Goodness, this took me back! In July 1963, the year before this magazine, I bought a new Jawa 250 from Pride & Clarke (great value at 120 quid!), rode in a Lewis Leathers heavy PVC riding suit with a Stadium jet-style helmet on the 75-mile-each-way commute to my military base. It was 100% reliable, which is a lot more than I could say for the BSA C11G that I had a few years later! In '84 I bought a very tired 1970 Jawa 350, completely refurbished it and kept it for 15 years; wish I'd still got it. Still riding at nearly 79, on an '05 Guzzi Breva 750.
I Can remember the magazine, i kept on buying it for years. Pride & Clark's or sharks , as we used to call it back in 64 Was in stockwell road, with plenty of other bike shops They were at the time, a bigger seller of Panther motorcycles And the capri scooters.....I waited until i was sixteen When the Suzuki range came out and went for a M15 sportsman Brilliant bike £99 on the road.....I'm 76 now and still ride bikes " Happy Days"
I got much of my knowledge of bikes from Motorcycle Maniacs, the articles were well written, although we used to laugh at the over use of exclamation marks with headings like, "Change that oil" !!!! . Other sources of information were local back street mechanics, and later, owners clubs. None of my working class friends could afford dealer servicing, so we had to learn to do it ourselves, which is one of the reasons why I am still riding at 76.
Thanks for showing the Motorcycle Mechanics magazine, back in the day I probably had that same June 1964 copy as the front cover looked so familiar to me, it certainly brought back memories of when I was 15 y.o. and bought my first bike a BSA 175cc Bantam Super and it was exactly the same as the advert you showed, mine was Blue/Chrome colour, one day I had it flat out on the A1 motorway at 65 mph with a tail-wind! 😉😊
Hi Simon, it’s amazing to think that only 5 years later, the Honda 750/4 arrived! I started buying motorcycle magazines as an 18yo just having got my first big bike, a Yamaha DT250 Enduro in September 1975. It was an American Cycle Guide magazine with a Triumph Bonneville 750 on the cover! I started collecting them every month until the magazine shut down in the early 90’s! I also bought Cycle, Cycle World and Motorcyclist magazines. Thankfully they went digital eventually, and I still subscribe to a bunch of them including Classic Motorcycle Mechanics! I still get a kick out of digging through the ammo boxes they’re stored in and re-reading them on a rainy day! Where has 50 years gone?!! Ride safe! 🏍️💪🍺🇿🇦
I like looking at old motorcycle magazines, they reflect the era in so many ways. I just about remember these times, I was 10 years old in 64 and had a burgeoning interest in motorcycles. This magazine was the first title that I later bought. At the age of 15, Easy Rider and then later in 1972 the first issue of Bike Magazine that I bought from issue 1, right through the 70s and into the 80s, did it for me. I still have pile, and I look at them from time to time.
I can look at magazines going back to pre WW2 , it`s a interesting read sometimes and makes you think what they thought the future of two wheels would be
The good old days no central heating tin bath letterpress printed mags not lithographic but now I can service my scrambler xc watching your videos fantastic thank u take care
I remember having a few copies of Motor Cycle magazine from around that era. There was a lot about cost-effective repairs and how second-hand examples of a number of models performed. Mostly pretty useful information. Also plenty of adverts for Moly-Slip, valve springs, tyres etc.
Motorcycle Mechanics started in the early 1960's, along with Motorcycle Sport, and together with Motorcycling, The Motorcycle, Motorcycle Illustrated and MCN provided a wealth of information for readers. 1960 had the highest UK motorcycle registrations and exports too.
In 1962 £100 was worth £2673, so the T120 at £320 would be worth £8550 today, though the average wage was only £799 p.a. according to google. No doubt the young men who wanted a bike back then, would be on less money.
Has my "virginian" jacket and Lewis Leathers boots gone up in price? The night I got wiped off by a car ,1970,I'd put them both on plus crash hat,not for safety,it was pi55ing down!!!..saved my life.
That’s the desirable bikes being listed. No doubt P&C had lock ups full of prewar shaggers,panthers with double adult chairs and ivory calthorps and tatty rudges and ok supremes for twenty quid or less. That’s why you learned to take heads off without using tyre levers and why timing a mag was actually important.
Goodness, this took me back! In July 1963, the year before this magazine, I bought a new Jawa 250 from Pride & Clarke (great value at 120 quid!), rode in a Lewis Leathers heavy PVC riding suit with a Stadium jet-style helmet on the 75-mile-each-way commute to my military base. It was 100% reliable, which is a lot more than I could say for the BSA C11G that I had a few years later! In '84 I bought a very tired 1970 Jawa 350, completely refurbished it and kept it for 15 years; wish I'd still got it. Still riding at nearly 79, on an '05 Guzzi Breva 750.
I Can remember the magazine, i kept on buying it for years.
Pride & Clark's or sharks , as we used to call it back in 64
Was in stockwell road, with plenty of other bike shops
They were at the time, a bigger seller of Panther motorcycles
And the capri scooters.....I waited until i was sixteen
When the Suzuki range came out and went for a M15 sportsman
Brilliant bike £99 on the road.....I'm 76 now and still ride bikes
" Happy Days"
Thanks for the lovely trip down memory lane. Appreciated.
