Paul, I cannot tell you how often this comes up here in the states! And I defend the British motorcycle industry fiercely! These bikes and Lucas electrics worked very well when new and are nothing but victims of time and heavy handed, ignorant spannering. Thank you for all you do. Your videos have taught me more than you’ll ever know.
Having owned many bikes over the years, I sold my Ducati M900 and Yamaha Wr400 and have gone back to my 1st love! I now have an exclusively Brit bike garage ranging from a 1971 BSA B25T to a 1974 T120V, with a a 71 BSA B50SS and a 72 A65L for good measure. They are all fitted with modern voltage regulators, batteries, electronic ignition, halogen lights and the carbs with modern innovations like puncture proof floats, that all help make the bikes fulfil there true potential. My T120V has a dynamically balanced crankshaft with the later twin roller main bearing arrangement and has in the last two years toured France and Spain having been ridden to the Alps, Mediterranean sea and across the Pyrenees. This time next month we both should be touring across northern Spain and into Portugal, doesn't sound too crap to me!
Electronic ignition timing on my 1978 T140V was set up by a South London Triumph "expert" about 20 years ago during insurance repairs after an accident (I was injured and unable to do it myself). It was hard to start and ran terribly, so I re-checked it myself in my workshop when I was recovered, and found they had used the fully advanced mark to set it at idle, so it was way over-advanced. A basic mistake no experienced mechanic should make. That was the first and last time anyone else laid hands on one of my bikes.
I'm American and grew up riding two stroke street bikes, kz's, Honda fours ect. My brother found his father in laws, 70's era Bonneville under a tarp. Hadn't run in 30 years. We fired it up in no time. Brakes were a little spongy but it was fast af and handled great. Old British bikes are NOT crap.
Thank you Paul ...Ive been collecting and riding Brit bikes since the late 70's....they are the most awesome machines on the planet..... even with their "flaws"......I'm "dyed in the wool".. Christopher from Tucson Arizona..👍
I remember the exact same thing with motorbike magazines in the 70s and 80s. Most of my biker friends got all of their information about bikes from those magazines. I had a Triumph Bonneville T140V and loved it. It was very reliable and the only oil leak it had was after a Honda repair shop replaced the cylinder head gasket after I'd over revved it accelerating up to nearly 100 mph. (The RAC took it to the Honda garage.) The oil leak was from the front push rod tube bottom rubber ring. My friends Kawasaki had far more problems than I ever had but he was still convinced his bike was more reliable. Also I noticed that the Japanese bikes seemed to get rusty quite quickly.
I have owned Hondas, Yamahas,Kawasakis, Moto Guzzis, BMWs,.Harleys,Triumphs and BSAs in my 55 years of riding, British bikes are my favorites, maybe require a bit of maintenance, but that’s a good thing to keep you interested. Also have the best chrome of any old motorcycle. I still own a BSA A65L I bought used in 1971. Thanks Paul
The lack of knowledge about the JIS screws made everybody hate them. It should have rung a bell that the "joke" screwdrivers from the bike's toolkit fitted perfectly, also the tiny #1 for the float bowl and the master cylinder cover screws, where it would stand on its own. If only the presstitutes from the bike magazines had gotten the word and spread it.
It was strange how it rarely , if ever,got mentioned in the mags about JIS. Could have saved much grief if we had known we needed another screwdriver that actually worked .
I remember the last half of the 1950 ‘s & all the 1960 ‘s .There we’re some great British bikes but there were also some crocks that leaked oil like a sieve & I remember lots of riders , having trouble starting them ,running up & down the road puffing & panting trying to bump start them . The older blokes like my uncle with outfits ,tended to have the most reliable bikes . The Japanese bikes looked cheap & full of plastic ,but they started first time sometimes without any choke , & ran sweet as a nut day in day out ,even when not serviced as regular as manufacturers advised . Back then a lot of people didn’t have a lot of money to spend ,so they tended to keep the old Brit bikes running with any parts they could get hold of , & bodge one bike up using parts from other British makes that fitted . These days there are more older owners of old Brit classics ,who tend to have more spare money , & there has also been more upgraded parts & better gasket & sealing agents available & blokes like you that will take the time & effort to fettle the old bikes to a better & more reliable & useable standard . It’s also true to say the Japanese got ideas from the British motorcycle firms & spent money & developing some of them ,where the British management failed to capitalise & invest with the times , & taking the British & commonwealth motorcycle buying public for granted . I bought Honda simply because I needed reliable first kick starting in all weathers to get me on a. 40 miles round trip to work & back . I hadn’t seen any Britt commuter bike that was anywhere near as dependable as a Honda . My cousin had a bantam ,he was always breaking down ,up to his eyeballs in oil & grease & having to carry a bag of tools . 👍
I’m just in the process of rebuilding my first owned British bike ,I got in bits and it had been like that sense 1975 , trying to compare a engine designed in 1938 with modern bikes and calling them crap is rediculas ,when I started I watched a utube video of a expert bashing the main bearings in to the cases 😮5 min in the oven they drop in ,what else have they got wrong ,just started watching your videos , keep up the good work
Great video. What you've described about ignitions is happening with classic Lambrettas. People are doing two things with their electronic ignition kits. 1 - they fit a cheapo Indian stator, flywheel, and cdi. The flywheels often have loose rivets on the boss, and the pulse trigger is set at the wrong height on the stator, making the timing advance at higher revs. 2 - they buy an ignition with variable timing, designed for high revving motors with expansion pipes fitted. Fitting them on motors with a moderate tune, so that the timing stays advanced on mid to 3/4 of the rev range. A lot of people asking about jetting, or getting holes in pistons 😂.
I found that the apparent simplicity of a typical British bike resulted in the assumption that 'anyone' could repair one. That is far from the truth. Care, cleanliness and precision are essential as is a methodical approach. Sometimes the mistakes have become accepted as normal. Currently if you look at social media, 50% of 8" sls drum braked BSAs have their front operating arms fitted incorrectly with less than optimal leverage when applied. Those brakes should be good, even if fitted to an M21.
I have a half dozen bikes including a T140. The Triumph is the best handling of them all. The brakes are fantastic as well, though they were a bit tough to get right.
In jr high school 1968-1970 I had a small weekend business going repairing Japanese bikes. The local Honda shop was very poor and quite expensive so I ended up with quite a bit of work, even though I had very little experience. Most of the little Hondas would be very reliable from new but after a couple of years of use and 10 or 12 thousand miles, they were starting to burn oil. I would do a cheapie top end rebuild consisting of new rings, dry hone the bore and lap the valves to gas tight. That didnt cost much and it cured the smoking for 5 to 7 thousand more miles, at which point it was time to junk the bike. I similarly rebuilt my ES2 top end during this time. It had just over 30,000 miles from new and the ring job eventually got it to 55,000 miles at which point I sold it to my brother who rebuilt the engine top and bottom, good for another 50 or 60 thousand with maybe a ring set along the way. People forget that those early Japanes bike did not last well. The metal was awful, I had to be really careful not to strip threads or break bolts, especially after doing something on the Norton, which had bolts that could be fully tightened!
Have owned over my life 2 BSA 650'S, A Triumph T100, and 3 Harley's....all gone now and couldn't stand not having a bike so I searched and finally found a BSA A50 to play with. Always been the nicest riding, most fun bikes for me. Yes, they are quirky sometimes, but with every bike you gotta put the time in to learn your bike, then the fun begins.
The absolute best screwdrivers I've found to use on Japanese machines are the Japanese made Vessel Megadora Impacta impact screwdrivers. They are JIS profile (so don't cam-out like if you try to use Phillips, Posidrive or other cross-head drivers that will damage the heads) - they fit perfectly. Each whack with a hammer twists them 12 degrees anti-clockwise - makes working on Japanese machines a doddle. Get a pair of them (#2 / #3) and you're set - lovely tools.
i've always loved bikes. (i'm 73.) however, i've never been particularly adept at working on them, timing them, or even riding them. didn't stop me from loving them. always been partial to american and british bikes. when my friends were working on our indians, which were cheap at the time, we always badmouthed japanese bikes. we even badmouthed harleys simply because they weren't indians. it's merely the dumb 'tribalism' that teenagers or other half-formed intellects engage in.
A mate bought a 1973 Triumph Daytona brand new, the last year they were made I believe. I had bought a 1972 BSA Lightning. Barry's little Daytona was the butt of jokes in our work place as everybody else rode Japanese bikes. It reached a point where the inevitable showdown took place and a quarter mile strip was marked out and a drag race arranged. The challanger to the Daytona was a 350 RD Yamaha that was prepared for racing . The Daytona blitzed it on the first run and on the following run repeated the effort and the RD suffered a braking mishap which resulted in a spectacular crash enjoyed by yours truly, the only other Brit rider present amongst a dozen or so riders. The little Daytona shutdown all negative sentiment after that and I think We all developed a great respect for the model. It also proved to be a reliable and durable machine and one I would dearly love in my garage today. My A65 Lightning was a different kettle of fish. It seized a big end bearing during running in, never went properly after rebuild untill 4000 miles at which point it nipped up in the left hand bore. I had it rebuild by an aircraft engineer and motorcycle racing friend of mine and what a transformation. God knows exactly what magic Doug performed but the Lightning was an apt name for it after that and it also proved reliable, proving your point that it was all down to who spannered on the bike.
