Aah, the bikes I have known and often loved -
1. Royal Enfield Prince, 150cc Bantam look-alike, broke the return spring on the kickstart so took it off and used to bump start it. All went well until one day I ran alongside , hopped on side-saddle, failed to start and locked the wheels and I gracefully? fell over to the 'wrong' side and flat on my back. Wouldn't have been so bad but it was early afternoon on Cleethorpes promenade with "millions" of people watching
Most uncool!
2. Matchless G3LS, 350 single, sounded like the Indian 500 single. You could almost 'see' the piston going up and down at tickover. Had a permanent bruise on the inside of my right thigh from the badly designed oil filler cap. Should have had a feed from the oil tank to the primary chaincase as there was NO way to cure the leaks from the rubber seal and the ally 'jubilee' clip. If you laid flat along the tank (and had a long straight road) you could get it up to 95mph!
3. (Mod era) NSU Prima scooter, 150cc with FOOT change gears. Beware of wet manhole covers on roundabouts
::) ::)
4. Ariel Leader, 250cc 2 stroke twin, recognised from behind by the twin spirals of smoke from the exhausts, totally enclosed engine which had a deafening metallic ring from the vibration, leading link front forks which went UP when you braked. A bike years ahead of its time.
5. AJS 600 twin, bought as it had been converted into a 'chopper'. The first weekend, took my mate on the back for a spin down the main Grimsby/Cleethorpes road. Was puzzled by the whining noise until the bike 'threw' us both off! Discovered that the rear tyre had been sliced in two by a 2" bolt the previous owner had used to secure the back number plate on with!
Best of all - the one that got away - Ariel Square 4, 1000cc, immaculate, he wanted £18 for it and I only had £15 so he wouldn't sell! If I knew then..... I would have robbed a bank!!!
General observations -
we had X ply tyres with a flat tread across one third of the diameter. Even a wet white line could make you wobble!
we had steering dampers on the front forks to stop you breaking your thumbs with a 'tank slapper'!
we had jeans and a Belstaff jacket (overtrousers if you were 'wimpy') and a skid lid made of f/g and cork (optional)!
we had drum brakes and drove (raced) with other traffic, all of which had a 30 mph stopping distance of 2 miles!
Its amazing any of us are still alive to tell the tale
I'm glad I haven't been tempted by these modern back-breakers, no time to see the scenery.
Maybe one day.... a nice plodding Ural twin (with side car to stop me falling off)
Danny