Author(s): Colin Jackson

Automotive & Transport

In the modern era, mass-produced motorcycles tend to be of Japanese or Italian origin with the 'big four' oriental manufacturers such as Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki dominating the market. However, it was not always so. Until the 1950s, even into the 60s, British makers ruled the roost such as Scott, Rudge, BSA, Norton and Vincent. These were the companies whose bikes sold around the world, winning racing championships and setting speed records as they went. They developed the motorbike from its beginnings as a powered bicycle and made it the fast, powerful and exciting machine of today. This is the story of those British machines and their development, but it is also the story of the engineers, some trained, many self-taught, whose ideas underpinned the development. Along the way comes an understanding that ideas do not spring up 'from nowhere'. How British was the Triumph company at its beginning? Why did Norton fail to design or build their most famous frame, the 'featherbed', on which the legendary Manx Norton was based?
Gloriously illustrated and written by a world-leading authoritarian figure on powered motorcycling, Classic British Motorcycles tells of a fascinating yesteryear when Britain was a leading pioneer of motorcycling.