My old British bike shop has closed down

Well my old Bristish bike shop I been buying most of my Norton and older Triumph parts in Brisbane who I been getting part since 1978 has closed down, BJs of Brisbane was always a bit high in prices, but he always had what you needed in stock without fail, brought a new horn and tail light a few weeks back but I have heard someone local has brought his stock but only postage sales my mate has his number lucky, so looks like more OS shopping for me in the future, I have brought from RGM and Burtons British Bikes as well parts from the US, but it was so handy having a local shop for those need quick parts, Chris the owner has been there for a long time so getting to the age of retirement, I always called him smiley, very rare you got a smile off him but as I say he always had the parts you needed.
He chased up a set of crank case for my 850 took a few weeks but he got me a great set of cases but the price was high at $900 but they were like new so I was happy to pay that much, my 850 motor still don't leak any oil and the new cases have been installed over 15+ years now.

All the old shops are going down, it's not a complicated equation, but a passing of an era is always sad. Thankfully there are vendors online still carrying the torch. What else can we do?

Yep - I was really sad when Ghost Motorcycles on Long Island, NY closed some years back. Oh well, as was noted in song, "All Things Must Pass."

Over here we're seeing major brand m/c dealers closing down. BMW and Ducati previously demanded dealers were dedicated to their brands. They are now allowing their dealers to take on other brands. A current offer at our BMW dealership, for a brand new £18,500 R18, is a dealership discount of £6,000, plus £750 towards clothing or accessories.

Not enough buyers.

ashman said:

Well my old Bristish bike shop I been buying most of my Norton and older Triumph parts in Brisbane who I been getting part since 1978 has closed down, BJs of Brisbane was always a bit high in prices, but he always had what you needed in stock without fail, brought a new horn and tail light a few weeks back but I have heard someone local has brought his stock but only postage sales my mate has his number lucky, so looks like more OS shopping for me in the future, I have brought from RGM and Burtons British Bikes as well parts from the US, but it was so handy having a local shop for those need quick parts, Chris the owner has been there for a long time so getting to the age of retirement, I always called him smiley, very rare you got a smile off him but as I say he always had the parts you needed.
He chased up a set of crank case for my 850 took a few weeks but he got me a great set of cases but the price was high at $900 but they were like new so I was happy to pay that much, my 850 motor still don't leak any oil and the new cases have been installed over 15+ years now.

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I heard that some place from th Gold Coast had bought it from him and was going to keep it open.
Deshon St?
Cheers

robs ss said:

I heard that some place from th Gold Coast had bought it from him and was going to keep it open.
Deshon St?
Cheers

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Not sure Deshon st as was told he be selling from his place and postal orders only, well that is what I have heard anyway, my mate went up there to get something for his Triumph rebuild and Chris's girl told him they had closed down.

It appears that teenagers no longer are as exited by motorcycles or cars as they were in the past. Computers and cell phones? Also, the prices of new and used bikes might be higher now - relative to earning ability - than they were when we were their age.
I'm 72 now and 50 years ago, here in Southern California, in the early '70s the price of a used small displacement Japanese bikes, 125s - 500 cc, was - I don't really know but I'd guess - one week's pay . . . ., for sure less than two weeks pay. And new 100s -250s were less than a month's pay.

It seems also that the big brand dealers here in So Cal no longer offer cheap "loss leaders" in the 100cc or 125cc class.
Tell me if I'm wrong, but did not those sales operate as THE entry point for many life long motorcycle buyers?
I understand that that class still dominates 3rd world sales. - India, Africa, South and Central America, and Asia?
Maybe our 1st world dealers/distributors don't want to sell low margin units?
Here in California, I know that our litigious legal environment AND our safety/emissions regulatory climate suppresses the number of low volume/low margin models.

I'd like to hear from people who know, MC industry marketing and sales?

MexicoMike said:

Yep - I was really sad when Ghost Motorcycles on Long Island, NY closed some years back. Oh well, as was noted in song, "All Things Must Pass."

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An old fraternity brother of mine worked at Ghost for a while back in the day. He had some stories to tell about Sal and Sonny.