I have had my Triumph Tr-6 with a hard tail and magneto for 40 years. Did valves twice and pistons once along with a little transmission work. The camshafts lasted 50 years and were replaced with new ones. I love my BSA C-15 250 singles in both street and dirt versions. All low mileage original engine # etc. Paid $500 for each one. British motorcycles were good in the 1960's but bad quality control ruined the Norton Commando and the Triumph T-160. Cheap parts in critical areas resulting in warranty claims sank Norton. My T-160 holed 2 pistons at 10,000 miles. BSA management ran BSA into the ground taking Triumph with them. Triumph 5 speed gear boxes would grenade blocks from the dealer. It's better to get a low mileage bike because it would not be messed up by people who didn't know what they were doing. Vintage British motorcycles and BMW'S are rebuidable forever ♾️. I have had my Sportster for 25 years and 400,000 miles on the original engine and 37 back tires and 17 front ones and 3 belts in 25 years. People like to talk shit about stuff they have no clue. My Sportster has outlasted all of my Honda's put together. All the Russian parts on my URAL side car outfit are still working. Only my Japanese carburetors Mikuni had to be replaced. You can not blame a bike if a 40 years old part needs replacement. I love real British motorcycles not ones made in India or China. I can get 7X what l paid for my BSA C-15 250's. Not bad for crap is it.
British bikes were good in their time. Ride my BSA B40 on roads like those in 1965, and it’s completely in its element. Put it in a motorway, and it’ll sit fine at 55mph, and vibrate madly at much over that. So I ride it on smaller roads, my furthest distance was 330 miles in a day at 105 miles per gallon, and it sounds superb. It’s let me down once with an electrical problem where the 55 year old stator gave up! It also needs a 1965 service regime, oil every 2000 miles, greasing, tightening bolts and so on. The reward is listening to an engine that I maintain and a surreal riding experience. Every year, there are improvements on new bikes, there have been a lot in the last 59 years. Japanese bikes were an excellent upgrade, but have their own spare parts problems these days. If I want to get a long distance quickly, I use my 2022 bike. If I’m out for a pleasure ride, I take the B40. Horses for courses.
That needed saying, well done! I especially like your comments about magazines. I was a student in the late 70s/early 80s, my ancient, inherited car gave up the ghost and I learned to ride a motorcycle. If I went to the Students Union, I could always find a copy of the last issue of a certain motorcycle publication. You are absolutely right. They hammered anything British and worshipped anything Japanese even though some of their offerings were ridiculous or even lethal machines. It was so bad that I never bought a magazine and stopped reading other people's copies 40 years ago. Incidentally, my first bike was a Honda then I moved on to British and never looked back. Only recently have I found fair reviews of British machines via internet. Some of them were published years ago but I wouldn't know because of how bad the press was in my student days.
Thanks Paul i value your videos and your knowledge of British bikes, i recently bought (First time owner) a 1971 BSA A65L im going to have rebuild it, your videos will be very handy. Cheers mate.
I can remember my older brother talking about the crap screws on Japanese bikes. Move on five years, to 1978, and I was given a special screwdriver when starting out as a service engineer, working on Canon photocopiers. JIS screws are the best fitting crosshead screws I have come across. I still have that same screwdriver and I don't think that it has ever failed me. Might need a sharp tap on occasion though.
I agree with this. I have mostly owned Hondas with their characteristic Regulator/ Rectifier failures and poor screw fittings. My current CBF 1000 being a case in point, even though it is a great bike overall. In 1979 I was 21 years old and came so close to buying a Meriden Triumph Bonneville 750 OR Tiger from Morgans in Aberdare. I could not make my mind up:- Bonneville or Tiger, leaning towards the Tiger and the choice of Handlebar/Fuel tank style layout confused my lazy mind at the time so I ended up not getting one. This decision I still sometimes regret as really they were great bikes. I am still thinking of getting a 750 Tiger/ Bonneville or even a 90s Triumph triple. It is work in progress as it stands. Thanks for this video.
In November 2018 I found and purchased a KMZ Dnepr MT-11 military sidecar motorcycle that had sat in a barn since 1992. It was built in the KMZ factory while the Soviet's were occupying Ukraine. The Ukrainians working in the factory were sabotaging all the military motorcycles so the Soviet Military wouldn't get ready to ride motorcycles to help keep Ukrainian citizens oppressed. Everyone warned me I was buying crap and leave it in that barn. I got it so cheap I could toss the motorcycle in the scrap pile and use the Sidecar on a different motorcycle. The first thing I found was a spring had been placed in the middle of the right side cylinder push rod inside the push rod tube. It was genius. You could set the valve lash, you could start the engine and it would idle perfectly. Give it a little throttle and that spring would collapse preventing the intake valve from opening and that cylinder as dead as a lead hammer. It was on the right side next to the Sidecar so the Sidecar would need to be removed to get the head off to find the problem. It has a shaft drive so the final drive also had to be taken apart and shims adjusted to make it right. When I opened it up all the shims were on one side of the pinion gear guaranteed to destroy the ring gear and pinion in a few hundred miles. I had to replace every cable on it as all of them had been made to fail. I took the entire motorcycle completely apart to inspect and fix all the sabotage that had been done to it. I reassembled it properly and now it's a good reliable motorcycle I drive often.
Ukranians, Russians and White Russians are like Englishmen, Welshmen and Scots, don't believe the current narrative that sets out to make them hugely different. The borders were drawn with utter disregard to the "tribes" living there, just like in Africa. The Soviet state was the common enemy of all its oppressed citizens, and they all sabotaged produktion, regardless of in current Russia, Belarus, Ukraine or any of the -stans.
The Japanese bikes suffered as much as the brit bikes with ham fisted owners, As you highlighted, the crosshead case screws, They looked like Phillips, but weren't, They are JIS heads, a different shape bit,so much less likely to twist out, The correct JIS screwdrivers are essential for proper maintenance on the bikes, Great video btw
I am about the same vintage as you and have owned many a Japanese bike and also a Ducati 900ss of which I thought was the biggest pile of crap of them all! Now I have a Matchless G80 from 1952 and I am loving it.. A very well made machine and much quicker than I thought it ever would be!.. Keep up the good work..
Lovely to hear. IMHO the BSA DBD 34 clip on marvel was to me one of the finest bikes to ever grace any road, anywhere in the World. Certainly not the quickest, but one of the most beautiful ever made. And I want one !
British bikes - easy to repair, easy to work on, easy to f**k up - and many were, sadly, due to numpties with adjustable spanners and non-adjustable brains. Still a great riding experience by and large.
Now retired but I worked in the motorcycle trade as a mechanic 48 years and have worked on most makes of motorcycle, including older and late British machines. If any make of machine has suffered at the hands of someone with not enough mechanical skills then that machine will not perform or ride like it should, especially if a go faster brigade member with little skills attacks. As far as electronic ignition goes I have found some aftermarket kits that cover a number of models with one kit have a wider advance window than stock so you can strobe it up to the firing mark for tick over, rev it to the advance marks and it will be too advanced, like wise set it to the full advance marks and it will be too retarded at tick over.
I love British bikes and I don't have any other brands in my garage. They have design flaws and if you are not careful while repairing them, you can cause more damage to them. But the style, the feel and the sound of those machines are unbeatable. And when set up right and maintained right, you can ride them with ease.
You sound much like me and my rants. I hear the same and experience the same as you. They change their views once I've overhauled or set them up for them. No magic, just plain old competence. Brit Bikes are by and large great, whether from the 1950s or through to the 2020s, like mine.
After some decades of running the British bikes of my youth down (except the beloved B33!), I bought one. I've since learned that, in general, British materials beat the contemporary Japanese stuff for quality, as Paul pointed out. And for every bad Brit bike, there's been a corresponding Japanese horror. Witness Honda cam chains/cams/rockers et al. Yamaha has had its share of nastiness (and I'm a Yamaha man) and so on. And, again,as Paul says, much of it (but not all) can be put down to poor maintenance. So motorbikes have their woes, but by and large we're lucky to have such a great interest/hobby/ lifestyle. Cheers to all those people brave enough to manufacture and sell them.
Ogri was my favourite cartoon strip. There was a cartoon strip - not sure if it was Ogri - where a mototcyclist had been stopped by the Police and charged with multiple offences. When leaving the Policeman said " and anything else I can think of on the way back to the Police station ".
Your comment about Japanese casing screws brings back nasty memories for me Paul !.. About four years ago my son and I bought a '72 Honda CB125 K3 (twin) to restore for him to ride. He didn't want a modern bike, but he was restricted to 125cc at the time and British 125s can struggle to keep up with modern traffic.. It took us TWO WHOLE WEEKENDS to get the original screws out of the side casings on the engine ! - We lubed them, heated them, thrashed them with the impact driver and then drilled the heads off the last few.. The really annoying thing was that when we took the casings off and came to using mole-grips to remove the 'stumps' of the ones we'd drilled the heads off, they barely offered any resistance !..
