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1905 -1970

7 (29.2%)

1970-1980

4 (16.7%)

1980-1990

7 (29.2%)

1990-2000

5 (20.8%)

2000 and onwards

1 (4.2%)

Total Members Voted: 23

[pscocoa]

I passed my test in 1969 but fondest memories are of 50s cars. Nearly all black in colour - Ford Prefect, Popular, Rovers, Humber Hawk, Super Snipe, Standard Ensign, Vauxhall Wyvern etc

[Diamond Black Geezer]

I reckon it's the present day. I pased my test in 1956, and cars were rubbish then. Now I can buy a car for a few hundred pounds that would knock any 1960 car into a cocked hat. I have cruised round Europe in the 130s in Senators and Omegas, and touched 160mph. Modern cars are fast, cheap and reliable. And they last so long! I have owned engines that had covered 200,000 miles, still going as good as new. The internet provides advice and camaraderie from owners of similar cars, and access to cheap spares and used parts.

Stephen Fry was asked what era he'd most like to live in (presuming he'd answer the Cocktail party 30s or live like Lord Melchett in Blackadder with Elizabeth I or the medieval times etc.. ) he answered today, right now. Because this instant, right here is the very pinnacle of human acheivement, we can look back on everything, and see it, but we can still enjoy the best man has every done, too. So I see your point there, Terry  .

Maybe in 30 years I'll be saying the same, 2015, as right now I still am living in the era of my first/second car which I repair daily, no kids, ok job, cheap flat, cheap food, but happy etc... maybe I'm imagining a decade different to how it was, as you say Terry, you lived it first hand. I'm just going by what the books paint the decade as. 

[YZ250]

Gone for the 80's due to the fun we had on motorbikes and fond memories of my Capri 3.0S.

80's for me  Cheap petrol and 2 stroke 250/350's 

I've still got one in my garage from early 90's.  Fully restored, fully working and ready to ring ting ting ting. 
Not road legal due to lack of reg, knobbly's and the fact it's a dirt bike. 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

The year you became 17.

[EMD]

Gone for the 80's due to the fun we had on motorbikes and fond memories of my Capri 3.0S.

80's for me  Cheap petrol and 2 stroke 250/350's 

I've still got one in my garage from early 90's.  Fully restored, fully working and ready to ring ting ting ting. 
Not road legal due to lack of reg, knobbly's and the fact it's a dirt bike. 

Would that be a KH750 or a Kettle , both of which i never owned . My mate had a KH500 way back then , talk about neck snapping acceleration  I lusted after an RD500 but had to make do with the feeble 250 air cooled then the 350YPVS 

[BazaJT]

Mate of mine back in early 70's bought a new Kawasaki 250 triple[seem to remember it was called a Samurai]really fancied one of those,but had to stick with my Honda CD175 and then 1954 Ariel 600 VB instead.

[YZ250]

Gone for the 80's due to the fun we had on motorbikes and fond memories of my Capri 3.0S.

80's for me  Cheap petrol and 2 stroke 250/350's 

I've still got one in my garage from early 90's.  Fully restored, fully working and ready to ring ting ting ting. 
Not road legal due to lack of reg, knobbly's and the fact it's a dirt bike. 

Would that be a KH750 or a Kettle , both of which i never owned . My mate had a KH500 way back then , talk about neck snapping acceleration  I lusted after an RD500 but had to make do with the feeble 250 air cooled then the 350YPVS 

Ooh, nowhere near as exciting as that.  Although I owned both the RD250DX and a 350LC, the one in the garage is a YZ250 two stroke moto x bike. I feel rather inadequate now. 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

My 1976 (P) RD250B was a bronze/orange colour.

It had the words 'torque induction' on the side panel.

Supposedly good for 100 MPH.........in ideal conditions.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

1960's and 70's, possibly 80's. When the average lad could have a good go at 'fixing' cars. Just an engine, with plugs and points, and various bits that bolted on. You could even fiddle with the carburettor jets and it still ran, if somewhat rough.

Cars are far more reliable today of course. However, the days of fixing them by the side of the road with a rudimentary tool kit have almost gone.

[EMD]

I fell off the air cooled RD250 quite a bit one winter when it snowed , my work was about 30 miles away in the sticks . Just followed the tyre tracks  going up hill was interesting on sheet ice  going downhill if it let go i just dropped it  think i invested in some crash/engine bars just for that reason 

Had a brand new RD350ypvs out the crate , dropped it on a tight s bend "sheet ice" dented the tank slightly  Many a time after falling off in bad conditions sometimes with ripped jeans and blood pouring out of legs and arms , still made it to work 

You cant beat the smell of 2 stroke 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I fell off the air cooled RD250 quite a bit one winter when it snowed , my work was about 30 miles away in the sticks . Just followed the tyre tracks  going up hill was interesting on sheet ice  going downhill if it let go i just dropped it  think i invested in some crash/engine bars just for that reason 

Had a brand new RD350ypvs out the crate , dropped it on a tight s bend "sheet ice" dented the tank slightly  Many a time after falling off in bad conditions sometimes with ripped jeans and blood pouring out of legs and arms , still made it to work 

Just like 911's.......RD Yamaha were  always best when air cooled.

