(Above) The Triumph d isp lay at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. (Below ) A 1952 Excelsior 244cc Tal isman two-stroke twin.
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potent stuff that is the traditional refreshment of the English farm hand
who wanted a bit of a buzz with his
liq uid refreshment.
If you behave yourself, the pub will
even sell you a can 0 ' brew to siponas
you stroll through the exhibits at the
International Bike Snow. That's one
reason the Brits have a well-eamed
reputation for being so civilized!
The show got off to a rousing stan
with a cavalcade of I()() motorcycles.
The starting point was a government
motorcycle rider training course located
on the site of the defunct BSA motorcycle factory. BSA was an old rnunitions manufacturer (hence the name
Birm in gham Small Arms, or BSA)
tha t a t the turn of the century diversified into p roduction of bicycles and
motorcycles.
It was a thoroug h ly English cavalcade . A double-decker bus fill ed wth
dignitaries led the procession that
wended its way along city streets and
through a downto wn dotted wi th
century-old buildings.
In the lead sidecar was no ne other
than his worship Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Frank Carter, who wore a
large gold chain and medalion tha t is
the symbol of his office.
The event was delayed when the
Lord Mayor struggled without success
to squeeze into an enclosed motorcycle
sidecar. It was no go in the end. So the
organizers packed him off in a more
roomy open sidecar and the cavalcade
wason.
Sprinkled among the modern Japanese motorcycles were a few vintage
British models, which was fitting.
Most were born nearby.
Birm in gha m is England's second
largest city, after London, in the middle of the country (a region called the
Midlands) and is at the center of the
na tion 's eco nomically-depressed in dustrial belt.
Most of the old motorcycle factories
were knocked down lon g ago. But a
few still stand. The Ariel facility makes
components for m in ing equipment
now. T he o ld Scott factory fabricates
iron girders for bu ildings.
" When you go inside of what's left
of the Ariel factory, there's a petrol
pump they used to use to gas up the
bikes wh en they cam e off the line,"
says Ph ilip Tunnicliffe, 26, who works
at an a th letic club and isa vintage bike
.-
