Magic Mini-Twin!

What do you do when someone wants to show your one-off special, but you’ve sold it? If you’re Allen, you build another.

The SS100 V Twin is one of my smallest bikes, but it sounds a lot bigger than its99cc engine would have you believe, and is great fun to ride around the country lanes on a summer afternoon when you can exploit the 11,000rpm redline at every opportunity.

Top speed on the flat is around 65mph, but it will cruise happily all day at 55mph, which makes it a really usable bike. The handling is sharp and the original brakes and suspension cope well with the additional performance. I remember taking my first SS100 to a power shootout competition at a show and lining up behind a lot of big turbocharged bikes to be tested. When it was my turn the chap looked at my bike, smiled, then promptly re-calibrated the dyno for much lower power input! After a bit of adjustment to the carbs I was pleasantly surprised when the SS100 made 10.5bhp @ 11,000rpm – not bad when you consider the original SS50 five-speed made 4.2bhp. I expect the more than double power increase was due to the less restrictive exhausts and larger carburettors that I had fitted.