. We hope you enjoy the festive season, and we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New...
Freddie Dixon Climbing Kop Hill
In 1910, motorcyclists looking for somewhere to fully use the performance of their machines found just what they were looking for in the steep Kop Hill road that climbs to the top of the picturesque Chiltern Hills just outside the town of Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire. Within a year...
Matchless, Sunbeam and AJS motorcyles: Part 2 (The fall)
Post-war production at Associated Motor Cycles began with Matchless and AJS 350 cc and 500 cc singles that were civilian versions of the wartime Matchless G3L. The only difference in their engines was that the Matchless unit had the Magdyno behind the cylinder while the AJS was in front....
Matchless, Sunbeam and AJS motorcyles: Part 1 (The rise)
The Associated Motor Cycles group was formed in 1937 but the company had its beginnings back in the 19th century when brothers Harry and Charlie Collier began manufacturing motorcycles with the Matchless brand name. Associated Motor Cycles Both were famous racers back in those pioneer days, with Charlie winning the...
The Ducati Apollo V4 Prototype story – Too much too soon?
Back in the early ‘60s, Ducati was one of dozens of Italian motorcycle manufacturers, struggling to overcome the situation in their crucial home market. From 1955, the tiny Fiat 500 car had sold spectacularly well and brought an end to the post-war boom in Italian motorcycle sales brought about...
The BSA MC-1 250. It could have been a contender!
The UK produced a constant stream of champions and challengers during the first fifty years of the World Championships but no British bikes at all for them to ride! You have to go right back to 1952 and Geoff Duke on the 350 and 500cc Manx Nortons to find...
Nortons at the beach – the Daytona years
The overhead-camshaft single-cylinder racers known as Manx Nortons were never officially called that name by the factory but, as every enthusiast of the marque is aware, they earned it for their continually successful performances in the Isle of Man TT from the 1930s onwards. On the other side of...
The AJS Porcupine – The first world champion
Ask any classic motorcycle enthusiast which marque first brought a 500cc World Championship trophy back to Britain and it is odds-on that most would answer with Norton. That would be a logical and unsurprising result given the many wins scored by that company’s relatively simple but hugely effective single-cylinder...
