The Glory Days of British Motorbikes - BBC Cafe Racers Part 3
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- But it wasn't all thrills and spills - the motorbike played a key role during World War II and it was army surplus bikes that introduced many to the joy and freedom of motorcycling in the 50s, a period now regarded as a golden age. With its obsession with speed and the rocker lifestyle, it attracted more than its fair share of social disapproval and conflict. Narrated by John Hannah.
In America we had to wait for Ichiro Honda to come along with affordable bikes. British iron was beautiful but a little spendy. You had to be a resourceful professional mechanic that could rebuild a motor on the side of the road to ride a Harley, as that is where you found most of them, on the side of the road.
"A helmet...would muck me hair up! The wind never did that to me hair!" Lol.
The current #2 (excellent) condition value for a 1950 Series C Black Shadow is . In 2018, the only Vincent Black Lightning that we have record of selling at auction fetched .
My Dad bought 3 wrecks, over the years. 1968 Tiger 650 was the last. I did the ton, slimming onto to tank, with a 69 Camaro at to front wheel. I dropped it off, and the car pulled into my lane. I had plenty of throttle. Cheers Memories now.
Truth be told, when it comes to electrics, Lucas invented darkness!
so true
You never walk alone with a Britis bike.
british
Old man Lucas had a motto
"Never go out at night"
Lucas Electric is the prince of darkness
My father had a Matchless Single 500 cc (1938) which was ex- British Army. The gears were on the tank and the Army wanted foot gears. He bought the Army issue Matchless and he kept it until 1951 (April). They gave him a new Matchless 500 cc with foot gears for the whole of the war.
The leather is just plain practical, and US motorcycle cops were wearing leather jackets by the 1930s. Also WWII bomber crews wore leather jackets too.
Geez, I remember my own days in the US West Coast version of this culture... "traffic racing" - say you've got essentially a traffic jam moving at 70MPH which happens all the time on the 405 freeway between Los Angeles and Orange County. OK so you race through this, weaving through cars. The other guy might have a 750cc bike and you might have a 550cc, but this sets you equal because you might be more skilled, daring, or just plain foolhardy. And "doing the superman" on the bike, always fun esp. between opposing directions of traffic. Taking offroad bikes and making them look street legal and riding them on the road, taking road bikes offroad, coming up with all sorts of cool modifications and paint jobs, and just basically terrorizing the Newport Pier area. Good times.
My 1st helmet was so beat up I had pop rivets holding the strap to the inside of the helmet. Wow that was so raw.
Later on in my life when I began to feel afraid while riding I got a full face with tint tip up shield. Guess that happens when you get old. 🚵
We had a circuit to race from our local coffee bar that had to be completed in the time it took to play a record on the juke box, fun until one of the boys hit a factory wall and decapitated himself. The local hospital had a ward for bikers and we would visit there on a Saturday afternoon like it was a social event. All the beds were bedecked with biker photos and regalia, good times if you weren’t injured.
Awesome film 🎥 ..!
Had all sorts but got to admit that now i'm 62 my Fireblade is just the nuts!!!!!!
At 73 so's mine love it ;-)
When I saw Honda's CB72 for the first time in the early 1960's, I knew British Bikes were quite deservedly obsolete...
And that's why my Norton 850 Commando are worth incredible amount of money compared to a Honda 750
Interesting comment about leather jackets. My first motorbike jacket was PVC which was cold and leaked at the seams, my second was waxed cotton (Belstaff) which was less cold and leaked a bit less but was a dirt magnet. My final jacket was black leather with fold over front that kept the wind and rain out. To keep it looking good every now and again on a Sunday morning it would get polished with black boot polish which also helped with water proofing. Then after lunch off for a blast down the bypass on the Goldie. Leather also resisted the road well when (not if) you fell off and the scuffs covered with boot polish. So function not fashion was the main reason for leather jackets for most serious bike riders and still is.
