nice to meet you. I am Japanese. There is a saying in Japan: "More troublesome the child is, the cuter he is." Old cars, motorcycles, cameras, etc. sometimes take a lot of work or are not in good condition, but there is a loveliness that makes it forgivable.👍
I'm 80 years. I remember when British bikes and cars were rubbished by the very people who made them. Once in a pub I listed to a group merrily decry British Leyland busses. One of the last transport we produced.i was surprised to find in the former empire they were still running , some as old as 30 or more. In my 50s I ran into a former assembly worker at Meridian BSA wearing a Meridian BSA t-shirt. He boasted to me with bless the common practice of stealing down the trousers , sabotaging bikes , sleeping on mattresses on Nightshift. That generation proudly killed off British industry led by their Marxist trade unions they followed sheep like.. He complained of being made redundant ! Now their descendents pay inordinate prices for the British sound of bonny or commando.
I'm Aussie, 72 ( where did it go) British motocycles have been a big part of my life, They do need regular maintainence but when running well they put a smile on my dial. My favorite is my 72 Commando but today I rode my 70 BSA firebird into town today a 40 mile round trip, on the open road it will cruise at 70mph... And it does not leak a drop of oil.
We have a saying at work that they suffer from maintenance! We have Commandos driven all over Europe and the UK, nothing wrong with them just poor maintenance! Well said mate 👍
In my 60s bought new a Kawasaki ER6 which had a fault with cheap wiring harness ( an engineering friend diagnosed the cause) . Three times the harness melted. I discovered this was not uncommon around the world. Here in France they denied any problem and sent me an insulting letter. In the USA owners were compensated.
Well said. You reminded me of something that happened back in the 1970s and before I had ever swung a leg over a bike. A lad I knew told the assembled crowd how his Suzuki 250 had "burnt off" a Norton Commando that he encountered at some traffic lights. I asked him whether it was possible that the Norton rider wasn't trying to race against him and was subjected to ridicule from everyone present who owned a Japanese bike. On another occasion, the same lad also described how he was riding in 4th gear (on a different bike, I think) at about 30mph and wanted to overtake something and he "shoved it straight into 6th and roared away". At that point, I think we all realised he hadn't a clue. They say an empty pitcher makes the most noise. Anyway, your A65 is in excellent fettle now.
"British bikes are only as good as the people who spanner them"... That hit home fairly hard (red face), but it's so true. Probably true of any classic, really.
I remember back in the late fifties & sixties , lots of riders then were ordinary working class on not so good wages . Back then a lot of Brit bikes were old used bikes from the 1930’s & 40 ‘s ex military & all kinds of machines . They kept them running with any parts that would fit ,gaskets cut from Rice Krispie packets ,used everyday in all weathers snow ice ,the lot . There were also the boy racer ton up boys ,ragging the hell out of their adapted cafe racer bikes ,so not surprising some of the old Brit bikes ,tended to be prone to issues & needed more attention to keep them running & leaked oil . One thing they all tended to have in common,was they could be rebuilt & kept running as their seemed to be an abundance of spare parts or parts that could be adapted to fit .The proof of this is still with us ,today as many of these bikes are still running today . 👍
@@thra5herxb12s If it does the job ,I have used the cardboard from a cereal box ,smeared with a light coating of grease before today . When your desperate on a Sunday evening needs must for work the next day . 👍
I've drilled out the rivets on the brake linings of a mark 2 Ford zephyr. Cut them down, arraldited the to my 3ta shoes,wired them tight, baked them in the oven. Surform to the leading edge and bobs yr uncle. Worked fine
In 2011 I bought a 2007 350 Bullet the last of the pre-units,I've still got it,still love it. I know it's built in India,but it is a British design,I've ridden it down the Rhein and Mosel valleys. I live in Central Scotland. Like Paul said,it's down to owners.
Thanks for your A65 videos, like always. Didn't want to take a part in you rantings, but remembered suddenly what comments about unreliability of British bikes make me smile - comments about Lucas being a "king of darkness" and it's products being "absolute crap". Personally I am in awe of Lucas motorcycle looms still working in my British bikes after 50 years of hard life and constant neglect, old generators and alternators working still when even buildings they were made in are not existing today. Nobody even imagined those product would exist and work 50 - 70 years after they were made. So very much not a crap after all.
My crappy 1955 Ariel 500 single starts first kick every time, depending on how many people are looking of course, and does close on 90mph or 90mpg when I want it to, ,and the lights work as well. Just about the same as a Yamaha XT 500, but with more style and fewer revs. I also covered about 12.000 miles on it last year as well, but it's not about how fast you get to the cafe, but what you eat when you get there.😁
I was the owner of a 1961 RE 350 Bullet, was that ever a crap bike. Tens of thousands of miles done, never took more than 2 kicks to start it, and apart from adjusting the chain tensions I only ever got the spanners to it once, out of boredom. I also had a Honda 400/4, which was faster than the Enfield, but you had to work all the time to ride it, wrestling it around corners and always changing gear to keep the engine on the boil. The Honda had almost double the horsepower of the Enfield, but used three times more fuel.
I am 76 years old and have ridden bikes from the age of 13. As luck would have it my mustering in the army was dispatch rider and I spent 6 months riding Triumph Ariel and BSA and except for a snapped clutch cable never had a problem. In 1969 I bought a Honda CB 750 , the original sand caste block and found myself in a different world .at the age of 21 and full of bravado I thrashed that bike for over 60k Kms and besides servicing and the dreaded 4 into 1 throttle cable sticking it never missed a beat. I now own a 74 CB 750 and 2 CBX 1000 6 cylinder bikes all of which in perfect condition. My point is that all bikes can be fun and each to his own. Stay safe
Last month I travelled over 1625 miles on my A65 in 11 days, averaging about 150 miles a day. The only two issues I had were, 1, the ring that holds the ignition switch in place rattled loose and the switch touched the frame and blew the fuse. no problem, fitted a new swtich. second problem was the result of poor wiring by the dealer that I bought my bike from. Poor wire quality meant the only wire I didn't replace myself, broke down. Again, no problem I had some wire and terminals *just in case*. Nothing was actually caused by the bike itself, which ran exceptionally well the entire time.
