The Glory Days of British Motorbikes - BBC Cafe Racers Part 1

[@silvergold296]

what a time to live !

[@brournemouth]

In 1962 I was fifteen and had ridden only a feeble James 98cc on farm fields, wearing a flimsy, toy-like helmet . My older cousin visited, on his new Norton 'Domi' 650SS. Would I like a pillion ride? Between my village and the next was an up-and-down stretch of the A508, perhaps 4 miles. Never forget it. The sheer speed was not as stunning as the braking and the high-G cornering as we entered a downhill bend into an uphill left-hander -- was this physically possible? You know theld cliche "I hung on like grim death"! When we got back, he said "Do you want to know how fast we went?" He explained that occasionally passengers had been frightened AFTERWARDS by hearing the facts. Tell me! "105." Yea, we broke the ton. 105 miles an hour. He still counts as one of the good blokes in my life.

[@petterin1]

Beautiful serie of British bikes.

[@dasadopeboy]

dude! uploading this.....the best thing ever

[@alexcarter8807]

I've seen 'em, not only Jay Leno's one day at Cook's Corner but one parked by the curb on some random street in Long Beach.

[@luciferstaxi]

It was back in the summer of '65- I was hanging out at a transport cafe named Johnson's. (This was the headquarters of the Johnson's Motorcycle Club). One Sunday afternoon, I was standing out front with my mug of tea, and a motorcycle came into the driveway- rode past my, pulled up at the line of parked motorcycles, and shut down. That machine, was a Brough Superior SS100!?! I had read about them, seen pictures and magazine articles about them, but I never thought I would ever actually see one on the road. As the rider dismounted and took off his helmet, I wandered over for a closer look: Nice condition! (And they didn't call these machines, 'the Rolls Royce of Motorcycles' for nothing. I was chatting with the fellow riding it, (mid-to-late twenties?), and during the conversation, I said: "You are probably aware that Lawrence of Arabia used to ride these machines?" He laffed, and drew a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket, and handed it to me. That paper, was a mimeographed copy of the front page of a Coventry newspaper. The headline read LAWRENCE DEAD, there was a column about him, and there was a photo there, of the motorcycle laying on it's left side, on the back of a small flat deck lorry, being taken away from the accident scene, The rider sez to me: "Do you see the license plate on the back of that motorcycle?" Yeah, "Take a look at the license plate on the back of my bike!" Holy Shit- he was riding Lawrence's bike!?! (In Britain, the license plate stays with the vehicle). I asked him- how he had come to acquire this machine? He replied: "Lawrence was a friend of my grandparents, and my family has lived in the same home for three generations. We had a bombshelter in the back yard, and it had been used as dead storage for many years. My parents decided that they no longer needed the bombshelter, so they asked me to clean it out- so that they could bring in a contractor to remove it, and then re-landscape the back yard. So, I started digging junk out of the bombshelter, and I found two old Broughs in there. One of them had been crashed, and the other one died of massive engine failure- and I had enough good parts to make one, out of the two. I just put this thing back on the road- where it belongs- and it seems to run just fine!" Wow! You got one of Lawrence's bikes- surely with it's history, that must be worth a lot of money?" He replied: "Yeah- I have already been offered a thousand quid for it, but I am never going to part with it!" About ten years ago, I think it was that same machine, that got put up for auction and the Sothby's auction house, and it sold for something like a million pounds!?! It took me nearly another ten years, to find out who had acquired it: The Royal Military Museum in London. Can anybody out there, tell us any more info on this machine, and the fellow's name who put it together?

[@cynicaldodgyknees879]

+luciferstaxi Amazing story. A few years ago, we pulled-up at the Kirkstone Pass Inn in the Lake District (England) and a Brough Superior SS80 was parked up. A wonderful patina and oily smell! (total loss lubrication?) proved that this was being seriously ridden, and more than a museum piece being given a run. If you've ever seen one close-up, you'll see why they called them the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles. Pure art. Spoke at length to the owner who gave me a fascinating, potted history of the bike (not as good as the above story though!), then rode off leaving a wonderful exhaust note as he descended "the Struggle" down into Ambleside.

[@davidcampbell362]

+Cynical Dodgyknees Anybody on here know where I can contact a guy named 'Mad Johnny'? (His real name is Johnny Davine- he rode a BSA Goldstar with all the Taylor/Dow mods on it

[@aldipeanutz]

damn,, how old are you now?? u must be very experienced

[@luciferstaxi]

Almost '73. (That's not old- I know older people than I who are still doing this.) The reason WHY I am doing this, is because there must be other people out there who I used to hang out and ride with? Not so experienced- I still fall off once in awhile. (The older I get, the faster I was. Haha!)

[@davekrab3428]

Great story

[@dasadopeboy]

dude! uploading this...the best thing ever

[@LAUDOGNE]

Splendid.

[@ferrazbrother]

live to ride - ride to live!!!!

[@davidcampbell362]

+Claudemir Dias Live to ride- ride to work. (Still doing it- too. Haven't owned a car for over 30 years.)

[@michaelslack5269]

Totally loving the brown leather gauntlets at 10:50! (What can I say lol)

[@Alanoffer]

My brother was a in the early sixties he had a matchless and I always remember a friend of his who had a gold star with clip on bars as low as they could go wearing no helmet always had a cigarette in his mouth they used a long road near us to race -

[@davem8836]

"He was runnin' out of road, he was runnin' out of breath."

[@dk2428]

Imagine owning a 1930's Brough Superior...

[@alexcarter8807]

I've seen 'em, not only Jay Leno's at Cook's Corner but one parked by the curb on some random street in Long Beach.

