Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ ~ L.J ' 00 O"l ....... ..... Q.) ..0 E Q.) ;;;- o Z Birmingham policeman Alan Price poses in authentic attire w ith restored 1958 Police Special at the International Bike Show. enthusiast. " T he pump is not in use any more, o f course. But th e o rig ina l o ffice is still th ere. " Here and th ere, o ne co mes across living proof there was o nce a large motorcycl e industry in th ese parts. Take Mich ael Pugh, 62, an electrician who worked for BSA a t nea rbv Sma ll . Hea th in th e late 19-1Os. He is Iiestv in th e m old o f -An d v Capp, but wiih a jaw juttin g o ut and bright eyes peering o u t from behind small, rectangular g lasses. As he passed by j a pa nese motorcycle exh ibits a t the bike sh ow, he mu ttered , "T h is is rubbish." He ca n recall th e da y in 1940 wh en Nazi bombs Ilat tened th e so u th wing o f th e BSA factory. " A lot o f lives were lost th en ," he said. BSA, o nce th e world's leading mak e, was ca lled " the g ia nt of Small H eath " by locals. When BSA fin all y went under in 1974, "It was gone in a flash ," he said . "We (loca ls) were th e last to hear a bo u t it ," The English bike enth us iasts say that although a lot o f BSA techn ical literature is safely in storage. much more was lost because it was di scarded as j u nk w he n the p lant closed its doors for the last time. Despite the factory 's co nside ra bly local influence a few decades ago, most of the yo ung people in th e a rea today never heard of BSA. " T ha t's very sad especially w he n you thi n k th at we used to ru le the world not too lo ng ago, " said Ala n Pr ice, 46, a local policeman who rode th e restored 1958 BSA police special in th e cavalcade o pening th e bik e show. An ind ust ry th at was in exis tence 100 yea rs is perhaps a passing fad by British sta ndards . After a ll, th e monarchy stre tches back ove r 1000 years . This is a co u ntry where m os t ci ties boast at least one pub th a t's been in co ntin uous operation since the 14th century. O f co u rse, the p u b is now housed in a " m od em " faci lity erected a century or three ago. Bu t heritage is serious stu ff to a n Englishman, even if wha t's at issue is a n upstart enterprise suc h as a m ot orcycle m anufacturer. So th e citizenry raised money privatel y to build th e National Mot orcycle Museum th at is within eye-sigh t o f th e Birmingham ex h ibi t cen ter. Within its walls ar e 600 immaculat ely restored specime ns o f th e exp ired British industr y. Historians esti ma te 500 separa te co mpa nies buil t machines as ea r ly as the I890s, when the first m ot or bikes were created in Britain . Besides the well -known makes that survived into the 1960s, th e m useum contains exa mples of exo tic brands th a t were exported to the U.S. a nd still m a y be found in th e ga rages, barns a nd junkyards o f Ameri ca. Their ranks include Matchless, Creeves, R udge, Vel oceue. Bro ug h Superior, Ari el , Panther , james, Dougl as and Vin cent. T he n , th ere are th e trulv obscure marques. They include Wool er, Dunelt , H en ley Black burne, O K S up reme , Coven try Eagl e a nd th e redoubtabl e Rex Acm e. All th e bik es are exhibi ted on platforms covered with white gra vel that is invariabl y blacken ed in spots under the crankcase as if to p rove th at, yes, these a re truly English . They lea k o il. T he museum's so uven ir magazine, a n attracti ve four-col or publicat ion, m a kes a back-handed refere nce to th e lack o f a wa reness by today's ge neral public o f th e pa st. T he magazin e's introducti on says, " In a society which is quick to lose its a p preciation o f th e inherent ski lls a nd in d ust rv of the nation, thi s museum records' fo r posterity th e engi nee ring ac h ieveme nts o f a n ea rl ier era . . ." Whi le the vint age motorcycle is enjoyinga resurgence, th e ge nera l industry is in decl ine in the Un ited Kin gdom. The indust ry's trade associa tio n estima tes 89,627 motorcvcles were sold in 1984 (based o n registra tion data), down fro m 180.060 in 1981. " Sales have been h urt by (h ig h) unem p loyment," said j erry Matthews. chairman of the Bri tish Mot orcycl ists Federation, w hich represents ri d ers much as th e America n Mot orcycle Associa tion does in th e Stat es. " And th e motorcycle has gone o u t o f fash ion tod a y with m any o f th e 16and 17-yearo lds. All this