Whatever Happened to the British Motorcycle Industry? [Paperback]

Bert Hopwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1998

The true, inside story of what caused the dramatic decline of the British motorcycle industry at a time when it had to face up to increasing competition from foreign manufacturers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Haynes Publishing; Revised edition (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859604277
• ISBN-13: 978-1859604274
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,007,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good combo of historical/technical/autobiographical lit., November 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Whatever Happened to the British Motorcycle Industry? (Paperback)

Hopwood worked in turn for at least 4 British motorcycle manufacturers (Ariel, Triumph, BSA, Norton) during the best and other times of the business. While being quite critically-minded towards the management of his employers, the creator of the Norton Dominator and other classics acknowledges the work of other motorcycle manufacturers, in particular that of the Japanese. The sad demise of the British motorcycle industry is commented in a silently amusing way, as far as such is possible. Picture material is interesting also and gains from illuminating captions. To my opinion, a book which is interesting not only for owners and riders of British bikes, but also for people interested in the history of British industry. Easy to read and really good written.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside looks into the British Motorcycle Industry, November 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Whatever Happened to the British Motorcycle Industry? (Paperback)

The book "Whatever happened to the British Motorcycle Industry?" by Bert Hopwood gives an insight in the fascinating field of motorcycle production from the pre-WW II years until the early 70s in Great Britain. It recalls the working life of its author, who was associated with the famous British names of Triumph, BSA and Norton. The book is unique in two ways: firstly, it does not concentrate of the technical side of the bikes. Instead, it is based on a broader perspective. It tells its readers why certain motorcycles were built and why others were scrapped. Secondly, it offers first-hand explanations of what went wrong with the British producers. One is reminded that the so-called 'Japanese onslaught', starting in the early 1960s, could have been prevented, had the British reacted in time with modern features that were already designed (multi-cylinder ohc-machines) or put their focus on smaller bikes being manufactured with economies-of-scale a.s.o.

It is a book that tells the sad history of the British motorcycle industry that once was on top of the world but virtually ceded to exist with the collapse of NVT in the early 1970s. It is seen through the eyes of a key figure, who worked for decades in the field of motorcycle design and production. Anyone, whose interest goes beyond the number of valves used in a certain engine, is recommended to read this book! I suppose it is the only one of its kind that gives that much detailed information on a non-scientific level.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Guy with Story Who Tells it Well, February 10, 2004

By 

Norman L. Bleier "Norman L Bleier" (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whatever Happened to the British Motorcycle Industry? (Paperback)

I was looking for books to recommend to young people who are thinking about studying engineering when I came across this book. It is an excellent story of one engineer's career for people who want to know what engineers do, although today a similar engineer would design with CAD. I liked the contrast between the author and his nemesis, the charismatic, egotistical inventor Mr. Edward Turner. Most professional engineers will encounter non-engineering inventors who design from the seat of their pants. Such inventors play a role in liberating imagination from analytical self-censure but they can do damage. In the case of the British motorcycle industry the damage may have been that the engineers and charismatic inventors across the industry were not able to find a unified voice to take leadership of their industry. The British motorcycle industry may have survived if they had been able to do this. Its demise certainly was not for lack of technical talent and imagination. It would have been useful if Mr. Hopwood had compared his industry with other British industries that lost their competitive edge around the same time as motorcycles such as machine tools. It would have been useful to future engineers if Mr. Hopwood had critiqued on his own methods of struggle with the corporate leadership. In the end, the book is about a guy with a story and he tells it well. It is probably not suitable for high school students - they do not have enough experience in the business of design and manufacture - but it certainly is suitable for them later in life when dealing with real world issues.