5 Classic British 350cc Motorcycles of the 1950s
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- čas přidán 1. 08. 2024
- This time we look at 5 of Britain's 350cc class motorcycles.
before the dawn of the 1960s this had been one of the most important categories in the UK bike industry. - Auta a dopravní prostředky
As a 53 year old American I have heard of almost all of these bikes but never seen them. I read all of the magazines from 1980-2010 and they always talked about old Britbikes but never showed them (it was all about the new stuff I guess). Every writer seemed to have the perfect one in a state of restoration and once running got bit by something. Seeing them here makes them real. They are all beautiful and interesting bikes! Thanks for doing these. As an aircraft mechanic in GA, these are my forte' of mechanics. Old school. Kevin Cameron of Cycle World taught me more about aircraft engines than almost anybody except a few departed souls. One last Friday. RIP William Hale! God speed, brother.
Reading the wrong magazines it seems
Seen em all and ridden a couple, the go surprisingly well although they slow after 60mph / 100kph
A lovely history lesson. Beautiful machines
They are indeed
I enjoyed the show. I had a 350 Matchless in the early1970's. I had a '54 MAC as well and swapped the Matchless for a '54MSS. I still have the MAC and MSS 50 years later and the remain one year younger than me. Easy bikes to fall in love with.
They are indeed
Wanted a Royal Enfield since I was 15yo, am 72 now. Just got a beautiful Bullet 500 w/ only 5000 miles. Babied it for 500 wonderful miles before the transmission took a crap in my driveway. Now I have to drive 100 miles to find a mechanic who wants to charge like it's a Lamborghini. If I was in India, could get a new transmission delivered to my house for a bag of rice.
Not just wet sumped through the primary
Seriously is likely easier to get a second hand box
Depending on what has actually happened
Another great presentation....
Thanks
Always nice to look at
And hear of course
Thank you for yet again another brilliant video on a range of bikes that were mostly overlooked back in the day. Once you passed your test on a 250 it was straight to a 500 or 650 completely bypassing the 350 range. Thanks for a great insight into a range of bikes I have little knowledge of👍
Well no they weren’t really because in their day there was no 250 learner law
350 class was extremely popular up until the beginning of the 60s and the 250 law
Excellent selection 👍👏👌
Thanks
It was nice to see a Velocette 350 here. I know my late father had one which he wrote off just before I was born in 1956. My guess is that it was probably the type you showed as I wouldn't have thought he was able to afford a fairly new Viper at the time.
Almost certainly would have been exactly like that
Most people didn’t bother with sporting models back then
They were more about transport and less of a leisure toy back then
Brilliant bikerdood thanks again
Glad you enjoyed it
Great again !!
Brilliant.. Many thanks.
Just glad people enjoy our videos
Ace video. Lovely motorcycles. Proper mudguards.
Very true about the mudguards 😂
Thanks, some cracking classics there.
Glad you enjoyed it
A neutral finder? Say what you like, that's a feature every bike ought to have.
It’s brilliant. Really good in heavy traffic and saves the clutch from getting hot
Works every time too
They can keep the TFT screen it’s far more useful
I’m confused got a Daytona and want to go somewhere else had it for eight years and loved it.Time to go back!
Now I’m confused
I bought a rough Triumph Twenty One exactly the same colour as the one in the video in 1973 for the princely sum of £20 as the owner thought the main bearings had gone. I knew it was actually just a loose alternator rotor on the end of the crankshaft and once tightened up, it ran OK and I used it for a while over a winter before selling it at a profit of £5.......all that use and a profit at the end of it - how things have changed!
Dam !
Some old faces here. The bathtub Triumph l owned. A long stroke, docile machine, and oil leaks. Nostalgia makes forgiving there failings easier..
Why did Triumph use external push rod tubes till the end 🤔
Was always drawn to the Velo fishtail, great video thank you
There is something about them
Originally called the Brooklands can because. As the track was next to houses races were obligated to fit them to compete there
A real style icon
I like the video and look forward to the A.M.C. video on AJS and Matchless . I have a '65 AJS 16 restored professionally . Robert Smith , moto-journalist , wrote about it in the American publication
"Motorcycle Classics" a few years ago .