[@soldtobediers]

Great work in the interviewing those who lived it. Insight into T. E. priceless. Thanks ModifiiedMethod. -gilpin 11-29-15

[@alexcarter8807]

"Leather-clad bakers" lol wonder if Fru. T. Bunn was in that crowd when he was a young'un

[@WakeUpAndSee]

Whoever thought that bakers could be this wild.

[@rtcrafts4416]

Uma forma bem interessante de entender quando e como aconteceu o "fenômeno CAFÉ RACER". Fonte confiável

[@glimmertwin1548]

i saw a lot of people talking about what i would have loved to see.

[@davesimms5677]

superb!!!

[@jokeeffe2006]

rockers forever

[@peterlazenby]

the greatest

[@gabrielfelixrr]

Took me 6 minutes to realize hes saying bikers not bakers

[@luciferstaxi]

Hey- do you remember the flick 'LAWRENCE OF ARABIA' (Which made Peter O'Tool famous). Anybody of a 'certain age' who rides a motorbike has seen it, Do you remember the scene where Lawrence and his Arab buddies had mined the tracks and derailed the Turkish troop train? Then- Lawrence and his troops attacked- slaughtered all the Turks- and while the troops are looting the train, Lawrence is up there- prancing around- waving his gun, (If memory serves, it was a 'broomhandle Mauser- nice piece- very accurate and reliable- and he is shaking- hand clapped to his forehead- (having some kind of......orgasm? And his buddy- Omar Sharif- runs over to him and sez: "El Aurenz- is it the killing that upsets you? El Aurens replied: "No- it is because I like it so much!" Haw! Lawrence's SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM, is a good read. (But his letters to the Brough Superior factory, (Collected Letters of T.E. Lawrence) are better still! (Lawrence loved his bikes- that is why he is still one of us!)

[@michaelslack5269]

Amen mate! (lol!) Couldn't resist...

[@ChristopherSmith-bh4sz]

10 HP 100 mph!

[@joeyslats31]

Anyone know where the readings of the T.E. Lawrence extracts are from? Like what book, memoirs, autobiography?

[@sheddski2942]

The part I like is triumph is here to stay Harley-Davidson American engineering Triumph British engineering other than that there is no 3 rd these are the survivors

[@grahameanderson6913]

You're forgetting Royal Enfield and in some eyes, they're #1! LOL

[@PE1GVK]

Cool ;)

[@Gohot229]

Stogy, dodgy at best, they were really a tinkerers bike. Dirty, leaky with Lucas lighting. My last Brit bike was a 70 TR6R Triumph 650 Tiger.

[@chriswoolger60]

takes you back nothing like it a650 thunderbird under load i can still here it now ? but nothing lasts i bought a 400 Honder in the 80s terable it was faster and never packed up a new triumph was passing oil after 6 weeks old ho well .

[@davekrab3428]

That's be your genuine factory oil leak!

[@psk5746]

Pity they didn't evolve with the times

Let's see my Suzuki GSX 1100cc 1982 highly prepared in bratstyle in my short movie "A Feu & A Sang" (fire & blood) : kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqWlYaKhrNx2iJo

[@jackyblue67same10]

I was just wondering are Harley Davidsons not a popular bike brand in Britain the way it is in the United States anybody know?

[@Velton500]

+Jackyblue67 Same Yep, I know. ;-) Harleys are rarely ridden by serious motorcyclists in the UK. Many of the owners are older guys, dressed in "colours" or "patches" trying to look hard with mirror shades etc , but are actually bourgeois old men and usually bank managers and the like. You hardly ever see one on its own, almost always in a convoy with "Road Marshalls" etc. Not all of them, of course, but enough to give the make an image problem.

[@jackyblue67same10]

Serious what's that?

[@ironhorse1074]

+Jackyblue67 Same Velton500 is about right. Most real motorcyclists (that is those that ride to impress themselves, not those that think they impress others could be one definition) avoid them as they don't go, don't stop and don't handle .I know, they make a Screamin' Eagle but Austin made a Metro Turbo and that didn't make it a good car. They also have a reputation for being unreliable and overpriced. Paradoxically, they're often admired by those who've never ridden a bike. They're probably fine for long, straight interstate highways (are they?) but for the abundance of wonderful, twisty lanes in good ole Blighty, not so.

[@jackyblue67same10]

Alritey I was just wondering about Harley's in Britian didn't mean to get u all tore up sorry lol.

[@cynicaldodgyknees879]

+Jackyblue67 Same No problem. I merely tried to explain, in detail, why H-D is not a popular brand in the UK, based on the countless conversations I've had over 45+ years with those who actually ride bikes. Maybe too much detail?

[@jackyblue67same10]

What was Lawrence of Arabia's real name anybody know ?

[@Frichie68]

+Jackyblue67 Same Thomas Edward Lawrence

[@robertbrandywine]

Is the narrator Scottish?

[@ChristopherSmith-bh4sz]

+Robert Brandywine Yes, sounds like it, sounds like John Hannah the actor.

[@ALEXANDERCRETA1]

The only good in British bikes is the sound...Have a triumph trident t150 and enfield bullet 1998 who every you want i give them for free,i keep only my honda CB rs 250 1985.

[@MrThomaskirchner]

ALEXANDERCRETA1 if you’re giving them away, I’ll take em!

[@Kris_P._Bey_Ken]

So did you ever get the bikes, thomas?

[@alexcarter8807]

Mention a Honda 500/4 supersport and you've got my attention.

[@alexcarter8807]

Oops I mean the 400/4 neat-O little bike.

[@1anre]

Grown yobs

[@pretoshohmoofcguy6523]

prime minister Justin Trudeau [2:26 min]