I recall Bike magazine writing nice things about British bikes in the 1970s. Motorcycle Mechanics on the other hand...they used to take the engines apart and find things like gaskets partially blocking oilways etc as installed by the factory. Before BSA went bust, BSA and Triumph were each other's worst enemies. Some Triumphs (Tiger Cubs and other singles, and the triples) were made at Small Heath, and the guys who worked in Triumph's service department maintained a lot of those engines bore signs of having been sabotaged in the factory...they'd find debris in the engine etc
A great rant. Was going to comment on the attitude of the bike comics in the 70’s towards Brit bikes, but you got in first. Probably because of the revenue from the Japanese advertising, wouldn’t want to upset them.
So much of what you said chimes with my experience. Screws into cheese in some Japanese bikes, my only Honda was like this, my Kettle on the other hand was great to ride and work on. One of the sweetest bikes I ever rode was a Meriden T140, my Hinckley 790 was nothing like as nice.
G'day Paul, all l will say is "well said Mate " the best bike in the world is the one you are riding out on the open road, cheers mate your Australia friend, Neil.
Only thing I noticed over the years was just the lack of refinement of the Brit issues. Just a gaggle of details where the engineering didn't add up to what other makes were offering. Hardware falling off in my early exposure was the biggest complaint other bikers were discussing regarding the BSAs and Triumphs. I later worked at shops selling and servicing BSA and other Japanese makes and for useability, didn't see much to complain about of the Brit makes - I came to really like the Rocket 3, comfortable and sweet ride though I didn't want to own one.
One thing that people forget back in the 50's is home maintenance was encouraged, to get people involved with their bike, like the saying the ubiquitous oil leak, on brit bikes, only came about people prized the casings apart with screwdrivers or knives, and probably missed a screw, they didn't leak when they were new, in the army in Germany I had a t140 a friend had a t140 special, they were great didn't leak oil started first or second kick, headwind or hill the bike would pull strong without having to rev it, later I had a Jota surprisingly similar but more top end. Cheers
I wonder how well an old british designed machine would last and perform if it were made with modern machining and casting methods and materials. The castings would undoubtedly be lighter and more accurate with fewer discrepancies and the other machined parts would be made to much tighter tolerances. But we have to understand that, that was what was the best available at the time and there were some shockers built alongside some absolute gems often on the very same production line!. Its a pity that with all the infighting, lack of investment and lack of communication that plagued the british bike industry meant that it was doomed to failure.. As for the "expert" home mechanics, There are as many horror stories about japanese machines which won't run well after the attentions of those who should not ever be allowed near a bike with a screwdriver let alone a set of spanners. It works all ways when it comes to those who believe they know what they're doing when they just, Dont!
In all the years I've been riding, one of the perennial issues is people slagging off bikes they are not used to working on. That is not to say there aren't some "myths" based on fact, but the reality is motorcycles differ sufficiently from each other that your average mechanic can't repair them in sleep mode, which is where many operate, sad to say. This tendency has become more apparent as bikes have become complex and parts increasingly modular. "Everyone knows x is rubbish", they say, despite the fact lots are still on the road decades after their successor has been reduced to razor blades.
We used to frequent my mates garage every weekend to maintain and work on our bikes , a know it all inividual started inviting himself , there was nothing he did'nt know about ignition systems etc , one of the guys asked him if he understood magnetos , he admitted he did'nt have much experience whith theese systems , so one of the boys handed him a mag from a v twin jap he used to sprint , a sharp click threw our knowledgeable freind across the garage causing us to very nearly loose control of our bladders , funny enough we hardly ever saw him again.
British bikes aren't crap, no matter who makes a bike or where they're made you'll always get some that aren't as good as others, but by and large they're perfectly OK.. For example.. In the early 1990s I bought a very used 1970 Commando MK1 Roadster (S-Type, but with twin low exhausts) that had been repatriated from the U.S. - I did very little to that bike apart from respraying the tank and side panels and I used it as a 'daily-rider' for over ten years - and I do mean DAILY rider, for work and pleasure, I had NO other form of transport - I did look after it and kept it clean, but I certainly didn't 'baby' it by any stretch of the imagination.. It was totally reliable, didn't leak oil, it started first or second kick EVERY time and still had it's original carbs and points set-up.
People are prone to saying things which they are feeling at the time, and don't always really mean. British bikes, like any other will reflect the care or lack of which previous owners have given them. British bikes were good for the time, made with the materials available, and as you say Paul, some are better than others. The fact that many are still running today is a testimony to the workmanship which produced them.
And they still at it. I had a guy a few days ago telling us a piston was hitting the spark plug on a T100R, after he'd repaired a stripped thread with a timesert. He "cured" the problem by using 2 spark plug gasket washers (yeah, I know). I was trying to be polite but he dug his heels in and insulted my abilities, which left me no option but to tell him exactly why English bikes get a bad reputation
The British Standard in manufacturing was perhaps the best in the entire world. In the 1970's if I got a metal toy from Hong Kong it was called "monkey metal" and spoke in truth. I would sooner trust a con rod cast in England at the time than a Japanese one. where I think the Japanese motorcycle manufacturing was more organised with a massive attention to detail. For example if you go to a lawn mower parts supplier and ask for Honda throttle acceleration cable it will be presented to you with all parts in situ, present and very carefully concertedly packaged. Not a washer missing! Ask for a same Mountfield. John deer or Suffolk and you get the cable and a mess with it not packed at all with it. I think the British motorcycle industry was rather sloppy from point of making to retail support. Had the British motorcycle industry increased their emphasis on detail it would be still a buoyant leader today.
I've only recently got into british motorcycles , and all I can say is the parts availability is fantastic I hav a bsa , matchless, triumph and a norton , the British have really stepped up , far better parts availability than my Japanese 70s bikes . Cheers.
I’ve been on the back of a gold and brown uk 750 bonnie ( S reg 1978) at the ton in about 1980 Where? Upwood road, south London. Near my school, dead straight, about half a mile long. 30 limit.
Well said Paul I left school 1974 bad times for British industries especially motorcycles friends would say buy Japanese bikes,l have had Japanese Italian British and the odd Czech but the one that gave me the most pleasure a T140 😊 , like you said a very good motorcycle. You have to know what your doing when spannering 🇬🇧 keep up the good work Paul
I remember Bike magazine testing the X75 Hurricane and they liked that. Performance wise it was a bit unfair comparing it the the Kawasaki H2 they tested at the same time though, but I bet that X75 is still around and the H2’s probably long gone.
The majority of our bikes fall into one of 4 categories and none were sensible buys new except during petrol rationing. 1. Belt drive, this meant failure to climb hills on wet days. Ended circa 1920. 2. Side valve, cast iron cylinder. These strangle themselves at high rpm and the minimal cooling of exhaust valve seat adjacent to cylinder, the bridge metal distorts, compression and power lost, engine effectively ruined. 3. OHV and chain primary drive. Rpm far higher than chain can tolerate but will survive the 227 or 264 mile TT. 4. Twin having pistons in step but counterweight as remote from bearings as possible meaning the crankshaft is bent opposite ways every 90 degrees. Consequently the intelligent and educated ceased buying after 1930 when the 20mph blanket speed limit was abolished. During petrol rationing the flat top piston Villiers was a sound but - fully able to do what was wanted, week in and all year, not expensive. 2 million of them unlike the revered and posh but very flawed sporty 4 strokes. Yes, I approve the helical primary gears of New Imp but the valves, guides, rockers receive the grinding paste flung from tyres and renders the engine worn out in a single year. There are unusual bikes avoiding all above errors, eg Velocette LE which lacks a thermostat and therefore dies of internal corrosion if not ridden hard. It is depressing but either the drawing office failed to read catalogues and notes from parts suppliers, or a 'Technical' Director was a total idiot. My grandfather rode, sold and repaired them, his wife and daughter knew that customers didn't buy them for travel but to tinker. He told me that the least trouble were 8hp Vtwins. Low rpm for chain life, small throttle opening to achieve progress suited to small roads so not overheating valve seats.
