{"id":14503,"date":"2024-10-18T01:46:45","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T01:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/motorbike-clubs-for-vintage-bikes-could-be-dying-out\/"},"modified":"2024-10-18T01:46:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T01:46:45","slug":"motorbike-clubs-for-vintage-bikes-could-be-dying-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/motorbike-clubs-for-vintage-bikes-could-be-dying-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Motorbike clubs for vintage bikes could be dying out"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"BBCBBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Jonathan Little says it’s sad that he’s now one of the youngest members<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Leather jackets, loud engines and open roads.<\/p>\n

The sight of a group of vintage motorbikes travelling through the countryside is a stirring one for some.<\/p>\n

But a number of clubs say their membership numbers are dropping, and that they could disappear in the near future.<\/p>\n

While they are trying to encourage a new generation to join and keep pre-war brands alive, spokespeople of clubs for Douglas, Ariel and Rudge bikes say few younger members are joining. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A 1960s Triumph is the pride and joy of Jonathan Little from Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go round the shows everyone is a lot older, and there is concern,” he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cNowadays, you can ride a bike in a game, and the graphics are far better than when I was growing up, so maybe they\u2019re finding that more interesting.\u201d <\/p>\n

The South Wales Sunbeam Motorcycle Club is one group trying to increase membership – and so far, it’s working.<\/p>\n

“When I took over in 2019 we had about 20 members, and many weren’t active anymore – currently we’re close to 70,” secretary Reiner Stecker told BBC Wales Live<\/a>. <\/p>\n

They’ve opened their club to all bike owners, not just exclusively Sunbeams – a brand founded in Staffordshire, and made between 1912 and 1956. <\/p>\n

He said passing on technical know-how about vintage bikes is vital.<\/p>\n

Mr Stecker added: \u201cA lot of people say they’d like an older bike but aren’t sure how to look after it, or fix it if it breaks.” <\/p>\n

The clubs two oldest members – Idris Jones, from Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Kenneth Lewis, from Pencoed, Bridgend – have a combined age of 191. <\/p>\n

They’ve been friends since school and competed on off-road bikes.<\/p>\n

Mr Lewis said inviting new members has been important to keep it a thriving and active community. <\/p>\n

He said: “It has brought in younger people. The club still retains its original purpose but it allows it to carry on. <\/p>\n

“We’ve got to have youth or the thing will die away.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Idris<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Idris and Kenneth would like to see a younger generation to keep their passion alive<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Clubs for brands such as Douglas, Ariel and Rudge all said members ages are increasing, with little to none younger people joining.<\/p>\n

Instead they say the current generation of motorcyclists are purchasing bikes they wanted to own but could not afford when they were young – and that old British bikes are rarely on their wish list.<\/p>\n

Annie Durrant is director of the Vintage Motorcycle Club<\/a>, which has 10,000 members, and said: “Retain and gain has and always will be the question we ask ourselves.<\/p>\n

“While some bikes are kept in the family, there are many in storage or a garage and never see the light of day.<\/p>\n

“I would like to see more of these bikes ridden and enjoyed. Loaning bikes to other enthusiasts and young people is a great way to enthuse people, I would personally like to see happen more.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Classic<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Clubs are urging people to not to let classic bikes – such as this 1940s Ariel – be forgotten in garages <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

One vintage bike brand which has made a comeback is the Wardill – after a hiatus of nearly 100 years.<\/p>\n

Mark Wardill, from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, discovered two glass black and white slides featuring his great-grandfather\u2019s 1927 motorbike design at the bottom of a wardrobe.<\/p>\n

Mark’s great grandfather, Henry Wardill Snr ran The Wardill Motor and Cycle Works in Surrey repairing cars and motorcycles in the 1920s.<\/p>\n

Along with his sons, they designed and built a motorcycle with a patented “supercharged” two -stroke engine, which officially saw the start of the Wardill Motorcycle Company.<\/p>\n

It was a bike that took part in public trials along with names such as Harley-Davidson and Triumph.<\/p>\n

But the brand faded out.<\/p>\n

However, Mark didn’t know about the bike and its history until he did some research after finding the glass slides.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took them to be developed and could see the name Wardill on the bike tank, and I thought, hang on this is a brand,” he said. <\/p>\n

“So I started trying to find out more.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Mark<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Mark said when the first prototype passed it road test it was emotional <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

After speaking to various bike museums, he discovered that four were built in total and decided to recreate the design.<\/p>\n

“I think I was really shocked that someone in my family had created something like that, it\u2019s a massive achievement – especially 100 years ago,” he said. <\/p>\n

Mark doesn’t have a background in mechanics but says he’s always had a “hands-on approach”.<\/p>\n

“I didn\u2019t know what I was letting myself in for, I didn\u2019t even know how to register a bike to use it on the road,” he added.<\/p>\n

“There were days when I thought, ‘what on earth am I doing?’ It challenged me every step of the way.”<\/p>\n

The original engine would not now pass modern safety regulations, but inspired, Mark went on to build a similar bike as a tribute to the first design.<\/p>\n

He’s since created and sold four bikes – and had enquiries from around the world, as far as Australia.<\/p>\n

“My hopes for the company are that we sell bikes and grow, and I’m passionate about making sure we use as many Welsh companies for parts, so it’s very much a Welsh brand,” Mark added.<\/p>\n

He said the reborn business is aiming to take the bikes to new and younger generations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BBC Jonathan Little says it’s sad that he’s now one of the youngest members Leather jackets, loud engines and open roads. The sight of a group of vintage motorbikes travelling through the countryside is a stirring one for some. But a number of clubs say their membership numbers are dropping, and that they could disappear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[4906,6180,2583,6179,6181],"class_list":["post-14503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wales","tag-bikes","tag-clubs","tag-dying","tag-motorbike","tag-vintage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14503"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14505,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14503\/revisions\/14505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}