Whatever Happened to British Marketing?

When I built my Commando in the 90s, there were three main suppliers who helped whenever I needed parts, guidance or just a bit of encouragement. The first was Moore's Cycle in Anaheim, a real old fashioned motorcycle place full of bike parts and bike mad people. They were a Triumph specialist but had plenty of generic Britbike parts and supplies. Keith Moore is still in business and his place still looks and feels like a real motorcycle shop. His new place is just a couple of miles from me and that will really be a help with the Triumph project.

The second was Phil Radford at Fair Spares. Phil was a real asset to the project providing many of the upgrades that will make this old Combat Commando into a reliable tourer. Phil was not an internet guy in those days and we only spoke by letter, FAX & phone. I understand Phil is still going and I would love to meet him sometime.

The third place that I turned to time & time again was British Marketing in southern Orange County. They had a huge clean modern place and sold parts, service and even complete motorcycles. They were a Norton specialist but had plenty of BSA & Triumph bits too. Joe & Doris were very patient and helpful when I ran into problems and needed something odd. Now they appear to be gone. What happened to British Marketing?

Paul
Fullerton, SoCal

I am hearing a little frustration, understandable to a point.

Year after year it gets a little tougher. People get old and die and the business of keeping us happy die with them. This whole resto thing is 30 to 40 years old and the dealerships have long long gone. Around 1982 I had my first Commando. A 74MKIIa Blue and red on white. My source was in Lansing MI called GT Motors. I went there then and the counter was in place and parts were flying across the counter and bikes were being fixed in the back.

I contacted Mr. Kline a few years ago and he still has the name GT Motors and I still have the number in my speed dialer but trust me when I say, the place is not the same. When you walk through there, you walk through a different time. Oh, if i could go pickin there! You can call and ask him for something. He’ll go to the building and see if he has it, then you call him back a couple times and meet him there to pick it up. I am sure some of you from Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan and beyond know him well. He’s a Guzzi guy at heart but his memory is full of the good old dealership days with enough Norton service stories to write a novel and to curl you hair.

It’s up to us to keep these bikes alive. Machine shop work, part makers, restorers and most of all, us, who find old decrepit example and have the heart to keep them out of the recyclers hands and get them back on the road in all their glory. Although I must say that there is a real place for some of these people who grab these bike and part them out so that others may live, but there are also the pirateteer how take perfectly good, restorable units and destroys them for profit.

I hear your frustration but nothing last forever. On the other hand it’s truly astounding how many of these bikes are running and how beautiful they all are.

Hi Paul. It's my understanding that British Marketing shut down the shop a few years ago but I think they may still sell parts via the web. the guy I bought my BSA from had been going there & that's what he told me. Yes Keith Moore is still around but only sells parts now, he doesn't work on stuff but instead sends people to Tony at Classic Cycle in Orange. He's a good guy, works on anything but is really a Triumph guy. Glenn.

British Marketing was started by Brian Slark I believe. I visited the shop once on one of my few trips to the West Coast back in the 80s. (This was after a wild and scary ride over the mountain from Lake Elsinore to Costa Mesa. I was on a borrowed BMW and my friend had his '71 Commando. Anyone know The Lookout Roadhouse? My T-shirt is now in shreds! )

It was a nice clean shop and we got to talk with Brian for quite a while -- no one else in the place!

Russ

Your talking about the Ortega Hwy. One of my favorite local rides. My riding pals & I have had many a good breakfasts at that place watching the crazy hanglider and parasailors do their thing. It's a nice road but can at times be littered with squids.

I'm thinking that Joe & Doris sold the business and retired...and the new owners didn't make a go of it. Not even sure I know how I have this memory, other than I did business with them in the past and had the same question when they disappeared.

Moore's Cycle had to move about ten years ago and Keith could only find a smaller place. Too bad about that as he used to offer service. I do not know of Classic Cycle in Orange.

