Frank Roper, motorcycle dealer, London Rd.

Mine was also grey. Then I traded up to a 3-speed Quickly, before going on to bigger things..

Yes, def those were the days

has anyone worked for frank b roper [motorcycle dealers ] london road

has anyone worked for frank b roper [motorcycle dealers ] london road

Never worked for Ropers.. but looking back..one of their staff must have drawn the short straw and was probably absolutely terrified !! Back in 1963 (approx) my family bought a new Reliant 3 wheeler. We had the reverse gear blanked off.. then it could be driven on a motorcycle license..that being .. myself and my dad. The purchase included a free driving lesson ! this meant the poor salesman going out with us both.. for the tuition.. we had never driven before.

I don't recall any mishaps.. but the guy must have gone home a trembling wreck !!

Hi - I worked for Ropers on London Road in the parts department(or Spares dept.as it was called then). I was there from leaving school in 1965 to joining Kennings Leadmill road in 1968.I remember the older staff there saying that 'these jap bikes will never catch on'. How wrong can you be?

whar about horridge and wildgoose on london road

Yes, I remember them along with Dan Bradbury on London Road and Wilf Green on Abbeydale Road.

I spent a small fortune at Horridge and porridges in the 60s

On 11/09/2018 at 20:31, oscar2157 said:

 Back in 1963 (approx) my family bought a new Reliant 3 wheeler. We had the reverse gear blanked off.. then it could be driven on a motorcycle license..

I bought a new Reliant in 1969/70 from Charlie Freeman.,.i only had a full Motorcycle licence but on the licence it said i was allowed to drive any Tricycle as long as the weight remained under 8cwt,no mention of reverse gear...but..i believe the driving licence law had changed beforehand probably after you bought yours....

On 14/01/2019 at 16:50, cuban_heel said:

Hi - I worked for Ropers on London Road in the parts department(or Spares dept.as it was called then). I was there from leaving school in 1965 to joining Kennings Leadmill road in 1968.I remember the older staff there saying that 'these jap bikes will never catch on'. How wrong can you be?

Yep thats just what us "rockers" used to say.."Jap Scrap" we called them...i always remember my first encounter with a Honda 250 superdream in the mid to late 60's on a weekend run to "Skeggy".....i had a Norton 750 Atlas in Paul Dunstall racing trim.. (the old rockers will remember)..i could lose it on the corners but it caught up very quickly on the straights,he followed us into "Skeg" and i was amazed it was only a 250cc....but then they weren't too reliable and the chrome rusted quickly...they soon sorted that out tho'....I now have two Honda m/cycles myself...never had any problems...ever...they are well documented for reliability😊

On 18/01/2019 at 16:09, cuban_heel said:

Yes, I remember them along with Dan Bradbury on London Road and Wilf Green on Abbeydale Road.

What about Charlie Freeman at the top just past Bradbury's....I bought a BSA B31 from Greens ....about 1965

5 hours ago, euclid said:

I bought a new Reliant in 1969/70 from Charlie Freeman.,.i only had a full Motorcycle licence but on the licence it said i was allowed to drive any Tricycle as long as the weight remained under 8cwt,no mention of reverse gear...but..i believe the driving licence law had changed beforehand probably after you bought yours....😊

 

1963 was actually the year when the law changed.  See this web page (scroll down to "Reverse Gear". http://www.3wheelers.com/laws.html

14 hours ago, hillsbro said:

1963 was actually the year when the law changed.  See this web page (scroll down to "Reverse Gear". http://www.3wheelers.com/laws.html

Thanks for the info..very interesting...

Charlie took over from Horridges.Frank Smith was on the other side of the road.

I bought the first Norton Commando in Sheffield from Frank Smith (£466 on the road), Our gang decided to stop in for a year and buy new bikes with what we saved(it covered the deposit anyway).Harold Drabble bought a BSA Spitfire, Chris Hulley got a Triumph Bonneville, Ian Headford bought a red Commando and I had  a Green Commando Fastback. We thought we were the dogs b's till we got to the I.O.M T.T. in 1969 and then we looked very ordinary!