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Newsletter of the BSAOC of Northern California October 2019 Number 406

In this issue: The end of Meriden Triumph Rides, and more rides! Vintage photos Swap meets Maggie Neato Calendar Cartoons Swap Meet Travels with Shirley Clive Humphries Meriden Triumph Workers Co-op

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Number 406 October 2019 The BULLETIN of the Northern California BSA Owners’ Club is the forum for the

exchange of information among the members. All material contained within this

newsletter is property of the BSAOCNC unless otherwise stated within the article.

Material is not to be reproduced or copied without the written consent of the

BSAOCNC. If you would like to use an article or picture found in this newsletter

please contact the Editor.

Deadline for submission of material for publication is the 10th of each month. Members are encouraged to submit technical information, ads, letters, photographs, or any other items of potential interest. Photos will be returned only if so requested in advance. Opinions expressed in the BULLETIN are those of the respective contributors, and do not necessarily represent the position of the Club membership or its officers. BOARD OF DIRECTORS John Magri President 415-587-7541 Jim Romain Vice President 707-894-3805 David James Secretary 510-562-6769 Frank Recoder Steve Eorio Michael Gordon Doug Atkins REGALIA SALES Patti Meadows 775-359-8150 LIBRARIAN Randy Reiter 510-222-2546 WEBMASTER David James 510-562-6769 INTER. RALLY DELEGATE Barry Porter 831-464-2867 TREASURER Bill Whalen 707-837-0424 ADVISORS Thomas Stott (Pre-unit C Series Singles) 951-659-2406 Heinz Batterman (Gold Star) 510-339-1776 (M20/21) need volunteer *** - *** - **** Jack Wheeler (Pre-unit Twins) 510-724-1782 James Banke (Unit Singles) 831-335-1422 Jerry Meadows (Unit Twins) 775-359-8150 Bill Whalen (Rocket 3) 707-837-0424 Ray Pallett (Bantam) 510-456-6578 CONTRIBUTORS Maggie Neato (Personals) Write c/o the BULLETIN Claude Baddley Retired Lion tamer Sigmund Fraud Ex-analyst Commander Thaddeus McBragg Video Naval Commander Anne Nonomous Not really sure

Membership: The Northern California BSA Owners’ Club is open to all BSA enthusiasts at $20

per year. Associate membership is $5 per year for additional members in the same household.

Mail to: BSA OWNERS' CLUB, P.O. BOX 594, NOVATO, CA 94948 The address for submitting material for publication in the newsletter is: 17320 Santa Rosa Mine Rd. Perris, Ca. 92570.

e-mail: bsaocnceditor@aol.com www.BSAOCNC.org

Cover: The demise of the Triumph factory at Meriden, wholly owned by BSA Back page: More of the doomed Triumph Meriden factory

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The way we were Your humble Editor

It was 1979 and your editor was wanting a new Triumph Bonne-ville. Long beach Triumph had a brand new 1979 European model on the floor but it was way out of my budget at the time. I was able to trade my 1966 BMW straight across to Irv Seaver Motorcycles for his last new 79 Special. I ordered the Euro-pean tank and seat from Triumph and so converted that bike to the one I really wanted. I still have that bike too. I was reading John Rosamond’s book “Save The Bonneville” again and it caused me to become a bit nostalgic for those last days of Triumph and it’s ultimate demise. Reading carefully through that book along with Hopwood’s “What Ever happened to the British motorcycle industry” along with a host of other books and having met with a number of the original managers and workers it has become a bit of an obsession to understand how a company as large as the BSA Em-pire was could have come to such an end. Having looked closely at the books here are some of the glaring issues that may have contributed to the end of BSA/Triumph and their other brands held by BSA, Sunbeam and Ariel among others. Keep in mind that the destruction of the industry is somewhat like blind men describing an elephant, one says it is long and slender, anoth-er says it is huge and flat and still another says it is like a tree trunk, each feeling a dif-ferent bit of the beast. 1. Management was aloof from the working staff. The British have a long establish

hierarchy and transitioning from one to another is incredibly difficult. This seems a bit strange to Americans but it is quite evident in long established civilizations. This break between the upper management and the workforce contributed to a resent-ment that manifested itself in sabotage of the products and disconnect with prob-lems on the shop floor.

