Went to see this collection. They have done an amazing job on the rebuild considering the damage that the fire on September 16th 2003 caused.
Amazing how 'we' Brits lead the world then by our poor management skills managed to throw it all away.
An example is this 1953 flat four Wooler. Wonderful clean engine design. Hardly looks fifty four years old now does it?
I looked at the BSA 'Fury' design (with its badge engineered Triumph 'Bandit' behind) and thought "What a waste of a great looking machine". I could really have gone for one of those (yeah, but the colours were the Seventies. See the GT750 triples of Suzuki in this era).
Could easily have rivalled the Yamahas of the day etc too but oh no. Management didn't produce it so another great chance went to the wall. I personally think that if you can instill brand loyalty on the smaller models then the buyer will 'follow you up' to the larger stuff.
Lots and lots of inline 'V' twins. How about a bit of streamlining?
This 'V' twin set-up seems to suit bikes as we know.
Took me just under five hours to see all the bikes in depth and read about them etc (without a stop in the cafeteria) but with only one stop for a call of nature!
I thought the gift shop was rather poor and over priced but the museum is a great place to go nonetheless. Just don't cut yourself short on time!!!!
National Motorcycle Museum @ the weekend
- LotusSevenMan
- Posts: 1915
- Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:32 pm
- Location: Liss, Hampshire. UK
National Motorcycle Museum @ the weekend
"Only ride as fast as your guardian angel can fly" !!!
I went there back in Nov last year, after doing the NEC the day before and staying over night. I thought it was really good, especially after the cost of visiting the 'Motorcycle and Scooter Show'. The car park was free and admission was realistically priced. I really enjoyed it. I couldn't believe how many different makes of British bikes that I'd not heard of Like LSM says, it's a dying shame that all those manufactures are no moreJaglifter wrote:Worth a trip, now its up and running again!
Hope they installed some fire protection this time.
Nice pic's LSM
Yes Jaglifter they have installed fire protection this time, that was one of the first things I checked for (sad I know )
Cheers,
Chris.