It’s Two Wheel Tuesday and ’50s Week here on Hooniverse Asks, and that of course means that today we want your take on what was the best motorcycle that the 1950s had to offer.
In the 1950s the Japanese had yet to make their presence known as a major exporter of two-wheeled transport, while at the same time, Great Britain’s position as one had yet to fade. Italy, Germany, and the USA were also centers of sizable bike production with many nameplates that have gone down in the annals of history, as well as many others that have been mostly forgotten.
That all made the ’50s a golden age of motorcycle production and a number of iconic and memorable bikes arose during that decade. Today we want your opinion as to which of those now rises to the top of the heap, and could realistically be crowned as the era’s greatest-ever street bike.
Image: Silodrome
Hooniverse Asks: ‘50s Edition-What’s the Greatest Street Bike of the 1950s?
By Robert Emslie
Mar 10, 2015
Jeff Glucker
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/1954_BMW_R68.jpg
BMW R68 always looked so nice to me.
But realistically the 1950 BMW is an icon.
There are other bikes I am personally more fond of, but speaking objectively, this is the only answer I can advocate in good conscience.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/New_York_Vincent-HRD_Series_C_Black_Shadow_Motorcycle.jpg
My answer too.
So here’s a picture that some may recognise.
http://coldfury.com/images/VincentSpeedRecord.jpg
Because the best two answers have already been given, I have to give a show of support for my favorite marque:
I think I misread the question, so I answered Triumph Bonneville T120, because it was the dominant performance bike of the era, although it’s notoriously flexy frame led to the Triton.
For a really good bike I’ll throw in the Ariel Square Four
BSA DBD34 Gold Star
http://www.classic-british-motorcycles.com/images/60BSA-DBD34-ClubmGStar-R.jpg
For inexpensive out-of-the-box cafe race ready glory the Clubman couldn’t be beat.