First post- DAS bike, SV650. Easily restricted if needed, very docile engine when you want, but enough guts to have serious fun once you've built up some experience. they're a great bike for learning big bike skills on.
My First Motorbike.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
It was The Summer of 1963, I was 11 yrs of age and most of ‘Our gang’ were usually to be found ‘Tracking’ over the local clod banks or down the coal tip on homemade pushbikes. We used to make up our own bikes from bits salvaged from anywhere we could find them (Back then, you would never find complete bike thrown away as you can these days).
One day, one of my mates told us that there was a guy down the road who had an old motorbike for sale and asked how we felt about ‘Chipping in together’ to see if we could get it. This sounded like good idea, a motorbike, with an engine, one you didn’t have to pedal, great! Three of us, Ken, Dave and myself agreed to call in to see the guy and, if we could afford it, go shares. At the back of the guy’s house stood a red and chrome BSA B31 350cc single and it looked gorgeous. He informed us that the MOT had expired, it ran and the price was 10 bob (That’s 50 new pence to you young uns). Now you have to understand that the weekly wage in 1963 was about
£ 8:00 and 10 bob (Or 10 shillings as it was also known) was about 5 weeks pocket money. (12 old pennies to the shilling. 20 shillings to the pound. You’ll soon get the hang of it). 50 pence doesn’t sound much these days but 10 bob back then could buy about 8 pints of beer, twenty fags and still have change. We decided there and then that the BSA was going to be ours and told the guy that we would be back in a couple of days with the money.
On the way back to Ken’s house we were trying to work out our finances and devised a ‘Cunning’ plan. All three of us would ‘Chip in’ our 2 bob pocket money. That made 6 bob, leaving only 4 bob plus a bit for petrol, left to find. Back at Ken’s house we borrowed his dad’s bow saw and equipped with a pair of old pram wheels and a piece of rope we walked along the canal tow path, climbed through a hole in the hedge and into the railway sidings At the far side, behind a row of coal trucks was a big pile of wooden railway sleepers. We had already decided to let ‘<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Midland</st1:City></st1:place>
Railways’ help sponsor our project so we hastily cut one of the sleepers in half, tied it to the pram wheels and dragged it back to Dave’s house, then returned for the other half. It’s amazing what 3 eleven year olds can accomplish when there are rewards to be had; wooden railway sleepers are bloody heavy.
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Back at Dave’s house we sawed the sleeper halves into smaller pieces, borrowed Dave’s dad’s axe, chopped it into firewood and bundled it using strips of a cut up inner tube. I borrowed my dad’s barrow (We did a lot of borrowing those days), filled the barrow with the firewood bundles and spent the rest of the day (And most of the evening) Knocking on doors, selling 5 bundles for a ‘Tanner’ (That’s 6 old pence. Half a shilling. Aw, you work it out). Those days most houses had open coal fires, people needed firewood to start the fires so there was plenty of customers. By the time we finished we had enough money for the bike, petrol, a bottle of pop each, 5 Woodbines, a pocket full of sweets and still had our 2 bob pocket money. It just goes to show what you can do if you work together.
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The following morning, bright and early, the ‘Three Musketeers’ ran around to the guy’s house waving a 10 bob note, banged on his door until we got him out of bed, slapped the 10 bob note in his hand and walked away pushing our new acquisition. We were now the proud owners of our ‘First’ very own motorbike (Well one-third each, owners. We had decided not to include our generous sponsors ‘Midland Railways’ in on the deal, but thanks anyway). All we had to do now was learn how to ride the bloody thing. It took quite a while for three spindly 11 yr olds to push this ‘Monster’ the half mile to Ken’s house. A BSA B31 might not look that big and heavy to a grown up but to an 11 yr old it was one hell of a big bike. With the bike safely back at Ken’s house, I ran up to the local garage, scrounged a ‘Castrol’ can off the owner and ordered a gallon of petrol for ‘My’ motorbike. This might not sound much to anyone these days but this was the first time I had bought petrol and it was for ‘My’ bike (Well, one third of it anyway), it was a first and I felt so proud. And ‘YES’ kids could get served with petrol those days, garages did not ask stupid questions like ‘What do you want it for?’ or ‘You are not going to set fire to something, are you? Who the hell wanted to set fire to petrol when you could get more enjoyment running your bike on it. You can set fire to things with paper, it’s cheaper. Back then, we could even buy fags and beer although it was against the law for us to smoke and drink alcohol but that didn’t stop us.