British Marketing had a big place in the high rent district. Their overhead had to be enormous! They offered a great place for Britbike folk to meet and tell war stories. Every weekend the place was packed and often they bought coffee and donuts to those who rode in for a natter. I sure hope Joe & Doris came out of things OK they were good folks.

I'm impressed with what I have seen of the Norton scene recently. There are more high quality products available than ever before and the price of project bikes is way higher than it was. I suppose that is a good thing as I feel the pull of another Commando custom project tugging at my heart strings again . . .

I have not ridden Ortega Hwy. in many years. It used to be a lot of fun but had a lot of crashes too. I have really done little riding in the last 35 years and will want to work up to it is smaller steps. I wonder if I can sit still that long anymore. I hope to find out soon!

I would not have the stomach to ride the Ortega Canyon Highway anymore. One missed turn and it is a long friggin' way down. (I would be one of those squids!) When I saw Ludwig's movie of the downhill bicycle run in the Alps it gave me the same queasy feeling.

Pennsylvania has some up and down but nothing like that.

About ten years ago I ran the Hansen Dam Britbike ride with the little Yammi SR500. The Norton had been sidelined by then and I wanted to try this grand ride that had long sounded so interesting. I rode with my Antique Motorcycle Club buddies and had a great time on the winding canyon roads but for one mishap. At some point I lost focus and drifted wide on a left hand bend and found myself in the marbles, off the road and over. Fortunately, it was soft & sandy and the bike was not hurt much. I was able to continue and finished the ride. My pride was certainly injured and my body was scratched and sore but at least I finished the ride and the folks were good enough to give me the pin at the end even though I only rode a mock Britbike. A shipment of new bits from Thumper stuff and a few weeks had everything set to rights with the bike. I learned that it is important to pay attention in the twisty bits even when just poking along.

Paul

I ride Ortega a few times a month. I'm planning a ride to Mt Palomar soon & will go through Ortega to get there. I think every road is as safe as you ride it. I don't try to keep up with my friends who are on new Ducatis & I try not to loose focus on the road. The last two times I was there the road was closed shortly to clean up a squids mess which is part of life. Hope you have a bike up soon so you can do the Mt Palomar ride Paul. Let's get working on that beauty.

hudson29 said:

The second was Phil Radford at Fair Spares. Phil was a real asset to the project providing many of the upgrades that will make this old Combat Commando into a reliable tourer. Phil was not an internet guy in those days and we only spoke by letter, FAX & phone. I understand Phil is still going and I would love to meet him sometime.

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you forgot or haven't tried another place a stones throw from Phil - Rabers parts mart (web search )- which has been around longer than phil/fair spares. I think you'll find them to have most things you need for triumphs and nortons (BSA's too). I grew up minutes from both Phils and Rabers and know them both well an have found each have excellent parts selections and always helpful advice

m

I have gotten almost all of my stuff from Rabers and probably $1000 worth of advise. Their prices are reasonable and they answer my stupid questions.

FWIW-It is the Ortega Highway that is featured in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. It is where Jimmy Durante kicks the bucket. It's on the east side of Hemet that the highway gets interesting from my perspective. Going over the mountains and dropping into Palm Desert. Not that it really has anything to do with this thread!

Hey Paul,

Phil Radford most certainly is still going strong. I first met Phil back in the 80's when we went up to his shop for some part for a buddies Atlas. Fast forward to 2010 and I was the proud owner of a very worn out MK3. My first trip up to Fair Spares was to get some basic things to get the bike going, Mikuni carb stuff, a Boyer, all the things I heard other guys using to make their commandos reliable. Phil gently suggested I try some new Amals first and that if they didn't work out I could always slap a Mikuni on there. The Amals are still on my bike. Phil ended up doing alot of the major work on my rebuild and his work was top notch, first class all the way. My 1500 mile summer road trip confirmed the quality of Phil's work. Phil is also a good, honest man and that goes along way in my book. Phil's shop is like a walk back in time. Parts all over, old posters, and just the general feel of a system that works because the guy who put it together knows where everything is and how it works.

