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Sorry, my bad, I must have been distracted by all the busty ladies advertising bikes and gear, and the ads for tabs on every other page. LJK Setright was a genius, and I looked forward to his column every month! Thanks for the comment. 😊

So did I until I bought an Indian FTR. Thanks for the comment. 😊

Yes, the bill was rather eye-watering! It’s actually a great bike, though. They began developing it in the 60s but took too long to get it to market, and when they eventually did Honda had already beaten them with 33% more cylinders, electric starter, etc, etc. What a shame. If you can get your hands on a sorted example, they’re terrific fun in an old-fashioned kind of way!

Hello from the UK! I love the FTR too! I’m very impressed, especially as it’s the first time in almost 50 years of motorcycling that I’ve owned a bike from the good ol’ US of A. My first V twin too. As I say in the video, it’s not quite perfect with its fuel mapping but that does seem to improve the more miles you put on it, as the engine loosens up. It handles great, it’s quick, it’s built properly and it’s nimble round the twisties! Thanks for the comment. 😊

Yes, I should have made it clearer that it was the first gen Hinckley Bonnie. I’d probably still find the uprated 80hp a little placid on a modern bike, though. I’m more of a 100+hp kind of guy when it comes to modern machines. But that’s just my personal preference and I know plenty of folk who love their Bonnies. Thanks for the comment. 😊

Thank you for the kind comment. 😊 I often wish I’d developed the necessary mechanical skills but having been an urban dweller for the past 40 years, living in flats in Victorian conversions without garages or sheds, I’ve never had a proper space with heat and light to work on anything (until recently, that is - and I now have several sets of Whitworths!). So I’ve had to go down the Jay Leno route, without the benefit of Jay Leno’s millions, which probably explains why I’ve never been able to afford a property with a garage or shed with heat and light, because of all the dosh that’s gone on paying others to tend to the motorbikes! 🤣

@@3Phils It's good that you've finally got yourself a workshop. Some say that the skills for working on bikes are quickly learned - I think it depends a lot on the person because it requires a knack for visualizing how things fit together in 3D and an eye for when things aren't right. On older things there are often corroded and seized parts as well as decades of previous botched attempts at repair. It's probably best to start by doing routine maintenance on a bike that's already in reasonably good shape. That can already save you a lot of money.

Yes, it’s a big step forward having my own space with light and power. Until my early 20s I lived with my parents, kept my bikes in their garage, and tinkered away to my heart’s content, although I never acquired the skill levels required to, say, rebuild an engine. But now everything is coming together in the new place, and there’s nothing more satisfying than being able to tinker with the Trident when it’s reluctant to start. I just wish the UK summer would start!

That’s made me quite sad! Thanks for the comment. 😊

It needed investors with deeper pockets, methinks. Thanks for the comment. 😊

Thank you! I would have been drooling around about the same time!

As they say, nostalgia ain’t what it used to be! Paul Sample also did the illustrations for the Tom Sharpe paperbacks, which is what drew me to reading them. Then in a very roundabout way I ended up with a father-in-law who was chums with Tom Sharpe. And it all started with Ogri! 🤣 You can still buy Ogri T-shirts apparently. Hmmm, my birthday’s coming up… 🤔 All the best and thanks for the comment. 😊

@@3Phils I think Paul Sample's style was inspired by Robert Crumb. Worth looking up if you don't know his work.

@@particlecloud Interesting. I've just looked Robert Crumb up and you can definitely see an influence on PS's work there!