2. Even though BSA was the parent company of Triumph the two were allowed some individuality for some years. BSA was located in Birmingham, the industrial center of the UK whereas Triumph was in Meriden, a stones throw from Coventry and the auto manufacturing center for the country. The Triumph factory had to pay much higher wages to attract workers who would otherwise work for Jaguar or other auto makers. BSA on the other hand was able to pay wages about half of the Triumph wage due to the type of manufacturing in the Birmingham area. Because of this the workforce at Meriden was very racially focused, formed of generations of English people who traced their ancestry back for hundreds of years. In Rosamond’s book he mentions the racial prejudice in hiring and in fact it was normal to have genera-tions of families employed by Triumph. BSA on the other hand was staffed by re-cent immigrants mostly from middle eastern or Asian countries that had at one time been British colonies or under British rule. These people could be had for less mon-ey but resentment soon grew between the factories. This manifested itself in the stories of sabotage of Trident engines built at BSA but assembled to the chassis at Meriden. The ultimate insult was the demise of the Cub and the adding of the TR25W, a BSA with Triumph badges fully built at BSA but all warrantee payments came from the Meriden account. Tales of the workers at BSA tossing ball bearings at TR25W on the line to see if they could land one in an open spark plug hole are not made up.

Sad day, Meriden is gone!

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3. Management after Edward Turner were not motorcycle riders. In the top of Triumph’s game Turner rode his new design Thunderbird to the French racetrack where a team of 3 riders managed to average close to 90 mph for 12 hours. Key was that Turner was a user of the product and understood the needs of his fellow riders. New management went from making motorcycles to making “consumer durables”. It was all about the num-bers. This thinking leading to the decision to close Meri-den based on the pay issues and also issues with the Unions.

4. BSA and Norton merged at the insistence of the British Government in order to get export guarantees to gain operating cash. Norton boss Dennis Poore made the decision to close Meriden and sell the site to gain much needed money to retool for more modern products. The nature of the Meriden workforce made them very cohe-sive so they were able to blockade the factory keeping management out with the implicit approval of the British government. A workers Co-op was formed for Tri-umph Meriden with concessions made to NVT in exchange for the factory by the British Government (Think GM in the USA).

5. Through a dizzying string of events Norton Villiers Triumph (former BSA/Norton fac-tories) and Meriden Triumph became separate entities, however NVT retained sales rights to Meriden Triumph products. It was thought that every T140 made by the Co-op had a few hundred British Pound notes under the seat, the cost to produce was great bit more that NVT was willing to pay so bikes were sold at a loss.

6. As NVT went through its finial act Meriden Triumph was able to get distribution rights to it’s products but issues plagued the co-op. Rosamond says that originally the co-op would have no management but every worker made the same wage and no one was in charge. This resulted in abuse of the situation with absenteeism and poor work ethic being rampant. There was also great resentment within the work-force for workers who had walked the picket line for a year as opposed to those who had of necessity taken another job during the lock down. In the co-op world there became a huge issue with a tiered system of strike workers and non strike. Many of the people who came back to the co-op left much better paying jobs but that didn’t matter much.

7.Even after the folly of no manage-ment had been addressed by appoint-ing a committee to manage the factory the issues facing the workforce proved to be insurmountable. The Norton fac-tory had closed along with BSA by 1976 but the Co-op working with British tax money were able to hang on until 1983. Many plans to save the co-op were discussed but in the end a change in British government away from funding failing industries doomed the co-op.

Striking workers blockade the Meriden factory 1975

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The final bikes built by the co-op are my favorites. I currently own 4 of them including the 79 T140D I bought new. They were built by people passionate for the product. Unfortu-nately the co-op wasn’t as business savvy as was needed but they really did start from a position of weakness with a worn out factory and no capital to operate on. The fact that they built so many machines and that so many survive it a testament to the enthusiasm the workforce had for the product.

Passionate workers have a funeral for Triumph at the announcement of the

factory closure

Triumph workers man the picket lines in 1975. Note the makeshift shelter and heater.

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Letters to the Editor Send to: bsaocnceditor@aol.com or by mail : 17320 Santa Rosa Mine Rd,

Perris, Ca. 92570

Motorcycle rider sets headstand record at 76 mph https://www.foxnews.com/auto/motorcycle-headstand-record-mph

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Lou Caspary, owner of Caspary Brothers Motorcycle Shop, Culver City, 1949

Crestline gas stop, 1950. Guy pumping gas was Keenan Wynn, actor. They all showed up at Caspary Bros. on Washington, just a few blocks from the movie studio.