My crappy British 1967 British BSA thunderbolt, started the other day, on the second kick, after about a 4 months lay over. perhaps because it has electronic ignition, but for what ever reason, it starts almost 2nd kick every time. At the 'All British Bike Rally' here in Southern Australia the British bikes come from all over the place. Some travel thousands of km, to get there. British bikes were often crap at the point of coming off the production line, but since then and with modern technology and experts to fettle them, they are as good as they should have been when they were produced, but were not.
Nice one Paul, I had a 1970 Bonnie and I rode that everywhere, great bike, leaked a bit, but never let me down, I think it was 1980 I rode from Leicester to Heysham, and got the Ferry to the TT races in the I.O.M. complete with all the camping gear and tent etc. During those two weeks rode it around the island, including thrashing it around the circuit on mad Sunday twice. I met some great people on all sorts of bikes, loads of British bikes, and made it back home in one piece, I wish I still had that bike, but life got in the way, yes, no problem with that Triumph twin at all, so certainly not a crap bike by any means, cheers, Dave
Paul,please ignore these people you are a very successful and hard working engineer.This person probably hasn’t struck a serious blow in his life .Keep up the good work.
British bikes from the `fifties and `sixties are not crap .... However , there are a couple of factors to be borne in mind ...... Before the arrival of the cheap family car in the 1950`s , Working Man`s main method of transport , if he could afford it , was a motorcycle , either solo , or with a sidecar attached ...... These pushrod singles and twins had to start and get him to work on a rainy , or frosty Monday morning , as well as provide weekend and holiday transport for the family , with the wife and kids stuffed into the sidecar .......... Working man would demand and expect nothing less from these machines ........ The fact he was more mechanically adept than the current breed of keyboard tappers , meant he could maintain his steed , which would then repay him with reliable and dependable service ..... However , this happy state of affairs for the motorcycle factories came to an end with the arrival of the cheap family car ...... Who would want to get cold and wet travelling to work on a motorbike , when you and your family could travel around in a dry , warm car ? ...... It should be born in mind at this point that the prime reason for the motorcycle factories existence was to make money ....... motorcycles were merely the means to achieve this ...... So when the home market collapsed , they had to look around for fresh avenues to explore .... Nowadays , the biggest bike market is Asia , and the Far East , but back then it was the USA ....... There was a massive post war market there for motorcycles as leisure vehicles , especially over on the West Coast , so this where the bike factories now directed their energies ..... Lightweight and stripped down versions of the pushrod singles and twins could now be exported and sold to the Americans . Around this time , Edward Turner visited Japan , and was flabbergasted by what he found there ....... His report back to the BSA board should have been enough warning about what was about to unfold , but they chose to ignore it , also dismissing Bert Hopwood`s plan for a new range of modular friendly bikes ....... Why ? ........ Because " The twins are still selling in America * ...... In other words ..... Were are still making money , so why waste profits , and shareholder dividends , investing in a new range of bikes when there is no need ........ The Japanese will probably just stick to making small bikes ... nothing to worry about ....... So in the `sixties we end up with the likes of the Lightning , Hornet , and Bonneville ...... pepped up and overstretched versions of those original dependable workaday motorcycles ... mass produced down to a price ( this is all about profit , remember ) , on increasingly worn out machine tools , by an increasingly disillusioned workforce , who were becoming only too aware of what lay just around the corner , even if the management chose to ignore it .... Despite his visit to Japan , Edward Turner also seemed to have a blind spot regarding all of this ......... He was unhappy about the introduction of the Bonneville to the range ... ( He thought a pepped up version of his already enlarged pushrod twin would lead to increased warranty claims ..... It`s all about the profits , afterall ) ......... and described the decision to put Doug Hele`s T150 Trident into production as " potty " ...... ( No pun intended ... ) ....... In hindsight , it just makes you wonder what talented development and design engineers like Hopwood and Hele could have achieved , had they been employed by the forward looking Japanese , instead of the mean minded , penny pinching , profit above all else , concern that BSA- Triumph had become ......
Oddly enough. Your channel has featured on my latest video as one of my “go to” channels for its entertainment value! This was uploaded just before this latest set a videos you have just done. But this week’s videos from you illustrate perfectly well why I keep recommending you to my subscribers! I had even mentioned “Paul’s Rants” as an extra special feature! Keep on doing what you are doing, because it’s the real deal!😊
You ought to ignore these stupid people. It’s like saying all welsh people are crap, or whatever. Ridiculous. When i was growing up, several of my uncles had motorbikes. Norton commando, bsa golden flash & triumph bonneville were almost daily visitors to my home. They were marvellous machines, full of character & individualism. They were getting their bikes from a company in llawhaden near clynderwen in west wales. The problems arising with older bikes is simple, peoples bodgery in maintaining & servicing them!. When manufactured they were fine, then people with only a limited knowledge ruining the bikes by bodgering. You must see a fair number of bikes having been bodged about with. I think that things are getting worse due to the chinese selling substandard parts etc. Keep up the good work. Your vids appear to a lot of appreciative people. For me, it’s refreshing to see & hear someone who knows his stuff telling it as it really is. No bloody nonsensical waffling, silliness or being politically bloody correct. If someone dislikes you or your vids, then effing move on to another bloody channel. Bloody trolls are everywhere see!.
I got fed up with my Commando so raced up to Bowens after work and rode a T150v home! Now have another Roadster! Both more reliable than the T250j i had.
G'day Paul, thanks for standing up too the mockers who delight in seeing your reaction, faceless weak individuals that need to get a life and learn too stop watching if the don't like it, cheers mate, Neil 🤠.
I agree that it’s all about how the bikes are maintained. My DBD34 Goldie recently took me on an 800mile rally trip without missing a beat! Don’t let them trigger you, Paul!
I have both modern and older bikes (just got a new Norton 961 - not sure how its going to go!) I think my absolute favourite is my 1976 Triumph tiger. Starts every time, handles beautifully, wonderfully nippy, never let me down (superbly put together by friend Dave and carefully maintained by me). does everything I want from a motorcycle and gives me enormous pleasure. can't really ask for more?
