5 More Classic British 350s of the 1950s

[@worgoose]

Best motorcycle channel on KZbin

[@bikerdood1100]

Thanks Much appreciated

[@clangerbasher]

I knew it was only a matter of time before you feature the uber-350 by AJS.

[@bikerdood1100]

Of course

[@allanl2606]

My 350 ajay was bullet proof 16ms such a brilliant machine

[@bikerdood1100]

They were but for some reason only the company knew they kept them in production for much too long

[@vorrdegard2176]

These bikes looks so beautiful

[@bikerdood1100]

And they are easy to ride and maintain and not expensive either

[@highdownmartin]

An interesting collection of B and C list bikes. Great to see multiple examples of the same models and some are pretty damn scarce!

[@bikerdood1100]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@miriamdumbleton4280]

A mate had a Moto Rumi, astonishing item. A real screamer, saw off any brit item up to 350. Tempermental, tho. Agree , AJS 350 was gorgeous. But, at 17, it wasn't fast enough! Got a super rocket; that wasn't WILDLY quick, either, but had nice torque. Should have bought a 110! Cheers, all you.

[@bikerdood1100]

Temperamental and very expensive of course Not sure about a 110 over the BSA Flimsy framed things

[@ducatobeing]

Those AJS/Matchless singles were honest, straightforward machines, but sadly you are spot on when you say that they were around for too long. An unfortunate habit of the hierarchy of the UK industry was that they were unwilling to move things forward until they were so financially strapped that it was too late.

[@bikerdood1100]

Well it was a problem almost unique to AMC among the larger companies Marks like Velocette stuck with them really out of necessity being in no position to retool AMC however put a fair amount of money into development of the bikes improving a bike with no real market by the 60s. AMC management were a contrary lot it seems

[@derekp2674]

Thanks some mice bikes there. Great to see that Douglas and an Excelsior. One of my buddies started his biking career with a late 1940s 98 cc Excelsior Autobyk. His father had bought this new, used it for a bit and then put into one of his sheds.

[@bikerdood1100]

Always to drop the odd excelsior in because my Grandfather had one in the late 20s

[@geneahart5607]

The Douglas Firefly sounded great!

[@bikerdood1100]

They certainly do

[@Nebulax123]

I love the singles from 350 on up they just look so cool.

[@bikerdood1100]

I will be doing episodes on larger singles in the future Big selection so should run and run if people enjoy them of course

[@upsidedowndog1256]

My 71 CB350 from Honda makes crazy hp reliably. I don't dislike the British machines but I never see them. Parts may be an issue. Proud of my Honda CB350. Good brakes, good power, good chassis. It overshoots it's intended plan by quite a lot! Sorry, it is a twin. Come test ride all of my bikes!

[@bikerdood1100]

As the video is about British bikes why are you waiting my time about something decades later in another country I don’t give a shit quite frankly Hondas good chasis Compared to what ? A dump truck It ain’t all about hp otherwise why waist time with a relatively punny 350 at all the Honda makes shit power compare to a big boys bike now doesn’t it Then there’s the crap chrome Rust prone metal work Stay on topic next time Parts are much easier to find for Brit bikes and far less expensive And they don’t sound crap either

[@Cobra427Veight]

I have 70s hondas as well ,....and now have a 49 matchless g80 , a 54 bsa b33 a 750 norton and a Triumph T160 , and I am absolutely stunned how many new parts are available for all of them, the british beaten the jap bikes hands down in parts backup . Cheers

[@borderlands6606]

350 singles were the fish and chips of British motorcycling.

[@bikerdood1100]

Think more small family car

[@davidahugill99]

I’ve got 3 , and I love fish and chips ! Cheers DaveH

[@margysan]

Please do the two stroke 125 uk available bikes from the 80s the bikes of my youth

[@bikerdood1100]

I intend to at some point

[@davidpalin1790]

Great video Well done 👏 Never heard of most of these bikes It was a scandal what happened to the British motorcycle industry

[@bikerdood1100]

Glad you enjoyed it It was sad indeed Must do a series of videos on the death of the industry at some point

[@neilurquhart8622]

Interesting video, had several mates that had 350 AJS’s and Matchless’s in the 60’s. I had a 350 Navigator and a 650 ss Norton….loved them both. Navigator, lot of noise but not much go (hard to keep up with a mate on his Ariel Arrow). I’d like to see more about both bikes as well as Arrows, Greeves, Ambassadors, Triumphs….etc 🇬🇧

[@peterdoe2617]

once met a mechanic who assembled the 650 ss Norton. And how proud he was! Telling us, how higher octane fuel would lift this bike to another level. A true mechanic! Proud of the craftsmanship he was able to provide to the company. I think we need this kind of spirit more than ever, these days.

[@bikerdood1100]

Well have done a video on British 250s one off which of course featured the Ariel’s

[@neilurquhart8622]

@@peterdoe2617 Thanks Peter, I wonder if I met this guy! I took my 650ss to the Norton factory in Bracebridge street Birmingham in 1963 as my local dealer was unable to fix my tappet problem (they continually unset themselves!); Norton never told me what caused the problem, all I know is that they replaced the complete cylinder head….it was ok after that - apart from oil leaks from virtually everywhere which I managed to solve by many hours lapping distorted aluminium components. The only other work I did was to fettle and mirror polish the inlet and exhaust ports; this improved the engines responsiveness an maybe added a bit to the top speed which I had clocked at 120mph at a sprint at Duxford airfield near Cambridge (now Imperial War Museum). (Thinking back I have no idea how I managed to find the factory without a satnav, obviously I must’ve used a map!!)