That would be some of epic
With a sad ending
Passion
War
Not much romance however 😂
I agree , after thinking about your answer for a bit , here in southern B.C. Canada , both AJS and Matchless are rare brands to see , and rarer to own . When the AJ found me , i could hardly believe my eyes . It had not ran in years , so i took it to the only English bike shop in B.C. that i could i find . I enjoy riding it , on sunny warm Sunday mornings , and
my son will inherit it , in the near future .@@bikerdood1100
The viper gave me one of the biggest shocks I’ve had in biking. I parked up my then ultra modern cb250 k4 Honda outside a friend of a friends house . He had a very scruffy viper on the drive which he described as nippy bike and offered me a go . I thought this should be a laugh I bet it’ll hardly pull away . I couldn’t believe it, not only was it decidedly “ nippy “ I knew it would take my Honda even though the bhp was the same ,or claimed . The triumph 21 (had one and rode another) was the most asthmatic motorcycle I have ever ridden .my mates Enfield 250 crusader would have destroyed it in every department ( possibly excepting reliability.)
Well of course the viper made good torque and velocette are rather more honest about their bike’s performance than some of the later Japanese companies
another great video ,
Thank you
I think I saw my old ES 1 MZ Trophy during the 3 TA bit
Cool we are just getting an old TS125 back on the road at the moment
5:12 the emotion of Indian motorcyclist the good old BULLET
The bike that I clicked for 😁
It does seem to live for ever
i had a 58 bathtub..much to the dissmay of the old guy i bought it from i semi chopped it with 4inch overs nice paint job was a sweetie.
Ooo
Ouch I can feel for the old guy
I would dumpy the body work though to be honest
@@bikerdood1100 me too now, nearly 50 yrs ago
Sharp sharp dude🤙!
They re indeed
They re indeed
They are indeed
I have to say I find your channel infinity more engaging and informative than the pretty awful 'classic motorcycle' channel. You clearly take the time to research and assemble an entertaining video. I wish you and the channel all the best for the future.
Thanks very much
They just do their thing differently
Wish I had access to as many bikes as they do I have to say
To my eyes a rigid B31( or 33: hard to tell) is an absolutely gorgeous looking bike. The Velo is handsome but the Beeza is aesthetically perfect.
The early post war bikes are the most attractive for sure
My old man has a B31 in the early 70s and while he was always knocking if my YDS7 i was left to ride he’s B31 but i came to enjoy that bike a lot it had a lot of character and was extremely comfortable shame about the brakes 😊
Well given how awful rads were in the 40s and 50s and the wooden tyres
Powerful breaks would not have been such a great thing
Bikes like these prove that it ain’t all about how fast it goes
At 14 years old (early 70's) I learned to ride on a stripped Red Hunter 350 on fields. My dad had restored a Tiger 90 which I'd secretly (I think) ride too when he was at work. The Tiger seemed so fast at the time.
My wife’s first big ish bike was a tiger 90
Lovely little bikes but above 60mph very buzzy
B31 actually had alternator/coil system by 1959- at least mine did!
Well that was the very last models and definitely not the case in the model shown here
Hard to understand why BSA bothered because the market for 350 singles was shrinking by 59
It was produced with an alternator not by 59 but only in 59 incidentally
As a boy I saw all of these all over the place, a neighbour had a B31 identical to the one in the video. The 350s tend to get overlooked, which is a shame. They were good practical machines that didn't break the bank.