Back to Ken’s house, petrol in the tank and down to the coal tip (Our playground and dirt-track). We put our knobs out to see who would have first ride, (No! not those knobs! It was our clenched fists and we said something like, ollika, bollika, super sollika, ollika, bollika knob, each word counting around each person’s clenched fist. If you got knob, you lost a life. The last fist standing won. Real sophisticated stuff, If only Bush and Blair (Or Brown as it is now) could sort their problems out as easily. Mind you, maybe our Government IS making their major decisions this way (I’ll leave that supposition up to you). I won! Me to go first. Only one problem. I didn’t know how to ride the damn thing.
Now, Dave’s dad had a BSA Bantam and he had once taken Dave down to a field and let him have a go on it, which meant that Dave had riding experience, Ken and I had none. It was a basic principle of elimination; Dave was elected as our instructor.
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Dave’s instructions: This is the clutch lever; hold this back to the handlebars and let it go when I shout. This is the throttle; twist it back to make the bike go faster. This is the gear lever; press it to put the bike in gear. This is the brake pedal; press it to stop. That’s it? Sounds a piece of cake to me, lets get started. We spent the next 10 minutes ‘Tickling’ (Flooding) the carburettor and kicking the engine over. A B31 has quite a lot of compression when you are only a weedy kid. Eventually the engine roared into life. ‘Climb on’ said Dave. The bike was that big that I couldn’t sit on the seat and touch the floor so Ken and Dave held it upright while I clambered on. Dave said ‘We’ll push you to get it rolling; it’s just like riding a pushbike’. ‘Right!’ Dave said, ‘Pull the clutch lever in’: I did as instructed. ‘Press the gear lever’; the bike clunked and jerked forward slightly. Ken and Dave started to push. Dave barked out commands; ‘Twist the throttle’; the engine revs went through the roof (The noise was mind-blowing). ‘Drop the clutch, drop the clutch’ Dave screamed. I let go of the clutch lever, the rear wheel spun like mad on the soft dirt showering both lads with shale and I took off like a steam catapult. Holy shit! I thought, clinging onto the handlebars for dear life. This is fantastic. Here’s me ‘Bollocking’ across the tip at speeds I could never attain on my pushbike and I don’t even have to pedal. I started in second gear and stayed in second gear. Dave hadn’t told me there was more than one gear; I didn’t know how to change gear anyway, I wasn’t to find that out until lesson two. I was bouncing all over the place and nearly came off a couple of times riding across the deep ruts left by the coal lorries but fortunately, I didn’t. I rode all the way to the far side of the tip then slowly banked, turned around and headed back. I wound back the throttle and the old B31 roared as it leapt over ruts and bumps back to where my two buddies were eagerly awaiting their turn. I started to brake as I approached my mates but they had to dive out of the way as I overshot my intended stopping point due to the engine fighting against the brake. Dave hadn’t told me that I was supposed to pull the clutch lever in when intending to stop. The bike jerked, spluttered, spit and the engine stalled causing me to end up in a heap on the ground (My legs were still too short to reach the floor and there was no one there to help hold the monster up) so it had to go down. No crash helmet, no protective gear and still no broken bones, only a few cuts and bruises. No problem: I was indestructible..
That was my first experience with being in control (Of sorts anyway) of a motorised vehicle and it is an experience that I think will never again be equalled in my lifetime, I was hooked. (My first ‘Real’ girlfriend came a close second though).