Criticism of anything is a sign of envy and jealousy ,envious and jealous of us with good mechanical skills and understanding only the knobs criticise.ignore them , they really hate that.😎😎,great work keep it up .👍
Playing....two strokes rule. Only 5 moving parts in the engine. I'm smocked up cleaning pistons, playing mix 'n match with the rings. "Married" four STD setups so far. Tuning up the one way reeds too. Just mostly cleaning the reeds and blocks. Throwing on a fresh top end on my '76 RD400C perhaps today if I can hone, sand, paint and install. Prepping an R5 engine as well. Bought that one way back in '77! I guess pushrod Brit Bikes are easier to deal with than complicated overhead cams and dreaded cam chains. Just as well, two strokes rule when it comes to hobbyist maintenance. I paid $800 for my '79 Daytona RD400....take a look at the completed sales prices on Bring a Trailer....avg $15,000. Brit bikes prices are collapsing.
Some people must just love going through life being right shithouses there's just no Need for negative nasty comments your a honest hardworking bloke who knows his stuff on majority of motorbikes especially british classic bikes you rebuild them you people are as rare as hens teeth im glad I've got a chap same as you near me in stoke keep doing your thing paul top notch 👍
A friend at Uni (over 50 years ago) had a Bridgestone 350, which could leave the rest of us, with our BSAs and Triumphs, standing. He could only get 20-25 mpg though
well Kinda, The basic "design" is ok They didn't have combustion chamber designs etc The problems stem from " built to a cost " ( switch gear for example ) and materials available at the time etc ON saying all of that; My old Enfield has points, modern wiring EVEN the old original Enfiel regulator rectifier and alternator ( WHICH has been built to a price and could do with a "better one " ( but it does the job) The front wheel "could " be a bit better as it has twin leading set up correctly but the "could " be a bit better ( design and materials ) But after all of that Ive had the bike for 25 years and will still have it in 25 years . costs me nothing to run, maintenance is cheap ( 1 litre of oil , new points and oil filter 20 pound tops ) oh and it does zero to 60 in ,,,,,, well it sounds good anyway!
I get Classic Bike magazine has a picture of a Norton Nomad thay autioned off for $13,500. Expensive crap eh? My Triumphs TR-6 was 20 years old when I got her and now I have had her for 40 years. I guess I just like crappy British motorcycles. I learned so much from your videos. Carry on. Hello from sunny 😎☀️ Florida, USA.
Well done Paul, glad you had a good ride, As you say, there are bad Japanese bikes,and bad British bikes, mostly Well second hand,been looked after by bodgers Keep up the good work
In 1973 I rode a 1969 ex police Triumph trophy from Sydney Australia to Cairns North Queensland and back with only one trouble and that was the horns came loose and jammed the front wheel. A distance of about from memory of 5000 miles so nothing wrong with British bikes and that highway then was in poor condition.
I’ve owned British, Japanese and German bikes of all toys and sizes over the years and enjoyed them all. However it’s a bit like comparing apples to oranges, they all have their different characteristics and foibles. All I can say is I spent more time in the shed maintaining the Brit bikes than the others, hardly ever needed to lay a spanner on the Beemer other than change the oil, and the Honda, which I still have, is probably a bit too exiting for me now at my age.
Like all old bikes Paul, They are usually only as good as the last bloke that worked on them and I have seen bodgery at it's finest on many Brit bikes! If they "Are all crap" they wouldn't have sold in the first place! It's what happens to them after many owners have had their fingers inside them.
My 1969 A65 had a quick detachable rear wheel where the brake drum and sprocket stayed on the swinging arm and the wheel hub was splined to it. Is that common on BSA's?
I remember the older Star Twins with plunger rear ends had that arrangement. It mean chain tension could be retained while the wheel could be removed IIRC. I didn't know any of the newer models had it but I stand to be corrected.
There are plenty of non-British bikes that are just as unreliable as British bikes are wrongly accused of being.. I wanted a 'more modern' bike for a daily-rider and I gravitated towards a BMW.. I found a very low mileage '96 R850R which had been on SORN for several years due to the advancing age and infirmity of it's owner (sadly a common 'thing' nowadays..) It pulls like a train but there has been a constant stream of small problems (and two more major ones) I've had a lot of bikes in my time - mainly British - but I've honestly NEVER known a bike be so much grief, there's always something that needs expensive parts throwing at it (BMW = expensive !..) Even now it is sat at the back of my garage in disgrace waiting for me to fit a new fuel pump !..
Such violence dude, my heart was racing listening to this lol. Anyway, each to their own when it comes to their choice of bikes. I wouldn't ride one of those, personally, because I don't know anything about them and I think you have to have some mechanical affinity for whatever you're riding, if you ride vintage bikes.
With proper regular maintenance British bikes are fine. The reputation for unreliability stems from young lads in the '60's thrashing them till they break and then not having the skills to repair them properly. Simply bodging them back together. If Brit bikes are crap - why are they increasing in value every year? As an example of what idiots used to run Brit bikes, a friend of mine spent two days trying to make a Royal Enfield gearbox change one down four up (yes five speed). Only later did he realise it should be one up four down - it worked alot better that way!
If i had filmed the event at the time, I'd have a bit of footage of me not making it home on My "crap" japanese bikes as well, usually due to a puncture or accident. The point is, I've had very few moments that they've let me down. All bikes are crap when they're not maintained to the standard they are supposed to be kept to and particularly when an amature "tuner" has got hold of it to "improve" the performance without the knowledge or proper tools to do a decent job. Most of my bikes, and I've had a few, have been japanese apart from an MZ ETZ250 and my current Triumph sprint but don't hold it against me. Its just my personal preference and not to say they've been without character either because they've all had different characteristics and their own individual personalities, Just like the old british bikes! It appears there are Luddites on both sides of the British/Japanese divide and its human nature to gravitate toward one "tribe" or another, it doesnt make either side right or wrong, its just what we do. So pick a side and raise your flag!
