Motorbikes - Do you remember your first one?

[awoollen 10]

can remember the motor bike and side car you had ? what happened to the yamaha it was a tidy thing >>>. Toms lad >>Gary

sold the yammy ask your dad if he remembers helping me to push the gold flash up hindhouse lane it had a two seater sidecar fitted

[buck 11]

I agree, I don't think total market dominance was quite on their minds. Especially since Mr Honda's (I can say his first name, just not spell it ) dream was to go racing, rather than build a means of transport which was more a method of funding for the former. The British bike industry sealed its own fate by ignoring the new competitor.

 

It's also interesting to note that there is no distinction between the Japanese term for 'learn' and their term for 'copy', hence the first Japanese cars were almost identical to the British cars, or so I've been told.

The early Jap cars Toyota and Datsun, now Nissan weren't very good. The Toyota looked like a Vauxhall Viva. The first Honda Civic was about the size of a Morris Mini, and was called a civic because it was intended to be a round the town car. My Father in law traded his Mini for one and was very glad he did.

[buck 11]

My first bike in 1954 was a 1946 Ariel 350 which had no pillion so the fiancee had to sit on the baggage rack over the rear wheel, the rear suspension was rigid. I traded it much to her relief with a 1950 BSA twin which had rear dampers. My last bike was a 1962 Royal Enfield 700 which got replaced by a 1949 Ford Anglia, which had no heating but who cared after the bikes. I visit a biker bar nearby and often get a ride on a Trumph Tbird or a BMW. There are two kinds of bikers in America, the ones who drive Harleys and the ones who don't. Rice burner riders avoid biker bars like the plague. They can usually be seen for a second or two as they pass you on the Interstate at about 120 MPH wearing the kind of helmets formula 1 drivers wear. They frequently die. Harley drivers can usually be identified by their bald heads or pigtails , bandannas, beer bellies, black leather, and certainly no helmets. They seldom travel alone and tie up all three lanes at 60 MPH holding up traffic, and nobody dares honk at them. However, should it rain they will be nowhere to be found. Harley riders don't like the rain, probably because Harley tend to fall over in the wet. If you happen to be a Harley driver who frequents the Shamrock pub in Suffield, Connecticut I'm not talking about you, Honest!

[berk 10]

my first bike was a Suzuki TS 250, 2 stroke, single carb, that engine sounded brilliant.

[nomoney 10]

250cc james comador at sixteen and know helmet, mate derick add a francis Barnett

[sparra 10]

first bike a triumph tiger 110 1954 vintage in 1965,past my test on yonger brothers honda c50 step through still riding present bike 2002 yamaha r1 bit different to my first one more reliable but not quite the adventure the triumph was.

Edited March 25, 2009 by sparra
mist a word

[flyer 10]

all my 1st bunch of bikes were army fm ww2 350 old matchless to even older B.S.A I think they were 600s but i seem to think they geared them down for the sand I had a full corp' fm the R.E.M.E repairing my bikes but even with 7 on my signature he could hardly keep up I could smash as fast as he could repair (not my fault of course) I nearly got the new telly forks but not quite

[lagerlil 11]

my husband andi used to go all over on his bsa starfire , we were only teenagers fantastic days

[carosio 185]

We used to laugh at those ''Jap Crap'' popcorn machines such as Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki when they first came over here.

 

 

They set out to destroy the British Bike industry.

 

 

They did - and we laugh no more.

I thought the same when I saw the first Japanese cars appear in the late 60s; Toyota Corrola and Honda NS500. They've no chance we said, how can they be superior to cars such as Austin 1800s and Ford Cortinas?

[lagerlil 11]

my husband also had a mark 1 cortina and a capri,it looked like a starsky and hutch mean machine

[hillsbro 28]

my husband andi used to go all over on his bsa starfire ...

 

I guess it would have looked like mine - http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u219/twigmore/Family/Starfire.jpg

 

Superb machine - unlike BSA's larger single (the 441cc Shooting Star) you had to give it plenty of revs. to get much power, but the race-bred engine could certainly produce the torque when needed. I bought mine (FWJ 18J) on 1 August 1970 - the first day of the 'J' registration - I was waiting outside Leather & Simpsons for the shop to open!

Edited July 1, 2010 by hillsbro

[harmston 10]

hI FIRST BIKE BOUGHT IN 1952 AT DAWSONS IN NOTTINGHAM A NORTON 16 H SIDE VALVE EX M.O.D. £39- 10 SHILLINGS BRAND NEW BUILT IN 1942 IN ARMY PAINT WORK NEVER BEEN USED 2 MILE ON CLOCK I RODE THIS TILL 1957 SOLO AND WITH SIDECAR DID 42000 ON IT NEVER LET BE DOWN THIS INCLUDED 3 YEARS IN FORCES NEVER LATE BACK IN CAMP I WAS HOME AT XMAS 55 AND BEEN OUT ON BOXING DAY FOUND A ARIAL SQUARE FOUR COMBINATIN WITH YOUNG FAMILY AT FIRTH PARK IN FREESING CONDITIONS COULD NOT GET UP SICEY AVE DUE TO ICE I BUT THE WIFE AND TWO CHILDREN IN MY SIDECAR AND TOOK THEM HOME ON SHIREGREEN COLLECTED A ROPE AND WENT BACK AND TOWED THE ARIAL UP THE HILL THE OLD 500 NORTON WOULD KEEP GOING AND CLIME ANY THING THIS IS WHY IT WAS A FIRM FAVORITE WITH THE ARMY DISPATCH RIDERS

I THEN B OUGHT A NORTON E S 2 FROM GRAYS IN BRIDE ST AN HE ALLOWED ME £40 00 ON THE 16 H SO I MADE 10 SHILLINGS PROFIT ON THE SALE BEAT THAT FOR A DEAL

THREE YEARS LATER I P/EX THIS FOR A B.S.A. GOLD STAR SMASHING MACHINE BUT HAD TO GO IN THE END DUE TO FAMILY ARRIVING AND WENT ON TO FOUR WEELS

BUT I WILL NEVER FORGET MY 16 H WISH I STILL HAD IT