In reality it’s what most people actually brought
Everyone fantasies about Bonnies but a lot em never actually owned one
The 350 was the two wheeled family cat of the 50s
I really love the old British, German, and Italian bikes. But they always sound like they desperately need a valve adjust. Guess that's my OCD kicking in. 😄 I love the content on this channel. Look forward to new videos being posted. Thanks for sharing. Cheers
No they sound just right
@@bikerdood1100 Lol. Yeah you're right. So used to the Japanese bikes. Cheers
When I bought my Triumph Trident T160 after years of owning japanese bikes, it took me weeks to get used to the sound of the pushrods and valves. They were so noisy 😂
@@kasperkjrsgaard1447 First time I heard them I cringed. Must have been my OCD kicking in. Let me adjust those for you 😄
I bought a 1954 B31 and it came with a box containing a 500 barrel, head and flywheels. Easy conversion to 500 and all new bearings, rebuilt crank, valves springs etc. I then hitched it to a Watsonion single seat sidecar. It says much for the frame and forks that it was a superb chariot assisted maybe by me having 16 inch alloy rims laced to the hubs. Although I renewed the clutch plates the gearbox was never touched apart from fresh oil now and then. For three years it was my everyday transport and only an expanding family forced me into the world of Reliants and cars. Ah! if only I had had the space to store it for a few years.
As you can see in the video we strapped out Bullet 350 to a chair
Did surprisingly well on holidays in Wales
I had an m33 for 30 years from 1990 to 2013. Would have taken the head off and I had four original head bolts but the ones in it just twisted a bit( torque wind up) and sprung back. So I never tried too hard as I thought if I don’t need to, why bother? I’d only end up with studs snapping in the head and spark erosion required etc etc. never let me down had a light chair on it for a few years and enjoyed an outfit. Big end knocked a little but never got worse. 1948 it was and I regretted getting rid of it so much I bought a 49 m33 last week. Perfect restoration but the bloke hadn’t ridden in the ten years he’d had it. That’s gonna change!
Beautiful bikes
@@highdownmartin M33 frame already had the sidecar lugs or so I believe. Was it also a rigid rear end?
@@brockett it did Dave. And yess it was a rigid. Basically an m20 with a stronger motor ,never changed a sprocket and it may have been on chair gearing as it wasn’t long legged but solo would leave me average in his car well behind at lights. Paid five hundred quid for it and it was sort of chopped with six in overs on it and lots of chrome bits, pri case engine plates yokes toolbox etc. bought off a woman in south west London. She described it as a “ good birds bike” lo seat height and not too massive.
I started with a ´57 BSA B31, a great bike. Ariel Hubs were a good addition and I fitted a Triumph clutch which was much better. Norton Roadholder fork stanchions stiffened up the front end, and I uprated it to 12 volts with a regulator from a tractor, and a coil from a Morris 1000. I added an oil filter and fitted a Goldie "Touring" cam.
Yes, a great "original" bike.
Sold it to a Swiss guy who was going to turn it into a Gold Star.
Fame at last ...
So basically standard 😂
@@bikerdood1100 Well yeah .. but upwardly mobile.
Oooooh my gawd 😍 all so beautiful . Not one ugly girl at this party .
You brought up a neutral finder . Be aware I don't know much about what I'm about to say . I don't know which company or bike actually implemented the 1 down 4 up that is now used on almost all bikes today ?
I think that neutral was always at the bottom in the past yet someone found that concept dangerous because if you were stopped and a car was coming up too fast behind you it was quicker to kick the shifter down than it was to shift up .
So the industry went to the 1 down and 4 up pattern for safety reasons .
It would be interesting to see the bikes with neutral at the bottom and then a presentation of the very first 1 down 4 up bike .
Like I said , I don't know much about what I was saying.
I would enjoy seeing a history lesson regarding shift patterns .
The bikes in this video are absolutely amazing. They stole my heart ❤
It was never at the very bottom on British bikes, that would the r the Japanese machines of the 60s and 70s
GP bikes are still that way round incidentally so you can change up well cranked over, and Triumph were always up for up
I switch between the two all the time and you get used to it very quickly
I would like you to do the early Hondas of the 60s , the whole import range .
My favourite would be the Honda c.b. 92 125 sport.
Interesting suggestion
I bought a 68 tiger in the 80s for very cheep. Nice lil bike. I had a 1955 Harley Davidson 45inch flathead I was building. As a friend of the dirt bike Enduro yes!!!! So I took her up in the woods got used to the weight it's size in a day o was flying around like I owned the place. I took her out on the trials trails muddy rocky let's say she did very well I mean I could not believe how well this bike did in the woods. If I had a few bucks I wood make a scrambler out of a tiger.
