Chimay and ukrm feckwits (longish)

Ahhh you forgot to mention the Union movement

 

ITYM _some_ of the problems were....

The demise of the British bike industry was a death of a thousand
cuts; the inept management - many of whom were not even interested in
motorcycles, the failure to innovate and the Japanese industry were
all factors, along with Union intransigence, a glut of ex service
bikes that killed the market for cheap commute bikes for several years
into the 50s. Oddly there was quite a bit of cash floating about for
quite a long time - 1959 was the peak year for the industry but much
of the money was wasted.

Having it so good - Britain in the 50s by Peter Hennessey is also
very good. (Currently half way through it).

 

Allow me to destroy your misapprehensions. How long is it since a
porrigewog was shot from the ramparts of Berwick Castle? Hmmm? A long
time that is what and if that don't represent the forcing of tolerance
of the intolerable on the intolerant and an end to the freedom to enjoy
a bit of sport at the expense of a social inferior by us proles then
what does? You nuvo middle class kids are all the same you are, you are
so busy being blinded by the bling you are competing to own that you
fail to see that you are not buying but are being sold to (and that is
something which was invented by the merkins). You forget the niceties
of life just like you forget it was The Brits who invented it. Mind you
it is our own fault really because it was us who invented the middle
class in the first place as well. And whose stupid fucking idea was
that anyway? Middle Class, what a load of bollox. Who the **** wants
to be Middle class anyway, neither on top of the pile nor plotting to
bring the bastards down to the bottom? Mind you foreigners all over the
world have gone and done what foreigners go and do and been thoroughly
un British about it and developed and manufactured it in cut price
abundance while we sit on the moral high ground wibbling on about loss
of intellectual property and importing theirs. Lost of national
intellect and a mass produced middle class growing like Topsy, is there
a connection? Well of course there is and I dare say you will say the
merkins invented that as well.

 

Why's that then ?

 

A book!! A fucking Book!? Look around you numbnuts, you are surrounded
by people who were actually there who will tell you *exactly* how it was
and not expect a fucking profit and not all of them are all the way gaga
either. A pox on your book and a pox on the man who makes money from
history that isn't yet by pretending it is.

 

Blimey the old fella's got the bit well between his dentures tonight.
Go Steve!

 

Moi?

Realistically, I do think there is a certain amount of `union'
responsibility for the failure of British industry but a lot of that
is due to the half-assed class prejudice that was common in Britain.
Germany has a very strong union movement and is the world's industrial
leader; Rolls-Royce (aero engines) is strongly unionized and is still
a world leader.

 

My old man was there as well for a couple of years before he joined
the army: I'm all right Jack is a documentary.


As for the book, it's got lots of diaries in it, including Frank Field
reminiscing about what happened to people who dicked around on the
shop floor and were a danger to their mates. They were taken out to
the bike sheds and had certain things forcibly explained.

 

If you think a Blackbird is overpowered you have more problems than
you realise.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..91198../..24811.../..31928.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 WG*
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 PM#5
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 YTC#4 two#11
'^' RBR Clues: 26 Pts:0500 Miles:1739

 

You are fucking joking. One is a piece of shit put together by imported
labour and the other is a pale shadow of its former self. You decide
which is which.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

Teach a man to fish and he and his pikey mates will have the
river cleaned out in a day.

 

A quality rant, Mr A.
Saved for posterity, or at least for some unlucky **** who gets to
inpect my hard drive after I pop my clogs.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

Teach a man to fish and he and his pikey mates will have the
river cleaned out in a day.

 

Ye gods, I though it was earlier than that. There's a certain gravitas
about the Office of Things That Go Bang, Shiny Boots and Olive Green
Things that Min of Def simply doesn't have.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

Teach a man to fish and he and his pikey mates will have the
river cleaned out in a day.

 

I should have known better than to question the writings of a journo

 

I do enjoy your postings when you're on form. Although it probably
irritates you to hear it.

Which is a bonus in itself, of course.

 

This isn't strictly true. BSA, Triumph and the others made massive
profits during the 1950s and early 1960s, but they chose to spend the
profits on bonuses and share dividends rather than investment.

By the time they realised their mistake, it was too late and falling
sales meant there wasn't much profit to re-invest anyway.

As ever, Bert Hopwood's marvellous book is essential reading here.

 

Read this just after writing my own posting. Working offline here, so
they'll appear simultaneously...

 

Define "overpowered". If you mean "more powerful than a Velocette LE" or
"allows you to exceed speed limits" then you're a fuckwit twice over.

 

<Sharpens stake>

 

In part, but also management became vastly top heavy, there were
constant efficiency studies, cost benefit analyses, time & motion and
all the panoply of management doing an immense amount of work, but
very little actually on managing the business.

 

OK, lets put this in context. Firstly this thread has been crossposted to
uk.r.m as well as uk.r.m.classic, so we are seing comments from the
non-classic guys. My comment referred to the modern biker fashions.

Phrases such as "be seen dead on" and "rather eat testicles" are
a clear indication that moderm bikes are about male image and fashion
rather than transport.

Where do I draw a line ?. - Well that is always going to involve
personal experiences, but from my owm bike history :-
The LE or its modern CG125 equivalent is great around town but too slow
on the open road.
My GS500 at 48 bhp has more power than the Dominator that I had in the 60s
but is a tad unwieldy in daily city traffic. 110 mph flat out on the
motorway is more than enough for me and it will outburn anything on
4 wheels at the lights.
The Electra Glide I had in the 70s was great on long trips on the open
roads between Joburg and Cape Town so long as I could ignore the
vibration, but a complete pig in traffic. Dont drop it though, you will
need 3 strong helpers to pick it up.

To conclude:- 50 bhp buys you 110 mph+ and can put a smile on your face.
Much over 60 bhp is never going to be used in practice on UK roads.
So IMHO the transport stops and the willywaving starts somewhere
around 60 bhp.