WHERE DID ALL THE ROCKERS GO? The 'Bike Boys' or 'Rockers' of the 60s rode the most powerful sports bikes of their time, wore leather jackets, went to race meetings and hung around in cafés. Sound familiar? Rockers didn't really fade away, they simply evolved. Today's sports bikes may be R1s, Blades and GSX-Rs, but most owners still add race exhausts or rear sets, just as the original ton-up boys added clip-ons and racing screens. The leather jacket has evolved into the one- or two-piece suit and, while the annual pilgrimage to the Isle of Man TT is still a must for many, today's Bike Boys are just as likely to head to Brands for WSB or Donnington Park to watch MotoGP. The Ace Café, original haunt of the Rockers, is still in existence, but most riders still know a café where they meet for a Sunday run. Then, as now, a large section of the public think bikers are noisy, no-good hooligans - no change there then, in essence, little has changed. While there's no longer such a link between rock'n'roll and biking, you're still more likely to find hard rock bands playing at bike meets, not Westlife. Most riders of modern sports bikes can trace their ancestry back to the Bike Boys of the 1960s. The desire for freedom is still there, the thrill of chasing the magic ton has perhaps been replaced by the buzz of a track day, but the rebel image has not completely disappeared. Strangely, no-one referred to those pioneering bad boys as 'Bikers' - it was always 'Bike Boys', 'Rockers', 'Leather Boys' or 'Ton-up Boys'. Today, we are known as 'bikers' but then what's in a name? The spirit of those 60s rebels who found the true meaning of life in a powerful motorcycle lives on in all of us. And that's something to be proud of. These are not my words I copied this part from a feature in Visor Down to give a flavour of what life was like as a 60s "Rocker", however I will put some additional personal thoughts and experiences on a further post. Here are a couple of photos from the time. Can anyone name the 2 people in the middle photo.
They were the two 'Revs' who started the 59ers in the early 60s. Never made the Ace Cafe much as it's North of the River, I mostly visited the tea hut at Chelsea Bridge on a Friday Night. Ordered some breakfast with some mates at the Ace Cafe once, the waitress came outside holding four plates of food and shouted "Egg and fucking Chips!" Simple and effective, no mincing about in those days. Over...
Spot on Iron. The 2 Revs Father Bill, Father Graham Hullett, I will post an interest snippet regarding Father Hullett and a 12 bore shotgun wielding biker.
Bloody hell mate those photos bought back some good memories to me l joint the 59 club in 1964 where l met Bill Shergold he was a real decent bloke who started the 59 club in Paddington he’s the guy on the left in the middle photo, I’ve got a couple of pics somewhere I’ll try and find em pity we didn’t have camera phones in those days we’d have some blinding pics to look at now, walking around with a Brownie box camera back then wouldn’t have been cool
Bloody hell mate those photos bought back some good memories to me l joint the 59 club in 1964 where l met Bill Shergold he was a real decent bloke who started the 59 club in Paddington he’s the guy on the left in the middle photo, I’ve got a couple of pics somewhere I’ll try and find em pity we didn’t have camera phones in those days we’d have some blinding pics to look at now, walking around with a Brownie box camera back then wouldn’t have been cool
yea l got a feeling she worked at Teds transport cafe along the eastern avenue in Ilford a well known rockers cafe she also would come outside and shout who the fuck ordered 6 mugs of tea bless her bring back those days eh
Father Hullett faced down violence on many an occasion. He once tried to stop a member of The Road Rats biker gang coming into the 59 club with a shotgun, breaking the gun-toting biker's fingers as he pushed him back. "The Road Rats were a good group, Father Hullett said at the time, our club had a policy of only letting in real bikers or pillions. The Road Rats were mainly bikers but they had a lot of hangers on. I used to stand at the door and let in the genuine bikers while refusing entry to others. I got nervous because I knew some of them had shotguns. One time a biker I knew well shot and killed another biker on Chelsea Bridge. I was pretty nervous most nights Father Hullett said. Bloody brilliant, (not the shooting the stories we can re tell), back in the day you didn't need a shotgun certificate like you do today, any man and his dog could buy and own one, even the local well known stores like the C0-OP sold them, you could buy them mail order and when delivered if you were not in it was left on your doorstep (wrapped of course for security reasons).
Welcome and congratulations on the the new bike. When you say the bike is sketchy below 20 is it throttle surge? My Scrambler 1200 XC had some play in the throttle that was no fun at low speed. I put in a spacer, fixed the problem. Not sure if they have one for the T 120. https://ducatispacers.com/products/triumph-throttle-spacer-kit
Hi Jen54 thanks for the info, my throttle seems tight with no play it’s not so much a surge I’m getting but a cut in power albeit short it’s very snatchy at low speeds especially when doing a slow u turn it can be bloody dangerous, I’ve been told a booster plug might solve the problem but some people I’ve spoke to who fitted them have had mixed results, when l put the bike in for its first service I’m gonna ask em to rectify it under the guarantee fat chance l suppose but l know I’m not the only one with this problem and Triumph shouldn’t be putting bikes on the road with this particular problem, a dealer l spoke to who was aware of it said Triumph in order to comply to the latest euro emissions have had to tweak the bike and unfortunately has born this problem. If this is the case then Triumph should produce an after market fix and have a recall we shouldn’t need to be putting in throttle spacers and booster plugs etc to fix a fault that Triumph have made, as I’ve mentioned l nearly dropped the bike when doing a slow u turn and that’s bloody dangerous