Ditto to all you said even the Goldie. Still riding @ 72 BMW 1200 Cheers
Well I remember my biker days 1962 Triumph Bonneville, 16yrs old not legal ( no one give a stuff them days) and soon learned that the only decent jacket to have was a denim jacket for dry days & Barbour for long rides or wet days. Waterproof, so many much needed pockets for tools screws gaskets, blue gasket paste, plugs, puncture kits and god knows what. If you came off the bike you rolled along the road like a bag-o-hammers and demolished anything you came into contact with. As for oil...if it was not leaking oil there was no oil in it!. It all came to an end when I got wed Right now some 50 yrs + I would give my right knacker to have another one, never had so much fun with me pants on! wonderful days
I went the same route with the coats in the 60s they were vinyl, cotton oil, and then finally my "leather coat" which I love. i've always rode couldn't afford a Harley so I rode Suzuki then the Kawasaki drifter which looked like an Indian, then a Russian Ural with sidecar, then a Can-Am Ryker three wheeler. I sold each one to buy the next now I own a Vanderhall which I love driving. it's like the Morgan but better engineered
road & worked on about everything made in the 50's favorite was my Ariel sq 4,most dependable & easiest to repair was Jawa ,most to vibrate was my Harleys ( liked them but poor for field meets,enduro & scrambles)actually i like them all including w or wo/sidecars.also road year round both in USA & Germany.
never met a motorcycle I didn't like
Beautiful motorcycle....
When was 19 years old i had A.J.S 500cc,i used to go to the Salt Box cafe in Biggen Hill, Kent,its not there now, it was not law then to wear a crash helmit,so i never wore one,riding a motor bike is all about freedom
We didn't have the Ace café but we did have Baz,s café in Queensferry North Wales
When Triumph could manufacture a 'rounded seamless petrol tank!'
back in India , Royal Enfield bikes are the rage since 1955...especially the Bullet model....the Royal Enfield Bullet is the only bike to stay in production the longest than any other bike...if you ask any Indian teenager, what's his dream bike...*Bammm...the reply would be "Bullet"......Royal Enfield is a passion, and Bullet is a religion..!! because for us Indians as the Motto says..
"MADE LIKE A GUN, GOES LIKE A BULLET ! "
pradeep devaraj I had an Indian Enfield Bullet for a few years in the mid 1970s. It was without doubt the worst heap of rubbish I ever had the misfortune to own!
I had a 2015 Bullet 500 and found it a pleasure to ride vibrated a bit but loved the look of it. I would still have it if it was a bit quicker as it lacked enough power for British roads. The modern Bullets are quite well built for the price and reliable too.
the bike to end all brit bikes was the honda CB 750 then to put the nail in their coffin was the Kawasaki z1000 then other superbikes followed the brits were dead in the water
Do you have to sound so happy about it ?
Even the KZ 650 would destroy the best of triumphs. That said, I ride a Triumph
the chelsea bridge boys documentary is the best
Checking out those drum brakes. Made to go, not to stop.
my first bike was a Terrot 500 RGST single1955, my second An Anzani 750 single 1937, My third was an 1938 Gnome Rhone 800AX2 flat twin shaft side car but that was in France... private reserve of French people for French people only. then a Magnat-Debon 350, NSU250,Jawa 350 then a Laverda 750 SF, a Cemec 700 flat twin etc..
Nice collection Jan.
My only and last brit bike was a 1942 Norton 16 H. Still own it as a save queen.
I'll have a couple of Vincents for £600 thank you.
My A65 Lightning Clubman restoration is almost finished. Ace Cafe is first stop. 😀
I always thought the fast Vincent was the Black Lightening series C. Pretty sure I'm right.
Correct, it was a highly modified Black Shadow and they renamed it the Black Lightning.
You can thank a Aussie for the engine the legendary Phil Irving as for the Black shadow stick in a slim line feather bed frame The q(Norvin), and you have the best bike of all time ⌚
5:03 there's my helmet. Still got it. Crack and all.
I choose to believe you
...when bikers where bikers... and mechanics, engineers, fortune tellers, magicians, voodoo priest, mediums and could see in the dark with out lights. Good ol' times!
As times changed they got left behind by Japanese machines that were built better and in the 80/90's Brit iron could be brought for pennies and many old bike shops just skipped them. But now people want 6v lucas electronics again and vertical split cases with the free oil seep.