I have a whole stack of them , Inc one that the cover shows two cafe racers outside the ACE cafe. I'm 80years old and still riding.
I bought them from the age of 11. That’s a long time ago. They taught me so much.
I got much of my knowledge of bikes from Motorcycle Maniacs, the articles were well written, although we used to laugh at the over use of exclamation marks with headings like, "Change that oil" !!!! . Other sources of information were local back street mechanics, and later, owners clubs. None of my working class friends could afford dealer servicing, so we had to learn to do it ourselves, which is one of the reasons why I am still riding at 76.
I was nine years old. Thank you for sharing this trip down memory lane. More please.
Excellent. I have a copy from 1960
In the 70s I used to buy this magazine every month. Useful information in it articles that where very informative
Great magazine, used to buy it every month.
My first big road bike was a 1964 BSA T-Bolt that I purchased used in 1969
Thanks for showing the Motorcycle Mechanics magazine, back in the day I probably had that same June 1964 copy as the front cover looked so familiar to me, it certainly brought back memories of when I was 15 y.o. and bought my first bike a BSA 175cc Bantam Super and it was exactly the same as the advert you showed, mine was Blue/Chrome colour, one day I had it flat out on the A1 motorway at 65 mph with a tail-wind! 😉😊
Thanks for taking the time to share the mag - a real window into biking back then, especially the adverts. 👍
Hi Simon, it’s amazing to think that only 5 years later, the Honda 750/4 arrived! I started buying motorcycle magazines as an 18yo just having got my first big bike, a Yamaha DT250 Enduro in September 1975. It was an American Cycle Guide magazine with a Triumph Bonneville 750 on the cover! I started collecting them every month until the magazine shut down in the early 90’s! I also bought Cycle, Cycle World and Motorcyclist magazines. Thankfully they went digital eventually, and I still subscribe to a bunch of them including Classic Motorcycle Mechanics! I still get a kick out of digging through the ammo boxes they’re stored in and re-reading them on a rainy day! Where has 50 years gone?!! Ride safe! 🏍️💪🍺🇿🇦
I had MM from 1970 onwards when Charles E Dean was the editor. Great magazine and very useful for a 16 yr old biker.
Used to love the Motorcycle Mechanics magazine…
I like looking at old motorcycle magazines, they reflect the era in so many ways.
I just about remember these times, I was 10 years old in 64 and had a burgeoning interest in motorcycles. This magazine was the first title that I later bought.
At the age of 15, Easy Rider and then later in 1972 the first issue of Bike Magazine that I bought from issue 1, right through the 70s and into the 80s, did it for me. I still have pile, and I look at them from time to time.
I can look at magazines going back to pre WW2 , it`s a interesting read sometimes and makes you think what they thought the future of two wheels would be
The good old days no central heating tin bath letterpress printed mags not lithographic but now I can service my scrambler xc watching your videos fantastic thank u take care
I got a few of those magazines in a box in the garage 😊
I remember having a few copies of Motor Cycle magazine from around that era. There was a lot about cost-effective repairs and how second-hand examples of a number of models performed. Mostly pretty useful information. Also plenty of adverts for Moly-Slip, valve springs, tyres etc.
I can remember clipping a coupon and getting a big Manila envelope full of stuff in return, happy days
You made a series of bloopers on the prices of the bikes eg "£69 and 10 pence" etc. Of course it should be read as "£69 and 10s"
Yes, of course! Thanks for pointing out my mistake.
Motorcycle Mechanics started in the early 1960's, along with Motorcycle Sport, and together with Motorcycling, The Motorcycle, Motorcycle Illustrated and MCN provided a wealth of information for readers. 1960 had the highest UK motorcycle registrations and exports too.
In 1962 £100 was worth £2673, so the T120 at £320 would be worth £8550 today, though the average wage was only £799 p.a. according to google. No doubt the young men who wanted a bike back then, would be on less money.
That's right even a £30 was a,struggle
Im 60, so really interested in this
Has my "virginian" jacket and Lewis Leathers boots gone up in price?
The night I got wiped off by a car ,1970,I'd put them both on plus crash hat,not for safety,it was pi55ing down!!!..saved my life.
I've still got a pair of Lewis Leather gloves
Bikes were simple machines back then. Not very reliable, but fairly easily fixed, which is why so many are still running 60+ years later.
From experience....a scewdriver and a pair of pliers would keep you going "Just"
I had a bunch of those magazines and found it hard to understand England English since I speak Canadian English.
Is it really that different? Is it because we use different terminology such as "spanner" and "mud guard" and "top yoke"?
1960 - How to strip and rebuild your gearbox.
2024 - Refer to dealer.
A friend showed me his Ducati owners manual recently: How to adjust the chain - refer to dealer.
Fascinating Jim. Not life as we know it.
That’s the desirable bikes being listed. No doubt P&C had lock ups full of prewar shaggers,panthers with double adult chairs and ivory calthorps and tatty rudges and ok supremes for twenty quid or less. That’s why you learned to take heads off without using tyre levers and why timing a mag was actually important.
What a find, your chum has a keeper of a wife…
Spare piston! 😂
Jubilee clip, sparking plug, tyre, decoking, you people talk strange.