idahoblues
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 27 Mar 2009
- Messages
- 20,337
Small bike small cock
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Motorcycling Blues
- Thread starter PaleBlue
- Start date
Bill Walker
Well-Known Member
Yeah soz, I get a bit crabby when people slag of British bikes (which they do a lot)It was just a joke mate ;-)
Bill Walker
Well-Known Member
Small brainSmall bike small cock
Joking apart, the death of British motorcycle manufacturing had little to do with reliability, although it did become apparent that the Japanese had set the bar very high.I know what you mean but I don't remember BSA's as unreliable, or Triumphs.
It was a case of better the devil you know, for a while anyway.
It was technology and investment that saw us off. We had heads in sand while the Japanese were reaching for the sky.
In its heyday, in and around Birmingham alone, there were over a hundred companies producing motorcycles. One by one they vanished, or incorporated, or just gave up.
To make a decent race bike you had to cobble a Norton frame with a triumph engine, and girling forks with god knows what other parts, brakes, rear suspension, etc etc.
You just needed a hammer to open a Honda crate and there it was.
I love all bikes BillYeah soz, I get a bit crabby when people slag of British bikes (which they do a lot)
blumoonrisen
Well-Known Member
I only have one experience with a bike, Corfu early 90's on honeymoon.
Hired a Peugeot scooter 250cc I think, never rode before in my life. Mrs was on the back and we headed back to the apt, all was going well until I came to slight bend to the left on a quiet road. We saw someone from our apts and she only went and leaned to the right and turned to wave..
You know the rest, couldn't keep it upright unless I carried straight on and ended up off the road and my right leg hit a tree stump, still got the scar.
Anyway next morning I took it out alone to get used to it a bit more, stopped at the top of a mountain with a big drop towards the sea, nice view.
Of course I didn't switch it off and decided to get off and look underneath for any damage.. Held it by the throttle and next thing I'm holding on to it for life as the fucking thing is going down the hill towards the cliff face. Managed to drag it back up with a smashed indicator.
Scoured the road on the way back and found bits of broken indicators from previous crashes, bought superglue, stuck bits together and used a lighter to melt and mould it and somehow got away with it.
Never rode one since, motorcycling blues indeed.
Hired a Peugeot scooter 250cc I think, never rode before in my life. Mrs was on the back and we headed back to the apt, all was going well until I came to slight bend to the left on a quiet road. We saw someone from our apts and she only went and leaned to the right and turned to wave..
You know the rest, couldn't keep it upright unless I carried straight on and ended up off the road and my right leg hit a tree stump, still got the scar.
Anyway next morning I took it out alone to get used to it a bit more, stopped at the top of a mountain with a big drop towards the sea, nice view.
Of course I didn't switch it off and decided to get off and look underneath for any damage.. Held it by the throttle and next thing I'm holding on to it for life as the fucking thing is going down the hill towards the cliff face. Managed to drag it back up with a smashed indicator.
Scoured the road on the way back and found bits of broken indicators from previous crashes, bought superglue, stuck bits together and used a lighter to melt and mould it and somehow got away with it.
Never rode one since, motorcycling blues indeed.
Blue Boy 63
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 11 Aug 2020
- Messages
- 269
- Team supported
- Manchester City
Started off back in the late 70`s in the woods and fields around Wythenshawe with Raleigh Wisp`s , Honda step throughs and the odd Gilera trails bike . First road legal was a Honda FS1E DX . Followed over the years by bikes like the Honda CB100N . Yam YB100 . Kwak 250 Scorpian . Yam XS250 US import . Kwak Z400J . Kwak 650 C3 . 2 x 1170 Eddie Lawson Reps . A Husky 610 super moto and finally my Yam XJR1300 that i`ve owned since 2004 . Love bikes . The adrenaline rush is only second to flying a jet fighter .
When I was 19, I had a straight head on with a car who was on my side of the road when he shouldn't have been.
I was travelling a little, shall we say, and so was he. To be fair though, even if I was doing 10mph I still couldn't have avoided him. Now the ironic thing is, because I hit him head on, on my side of the road, the road ahead was clear, if that makes sense. So I flew through the air for what seemed like ages, and somehow managed to land in a pretty flat trajectory. I can't really say I walked away, but I kind of crawled to the side of the road, onto a grass verge. I can remember not being able to breathe, or see properly. Dazed and confused would cover it. I wanted to go to sleep. Really weird.
I got away with this one, even though the guy was braking when he hit me, the coppers reckoned he was doing 80mph on impact. Add my speed to that and you're looking at 140 +
My bike was buried completely into the front of his car, up to the back wheel, like some modern sculpture. The number plate was still intact, but was, as the coppers pointed out to me in court, somewhat unnecessarily I thought, undersize. As if that was a factor.
I consider that a lucky escape, and I now make sure that not only do I ride like a careful vicar, I make sure my rear number plate is compliant.
I was travelling a little, shall we say, and so was he. To be fair though, even if I was doing 10mph I still couldn't have avoided him. Now the ironic thing is, because I hit him head on, on my side of the road, the road ahead was clear, if that makes sense. So I flew through the air for what seemed like ages, and somehow managed to land in a pretty flat trajectory. I can't really say I walked away, but I kind of crawled to the side of the road, onto a grass verge. I can remember not being able to breathe, or see properly. Dazed and confused would cover it. I wanted to go to sleep. Really weird.
I got away with this one, even though the guy was braking when he hit me, the coppers reckoned he was doing 80mph on impact. Add my speed to that and you're looking at 140 +
My bike was buried completely into the front of his car, up to the back wheel, like some modern sculpture. The number plate was still intact, but was, as the coppers pointed out to me in court, somewhat unnecessarily I thought, undersize. As if that was a factor.
I consider that a lucky escape, and I now make sure that not only do I ride like a careful vicar, I make sure my rear number plate is compliant.
idahoblues
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 27 Mar 2009
- Messages
- 20,337
Bill Walker
Well-Known Member
When I moved to America in the late seventies I sold my Bonneville to a local lad.I love all bikes Bill
I visited the UK just before covid and funnily enough I was in the Hunters tavern in Stalybridge and during the night he walks in.
Obviously we both look a lot different now but I recognized him. Had a chat and eventually said what happened to the Bonnie?
He says ohh I've still got it, take it out every weekend just has regular service, still looks the same as when you sold it me.
Shows me a picture on his phone.
After he walks away I'm left feeling sick as a chip.
I sold it to him 45 years earlier.
Look after an old British bike it'll last forever.