A good friend of my dad's. RIP .

With many state side dealers sending container loads of older British motorcycles out of the US reducing the number of bikes available. Add to that many parts suppliers are closing up shop makes getting parts more difficult. So, there are fewer bikes and bike parts available. Is it a bad thing, I don't know but let's be honest when we were younger, we lusted over bikes we couldn't afford. When we got older were bought what we couldn't afford as youths. Our children and grandchildren don't have our same interests. It's life. Ride them don't hide them.

Going to the Sun Road is considered one of the top rides in the US, and one I still need to see in person. Too bad you missed Beartooth when heading to Yellowstone, it's also spectacular. Pretty amazing to stand out in the open where the road tops out at nearly 11000 feet., wearing short sleeves with patches of snow pack all around

GTR1000 TRY ONE

May I suggest you compare a 1960s 350 unit single, for instance the B40, with the Honda GB350S and discuss pros and cons. Can the Honda live up to the B40's riding experience? I'm looking forward to it.

Where i come from a moped is a scooter. These 50cc we called buzz bikes. In the early 70's Zundapp and Kreidler were the fastest 50cc available.

Forgot the 1984 Honda NSR V4 , HRC colours of Red, white and blue, with the overhead exhaust and underslung fuel tank. Both concepts abandoned at season end. Arguably a bigger failure than Gardners 1988 bike.

You say the £200 Villiers bikes has long gone I disagree I’ve recently bought a James captain in oily rag usable condition for £300 there is bargains out there but it’s difficult to find them,great videos keep them coming

Looks beautiful, guys. However, as an Aussie, I don't like to see bushfire smoke; as a former Country Fire Authority officer in the Dandenong Ranges (Victoria), arguably one of the most fire-prone areas in the country, I like it even less.

On the learner law I have to say I think it should be simplified for adults, but kept the same for 16-18 year olds. Let's be honest, motorbikes are dangerous and teenagers are idiots! The thought of a 17 or 18 year old being able to go straight in with a Cat A licence and have access to powerful modern bikes is bonkers, all it will do besides give us a higher rate of teenage funerals, is make it worse for the rest of us, for example when have insurance companies ever ignored an opportunity to raise premiums for everyone because of the actions of a few? Or how many times have various governments banned things because of the incoherent screeching of an extremely vocal minority? On the other side of things, I did my CBT after already having held a car licence for 17 years, why did I need to spend the morning in a classroom being taught how roundabouts work? I would have benefited far more from a full day on the bike. On the other hand a 16 or 17 year old on that holds no other licence absolutely needs that training, in fact they should probably spend a day doing classroom and pad work, then have a second day of on the road training. (Yes a 2 day CBT for those that have never done any other training) Needless to say I've done A LOT of thinking about this and how I would change things if given the chance, and unfortunately I probably wouldn't make it any simpler. I would certainly make a lot more sense that the current rules, but I don't picture it being any simpler. And yes I would do the same with car licences too, there is a lot of work could be done on that front too.

As someone who learned how to ride on the UK and how to drive in Italy. IMHO The reason british drivers are so aggressive is due to the concept of making progress they hammer into you during lessons. In Italy, especially where I'm from in the south, tbey teach you the exact opposite because the driving standard is so poor that they actually encourage you to be on the safer side as you already have lots of external factors to be aware of.

My one big hate about riding in the UK is rain,,its the pits... I do,nt think the state of the roads so bad at least in Lincolnshire.. Car drivers for me not so bad..I,v had my licence for years so learner laws have no affect on me.... I ride a small CC bike, I do detect a small amount of oneup manship,, but nothing that bothers me... I,v had one occassion when I was overtaken by a bike in shall we say in an unfriendly way (on the brink of a sharpe corner) but I will bide my time...All in all I think we have it pretty good....

Here’s a list to put people off 😂 Cold, wet, depressing, speed cameras, potholes, everyone is on their phone, everyone is a bike thief, and nobody cares about bikers… Gave up riding on our roads 3/4 years ago. I just green lane, or ride down to Dover for the ferry to go somewhere decent…

What's HILARIOUS is, there are over 1300 ACTIVE volcanoes , each spewing more toxins in to the atmosphere than ALL the world's vehicles. Good job humanity is stupid .

Theres a channel called , The Bearded Mechanic and he swears by evaporust . Real nice guy with a sense of humor . I've even been lucky enough to have met him an ridden with him . Not trying to promote another channel per they tube rules . Just sharing passion .