For the rest of our summer holidays from school we spent every available minute, over the coal tip, on that BSA B31. Within a few days we all became very proficient riders, changing gear and all; kids learn quickly when they want to. We did not know much about maintenance so as bits fell off the bike, they stayed off, we just rode it. When the tyres were punctured, we rode on flat tyres. When the tyres came off the rims, we cut them off with a hacksaw and rode on bare rims. Unfortunately, one day Dave hit a piece of cast iron sticking out of the ground and smashed a piece out of the crankcase losing all the oil. We could not afford to repair it, there was no point in putting in more oil so we just rode it until the engine seized then left it over the tip. Animals you may think and it was only an old bike but it was the best 10 bob we had ever spent. We didn’t have ‘Playstations’, we had the real thing and it probably worked out cheaper. M.S.
Dear MS i loved reading that post brought back fond memories of my first ride on a FS1e the lad that owned it had to run after me to get me to stop I was 15 and it got me hooked on bikes. My parents brought me half a RS 100 yam for my 18th birthday I had to pay them back the other half and my insurance in monthly installments. My dad used to say if you are not home by 12 I will sell that blooming bike and buy you a honda express remember them? Ug!!! it worked he could ground me take away my record player but please dont make me ride a honda express!
MS somany memories? i had the same experience on a bsa a10 in the woods up leeds till i hit a tree when the throtle stuck, again going around in cicles till my mates grabed the bike, also verticaly chalenged your post brought back all the memories again thanks.
MS ..loved your post..
ahhhhh those were the days eh?
although i dint ride ..i have lots of memories helping my brothers and their mates 'mess about' with their bikes.
My big brother found an old Greeves abandoned along the canal in undergrowth.. i helped him get it home and spent many happy hours doing the important bits like polishing the chrome for him ..lol got it back into pristeen condition..that was almost 30yrs ago..hes still got it in his garage
I remember my borthers first bikes, a FS1e and an SS50....and my dad had and old BSA..( i think ) and sidecar. ..was ace.. mum on pillion.. me and 2 brothers in the enclosed sidecar..only problem was we lived near a steep hill..and all had to push on more than one occasion..HAHAHA.. ...
awwwww thanks for bringing back some memories
And sorry for going off the 'first bikes thread'
Thank you Monty, Petervalk & Karey for reading and commenting on my post. It's nice to know that someone found my 'Ramblings' & memories interesting. Yours sincerely. M.S.
Does anyone remember the 'Raleigh Wisp'. It was a 'Raleigh RSW6 (Or something similar)' push bike that the company had fitted an engine to and marketed it as a moped.
Back in the early 1970s, I worked as a mechanic at a local bike shop and we had a 'Wisp' traded in against a Honda 50. We used to line up all the second-hand bikes accross the front of the shop outside the windows. A few days later a guy came in 'Interested' in the 'Wisp' so I took him back outside to show him over the moped. To start these mopeds you had to pedal them and the best way was to leave them on the centre stand & pedal like mad. They were fitted with an 'Centrifugal' automatic clutch so, on tickover the 'Bike' stood still, open the throttle and away it went. There was one small problem starting them up like this, as I quickly found out 'To my cost'. Parked up on the centre stand, most of the weight was to the rear, sitting the rear tyre on the ground and the front fairly high in the air. To start the 'Bike' on the centre stand you had to lean forward to put the weight on the front wheel, then you can start to pedal. I demonstrated this method to the prospective purchased then lit a cigarette and started to discuss the price. I held the throttle on a fast idle to warm the bike up. Without thinking, I casually leaned back slightly. The 'Bike' rocked back on the centre stand putting the spinning rear wheel firmly on the ground and with a 'squeal' of rubber, I was wheelieing, one hand on the throttle and the other hand flailing in the air still holding my 'Fag') accross the main road and into the hedge opposite the shop. Fortunately, there was very little traffic that day so I didn't hit anything (Only the hedge). Needless-to-say, the guy decided not to buy the moped, he thought it looked too dangerous. M.S.
bluesbiker In: Birmingham in th
Posts: 2510
Karma:
Really enjoyed yor posts M.S.
