Sorry Guys, I thought it was a load of crap. (I have seen it before as well)
It just went on about the cafe racer crowd, guilty of that! But it didn't address the 'Glory Days' or even how we got to a situation where Britich bikes ruled and we had an amazing amount of manufacturers.
It didn't show how the development of the racers used that technology in the ordinary road bikes.
The 'Glory Days' should have shown how the Brit bikes were used for basic transport for the masses. The GPO Bantams, the BSA Sidecars used by the AA. The amount of tradesmen that used outfits for their businesses. The BSA and LE Velocette used by the police, these were the hero's of post war Britain and were directly responsible for the footage shown. When I was of an age to ride bikes legally, everyone was a 'mechanic', even if it was not your trade and all of the shown bikes had in some way been modified by their owners to suit their own tastes. I didn't show some of the technology that was developed in the engines, I'm not going to even start there! It didn't show that nearly everyone had a BSA Bantam, C15 or Villiers derived bike.
It was those very clever Japanese that looked at the bikes we were producing and developed them further to get where we are today. It's not really a wonder. I remember when I was designing Press tools many years ago, my office buddy got to go down to Meridan to see the factory. On his return he commented that they were still Jig boring cylinder head gaskets! Drilling to the uninitiated. Yet we knew that to make a Press tool would be sooooosimple! It's no wonder that the Japs took over.
Anyhow rant over, if that programme floats your boat so be it. It could have really addressed the 'Glory Days' a bit better or just called it by some other name.
