The Fall of the British Motorcycle

The entire British motorcycle industry collapsed between 1960 and 1980. It seemed as if they were incapable of coming up with new ideas and improving their motorcycles and manufacturing processes. While at the same time, Japanese motorcycles got better year by year until they totally dominated the business.

A key example would be the 1968 Honda 450, a two cylinder bike also known as the "Black Bomber". Although it was a bit smaller than the currently popular 650 two cylinder British bikes, it could hold its own in speed and power. And was arguably more reliable, more oil tight and generally better quality. It was also very large for a Japanese bike, and the largest motorcycle to come from Honda at that time. But it did not sell well, as it was not clearly superior to the currently popular British bikes. So a year later Honda came out with a four cylinder, 750 cc bike with a breakthrough in the development of a hydraulic front brake. Finally, this bike was sufficiently superior to crush any rivals. And what were the British manufacturers doing during this time? The same thing they did the year before. Honda and the other Japanese manufacturers did not stop there, and year after year got so much better that within 5-10 more years, almost nobody could muster enough enthusiasm to buy a British bike. So all the British manufacturers folded.

Yet if you were to look back at the beginning of the Industrial revolution, the British invented the steam engine, and year after year improved it. They also put out a veritable flood of other inventions, and became the most innovative country on the planet. What took them from inventiveness to lethargy in less than 100 years? It would be good to know for future technological countries.

Unfortunately if we look at the USA, and focus just on its motorcycle industry, we do see a bit of lethargy creeping in. Harley Davidson attempted to produce a superior motorcycle, the V-Rod back in 2001. It did not sell very well, not because it was a poor performer, but because it was "different". American customers rejected the water cooling system, preferring the inferior and obsolete air cooling of the older, less efficient engines.

Is the motorcycle industry representative of American inventiveness? Even outside of the motorcycling field, I see an unwillingness to look at new ideas - for example, GM crushing the electric cars in 1999. Then basically going bankrupt in 2009 (unless bailed out by the government, of course). I see a rejection of the scientific community as a bunch of "pinhead intellectuals" in the mainstream media. There are plenty of brilliant Americans out there, but they are called geeks and nerds, while the heroes are the football jocks and rock stars. When scientists warn of global warming they are refuted not by other scientists, but by politicians, CEO's, journalists, and religious leaders. The same happens on the subject of teaching evolution in school. And in developing renewable energy. And in medical research.

While America is making heroes out of singers and football players, and ignoring the geeks and the nerds, the rest of the world is moving on. A country suppresses science at its own peril.