Good new for British motorcycles

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Bill in Oregon
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Good new for British motorcycles

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Some iconic brands getting new life here! 8)

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54997191
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gamekeeper
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by gamekeeper »

Be interesting to see what they bring out, I had three BSA before I took to four wheels then went back to two and bought a CZ and a Kawasaki.
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by Larkbill »

The electric bike deal doesn't sound very interesting. I doubt that will attract all that many nostalgia buyers. Whatever they do they need to take a page from Triumph and build new bikes that are much better than the old ones but retain the look.

I never owned a BSA but worked on several (plenty of that to go around) and raced someone else's B50 powered flat tracker. They were simple, solid machines. Never got to ride a good triple, only one that was pretty ratted out, but I suspect they were fun.

The Indian built Royal Enfields are well thought out blends of old feel and new technology. It will be fun to watch how they do with their entry into the stock based class in AFT. It has definitely shown some speed. But as with all racing the right pilot is the key.
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Shrapnel
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by Shrapnel »

Harleys are everywhere, so I decided for a different class of motorcycle with a Triumph Bonneville America...

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marlinman93
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by marlinman93 »

God I sure hope they build them better than they were back in the day! Having owned a BSA 441 Victor, and had the pain of riding it for long hours, I sincerely hope they improve the suspension! I think my old 441 had maybe 2.5"-3" of travel, and any road that wasn't extremely smooth caused your forearms to pump up from keeping a tight grip on the handlebars! I can recall stopping for a break and barely being able to open my grip to get my hands off the bars!
A buddy of mine bought it when I changed to a Honda CR480 for offroad riding, and I recall one time we rode together, and I asked if he wanted to swap bikes for awhile? After maybe 20 minutes I asked to swap back, and thought I was going to have to tear him off my CR480 as he didn't want to go back to the 441 BSA!
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Leverluver
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by Leverluver »

marlinman93 wrote: Sat Jan 02, 2021 12:15 pm God I sure hope they build them better than they were back in the day! Having owned a BSA 441 Victor, and had the pain of riding it for long hours, I sincerely hope they improve the suspension! I think my old 441 had maybe 2.5"-3" of travel, and any road that wasn't extremely smooth caused your forearms to pump up from keeping a tight grip on the handlebars! I can recall stopping for a break and barely being able to open my grip to get my hands off the bars!
A buddy of mine bought it when I changed to a Honda CR480 for offroad riding, and I recall one time we rode together, and I asked if he wanted to swap bikes for awhile? After maybe 20 minutes I asked to swap back, and thought I was going to have to tear him off my CR480 as he didn't want to go back to the 441 BSA!
Oh man; I rode my Victor to work (thru Denver interstate traffic) all one summer, about 20miles each way and by the time I got where I was going my hands were buzzed to uselessness. That was just from the vibration of that single cylinder. God help you if you tried to kick start it with the piston in the wrong position. I think the arch on my right foot is still one inch higher than on my left foot. And to think they tried to sell it as a scrambler. It would pull a steep hill in first gear like a John Deere tractor but scramble...good way to commit suicide.

The Indian bikes should last a long time as they sure aren't stressed. I looked at a Royal Enfield 350 for a fun bike. I think it was 19 HP and would do maybe 75 tops. Heck, in the mid 60s I had a 250 Ducati that put out 30HP and would do 105-110. Not much progress in the last 55+ years.
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by M. M. Wright »

I've can't remember being without a motorcycle since I was 15 and I'm 81 now but, several years the only bike I had was a BSA Goldstar. You know, a 500 single quite like the Victor only with maybe a stiffer suspension. Mostly I remember only riding when it wanted to start. Mostly it didn't.
Don't I remember that AmBraCol has a Royal Enfield?
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by wecsoger »

Wish them the best of luck with the other classic brands.

They've done well with the Royal Enfield line. They seem to be good bikes, and affordable.

I've lusted after the Royal Enfield Classic, but it's a bit small for me.

I am seriously looking at their Himalayan. For a general knock-around bike, reviews are good.
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2ndovc
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by 2ndovc »

wecsoger wrote: Sat Jan 02, 2021 4:24 pm Wish them the best of luck with the other classic brands.

They've done well with the Royal Enfield line. They seem to be good bikes, and affordable.

I've lusted after the Royal Enfield Classic, but it's a bit small for me.

