BSA Motorcycle and other things.
BSA made some of the finest motorcycles on earth right up until they went broke with all the other English manufacturers in the early 1970s. By the time they went broke BSA had bought Norton and a couple of other brands.
Do you know what BSA stands for? Birmingham Small Arms. Yep, the company was a maker of rifles and pistols before they started making motorcycles.
Burt Greaves' brother lost the use of his legs in WWII while flying in the RAF. Immediately after the war Burt built his brother a powered wheelchair. The prototype didn't work out so well and Burt built another. and it worked. Burt had learned a ton about power generation and transfer so he decided to build a motorcycle. One of the best. Dirt motorcycling would never be the same.
Back to Birmingham. Who is the most famous band from Birmingham? Black Sabbath, of course. 50 years ago today Black Sabbath released their most famous album, Paranoid. The band wrote the songs during the 4 month tour for their previous album and when they got home recorded the album in just 6 days.
Wonder about the start of heavy metal music.
It IS the weekend, and no doubt I'll listen to some music other than Black Sabbath. No doubt I'll have some blues on the tune box at some point in the weekend and you can bet I'll listen to some Beth Hart. Got the voice of Etta James in a scrawny body. On this vid she is backed by Joe Bonamassa, probably the best blues guitarist since Stevie Ray Vaughn died.
This is not going to be the year the Mariners win the World Series. Never even played for one in their entire existence. The Cardinals are 1-0 in the NFL is this their year? In damn near 100 years they have one championship: a gift in WWII. I'll watch anyway.
Here's the deal with the Engage the Weekend community. We talk. You've got lots of choices here.
Weekend Engagement Post.And don't forget that today is actually Friday. The ultimate engagement day when @galenkp breaks out the legendary
Wow! I am so happy I got to read a little of history today. I am a fan of historical things as a matter of fact. And yea, that music Is epic!
There is at least a little popular history :) At the end BSA/Norton had a couple of really good motorcycles, but the Japanese made them better and cheaper so it was goodbye to the British motorcycle industry. Today's Triumph is a restart from earlier this century.
Thanks for stopping by. Always a pleasure.
Ooh. I see.
You are welcome and it been great always going through your posts
nice bikes! the company I work for makes the wire harness for Harley Davidsons, well we DID before the company was bought out and the wire harnesses were sent to Mexico to be made.
Now if you will excuse me I must listen to the Sabbath! 🤘
Ahhhhh. That's a sort of sad commentary on manufacturing in the US. The most American built product is a Toyota, I believe...
I had forgotten how intense that original black and white video was. Amazing thing.
Lol...Most american product.
At least Zippo lighters are still made in Pennsylvania. :)
After all the bitching and trade protections that HD caused they are now over 30% manufactured in Asia. They still talk a mean American game, though.
Everything is going off-site through cheaper labour and environmental laws making manufacturing cheaper. I worked at a GM auto plant for 25 years and saw the slow demise of the industry. Now Ford, GM-Holden, Toyota and Mitsubishi are no longer manufacturing here. It's not just cars though, many other industries too.
That's progress for you.
I honestly think it could have been done right, but instead it was done cheapest. It makes me particularly sad that Holden isn't there. That's some sad business.
So many years of history went begging when GM-Holden wound up. I started there in 88 as an 18 year old with 5500 people there...Now, the factory is empty. A bit sad. Faith's grandmother used to work in the canteen there in the 50's...She's 98 now, sharp as a tack. Her grandfather worked there too. Most people in South Australia know someone who worked there, or worked there themselves. Sad really. Thanks progress.
A sad indictment of manufacturing in many countries these days...Outsourcing.
I'm not so convinced that outsourcing is bad by itself. What is bad is no replacement for the skilled jobs.
Tesla is giving it a run. They make their big stuff right on site, and move parts around. I have a good friend at Gigafactory Nevada. Automation is a huge part of it, but they make almost every thing in house.
I watched a mega-factories doco the other day on the Tesla plant. Pretty interesting for a bloke who used to manufacture cars. Not a lot of people in sight though.
Matthew is a maintenance guy. Goes to work 2 hours before the start of shift when there are like 10 people in the whole place. Said it's spooky as hell with all the carts and trucks supplying for the day and no human sound.
He has a company app on his phone. Every pillar in the place has a number designation so when he needs something delivered he uses the app and it shows up in a few minutes at the right pillar.
Tesla do it well, no doubt...Kind of like the Lego factory too...Pretty impressive set up. I guess factories need to be these days.
There are a lot of jobs outside the factory. Tesla has two parts warehouses and two office buildings in Reno (Sparks) that are really busy, too. Rentals in the area are just crazy with all the good paying jobs. Reno is FULL.