Lack of investment in the British bike industry, a lot of the things where bin bits . I had a number of bikes one being a Golden Arrow 250cc twin I was always having to do or re set the points, when it was on blob it flew , mid 60s I've had little Tiger cubs , a 200cc Suzuki twin did move , and other bikes , I'm 73 and I've owned a B M W K75c still pulls like a train great bikes never had much problems with it , also had a 400cc Vtwin Honda , had it 18 years , my mate has British bikes , B S A ( A6 & an A 7 ) 2 R E , Honda Shadow, & 2 Tiger Cubs all in wonderful condition, I love all bikes regardless 😀
Ive just done valve guides on my Royal enfield 80 pounds for head gasket valve guides and seats and 4 odd hours work starts first time ,, runs fine costs not a lot in gasoline I would like another T140 but the old enfield just keeps going
Paul. I have lost count of how many times I have heard that same statement over the years that I have owned British bikes, My conclusion is the statement is made from ignorance rather than experience. I have responded by asking what British bikes they have owned or ridden? Usually respond with, "My mate had one, and he says....." but never had the experience of a well setup British bike themselves
I learned to ride and wrench on British motorcycles about fifty years ago. Since then I've owned and ridden all sorts of Brit and Japanese bikes. Both sides had their advantages and bad points too, but the main thing that has kept me on Brit bikes is the way they feel leaned over in a corner and sound as they're pulling out of one. Are they the best at this? Maybe not if you look at all the computer controls on the new Super bikes. but It seems like they've taken all the skill and fun out of learning to scratch the pegs. There isn't many around anymore that cut their teeth on the old bikes so it's a shame to say that they never had that experience. Brit bikes had a different feel to them and it just isn't there on the new stuff. Maybe we old duffers should pull out our old iron and let the younger guys have a go. What do you think? That's my two cents. Tim
I had a T120 bonneville and it vibrated so badly it would blow the exhaust pipes off if I went over 70, I put dent in the front of the pipes where I had to kick them back on as they were hot. I even drilled them and put a bolt through the pipes which worked until the bolts melted then off they went again.
It makes me wonder why Bill Johnson selected Triumph engines for his attempt at the world speed record at Bonneville (yes, the bike's name came from the salt flats). I think of Slippery Sam's wins at the TT - there's a lot of solid history if one looks back a few decades.
Hi Paul ......... Agree with your thoughts regarding the T140V ....... I did 10,000 miles in nine months on one of those ...... No problems with vibration at all , even up to 100 mph ..... If fact at around 70 - 75 mph it was as smooth as any other bike I`ve ever owned ...... The only problem was that at 10,000 miles one of the big ends decided to loosen up ....... The problem , maybe what your Swedish friend was alluding to , is that by the 1970`s it was asking a little too much to expect engines with their design roots back in the 1930 / 1950`s , to cope with sustained high speed cruising on the fast A roads and motorways which now covered the country .... As for Bike magazine , I think you are being a little unfair ....... Dave Calderwood`s comparison test between a Commando 850 Mk 3 , and a CB750 K7 certainly didn`t favour the Honda .... likewise Mike Nick`s report on the T160V ........ A comparison between the Honda FT500 and a Velocette Venom resulted in a win for the Velo .... Royce Creaseys regular reports regarding his everyday Velo , and features with Clive Humphries of the Trident and Rocket 3 Owners Club , and tests of Rob North Tridents etc all featured regularly ........ whilst a test of a Yamaha XS1100 ended with the words " If this is their idea of motorcycling , they can keep it ... " ...... Bike magazine lost advertising from Honda , after panning the Gold Wing ........ they had to obtain test bikes from Honda dealers ..... Honda GB were so upset with Bike , they refused to supply them with press bikes .... As for cross head screws on Japanese bikes , these are Japanese Industry Standard , and need the appropriate JIS drivers ..... Phillips ( or PosiDrive , which are designed to slip / disengage at a certain torque setting when used with a PosiDrive fastener ) , will do , to a certain extent , but are not ideal ........ JIS drivers will not slip when used with a JIS fastener .... ...... Always enjoy your channel ........ !! ........
Hi Paul, any make of Machine can be crap, if it’s badly maintained and abused, or put together badly, I have a 1977 Honda 400F and a 1969 Triumph Daytona, they are as different as chalk and cheese, but both fantastic to ride and reliable, because they’re both well maintained. I couldn’t say which is my favourite , apart from the riding position is better on the Triumph, I can ride it for longer without getting backache. 😂🤣👍
Got a few British bikes. If they are looked after they are good to go. Not fast but pleasant. Never had any problems beside the normal broken cable or puncture. Don't do much mileage now so a yearly oil change is enough.
There are some British motorbikes that are crap but most of them are great and the older ones are bringing a “pretty pence” in auctions excluding the import duties here across the pond….the same can be said for american bikes (when you buy a Harley you need to invest in a good mechanic if you don’t tinker….!),Japanese bikes, etc….I’d love to have a pre ‘70’s Triumph but can’t currently afford it….when I DO get one I’ll have to make sure I ride on the wrong side to make it feel at home….snicker….
Can't talk too much about pre seventies British bikes but i bought a brand new Triumph Bonnieville T120r in 1972 it was a nightmare experience from start until it was stolen two years on,i eventual bought Hondas and discovered true biking.must admit missed the character of all my British,i now ride BMW bikes,have a nice day😍
I ran a '52 AJS engined bitza for ten years as my only transport. Some of the crap bits about it weren't my doing, the engine for instance. Not one of Britain's finest. Weak big end, cast iron flywheels and a tiny timing side crankshaft bush. I prefer overbuilt engines , such as the M21. had three of them, got one now.
I've inherited most of a CB500T engine that had a failure 40 years ago. One of the gudgeon pins is stuck in a small end, but the cause of everything going wrong might have been a snapped cam chain. It looks like a very long, relatively thin chain. The engine castings look like they are all good quality and I find the torsion bar valve springs interesting and the crank looks like it should be durable. The earlier CB450 appears to be well liked, but the 70s 500T not so much, as you said. Wondering if with a bit of adaptation a few more modern parts these engines could be improved. There are people that classic race the CB350 from the same era that has a bit of a family resemblance to the 500.
I have a CB500T of my own, bought in 1983, we have covered 60,000 miles together, although the engine has been apart a few times. I have also owned a few others, but this one has always been the main one and the 'keeper'. I tuned an engine for one in a race bike and it topped 45 bhp @ rear wheel - over a 10 bhp increase. The cam chain is supposedly the same, or very similar to those used in the Kawasaki Z1 etc, so I was once told. Look for Honda CB500T in my videos, if you want to see more!
From the 70s to the 80s (give or take) the up and coming generation regarded anything British as crap, the arguments I`ve had over this matter runs into god knows how many, may as well argue with the wall.
British industry used machinery that was worn out making munitions during the war. The country bought munitions from the Americans who made a lot of money out of it. British taxpayers were still paying off the war debt to the Americans until quite recently. Meanwhile at the end of the war, there was the "Marshall plan", for the rebuilding of German industry. So the Germans got new factories and machinery while the British carried on trying to make quality goods on clapped out machinery in an economy that was on it's knees. In 1963 I worked in a factory where none of the machines were made after 1938 except for 3 new German automatic lathes that worked for 16 hours a day every weekday making nuts and or bolts. This is not anti anybody, it's just how it was. The Britsh motorcycle industry made huge quantities of motorcycles for sale to a mostly impoverished world and only the American market yielded a profit. There was no money for the R&D and tooling that was needed to produce anything much better than was made in the 1930s.
There is also the factor of people comparing a 50/60 year old bike to a bike of today - technology, materials and machining accuracy improve all the time. Put someone who says 'all British bikes are crap' on an early 60s Honda CB72 or similar and I think that they would term it as crap too!!!
Hi i got a 1229 aruel 250 lg its never let me down in 16 years the only problem is i needs carburettor buld but i need to know if there is someone who can repair this carburettor great post
Paul, I cannot tell you how often this comes up here in the states! And I defend the British motorcycle industry fiercely!
These bikes and Lucas electrics worked very well when new and are nothing but victims of time and heavy handed, ignorant spannering. Thank you for all you do. Your videos have taught me more than you’ll ever know.
As a kid, I converted my RE to 12 volts, Cibie headlamp and used a central earth running 6mm cable from headlamp, battery and engine! Excellent!
Having owned many bikes over the years, I sold my Ducati M900 and Yamaha Wr400 and have gone back to my 1st love! I now have an exclusively Brit bike garage ranging from a 1971 BSA B25T to a 1974 T120V, with a a 71 BSA B50SS and a 72 A65L for good measure. They are all fitted with modern voltage regulators, batteries, electronic ignition, halogen lights and the carbs with modern innovations like puncture proof floats, that all help make the bikes fulfil there true potential.
My T120V has a dynamically balanced crankshaft with the later twin roller main bearing arrangement and has in the last two years toured France and Spain having been ridden to the Alps, Mediterranean sea and across the Pyrenees. This time next month we both should be touring across northern Spain and into Portugal, doesn't sound too crap to me!
Electronic ignition timing on my 1978 T140V was set up by a South London Triumph "expert" about 20 years ago during insurance repairs after an accident (I was injured and unable to do it myself). It was hard to start and ran terribly, so I re-checked it myself in my workshop when I was recovered, and found they had used the fully advanced mark to set it at idle, so it was way over-advanced. A basic mistake no experienced mechanic should make. That was the first and last time anyone else laid hands on one of my bikes.
I'm American and grew up riding two stroke street bikes, kz's, Honda fours ect. My brother found his father in laws, 70's era Bonneville under a tarp. Hadn't run in 30 years. We fired it up in no time. Brakes were a little spongy but it was fast af and handled great. Old British bikes are NOT crap.