An excerpt from the description of this video: Footnote: The owner of the LC never did accept my challenge, but, as I intended to mention in the video but somehow forgot, we were riding to work one day a little later on, he on the LC, me on my T250 Hustler and perhaps I got lucky with some overtakes etc, but arriving at work some 25 miles or so from where we set out together, I had just removed my helmet and lit up a cigarette, when he arrived rather red faced!
My main Grip about your videos is that your Microphone is absolute rubbish. I have to set my speakers at 100% (every other channel i watch is at 35-40) and have the captions on as well 😄😄😃
The people who OWN or have previously OWNED a British Bike should only have the right to criticise them don't you think ? For someone who has only heard how crap they are or read how crap they are have No Right. Yes i own one and when it won't go it's a pile of crap. It's a 1968 G2 Bullet which was thrown together in India no doubt. It looked ok on the surface when i bought it but i realised how much of a pile of crap it was until i rebuilt it. I have earned the right to call it crap but it's £2000 worth of crap.
Bodgery and poor maintenance has definitely bolstered the belief that British bikes are crap, but they don't have to be unreliable and they don't have to leak oil (unless you're going back to vintage and veteran times with open valve gear and total loss lubrication !..) Too many people swallow every tiny foible that motorcycle journalists think they've spotted on road tests and 'chinese whispers' can quickly magnify these opinions into serious 'cast-in-stone' faults in people's minds.. For example,. Commandos aren't at all 'bendy' if the Isolastics are set up properly and power is kept on while cornering.. and oil-in-frame Triumphs and BSAs aren't 'too tall' to sit on (whoever claimed that should try to climb aboard a modern adventure bike !..)
Well, as I’ve said in past, I’m looking forward to owning one of those older crappy British bikes in future when I can afford it over here across the pond….be assured I won’t be riding it on the wrong side….I just hope it can get used to that without too much mechanical problem….lol
Hey Paul I know what’s wrong with it! I don’t own it! Love the look of those old beesas had a couple but they’ll never beat my old triumph T100, just because…. 😂
It all comes down to: "so the whole point of this is yes, British bikes can be trouble, but usually it's not their fault, it's something someone's done or a component that's got tired something like that and probably the same is true of Japanese machines". This regularity applies to all vehicle brands after a certain mileage and/or inappropriate maintenance and operation. Some people compare apples to oranges and see nothing wrong with it.
I saw saw something in print a while back regarding stopping the use of motor bikes over 15 years old!. Now i see that the bloke on “songs from the saddle” has picked up on it. It appears that it’s the eu are making plans to remove classic bikes from public use when they are over 15 years old. What a carry on, eh!. Snce we have stll not actually left the eu in truth, it will certainly come over here. The official thumb seems to be growing every day now, and pressing down on us ever harder. I fully realise that this matter is outside the topic talked about in this vid. But the enthusiasts out there could look firther into this to find out more specific details. If this law made into the statute books, it would affect your business, and others of course.
I know you are preaching to the choir (a bit) on this subject, for the type of person that is likely to avidly watch your vids. So I'm reluctant to say "Well said ". But, "Well said Paul!" The up side is, if more people believe that 50 year old, non Japanese bikes are "crap". Then that'll keep the prices down for those that want them. I'm going out to buy some Old Holborn. Yeah Sunak. You can have a suck on that when I've rolled one.
That one bloke just inspired me to set the record straight regarding this myth. Sadly, there are a lot of his kind about - misinformed stirrers where British bikes are concerned, and if a lie is repeated often enough, some begin to believe it is the truth. Just doing my bit to dispel such nonsense.
I enjoy your videos but you are ranting a lot these days. Hope you’re not losing the plot. Best to ignore these trolls and continue to work on these bikes!
I say this respectfully and with the very best of intentions, Paul. It seems to me the keyboard warrior has won on this one. Just look at the amount of time and publicity you've given him. He's in your head and controlling your thoughts, and you allow it. Just think of how much more enjoyable that 4-video ride would have been if you hadn't been fighting this mental battle across every mile. Free yourself.
Sorry Kevin, thanks for your thoughts, but you have got me all wrong. I knew how I would respond to his kind of remarks before he even made them, and he has only helped to boost my viewing figures and the popularity of my videos by doing so. Based on that, I would say if anyone 'won', I did ...
Not crap. They are" of their day". Perhaps they were hindered by the lower standard of technology available then. I think accountants strangled inovation and higher management were complacent and blinkered. I would love to own a Commando. Yes ive heard the horror stories but if its put together and ridden with mechanical sympathy im sure it would be fine. My brits have been bsa bantam, bsa B40 and triumph 3TA. They look great,they sound fantastic. Just remember thy are over half a century behind in design and build. Gotta go,bidding on a black and gold 850 commando
nice to meet you.
I am Japanese.
There is a saying in Japan: "More troublesome the child is, the cuter he is."
Old cars, motorcycles, cameras, etc. sometimes take a lot of work or are not in good condition, but there is a loveliness that makes it forgivable.👍
I'm 80 years. I remember when British bikes and cars were rubbished by the very people who made them. Once in a pub I listed to a group merrily decry British Leyland busses. One of the last transport we produced.i was surprised to find in the former empire they were still running , some as old as 30 or more. In my 50s I ran into a former assembly worker at Meridian BSA wearing a Meridian BSA t-shirt. He boasted to me with bless the common practice of stealing down the trousers , sabotaging bikes , sleeping on mattresses on Nightshift. That generation proudly killed off British industry led by their Marxist trade unions they followed sheep like.. He complained of being made redundant ! Now their descendents pay inordinate prices for the British sound of bonny or commando.
I'm Aussie, 72 ( where did it go) British motocycles have been a big part of my life, They do need regular maintainence but when running well they put a smile on my dial. My favorite is my 72 Commando but today I rode my 70 BSA firebird into town today a 40 mile round trip, on the open road it will cruise at 70mph... And it does not leak a drop of oil.