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. The photo of the #12 bike is him on the line at the 1941 Oakland 200-mile race (run on a paved oval). His tuner/sponsor is the guy on his left, Slim Karns, the Harley-Davidson dealer in Long Beach. That crash wall seen on Floyd’s right went all the way around the track and there was a tragic crash in the race that took the life of two top AMA pro riders, Tommy Hayes and June McCall. Trailblazers Hall of Famer Ben Campanale was also in the crash, as was another Los Angeles-based rider, Jimmie Kelley and both suffered

serious injuries—Don Emde

The second photo show Floyd (a Trailblazer member in his days) with his more familiar #7 taking off at a TT race at the old Costa Mesa course, I believe these was an O.C.M.C. track and likely their race. #52 is an old long-gone Trailblazer Ted Evans.

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Ascot photo shows at the start some Trailblazers Hall of Famers: Al Gunter (3), Ralph White (15), Jack O’Brien (24) and Sammy Tanner (7).

Roder 94 Tanner Obrien Satterly 72 white 15 Gunter 3 Skipstead 57x Nelson 93r Hanley 6 Litch 94r 1963

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Bobby Michael won 1951 100 miler and 5th 200 miler 1952. Bobby and his wife owned and operated the largest cement company in Pomona after that. One night at Fontana drags he showed up with his Harley 68” gas drag bike won that class many nights. Also, Pat had 2 sisters one named Irene married to Ed Kretz Sr. the other sister was married to Skip Fordyce. I did not know many of the guys in either picture most rode desert and scrambles you may be able to name them, Bobby Turner and Cody Piper BSA T shirt only one outside of Johnny M.

The last photo (next page) Ascot 1959-- 83 John M. 12 me, 10 Neil Keen 25 Dick Turhune main event More to come.

Bobby Sirkegian

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Ascot 1959-- 83 John M. 12 me, 10 Neil Keen 25 Dick Turhune main event

Dusty Coppage 32,Gene 20, Neil Keen, 10 Lloyd Houchins 20y

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Gary Scott Huston 1976

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2019 Clubman’s Calendar

05 Oct (Sat) BSAOCSC Southern Sierra Ride 06 Oct (Sun) Burt Barrett, 661-742-5539 06 Oct (Sun) BSAOCSC MT. BALDY RIDE Barry Sulkin, 310-398- 6406 or Barry Sulkin, 310-398-6406 06 Oct (Sun) NCNOC AGM and ride

Ken Armann, 408-455-9388

11 Oct (Fri) BSAOCNC/BSAOCSC NORTH COAST RIDE

12 Oct (Sat) Novato

13 Oct (Sun) Don Danmeier, 415-898-0330

06 Oct (Sun) SCNOC Rock Inn Loop, Pasadena

info@socalnorton.com

12 Oct (Sat) MELLOW VELO FELLOW RALLY, Ventucopa

13 Oct (Sun) Tim Kenney, 805-646-9982

20 Oct (Sun) BSAOCSC “AFTER THE GOLD RUSH” DUAL-SPORT RIDE Mike Haney 760-365-919 or Jim Wilson, 310- 292-8997

27 Oct (Sun) 49 Mile Ride, San Francisco (departs 9:00 from The Ramp) Pete Young, 415-794-4692

02 Nov (Sat) BSAOCNC ALL-BRITISH RIDE, Novato

Don Danmeier, 415-898-0330

02 Nov (Sat) AHRMA vintage trials and MX, Anza

03 Nov (Sun) Rob Poole, 415-990-9003 after 6 or poolesch11@hotmail.com

03 Nov (Sun) SCNOC Hansen Dam Ride

info@socalnorton.com

17 Nov (Sun) BSAOCSC SWAP MEET Steve Ortiz, 951-440-3521 or Barry Sulkin, 310-398-6406 24 Nov (Sun) BSAOCSC “PHELAN PHLING” Dual-SPORT RIDE Jim Wilson, 310-292-8997 or Mike Haney, 760-365- 9191

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Maggie Neato

DEAR MAGGIE:

I recently started dating my beauti-ful insurance agent mainly because she hinted at under-the-table discounts. I do not wish to reveal the name of the insur-ance company she represents, but she told me that if I spent the night with her, I'd be "in good hands". Let's just say that she was as good as her word, and I woke up in the morning a satisfied customer. She let me have a brochure advertising her com-pany's ability to insure my motorcycle, and the wording they used was as follows: "Genuine Parts Guarantee: Your ride will always be fixed with authentic parts. Guaranteed." However, after I signed on the dotted line, my "under-the-table" privi-leges ceased, and the only hands that kept me comforted were my own, if you get my drift. Then I was involved in an accident with my Y-13 BSA because I got momentarily confused and tried shifting with the wrong foot. (You might wonder why you haven't seen me riding this beauty on any club rides. The answer is simple: I don't trust Sun-zeri to keep from drooling onto my original paint.) But my insurance company directed me to a local Honda dealership which made it clear that hunting down original parts for my bike was not in the cards as far as they were concerned. Maggie, they were plan-ning on fitting a front fender from a new Honda crotch-rocket on my BSA! When I called my beautiful insurance agent and complained, she said that my contract had specified "authentic parts", not necessarily parts that were authentic for my exact mo-torcycle. Now I feel like I've been had, and in more ways than one. What do you sug-gest? (And please don't tell me I've been doing all my thinking with the wrong organ. This was a reputable company, and my agent had reputable legs that would cause any right-sided brain person to try and shift on the left.)

