the snooper
getting older by the day
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there is a shop like that in hull FR Scott Ltd and was just as you describe, but it was modernised a few years ago but still on the go
- Thread starter Tinbasherdan
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Fazerruss
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brightspark
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u obviously haven't watched the program how Honda started out
C
Chris Stevens
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Honda started out with the 1959 Super Cub, which is the largest selling 2 wheeler ever made. The bikes they subsequently produced for competition owed very little to British single cylinder designs dating back to the 1930s, which in the early 60s had already been outclassed by multi cylinder Italian made machines.
Essentially the British motorcycle industry had a finite life as soon as the Japanese started to produce larger capacity machines, and the final nails in the coffin were hammered home when the BSA and Triumph triples became a standing joke pretty much overnight, with the introduction of the CB750, and then the Z1 the first of the true "superbikes".............
julianthegypsy
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Well I had a Tiger and I felt like a midget on a pennyfarthing!
JEZGUZ
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Two threads for the price of one
. As for the toolshops, the places like B&Q etc built the coffin, the internet hammered in the nails. I used to work in a hardware shop when I was at school as a saturday job, they sold just about anything, a bit like "open all hours".but they didn't sell engineering stuff just diy tools. As for the bikes, wheels is wheels, but some are better than others, my own preferences I'll keep to myself but each to their own.
. As for the toolshops, the places like B&Q etc built the coffin, the internet hammered in the nails. I used to work in a hardware shop when I was at school as a saturday job, they sold just about anything, a bit like "open all hours".but they didn't sell engineering stuff just diy tools. As for the bikes, wheels is wheels, but some are better than others, my own preferences I'll keep to myself but each to their own.
ronan
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The british bike industry made some great bikes pre war, big v-twins, by bsa , brough superior etc. Straight fours by the likes of wilkinson sword (yes the makers of razor blades) other great designs by matchless, rudge, ajs etc, but people back then were very conservative and wouldn't buy them. Post war it was parallel twins and singles, some like the bsa goldstar were good, but the likes of the tiger cub, bsa c15 and derivatives, and over stretched twins were a cul-de-sac. The bsa-triumph triple weren't as bad as people made out, again it was a chance missed. It was designed by Doug Hele who was a very good engineer with an open mind who could see the way the wind was blowing. He had the triple ready to go in 1963, but was told by the old codgers who owned bsa/triumph "who in their right mind would buy a 750cc triple or 1000cc four to ride to work on ?". As we know now.....everybody.
A lad i subscribe to on youtube has a sorted 930cc triple, it ain't that slow and could have easily been built in 1963 if they got their act together.
A lad i subscribe to on youtube has a sorted 930cc triple, it ain't that slow and could have easily been built in 1963 if they got their act together.
penfold
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15-20 years ago in Glasgow, this was Fyfe and McGrouther; it was like a dungeon in there, even in the height of summer it was dark in there, big mahogany desk, blokes in brown dust coats and rows of shelves which reached up to the 16' ceiling and away into the darkness. Fasteners were weighed, given to you in a brown paper poke and you left with the vague feeling you'd paid too little for what you'd received. They modernised in the naughties but I think it closed not long after, probably as a result of the money spent modernising the place as much as things moving online.
Edit: they still exist apparently, but they've moved south of the river to some anonymous tin shed.
Bill's Tool Store was always good for a visit too, although I've not been there for about 8 years either.
Ernst Degner was Suzuki's big break, he wrecked Walter Kaaden's career; given the secrets Degner gave to Suzuki were Kaaden's it's a bit of a tough thing to swallow, MZ 2-strokes were doing well up to that point. Jan Leek's book 'MZ - the racers; the birth of the modern two stroke' is quite good.
If Meriden had managed to punt tripehounds out the door oiltight and reliable(and for that matter the rest of the product range) the japs would still be where China is now; also-rans making their money on selling scooters and commuter bikes to those who don't care much about the badge on the tank.
ms08
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I used to own a T150 and it had a three into one exhaust system, that vid brought back some memories, there's nothing like a triple on song, superb
Agreed - strange how odd cylinders work.....Audi, Volvo etc
C
Chris Stevens
Guest
Even the dreadful Tiger Cub today is very popular among trials types, with a fully loaded modern machine for the "P65 Scottish" costing upwards of £10k to build. Bantams are more of a bargain at £6k ready built, and are less fragile than Cubs, but neither are actually "P65", and sadly mean that anyone with anything vaguely authentic era specific might as well stay home............
winchman
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almost 30 years ago I had a tool franchise selling tools and equipment to local garages. After 12 months I packed up as the franchise wasn't working due to various issues supply being one. I did find it was ok and you could make a living, I packed up and went back to engineering. about 13 years ago with small kids and not much spare cash and only working 4 days a week I set up on my own exactly the same selling good quality but mainly imported stuff. It went well and I did it on and off for about 5 years but then it just died as more small businesses had closed, more cheap but good stuff is available and more vehicles need a computer not a spanner. The traditional tool shops are few and far between as you say we just sit in the house and buy on line, the manufacturers abroad have caught on and now make some excellent stuff so the likes of Britool etc will find it harder to compete, I sold Bergen which is made in Taiwan, but I cant fault it and offered a guarantee and rarely got anything back.