I haven't seen you on my feed for a couple of months so i looked you up . Ive been binge watching your America videos out of curiosity as well as reading the comments . I must give you credit for endeavoring to persevere in spite of catching a cold . I'm not a young man and a cold tends to zap an old dog in ways a young pup can't comprehend . I've really enjoyed riding along with you and yours this evening . Thanks for sharing . Oh , and here's a tip . It's easier to get ingress and egress to the U.S. via the Mexican border . Just joking 😉

Wake up dude. You're not thinking straight, you're dreaming, a real nightmare it is...

I find the U.K miserable when riding road bikes, waiting for the right weather to ride a high powered super bike or naked bike just seems like there is never any time to ride. I’m selling up and buying myself a CRF250L to ride rain or shine or even snow!

Merry Christmas 😎

I believe the testing model is an attempt to put young riders off.

Enjoying this content, thank you for sharing. A friend and me want to ship our bikes to North America, would you mind me asking who you travelled with?

Many many years ago friends of mine stayed at the park you were in and in the middle of the night there was a bear alarm so they got out of the tent and went and sat in their car. Then the bear came along and went up to a large steel dumpster just 60 or 70 feet from them and flipped it over with one paw and proceeded to sort garbage , the dumpster was larger than their VW !! MERRY XMAS

This brought back some lovely memories for me. I visited Lake Louise back in 1990 and there was hardly anyone there. The beauty of the place has stayed with me ever since. My eyes could not believe the vista and scale of the place. I canoed across it and just sat in the middle of the lake and listened to the silence. Thank you...

What a wonderful memory...crazy times too. I was lucky enough to buy one of the first RZ500s in Canada in 1985. They first appeared around November 1984 but were all registered as 1985 models. In Canada we got the steel frame RZ designation and they were only around for 85-86. I remember paying around $4900CAD back in March 85 for mine. It was way too much bike for me at the time but I still learned how to enjoy it for what it was. Stinky, hard starting and super narrow power band that would pop the nose up anytime the RPM crossed 8,000. What a great time for motorcycles.

Nowadays the AMC single problem is oil pump/casing wear

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and you family 🎅and you and a big thank you for all your work in creating entertaining and informative videos for us to watch. Best wishes for 2025 from here in Western Australia. 👍

Merry Christmas to you and Your family 🎄🧑‍🎄 Greetings, Thomas from Denmark

And to you merry Christmas 🎅 you are the only person to do this, from all the people im subscribed to, well done. From benidorm.

The worse things about riding in the uk is all the speed cameras, road quality, weather, and terrible drivers

Merry Christmas 🎄

Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year

Merry Christmas to you too ⛄🎁🎉🎅🎄

In my opinion, it's the UK's aspiration to become the 51st State of America. Everywhere is being slowly converted into a landscape made solely for the car at the expense of everything else, including motorcycles. Roads are getting wider, there's more and more paint on the roads, fewer signs because cars all come with built-in sat-nav now, or you're expected to have your phone on your dash (despite the apparent "law"), even new roads have the blindest corners, often at stupid angles or on a steep camber, drain covers are all over the roads, and next to none of them are actually level to the surface, there are shockingly few places with carwashes that also have jet wash facilities, and just look at how many parking places in this country have no designated spot for bikes or safe places to lock them down to. Even off the road, if you go to a lot of motor vehicle sections in non-specialist stores you'll see a whole aisle or more of car products, but you'll be lucky to find any cleaning, lubricant, or other maintenance products for bikes. Some places actually have more stuff for bicycles than motorcycles, like Halfords. And then there's insurance. Because of all the negative press associated with bikes, good luck insuring them if you're on a low income, especially if you're just starting out and don't already have a 2-ton metal wheelie-box. It's almost as if the country itself is trying to become less and less viable for the motorcycle as a serious choice of transportation, let alone as anyone's primary means.

PS Credit where credit is due: intelligent and very well-presented video. Thank you.

I had a '72 Commado in the '90s and hanker after another, perhaps an 850. Money is no problem - lucky old me - but I'm conscious that my sense of balance and strength are not what they were. Perhaps I should limit myself simply to OWNING one and polishing it every Sunday morning? Ho, hum.

I feel like a good solution to the licence would be. You have a 2 year restriction then automatically your license becoems a full A if youve been riding. Doing the exact same test again is so illogical.

How is no one complaining the most about the weather? The weather is 100% the worst thing about biking in the UK. We literally have a 2 month long summer which isn’t even guaranteed to be sunny anyway. The rest of the time it’s wet and cold.

Potholes, speed cameras and illegal drivers.

I had an 850 r and a guzzi both goo d bikes but preferred the guzzi

Ah the Horseshoe Pass. Just out of the town of Llangollen in Denbighshire in North Wales for anyone who doesn't know. A regular ride out for me whenever I am at my Mum's in Rhyl. Great scenery and a first class cafe. And as a bonus one of the few biker meets where everyone doesn't blank you if you turn up on a scooter!