Now I've dropped my coverage with this insurance company and am currently shop-ping around. - UNPROTECTED IN THE DESERT

Dear Naked:

Looks like you’ve been using the correct organ for a change, but you’re still mixed up. Everybody knows that purchase decisions (even those for insurance) are made for emotional reasons, and are simply rationalized as practical ones. So even though you may have thought it over before switching to the Good Hands and Legs agent, in the final analysis, you were only justifying the emotional decision that was urged by those pesky hormones. You devil, you! Or as some would say, you were utilizing your rep-tilian grey matter. That is LEFT-side deployment of assets. Don’t confuse cranial po-larity with your motorcycle’s transmission.

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Astrodome 1980 Eklund (faitally injured Albur mile 1990)

Ted Boody fatal at 5-87 Ascot national

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74z Steve Eklund rookie ex– Roberts 1976

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Alex Chinowski 35x Romero 1969

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Bulletin ads work! Swap Meet, buy-sell-trade Only British motorcycle related items will be listed, with BSA items having priority. Unless otherwise requested, ads will run for three consecutive issues. If you find/sell what you are advertising for during that period, please send the Editor a cancellation notice!

The methods for submitting ads for publication are: Preferred: via Email, bsaocnceditor@aol.com with any photos in .jpg format

Next Best: Phone 951-943-5886. Good: mail to 17320 Santa Rosa Mine Rd, Perris 92570.

1966 Velocette Venom, alloy tank,

factory rear sets, clubman pipe, club-

man bars, alloy wheels, s/s spokes,

new tires, new BTH mag, (original

Lucas competition mag included),

books. Ready to ride.

$10500. Bill (209) 293-2247 or bvls@volcano.net

1978 BSA GOLD STAR Very nice condition, excellent gas tank, alloy rims, big front brake, total loss light, connecting rod failed in 1990, pulls strong from 1k to 4k.

I have owned this bike since mid 1980's current registration, have some extras. $9500 firm.

Tom @ 530 532-1169

9/19

1947 Triumph Desert sled, Clark swing arm conversion 500 cc , runs and lights work. Been sitting a long time. Sold with bill of sale only.

Bill @ 951-943-5886

$4000

9/19

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***TENTATIVE*** ******Weekend Schedule******

Please Check Back in Mid August 2019 for Updated Schedule! **Practice & Transponder is included with your entry**

NO PRE-RUNNING ALLOWED! IF YOU ARE CAUGHT PRE-RUNNING YOU WILL BE TICKETED AND NOT BE ALLOWED

TO RACE

http://dirtseriesracing.com/lake-elsinore-gp.html

Dominique Froesch at

Elsinore 2018

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2016: Part 6

After a quick break for tea and biscuits (cookies, to you) back at Howard and

Liz’s house, we left to visit their pal Ian, who showed us his Norton N15, BSA

Rocket 3, and a Sanglas. That last one is not widely known of – look it up. There

followed a lively and pleasant BS session. Sometimes that happens.

Howard’s next idea of an adventure after breakfast the next morning was to

take another little trip, this time to Richmond. It’s sure nice to have a knowledgeable

guide when you’re a tourist! On the way, we stopped to examine the ruins and

graveyard at Embsay Abbey (founded in 1120) and the church of St. Agatha.

Fascinating. I had never known there was a St. Agatha. And ruins always intrigue

me, because they not only challenge the wits trying to figure out how they were

constructed, but even more complicated, how the buildings were used. Things just

don’t operate today like they did a thousand years ago.

After a lunch in the market square in Richmond, we toured its Theatre Royal

(1788) and learned about its original feature used in staging plays, such as the sloping

stage, trapdoors, etc. It’s apparently one of England’s oldest surviving playhouses –

brought back from

oblivion in a late 20th

century restoration.