Well said 👍
Thank you Paul ...Ive been collecting and riding Brit bikes since the late 70's....they are the most awesome machines on the planet..... even with their "flaws"......I'm "dyed in the wool".. Christopher from Tucson Arizona..👍
biggest problem with brit bikes of my youth was lack of knowledge and the way i rode them
Are you referring to motorcycles or women😂😂
Paul, let people keep thinking Brit bikes are no good....more for us!😁👍
I remember the exact same thing with motorbike magazines in the 70s and 80s. Most of my biker friends got all of their information about bikes from those magazines. I had a Triumph Bonneville T140V and loved it. It was very reliable and the only oil leak it had was after a Honda repair shop replaced the cylinder head gasket after I'd over revved it accelerating up to nearly 100 mph. (The RAC took it to the Honda garage.) The oil leak was from the front push rod tube bottom rubber ring. My friends Kawasaki had far more problems than I ever had but he was still convinced his bike was more reliable. Also I noticed that the Japanese bikes seemed to get rusty quite quickly.
I'm Aussie. I showed this to my wife, she said this bloke must be a relative of yours..
I have owned Hondas, Yamahas,Kawasakis, Moto Guzzis, BMWs,.Harleys,Triumphs and BSAs in my 55 years of riding, British bikes are my favorites, maybe require a bit of maintenance, but that’s a good thing to keep you interested. Also have the best chrome of any old motorcycle. I still own a BSA A65L I bought used in 1971. Thanks Paul
For Japanese bikes you need JIS screwdrivers. The heads are significantly different from Phillips.
The lack of knowledge about the JIS screws made everybody hate them. It should have rung a bell that the "joke" screwdrivers from the bike's toolkit fitted perfectly, also the tiny #1 for the float bowl and the master cylinder cover screws, where it would stand on its own. If only the presstitutes from the bike magazines had gotten the word and spread it.
It was strange how it rarely , if ever,got mentioned in the mags about JIS. Could have saved much grief if we had known we needed another screwdriver that actually worked .
@@martinowl All I ever read was that the Japanese screw heads were made from cheese.
Exactly
I remember the last half of the 1950 ‘s & all the 1960 ‘s .There we’re some great British bikes but there were also some crocks that leaked oil like a sieve & I remember lots of riders , having trouble starting them ,running up & down the road puffing & panting trying to bump start them . The older blokes like my uncle with outfits ,tended to have the most reliable bikes . The Japanese bikes looked cheap & full of plastic ,but they started first time sometimes without any choke , & ran sweet as a nut day in day out ,even when not serviced as regular as manufacturers advised . Back then a lot of people didn’t have a lot of money to spend ,so they tended to keep the old Brit bikes running with any parts they could get hold of , & bodge one bike up using parts from other British makes that fitted . These days there are more older owners of old Brit classics ,who tend to have more spare money , & there has also been more upgraded parts & better gasket & sealing agents available & blokes like you that will take the time & effort to fettle the old bikes to a better & more reliable & useable standard . It’s also true to say the Japanese got ideas from the British motorcycle firms & spent money & developing some of them ,where the British management failed to capitalise & invest with the times , & taking the British & commonwealth motorcycle buying public for granted . I bought Honda simply because I needed reliable first kick starting in all weathers to get me on a. 40 miles round trip to work & back . I hadn’t seen any Britt commuter bike that was anywhere near as dependable as a Honda . My cousin had a bantam ,he was always breaking down ,up to his eyeballs in oil & grease & having to carry a bag of tools . 👍
Im 65 and never had anything but British right shift bikes .....
I'm still alive when many of my mates were lost on Rice Burners .....
Classic bike magazine was a big inspiration to me. It started my love of British bikes.😊
Glad you liked it...I worked on it for 4 years from 1984
All bikes can be crap if they are unloved, mistreated and not maintained but these are the ones you hear of.
I’m just in the process of rebuilding my first owned British bike ,I got in bits and it had been like that sense 1975 , trying to compare a engine designed in 1938 with modern bikes and calling them crap is rediculas ,when I started I watched a utube video of a expert bashing the main bearings in to the cases 😮5 min in the oven they drop in ,what else have they got wrong ,just started watching your videos , keep up the good work
Great video. What you've described about ignitions is happening with classic Lambrettas.
People are doing two things with their electronic ignition kits. 1 - they fit a cheapo Indian stator, flywheel, and cdi. The flywheels often have loose rivets on the boss, and the pulse trigger is set at the wrong height on the stator, making the timing advance at higher revs.
2 - they buy an ignition with variable timing, designed for high revving motors with expansion pipes fitted. Fitting them on motors with a moderate tune, so that the timing stays advanced on mid to 3/4 of the rev range.
A lot of people asking about jetting, or getting holes in pistons 😂.
I found that the apparent simplicity of a typical British bike resulted in the assumption that 'anyone' could repair one. That is far from the truth. Care, cleanliness and precision are essential as is a methodical approach. Sometimes the mistakes have become accepted as normal. Currently if you look at social media, 50% of 8" sls drum braked BSAs have their front operating arms fitted incorrectly with less than optimal leverage when applied. Those brakes should be good, even if fitted to an M21.
Bang on - self-servo effect...
I have a half dozen bikes including a T140. The Triumph is the best handling of them all. The brakes are fantastic as well, though they were a bit tough to get right.
In jr high school 1968-1970 I had a small weekend business going repairing Japanese bikes. The local Honda shop was very poor and quite expensive so I ended up with quite a bit of work, even though I had very little experience. Most of the little Hondas would be very reliable from new but after a couple of years of use and 10 or 12 thousand miles, they were starting to burn oil.
I would do a cheapie top end rebuild consisting of new rings, dry hone the bore and lap the valves to gas tight. That didnt cost much and it cured the smoking for 5 to 7 thousand more miles, at which point it was time to junk the bike.
I similarly rebuilt my ES2 top end during this time. It had just over 30,000 miles from new and the ring job eventually got it to 55,000 miles at which point I sold it to my brother who rebuilt the engine top and bottom, good for another 50 or 60 thousand with maybe a ring set along the way.
People forget that those early Japanes bike did not last well.
The metal was awful, I had to be really careful not to strip threads or break bolts, especially after doing something on the Norton, which had bolts that could be fully tightened!
Have owned over my life 2 BSA 650'S, A Triumph T100, and 3 Harley's....all gone now and couldn't stand not having a bike so I searched and finally found a BSA A50 to play with. Always been the nicest riding, most fun bikes for me. Yes, they are quirky sometimes, but with every bike you gotta put the time in to learn your bike, then the fun begins.
Very wise words keeping a balanced view on matters. Including the JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) head sizes. Well said 👏👍
Thanks! 👍
The absolute best screwdrivers I've found to use on Japanese machines are the Japanese made Vessel Megadora Impacta impact screwdrivers.
They are JIS profile (so don't cam-out like if you try to use Phillips, Posidrive or other cross-head drivers that will damage the heads) - they fit perfectly. Each whack with a hammer twists them 12 degrees anti-clockwise - makes working on Japanese machines a doddle.
Get a pair of them (#2 / #3) and you're set - lovely tools.
i've always loved bikes. (i'm 73.) however, i've never been particularly adept at working on them, timing them, or even riding them. didn't stop me from loving them. always been partial to american and british bikes. when my friends were working on our indians, which were cheap at the time, we always badmouthed japanese bikes. we even badmouthed harleys simply because they weren't indians. it's merely the dumb 'tribalism' that teenagers or other half-formed intellects engage in.
A mate bought a 1973 Triumph Daytona brand new, the last year they were made I believe. I had bought a 1972 BSA Lightning.
Barry's little Daytona was the butt of jokes in our work place as everybody else rode Japanese bikes. It reached a point where the inevitable showdown took place and a quarter mile strip was marked out and a drag race arranged. The challanger to the Daytona was a 350 RD Yamaha that was prepared for racing . The Daytona blitzed it on the first run and on the following run repeated the effort and the RD suffered a braking mishap which resulted in a spectacular crash enjoyed by yours truly, the only other Brit rider present amongst a dozen or so riders.
The little Daytona shutdown all negative sentiment after that and I think We all developed a great respect for the model. It also proved to be a reliable and durable machine and one I would dearly love in my garage today. My A65 Lightning was a different kettle of fish. It seized a big end bearing during running in, never went properly after rebuild untill 4000 miles at which point it nipped up in the left hand bore. I had it rebuild by an aircraft engineer and motorcycle racing friend of mine and what a transformation. God knows exactly what magic Doug performed but the Lightning was an apt name for it after that and it also proved reliable, proving your point that it was all down to who spannered on the bike.
What a great story and thanks very much for sharing it with us!
