There are many books on the subject (as well as opinions) of British motorcycle manufacture and the demise thereof and most of the literature has been written by persons with an ax to grind (Mr Hopwood is but just one). It is a little bit unfair to wholly blame the unions for the woes in the Motorcycle manufacturing industry as the management/union relations were reasonably good until the Labour government started to intervene. For a reasonable insight into the Meridan co-op I can recommend "The Meriden Motorcycle Co-operative: An unconventional end to the decline of a British industry?" which can be obtained off the internet FoC.
There are numerous examples of mistakes, vested interests and incompetence within the motorcycle industry but conversely there are also many instances where major strides were made in both technology and manufacturing by far seeing owners and engineers many of whom have disappeared from view without any recognition (try to find a decent biography of Val Page for instance). It would appear to me that the decline happened as the older owners and design engineers who were brought up in and established the culture of single track vehicles, passed on and were replaced by people who treated the industry and the products as "just another job".
There are numerous examples of mistakes, vested interests and incompetence within the motorcycle industry but conversely there are also many instances where major strides were made in both technology and manufacturing by far seeing owners and engineers many of whom have disappeared from view without any recognition (try to find a decent biography of Val Page for instance). It would appear to me that the decline happened as the older owners and design engineers who were brought up in and established the culture of single track vehicles, passed on and were replaced by people who treated the industry and the products as "just another job".