Here is a shot of Phil on the day he delivered my MK-3 after the major work had been done. It was pretty cool to have a Commando legend in my humble garage ; ) I am not woooorthy.

The second was Phil Radford at Fair Spares. Phil was a real asset to the project providing many of the upgrades that will make this old Combat Commando into a reliable tourer. Phil was not an internet guy in those days and we only spoke by letter, FAX & phone. I understand Phil is still going and I would love to meet him sometime.


Paul
Fullerton, SoCal[/quote]


Here, meet Phil Radford. He'd get a kick out of this photo from the coast highway south of San Fransisco around 1983. My black '73 roadster.

Joe and Doris sold out a few years back and retired.
The new owners didn't fair too well.
I believe the inventory was sold to Domiracer.

Last I knew they were still living in South OC, happily retired

Thanks so much for the pictures of Phil Radford. He actually looks something like the mental image summoned up by his voice over the phone. No doubt I'll be contacting him for something or other in the future. He did the bottom end of my motor. I had it all to bits and sent it to him for mains, rods and the breather mod which consisted of welding up the old breather and opening up passages to the timing chest. That last mod worked great! With the addition of a brake reed valve, the motor never leaked at all from day one while it was running, anyway. It still marks its territory after sitting a day or so. Does he do the front brake stiffener kit installation?

Thanks also for the Rabers recommendation. With the demise of British Marketing, I'll need to find new sources. There are plenty of places that I'm just learning about by reading posts on this list. Old Brits & Colorado Norton Works both have really good websites and offer a range of high quality gear some of which might just find its way on to my old Norton project.

SoCal

rvich said:

It is the Ortega Highway that is featured in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. It is where Jimmy Durante kicks the bucket. It's on the east side of Hemet

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I don't think so. Ortega Hwy. runs from Orange County over to Lake Elsinore, west of Hemet.

Paul
SoCal

"I have gotten almost all of my stuff from Rabers and probably $1000 worth of advise. Their prices are reasonable and they answer my stupid questions."

In my case, make that $10,000 worth of advice :mrgreen:

My phone conversations and parts ordering with the Raber's staff have never been rushed, they've patiently answered my questions, they always seem to have what I need, and they know what they're talking about. They don't give parts away, but IMHO I think their pricing is fair. No complaints whatsoever, they are the reason Ole Rusty ('70 Fastback w/Dunstall bits) is back on the road.

MelloYellow

MichaelB said:

Joe and Doris sold out a few years back and retired.
The new owners didn't fair too well.
I believe the inventory was sold to Domiracer.

Last I knew they were still living in South OC, happily retired

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Thanks so much for this news, I'm very glad to hear it. As I recall, Joe was retired military and British Marketing was something he really wanted to do rather than something he had to do. Doris was amazing! She always knew just what I needed while I fumbled for words on the phone and once after not having spoken with her in something like five years she recognized my phone voice from nothing more than my "Hullo Doris" Amazing!

Paul SoCal

I bought parts for my first Norton from Brian Slark's "British Marketing" in 1982. Great guy to deal with, and he had everything I needed, in stock ! Fast forward a couple years, he sold it to Joe and Doris Chavez. They were great too !!! Doris learned my voice quick, and was always knowledgeable and helpful. "What can we do for you Pat ?" would be her reply when I said hello. She even included "snack size" candy bars with all my orders (monthly mind you, late 80's and early 90's) ... what a treat ! Was this a special bonus for buying so much ??? Then there was their ace mechanic, John Yorke. A real first class mechanic, craftsman even. I think he still does Norton work, and sells occasionally on fleabay as "thoroughbred john". As hudson29 wrote, Joe and Doris have retired, selling "Britsh Marketing" to (I think) a couple younger guys in, late 90's early 00's ... they did not last long. I bought some parts from them once, and the order was all goofed up, ya had to even buy the single Mikuni (from them) as various parts, no longer as a kit !?!?!? Hopes this fills in some more gaps, cheers.