Magneto and points? At least you don't need a computer jockey to time them. A pencil down the plug hole at top dead centre, rotate back wheel backwards till the pencil dropped 11/32nds of an inch or thereabouts, set the points with the advance-retard lever at full advance and you are away in a few minutes........Even aeroplanes still use magnetos.
thats if you could afford one you had to be loaded, most were junk old or worn out, not very one wanted a car you couldn't afford them either. I passed my bike test in 1962, I had good job I save for a year still didn't have enough for a deposit, and there were no cafe racers or bikers, people that talk were not there, and there were no rockers,
OK, now a bit of reality: these were in the main absolutely terrible motorcycles. The Vincent had a decent motor but the brakes weren't even a bad joke, as was true of 100% of British motorcycles. Even if in a "test" you could get what seemed like a decent stop, the next one was twice as long. We set a kid who wanted to ride with us Big British Bikes out to race a 500 Triumph Daytona on his Honda Super Hawk. The Daytona did OK on the straights and on the first corner the Super Hawk got by. When they got back (Honda first) the Triumph went right by us. Total brake failure....
I’d love a Vincent black lightning. That’s the best bike ever made.
In the 80s we'd ride from motorcycle shop to motorcycle shop to stare at bikes we couldn't afford, I refused to go down the HP route as I was so much happier when not in debt 😄
yup. built all my bikes from scrap until '89.
now people give me dead bikes that are easy fixes because youngsters spannering in bike shops don't know anything and bikeshop prices are silly for real repairs.
I get fed up hearing these folk talking about crap Britsh bikes. In their day they were wonderfull. As a 17year old I made my first of many rides to Motherwell Scotland from south London on a 1948 350 BSA B31. Apart from the HT lead coming no probe. At 19 myself and Roy Stopher with full camping gear on a 1950 Sunbeam S7 done South London to John O Grotesque and back. Apart from a wee bit of fiddling. We always carried a few tools and knew how to use them if need be. I still have my 1959 650 Triumph Trophy and a. Kwakisaki 500 Due to an eye prob I can't use them anymore. But it has been a great time to look back on as an Old Geezer
When I was 16 I borrowed my friends BSA Lightning and went a 100 miles an hour down the freeway in La Mesa CA -- 1965. What a thrill, what a machine!
I had a BSA Lightning Rocket in 1965...sold it in 1966 when I went into the Marine Corp...
Cycle world tested this bike at 133 mph.....
We're all witness' to the reincarnation of Triumph, Norton and potentially Ariel(?), not to mention the acquirement of our Bellstaff name (such a national shame, but at least the name lives on (I hope), but I feel this is just the start. However please.....SOMEONE (financiers and engineers everywhere) bring back the Vincent HRD 50 deg twin. I's a British work of art and an example of engineering that wouldn't be out of place in the Louvre or the north circular (circa any decade). I was born, grew up and still remember the stories of regret that his Vincent BS was stolen from my father (it seems reminded every every Christmas). Biking wise, he lost love of his life. Vincent is worth resurrecting so if you have the power to do so, tread lightly
The first time I went off my bike I spent a few hours in hospital having pebbles picked out of my skin and quickly realized why motorcyclists wore leather clothes
There's a saying...."You dress for the slide, not the ride."
I remember as a kid "riding" up from London to Edinburgh in the late 50's. My uncle rode a BSA Golden Flash with side-car. The sidecar was like a cockpit and because I was the bigger brother, I got to sit at the front. It pissed down the whole day on the A1 and I felt sorry for my uncle, who only wore his R.M.Commando beret and a pair of goggles. My aunt only had her scarf.
A very brave American on a very great British bike Braking the speed record what a combination Love it all except ONE thing Not to include the Best RnR song of all times n its English too Shaking ALL Over featuring Great British bikes deserve a great British r n r song for sure
The Vincent used to be called "The Plumber's nightmare" due to so many pipes all over the place.It was a really lovely bike though.A friend had one and he used to tease the ton up kids by riding alongside them in third gear about 90 mph and making a great show of changing up one more gear then leaving them in his exhaust as he pulled ahead.
robinaxeman ii
The A series was the plumbers nightmare...pre-war. only 88 built I believe. Post-war B & C series were better.