I have had my Triumph Tr-6 with a hard tail and magneto for 40 years. Did valves twice and pistons once along with a little transmission work. The camshafts lasted 50 years and were replaced with new ones. I love my BSA C-15 250 singles in both street and dirt versions. All low mileage original engine # etc. Paid $500 for each one. British motorcycles were good in the 1960's but bad quality control ruined the Norton Commando and the Triumph T-160. Cheap parts in critical areas resulting in warranty claims sank Norton. My T-160 holed 2 pistons at 10,000 miles. BSA management ran BSA into the ground taking Triumph with them. Triumph 5 speed gear boxes would grenade blocks from the dealer. It's better to get a low mileage bike because it would not be messed up by people who didn't know what they were doing. Vintage British motorcycles and BMW'S are rebuidable forever ♾️. I have had my Sportster for 25 years and 400,000 miles on the original engine and 37 back tires and 17 front ones and 3 belts in 25 years. People like to talk shit about stuff they have no clue. My Sportster has outlasted all of my Honda's put together. All the Russian parts on my URAL side car outfit are still working. Only my Japanese carburetors Mikuni had to be replaced. You can not blame a bike if a 40 years old part needs replacement. I love real British motorcycles not ones made in India or China. I can get 7X what l paid for my BSA C-15 250's. Not bad for crap is it.
British bikes were good in their time. Ride my BSA B40 on roads like those in 1965, and it’s completely in its element. Put it in a motorway, and it’ll sit fine at 55mph, and vibrate madly at much over that. So I ride it on smaller roads, my furthest distance was 330 miles in a day at 105 miles per gallon, and it sounds superb. It’s let me down once with an electrical problem where the 55 year old stator gave up! It also needs a 1965 service regime, oil every 2000 miles, greasing, tightening bolts and so on. The reward is listening to an engine that I maintain and a surreal riding experience.
Every year, there are improvements on new bikes, there have been a lot in the last 59 years. Japanese bikes were an excellent upgrade, but have their own spare parts problems these days. If I want to get a long distance quickly, I use my 2022 bike. If I’m out for a pleasure ride, I take the B40. Horses for courses.
That needed saying, well done! I especially like your comments about magazines. I was a student in the late 70s/early 80s, my ancient, inherited car gave up the ghost and I learned to ride a motorcycle. If I went to the Students Union, I could always find a copy of the last issue of a certain motorcycle publication. You are absolutely right. They hammered anything British and worshipped anything Japanese even though some of their offerings were ridiculous or even lethal machines. It was so bad that I never bought a magazine and stopped reading other people's copies 40 years ago. Incidentally, my first bike was a Honda then I moved on to British and never looked back. Only recently have I found fair reviews of British machines via internet. Some of them were published years ago but I wouldn't know because of how bad the press was in my student days.
Different manufacturing of machines is an exploration into engineering ideas manifested . I like them all . My faves are British and Harley
Thanks Paul i value your videos and your knowledge of British bikes, i recently bought (First time owner) a 1971 BSA A65L im going to have rebuild it, your videos will be very handy. Cheers mate.
I can remember my older brother talking about the crap screws on Japanese bikes. Move on five years, to 1978, and I was given a special screwdriver when starting out as a service engineer, working on Canon photocopiers. JIS screws are the best fitting crosshead screws I have come across. I still have that same screwdriver and I don't think that it has ever failed me. Might need a sharp tap on occasion though.
I agree with this. I have mostly owned Hondas with their characteristic Regulator/ Rectifier failures and poor screw fittings. My current CBF 1000 being a case in point, even though it is a great bike overall. In 1979 I was 21 years old and came so close to buying a Meriden Triumph Bonneville 750 OR Tiger from Morgans in Aberdare. I could not make my mind up:- Bonneville or Tiger, leaning towards the Tiger and the choice of Handlebar/Fuel tank style layout confused my lazy mind at the time so I ended up not getting one. This decision I still sometimes regret as really they were great bikes. I am still thinking of getting a 750 Tiger/ Bonneville or even a 90s Triumph triple. It is work in progress as it stands. Thanks for this video.
In November 2018 I found and purchased a KMZ Dnepr MT-11 military sidecar motorcycle that had sat in a barn since 1992. It was built in the KMZ factory while the Soviet's were occupying Ukraine. The Ukrainians working in the factory were sabotaging all the military motorcycles so the Soviet Military wouldn't get ready to ride motorcycles to help keep Ukrainian citizens oppressed. Everyone warned me I was buying crap and leave it in that barn. I got it so cheap I could toss the motorcycle in the scrap pile and use the Sidecar on a different motorcycle. The first thing I found was a spring had been placed in the middle of the right side cylinder push rod inside the push rod tube. It was genius. You could set the valve lash, you could start the engine and it would idle perfectly. Give it a little throttle and that spring would collapse preventing the intake valve from opening and that cylinder as dead as a lead hammer. It was on the right side next to the Sidecar so the Sidecar would need to be removed to get the head off to find the problem. It has a shaft drive so the final drive also had to be taken apart and shims adjusted to make it right. When I opened it up all the shims were on one side of the pinion gear guaranteed to destroy the ring gear and pinion in a few hundred miles. I had to replace every cable on it as all of them had been made to fail. I took the entire motorcycle completely apart to inspect and fix all the sabotage that had been done to it. I reassembled it properly and now it's a good reliable motorcycle I drive often.
Ukranians, Russians and White Russians are like Englishmen, Welshmen and Scots, don't believe the current narrative that sets out to make them hugely different. The borders were drawn with utter disregard to the "tribes" living there, just like in Africa. The Soviet state was the common enemy of all its oppressed citizens, and they all sabotaged produktion, regardless of in current Russia, Belarus, Ukraine or any of the -stans.
Great post Paul, really heartfelt and sincere - these old bikes have a soul of their own that modern bikes will never match.
I like your demeaner, your transparency. Very unassuming. A Honda guy myself I wish I still had my A10 Super Rocket and my B44 Shooting Star.
The Japanese bikes suffered as much as the brit bikes with ham fisted owners,
As you highlighted, the crosshead case screws,
They looked like Phillips, but weren't,
They are JIS heads, a different shape bit,so much less likely to twist out,
The correct JIS screwdrivers are essential for proper maintenance on the bikes,
Great video btw
I am about the same vintage as you and have owned many a Japanese bike and also a Ducati 900ss of which I thought was the biggest pile of crap of them all!
Now I have a Matchless G80 from 1952 and I am loving it.. A very well made machine and much quicker than I thought it ever would be!..
Keep up the good work..
Lovely to hear. IMHO the BSA DBD 34 clip on marvel was to me one of the finest bikes to ever grace any road, anywhere in the World. Certainly not the quickest, but one of the most beautiful ever made. And I want one !
British bikes - easy to repair, easy to work on, easy to f**k up - and many were, sadly, due to numpties with adjustable spanners and non-adjustable brains. Still a great riding experience by and large.
100% accurate
Now retired but I worked in the motorcycle trade as a mechanic 48 years and have worked on most makes of motorcycle, including older and late British machines. If any make of machine has suffered at the hands of someone with not enough mechanical skills then that machine will not perform or ride like it should, especially if a go faster brigade member with little skills attacks. As far as electronic ignition goes I have found some aftermarket kits that cover a number of models with one kit have a wider advance window than stock so you can strobe it up to the firing mark for tick over, rev it to the advance marks and it will be too advanced, like wise set it to the full advance marks and it will be too retarded at tick over.
I love British bikes and I don't have any other brands in my garage. They have design flaws and if you are not careful while repairing them, you can cause more damage to them. But the style, the feel and the sound of those machines are unbeatable. And when set up right and maintained right, you can ride them with ease.
Simply put. Very well said.👍🏻
Thank you!
Thanks for sharing that Paul. Will have to get the strobe on the a65 now!😅
Paul , thanks for the tip on electronic ignition. Going out to check my bikes now
You sound much like me and my rants. I hear the same and experience the same as you. They change their views once I've overhauled or set them up for them. No magic, just plain old competence. Brit Bikes are by and large great, whether from the 1950s or through to the 2020s, like mine.
I've had a few issues with my A65, almost all caused by the inadvertence of previous owners, and not the bike itself.
well said Paul as always straight to the point.
After some decades of running the British bikes of my youth down (except the beloved B33!), I bought one. I've since learned that, in general, British materials beat the contemporary Japanese stuff for quality, as Paul pointed out. And for every bad Brit bike, there's been a corresponding Japanese horror. Witness Honda cam chains/cams/rockers et al. Yamaha has had its share of nastiness (and I'm a Yamaha man) and so on. And, again,as Paul says, much of it (but not all) can be put down to poor maintenance. So motorbikes have their woes, but by and large we're lucky to have such a great interest/hobby/ lifestyle. Cheers to all those people brave enough to manufacture and sell them.
Ah, the old B33, could put you into orbit ft it kicked back on starting, don't ask me how I know.
Ogri was my favourite cartoon strip. There was a cartoon strip - not sure if it was Ogri - where a mototcyclist had been stopped by the Police and charged with multiple offences. When leaving the Policeman said " and anything else I can think of on the way back to the Police station ".
Well said Paul !
