Brit Bike Quiz

[Big Dave]

http://www.kiwirider.co.nz/quiz/britquiz.html

[turtleman]

6/10 for me.... must be good at guessing :laugh:

[tri boy]

5/10.:weep:
Going to the puke classics to swat up:2thumbsup

[Ixion]

8/10. I disagree with the answer to #10. The plunger Norton frame was colloquially called the Garden Gate , not the Golden Gate.

[Paul in NZ]

10/10

Garden gate - jeeze louise.... Golden Gate?

[xwhatsit]

8/10. That Manx question is mean, everybody knows every Norton had a featherbed frame :rolleyes:

[Motu]

10/10 - to be expected of course...I didn't even need to think,let alone do a Google.

Who is going to admit to the Golden Gate Dave? They need the Golden Rivet award.I nearly clicked 1690 for the Bonnie,because they are pretty old eh?

[Big Dave]

Who is going to admit to the Golden Gate Dave?

The books says garden - read it on some site.

I'll change it.

taa.

[Big Dave]

10/10

Garden gate - jeeze louise.... Golden Gate?

Why I ask you guys first.

taa.

[Big Dave]

We'll use Chadwick for the Triumph one.

Excellent source.

http://www.ianchadwick.com/motorcycles/triumph/

[James Deuce]

10/10 - Golden Gate should be Garden Gate. Oops - you clever guys saw that then?

I have to stop hanging around Paul - I've started learning stuff.

[Big Dave]

Fixed now - hit refresh.

[Voltaire]

10/10........golden gate...:2guns:
Off to Puke tomorrow :clap:

[pete376403]

10 out of 10 were correct.

Needs a few obscure questions. Those ones are pretty mainstream

[Big Dave]

Good idea.

We'll do an obscure one too. Like:

Name the engineering and design firm that has supplied to Coventry, Meriden and Hinckley Trimphs?


What model was named after them?

[Ixion]

Weslake? Pure guess, don't think they were around in Coventry days.

[Big Dave]

The Riccy was named after Riccardo Engineering.

[Ixion]

Ah. Him. Of course. But isn't it one c ?

[Big Dave]

Ah. Him. Of course. But isn't it one c ?

I'll have to check.

[pete376403]

Which British company was the first to introduce a five speed gearbox on production road bikes?

[Big Dave]

Nah - I'd have to guess or google.

In the spirit I'll guess:

Triumph Bonneville.

Although something like Brough Superior would not surprise.

[pete376403]

Royal Enfield 250 Super 5 around 1960

[Bullitt]

6/10 though it was only questions 9 & 10 I knew as opposed to guesses be they random or slightly educated

[Brian d marge]

Wasn't the nickname given to the single backbone frame design , a garden gate , because it handled like one??

Therefore the answer to question 10 is single backbone. ???????????


The answer to what was the nickname given to the 1949?? Norton ( single backbone ) frame ??

Answer A garden gate


Stephen

[Big Dave]

It's referred to in all my library as the garden gate. added 'nickname'.

[pritch]

8/10 bugger! The memory ain't what it was - if it ever was. :whistle:

I didn't have any trouble with the Garden Gate, might have been different were it not multiple choice, but Lord H and the first Commando got me.

Does this mean I passed NCEA Brit bikes?

[Ixion]

Wasn't the nickname given to the single backbone frame design , a garden gate , because it handled like one??

Therefore the answer to question 10 is single backbone. ???????????


The answer to what was the nickname given to the 1949?? Norton ( single backbone ) frame ??

Answer A garden gate


Stephen

That was my logic also. Who would call a frame a 'golden' gate? They weren't yellow, and it is unlikely that any of the Brit riders of the period would have heard of the relatively obscure Yank bridge which appears to be the only other reference. Whereas all of them would have a garden gate.

[Big Dave]

I know the cause of gate-gate

I was looking at pictures of a luffley Triumph Scrambler in San Fran with bridge backdrop whilst researching t' questions.

[koba]

9/10
Im 24 so it must be to easy.

[Voltaire]

Heres One and no Googling.....thats cheating, only memory, books or magazines.