We proved it many times.
My 750 Comando was faster!
American Cylinder- Head👺
I don't believe the hype about Vincent they were cumbersome very difficulty to maintain and clean very expensive .For going 10 miles to town a BSA Bantam or a C15 was better
my first byke was an ex ww2 16h norton t 12 years old ? in a field im nearly 70 now still love the old british bykes
yes i had one two wonderfall
I picked up ma 600cc side valve BSA. No idea where or when it came from, but what a bike!! Great to ride, idle at very low revs and gave a real good vibro-massage.
ALWAYS have a bike mostly British. Bought my OWN birthday present at 61.02 HARLEY WIDE GLIDE. Thank God I still have my 71 BSA A65L! TON UP BOYS INDEED!😜
Me to 75
jim wortham My. First road bike was a triumph cub put in for my test and license the same day past 6 weeks later then got a 1954 Enfield ballet slow but as good on corners as a Norton then a 650 thunder bird did my first 100 mph on my brothers BSA a10 down Chatham hill A lovely bike. Don’t think you can get away with that know days Great days. I did the same with my car test. Only 2weeks on L plats. I was lucky to work for Grays of Chatham early 60s all them wonderful bikes gold stars dominator and Bonevills. Smashing days
That American guy riding the Vincent wore an extra pair of trunks to protect himself just in case he came off! Can’t be too careful at those speeds! 😉😉
85 years old now just sold my 750 cc intruder.
Rode 350 matchless in the army and when I could borrow it a 650 AJS. Great hobby if you ride defensively.
Only had one accident. 1953.
Good on ya fella did me first track day at 60 still ride me bikes you have given me hope yep hope !!! Bikes mean life also mean death but what the hell
life is more important than death but and a big but there is a fine line if you don't ride you are dead if ya ride you stand a good chance of dying so up
to the individual i guess but in this health and safety state we live in kids will never ever really live will they not.. Give a child a knife if they cut themselves
they will learn knifes can cut don't give them a knife and they will never know until one day they cut themselves and blead to death ??????
Thanks for your in put as i said gives me hope to be riding when if i reach your age if i ever get there .. Keep trucking and more important keep riding !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. I was born in 1953 so quite an important year to me L.O.L.......................
glad to meet a legend rider
I owned a Matchless 500 single banger in my younger days. I saw the 350 version in the Bristol motor museum in the 80s, and it was pretty near identical. It felt like a real motorcycle!
@@dunruden9720 They Also sounded How a bike should n had the break petal n gear change where it should be 1 up 3 down break on the left glorious, the 650 Matchless/AJS where pure magic sounded heavenly you just felt you was a King riding the 650, even my Dad was a BSA man through n through, Japanese bikes didn't handled at all them days but their engines where Reliable OIL TIGHT n even had indicators n electric start, I thought No way electric start LOL Bikes are RnR so why not "shaking all over" the best RnR song ever by an English bad 100% fit for English British bikes
Just looking at old motorbike videos that's amazing love bikes as u doling may it carry on
The clown who said the rocker leather jackets were based on WW2 GERMAN TANK CREWS is talking out his arss...if any thing thay were based on WW2 RAF fighter/bomber crew...who were the origin's of the rockers and ton up boys....the badgers and stud work are from the cockineys of east London who were the main rockers/cafe racers in the south of England....these lads and lasses were Patriots...thay rode British bikes ate British food and wore British clothes...and over time listened to British Music!!.😎🇬🇧🇬🇧
60s 70s 80s most yougens had motorbikes( I had one in the 80s) and had a life but now teen-agers have iPhones....pfffffff🤨
first bike in the eighties , still on them
In sixties and seventies bikes were rare. From little campus Honda to big Sportster or Lightning, you knew everybody who had one.
For me, A triumph 650 or 500 with open megaphones is still the best sounding bike around. Had them both in the late 50s and early 60s when the law didn't pay much attention to the noise.