[@peterdoe2617]

@@neilurquhart8622 Thanks for this fantastic sory, Neil! Ride safe!

[@shingerz]

Cracking video as always shame about douglas and excelsior 👍

[@bikerdood1100]

Shame about all em really

[@williamnethercott4364]

Good selection, hadn't seen the Norton before, as far as I can remember.

[@bikerdood1100]

Tut tut You’re slipping 😂😂

[@theeaselrider4032]

How about an episode on the last of the air-cooled 4 cylinder Japanese Superbikes? ( Gpz's, Honda DOHC F models, Suzuki GS1100, Fj1200, etc..), or maybe something about any Rotary valve, two-stroke twins?. And a question; I seem to recall seeing in a book a long time ago, that BSA produced a V-Twin ( 750 or 1000? ), in the mid - late 1930's? Does that sound right? I seem to recall it was one of the better looking bikes of it's era, but I haven't been able to find anything since.

[@bikerdood1100]

BSA produced a range of twins both OHV and side valve during the 1930s their 500 was widely used by the British military during the period I did a video on military bikes some Tim ago now which features it They went all the way to 1000cc and I will be featured that in a further video on Britains litre bikes

[@user-ot7fc8jo8x]

Great to see the AJS/Matchless and of course the others 👍👏👌

[@bikerdood1100]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@AndyAndy-bg7mv]

where is the showroom/ shop you use in shots ? great vids and keep up the good work

[@bikerdood1100]

They are from a few sources Think ones in London though

[@alexanderpotts7308]

What about doing a video on the BSA A65. They were around for a long time and there are several different variants not to mention the oil in frame models. I know it's only one marque but they were one of the top sellers in the sixties

[@bikerdood1100]

Not a bad idea Do like a nice BSA

[@alexanderpotts7308]

@@bikerdood1100 could also add the A 50 as well as it's the 500 version of the A65

[@54macdog]

Another fascinating video.

[@bikerdood1100]

Thanks

[@derekdingwall]

Before my time all of those nice tovsee though👀👍

[@bikerdood1100]

If they are on the road they are your time I listen to the Beatles sometimes for ghat very reason

[@derekdingwall]

@@bikerdood1100 Never thought about it like that,thanks👍

[@peterdoe2617]

Just forwarded this: how much hp does it take to make u feel happy?

[@bikerdood1100]

Depends who you are and what you want to do And of course where you are On the tight twisty roads where we live or 4or 5 hp 1930s side valve does just fine

[@peterdoe2617]

@@bikerdood1100 Tangstedt, near Pinneberg, Germany. With an Autobahn just 3 min away from my home. It's more about "the state of mind". Do go wanna ride faster than your guardian angel is able to fly? Do you need to? (Just jokin')

[@darrinslack1269]

hold on the 350 brit bikes that were so crap that brits went out and bought scooters

[@borderlands6606]

People aspired to a jet age aerodynamic look, and scooters offered that. Scooters were also marketed to women and office workers, where motorbikes had a blue collar male image. I agree British 350s were technologically undeveloped, but people expected to maintain their own machines with the tools they owned, and favoured mechanical simplicity. Which is why there are quite a few still in existence.

[@charliepatterson9321]

😆 LOL

[@bikerdood1100]

As usual not correct They went out and got small cars instead not scooters Big sales of scooters only lasted a few years in the UK They continued to sell to a niche market only Scooters at the time were very slow and not particularly reliable. Also a lot of people hated two strokes Scooters appealed to some younger riders for a while. Some

[@borderlands6606]

@@bikerdood1100 The flaw in your argument is two-wheeled sales would have stopped completely with the advent of small cars available on HP. That wasn't the case, and bikes went through various booms associated with fashion and utility. For example it doesn't explain the popularity of the Honda Cub which is basically a scooter and sold by the million. Or the Japanese in-line 4 which dominated engine design in larger motorcycles for two decades, and was priced like the small cars which were supposed to replace them. Bikes were still primary transport for a lot of people in the 1980s and beyond.

[@davidlax9454]

Wrong !!

[@darrinslack1269]

1950`s maciolette and moto rumi were faster and better built

[@bikerdood1100]

You forgot very rare and expensive Not sure about build quality though Italian chrome , paint electrics ? The British 350 was in the main the 50s equivalent to a small car not a sporty number We’re the Italian bikes faster than say a 350 Goldstar or a Velocette viper ? They would have been at least as fast and much less expensive And the chrome didn’t fall off, always a bonus

[@borderlands6606]

@@bikerdood1100 On the other hand big German scooters were the forerunner of the Suzuki Bergman and other maxi-scooters. There has always been a niche market for luxury two wheeled transport, especially in European cities where roads were crowded, and the climate was conducive. The covered look was all the rage, and British motorcycle manufacturers went down the enclosed body route with varying degrees of enthusiasm and success.