It's about time we had something really worth reading on the forum. You can tell spring is on the way. For far to long we've had posts that should've been on the "Samaritans" website than on a bike site.
My first road worthy bike was an RD200 DX Yam in 1977 the dx stood for disk as it was the first one with a front disk brake. although in my school years we played over a bit of waste ground on whatever someone turned up with. I had a bsa D3 bantam. It was an ex post office bike. We also had a BSA "wing wheel" the engine hung from the rear wheel. Just a little moped. I think its tinkering with bike like that that gave me my love of all things mechanical.
MS... another brilliant post !
I'm sat here with a huge grin on my face, fantastic !!
Shame they didn't have as many video cams/phone cams in those days, I bet someone would have captured it !!
Hahah...I'm still chuckling at the sight, and I bet you finished smoking your cig !!
Bluesbiker.
I reckon that amongst the older riders. Every one and his dog, at sometime, either rode or owned a BSA Bantam. Over the years, I had four of them (Only old ones) they ranged from £2 to about £10.
Did you know that the 'Prototype' BSA Bantam was actually copied from the blueprints of a DKW that was taken from the German factory by the British forces as 'Spoils of war'. Also the Ural (Amongst other names) was copied/modified from the pre-war BMW blueprints acquired by the russians the same way. M.S.
Karey. Thanks again for you comments. I will try to recall some of my other past exploits and post them for members appraisal.
Video cams/ Phone cams? Back then, the closest thing to a video cam was probably a 16mm camera mounted on the top of a BBC van and a mobile phone was something the armed forces used in the field and was carried on the back of a soldier like a full set of camping gear in a rucksack. M.S.
I learned to ride on a Puch Maxi, then a NSU Quickly (3 speed gears on the right bar like a scooter) and then one of my mates bought a Tiger Cub framed Bantam that we used to howl across the ploughed field behind our houses. One day the throttle stuck wide open, and not knowing what to do I just carried on in a straight line hoping it would sort itself out...it didn't. I hit the chain link fence around the local football club ground at about 30mph, I still bear some small scars on my face - the bike was undamaged
My ex father-in -law 'Hughie Hancox' was a road tester at the old Triumph Meriden factory, we worked together for about 20yrs restoring Classic triumphs and used to chat about his exploits in the 1950s and 60s. He actually wrote a book called 'Tales of Triumph Motorcycles and the Meriden factory' in which he recalls many of his memories. One day he told me about a tester known a 'Whistle' Whatmore and how Mr Whatmore was bestowed with his 'Whistle' nickname. Hughie's story was recounted something like this: One of the testers was 'Percy Tate' the works rider, who it was said, could always wring out an extra 5 mph + on any bike he rode (He was one of the best). One day some of the guys were taking bikes out on test but before they left the factory, Mr Whatmore asked Percy how he managed to ride the bikes so fast. Percy told him that firstly he settled down into the bike so that it became an extension of his body and whilst riding he would whistle a tune to himself as he threw the bike in and out of the bends. So off they went around the country lanes of Meriden, Percy leading, Mr Whatmore following and Hughie behind. Percy was riding faster and faster. Hughie recalls that as he rounded a bend he saw the back of Mr Whatmore's bike sticking out from the hedge and says that he was still 'whistling' as they pulled him out. Percy was nowhere to be seen. M.S.
Blues biker wrote I had a bsa D3 bantam. It was an ex post office bike.
Blues you daft devil they meant your first motorbike, not your first pushbike, bet yours even had a basket on the front so you could bring home the shopping for mommy.
M.S. Yeah I am an older biker but being as i only came into bikes a couple of years ago does keeping Bantams for eggs count I had several of them. or is that a different Bantam to what you and blues are talking about.
Dips runs for cover and makes sure her garage is well secure as she fears the braided brake hose may mysteriously get removed or the restrictors may suddenly find their way back into the exhausts on her bike.