Patrick van meter jealous mate
For me the best sounding bikes were the big singles like the Velo's
I luvved me my Norton 850 Commando. A canary yellow beast. The lady who helped develope the carburator on the Spitfire rode a Norton.
My dream is to someday own a Vincent Black Shadow or a Brough Superior SS100....once I win the lottery, of course !!
Rollie Free - I took my clothes off to prevent my clothes getting sprayed by oil !!
I had a BSA Royal star. The good lord used to punish me with that bike. You can´t imagen the joy wenn the Honda cbr 550 and 750 saw the light
Just realized today how lucky i have been to live through the 60/70's as a youngster. Missed the wars the pain the slaughter etc and been present at the beginning
of the future as we know it. Bit of a struggle but not too much.Revolution after revolution Music clothing life in generally how lucky i/we have been I honestly do not
think today's youth will be so lucky they have everything but they have nothing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just makes you think does it not ????????? Or is this just old age ?? Do today's
youngsters think the same ???? Were we not the beginning or are we really the end I loved my youth I loved what it meant I loved what it gave me so so exciting
stones beatles presley etc etc etc Life really is and was worth living !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
allan hughes I was born in 63 and as I farther of 4 I agree with you,I'm a very active dad and have tried to inspire my kids throughout there lives but there lives seem so empty compared to my generation,we did have much more freedom and spaces (and less money) so that may account to a small degree but for me the difference is the bloody COMPUTER I see that as the major factor why I can't get my kids active etc.
Everyone always talks about the Ace Cafe in North London, Johnson's Cafe on the A20 near Brands Hatch is never mentioned, even though it was the bikers cafe that everyone south of the river went to. The A20 was dodgy - three lanes not dual carriageway then. An almost straight run from Wrotham to Farningham around 7 miles. If you had the bike you could get to a ton going past Johnson's. I had a 350 BSA Gold Star top speed 105 mph. The problem for a lot of bikers was coming back into south London the straight run from the Sidcup round-about to the Dutch House pub was too tempting and many a rider came to grief in the forecourt of the Dutch House trying to take the bend at speed, often resulting in death. Not for the faint hearted.
"Costing near 600 pounds ..." Ahh yes ...
i was surprised to learn that "Triumph" is now made in Thailand. I guess that a lot of riders from the '60's wouldn't have heard of Thailand(no wonder it is the Land of Smiles).
No they are not.
They are made in Hinckley Leicestershire.
Without Googling to verify, no one would have heard of Thailand as back then it was called Siam. but better made in Thailand then made in China I suppose.
I know it's not a proper English bike, but I'm picking up a new Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 this Friday. It's got the style though. I MIGHT attempt the ton at some point, but not on the roads I'll be riding it home on. I've been on better roads in warzones.
Oh , days to remember , put a record on the juke box and race through the town , up the new bypass , before it finished . Bert,s and Joy,s cafe ,the Minnie diner and the Friar Tuck to see if any girls were about . Goldstar or Bonneville ? ride what you fancy and have fun , watch out for Ringwood the local police man on his triumph . 👍👍😉
150mph planking on a motorbike with just your boxers on, on the salt plains!...That's very brave, would have lost a LOT of skin if he fell off.
I'd say he would of been sanded to death.
WD-40
The ONLY 100% garaunteed method of rapid weight loss...and tatoo removal...
Just to rub wounds in the salt...
WD-40 where did they put their big balls
Just imagine the salt rash ! The stinging before you bled out .
and the UK just pee'd their motorbike industry up against a wall. Rested on their laurels, wouldn't spend money on new ideas or on upgrading their factories - result: dead by the mid 70s, destroyed by a keen Japanese industry that dispensed with oil leaks and electrical problems. Thank goodness for John Bloor
Im lucky enough to be an age where i can remember the mid 80s, when you could pick up an old triumph 650,,b.s.a 650, or similar, for what they were actually worth!!!, i had an old 1954 bsa a10 hardtail, 2 hundred quid!!!, it ran, obviously wasnt original, (thats why it was still on the road),
I HAD A 1970 TRUMPET TR 650 BONNEVILLE IN 1994 IT WAS NOT IN GOOD LOOKING SHAPE BUT I USED IT AS MY FIRST STEPPING STONE TO LEARN HOW TO RIDE BUT I KNOW THESE BRITISH BIKES HAD BALLS AND WERE DOMINATING THE STREETS IN THOSE YEARS I ONLY WISH I COULD AFFORD THEM I LIKE ALL BIKES AND CARS BUT THESE 3 TRIUMPHS BSA & NORTONS ALL WERE DA RITE SIZE AND WIEGHT.