Your comment about Japanese casing screws brings back nasty memories for me Paul !.. About four years ago my son and I bought a '72 Honda CB125 K3 (twin) to restore for him to ride. He didn't want a modern bike, but he was restricted to 125cc at the time and British 125s can struggle to keep up with modern traffic.. It took us TWO WHOLE WEEKENDS to get the original screws out of the side casings on the engine ! - We lubed them, heated them, thrashed them with the impact driver and then drilled the heads off the last few.. The really annoying thing was that when we took the casings off and came to using mole-grips to remove the 'stumps' of the ones we'd drilled the heads off, they barely offered any resistance !..
I can well believe it!
that often happens...it's all the drilling etc that shakes them loose. I've got some reverse drill bits that are excellent for that.
My 1970 Norton Commando is almost fully fault tolerant. Two of almost everything except the electrical system which had 3.
I recall Bike magazine writing nice things about British bikes in the 1970s.
Motorcycle Mechanics on the other hand...they used to take the engines apart and find things like gaskets partially blocking oilways etc as installed by the factory.
Before BSA went bust, BSA and Triumph were each other's worst enemies. Some Triumphs (Tiger Cubs and other singles, and the triples) were made at Small Heath, and the guys who worked in Triumph's service department maintained a lot of those engines bore signs of having been sabotaged in the factory...they'd find debris in the engine etc
A great rant. Was going to comment on the attitude of the bike comics in the 70’s towards Brit bikes, but you got in first. Probably because of the revenue from the Japanese advertising, wouldn’t want to upset them.
excellently explained, my best bikes were British, my worst bikes were British, but as we say, "see previous owner"
So much of what you said chimes with my experience. Screws into cheese in some Japanese bikes, my only Honda was like this, my Kettle on the other hand was great to ride and work on. One of the sweetest bikes I ever rode was a Meriden T140, my Hinckley 790 was nothing like as nice.
100% percent agreed. Back in the day my brother had a starfire that had been abused by so may previous L plate bodgers.
G'day Paul, all l will say is "well said Mate " the best bike in the world is the one you are riding out on the open road, cheers mate your Australia friend, Neil.
Only thing I noticed over the years was just the lack of refinement of the Brit issues. Just a gaggle of details where the engineering didn't add up to what other makes were offering. Hardware falling off in my early exposure was the biggest complaint other bikers were discussing regarding the BSAs and Triumphs. I later worked at shops selling and servicing BSA and other Japanese makes and for useability, didn't see much to complain about of the Brit makes - I came to really like the Rocket 3, comfortable and sweet ride though I didn't want to own one.
One thing that people forget back in the 50's is home maintenance was encouraged, to get people involved with their bike,
like the saying the ubiquitous oil leak, on brit bikes, only came about people prized the casings apart with screwdrivers or knives, and probably missed a screw, they didn't leak when they were new, in the army in Germany I had a t140 a friend had a t140 special, they were great didn't leak oil started first or second kick, headwind or hill the bike would pull strong without having to rev it, later I had a Jota surprisingly similar but more top end. Cheers
Hi you have gone up in my estimation if that’s possible mt you have a couple of 2 strokes good on you Paul 👍👍👍👍
Well said. Thanks Paul.
Well said Paul
I wonder how well an old british designed machine would last and perform if it were made with modern machining and casting methods and materials. The castings would undoubtedly be lighter and more accurate with fewer discrepancies and the other machined parts would be made to much tighter tolerances. But we have to understand that, that was what was the best available at the time and there were some shockers built alongside some absolute gems often on the very same production line!.
Its a pity that with all the infighting, lack of investment and lack of communication that plagued the british bike industry meant that it was doomed to failure..
As for the "expert" home mechanics, There are as many horror stories about japanese machines which won't run well after the attentions of those who should not ever be allowed near a bike with a screwdriver let alone a set of spanners. It works all ways when it comes to those who believe they know what they're doing when they just, Dont!
In all the years I've been riding, one of the perennial issues is people slagging off bikes they are not used to working on. That is not to say there aren't some "myths" based on fact, but the reality is motorcycles differ sufficiently from each other that your average mechanic can't repair them in sleep mode, which is where many operate, sad to say. This tendency has become more apparent as bikes have become complex and parts increasingly modular. "Everyone knows x is rubbish", they say, despite the fact lots are still on the road decades after their successor has been reduced to razor blades.
We used to frequent my mates garage every weekend to maintain and work on our bikes , a know it all inividual started inviting himself , there was nothing he did'nt know about ignition systems etc , one of the guys asked him if he understood magnetos , he admitted he did'nt have much experience whith theese systems , so one of the boys handed him a mag from a v twin jap he used to sprint , a sharp click threw our knowledgeable freind across the garage causing us to very nearly loose control of our bladders , funny enough we hardly ever saw him again.
Love it!
There only crap when you don't know how to look after ! Just like another bike. Love your comments Paul ❤️🤔💭💪👍😉😀😁🏁🏍️🛺🐑🇵🇭🏴
British bikes aren't crap, no matter who makes a bike or where they're made you'll always get some that aren't as good as others, but by and large they're perfectly OK.. For example.. In the early 1990s I bought a very used 1970 Commando MK1 Roadster (S-Type, but with twin low exhausts) that had been repatriated from the U.S. - I did very little to that bike apart from respraying the tank and side panels and I used it as a 'daily-rider' for over ten years - and I do mean DAILY rider, for work and pleasure, I had NO other form of transport - I did look after it and kept it clean, but I certainly didn't 'baby' it by any stretch of the imagination.. It was totally reliable, didn't leak oil, it started first or second kick EVERY time and still had it's original carbs and points set-up.
People are prone to saying things which they are feeling at the time, and don't always really mean. British bikes, like any other will reflect the care or lack of which previous owners have given them. British bikes were good for the time, made with the materials available, and as you say Paul, some are better than others. The fact that many are still running today is a testimony to the workmanship which produced them.
And they still at it. I had a guy a few days ago telling us a piston was hitting the spark plug on a T100R, after he'd repaired a stripped thread with a timesert. He "cured" the problem by using 2 spark plug gasket washers (yeah, I know). I was trying to be polite but he dug his heels in and insulted my abilities, which left me no option but to tell him exactly why English bikes get a bad reputation
The British Standard in manufacturing was perhaps the best in the entire world. In the 1970's if I got a metal toy from Hong Kong it was called "monkey metal" and spoke in truth. I would sooner trust a con rod cast in England at the time than a Japanese one. where I think the Japanese motorcycle manufacturing was more organised with a massive attention to detail. For example if you go to a lawn mower parts supplier and ask for Honda throttle acceleration cable it will be presented to you with all parts in situ, present and very carefully concertedly packaged. Not a washer missing! Ask for a same Mountfield. John deer or Suffolk and you get the cable and a mess with it not packed at all with it. I think the British motorcycle industry was rather sloppy from point of making to retail support. Had the British motorcycle industry increased their emphasis on detail it would be still a buoyant leader today.
I've only recently got into british motorcycles , and all I can say is the parts availability is fantastic I hav a bsa , matchless, triumph and a norton , the British have really stepped up , far better parts availability than my Japanese 70s bikes . Cheers.
I’ve been on the back of a gold and brown uk 750 bonnie ( S reg 1978) at the ton in about 1980
Where?
Upwood road, south London. Near my school, dead straight, about half a mile long. 30 limit.
Well said Paul I left school 1974 bad times for British industries especially motorcycles friends would say buy Japanese bikes,l have had Japanese Italian British and the odd Czech but the one that gave me the most pleasure a T140 😊 , like you said a very good motorcycle. You have to know what your doing when spannering 🇬🇧 keep up the good work Paul
I remember Bike magazine testing the X75 Hurricane and they liked that. Performance wise it was a bit unfair comparing it the the Kawasaki H2 they tested at the same time though, but I bet that X75 is still around and the H2’s probably long gone.
Agree.Good video.👍
Thanks 👍
The majority of our bikes fall into one of 4 categories and none were sensible buys new except during petrol rationing.
1. Belt drive, this meant failure to climb hills on wet days. Ended circa 1920.
2. Side valve, cast iron cylinder. These strangle themselves at high rpm and the minimal cooling of exhaust valve seat adjacent to cylinder, the bridge metal distorts, compression and power lost, engine effectively ruined.
3. OHV and chain primary drive. Rpm far higher than chain can tolerate but will survive the 227 or 264 mile TT.
4. Twin having pistons in step but counterweight as remote from bearings as possible meaning the crankshaft is bent opposite ways every 90 degrees.
Consequently the intelligent and educated ceased buying after 1930 when the 20mph blanket speed limit was abolished. During petrol rationing the flat top piston Villiers was a sound but - fully able to do what was wanted, week in and all year, not expensive. 2 million of them unlike the revered and posh but very flawed sporty 4 strokes.
Yes, I approve the helical primary gears of New Imp but the valves, guides, rockers receive the grinding paste flung from tyres and renders the engine worn out in a single year.
There are unusual bikes avoiding all above errors, eg Velocette LE which lacks a thermostat and therefore dies of internal corrosion if not ridden hard.
It is depressing but either the drawing office failed to read catalogues and notes from parts suppliers, or a 'Technical' Director was a total idiot.