MS I've enjoyed your posts as we're the same age and obviously went through the same era together. The dying days of the British motorcycle industry and the time when Jap bikes didn't leak oil, had marvellous engines but had to yield to anything with a Featherbed frame when it came to handling.
My first bike was a borrowed Broemfitse, a Dutch moped chucked in my direction when I was on a schools exchange visit to Holland. Had a great at the age of 15 whizzing round the quiet lanes in the flat country north of Amsterdam, but never plucked up the courage to risk city centre traffic. Combination of inexperienced rider plus riding on the right would have been too much.
Surprisingly enough, I never had a Bantam. Did have an MZ125, though, which shares a common DKW ancestry with the Bantam. With a more comfortable seat, better brakes and anything but the original East German tyres it could be a reasonable runaround. The usual brake mod was to swap the front end of a Honda 125, which made a vast improvement.
Still felt like a real motorcycle, though compared with the clockwork offerings from Japan.
Wills.
I agree with your sentiments regarding the ‘Featherbed’ frame but it did not take the Japanese long to catch up. (As you probably already know) In the late 1950s and early 1960s they would send out ‘Scouts’ to find, photograph and make notes of all their ‘Competitors’ products then pick out the ‘Best bits’ and try to modify and incorporate them into their designs. Look at how many features Honda ‘Borrowed’ from the ‘Ariel Arrow’ to name but one, Pressed steel forks, Monocock frame, Totally enclosed rear chain guard, Leading link forks and most of these had been used before. After the 2nd World War the Japanese had new tooling, new factories (With the help of the British and other allied countries) and an unrivalled drive to rebuild their country. They ploughed everything back in to design and production, whereas, the British motorcycle industry was standing idly by, ‘Resting on its laurels’ (With outdated tooling and factories), watching. We were offered British bikes that the manufacturers wanted to sell us where-as the Japanese eagerly listened to public opinion and produced the kind of bikes we were asking for. Look at how much Japanese bikes evolved between 1960 and 1970, then compare that with the British motorcycle industry for the same period.
Back in the early years, our local ‘Bike gang’ became (Affectionately) segregated between those that rode ‘Brit Iron’ and those that rode ‘Jap Crap’. In the 1970s we used to do a lot of bike rallies, the Jap riders wanted to get on the motorway, open their bikes up and arrive at the venue as soon as possible. We British bike riders preferred to cruise up the ‘A’ roads and take it easy; we knew that most of our old bikes would not take the constant pounding of sustained motorway speeds.
We would sit on opposite sides of the tables in our local pub and ask the Japanese bike riders to tell us something that was fitted to their bikes that had not been used on a British bike years before.
‘Posiforce’, ‘Autolube’ ::::: 1936 Villiers oil injection system.
‘Monoshock’ ::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Vincent.
Nothing was ‘New’, just modified with the aid of computer technology and put together better.
The closest one guy came was when he turned up on a ‘Suzuki 500’ Rotary engined bike. I informed him that DKW had produced and tried to market one years earlier, without much success. I also told him that in the early 1960s, a guy that used to frequent a pub where I lived at the time, talked to me (In great detail) about a ‘Rotary’ engine he had worked on in the 1950s at a <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Coventry</st1:place></st1:City> factory. He said that the design was good, the performance was fantastic but they had problems with the tips of the rotary ‘Piston’ burning out so the project was shelved and the design was later sold to the ‘Wankel’ works. Wankel modified the design and the engine was used in the NSU RO 80 car in the late 1960s, again, without much success, they were still experiencing problems with the ‘Piston’ tips. In recent years, the Japanese have shown an interest in the rotary engine design and, as they say, ‘The rest is history’. Since the age of eleven, I have always owned ‘At least one’ old British bike, (Amongst others). The better ones have ‘Character’ and individuality, similar to old cars, which I fear, is something lacking in modern, computer designed vehicles.
Hi M.S I like your storys/articles,I havent commented on any as its an era just before I started riding [76 on a FS1E] and dont know the bikes you write about-but keep them coming as your posts are appreciated.
PS have you had a go on any modern [90,s on] bikes?
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