We have a saying at work that they suffer from maintenance! We have Commandos driven all over Europe and the UK, nothing wrong with them just poor maintenance! Well said mate 👍
In my 60s bought new a Kawasaki ER6 which had a fault with cheap wiring harness ( an engineering friend diagnosed the cause) . Three times the harness melted. I discovered this was not uncommon around the world. Here in France they denied any problem and sent me an insulting letter. In the USA owners were compensated.
Well said. You reminded me of something that happened back in the 1970s and before I had ever swung a leg over a bike. A lad I knew told the assembled crowd how his Suzuki 250 had "burnt off" a Norton Commando that he encountered at some traffic lights. I asked him whether it was possible that the Norton rider wasn't trying to race against him and was subjected to ridicule from everyone present who owned a Japanese bike. On another occasion, the same lad also described how he was riding in 4th gear (on a different bike, I think) at about 30mph and wanted to overtake something and he "shoved it straight into 6th and roared away". At that point, I think we all realised he hadn't a clue. They say an empty pitcher makes the most noise. Anyway, your A65 is in excellent fettle now.
Paul you’re alright! A true biker! Thanks for keeping it real!👍
Happy with every British bike I’ve owned
"British bikes are only as good as the people who spanner them"... That hit home fairly hard (red face), but it's so true. Probably true of any classic, really.
I remember back in the late fifties & sixties , lots of riders then were ordinary working class on not so good wages . Back then a lot of Brit bikes were old used bikes from the 1930’s & 40 ‘s ex military & all kinds of machines . They kept them running with any parts that would fit ,gaskets cut from Rice Krispie packets ,used everyday in all weathers snow ice ,the lot . There were also the boy racer ton up boys ,ragging the hell out of their adapted cafe racer bikes ,so not surprising some of the old Brit bikes ,tended to be prone to issues & needed more attention to keep them running & leaked oil . One thing they all tended to have in common,was they could be rebuilt & kept running as their seemed to be an abundance of spare parts or parts that could be adapted to fit .The proof of this is still with us ,today as many of these bikes are still running today . 👍
I used to pop down the phone box and borrow the back page off the Yellow Pages if I needed a gasket. 😁
@@thra5herxb12s If it does the job ,I have used the cardboard from a cereal box ,smeared with a light coating of grease before today . When your desperate on a Sunday evening needs must for work the next day . 👍
I've drilled out the rivets on the brake linings of a mark 2 Ford zephyr. Cut them down, arraldited the to my 3ta shoes,wired them tight, baked them in the oven. Surform to the leading edge and bobs yr uncle. Worked fine
In 2011 I bought a 2007 350 Bullet the last of the pre-units,I've still got it,still love it.
I know it's built in India,but it is a British design,I've ridden it down the Rhein and Mosel valleys.
I live in Central Scotland.
Like Paul said,it's down to owners.
Thanks for your A65 videos, like always. Didn't want to take a part in you rantings, but remembered suddenly what comments about unreliability of British bikes make me smile - comments about Lucas being a "king of darkness" and it's products being "absolute crap". Personally I am in awe of Lucas motorcycle looms still working in my British bikes after 50 years of hard life and constant neglect, old generators and alternators working still when even buildings they were made in are not existing today. Nobody even imagined those product would exist and work 50 - 70 years after they were made. So very much not a crap after all.
Sunday morning I have a crumpet ,a cup of coffee and a rant to listen to. Perfect!.
My crappy 1955 Ariel 500 single starts first kick every time, depending on how many people are looking of course, and does close on 90mph or 90mpg when I want it to, ,and the lights work as well. Just about the same as a Yamaha XT 500, but with more style and fewer revs. I also covered about 12.000 miles on it last year as well, but it's not about how fast you get to the cafe, but what you eat when you get there.😁
Well used mate. Top marks. Use my 61 Landy everyday. 8 k per year. Best thing for them.
I was the owner of a 1961 RE 350 Bullet, was that ever a crap bike.
Tens of thousands of miles done, never took more than 2 kicks to start it, and apart from adjusting the chain tensions I only ever got the spanners to it once, out of boredom.
I also had a Honda 400/4, which was faster than the Enfield, but you had to work all the time to ride it, wrestling it around corners and always changing gear to keep the engine on the boil.
The Honda had almost double the horsepower of the Enfield, but used three times more fuel.
I am 76 years old and have ridden bikes from the age of 13. As luck would have it my mustering in the army was dispatch rider and I spent 6 months riding Triumph Ariel and BSA and except for a snapped clutch cable never had a problem. In 1969 I bought a Honda CB 750 , the original sand caste block and found myself in a different world .at the age of 21 and full of bravado I thrashed that bike for over 60k Kms and besides servicing and the dreaded 4 into 1 throttle cable sticking it never missed a beat. I now own a 74 CB 750 and 2 CBX 1000 6 cylinder bikes all of which in perfect condition. My point is that all bikes can be fun and each to his own. Stay safe
Nowt like a ranty old Welshman. Well done Paul 😊
It’s all down to one man’s treasure is another man’s junk. You’re happy with your bike then that’s all that matters.
Last month I travelled over 1625 miles on my A65 in 11 days, averaging about 150 miles a day. The only two issues I had were, 1, the ring that holds the ignition switch in place rattled loose and the switch touched the frame and blew the fuse. no problem, fitted a new swtich. second problem was the result of poor wiring by the dealer that I bought my bike from. Poor wire quality meant the only wire I didn't replace myself, broke down. Again, no problem I had some wire and terminals *just in case*. Nothing was actually caused by the bike itself, which ran exceptionally well the entire time.
My crappy British 1967 British BSA thunderbolt, started the other day, on the second kick, after about a 4 months lay over. perhaps because it has electronic ignition, but for what ever reason, it starts almost 2nd kick every time.
At the 'All British Bike Rally' here in Southern Australia the British bikes come from all over the place. Some travel thousands of km, to get there.
British bikes were often crap at the point of coming off the production line, but since then and with modern technology and experts to fettle them, they are as good as they should have been when they were produced, but were not.
A guy called Ted Simon wrote a book called Jupiters Travels, it was about him travelling around the world on a Triumph 500. great book.