Interesting. Perhaps, like the Royal Enfield I owned a few years ago, they look good in the photos but don’t bear closer inspection? Thanks for the comment. 😊

I’ve thought about it. Trouble is, music does help smooth over some of the audio edits, but I’ve also found it can sound more prominent depending on which device - desktop, laptop, TV, phone, earbuds, headphones - you’re watching with. I also think CZcams does a bit of audio compressing when it processes the videos after loading up, which means the mix never sounds the same as when it leaves me. I get your point, though, as nothing irritates me more than when TV bike and car shows play music over the sound of an engine and you can’t hear the ruddy engine! Thanks for the comment. 😊

@@3Phils Thanks for replying, you've clearly thought a lot about this. It's not the background music as such, but just the level, where it's impossible to concentrate on what you're saying because the music is intruding. BTW the content is really interesting. I read a review of the Hesketh at the time and can still remember "500 pounds of rolling thunder cleft the air at 100mph". Ever since then I've had a desire to ride one, although I suspect the reality would be underwhelming.

No worries, I’m open to comments about the technical, video side of things as well as comments about the subject matter. I do a number of tests on different devices before I publish each video and mixed the music very low on this video, to the point where I could barely hear it on my iPhone. I do this on the CZcams platform in case there’s some kind of processing at CZcams that perhaps compresses the audio once the video has been loaded up. It would be interesting to know what kind of device you’re watching on - phone, laptop, tablet, or TV? I’m relatively new to this CZcams mullarkey, and despite having been a broadcast TV producer, director and editor for more years than I care to mention I’m still finding my way around the YT technosphere, so I hope you’ll bear with me. Many of my earlier videos had less music and they weren’t as popular, so without valuable viewer input like this I’m operating in a bit of a vacuum with only stats to go on. This week I’ll be trialling a new audio set-up which I’m hoping will be an improvement. All the best. PS: Just had a comment from a test rider who found the Hesketh slightly less impressive than the hype. Interesting!

@@3Phils I'm viewing on a PC with a pair of small bookshelf speakers on the desk. For me the music is intrusively loud on this one, it seems almost as loud as your voice. Of course opinions vary on background music, but overall it's probably more about the content than anything else. There are very successful channels where the graphics and sound are pretty basic but they do tell a well-researched and interesting story.

Thanks for getting back to me on that. I’ll test the video through bookshelf speakers, which I don’t ordinarily do, and see what happens. I really appreciate you taking the time to provide feedback this, thanks again. 🙏

Aw, you’re too kind! Thank you. 😊

It was Weslake, in fact. I think Cosworth got involved in Norton. Lord H says they got Weslake to help manufacture the engine to his team’s designs. Thanks for the comment. 😊

If my memory..... The engine was based on the concept of sawing off a couple of cylinders from the Cosworth V8. In the upper 6th we were praying for the British comeback. - Norton`s rotary - Silks`s two stroke - never quite happened in the way that we were hoping. We went Italian. Hesketh always seemed to be the product of an unsuitable heritage.

​@@tagomago2178 You may be thinking of the Norton Cosworth there. Norman White, who appears in some of my other videos and who was Chief Engineer at the Norton Works Team in the 1970s, mentions just that - basically two cylinders sawn off the Cosworth V8! But some unkind souls thought at the time that the Hesketh engine was two 500cc Weslake speedway engines bolted together. I never went Italian myself, apart from Lambrettas, but you've reminded me of the Norton Rotary and, more especially, the Silk. Hmm, I feel another video coming on! Thanks for the comment. 😊

There was also the Healey 1000/4 which weighs the same as a Honda 250 - very few built but I really wanted one at the time - ended up with a T150.

Indeed, too easy for a gent with all your experience! I was just hoping to give the young ‘uns a chance. 😉 Thanks for the comment. 😊

Are you anywhere in the south of England? I’d really love to see that!

Quite right. I’ve never experienced either, which is a massive hole in my biking knowledge. Thanks for the comment. 😊

Well done! Now I’ll guess your age. Er, same as me! Ha!