My buddy is looking at retirement grade properties (he's about 10 years away). He grew up in the general area, so wants to be away from the throngs but near doctors and such. He thinks he'll end up south of Carson City. Pretty country.
They stand a better chance than the Lions do!
Ohhhh, boy. We have common misery, you and I!
Hey, it's Saturday in Australia!!! I can't say I know much about bikes... sorry!
What about Black Sabbath or the Blues or miserable sports franchises? This was a pretty broad spectrum wondering.
I'm listening to Beth Hart right this second. Her voice just amazes me...
BSA...Guns and motorbikes...My sort of company. They made heaps of things actually, buses, tools...
My mum had a BSA push bike from when she was a kid. It was a robust looking thing. Alas, I don't know what happened to it. I wish I had it now. Would be worth some bucks I guess.
There is a subset of bicycle collectors, and I just happen to know that BSA bikes are very popular indeed. You would like to have your Mum's bike for a fact.
It was a nice looking thing, a really nice grey colour with nice ornate accoutrements and fittings. Really quality build. I wish I still had it. I have a picture of my mum at about 16 with it. She was a pretty blonde girl...I'll dig the photo up someday, maybe do a post.
My Mom was about 12 when she got her first motorcycle ride. A guy was snuffing around her oldest sister and Grandma made him take mom for a ride before she'd allow her eldest to leave the yard with him.
It was an Indian (pre war, of course) and the guy went on to pretty big fame as a Hydroplane driver. My mom cried at the pictures of his death in a crash that were in Life Magazine. She had a wicked crush on him all those years.
Oh man, sad story. I like hearing stories of the old days though, the way people would court...It's all Tinder and RSVP these days. Fucking odd as fuck.
On a side note...I looked at an Indian early this year, a new one. Was so close to getting it. Faith put the wet blanket on it at the end...I don't blame her...So many fuckers on the road watching their phone and not the road.
You have to be full on defensive every minute you are riding. It's why I really like lightly traveled back roads.
That new Indian is a serious piece of gear, isn't it? I've test ridden a couple and they ride as good as they look. I'd really like to have a Roadmaster parked in my patio...
So the Rex Manchester story is part of the reason my mom was always supportive of my desire to ride.
Yep, I used to ride fairly aggressively, staying out if blind spots and away from traffic. Love me a good open road though, less traffic, more enjoyment.
I'll good Rex, see if his story comes up.
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STOPParanoid. Hard to believe that is 50 years old!
I enjoyed the choice of Black sabbath, I have not heard them in several years even though I like their music, so little time to keep up with and enjoy.
I have never heard of Beth Hart before, her voice reminds me a lot of Janis Joplin. The music is very nice, soft and soulful to my ears.
Not much into the sports football seems to be nothing more than a political statement a means for people to spout of about this or about that, it is no longer about the game, it has become about the politics, a shame really because I did use to enjoy some football games especially the Seattle Seahawks. But it has all become so pointless, the talk is not about the game but about who knelt, who had a badge, or covered a sponsored name up.
Really nice tune selections there.
!ENGAGE 25
I hadn't seen that Black Sabbath video in years. I had really forgotten how intense those guys were in their younger days. It was fun for me too.
I listen to Beth Hart quite a little and I just love her voice. I hadn't thought to compare her to Janis Joplin, but you are right on. She has that raw power that Janis brought to the table.
I still watch. It's like I can't help myself :)
I drink the Kool-Aide from the Mariners every single year.
ENGAGEtokens.I had a friend well my brothers friend, but he had a nice collection of bikes all British and my Favorite of them was his BSa i forget which model it was
I mean, is it even the weekend without some Sabbath? For some reason Bonamassa and Beth made me think of this one:
Don't know if you're familiar with Grace Potter but that's another one with a set of pipes and Satriani is no slouch on the guitar either :)
My very first motorcycle back in 1972 was an ex English Post Office BSA Bantam. Loved that bike. My Dad sold it out from under me when I went to Uni in Southampton.
The Bantam was a legendary bike. BSA and Norton and even Triumph had it going pretty good at the end, that Rocket that BSA and Norton shared was terrific. They simply waited too long to respond to the Japanese makers. They just overwhelmed the world with technology...
Beautiful machines. I grew up 40 miles away from Birmingham in Leicester. Big local rivalry going on there I'll tell you.
I know that from what you all call football. It's not. Football. But I know enough about it to know that's a huge rivalry.
haha there are alot of different types of football. Rugby Football, Australian Rules football ( ask galen) American Football (nfl which originated from rugby as the 1st game ever played between 2 American Universities was Rugby Football) there's also Gaelic football and lastly Association Football or soccer as it was abbreviated to. They are all types of football. I'm a lifelong Leicester City fan and Cleveland Browns fan. Proudly seen them both play at their home stadiums