Well of course back in the day that’s exactly what the Tiger was intended for
Back in '63 I borrowed a mate's BSA B31 for my 150-mile weekend commute, with a view to buying it from him. I found that it was little, if anything, improved on my Jawa 250, so the deal didn't happen. Later, in '65/6 I use to borrow a 3TA from a local in Borneo; whilst ok on the road, it was a real handful on jungle tracks!
Can’t imagine a 3Ta as a jungle bike
@@bikerdood1100 Yes, it was pretty crap. On the other hand, a little Suzuki 90 that I used to borrow there handled the jungle tracks with ease.
@@chrisweeks6973 that’s because it wade bugger all
Royal Enfield bikes are sugar sweet!😊
I did like mine very much
A good selection of 350s although a little disappointing that you didn't include AJS/Matchless. I owned a 3TA many years ago, without the bathtub, it ran very smoothly at speeds up to 55mph and it handled very well.
Already did a full video on the AMC bikes but I will of course be putting them in a later video
@@bikerdood1100 I must have missed the 350s. I've seen the 250s and the AJS Model 18. I'll look out.
AJS and Matchless 350 badging clones were enormously popular in the fifties in NZ. Were they somewhat less so in their home country of origin? Were they the budget working man's choice possibly?
Seem to remember they were rated at 16hp, and the 500 versions at 22hp. They were famed in the mid-fifties for their rear 'jampots' and, for a pressed metal primary chain-case and cover that could never be effectively sealed by a clamped enormous rubber band provided in apparent hope by the manufacturer, because properly machined faces to seal together were just not present. Topping up the oil level in the primary chain-case was a daily maintenance necessity, however sufficient oil would fly backwards in service to keep the secondary chain permanently fully lubricated as a presumably unintended consequence. 1955 saw a magneto automatic advance/retard feature making starting slightly easier. The ball race bottom ends of these bikes with heavy dual pressed flywheels were enormously strong and were never known to break. They were substantial bikes presenting quite stable smooth handling. I had three of them all up, the last one a 1950 G80 500 requiring a carefully de-compressed TDC power stroke for starting with. The 350's could just be kicked over, still with quite some effort, without de-compression. The 350's were a tad easier to live with by comparison as everyday rides, they were a little lighter, and a little more agile, so one could say the 1955 G3LS 350 was my favourite bike for those days.
I intend to put them in another collection, I did do a video on them talking about how they essentially failed because they remained in production way to long and lost a tonne of money.
Very good bikes though
You should have made it 6, the Norton Navigator.
Or another video 😉
If Lucas had stopped making magnetos, what did Velocette use on the Viper?
Now your asking
AMC went to a alternator
As a low volume producer they switched manufacturers in 62 and were able to burn through stock on the shelf
BSA & AMC built in too big a numbers
To carry on
@@bikerdood1100 I could well be wrong, but from hazy memory, I think they used a Wipac unit.
@@chrisweeks6973 they moved to Lucas after Wipac stopped I believe
Probably used what was available by the end
How about small companies like Excelsior and Ambassador ect
@@terryL5290 good suggestion. I’ll look into that. Currently touring the US so won’t be doing anything new for a couple of months
That non bath tub Triumph 21 has the wrong front mudguard.
Oh my god I’ll call the geek police immediately 😂😂
my mate had a 3ta and it pissed oil out of the right exhaust he now has a xs650 and that pisses oil out of the right exhaust
Wonder if it’s him 🤔
Sad to think just how sloth like the management were, Bikes and cars 1930's tech in the 60's
Yep, lack of foresight, lack of planning, lack of funding. They though they could sit on their laurels and keep churning out the same old guff. Then the Japanese arrived and wiped the floor with them!
Check your history and not the edited version
That’s not actually how it happened
@@bikerdood1100 I was there, I watched it happen...lol
No AJS!!!!! NO AJS!!!!!! Where is the AJS???????
I know. Next time....😄
5 bikes only
Theme the rules
Obviously I’m planning another, and I did do a whole video on them
@@bikerdood1100 I know!