John Laing said:

It appears that teenagers no longer are as exited by motorcycles or cars as they were in the past. Computers and cell phones? Also, the prices of new and used bikes might be higher now - relative to earning ability - than they were when we were their age.
I'm 72 now and 50 years ago, here in Southern California, in the early '70s the price of a used small displacement Japanese bikes, 125s - 500 cc, was - I don't really know but I'd guess - one week's pay . . . ., for sure less than two weeks pay. And new 100s -250s were less than a month's pay.

It seems also that the big brand dealers here in So Cal no longer offer cheap "loss leaders" in the 100cc or 125cc class.
Tell me if I'm wrong, but did not those sales operate as THE entry point for many life long motorcycle buyers?
I understand that that class still dominates 3rd world sales. - India, Africa, South and Central America, and Asia?
Maybe our 1st world dealers/distributors don't want to sell low margin units?
Here in California, I know that our litigious legal environment AND our safety/emissions regulatory climate suppresses the number of low volume/low margin models.

I'd like to hear from people who know, MC industry marketing and sales?

Click to expand...

My 20 y/o son has tons of friends into bikes, both street and dirt. It's not like the 70s for sure - times change - but there are enthusiasts. Dirt biking? It's a long drive to get to the desert from OC. You need a truck. The local tracks and off-road areas are either gone or closed by fire or mudslide, you can't depend on them. Kids are less apt to throw on an open-face helmet (or none at all like the old days), sneakers, and go for it. There's too much product and information available to skip out on safety, but it adds $$$ to the hobby.

Street? It's not feasible or safe to ride the freeways or even the surface streets in SoCal on a 250 IMO. His first bike was a CRF250L with 24HP. Learning to ride on a bike that is being overtaken by 70MPH knuckleheads on just about every street here is not fun, as he learned. You need to be in command, and create space, which takes power. Now he has a KTM 450, that's better. But still you need two bikes. He had a Tenere 700, which great 'one' bike solution, but if you drop it practicing wheelies, it's big bucks. It made him timid off-road. He sold for a profit and got a plated '04 KTM for $2500. If he dumps it, no big deal. On the street he rides one of my '83 GS1100Es or my '66 N15CS for now.

Anyway I think the margins are too slim, and the business isn't doing well enough to sell 'loss leaders'. There are a huge number of mountain bike riders now, an option that didn't even exist back when. It's a lot of work on the pedal yourself ones, but now the E-MTBs are fantastic - he just scored one for $3500 the week before they raised back up to $6K new. Riding that bike is just as much fun, if not more, than a motorcycle. On the street there are tons of kids on E-bikes - people get freaked out, get this, by TEENAGERS being stupid! As if the 70s never happened - we patented stupidity. I live in a very hilly area and there are 50x more (younger) teens out on 2 wheels than ever. They are wheelie kings on those things. It doesn't bother me one single bit.

HouTexNorton said:

An old fraternity brother of mine worked at Ghost for a while back in the day. He had some stories to tell about Sal and Sonny.

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I bought a used cylinder barrel for my '70 Commando from them when mine cracked in 1972. Interesting place.

John Laing said:

It appears that teenagers no longer are as exited by motorcycles or cars as they were in the past. Computers and cell phones? Also, the prices of new and used bikes might be higher now - relative to earning ability - than they were when we were their age.
I'm 72 now and 50 years ago, here in Southern California, in the early '70s the price of a used small displacement Japanese bikes, 125s - 500 cc, was - I don't really know but I'd guess - one week's pay . . . ., for sure less than two weeks pay. And new 100s -250s were less than a month's pay.

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Around here, a lot of the kids that age are getting the kicks we got from motor bikes with their e-bikes.