We met a Canadian

couple who were

taking a ten-day walk

across England, coast

to coast. This region

lends itself to that, not

only because of the

trails across the

moors, but also

because it’s Great

Britain’s narrowest

east-west dimension. I’ll stick to motorcycles.

Before leaving, we visited Richmond Falls, on the river Swale, noting the

Richmond Castle ruins on the hilltop. The water is oddly tinted in a sepia tone,

apparently from the peat through which it flows. The ladies took a walk downriver a

bit, to the old train station, where Howard and I met them with the car. We indulged

in the ice cream ritual before heading home to a hot Shepherd’s Pie and an evening of

pre-recorded Silverstone Moto GP.

Howard fired up his modern Triumph the following morning and rode with

us to the village of Helmsley. I recognized it from the hills above as a place that we’d

seen before – I think it must have been 1998, when Shirley and I made a run up

through Newcastle to Scotland with Bill and Linda. Rain had been threatening, so

after parking in the market square we pulled on our rain suits. Howard waved us off

TRAVELS WITH SHIRLEY Don Danmeier

Not a bike shop

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and motored back toward

Middlesborough. The sun

came out, this time for good,

while we were chatting with an

elderly guy who had ridden in

on a 350cc Norton. So, we

pulled off the rain gear and

forgot about it for the rest of

the day. After a bit of a break,

we hit the road again, stopping

for the night in Doncaster.

Four bikes rolled in right after

us, guys on new Gold Wings –

two of which were three-

wheelers. What a contrast to

our little BSA! They were on

their way to Scotland for the

“Festival of Lights” for

Hondas, which explained the

riot of illuminating hardware

those bikes were sporting.

They were surprised that we

hadn’t heard of what they took

to be a major event, one that

apparently amounted to…..

showing off your lights. Well,

I know a security blanket when

I see one, so I maneuvered the

BSA between the hotel and

that phalanx of behemoth

Hondas and locked it to a

second story balcony column.

In yet another opportunity for verbal exercise, we traipsed from Doncaster over

to Rugby, to visit our pal Graeme (a BSA stalwart). He won’t be coming back to the

USA due to the cost of travel insurance, so we’d planned to go to his place. That was

an easy ride except for the transition at Leicester – after that we were back on “A”

roads. We had lunch at The Shambles, a quaint thatch-roofed place in Lutterworth and

later, dinner at The Griffon. Besides all the gossip we could muster, we also re-visited

scenes from the 1990 (Ohio) and 1996 (New Zealand) BSAOC International Rallies via

CDs that he’s compiled. That brought back a flood of memories! So did a drive the

next day (in the rain) to a campout being held by the Warrington branch of the BSAOC.

There we were able to meet old friends in person, none of whom blamed us for not

riding that day, including Rich, an American member who lives on Kauai.

Unfortunately, we learned that our buddy Ray’s wife had recently passed away, which

hit us rather hard, as we’d become close to his family since meeting them in Scotland in

1998. Ton be continued

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Ex-Triumph race team mechanic Clive Humphries on the beach in South America touring on his 1970 TR6R. Clive previously rode two up from his home in England to the tip of South Africa on his 1951 Thunderbird two up with his girl friend!

Ushuaia is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. It is commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world

See, you can tour on one of these bikes…

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HONORARY MEMBERS OF THE BSA OWNERS CLUB OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA:

Dave Aldana Earl Bowlby Don Danmeier Dick Mann Bob Raber Jim Rice Jeff Smith Craig Vetter In Memoriam: Kenny Eggers Nick Nicholson Roland Pike Roy Bacon Neil Keen Chuck “Feets” Minert Eddie Dow

BSAOCNC Committees:

NEWSLETTER Bill Getty, Editor 951-940-5411

Don Danmeier 415-898-0330

RIDES Don Danmeier, Chair 415-898-0330

Mike Crick

CALIFORNIA Don Danmeier, Chair 415-898-0330

BSA RALLY David James 510-562-6769

ELECTIONS Ants Uiga (Chairman) 949-466-6404

David James 510-562-6769

MEMBERSHIP Bill Whalen, Chair 707-837-0424

Patti Meadows 775-359-8150

WEB PRESENCE David James, Chair 510-562-6769

Patti Meadows 775-359-8150

Jeff Sunzeri 831-636-3020

A bad day at the races for sure!

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Remember this advertisement?

I would still have the Challenger! Ed.

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Unfinished 1974 Triumph T140’s collect in the Butler building at Meriden during the 1975 strike

Workers pass the time during the strike. NVT assets were tied up for a year as the strike dragged on costing the company dearly. NVT retooled the Trident at great cost to

produce at Birmingham