came together to make a mi serable year" for sales of new m ot orcycles. There's one th ing you shou ld know a bo u t J erry Matthews. He's a bloody Yank! Born in New Mex ico a nd a long-time reside nt o f th e San Francisco Bay Area , Matthews has worked in England as a m anagem ent co ns u ltant since the early 19705. An a vid m otorcycli st. he beca me act ive in BMF, eventually rising to his present post. When he pops back to the States for visits, he finds himself bored silly in th e pace of Am erican traffi c th at is sedate by Briti sh sta nda rds. " It's not reall y aggressive here," he says. " Bu t th ere is a lot more o f cu t and thrust. You have . to be doing so me th ing th at 's bloody stu p id to ge t p ulled over by th e police," H e co ncl uded, " As a resu lt , you ca n enjoy your motorcycle a bit' more on th e open road here,' Other riders will add, though, that police are particularly hard on m otorcy lists . Some pubs post signs saying " No Bikers," which yo u' d find th ey enforce if you da re A row of British bikes ridden to the International Bike Show. the three in the foreground being a Norton. a BSA and a Triumph . belly up to th e bar wearing riding lea thers. But there is so mething o f m o tor cycli ng tha t seem s to be in th e blood o f the m ainstream, even if that mainstr eam doesn 't p urchase as many bikes as in the past. The proof is th at a country with just 30% the population o f rhe . U n ited States supports a large m o to rcycle enth usiasts" press. The Un ited Kingdom p ublishes three weeklies and II monthlies d evot ed to motorcycli ng. T he m ost a musing example of local m otorcycle p ress m a y well be Back Street H eroes. a m onthly th at is best described as a toned-down versio n o f Easyride rs. One BSH story a bo u t a bunch of ro wdy riders ra n under the headline o f " R ude, Britannia !" And th e tough bik er elem en t? It s most famous hangout is Chelsea Bridge in Londo n. Since th e I960s, it has been the 'tu rf o f Rockers, a name derived from rock-and-roll music. The Rocker s wear black leather jackets acce nted wi th m etal studs a nd sport eccentri c ha ir styles. " You co u ldn ' t fin d a ni cer bunch; th ere' s never a bit o f tro u ble," said Peter Desira , 3 1, a hot el prop rietor in London a nd non -biker who is familiar with the Chelsea Bridge scene. The bridge o ver th e Thames River is next to a n electric plant wi th four large smokestac ks o n th e four-corners o f th e huge mai n bui ld ing (like bed posts) th a t was feat ured o n the co ver o f a n a lbum by P in k Floyd. " If yo u as k one of the Roc kers abou t hi s bik e, he'Il g o o n a nd tell yo u about it ," said Desir "Just don't say a nya, thing nasty a bo ut his bik e." So me o f th e origi na l Roc kers, now in th eir 40s, sta ge reunions severa l tim es a year that a re ela bo ra te affairs with live ba nd s enterta ining a nd ru ns to nearby cities. Severa l hundred motorcyclists show up. Some of th e o ver-the-hill Roc kers fro m the 19605 who rode the thenpopular Bri tish makes a re the vintage enthusiasts of today. They meet in sma ll clubs that are usually local branch es o f national organiza tio ns built around th e o ld English bra nds . For example. th e So u th London bra nc h o f th e BSA O wn ers Club ga thers every Tuesday a t T he G ro ve H all , a city recreation building in th e su bur b o f Ca rsha lto n . The ro utine is sim ple. The first to a rr ive heat up water for tea. On a good night, 15 will sh ow up to sip tea a nd talk in small groups about th e past g lo ries o f th e grand Englis h m o torcycle. They are m ostly m iddleaged men , many wearing blu e swea ters wi th th e words " BSA Owner s" kn it on the front in red. . Such cl ubs a re social o rga nizations as much as enthusiast grou ps. Each year, th e BSA owners a ttract hundreds fo r a n nual ra ll ies. drawing entire famili es. T he BSA ow ners are talking a bo ut holding th e 1990 a n n ua l ra ll y in Boston, Massachusetts, where its New England branch is ac tive. If it co m es o ff, the even t will g ive Yanks a cha nce to see first-hand Englis h me n o n English bikes. . A few years ago, Pete Disson o f th e South Lon don branch rode his 1972 BSA 650cc twin across America. He's looking forward to th e o p port u n ity to tn.. th at in 1990 too. 'The British a re co m ing. again. • 21

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