Who designed Triumphs first 650 twin?:sherlock:

Ixion...I can see your hand is up again...let the other boys have a turn.
" yes miss"....

[twotyred]

Edward Turner

[Voltaire]

Edward Turner

not quite.....his was second.

[Ixion]

And a follow up - what was the very unusual feature of that engine?

[ntst8]

Val Page be the designer?

[PeteJ]

Designer of the 6/1 = Val Page.

Unusual feature = (well, the annoying unusual feature would be its notoriously spindly crankshaft) semi unit construction.

[Ixion]

Nope. Something a LOT more unusual than that. Two things really. One very unusual back then , though common now. The other unusual, ever, and the combination, as far as I know unique on a production machine. Very very rare anyway, certainly from a mainstream manufacturer.

[PeteJ]

One very unusual back then , though common now: gear primary drive? (double helical, I think; I have a mate in the UK who has one of these, so he told me a lot of stuff about it, most of which I have forgotten...).

The other unusual, ever, and the combination, as far as I know unique on a production machine. Very very rare anyway, certainly from a mainstream manufacturer: Hmmmm: I am very interested to learn about this.

[Ixion]

Yes, double helical primary drive was the first part of it, the second part followed from that.

[PeteJ]

Yes, double helical primary drive was the first part of it, the second part followed from that.

So the engine ran "backward"....

Just not really backward or forward with equal facility (or lack of facility), like any number of old 2-strokes would eg the Villiers 197 in the Gnat.

[Ixion]

Yes. Because it used the conventional (then) direct drive gearbox, and the geared primary reversed the direction of rotation , either the bike had to run backwards or the engine did. Triumph elected to have the engine run backwards. Whether this was the right choice is debateable. (Jap bikes don't need to because a jappa gearbox is all indirect , which reverses it again)

I have a vague memory of reading of some Continental machine that ran backwards , but that doesn't really count , being forn an all. And there have been racers that ran backwards . And of course the rear half of a square four does. But a backwards gear primary twin, I can't think of any other. Which is a challenge in itself.

Being a four stroke it couldn't reverse itself the way a two stroke can. Ixion's disreputable cousin (who looks identical to me) and two other wayward youff, many years ago held a backwards race on three BSA Bantams, deliberately riding in reverse past the local snake. The first one, he gaped. The second one he jumped into his snakemobile and set off after us . The third one, he flipped." If I ever catch you young blank blank ". The assistant snake told us later though that he cracked up laughing about it back at the snake shop.

[PeteJ]

I have a vague memory of reading of some Continental machine that ran backwards , but that doesn't really count , being form an all.

The Gnat, the Noble car, and some other single-cyl 2-stroke driven (I hesitate to say "powered") cars used this reverse running to run in reverse. You turned off the ignition, turned the key the other way, started up, and surprise surprise 3 or 4 reverse speeds.

[Ixion]

Yith. But the reversy trick on two strokes doesn't really count. It's not the normal running mode. If two strokes reversing counts then you would need to include almost any two stroke made. (except maybe a V twin - I'd need to think about that one). Scotts made a feature of it too, very handy with a sidecar.

[Bonez]

Yes. Because it used the conventional (then) direct drive gearbox, and the geared primary reversed the direction of rotation , either the bike had to run backwards or the engine did. Triumph elected to have the engine run backwards. Whether this was the right choice is debateable. (Jap bikes don't need to because a jappa gearbox is all indirect , which reverses it again)There's a few jap bikes that have the engine running backwards. One was the Honda 700s Nighthawk shafty.

[Voltaire]

What two features set the 1923 Douglas apart from the crowd at the 1923 TT?
:sherlock:

[PeteJ]

1. The banking sidecar that Freddie Dixon won 2. the first sidecar TT with.

[Voltaire]

1. The banking sidecar that Freddie Dixon won 2. the first sidecar TT with.

no....more to do with going and stopping...

[PeteJ]

no....more to do with going and stopping...

Ah. Well, my first two I was sure of.

Douglas were very early with disc brakes (stopping) and hemi heads (going), so I'll guess those as the things you have in mind.

I am determined never to Google these quizzes....

