Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) The glory days of british motorbikes...

The early Japanese bikes from new were found wanting in certain areas eg crap tyres, bendy swing arms, weak suspension, wooden brakes etc. But in the years I owned them compared to say my Norton I never ever broke down once, they never failed to get me home, which is more than can be said of the relatively new Norton. I did far more miles on my Japanese motorbikes as a result of that simple just put petrol in and go day to day reliability they afforded me. Like with all my Harleys, I would replace the tyres, suspension, brake pads and sometimes even replace the swing arm on my Japanese bikes and finish up with a fast reliable, good handling bike.

When I was 16 my father caught me stripping down my Triumph sprung hub Speed Twin in the "best" front room, threw me out and I had to live with my Grand Parents. Grandad was much more understanding.

If you were stripping the rear hub in there he might have had a point! .... doing that wrong would have the ceiling down!! 🙂

K

Yes, those sprung hubs managed to combine being almost totally useless as a suspension option with being extremely dangerous if dismantled by the inexperienced. Not Triumphs (Edward Turner) best bit of design.

Still , as with most things classic it really doesn't matter how good or bad they were at the time, the fact that they're different makes them interesting now.

By most measures, by the 1960's, Japanese bikes were light years ahead of the British offerings which mostly had engines that had been designed decades earlier and management that was similarly outdated. Anyone interested could do worse than to read "Whatever Happened to the British Motorcycle Industry" or even "The Giants of Small Heath" (a BSA history.) Interesting reading but be prepared to come away disillusioned, even angry.

On a more positive note, for some of us of a certain age there's still something special about a British bike and the early Japanese stuff doesn't hit the spot. As a youth I lusted after a Vincent Black Shadow, not a Honda four.

Hopefully my own British hybrid, a Norvin, will be finished and on the road this summer.

Thread drift warning... Though thought this series of YT vids might be of interest to the armchair inclined former m/cyclists such as I..?

I spent much of yesterday afternoon via YT in the "company" of this very attractive and adventurous young lady m/cyclist as she was preparing for and then sharing her trip around many Ecuadorian back roads in series six of her Itchy Boots series of vids.

Given this is series 6 it seems she has already travelled to many other parts of the world even done the NC 500 it seems..(-:

Series six starts with choosing a bike thought to be suitable for this trip, and then her helmet and gear choices and each vid along the way relating to customs and shipping all of which were interesting for me but do not provide an ideal first insight to her adventurous nature, perhaps if you try this one for size..?

https://youtu.be/ZsLsLAUVvQI

looks good. Thanks for posting

Wow, I'm hoping for a detailed presentation of the motorcycle.

Here's how it looked when I got it.

Very nice. I appreciate that, I once restored a 1928 Indian Scout 101 that stood still for 50 years.

I would love to see updates on your progress if possible.