Introduction

Iceni CAM Magazine

This is the home of the Iceni CAM Magazine—a free e-magazine about Cyclemotors, Autocycles, Mopeds … and more.  It was launched on 15 April 2007 and the most recent ten issues can be downloaded here.  All the articles from all the previous magazines are on this website.  For non-computerised folks, printed copies are available at £1.50 per edition; we can accommodate mail order too at £3.02 for single edition or £12.20 for a year’s subscription.

So what’s it about?

It’s an e-magazine all about cyclemotors, autocycles and mopeds that carries road test & feature articles, rally reports, free adverts and other assorted information.  Although we are an independent production, we have strong ties to the EACC and also to the New Zealand Cyclaid Register.

We are based in East Anglia, but are by no means limited to that area.  Much that appears in the magazine is of universal appeal.  We welcome contributions, wherever they are from, and are also happy to help to publicise any events for cyclemotors, autocycles and mopeds.

When’s it published?

We try to publish four times a year at the beginning of January, April, July, and October—and things nearlyalways work out that way.  Iceni CAM is purely an enthusiast production, and all produced on a tiny budget.  The free downloadable version will be posted on this website on the same day as the printed version goes on sale.

All the issues of CAM Magazine that we’ve produced have been very well received.  Thank you all for your comments; they are much appreciated.  Several of you have also made donations, which has helped enormously in keeping Iceni CAM going.

What’s in it?

The September 2026 edition is available now on our Downloads Page.

Main feature: What were they thinking?

The theme of our main feature didn’t take much working out—the only two fully panelled British light motor cycles in the same article!

These are both pretty rare machines, and the only ones that we’ve ever actually seen, so how could we get two extraordinary machines that we’d never actually seen before together in the same article?  This magic is worked by the owner of both bikes being the same person!

We had seen the Commodore previously when the bike was ridden on the Kneels Wheels run in November 2024, and did discuss the prospect of a feature, since which time Dave Watson also acquired the Skutabyk, which subsequently required a lot of repairing.

On 8 July 2026 we took a hot day drive to North Norfolk to meet up with Dave for road test and photo-shoots of both bikes that we’ve been looking forward to covering in article for a very long time.  The James Commodore and Excelsior Skutabyk cross two big wants off our wish list.

We quite liked the sensible way the James engine panels were arranged so that the cylinder head peeped out from the top of the panels and still allowed easy access to the fuel tap, though engine access beyond that was obviously an issue.  The crash bars bolted on the ends of the footrests with the leg shields mounted on the crash bars was a tidy arrangement, but resulted in a barn door frontal aspect, which is probably fine with a tailwind in the sails, but not so much into a headwind.  Commodore was just like riding a 1F Comet, easy and capable, but with leg shields.

The ‘styling’ of the Skutabyk hasn’t aged well and today it looks very outdated, crudely constructed, and downright bizzare!  This is a bike truly in a class of its own, though fascinating in its ugliness.  Form your own opinion but, from a photographic point of view, the Skutabyk has no best side and no good angles.

Fuel tap and engine access is made ridiculously difficult by the side panels, but otherwise the bike is solidly built and rides well.

They’re both remarkable and particularly uncommon bikes that are probably not to many people’s taste, but are undoubtedly exceptional models.  Would I own either?  Hell, yeah!  I also ride a Hercules Corvettes and there’s little to recommend those either!

Thanks for a sponsorship donation by Rex Moorey, EACC Winchester.

First Support feature: One that got away

The Simson SR2E is not a common model in the UK, because it was never imported here!

The SR-series models were manufactured 1955–64 and the Simson brand was only first listed in the UK from January 1972.

Our bike was purchased from Mick Spacey at the Kneels Wheels Run autojumble on 16 November 2008 and was obviously a ‘grey import’ which had never been registered in the UK.  The presumption was that it had come in from Eastern Europe as a decrepit pre-used machine.

There were some initial efforts at the old workshops to construct a side stand, because the bike was becoming a nuisance without any stand, and to overhaul of the motor to see if it might run.  The motor was fitted with new piston rings, the carb cleaned out, and the mag-set overhauled to restore the spark.  The engine was run and the bike was ridden very briefly just to check the gear and clutch operation, but it was obvious that cables, wiring, and other aspects required more work and time … which the bike didn’t receive, and it disappeared into deep storage to get it out of the way for 15 years.  Following our site move, the SR2E project was picked up again in 2025.

