Motorcycles - Great Britain: Books - History (1/2)

The British Motorcycle Directory - Over 1,100 Marques from 1888

The authors have been involved in the old bike hobby for decades and have been collecting information on every British marque over all that time.

This book is a culmination of their efforts and is a comprehensive directory of British motorcycle manufacturers and their products. Each entry contains a summary history of the manufacturer and its most important machines, and where possible entries are illustrated. There are over 850 illustrations in total.

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Author:	Roy H. Bacon, Ken Hallworth
Details:	288 pages, 29 x 23 x 2.2 cm / 11.4 x 9.1 x 0.87 in, hardback
Illustrations:	850 b&w photos
Publisher:	The Crowood Press Ltd (GB, 2004)
ISBN:	9781861266743

Classic British Motorcycles

Classic British motorcycles were more than simple machines, they were a cultural phenomenon that lasted half a century. From the early days of motoring, British innovators led the way, building some of the world's most famous motorcycles, as well as some of the best performers.
At one point, the rest of the motorcycle world followed Britain's lead, and by the late 1950s, the British were by far the largest producers of motorcycles in the world. However, barely a decade later, the British motorcycle industry was almost bankrupt and in utter disarray.

Illustrated with over 150 photographs, this book explores the rise and fall of the British motorcycle industry, looking at its history through the years and then at the motorcycles themselves by brand, giving the complete story of these amazing machines.

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Author:	Andy Tallone
Details:	96 pages, 24.5 x 17 x 1.3 cm / 9.7 x 6.7 x 0.51 in, paperback
Illustrations:	150+ b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Key Publishing Ltd (GB, 2022)
ISBN:	9781913870577

British Motorcycles 1945-1965 : From Aberdale to Wooler

Rinsey Mills provides A-Z coverage of British motorcycle manufacturers and their products during the 20 years following World War II. This was a time when the British industry was at the top of its game, exporting all round the world and producing everything from humble ride-to-work two-strokes, to fire-breathing projectiles like the magnificent 1000cc Vincent Black Shadow.

From the forgotten Aberdale, of Llwynypia, Wales, to the ingeniously eccentric Wooler, of north-west London, here is alphabetical coverage - in no less than 600 pages - of British motorcycle makes of the period 1945-1965, among them great names such as AJS, BSA, Matchless, Norton, Royal Enfield, Triumph and Vincent.

There is a brief history of each maker, and detailed coverage of the various models they produced, using the original manufacturers' publicity material for the illustrations.

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Author:	Rinsey Mills
Details:	600 pages, 27.5 x 22 x 4.4 cm / 10.8 x 8.7 x 1.73 in, hardback
Illustrations:	1500+ b&w and colour photos, drawings
Publisher:	Herridge & Sons Ltd (GB, 2018)
ISBN:	9781906133610

British Motorcycles of the 1940s and 50s

After VE Day in 1945 the British population returned enthusiastically to the road. But the cost and availability of both vehicles and fuel led to the post-war scene being dominated by motorcycles, most of them ex-military machines, eagerly snapped up for everyday use in an age when a family car remained just a dream for many. The British industry, meanwhile, was exhorted to 'export or die', and until well into the 1950s the majority of new British bikes were sold abroad.

During this period, the industry - the largest and most important in the world - continued to develop new and exciting machines. Mick Walker tells the story of the British post-war motorcycle during this golden age of the industry. With the help of archive photographs and advertising material, this book conjures up a lost age of the British bike, of journeys to work by popping two-strokes, and trips to the seaside in the family motorcycle combination.

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Author:	Mick Walker
Details:	56 pages, 21 x 15 x 0.5 cm / 8.25 x 5.9 x 0.2 in, paperback
Illustrations:	b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Shire Publications Ltd (GB, 2010)
ISBN:	9780747808053

Big British Bikes of the 50s and 60s : Thunder on the Rocker Road

In the 1950s and '60s the British motorcycle industry was at its postwar peak, with its large-capacity high-performance bikes in strong demand all over the world.
AJS/Matchless, BSA, Norton, Royal Enfield and Triumph were all making 100mph-plus big twins, with the king of them all, at least into the 1950s, being the mighty1000cc Vincents, while among the ton-up singles were the BSA Gold Star and the Velocette Venom and Thruxton.

In this book veteran motorcycle writer Steve Wilson reviews the top-of-the-line bikes of all these manufacturers, first giving an introduction to the motorcycling scene in the period. Then the motorcycle makers are dealt with alphabetically, with their big bikes described in detail and their performance, handling, strengths and weaknesses discussed.

In addition to a wide selection of archive photographs, specially commissioned colour photography features examples of the outstanding bikes of the period: AMC / Matchless CSR 650 twins and their Norton Atlas-engined 'Hybrid' siblings, BSA A7SS 500, Gold Star singles, AIO Super Rocket and Rocket Gold Star 650 twins, Norton SS 500/600/650 twins, Velocette Venom and Thruxton 500, Royal Enfield Constellation 700 twin, Triumph pre-unit 500 and 650 twins and unit Bonneville 650, and finally the Vincent 1000 vee-twin.

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Author:	Gary Wilson
Details:	156 pages, 27 x 21 cm / 10.6 x 8.25 in, hardback
Illustrations:	200 b&w and 80 colour photos
Publisher:	Herridge & Sons Ltd (GB, 2015)
ISBN:	9781906133603

Catalog of British Motorcycles (1951)

Published in the USA under the same title in 1951 by Floyd Clymer, the original publication was a pocket sized landscape format book and it is often criticized as difficult to read due to its small print size. Consequently, this edition was re-formatted into a larger and more conventional portrait size which has increased the text size by almost 40%.

This publication provides the reader with an insight into the country, and the manufacturers, that were ultimately destined to succumb to the dominance of the Japanese motorcycle industry. A total of 33 different British motorcycle manufacturers and their various models are included and sadly, less than a handful of those 33 manufacturers survive today.

A 'must have' resource for any motorcycle enthusiast and an invaluable reference for anyone interested in British 'iron'. Many of the motorcycles featured within are highly collectible today and the predominance of these early manufacturers no longer exist.
This truly historical documentation of the glory years of British motorcycle manufacturing has been out-of-print and unavailable for many years. We are pleased to be able to offer this reproduction as a service to all motorcycle enthusiasts worldwide.

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Author:	Floyd Clymer
Details:	84 pages, 28 x 21 x 0.5 cm / 11 x 8.25 x 0.2 in, paperback
Illustrations:	83 b&w photos
Publisher:	Veloce Press (USA, 2014)
ISBN:	9781588502223

British Motorcycles of the 1960s and '70s

For the first half of the 20th century Great Britain led the world in motorcycle design and production, exporting its products to countries in every section of the globe. However, as the second half of the century began in 1960 this once great industry commenced what was to be a terminal decline.
During the 1960s and '70s Britain still manufactured a wide range of machines, but a combination of poor management, lack of investment, foreign competition (notably from Japan), and the arrival of the small, affordable car transpired to effectively sound the death knell of the British motorcycle by the end of the 1970s.

Contents: Introduction - Café Racer Culture - The Rising Sun - The Dawn of the Superbike - Specialist Manufacturers - The American Market - Decline and Fall - Further Reading - Places to Visit - Index.

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Author:	Mick Walker
Details:	64 pages, 21 x 15.5 x 0.5 cm / 8.25 x 6.1 x 0.2 in, paperback
Illustrations:	b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Shire Publications Ltd (GB, 2011)
ISBN:	9780747810575