For me its a combination of the following.
People don't fix stuff.
People want the cheapest.
People shop on line.
For me its a combination of the following.
People don't fix stuff.
People want the cheapest.
People shop on line.
There used to be a proper toolshop in Southend, Fardon's. It was full of quality gear of every description, but he would not stock japanese tools on principle having spent some years on the Burma railway as a pow.
Understandable but he went bust in the end. Then theres Marshall & Parsons, used to be very good but got hammered when machine mart opened a junk shop 50 yards down the road, they are not so good now.
Understandable but he went bust in the end. Then theres Marshall & Parsons, used to be very good but got hammered when machine mart opened a junk shop 50 yards down the road, they are not so good now.
Scotts were one of the only ones locally that could supply me with 3/4" BSF studding(very recently)
the snooper
getting older by the day
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They do seem to carry loads of older fastenings and ironmongery
slim_boy_fat
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Mostly Biggleswade is full of hairdressers, cafe's and charity shops etc but we still have one little gem, a little Ironmongers in the town, one of the few surviving useful shops left - Golthorpes, not sure if they do Lathe tools (I'l ask when I get mine working) but they have literally all manner of things in there, its a proper little Aladin's cave and they do branded tools
View attachment 82684
You could always phone them and see if they have what you need, and if so, if they'd oblige by posting it to you.
Seadog
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We used to have two almost next door to each other in Walthamstow. Sedgwick and Beaven and Wakefields. Sedwicks closed in 1995 but was typical of the shops being described. You could walk in and leave with virtually anything engineering related. The place was tiny but was crammed with everything you could wish for. Rolls of pipe hanging from hooks, drive belting, steel and non-ferrous stock, quality British and German made tools, all sorts of gasket materials, drills reamers etc. etc. etc. You get the picture. Absolute heaven. Wakefields, aka 'The Baker's Arms Walkaround' is still going but is a shadow of its former self. Its pretty unique, I would think, in that it has tray upon tray of every conceivable fixing you can imagine, and a few you perhaps couldn't, laid out for you to 'walk around' and pick, a bit like Woolworth's pick-and-mix for the engineer and DIYer.
Kent
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Problems as I see it
Shop work is low paid generally- pay peanuts get monkeys
Older guys don't in general do well with computerised stock systems let alone Internet sales ( I am after hanging on an age before my local place finds the price of what I want to buy) the guys are all over 65
The chances of them running an Internet sales outfit from the same shop is about nil. The will is not present to learn how
Selling well on Internet is price driven. Ability to sell cheap is quantity ( why should I wait a week for them to bring something in they don't have) - I can get it in 24 hours online without a drive out.!
On the split thread - the bike engineers moved into aerospace gradually after the war till few were left. Cars were British Leyland who believed the public would put up with junk forever
The working man who used to drive three wheelers and bikes bought a Bl car instead and likely lost all interest in vehicles other than a means of transport as a result
Shop work is low paid generally- pay peanuts get monkeys
Older guys don't in general do well with computerised stock systems let alone Internet sales ( I am after hanging on an age before my local place finds the price of what I want to buy) the guys are all over 65
The chances of them running an Internet sales outfit from the same shop is about nil. The will is not present to learn how
Selling well on Internet is price driven. Ability to sell cheap is quantity ( why should I wait a week for them to bring something in they don't have) - I can get it in 24 hours online without a drive out.!
On the split thread - the bike engineers moved into aerospace gradually after the war till few were left. Cars were British Leyland who believed the public would put up with junk forever
The working man who used to drive three wheelers and bikes bought a Bl car instead and likely lost all interest in vehicles other than a means of transport as a result
julianthegypsy
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The motorcycle press also has to bear its share of the blame for the demise of the British bike industry. The manufacturers spent thousands on advertising, so whatever rehashed junk they released it was bound to get glowing reviews. Until the Japanese came along and people realized that bikes didn't have to leak oil everywhere and need fixing every Saturday afternoon before the wrestling, as well as a thorough inspection every time you rode it to make sure nothing had fallen off. If the likes of MCN had been more honest, they might have had to invest in some new design and tooling and could probably still be here now. After all, British people can definitely build bikes that work, look at Triumph these days, they howl like they should (at least with a blue flame exhaust fitted!) and don't break down much either. They may be partly built in Thailand now for cost reasons, but they are definitely British.
