Whatever happened to the British Motorcycle Industry?
NOW OUT OF print, 'WHTTBMCIc' ould have been subtitled "Bert Hopwood Sticks the Boot In". Hopwood comes across as opinionated, irascible and blunt, but then he did design several of the classic engines that kept the British industry on top for decades, so perhaps he was more than entitled to his opinion.
The first half tells of Hopwood's early career, switching between Ariel, Triumph and Norton and AMCand BSAand back to Triumph. The latter part deals with the actual collapse, and his conclusion that the biggest problem was that BSAmanagement didn't actually like motorcycles.
Interestingly, it was written in 1981, two years before Meriden finally closed and at the time his critiques raised a few eyebrows there. There's a lot of score-settling, with trade unions, management and Bonneville creator, Edward Turner, all getting the treatment from Hopwood's acid-dipped pen. In retrospect most of his criticism looks to have been entirely justified. He didn't seem
to like many people, except perhaps Triumph engineer Doug Hele.
There are lots of interesting details about prototypes and unbuilt designs. A 650cc Bonneville engine in one of the frames from the cancelled Bandit/Fury 350 looked promising, and the early Wankels also get a look in, with BSAbranding and what looks like an A65 Spitfire petrol tank before they became Nortons.
Hopwood's own designs for a modular range that never made it off the drawing board also make an appearance. The designs range from a 200cc single to
1200cc VS and their style is very much like the Tl60 Trident. Hopwood's descriptions of his own working practices are fascinating, as was his habit of getting into furious rows with famous senior managers ranging from Edward Turner to Joe Craig at Norton, from the entire board at AMC, to NVT boss Dennis Poore, then writing detailed and angry resignation letters, reproduced in the book, and then instantly walking into another top position at a rival. The book has been out of print for many years, and commands huge prices on the internet selling sites, where £60 plus is not unusual. Perhaps a reprint might be in order.
■ of Print:try Amazon.co.uk for secondhand examples
ISBN:1 85960 427 7