Cheers

Pete

[pete376403]

Three cylinder inline two strokes - who had them first?

[Voltaire]

Ah. Well, my first two I was sure of.

Douglas were very early with disc brakes (stopping) and hemi heads (going), so I'll guess those as the things you have in mind.

I am determined never to Google these quizzes....

Cheers

Pete

disc brake and twist throttle.... I didn't know about the Hemi heads.

[Voltaire]

Three cylinder inline two strokes - who had them first?

Were they German?

[pete376403]

Nope. This is a brit bike quiz

[Ixion]

Got to be Scott

[pete376403]

Nope.

1915 Royal Enfield. Prototype, didn't make production.

http://www.oxfordshireroyalenfield.co.uk/history.htm

[Big Dave]

Nope.

1915 Royal Enfield. Prototype, didn't make production.

http://www.oxfordshireroyalenfield.co.uk/history.htm

I call foul on a prototype! :-)

[smoky]

However I was sure a friend of mine in the Uk had one of the first ever production Commandos' - a 67 or 68 model, and it was an 800?
So I googled it;
"1967: The Commando is BORN! With just three months left before the Earls Court Show, the decision is made to go with Bernard Hooper's idea to hang a rubber mounted Atlas engine in a completely new frame with a massive single top tube. Hooper and Bob Trigg finish the design and produce a machine in time for the Show. The experimental P10 800cc twin"

http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com/company/history.asp


???

[pete376403]

I call foul on a prototype! :-)

Well if a prototype is a test design where the feasibility and bugs are worked out, I'd say a lot of Brit (and USA) bikes have never made it past the prototype stage, despite being sold as a production machine.

And 1915 was probably not a good time to introduce a new engine, what with WWI and all

[DougB]

Only two right and I lived right through that period. First bike in 1953.
I should have payed more attention.

[invisiblehand1]

yup 10/10

did have to pause on the size of the first commando (and guess) the others were easy - God I am an anorak!

:)

[ntst8]

However I was sure a friend of mine in the Uk had one of the first ever production Commandos' - a 67 or 68 model, and it was an 800?
So I googled it;
"1967: The Commando is BORN! With just three months left before the Earls Court Show, the decision is made to go with Bernard Hooper's idea to hang a rubber mounted Atlas engine in a completely new frame with a massive single top tube. Hooper and Bob Trigg finish the design and produce a machine in time for the Show. The experimental P10 800cc twin"
???

Me thinks your wires are crossed, the quote about the P10 i think is the first half of a sentence which goes on to say it was abandoned pre production, in favour of the Commando. I beleive this is the P10, looks like Dominator running gear with the 800 o/h cam engine.

[smoky]

Me thinks your wires are crossed, the quote about the P10 i think is the first half of a sentence which goes on to say it was abandoned pre production, in favour of the Commando. I beleive this is the P10, looks like Dominator running gear with the 800 o/h cam engine.

Maybe - or maybe he had an unoriginal bike?
I had a 750 Trident and he had the Commando with an 800?
I remember the Trident was probably more than 10 years newer but struggled to beat a Commando 750 a guy in Huntly use to ride around on, until I got to the 5th gear, I had longer legs than he did - I think the Trident was one of the first 5 speeds around at the time

[ntst8]

Maybe - or maybe he had an unoriginal bike?
I had a 750 Trident and he had the Commando with an 800?
I remember the Trident was probably more than 10 years newer but struggled to beat a Commando 750 a guy in Huntly use to ride around on, until I got to the 5th gear, I had longer legs than he did - I think the Trident was one of the first 5 speeds around at the time

Could be on the modified Commando, Dunstall did an 810 version.

[Big Dave]

I still believe a 850 Commando Interstate in Black and Gold is the best looking motorcycle ever.

A Triumph T160 Trident with Red livery is the second.

A 67 Bonneville third.

[Voltaire]

I still believe a 850 Commando Interstate in Black and Gold is the best looking motorcycle ever.

A Triumph T160 Trident with Red livery is the second.

A 67 Bonneville third.


I'd have all three in my garage:done:

parked next to the yellow Ducati 750 sport, grey smoked R90s, and red Mk1 le Mans.....