I am seriously looking at their Himalayan. For a general knock-around bike, reviews are good.
Well if you like spending half an hour getting it started and then watching the parts fall off as you ride down the road, it's definitely the way to go.
My dad had one and I would always ride behind him on my Kawasaki to pick up anything that fell off. :shock:

jb 8)
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CowboyTutt
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by CowboyTutt »

The Royal Enfields are too small in displacement in my opinion. Sixty HP at the crank is the minimum I can accept otherwise the motorcycle is just transportation like a scooter or a Yugo car, but not fun to ride anymore. I wish Norton some luck, they had some brilliant motor and chassis work and sound going for them. Too bad the last owners screwed it all up. Norton was on fire at one point, they just needed more capital. Maybe the Indian owner can help them out with that. Agree with a fellow poster that the path that John Bloor took with Triumph was and has been very successful by incorporating a retro look with modern technology. The new Indian is also having a lot of success with this formula.

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Marvin S
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by Marvin S »

I have to agree with the comments about severely underpowered for amount of CC,s . I do hope they come out with some cool stuff. Here’s my latest imported mini bike, a 1971 SL350 K1
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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Jason, they may fall apart, but good gosh you can forgive an awful lot when your motorcycle is a "Royal Enfield Bullet." I'll bet even Queen Victoria would have ridden one given the chance. 8)
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2ndovc
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by 2ndovc »

Bill in Oregon wrote: Sat Jan 02, 2021 6:32 pm Jason, they may fall apart, but good gosh you can forgive an awful lot when your motorcycle is a "Royal Enfield Bullet." I'll bet even Queen Victoria would have ridden one given the chance. 8)
Dude, the rear wheel was about to come off at 55 mph! Only thing that kept the shaft from coming all the way out was that it had backed something. I don't remember what, but it was scary. He sold it shortly after that, got back on his sailboat and stayed there. I've never had that happen on a Japanese or German bike. I've only had one Harley and couldn't get rid of it fast enough. I hated that thing.

jb 8)
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marlinman93
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by marlinman93 »

Leverluver wrote: Sat Jan 02, 2021 1:16 pm
marlinman93 wrote: Sat Jan 02, 2021 12:15 pm God I sure hope they build them better than they were back in the day! Having owned a BSA 441 Victor, and had the pain of riding it for long hours, I sincerely hope they improve the suspension! I think my old 441 had maybe 2.5"-3" of travel, and any road that wasn't extremely smooth caused your forearms to pump up from keeping a tight grip on the handlebars! I can recall stopping for a break and barely being able to open my grip to get my hands off the bars!
A buddy of mine bought it when I changed to a Honda CR480 for offroad riding, and I recall one time we rode together, and I asked if he wanted to swap bikes for awhile? After maybe 20 minutes I asked to swap back, and thought I was going to have to tear him off my CR480 as he didn't want to go back to the 441 BSA!
Oh man; I rode my Victor to work (thru Denver interstate traffic) all one summer, about 20miles each way and by the time I got where I was going my hands were buzzed to uselessness. That was just from the vibration of that single cylinder. God help you if you tried to kick start it with the piston in the wrong position. I think the arch on my right foot is still one inch higher than on my left foot. And to think they tried to sell it as a scrambler. It would pull a steep hill in first gear like a John Deere tractor but scramble...good way to commit suicide.

The Indian bikes should last a long time as they sure aren't stressed. I looked at a Royal Enfield 350 for a fun bike. I think it was 19 HP and would do maybe 75 tops. Heck, in the mid 60s I had a 250 Ducati that put out 30HP and would do 105-110. Not much progress in the last 55+ years.
Yes, the vibration was horrible! I put thicker, softer grips on mine, but it did very little to quell the vibration transferred to my hands.
I got whacked in the arch of my foot more than once by getting a little careless kick starting the BSA! But I still recall my friend getting hit so hard he couldn't start it after it kicked him! I had to start it for him just so he could get back to camp and we could load it up in the trailer!
He was tying to kick it over with slippery soles, and his foot slid forward as it kicked back. The kick starter slipped behind his heel and slapped him right in the calf! He dropped the bike and fell on the ground agonizing in pain. Pulled his pants leg up and it was immediately turning purple where it hit him. By the time we drove over an hour to get home his whole calf was an ugly purple bloodshot color, and he could barely walk. It wasn't long after that he sold it, and bought a Jap dirt bike too.
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6pt-sika
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by 6pt-sika »

Is Norton still in buisness ? Back in the early 70’s Norton had a bike the John Player Norton Commando in what I thought was cafe racer disguise anyway I wanted one when I was about13 .
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6pt-sika
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by 6pt-sika »

Seems the conglomerate from India has acquired Norton .
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Re: Good new for British motorcycles

Post by 6pt-sika »

To be honest at this point in my life I’d rather have a pre 1928 Hart Parr tractor over a motorcycle of any type .
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