JEFF CLEW
Acknowled´gements & Introduction
Things can only get better
Where did yoy get that hat?
Things ain´t what they used to be
Almost there
Taking the effort out of eycling
The scooter boom
The two-stroke bares its teeth
The TT: once the worldá greatest road race
THe bibbñe tha burst
Whatever happened to the sidecar?
Something different
An affection different
An affection for old bikes
Motorcycling gets a bad name
Index
For many, a motorcycle bought at the beginning of the 1950s was a first taste of the freedom offered by personal transport. Although postwar austerity was fading, money was still tight and new machines virtually unobtainable, but there were plenty of cheap prewar machines around and an ex-War Department motorcycle could be bought from one of the big city dealers on the never-never; better still it would be sent to your local railway station. Ex-army dispatch riders coats and boots would serve to keep the weather at bay as the new motorcyclists explored and enjoyed the quiet roads in a pre-motorway era. The decade would become a Golden Era of motorcycling as manufacturers brought new and excitingly advanced machines to an appreciative audience which had never even heard of a Japanese motorcycle. Motorcycle sport mushroomed in popularity at a time when you actually had to go to the race to see it and helped to reinforce the publics ever-growing enthusiasm for the motorcycle. the era would also see the arrival of the moped, scooter and bubblecar. For those that were there, Jeff Clews insight to motorcycling of the 50s will provide a delightful nostalgic journey into the past, while those younger riders who cherish 1950s motorcycles today will discover a whole new dimension to their enjoyment of the machines.
