Experiences of a 70's motorcyclist
The Seventies was my first decade of motorcycling. I have put up this web page to share my memories with like minded people who will remember this exciting era and the bikes which they rode.
This site is not the usual listing of seventies motorbikes, a history of the motorcycle or a sales page for classic motorcycles. It is simply an account of an individual's experiences of motorcycling in the seventies. It covers the experiences of a 70's biker right from learning to ride up to the present. From the above menu bar you can read stories in the form of a blog from when I first started riding right up to date. There is a nostalgia section where you will find old bike sales brochures from the era as well as some period race info and race programmes. Here, you will see seventies racing nostalgia from that era. Have a look around the site. It may rekindle some memories.
In the Sixties and Seventies the British motorcycle industry was to undergo massive changes and challenges. The Forties and Fifties decades saw the great marques such as BSA, Triumph, Royal Enfield and Norton asserting their dominance in the sales market along with already established giants such as Vincent, Brough, Velocette, Matchless, Ariel and AJS. Motorbikes had always been a cheaper alternative to the car so the typical bike owner would be a family man who would use the bike daily as his main transport not only to and from work but also for pleasure at weekends. Many owners would attach sidecars to their pride and joy thus enabling them to transport the wife and kids on social occasions. The motorcycles themselves were generally quite large, heavily engineered machines so riding bikes was generally considered to be a bit of a mans game. The sporting side of motorcycling came to the fore with racing and scrambling becoming very popular. Indeed, the Isle of man TT races had been held since the early 1900's. Who, of a certain age, cannot forget sitting on a rainy Saturday afternoon watching the likes of Dave Bickers wrestling big British machines around the National scrambling tracks of the day?
So, in the Sixties and Seventies, UK motorcycling became a very popular proposition indeed for lots of young men. At that time you could apply for a provisional driving licence at sixteen years of age. Once received this gave the owner the right to put L plates on the bike of his choice and go tearing off up the road, whether he knew what he was doing or not! (quite often the latter).From the middle of the Sixties Japanese motorbikes started to be imported to Britain putting the dealerships in a bit of a dilemma. What manufacturer should they stock? British, Japanese or both? The dealers who made the right decisions at this time went on to flourish.
In the North of England at about this time a teenage boy was having his own dilemma .............
So, in the Sixties and Seventies, UK motorcycling became a very popular proposition indeed for lots of young men. At that time you could apply for a provisional driving licence at sixteen years of age. Once received this gave the owner the right to put L plates on the bike of his choice and go tearing off up the road, whether he knew what he was doing or not! (quite often the latter).From the middle of the Sixties Japanese motorbikes started to be imported to Britain putting the dealerships in a bit of a dilemma. What manufacturer should they stock? British, Japanese or both? The dealers who made the right decisions at this time went on to flourish.
In the North of England at about this time a teenage boy was having his own dilemma .............
750 Kawasaki Mach 111
Suzuki GT750 'kettle'
Kawasaki Z900
Just how was he going to end up with one of these?