Learned to love the British bikes. Wished I had grabbed some back when I was younger.
See John Young Iron-Butt, 11,000 miles in 11 days on a T150 Trident.
Nice one Paul, I had a 1970 Bonnie and I rode that everywhere, great bike, leaked a bit, but never let me down, I think it was 1980 I rode from Leicester to Heysham, and got the Ferry to the TT races in the I.O.M. complete with all the camping gear and tent etc. During those two weeks rode it around the island, including thrashing it around the circuit on mad Sunday twice. I met some great people on all sorts of bikes, loads of British bikes, and made it back home in one piece, I wish I still had that bike, but life got in the way, yes, no problem with that Triumph twin at all, so certainly not a crap bike by any means, cheers, Dave
Paul,please ignore these people you are a very successful and hard working engineer.This person probably hasn’t struck a serious blow in his life .Keep up the good work.
British bikes from the `fifties and `sixties are not crap .... However , there are a couple of factors to be borne in mind ......
Before the arrival of the cheap family car in the 1950`s , Working Man`s main method of transport , if he could afford it , was a motorcycle , either solo , or with a sidecar attached ......
These pushrod singles and twins had to start and get him to work on a rainy , or frosty Monday morning , as well as provide weekend and holiday transport for the family , with the wife and kids stuffed into the sidecar .......... Working man would demand and expect nothing less from these machines ........ The fact he was more mechanically adept than the current breed of keyboard tappers , meant he could maintain his steed , which would then repay him with reliable and dependable service .....
However , this happy state of affairs for the motorcycle factories came to an end with the arrival of the cheap family car ...... Who would want to get cold and wet travelling to work on a motorbike , when you and your family could travel around in a dry , warm car ? ......
It should be born in mind at this point that the prime reason for the motorcycle factories existence was to make money ....... motorcycles were merely the means to achieve this ......
So when the home market collapsed , they had to look around for fresh avenues to explore ....
Nowadays , the biggest bike market is Asia , and the Far East , but back then it was the USA ....... There was a massive post war market there for motorcycles as leisure vehicles , especially over on the West Coast , so this where the bike factories now directed their energies .....
Lightweight and stripped down versions of the pushrod singles and twins could now be exported and sold to the Americans .
Around this time , Edward Turner visited Japan , and was flabbergasted by what he found there ....... His report back to the BSA board should have been enough warning about what was about to unfold , but they chose to ignore it , also dismissing Bert Hopwood`s plan for a new range of modular friendly bikes ....... Why ? ........ Because " The twins are still selling in America * ...... In other words ..... Were are still making money , so why waste profits , and shareholder dividends , investing in a new range of bikes when there is no need ........ The Japanese will probably just stick to making small bikes ... nothing to worry about .......
So in the `sixties we end up with the likes of the Lightning , Hornet , and Bonneville ...... pepped up and overstretched versions of those original dependable workaday motorcycles ... mass produced down to a price ( this is all about profit , remember ) , on increasingly worn out machine tools , by an increasingly disillusioned workforce , who were becoming only too aware of what lay just around the corner , even if the management chose to ignore it ....
Despite his visit to Japan , Edward Turner also seemed to have a blind spot regarding all of this ......... He was unhappy about the introduction of the Bonneville to the range ... ( He thought a pepped up version of his already enlarged pushrod twin would lead to increased warranty claims ..... It`s all about the profits , afterall ) ......... and described the decision to put Doug Hele`s T150 Trident into production as " potty " ...... ( No pun intended ... ) .......
In hindsight , it just makes you wonder what talented development and design engineers like Hopwood and Hele could have achieved , had they been employed by the forward looking Japanese , instead of the mean minded , penny pinching , profit above all else , concern that BSA- Triumph had become ......
Keep buggering on Paul 💪🇬🇧 And it's good to keep in mind: opinions are like assholes - everybody has one.
Oddly enough. Your channel has featured on my latest video as one of my “go to” channels for its entertainment value! This was uploaded just before this latest set a videos you have just done. But this week’s videos from you illustrate perfectly well why I keep recommending you to my subscribers! I had even mentioned “Paul’s Rants” as an extra special feature! Keep on doing what you are doing, because it’s the real deal!😊
You ought to ignore these stupid people. It’s like saying all welsh people are crap, or whatever. Ridiculous. When i was growing up, several of my uncles had motorbikes. Norton commando, bsa golden flash & triumph bonneville were almost daily visitors to my home. They were marvellous machines, full of character & individualism. They were getting their bikes from a company in llawhaden near clynderwen in west wales.
The problems arising with older bikes is simple, peoples bodgery in maintaining & servicing them!. When manufactured they were fine, then people with only a limited knowledge ruining the bikes by bodgering. You must see a fair number of bikes having been bodged about with. I think that things are getting worse due to the chinese selling substandard parts etc.
Keep up the good work. Your vids appear to a lot of appreciative people. For me, it’s refreshing to see & hear someone who knows his stuff telling it as it really is. No bloody nonsensical waffling, silliness or being politically bloody correct. If someone dislikes you or your vids, then effing move on to another bloody channel. Bloody trolls are everywhere see!.
I got fed up with my Commando so raced up to Bowens after work and rode a T150v home! Now have another Roadster! Both more reliable than the T250j i had.
G'day Paul, thanks for standing up too the mockers who delight in seeing your reaction, faceless weak individuals that need to get a life and learn too stop watching if the don't like it, cheers mate, Neil 🤠.
Paul, keep repairing and riding old bikes in the Welsh countryside and just ignore the critics. 👍👍
I agree that it’s all about how the bikes are maintained. My DBD34 Goldie recently took me on an 800mile rally trip without missing a beat! Don’t let them trigger you, Paul!
I have both modern and older bikes (just got a new Norton 961 - not sure how its going to go!) I think my absolute favourite is my 1976 Triumph tiger. Starts every time, handles beautifully, wonderfully nippy, never let me down (superbly put together by friend Dave and carefully maintained by me). does everything I want from a motorcycle and gives me enormous pleasure. can't really ask for more?