What we used to do with old motorcycles has been killed by the fun police. A lot of enthusiasm for motorcycles came from our obsession with speed. However, we outsmarted ourselves. There is a thing which happens in the car world - replica racing cars are made in Brazil. Some vehicles have a cult following. I do not like historic racing when genuine vehicles are used. Replicas sch as Molnar Manx Nortons and Summerfield G50s are much more preferable. Motorcycle road racing is too expensive, but some motorcycles are worth sustaining. A Commando is a well-developed unique motorcycle, however the parts from the 961 probably do not fit the early models. There needs to be an activity which makes manufacture and supply of after-market parts economically viable . When I built my Seeley 850, I did not believe in the motor. However I have come to believe the design is excellent. My bike was built with the Gus Kuhn racers in mind. It is extremely non-genuine, but does not look it. There is a mob in Japan who build and race motorcycles which are classic in appearance.

How things change from my old local British bike shop closing down to bikes, well lucky my old Norton is pretty reliable and very rare I got to chase up bits in a hurry, but it was good just to ride over the other side of town and get what I needed in a hurry, there are some great suppliers for our old bikes but waiting for them to be shipped if you need the parts in a hurry, but that's life these days the old owner have done their bit and retirement is a calling.
BJs in the early days had a full workshop out back (I never had any work done by them) and the last 15 years or more he sourced the work to a backyard workshop over my way and was a bit of a crook with shonky work practice, some of my friends had work done by him and had big problems with blown motors and rebores done with too much clearance between final hone/bore and waiting to get the bikes back on the road also took too long and he wasn't very good at fixing complains.
Well good bye BJs he out lasted many over the years and I never had any problems with dealing with Chris, but he still owes me a beer lol.

ashman said:

How things change from my old local British bike shop closing down to bikes, well lucky my old Norton is pretty reliable and very rare I got to chase up bits in a hurry, but it was good just to ride over the other side of town and get what I needed in a hurry, there are some great suppliers for our old bikes but waiting for them to be shipped if you need the parts in a hurry, but that's life these days the old owner have done their bit and retirement is a calling.
BJs in the early days had a full workshop out back (I never had any work done by them) and the last 15 years or more he sourced the work to a backyard workshop over my way and was a bit of a crook with shonky work practice, some of my friends had work done by him and had big problems with blown motors and rebores done with too much clearance between final hone/bore and waiting to get the bikes back on the road also took too long and he wasn't very good at fixing complains.
Well good bye BJs he out lasted many over the years and I never had any problems with dealing with Chris, but he still owes me a beer lol.

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Hi Ash I believe Luke at Britcycle has bought alot or if not all the parts from BJs.
Burgs

Here in NYC we've lost another. 6th Street Cycles which was located on the lower east side was well known in the vintage community for repairs and vintage racing. All is not lost as they're relocating to New Rochelle just North of the city. My favorite was Johns Cycles in Woodside QNS. Closed since Covid and another huge loss to the local vintage bikers.

In the 60s and early 70s a lot of bike shops had their own short tracks and held racing events every weekend. That was the days of Mom and Pop racing teams......buy an $800 Bultaco for the kid and be very competitive on the local tracks. It was a great way to stimulate business and get people interested. It wasn't high-dollar then until the pro racing circuit.

America probably had fewer fun police and wowsers. But insurance has become a major problem. Even officials at controlled events in Australia, need to be careful these days. - They can be sued if they are found to be negligent and someone is killed or injured.

I knew Gus Lauer sr briefly before he died, he was in his late 80s. He was the first Indian dealer in Los Angeles and still had a storage shed full of NOS Indian parts. His son painted my Atlas tank about 37 years ago. I still have the bike today as a daily driver.
Anyway, he sponsored a local track I believe in the Sacramento area. Even though all the riders had to sign a waiver before riding someone got hurt and sued him straight out of business. He managed to save his horses (his wife was an Olympic rider in England who knows how far back)
by moving them around. He saved a few other things but pretty much lost everything in the lawsuit. He moved in with his son in Nevada.

Every bad situation is usually an opportunity for a new beginning. Remorse does not help anyone, and being constructive is important. When we consider the economic prospects for short-run manufacture of parts for old British motorcycles, it looks impossible. However selective specialisation might make things become a bit different. That thing 'the Landsborough Cup' for Manx Nortons and G50s, can be extended and improved. Bruce Verdon seems to be still going well in New Zealand with TTI gearboxes.