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Difference between revisions of "1960-1967 Motorcycle History"
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(Created page with "== 1960-1967 Motorcycle History == As the 1960s dawned, they ushered in a new era in motorcycling - and a combination of powerful forces that would soon see the British motorcyc...") |
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As the 1960s dawned, they ushered in a new era in [[motorcycling]] - and a combination of powerful forces that would soon see the British motorcycle industry reduced from a world leader to an also-ran and finally to near oblivion. And yet, during a decade that would see the creation of some of the best-loved British bikes of all time, it has hard to spot where the downfall began. | |||
As the 1960s dawned, they ushered in a new era in motorcycling - and a combination of powerful forces that would soon see the British motorcycle industry reduced from a world leader to an also-ran and finally to near oblivion. And yet, during a decade that would see the creation of some of the best-loved British bikes of all time, it has hard to spot where the downfall began. | |||
A third of a million new bikes were registered in 1959 and everything seemed to be booming. It seemed as though there was plenty of room in the market place for everyone. Great names such as [[AJS|AJS]], [[BSA|BSA]], [[Matchless|Matchless]], [[Norton|Norton]], [[Triumph|Triumph]] and [[Velocette|Velocette]] were still offering a wide range of singles and twins with traditional qualities of dependable economy and sporting performance. There were exiting new models such as the radical [[Ariel Leader|Ariel Leader]]/Arrow and new twins from Norton, BSA and Triumph. Such smaller independant concerns as [[Cotton|Cotton]], [[Greeves|Greeves]] and [[DMW|DMW]] offered a wide range of budget models with two-stroke engines, mostly from the long-established Villiers factory, with similar models from [[Francis Barnett|Francis Barnett]] or [[James|James]]. | A third of a million new bikes were registered in 1959 and everything seemed to be booming. It seemed as though there was plenty of room in the market place for everyone. Great names such as [[AJS|AJS]], [[BSA|BSA]], [[Matchless|Matchless]], [[Norton|Norton]], [[Triumph|Triumph]] and [[Velocette|Velocette]] were still offering a wide range of singles and twins with traditional qualities of dependable economy and sporting performance. There were exiting new models such as the radical [[Ariel Leader|Ariel Leader]]/Arrow and new twins from Norton, BSA and Triumph. Such smaller independant concerns as [[Cotton|Cotton]], [[Greeves|Greeves]] and [[DMW|DMW]] offered a wide range of budget models with two-stroke engines, mostly from the long-established Villiers factory, with similar models from [[Francis Barnett|Francis Barnett]] or [[James|James]]. | ||