Criticism of anything is a sign of envy and jealousy ,envious and jealous of us with good mechanical skills and understanding only the knobs criticise.ignore them , they really hate that.😎😎,great work keep it up .👍
Playing....two strokes rule. Only 5 moving parts in the engine. I'm smocked up cleaning pistons, playing mix 'n match with the rings. "Married" four STD setups so far.
Tuning up the one way reeds too. Just mostly cleaning the reeds and blocks.
Throwing on a fresh top end on my '76 RD400C perhaps today if I can hone, sand, paint and install.
Prepping an R5 engine as well. Bought that one way back in '77!
I guess pushrod Brit Bikes are easier to deal with than complicated overhead cams and dreaded cam chains.
Just as well, two strokes rule when it comes to hobbyist maintenance.
I paid $800 for my '79 Daytona RD400....take a look at the completed sales prices on Bring a Trailer....avg $15,000. Brit bikes prices are collapsing.
Some people must just love going through life being right shithouses there's just no Need for negative nasty comments your a honest hardworking bloke who knows his stuff on majority of motorbikes especially british classic bikes you rebuild them you people are as rare as hens teeth im glad I've got a chap same as you near me in stoke keep doing your thing paul top notch 👍
Well said. Thanks !
A friend at Uni (over 50 years ago) had a Bridgestone 350, which could leave the rest of us, with our BSAs and Triumphs, standing. He could only get 20-25 mpg though
well Kinda, The basic "design" is ok They didn't have combustion chamber designs etc The problems stem from " built to a cost " ( switch gear for example ) and materials available at the time etc ON saying all of that; My old Enfield has points, modern wiring EVEN the old original Enfiel regulator rectifier and alternator ( WHICH has been built to a price and could do with a "better one " ( but it does the job) The front wheel "could " be a bit better as it has twin leading set up correctly but the "could " be a bit better ( design and materials ) But after all of that Ive had the bike for 25 years and will still have it in 25 years . costs me nothing to run, maintenance is cheap ( 1 litre of oil , new points and oil filter 20 pound tops ) oh and it does zero to 60 in ,,,,,, well it sounds good anyway!
I get Classic Bike magazine has a picture of a Norton Nomad thay autioned off for $13,500. Expensive crap eh? My Triumphs TR-6 was 20 years old when I got her and now I have had her for 40 years. I guess I just like crappy British motorcycles. I learned so much from your videos. Carry on. Hello from sunny 😎☀️ Florida, USA.
Well done Paul, glad you had a good ride,
As you say, there are bad Japanese bikes,and bad British bikes, mostly Well second hand,been looked after by bodgers
Keep up the good work
That's a lovely old BSA and I'd be very happy to have it in my garage! Keep up the good work and try not to rise to the bait of critics.
In 1973 I rode a 1969 ex police Triumph trophy from Sydney Australia to Cairns North Queensland and back with only one trouble and that was the horns came loose and jammed the front wheel.
A distance of about from memory of 5000 miles so nothing wrong with British bikes and that highway then was in poor condition.
Beautiful bike.Put on the missing crome piece on the saddle and it will be evev nicer.People call it
Crap = Jealousy
I’ve owned British, Japanese and German bikes of all toys and sizes over the years and enjoyed them all. However it’s a bit like comparing apples to oranges, they all have their different characteristics and foibles. All I can say is I spent more time in the shed maintaining the Brit bikes than the others, hardly ever needed to lay a spanner on the Beemer other than change the oil, and the Honda, which I still have, is probably a bit too exiting for me now at my age.
Like all old bikes Paul, They are usually only as good as the last bloke that worked on them and I have seen bodgery at it's finest on many Brit bikes! If they "Are all crap" they wouldn't have sold in the first place! It's what happens to them after many owners have had their fingers inside them.
My 1969 A65 had a quick detachable rear wheel where the brake drum and sprocket stayed on the swinging arm and the wheel hub was splined to it. Is that common on BSA's?
I remember the older Star Twins with plunger rear ends had that arrangement. It mean chain tension could be retained while the wheel could be removed IIRC. I didn't know any of the newer models had it but I stand to be corrected.
@@peter7624 Mine was an American model 650 Firebird Scrambler with upswept exhaust.
Yes it was its future until 1970, 71 had a conical rear wheel which lost this possibility.
Bikes are like wives. You look after them, and they'll look after you.
Well, mostly. 😉
There are plenty of non-British bikes that are just as unreliable as British bikes are wrongly accused of being.. I wanted a 'more modern' bike for a daily-rider and I gravitated towards a BMW.. I found a very low mileage '96 R850R which had been on SORN for several years due to the advancing age and infirmity of it's owner (sadly a common 'thing' nowadays..) It pulls like a train but there has been a constant stream of small problems (and two more major ones) I've had a lot of bikes in my time - mainly British - but I've honestly NEVER known a bike be so much grief, there's always something that needs expensive parts throwing at it (BMW = expensive !..) Even now it is sat at the back of my garage in disgrace waiting for me to fit a new fuel pump !..
@@pw601 You'd me much more satisfied with the old K75, which I use. No problems other than consumables if you maintain it.
Still laughing at the bag of nails video 😂
Great stuff, thanks!
Such violence dude, my heart was racing listening to this lol. Anyway, each to their own when it comes to their choice of bikes. I wouldn't ride one of those, personally, because I don't know anything about them and I think you have to have some mechanical affinity for whatever you're riding, if you ride vintage bikes.
With proper regular maintenance British bikes are fine. The reputation for unreliability stems from young lads in the '60's thrashing them till they break and then not having the skills to repair them properly. Simply bodging them back together.
If Brit bikes are crap - why are they increasing in value every year?
As an example of what idiots used to run Brit bikes, a friend of mine spent two days trying to make a Royal Enfield gearbox change one down four up (yes five speed). Only later did he realise it should be one up four down - it worked alot better that way!
If i had filmed the event at the time, I'd have a bit of footage of me not making it home on My "crap" japanese bikes as well, usually due to a puncture or accident. The point is, I've had very few moments that they've let me down. All bikes are crap when they're not maintained to the standard they are supposed to be kept to and particularly when an amature "tuner" has got hold of it to "improve" the performance without the knowledge or proper tools to do a decent job.