They sounded better for a start.

[terry paget]

The motorbikes weren't much good in the 1950s. Here am I in France in 1959 greasing my rear brake to stop it binding. Bike is a Cotton 250cc Villiers twin 2 stroke, made in Gloucester.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q66r5rohreb1ckx/1959%20TP%20FRANC%20GREASING%20BRAKE.jpg?dl=0
Having survived that trip my father allowed me to buy a bigger bike, a Velocette Venom, 500cc single cylinder 4 stroke, made in Birmingham. At least the brakes both worked, but the single cylinder engine was a sod to kick start, inclined to kick back and sprain my ankle. Furthermore, it was bolted straight into the frame without the benefit of rubber mountings, and the vibration would rattles the fillings out of my teeth. I had it up to the ton once, which seemed fast in those days.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6w42uo4wqfby63f/VELOCETTE%20HR2.jpg?dl=0

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

The motorbikes weren't much good in the 1950s. Here am I in France in 1959 greasing my rear brake to stop it binding. Bike is a Cotton 250cc Villiers twin 2 stroke, made in Gloucester.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q66r5rohreb1ckx/1959%20TP%20FRANC%20GREASING%20BRAKE.jpg?dl=0
Having survived that trip my father allowed me to buy a bigger bike, a Velocette Venom, 500cc single cylinder 4 stroke, made in Birmingham. At least the brakes both worked, but the single cylinder engine was a sod to kick start, inclined to kick back and sprain my ankle. Furthermore, it was bolted straight into the frame without the benefit of rubber mountings, and the vibration would rattles the fillings out of my teeth. I had it up to the ton once, which seemed fast in those days.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6w42uo4wqfby63f/VELOCETTE%20HR2.jpg?dl=0

Love the fishtail exhaust.

Later used on the BSA Rocket 3, I believe.

[terry paget]

The motorbikes weren't much good in the 1950s. Here am I in France in 1959 greasing my rear brake to stop it binding. Bike is a Cotton 250cc Villiers twin 2 stroke, made in Gloucester.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q66r5rohreb1ckx/1959%20TP%20FRANC%20GREASING%20BRAKE.jpg?dl=0
Having survived that trip my father allowed me to buy a bigger bike, a Velocette Venom, 500cc single cylinder 4 stroke, made in Birmingham. At least the brakes both worked, but the single cylinder engine was a sod to kick start, inclined to kick back and sprain my ankle. Furthermore, it was bolted straight into the frame without the benefit of rubber mountings, and the vibration would rattles the fillings out of my teeth. I had it up to the ton once, which seemed fast in those days.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6w42uo4wqfby63f/VELOCETTE%20HR2.jpg?dl=0

Love the fishtail exhaust.

Later used on the BSA Rocket 3, I believe.

In the early 1970s an army helicopter pilot friend lent me his BSA Road Rocket while he was posted to Borneo. It was a 650 parallel twin, not all that fast, and while in my custody it ran its big end bearings; not so good. My Velocette Venom( I had another one then) had ball bearing big ends, never known to fail, while the BSA twin had white metal bearings. That BSA had ordinary tubular silencers. The BSA B34 Gold Star was a sporting 500cc single, like the Venom, but the models I knew had tubular silencers. I think the Velocetts was the last big bike to sport the fishtail silencer. It did not do much silencing. Once on the way to work mine fell off, luckily I heard the clang as it hit the ground, because there was little change  in exhaust note. There was nothing inside to deaden sound! It was a noisy bike, but as noise meters in those days measured average noise level it was OK, since the note was not continuous, just a serious of barks.

[Diamond Black Geezer]

The motorbikes weren't much good in the 1950s. Here am I in France in 1959 greasing my rear brake to stop it binding. Bike is a Cotton 250cc Villiers twin 2 stroke, made in Gloucester.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q66r5rohreb1ckx/1959%20TP%20FRANC%20GREASING%20BRAKE.jpg?dl=0
Having survived that trip my father allowed me to buy a bigger bike, a Velocette Venom, 500cc single cylinder 4 stroke, made in Birmingham. At least the brakes both worked, but the single cylinder engine was a sod to kick start, inclined to kick back and sprain my ankle. Furthermore, it was bolted straight into the frame without the benefit of rubber mountings, and the vibration would rattles the fillings out of my teeth. I had it up to the ton once, which seemed fast in those days.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6w42uo4wqfby63f/VELOCETTE%20HR2.jpg?dl=0

Looks a classic picture  Like taken straight out of a 'Golden Motoring Memories' book, or an Autobiography of a retired racing driver etc