The Simple Life: 50s touring

[Paul in NZ]

Any way, it was a darn good tale about the life and times of a group of motorcyclists back in the day, they may not have represented your average biker in the 50s but thoroughly enjoyable none the less.

To be fair - most documented stories about bikers today revolve around extra ordinay riders as well. Not many are all that riveted by tales of daily commutes to work on broken arsed commuters or repeated rides over the Rimutakas but people will pay good $$ to watch wealthy two actors ride the latest BMW's across russia chased by a production team.

[martybabe]

To be fair - most documented stories about bikers today revolve around extra ordinay riders as well. Not many are all that riveted by tales of daily commutes to work on broken arsed commuters or repeated rides over the Rimutakas but people will pay good $$ to watch wealthy two actors ride the latest BMW's across russia chased by a production team.

Indeed and that was kind of my point, if they had have been an ordinary/average group of 1950s bikers, we wouldn't have had this wonderful, well documented window into motorcycling adventure 50s style. Thousands of bikers head for continental Europe every summer these days on the road trip of a life time, I wonder how many realise their predecessors were doing it in style over half a century ago, I certainly didn't. I hesitate to use the term pioneers but then why not, early pioneers of continental travel by motorcycle, must have been a hell of an adventure for them all.

[eliot-ness]

Foreign travel for holidays was very rare for working class Brit peeps ,certainly in my circles, even in the sixties and early seventies, so shipping new bikes by air for a biking holiday in Europe in the fifties is quite remarkable really.

I'm wondering if it was a little easier and cheaper to do in the post war period, certainly many from that era would have been more used to Foreign travel after being posted world wide during the war, the task and logistics of a little sortie into Europe wouldn't have phased them all that much at that time I guess.

I would certainly think there was a higher than average amount of money available to this group, they weren't short of a bob or two. I'm sure food was still rationed in '53 too, I know my brother (born '53) had a ration card. Might explain all the tea and ciggys if you've got nothing to eat.

My Father in Law used to tell me many tales of biking back then, claims to have done a ride from Devon to Birmingham at an average of 90mph on an Ariel square four with the be-stockinged short skirted mother in law as pillion. I don't know if that was possible even with no speed limits but fascinating all the same.

Any way, it was a darn good tale about the life and times of a group of motorcyclists back in the day, they may not have represented your average biker in the 50s but thoroughly enjoyable none the less.

Petrol rationing ended in May, 1950, food rationing took longer, 1954.
The "Squariel" was a reasonable good bike, but an average of 90mph, Birmingham to Devon, was outside the possibilities of any road bike at that time, a few riders of that era could have done it on a Manx Norton on the Isle of Man, Geoff Duke averaged 92mph at the 1950 TT. But,, at a time when the most popular wrist watch was Timex, and Smiths manufactured speedometers, times and speeds had little to do with reality, any more than it has now, but those stories are part and parcel of biking, and I hope they remain so.

[martybabe]

Petrol rationing ended in May, 1950, food rationing took longer, 1954.
The "Squariel" was a reasonable good bike, but an average of 90mph, Birmingham to Devon, was outside the possibilities of any road bike at that time, a few riders of that era could have done it on a Manx Norton on the Isle of Man, Geoff Duke averaged 92mph at the 1950 TT. But,, at a time when the most popular wrist watch was Timex, and Smiths manufactured speedometers, times and speeds had little to do with reality, any more than it has now,[B] but those stories are part and parcel of biking, and I hope they remain so.[/B]

Me too mate I was never in a position to dispute his claims and even now that I am I still wouldn't, long live the Anecdotal motorcycling tale.

Actually, thinking about it, I struggled to achieve and maintain a constant recorded 90mph on seventies bikes, I'll just take it he went flat out all the way home, happy days.

[pete376403]

... and Smiths manufactured speedometers...speeds had little to do with reality, any more than it has now,.

Smiths Chronometric speedos were the most accurate instrument available for a very long time, to the point that NZ cop bikes in the late 60s / early 70s (ie Brit bikes) had the standard magnetic drag cup speedo removed, and chronometrics fitted.

Chronos were standard fitting to most if not all Brit bikes in the 50s . Very complex and probably worth a mint now.
archives.jampot.dk/Technical/Speedo/Smiths_Speedo_restoration.pdf

[scumdog]

Magic, ta for the link.

And if'n I'm allowed to strap a thermett on the back of a Buell, (as opposed to something more "period") for a picnic by the river in Morrison's bush (?) then pencil me in, eh?

Ah, me 'an normajeane (mrs Scumdog) have been known to make some nice sandwiches, get some biscuits & cake, load them into the wickerwork picnic basket and load it and the thermette plus tea making gear into the boot of our Thunderbird and cruise off down to the Catlins area for a nice picnic lunch in a quiet scenic spot...

Some things a priceless...

[Voltaire]

Good Post, I particularly like the pre 1953 split window VW' Beetles. My father came from the back blocks of Galway and worked in England during the war, he told me lots of stories about making good money plastering bomb damaged houses ceilings in the rich areas of london after the war...and how they blew the lot....
He immigrated here in 1949 on an assisted passage which meant you worked in the mines for a year to pay for it ( they should bring that back in)
I have a certificate on the wall from Pan Am for crossing the equator, its dated 1959 when he flew home to Ireland...Auckland, Fiji, Hawaii, LA, Chicago, NY, Shannon Ireland.....he told me once you could have bought a house for the price of a return trip to England...true of not....it must have been a lot of money.
Immigrants seem to have the " get off your arse gene" ...

My Wife and I did a 4 month trip around Europe in 1989 just prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, we went off the usual tourist route into the then Eastern Bloc. Some of these pictures remind me of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia....bugger all cars, almost no advertising anywhere, strong military and Police presence and the smell of coal and 2 stroke mix. We had a 1971 BMW that attracted attention almost everywhere in the East. In most places there was a real sense of being in the past, streets in East Germany still had gas lighting and most of the roads were like the ones in the 50's pics. I was back there a few years ago and now it all looks like the rest of Europe....'progress' I suppose....McDonalds...Burger King......BP......the usual....