Most of my bikes, and I've had a few, have been japanese apart from an MZ ETZ250 and my current Triumph sprint but don't hold it against me.
Its just my personal preference and not to say they've been without character either because they've all had different characteristics and their own individual personalities, Just like the old british bikes!
It appears there are Luddites on both sides of the British/Japanese divide and its human nature to gravitate toward one "tribe" or another, it doesnt make either side right or wrong, its just what we do.
So pick a side and raise your flag!
I'm curious how that story with the 350lc ended? Did you compete?
An excerpt from the description of this video:
Footnote:
The owner of the LC never did accept my challenge, but, as I intended to mention in the video but somehow forgot, we were riding to work one day a little later on, he on the LC, me on my T250 Hustler and perhaps I got lucky with some overtakes etc, but arriving at work some 25 miles or so from where we set out together, I had just removed my helmet and lit up a cigarette, when he arrived rather red faced!
@@paulhenshaw4514 😀
My main Grip about your videos is that your Microphone is absolute rubbish. I have to set my speakers at 100% (every other channel i watch is at 35-40) and have the captions on as well 😄😄😃
The people who OWN or have previously OWNED a British Bike should only have the right to criticise them don't you think ?
For someone who has only heard how crap they are or read how crap they are have No Right.
Yes i own one and when it won't go it's a pile of crap. It's a 1968 G2 Bullet which was thrown together in India no doubt. It looked ok on the surface when i bought it but i realised how much of a pile of crap it was until i rebuilt it. I have earned the right to call it crap but it's £2000 worth of crap.
Bodgery and poor maintenance has definitely bolstered the belief that British bikes are crap, but they don't have to be unreliable and they don't have to leak oil (unless you're going back to vintage and veteran times with open valve gear and total loss lubrication !..) Too many people swallow every tiny foible that motorcycle journalists think they've spotted on road tests and 'chinese whispers' can quickly magnify these opinions into serious 'cast-in-stone' faults in people's minds.. For example,. Commandos aren't at all 'bendy' if the Isolastics are set up properly and power is kept on while cornering.. and oil-in-frame Triumphs and BSAs aren't 'too tall' to sit on (whoever claimed that should try to climb aboard a modern adventure bike !..)
Well, as I’ve said in past, I’m looking forward to owning one of those older crappy British bikes in future when I can afford it over here across the pond….be assured I won’t be riding it on the wrong side….I just hope it can get used to that without too much mechanical problem….lol
Hey Paul I know what’s wrong with it! I don’t own it! Love the look of those old beesas had a couple but they’ll never beat my old triumph T100, just because…. 😂
It all comes down to: "so the whole point of this is yes, British bikes can be trouble, but usually it's not their fault, it's something someone's done or a component that's got tired something like that and probably the same is true of Japanese machines". This regularity applies to all vehicle brands after a certain mileage and/or inappropriate maintenance and operation. Some people compare apples to oranges and see nothing wrong with it.
Apparently The EU has it's sights set on our beloved old bikes now !
Evidently cars as well, to be honest I cannot see them forcing anyone to scrap a Vincent or an e Type just media bs I think.
The troll is missing the point. Truth is Paul you can make any bike good. End of.
A Yamaha 350 could beat any other bike to the nearest petrol station!
So unreliable, my Commando has done 100,000 miles🤣🤣🤣🤣
I saw saw something in print a while back regarding stopping the use of motor bikes over 15 years old!. Now i see that the bloke on “songs from the saddle” has picked up on it.
It appears that it’s the eu are making plans to remove classic bikes from public use when they are over 15 years old. What a carry on, eh!. Snce we have stll not actually left the eu in truth, it will certainly come over here. The official thumb seems to be growing every day now, and pressing down on us ever harder.
I fully realise that this matter is outside the topic talked about in this vid. But the enthusiasts out there could look firther into this to find out more specific details. If this law made into the statute books, it would affect your business, and others of course.
Half of thease trolls probably haven't even got a licence to ride a moped
Yep. No consequences for people running their mouth on the internet.
I know you are preaching to the choir (a bit) on this subject, for the type of person that is likely to avidly watch your vids. So I'm reluctant to say "Well said ".
But, "Well said Paul!"
The up side is, if more people believe that 50 year old, non Japanese bikes are "crap". Then that'll keep the prices down for those that want them.
I'm going out to buy some Old Holborn. Yeah Sunak. You can have a suck on that when I've rolled one.
Oh dear! He really got to you that bloke didn’t he?
That one bloke just inspired me to set the record straight regarding this myth. Sadly, there are a lot of his kind about - misinformed stirrers where British bikes are concerned, and if a lie is repeated often enough, some begin to believe it is the truth. Just doing my bit to dispel such nonsense.
I enjoy your videos but you are ranting a lot these days.
Hope you’re not losing the plot.
Best to ignore these trolls and continue to work on these bikes!
Don't worry, I haven't lost the plot, but sometimes 'attack is the best form of defence'!
I say this respectfully and with the very best of intentions, Paul. It seems to me the keyboard warrior has won on this one. Just look at the amount of time and publicity you've given him. He's in your head and controlling your thoughts, and you allow it. Just think of how much more enjoyable that 4-video ride would have been if you hadn't been fighting this mental battle across every mile. Free yourself.
Sorry Kevin, thanks for your thoughts, but you have got me all wrong. I knew how I would respond to his kind of remarks before he even made them, and he has only helped to boost my viewing figures and the popularity of my videos by doing so. Based on that, I would say if anyone 'won', I did ...
Not crap. They are" of their day". Perhaps they were hindered by the lower standard of technology available then. I think accountants strangled inovation and higher management were complacent and blinkered. I would love to own a Commando. Yes ive heard the horror stories but if its put together and ridden with mechanical sympathy im sure it would be fine. My brits have been bsa bantam, bsa B40 and triumph 3TA. They look great,they sound fantastic. Just remember thy are over half a century behind in design and build. Gotta go,bidding on a black and gold 850 commando