My grandfather rode, sold and repaired them, his wife and daughter knew that customers didn't buy them for travel but to tinker. He told me that the least trouble were 8hp Vtwins. Low rpm for chain life, small throttle opening to achieve progress suited to small roads so not overheating valve seats.
Lack of investment in the British bike industry, a lot of the things where bin bits .
I had a number of bikes one being a Golden Arrow 250cc twin I was always having to do or re set the points, when it was on blob it flew , mid 60s I've had little Tiger cubs , a 200cc Suzuki twin did move , and other bikes , I'm 73 and I've owned a B M W K75c still pulls like a train great bikes never had much problems with it , also had a 400cc Vtwin Honda , had it 18 years , my mate has British bikes ,
B S A ( A6 & an A 7 ) 2 R E , Honda Shadow, & 2 Tiger Cubs all in wonderful condition, I love all bikes regardless 😀
Ive just done valve guides on my Royal enfield 80 pounds for head gasket valve guides and seats and 4 odd hours work starts first time ,, runs fine costs not a lot in gasoline I would like another T140 but the old enfield just keeps going
Paul. I have lost count of how many times I have heard that same statement over the years that I have owned British bikes, My conclusion is the statement is made from ignorance rather than experience. I have responded by asking what British bikes they have owned or ridden? Usually respond with, "My mate had one, and he says....." but never had the experience of a well setup British bike themselves
I learned to ride and wrench on British motorcycles about fifty years ago. Since then I've owned and ridden all sorts of Brit and Japanese bikes. Both sides had their advantages and bad points too, but the main thing that has kept me on Brit bikes is the way they feel leaned over in a corner and sound as they're pulling out of one. Are they the best at this? Maybe not if you look at all the computer controls on the new Super bikes. but It seems like they've taken all the skill and fun out of learning to scratch the pegs. There isn't many around anymore that cut their teeth on the old bikes so it's a shame to say that they never had that experience. Brit bikes had a different feel to them and it just isn't there on the new stuff. Maybe we old duffers should pull out our old iron and let the younger guys have a go. What do you think? That's my two cents. Tim
I had a T120 bonneville and it vibrated so badly it would blow the exhaust pipes off if I went over 70, I put dent in the front of the pipes where I had to kick them back on as they were hot. I even drilled them and put a bolt through the pipes which worked until the bolts melted then off they went again.
It makes me wonder why Bill Johnson selected Triumph engines for his attempt at the world speed record at Bonneville (yes, the bike's name came from the salt flats). I think of Slippery Sam's wins at the TT - there's a lot of solid history if one looks back a few decades.
Hi Paul ......... Agree with your thoughts regarding the T140V ....... I did 10,000 miles in nine months on one of those ...... No problems with vibration at all , even up to 100 mph ..... If fact at around 70 - 75 mph it was as smooth as any other bike I`ve ever owned ...... The only problem was that at 10,000 miles one of the big ends decided to loosen up ....... The problem , maybe what your Swedish friend was alluding to , is that by the 1970`s it was asking a little too much to expect engines with their design roots back in the 1930 / 1950`s , to cope with sustained high speed cruising on the fast A roads and motorways which now covered the country ....
As for Bike magazine , I think you are being a little unfair ....... Dave Calderwood`s comparison test between a Commando 850 Mk 3 , and a CB750 K7 certainly didn`t favour the Honda .... likewise Mike Nick`s report on the T160V ........ A comparison between the Honda FT500 and a Velocette Venom resulted in a win for the Velo ....
Royce Creaseys regular reports regarding his everyday Velo , and features with Clive Humphries of the Trident and Rocket 3 Owners Club , and tests of Rob North Tridents etc all featured regularly ........ whilst a test of a Yamaha XS1100 ended with the words " If this is their idea of motorcycling , they can keep it ... " ...... Bike magazine lost advertising from Honda , after panning the Gold Wing ........ they had to obtain test bikes from Honda dealers ..... Honda GB were so upset with Bike , they refused to supply them with press bikes ....
As for cross head screws on Japanese bikes , these are Japanese Industry Standard , and need the appropriate JIS drivers ..... Phillips ( or PosiDrive , which are designed to slip / disengage at a certain torque setting when used with a PosiDrive fastener ) , will do , to a certain extent , but are not ideal ........ JIS drivers will not slip when used with a JIS fastener ....
...... Always enjoy your channel ........ !! ........
I used to have a t140e and regularly used to ride at 90mph for mile after mile
No problems
Hi Paul, any make of Machine can be crap, if it’s badly maintained and abused, or put together badly, I have a 1977 Honda 400F and a 1969 Triumph Daytona, they are as different as chalk and cheese, but both fantastic to ride and reliable, because they’re both well maintained. I couldn’t say which is my favourite , apart from the riding position is better on the Triumph, I can ride it for longer without getting backache. 😂🤣👍
Got a few British bikes. If they are looked after they are good to go. Not fast but pleasant. Never had any problems beside the normal broken cable or puncture. Don't do much mileage now so a yearly oil change is enough.
11:58 thanks for vid, Paul.
re Crosshead casing screws… Are you using JIS screwdrivers/bits? Game changer for me on Japanese bikes.
There are some British motorbikes that are crap but most of them are great and the older ones are bringing a “pretty pence” in auctions excluding the import duties here across the pond….the same can be said for american bikes (when you buy a Harley you need to invest in a good mechanic if you don’t tinker….!),Japanese bikes, etc….I’d love to have a pre ‘70’s Triumph but can’t currently afford it….when I DO get one I’ll have to make sure I ride on the wrong side to make it feel at home….snicker….
Can't talk too much about pre seventies British bikes but i bought a brand new Triumph Bonnieville T120r in 1972 it was a nightmare experience from start until it was stolen two years on,i eventual bought Hondas and discovered true biking.must admit missed the character of all my British,i now ride BMW bikes,have a nice day😍
I ran a '52 AJS engined bitza for ten years as my only transport. Some of the crap bits about it weren't my doing, the engine for instance. Not one of Britain's finest. Weak big end, cast iron flywheels and a tiny timing side crankshaft bush. I prefer overbuilt engines , such as the M21. had three of them, got one now.
i will dobbed check my timing Paul. thanks.
Brill, thoroughly enjoyed your rant,
Thanks!
I've inherited most of a CB500T engine that had a failure 40 years ago. One of the gudgeon pins is stuck in a small end, but the cause of everything going wrong might have been a snapped cam chain. It looks like a very long, relatively thin chain. The engine castings look like they are all good quality and I find the torsion bar valve springs interesting and the crank looks like it should be durable. The earlier CB450 appears to be well liked, but the 70s 500T not so much, as you said.
Wondering if with a bit of adaptation a few more modern parts these engines could be improved. There are people that classic race the CB350 from the same era that has a bit of a family resemblance to the 500.
I have a CB500T of my own, bought in 1983, we have covered 60,000 miles together, although the engine has been apart a few times. I have also owned a few others, but this one has always been the main one and the 'keeper'. I tuned an engine for one in a race bike and it topped 45 bhp @ rear wheel - over a 10 bhp increase. The cam chain is supposedly the same, or very similar to those used in the Kawasaki Z1 etc, so I was once told. Look for Honda CB500T in my videos, if you want to see more!
Had a Triumph speed triple 955 for 20 years. Just sold it. 50,000 mls. A perfect quality bike.
From the 70s to the 80s (give or take) the up and coming generation regarded anything British as crap, the arguments I`ve had over this matter runs into god knows how many, may as well argue with the wall.
I've got a bored and stroked Honda TL250 , 355cc it will make your eyelashes vibrate 🤣 , still a good bike .
British industry used machinery that was worn out making munitions during the war. The country bought munitions from the Americans who made a lot of money out of it. British taxpayers were still paying off the war debt to the Americans until quite recently. Meanwhile at the end of the war, there was the "Marshall plan", for the rebuilding of German industry. So the Germans got new factories and machinery while the British carried on trying to make quality goods on clapped out machinery in an economy that was on it's knees. In 1963 I worked in a factory where none of the machines were made after 1938 except for 3 new German automatic lathes that worked for 16 hours a day every weekday making nuts and or bolts. This is not anti anybody, it's just how it was. The Britsh motorcycle industry made huge quantities of motorcycles for sale to a mostly impoverished world and only the American market yielded a profit. There was no money for the R&D and tooling that was needed to produce anything much better than was made in the 1930s.
So True, when I worked at Hawker Aircraft most of our machines were pre-war but we still turned out damn good aeroplanes.
BSA made plenty of money...none went back into R&D...Bernard & Lady Docker spent it all.
There is also the factor of people comparing a 50/60 year old bike to a bike of today - technology, materials and machining accuracy improve all the time. Put someone who says 'all British bikes are crap' on an early 60s Honda CB72 or similar and I think that they would term it as crap too!!!
Spot on Paul,we'll said..the number of people that spout this shite to me.makes me sick
Another factor might be that the advencing years depletes the number of people skilled in repairing and maintaining British bikes
Hi i got a 1229 aruel 250 lg its never let me down in 16 years the only problem is i needs carburettor buld but i need to know if there is someone who can repair this carburettor great post