Love this! my neighbor's father was the mechanic for Rollie Free the rider.... So I have the original photo's of this day! I had copies made into two canvas prints (one each way) original signatures and memorabilia.. The large prints adorn my living room wall!
Make your dream reality buy a vincent vee twin one of the few classic bikes that will not go down in value and you will experince something that cannot be put into words but treat it with respect ,,,,,, or it will bite you.
as usual, archive footage ruined by cropping. This degredation of historical film should be outlawed. Do not fear the pillar boxes.
I had the Ace Cafe, the Busy Bee, the Dug-out, the Cellar, the 59 Club, the Salt Box - all innocent in their way but bloody good fun!
Obviously you lot didn't get to the copper kettle cafe in, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, as kids we used to see loads of English 🇬🇬motorcycles parked up along trinity Street 😛👍
@@kevinruddy448 - yes, I’m afraid that in those days a trip from Watford to Gainsborough would have been a daunting proposition. Nowadays, on my GSA, yes I would be up for it!
Got a job at the Ace Café. It's amazing to work for a place with such history innit. And amazing bikes to look at as you work!
It ain’t the original ace cafe !!!!!!!! So no history, u have been sucked into a boss looking to make a packet from disillusioned fools who turn up every day thinking it’s the real thing, just see what posh motors your boss turns up in , taking the piss, bet you’re wages are round about minimum wage
Just in it for the profit ,,,,,
Enjoy the bikes
childhood fantasy bike (magazine) would have to be Ogri s' Norvin
That was the days of the piss pot helmets 🥙and there coming back sweethearts 😎🍝✌️
There was a time when there were only BSA matchless, AJS, TRIUMPHS and Royal Enfields in India, British bought them all from UK and then came the Japanese and Czech built bikes like JAWA 350 and Rd350. Sadly there were no good roads to ride them, today there are multi lane roads and express ways in India but no good bikes to ride. I am a proud owner of JAWA 300 launched recently. I enjoy riding it everyday to work and on the highways in weekends.
my dad's a triumph guy from that era
still got a TR2 cub ( its mine ) a TR5 trophy ( the same as fonzies ) an a TR6 thunderbird (the same as marlon brando's ) + other bikes ~ not telling
I had a 1965 BSA.
It never started cold.
I lived with my parents when I was 19.
We lived on a hill so every morning I had to coast start the blasted thing.
My cousin had a 1963 BSA.
It was rare for us to get both bikes to run at the same time to go riding.
Mine got stolen about a year later.
Probably all for the best.
Lol.
triumph Bsa norton ajs matchles lots more vincent wow all great / all gone
They were great i myself had a. 1970 TRUMPET 650 BONNEVILLE.
GREAT..my first motor bike was an moto guzzi stornello sport then t140e triumph,bsa a7,norton dominator,gillera saturno bialbero,triton all alloy and much more.i do'nt own any one anny more BUT i still got my cromwell and aviator glasses.....bring back my bonnie to me...cafe racer spirit for ever
When I was 10 I began wearing a brown leather fighter pilot jacket. It had lambs wool liner. In January 1960 Alamogordo was 14 Below zero! ☃️❄️, A record still. I wore that jacket and I was ok. It was too long but by High School it fit nicely. But by senior year I outgrew it, it was for a 5'8" guy and I was a whopping 5'9.5". Those were 8 long, good years
HRD Vincent, oh so beautiful.
Plumbers nightmare delivers a lot of performance in minded craftmens hands
Dave Croxford, saw him so many times racing at Castle Combe, with Percy Tait, and so many more.
