British motorcycle industry

[palace15]

After myself and 'Dodger' highjacked a previous thread I have started one here!. Looking back #14
on the ideas and statements that was banded about when the industry was crumbling around their ears was nothing short of a joke, a statement was made that ' motorcyclists like nothing better than to spend Sundays working on their motorcycles.....priceless!
Dodger
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dave ede
Don't forget the British motorcycle industry, I have just about finished Bert Hopwood's book 'What ever happened to the British Motorcycle Industry'? Talk about mismanagement....they should have all been put up against a wall and shot.
If it was not for the fact I am British I would have found the book funny. The book is still available on 'Amazon', well worth a read. Has anyone else read it(perhaps Dodger)? And what did you think of it?

I seem to remember reading it a couple of winters ago , it pretty much spelled out what we suspected was happening to the bike industry in those days .
I'll have to borrow it from my brother and read it again to refresh my memory !
I don't think Bert was right about his modular approach ,he was already outdated .The Brits should have been building lightning fast two strokes like the Japs [Yam and Kawa ] and behind the scenes building a DOHC superbike .
Fast exciting bikes will sell ,the Japs had that sussed .But the Brits were still churning out the same old shit trying to tell us "what was good for us " like some self important Grammar School teacher .
Crikey Edward Turner thought a 350 twin was going to be the saviour of the Brit bike industry -and this was during the period of the Honda 750 and the Kawasaki Z1 - give me strength !

But Britain was a funny place in the late sixties and seventies .Hell bent on self destruction and nobody gave a rat's arse ,they built some crap cars as well .

I guess once a sucessful niche industry [ like motorcycles] is sold to a conglomerate ,the money men begin to run the show and the expert enthusiasts who founded and guided the company during it's formative years are pushed aside .
Then the downward spiral begins .
Look at what happened to Buell ,sacrificed by Harley .[Who are so entranced by their own Harley lifestyle bullshit that they cannot comprehend what motorcycling is all about .]
It would have been far better for Eric Buell to buy back the company and produce real motorcycles in small numbers for enthusiasts .
Buells were never really my cup of tea ,but I'm sad to see them go .

But we still have a British Triumph ,John Bloor had a vision [and actually started off with a modular approach to bike engines ] [however that seems to have gone by the wayside ].
Triumph keep a keen eye on the market and produce bikes that sell .
As long as they remain independent they will thrive .

My apols for hijacking the thread .
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