The Simson was re-cabled & re-wired; received replacement tyre, rear axle, wheel bearings, & brakes; the seat was repaired; further attention was paid to the sidestand, chain, etc; and it was UK registered with the intention of producing the article.

The motor ran really well and the bike rode far better than expected; tempting though it was to hang on to our Simson and ride it ourselves, it was decided that it was to go after Copdock Show 2026 to make space for other projects.

Having the Rhienmetall brand on the motor is pretty cool, as this company is now the biggest German armaments manufacturer, and it is a very interesting motor for a moped.

Research was, of course, quite difficult, because no information on it was available in the UK since it was never sold here, while much of the information we could find required translation from old German printed text, and little of it was available on the internet because the SR2E had been discontinued so long ago.

The article was built around the time and place, based in post-war East Germany, and culminating at the most symbolic moment of the period.

The Simson photo-shoot took place on 14 June 2026 after we got back to base from the RM4 road test & photo-shoot.

Thanks to Peter Smart in New Zealand for sponsorship.

Second Support feature: Automatically Better

Who’d have thought it would have taken IceniCAM 19 years to get to this iconic model?

Finally an article on the RM4! This now seems to complete our coverage of all Raleigh’s coded models, as well as its prototypes, un-coded models, and even a concept special, though technically it might be argued that a certain model variant could have slipped through the dragnet.

Anyone got a nice original RM6 ‘Pop’?

Over the years we’d already covered features on RM4’s family versions: the Norman Nippy Mk5 (February 2005) and Phillips Panda Mk3 (January 2009 and July 2011), but somehow the Raleigh still kept evading us.

The RM4 Automatic was a particularly symbolic machine for Raleigh in its transition from the previous Sturmey–Archer powered, bicycle-based models to its first Motobécane-based automatic moped.

Production was scheduled to start in February 1961, but was clearly late as machines didn’t seem to start reaching dealers until May 1961.  Introduction of the RM5 fared somewhat worse and didn’t seem to start arriving until August 1961, so missed the peak demand period of its first sales season.  Since the RM4 comprised more Raleigh-manufactured components, we’d probably have expected that to more likely be delayed.

Once sales got underway, the switch to automatic motors began looking like the right decision, and set the forward moped plan on its course, right up to number RM12.

Our super restored feature machine came thanks to Neil Yeo when we went to Melbourn, Hertfordshire for road test and photo-shoot on 14 June 2026, and we teamed up with Neil & RM4 again for the Periwinkle Run at Cottered in Hertfordshire on 9 August.

Thanks to Les Gobbett, Lough, Lincolnshire EACC, for yet another sponsorship.

What’s Next?

The next magazine is scheduled for publication in January 2027.

Due to an ongoing shortage of machines for road test, we currently have no solid plans for any articles for the next edition … but this doesn’t mean that we don’t have a back-up idea.

Since we started IceniCAM with the Dunkley Popular article in March 2007, time has significantly moved on for 1980s’ machines that were only 20-ish years old at the time.  Now the surviving and somewhat reduced examples from this period are into 40+ years old, and recognised as historic vehicles by the UK registration authorities.  Eighties’ bikes have subsequently developed a high level of interest, become increasingly sought after, and are now priced accordingly, so maybe it’s time we took a break to catch up with the times?

We have leads on some interesting sports-50s from the 80s, and while the UK market 50s would ordinarily have been restricted to tedious 30mph versions, some imported foreign market and subsequently de-restricted models—well, maybe not so dull…

May these give some indication how they might have been expected to perform in the wild?

How might we even present such articles on several bikes?  Maybe just one big feature?

What else?

Well, there’s this Website … we’ve put a lot of useful information here, and we’re alwas adding to it.  We have a directory of useful people to know.  Information on local events and, after each run, we put photos of the event on this website.  There’s also a market place where you can buy and sell mopeds, autocycles, cyclemotors and other related items

As each edition of the magazine is published, we add to our collection of articles.  From Edition 3 of the magazine, we introduced another evolution.  Previously, features in the articles section had reflected what appeared in the magazine, but you may now discover a bit of extra content has crept into some items as they’ve transferred to the website—you might call it ‘The Directors Cut’.  The problem with printed magazines is editing everything to fit page sizes and space, and there can sometimes be bits you’d like to include, but they have to be left out to fit the available space.  The web articles don’t need to be constrained by the same limitations so, although the text will remain the same, the ‘Directors Cut’ graphic in the header indicates the item carries extra pictures and bits that didn’t make it to the magazine.