I remember them well and Paul Smart, Ray Pickerell, Peter Williams, et al at Brands.
Yes offcource....
Lucas electronics and his italian brother magneti marelli said hello from the dark side!!!
Have a triumph trident t150 and enfield bullet who every want i give them for free, keep my honda cb250 1984 ti sleep with my head in peace.
If you,r not impressed or not on Fire by this Dokument of Motorbike Spirit , you will never be a Biker - thank,s a lot , and peacefull Greattings from Cologne Germany
Been into British bikes since the early 70s at around 7 or 8 years old a couple of guys from a local bike club that worked for my dad used to take me to speedway on the back. I'm 55 in a few days and now ride a 1995 speed triple.
Distant and fond memories for an old 'geezer' like me-self :)
i love bikes like these over those fat heavy bikes
*Kristaps porzingis king of New York*
You laugh.
I have two street bikes, a '72 Norton Commando and '69 BSA Rocket III.
My buddy was laid up over the summer and loaned me his 1100 cc Moto Guzzi.
What a pig!
I had it for nearly three months and didn't put 125 miles on it.
It had a cramped riding position due to the (stock) stepped saddle; the floorboards vibrated _much_ worse than any English bike I've owned (and that would be about 12 over the years); it was top heavy and thanks to the (also stock) high bars was hard to push around; and I gave up trying to put it on the centre stand.
An old Guzzi T3 or a G5 would have been great, but this 'new' machine was bloody awful.
@@richardshort3914 Strange. I rode a Triumph 500 TT i bought new in '74. A left over '73. 5,700 miles out of that engine before the bottom end started going away. Good handling bike. Well built of fine materials and never had any electrical problems but the engineering was atrocious. My Tonti framed 1976 Moto Guzzi 1000 handles well. It's a bigger, heavier bike than the Triumph but at 55,000 miles it seems to not even be halfway to it's first rebuild and i LOVE the engineering on my Guzzi. Trans. that plugs into the back of the engine just like a RWD car and it's got a driveline. It all adds up to a bike that for the most part has the life span and reliability of a car. I mean a good car. Not some enemic long stroke tiny 4 pot Austin or some such rubbish. I know the problem i had as the owner of a brand new Triumph. I simply was not informed that the smart money changed the oil in a Triumph almost weekly. I was only told that maintainance was the key to everything. So true as applied to British bikes because without adhering to fanatical servicing habits one was left with a nice looking hunk of scrap but an utterly rebuildable one. Oh yes. The Triumphs first rebuild netted exactly the same engine life as it got from factory new to rebuild #1. 5,700 miles.
@@gregorytimmons4777 the problem wasn't engineering, it was lack of maintainance.
every old bike I rebuilt in the 80s had signs of wear from being run on knackered oil and the same oil filter for years.
still applies today. people give me dead bikes and it's usually silly stuff like completely corroded contacts or valve and carburettors that need resetting, but the dead oil is still popular..
Nowadays a Lewis Leather jacket cost as much as a motorcycle cost back then LOL...
Back in 1977 I bought a 1970 Norton 750 Commando in boxes for $100.00 half the parts where missing so I built it my way. Installed 8" high bars and cut center tube and seat mount lowered 5' and cut 10' off the upper frame tail. made it a single seater. Was a great bike. never should have sold it
In a good cloth coat you can slide about 7 feet across asphalt before it's gone while good leather will protect you for maybe 30 feet.
The wind goes straight through a good cloth coat too, so they're not good at all on a motorcycle, especially with UK weather.
I own a Brough Superior! 1936,admittedly pre-cafe racer, but still a beautiful bike!
+Alan Thomas You lucky sod! I ride a Harley, but what I'd give for a Brough or a Vincent!
My uncle had an SS100 that he sold to the scrap man in the 70s for £1 without knowing the true value of it. Bad move!
I hope you do, my friend. Now that would be a rare sight!
Lucky you!!!
Wasn't Laurence of Arabia killed on a Brough?