As a younger rider in the UK who commutes on the bike a fair bit, I have a few niggles which mean I don't take the bike out as much as I want to: 1. Moderately moving traffic: Stationary traffic? No problem. Filtering? Rarely an issue. My real problem, albeit on a 310cc bike, is that drivers nowadays seem to like staying to between 40-50mph on any vaguely bendy 60mph sections of road. On a bigger bike like a 650, this becomes a bit less of an issue as you can just give it a bit of gas and pass pretty quickly. On a smaller bike, which most of us will have to use until we can take the full A test, that's much harder as you realistically need to accelerate to 70+ to get the move done in a prompt manner. This becomes even worse at night when most headlights are so poorly angled that you will be blinded regardless, which makes gauging distances even more of a pain. 2. Road condition: Roads in the UK can go from excellent to appalling in sections real quick. You could be going along fine at the speed limit on perfectly good tarmac, and then find yourself immediately going over a poorly patched pothole section. If you know you're going to be riding on rough terrain, like in other countries, then that's not a problem. You go into things expecting difficult roads. In the UK, that tendency to go from great to dangerous can be quite the scare at times. 3. Age gap: I come from a biking background thanks to my dad, so I was quite happy to go through the IAM course like he did. Although the people there were nice, they were definitely all 20-30 years older than me or more. Admittedly, this made it a bit hard to fit in. Everyone was lovely, yes, but I definitely didn't feel like I belonged that much. Granted some of that could just be me being a little shy, but it is what it is. 4: Theft and Insurance: My first bike was nicked when I went into the pharmacy for 10 minutes. I was late, didn't bother with putting my brake lock on, and came back to find that presumably a bunch of thugs had stuffed it into the back of a van and sped off. My insurance almost tripled from what it should have been when I next went to renew. Insurance is still high if I wanted to get a bigger bike now that I've passed my Full A. It somewhat makes me fear leaving the bike anywhere outside of a secure parking lot, something I don't worry about so much with the car.

The weather, the roads, the shit drivers, the cost of insurance, the cost of fuel?

America the beautiful - well, away from the cities, anyway. Same could be said for many countries, of course, but America does have some really outstanding national parks. Thanks for taking us along on the trip and it's nice to hear you singing; not because of the sound, but because you're obviously happy - and why not!? 👍

I must have touched a raw nerve in my comment a couple hours ago. It was fact, i'm 82 been a biker for 68 of those years. Myself and two partners built a motorcycle business for 35 of those years. Met hundreds of contacts, customers most new the problems with our many makers of motorcycles and their lack of help from our goverments at a time when help would have put us level if not in front of the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers and maybe more. And here we are still buying THEIR motorcycles and their motorcars. With just a few bespoke m/cycle builders.look it all up, it's there in world history books/magazines, and my 82 yr old life.

Worst part about riding in the UK is ....its the UK...often a souless miserable shit hole with overly aggressive drivers in their cages, who HATE motorcycles, esp Harleys for some reason, and think nothing of cutting you up, or swerving at you on the motorway...ive riden in America and its a different world, like chalk and cheese, the experience is absolutely opposite of each other, freedom, thumbs up and waves, VS sneering brits in their shitty little cars with their steamed up glasses grimacing at you and busses spladhing you with puddles and debris, avoiding black bin bags being blown down the road, people staring at their phones and stepping out in the road then swearing at you cos you dared to be on that bit of road and people on E bikes pulling wheelies in front of you AND the cops and doing nothing about it, and dont get me started on audi drivers almost touching your rear tire, plus the constant heavy traffic, rain, pot holes, freezing or boiling, clogged lanes, road works, old folk in disabled scooters doung 5mph on the road and cyclists causing accidents and blaming everyone else, it serms like everyone hates each others guts, honestly its a miserable place is the UK, the country roads are nice, but other than that its a slow paced boring miserable bleak cold wet toilet of a country... I actually do not enjoy riding here anymore, let alone driving. . . Thank God im back in cali in the new year. . now THATS paradise for bikers compared to this iseland of misery and darkness.

Can hear him now in the commentary box at Ballacraine back in the seventies and early eighties

Imagine a customer entering a bike shop in 1955. There's only 2 bikes with the properties the customer prefers: a BSA B31 and a Honda GB350S, the specifications are comparable. Which one will he/she prefer?

The awe- inspiring..massivenesss ((?) Everything is so Huuuggeeee!❤

The CB550 - Honda later brought out a retro model with a 4 into 4 exhaust called the CB550FourK. Which left people wondering what a fourk was.