In the 1970s, a musical movement started in the UK, termed the “new wave of British heavy metal,” abbreviated as NWOBHM. The style was 1970s heavy metal, infused with punk influences, and by 1980s, NWOBHM became an international phenomenon with influences seen across the Atlantic. Bands like Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Black Sabbath and Def Leppard were the early NWOBHM influencers, which gave the platform to what is widely regarded as 1980s Glam Rock and Hard Rock, primarily originating in the West Coast of the US.
A decade before, in the 1960s, just when British rock bands like Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones and The Beatles were creating waves in the music scene in the UK, the British motorcycle industry was at its peak, with brands like BSA, Norton, Triumph, Royal Enfield and Ariel having a strong fan following. This was preceded by the mushrooming of a motorcycling sub-culture in 1950s Britain which went hand in hand with rock n’ roll music.
Groups which were called the “Rockers” and “Ton-Up Boys” dominated popular motorcycling sub-culture in the ’50s UK, racing stripped down production motorcycles from cafe to cafe, turning street races and motorcycling into a lifestyle, often meeting up at iconic addresses like the Ace Cafe in London. Nearly six decades later, a new wave of British heavy metal seems to be emerging, but this time, in the world of motorcycles. And almost all of these are iconic British motorcycle brands, with a helping hand and support from big automobile and two-wheeler corporations in India.
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BSA, or Birmingham Small Arms company was one of the largest motorcycle companies in the world, at one time selling one of every four motorcycles around the world. Pictured here is a 1954 BSA Gold Star.
The roots of the British motorcycle industry
The British motorcycle industry once accounted for the largest share of global motorcycle production. Brands like BSA, Norton, Triumph, Ariel, Matchless and Vincent led the global motorcycle industry in design, performance and technology. After World War II, British motorcycles continued to dominate the global market, as well as the racetrack. WWII created a substantial demand for motorcycles, and brands like BSA and Royal Enfield produced motorcycles for the British armed forces. By the 1950s, BSA purchased Triumph and Sunbeam, and became the world’s largest motorcycle maker, with one in every four motorcycles sold worldwide sporting the BSA badge.
The new BSA Gold Star, on the right, is definitely inspired by the original 1950s Gold Star design, parked on the left.
By the 1970s, however, there was a challenge from the Far East, when Japanese brands arrived with sophisticated technology and mechanically superior and reliable machines. The popularity of the Japanese machines, as well as market sentiment veering towards scooters, left the British motorcycle industry in doldrums. The only exception was Royal Enfield, which soldiered on in India, with Madras Motors continuing production of Royal Enfield bikes in India under licence, even after its parent British firm shut shop in the UK in the 1950s. The Royal Enfield bikes continued with the same technology and platform from the 1960s, right up till the turn of the 1990s, sporting the same pushrod engine with a separate gearbox and right-hand side gear shifter.
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The RE Classic 350 has been the single-largest selling model for Royal Enfield for over 10 years now.
The Royal Enfield Story In India
After having been acquired by India’s Eicher Group in the 1990s, Royal Enfield has grown exponentially over the past decade or so, at one time selling over 80,000 motorcycles a month in the domestic market. And the Indian motorcyclist’s love affair with the classic ’60s British motorcycle design continues unabated. With the introduction of the new 650 Twins platform and revamping its product line-up with better engineering; with updated models and platforms, Royal Enfield is now setting its sights to cement its leadership position in the global mid-size motorcycle segment.
Also Read: 2021 Royal Enfield Classic 350 Review
The Triumph Bonneville range offers the perfect examples of a true-blue modern classic, with 1960s-inspired design, but with modern engineering and technology.
While Royal Enfield’s commercial successes started around 2010, with the introduction of a new unit construction engine and its bestselling Classic 350 platform, the true-blue ‘modern classic’ actually took shape under the watch of another British motorcycle brand, at least a decade before RE started tasting commercial success. In fact, at Royal Enfield’s Tech Centre in the UK, many of its current employees are from the neighbouring British brand with its headquarters in Hinckley – Triumph Motorcycles.
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Triumph Motorcycles has aced the modern classic segment. The Triumph Bonneville Bobber is a perfect example of old-school design, complete with a hard-tail look, with a hidden rear monoshock and finned head, although it’s liquid-cooled, and gets all modern electronics and technology.
