5 Classic British Sporting 650 motorcycles of the 1950s

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bikerdood1100

Ай бұрын

This time we look at the choices for the sporting rider in the 1950s

Пікірлер: 39

@johnmarsh2078 Ай бұрын

A BSA Road Rocket was my first big bike. First thing to go in the bin was the lunatic TT carb. You might as well have poured petrol down a tube as rely on it metering the stuff. No tickover screw so it stalled whenever the bike stopped. An Amal Concentric carb was a sinecure and improved the riding experience no end. I never had the plain timing side main bearing problems as I changed the oil every month, need it or not. It was a nice planted touring/go to work bike with a bit of dash that flew up hills. I sold it and bought an OIF Thunderbolt, that bike was a belter as well. Better handling and brakes, more power and more vibes too. Never had plain bush problems with that one either. Regular oil changes again. The much maligned "Comical hub" tls brake was improved no end by lengthening the operating levers by welding on 1" extensions. Then it was as good asany drum brake could be.

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

They are strange thinks indeed, never really intended for road use at all

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

I think the plain bush problems are somewhat overplayed Regular oil changes and a bit of common sense make a big difference

@jonadams6846 Ай бұрын

Memories Memories,what a great time we had,riding those bikes was sheer joy,doing the Cafe rounds on the weekends The Ace,Nightingale,Salt Box,Busy Bee,Cellar and many more,We had little money so we all rode the famous "Bitzers" no matter if they worked it was all good

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

Nice 😎

@124SpecialT Ай бұрын

Another great video, thanks! Love the Domminator, I had one in a similar style “back then” and still miss it. Sadly, 68 year old knees and backs don’t go well with clip ons and rear sets so it will remain a happy memory. Thank you for the reminder 😀

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

Trick is picking an age appropriate bike

@andrewpeacock4695 Ай бұрын

Lovely to see the Matchless G12 CSR. I rebuilt one (which had broken its crankshaft) in the early 1980s. I wish that I still had it.

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

Pity, not too many around these days

@GarnetNewfree Ай бұрын

All really nice examples, well done tracking em down

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

Thanks Just takes a little time and patience

@chrisweeks6973 Ай бұрын

The Tiger Ton-Ten was always a favourite of mine, back in the day. That said, I'd be more than happy to own any of them. 👍

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

True

@rickh8380 Ай бұрын

More beautiful bikes. Since subscribing to your channel... I have learned so much about British and Italian bikes. I would love to own that Moto Guzzi 350. That bike looks and sounds great. Thanks for sharing. Ride safe Bikerdood family. Cheers

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

Not sure Tom will give it up anytime soon 😂

@rickh8380 Ай бұрын

@@bikerdood1100 😄 I wouldn't either. That's a bike you keep forever. Cheers

@Mike40M Ай бұрын

Some corrections and some memories. The 650 Norton Manxman came in 1960, very rare in the UK as it was mainly exported to USA. Replaced by the 650SS in -63, when the 750 Atlas also came. As usual production started in autumn the year before. I had a slimline 600 back then. Lightened and tuned it outperformed the pre unit Bonnevilles with its better handling. Now has two widelines and two slimlines. The slimline is definitely more comfortable as a road bike. Getting feet down at red lights on a wideline is hard for a short rider. My then girlfriend at 5' 3" had no problem riding the slimline. The wideline is very comfortable when racing. In the days of push start racing you didn't need to put feet down until after the race.

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

Wasn’t called the Manxman in the UK Not really a correction because from an English perspective it wasn’t sold here until after 1960 as companies prioritised the US market Ditto the atlas Generally didn’t come to the him market for a couple of years after

@xt225 Ай бұрын

Great video. What was the Norton's top speed. My brother had a T110 in 1969. Lovely bike. UDP 357.

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

Well the single carb model had a top speed in the mid 90s The twin carb model just over 100mph

@dirkdiggler5164 Ай бұрын

Triumph made the T110 with tank color matching paint on the nacelle? I never knew that.

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

Style icons That’s Triumph, they certainly had a talent for design

@Free_Ranger_CT110 Ай бұрын

Sitting in the shed in winter, polishing the alloy parts of my bike with solvol. Aaaah those were the days!

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

Hours of fun Quite relaxing and much less expensive than a shrink

@davidhailstone1519 Ай бұрын

The trouble with all these bikes is if you kept them flat for five minuites they would blow up.

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

No they don’t Should believe ever you hear from jokers in bars Also where can you go frat out for 5 minutes? Even the statement seems nonsense Out side of a 125 I can’t think of anywhere you can hold a bike flat for 5 minutes Silly statement really that is nonsensical I’m afraid

@bikerdood1100 Ай бұрын

For the record they did use to have a lot of endurance races in the UK in the 50s and 60s and some how they stayed together 🤔

@davidhailstone1519 Ай бұрын

@@bikerdood1100 Yeah thats we all bought foriegn bikes in the 60s and 70s. flat out on these bikes was 85mph. Drive side con would break and destroy the whoie engine,Fq. I was there.

@FairladyS130 Ай бұрын

@@davidhailstone1519 Yes, the British engines were designed down to a price whereas the Jap stuff was engineered to perform.

@jeremykeller211 Ай бұрын

"Flat out?" Motorbike design back then was influenced by roads, In England pre motorway you did not go flat out. It was up and down through the gearbox, peak revs till the next corner, and then down again. A salutary effect was that this style pulled oil up into the bores. This helped to keep the motor in one piece.