Great to hear from someone who has ridden one! It sort of confirms what I heard (third or fourth hand) about them. To be fair, I think they made mods subsequently to address some of the issues. If the money had been there, they could have had a bike to rival Ducati! Er, maybe. Meanwhile, I’ve had plenty of Kawasakis, but never a Hesketh. 🤣 Thanks for the comment. 😊

Well, I think they were going after Ducati. Lord Hesketh says that in another interview which I couldn’t use because of copyright issues. He also mentions the Laverda Jota. I’ve never had the means to own a Hesketh or a Ducati, and it’s interesting to hear what you say about the 900SS, one of the few classic machines that doesn’t seem to be suffering from downward price pressure at the moment. Thanks for the comment. 😊

RoboPhil here. Thanks for the comment. 😊

The AI bot is processing your nice comment and will respond shortly! 🤣 No, seriously, that’s very kind. Thank you.

Sorry if it brought back painful memories. It was certainly worth making the effort! A shame that Hinckley Triumph or some other investor didn’t pick it up. Thanks for the comment. 😊

Amazing to hear from someone who has not only heard and seen a Hesketh, but actually owned one! When I saw the photos all those years ago, I really wanted one but, of course, the price was about ten times what I could afford to pay for a bike at the time. I thought they looked the biz - still do, actually. Thanks for the comment. 😊

Yes, it’s a shame it never really got off the ground. It could have been a BMW or Ducati contender if the investment had been there in the early 80s. It’s a shame Hinckley Triumph didn’t pick up on it, but there you go, they had their own ideas.

It certainly does. 😊

Ah, nothing beats the smell of hot oil and petrol! I agree there’s something a bit fake about them. Well, that’s how I felt about my Hinckley Bonneville at any rate. But then, they do start on the button. Thanks for the comment. 😊

Yes, I dread to think what mags are in the other old cardboard boxes in my shed. I can see I’m going to have to make a pilgrimage to the National Motorcycle Museum to see one of them Heskeths in real life!

Great to hear that from someone who’s actually seen and heard one!

@@3Phils Hi, sure have, guy worked in DISTA , South Liverpool, on Days. ( High Paying Pharma Factory ) it was Handsome alright.🇬🇧

Lovely. If only! 🏍️🇬🇧

Whaddya mean?! That IS my natural speech style! Thanks for the comment.

You’re lucky, I’ve never even seen one irl!

Aha! You’ve just reminded me that they gave Mr Sample the heave-ho, then had to bring him back! Well remembered!

🤣

Indeed, Weslake built the engines to Hesketh’s design. I was going to mention that but the video was long enough already! Ogri was a legend, I think Paul Sample’s still knocking about somewhere.

Ha! There are always exceptions. But even prices for those are coming off a bit. Thanks for the comment. 😊

I used to say ‘any bike that puts a grin on your face is a great bike’, but these days I add ‘and starts’! Not leaking oil and being totally reliable are also necessities in my view. Thankfully my Trident is now all of those things, but it took a lot of time and money to get there. Glad you’re having fun on the RE. Thanks for the comment. 😊

@@3Phils I had more fun on the first ride home from the dealers than I had in nearly 2 years with the plastic fantastic BMW I had before, even though the enfield has less than half the power.

Thank you for your very well considered and argued comment. You make an interesting point about classic owners’ clubs, which I’d say make very little effort to attract younger folk and seem to be mostly forums for old codgers like me to argue the toss about which spark plug is best. They feel unwelcoming and elitist to people, again like me, who haven’t spent a lifetime spannering their own bikes, and some even spend their time bickering amongst themselves and are downright hostile to outsiders. Which is why I’ve given up being a member of any of them. Glad to hear you’re having fun on the W800 - I hear nothing but good reports of them - and thanks again for your comment. Congrats on the BSA! 😊

Thank you for subscribing and I’m pleased you’re enjoying the videos. 😊 I, too, have always wanted a CBX but they’ve become rather pricey and with a 600lb wet weight I do wonder if that would be a bit heavy for me these days, although I know a gentleman in his 80s who’s had his since new! Then there’s the complexity of doing anything mechanical to it, as you point out. I think, for me at any rate, it’s a case of enjoying what you’re riding and not spending another five years getting a bike sorted, like I did with my Trident!

Excellent!