JUST got a Triumph 900 Triple. Beautiful bike. Had a new trailer built, we'll tow it behind our 'brand new' 71 Revcon motorhome. SIX THUMBS UP EVERY DAY!!
Is that a time-travelling Leon Haslam I see at 7min 22 secs? So he started out on Cafe Racers, who'd have thought it.....?
Only two things I hated about the old British bikes; they vibrated like paint-can shakers, and you couldn't keep the oil on the inside. Lovely on a country back-road though. If you were a young man back in the '60s nothing made you look cooler than sitting on a Triumph Bonneville or BSA Lightening. Now a retired guy I'm having a lot of fun on my modified Triumph Street Triple R (smooth and never a drop of anything underneath it).
English bikes had terrible electrical problems too
You and me too. I've got a Speed Triple and love it.
The oil leaks made the bikes very slippery, fantastic anti-theft coating.
TheJR18948 I had a Venom. I now have a moto Guzzi Florida and an MZ 300cc Turkish clone. I've always had a least one bike (though several times three).
I never got to the TT, though.
@@aliwhitwell Ah yes. Lucus, the prince of darkness. Always on the job.
Will there be an English language version of this released in the future? Seems, like it may be worth watching.
lol
have a diecast model of vinent black shadow remember riding on back of one ln early 60s doing 100mph fantastic
Now 82 I rode mainly Vincent Shadows for 47 years, even rode them very successfully in Classic races. I had three but stupidly sold them in 1985 when getting divorced, Bought a Ducati 900 SS, then rode and raced it in South Africa for 10 years unti we escaped that very sad country now. Happy days when there were no speed limits on the open roads. The Golden Days!
@@brian.deller8313 R.I.P
Soon as I added badges to my jacket it aged over night!
Say the guys name . That was Rollie Free on the Vincent lying down.
Memories are made of this... Early '60s, I lived in England. I bought a NorVin in quasi-Black Lightning tune for 600 pounds...and everyone I knew said I should be committed. But it was the fastest thing on two wheels, or 4 for that matter as only a VERY few exotic cars were faster (and none of them had the NorVin's acceleration). I rode it for 3 years, bringing it back to the states with me. It was a long time ago, but I don't remember having much trouble with it once I'd gotten the electrics de-bugged (damn you, Joseph Lucas, Prince of Darkness...the English drink warm beer because they all have Lucas refrigerators!). Stateside, the NorVin was even more remarkablek, as it just gobbled up freeway miles, and this was the era of vast expansion of the Interstate highway system. Funny thing is, I can't for the life of me remember what happened to it... And, yes, I'm an old fart now (86 and still riding), but I still remember many lesser bikes I've owned and sold. I think the NorVin may have been part of the trade than netted me a beautiful '57 Corvette with newer brakes and a ton of rare go-fast parts...but I'm not sure. If I'd kept all the bikes and cars I've owned over the years, I'd have a collection worth many millions of dollars, but I've got my memories...and those are priceless (and I don't have to store them)!
I think flying jackets were the.main driver of fashion also available ex WD. In the sixties one in 50 motorcyclists were dead or Seriously injured every year it was a huge problem not solved by the non existent training available .. Motorcycles may not have even been popular after the war but Bri tain was bankrupt and like first world war where 100000 plus motorcycles were released cheaply on to the market Douglas alone buying back 70000. Same after the second world war releasing Norton BSA triumph Ariel so consequently there was Hobson's choice .
In response to all of those who want to know the name of the tune at 6:20
ua-cam.com/video/ucTg6rZJCu4/v-deo.html
Bullshit you didn’t drink! Hahaha
still biking after all these years great fun just treated my self to a new bonnie
I was just coming up as a 15 or 16 year old in the mid to late 60's and the drinkers were the fighters and the pot smokers were the peaceniks ✨👍🏻☮️✨
Very cool documentary I love my 650SS even next to my modern stuff I ride she holds her own an is always the bike I end up drifting onto constantly an she doesn't drop any oil now to :)
I still have my brown leather bomber and my sheepskin bomber I rode my GS scooter with my haircut neat I wore my war time coat in the wind and sleet. your American brother👍🏻✨