The modern classic motorcycle
By the turn of the century, in the early 2000s, the modern classic motorcycle made a complete resurgence, with performance, dynamics and engineering comparable with contemporary motorcycles. Triumph Motorcycles, the only British-owned, British motorcycle brand in production, made the world stand up and take notice of its new modern classic range. The new Triumph Bonneville, when it was launched as a modern classic in 2001, closely resembles earlier models from the ’60s, in style and basic configuration but with modern engineering. Two decades later, the current Triumph Bonneville range features the finest examples of a true-blue modern classic, successfully combining, liquid-cooling, modern electronics, components, and engineering, yet with the basic silhouette and design of the earlier air-cooled models of the ’50s and ’60s.
The Kawasaki Z900RS is a superb example of a Japanese-origin modern classic, or neo-retro motorcycle.
Today, the modern classic genre has not just expanded to include British-origin brands like Triumph and Royal Enfield, but also followed closely by Kawasaki, Honda and Suzuki with their very own retro-styled modern models. Closer home, Classic Legends, a Mahindra Group subsidiary, kick-started operations in 2016, and re-launched Czech motorcycle brand Jawa, followed by its spiritual Indian brand successor, Yezdi motorcycles. Classic Legends also acquired rights to the BSA motorcycle brand in 2016, finally launching the new BSA Gold Star in the UK earlier this month. For now, the Gold Star is manufactured in India, but the company has a tech centre in the UK, where eventually manufacturing may be started, albeit at a much smaller scale than in India.
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The new Norton V4SV superbike has been completely re-engineered. Under TVS ownership, Norton intends to focus on quality and a long term future for the Norton brand.
The new Norton Motocycle brand
Another Indian two-wheeler powerhouse, TVS Motor Company acquired the Norton Motorcycle brand in 2020 for 16 million GBP, just months after it had gone into administration. TVS has since pumped more investment into the brand and has relocated its manufacturing and headquarters to a new facility in the UK, already relaunching the Norton Commando and V4 models with improved engineering and technology. The company is also getting ready to revamp the Atlas 650 platform for customers across the world.
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The TVS Ronin is the latest retro-styled motorcycle in the market, which TVS describes as a “modern retro”. Powered by a 225 cc, perfect-square engine, the Ronin is designed for strong low-end grunt, and refinement.
Also Read: TVS Motor Company May Launch Norton Motorcycles In India
In the domestic market, TVS launched its first retro-styled motorcycle, the Ronin in early July, setting the stage perhaps for a small displacement Norton to be introduced both at home and abroad, to take the fight to Royal Enfield in future. That may take some time, but it’s only natural that TVS uses its Norton brand equity to attempt a slice of the pie Royal Enfield is comfortably sitting on.
Also Read: Is There A Bigger Strategy Behind The TVS Ronin?
Spy shots revealed a prototype which is unmistakably a Triumph, and the small-displacement, single-cylinder engine confirms that this upcoming Scrambler will also be from the Bajaj-Triumph alliance, and will be made in India.
Bajaj-Triumph Alliance
Triumph is also working on a small displacement platform with India’s biggest exporter of motorcycles, Bajaj Auto. Under the partnership, Bajaj will manufacture a single-cylinder, small displacement Triumph motorcycle which will be sold both in India, and across the world. Bajaj already owns significant stake in KTM’s parent company, and also manufactures single-cylinder KTM motorcycles in India, for the world. The partnership between Bajaj and Triumph will only add yet another cog in the wheel of modern classic motorcycles, all with British heritage to be made in India, for the world.
Also Read: TVS Ronin Review
The new headquarters of Norton Motorcycles are home to design, engineering, purchasing, sales, marketing, and support teams
In a way, it’s a strong resurgence of the classic ’60s motorcycle styling, coupled with modern technology and electronics. It’s a formula which will likely see a lot of action, not just riding on India’s love for the modern classic design, but also to extend the horizons of heavyweight historical British motorcycle brands across the world. It’s also a trend which is likely to take centrestage in the global motorcycle market, and possibly even compete head on in popularity with the adventure bike segment, which is also kicking up quite a storm across segments. In all this, one thing is clear; a new wave of British heavy metal is already underway, and this time, the action will be centred around mid-size, four-stroke thumpers, made in India!