British Racing Motorcycles

More about the book

There was a time when virtually every manufacturer in Great Britain listed a racing machine in his catalog & every firm was anxious for the publicity resulting from success in a major event. For a long time British machines dominated the scene. In the years between the world wars, Norton, Rudge, Sunbeam, AJS & Velocette shared the spoils of victory despite the efforts of manufacturers in Italy, Germany, Sweden, France & Belgium. It was not until the mid-1930s that success began to come the way of the continentals, at first in the lightweight class. Racegoers began to see Guzzi and Benelli from Italy in the list of winners, along with Germany's DKW. For many years after her decline as a force in world motorcycle manufacturing, Britain (& the Commonwealth) continued to provide the very best riders, men such as Surtees, Hocking, Hailwood, Read & Sheene, to name but a few.