We also have an Information Service—if you want to know more about your moped, we can help.

What we do

Iceni CAM Magazine is committed to celebrating all that’s good about the Cyclemotor, Moped and Autocycle scene; researching toward the advancement of the pool of knowledge about cyclemotors, autocycles, old mopeds, and other oddities; and the publication of original material.  We are a declared non-profit making production, though we still need to fund everything somehow to keep the show on the road.

The magazine is free on line, and the nominal price of supplying hard copies to non-computerised folks is pitched only to cover printing and postage.  All advertising is free since we believe that the few people left out there providing parts & service for these obsolete machines do so as a hobby and an interest.  This involves far more effort than reward, and they should be appreciated for the assistance they provide.  Our Information Service is there to help anyone needing manuals to help with restoration of a machine.  We make a small charge for this but, again, we have set our prices so the just cover postage and material costs.  However, we are trying to make this free too!  We are setting up an on-line library where you can download manuals at no charge.

Overheads involve operation of the website, and particularly the generation of features.  Articles like Last Flight of the Eagle can cost as little as £20 to complete, while others have cost up to £150 to generate, eg: Top Cat on the Leopard Bobby.  With these overheads, you may be wondering how we get the money to keep it all going.  So do we!  But, somehow, it works, helped by a number of generous people who have sponsored articles or made donations to keep the show on the road.

How long does it take to research, produce, and get these feature articles to press?  Well, up to two years of preparatory research in some cases, where little is known about the machine or its makers, and where nothing has been published before.  Then, collating all the information and interviews, drafting and re-drafting the text, travel and photoshoots typically account for up to 40 to 50 hours to deliver the package to editing.

There are many examples where these articles have become the definitive reference material for previously unpublished machines like:

Ambassador Moped,

Dunkley Whippet & Popular,

Elswick Hopper Lynx,

Leopard Bobby,

Mercury Mercette & Hermes,

Ostler Mini-Auto,

Raleigh Ireland Super,

Stella Minibike,

…and many others.

We’re committed to continuing to produce these articles, because we believe it needs to be done, and we’ve got a proven track record for achieving it.  Nobody else has done it in 50 odd years, so if we don’t do it—who will?

To whet your appetite for what’s ahead, here’s an updated list of machines with developing articles for future features:

Ariel Pixie;

Beretta–Mosquito;

Capriolo 75 Turismo Veloce;

Cyc-Auto (Wallington Butt) & Cyc-Auto (Villiers);

Dunkley S65 & Whippet Super Sports;

Elswick–Hopper VAP MIRA test prototype;

Gilera RS50;

Hercules Her-cu-motor;

Honda Gyro Canopy, Model A, CD50, & SS50;

James Comet 1F;

MV Agusta Liberty;

Norman Nippy Mark 3;

Powell Joybike;

Rabeneick Binetta;

Simson SR2E;

Solifer Speed;

Sun Autocycle & Motorette;

Vincent Firefly;

The working list changes all the time as articles are completed and published, and further new machines become added—so as you see, there’s certainly no shortage of material.

Readers have probably noticed a number of the articles collecting sponsorship credits, and we’re very grateful for the donations people have made toward IceniCAM, which certainly assures we’re going forward into another year.  We don’t need a lot of money since IceniCAM is a declared non-profit making organisation, and operates on a shoestring (and we’d like to keep it that way)—run by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts.

It’s easy to sponsor an article by either picking a machine from the forward list, and we’ll attach your credit to it, or simply making a donation.  There is no fixed amount, it’s entirely up to you, and however large or small, we’re grateful for any contribution to keep the show on the road.

If a vehicle you’re interested in seeing an article about isn’t in the list, then let us know and we’ll see about trying to add it in the programme, but we do need access to examples—perhaps you have a machine you’d like to offer for a feature?

See the Contact Page for how to: Sponsor an article–Enter a free advert–Submit an article yourself–Write a letter to us–Propose a machine for feature–Offer your machine for test feature …