Biking in Britain, circa early '60s.

The riding adventures of Tom, and Tom's friend.

Great video!  Lovely old Matchless.  It recalls the times before indicators and mirrors were required.  All in all, it brings back into focus a Britain I'd all but forgotten.  Plenty of smog, but no rain (?).  When did you last see a rider wearing leather mittens? And those plates with the "L" -- I take it they indicate Learner. Most enjoyable.  Thanks for posting the video. 

North London - Collindale/Kingsbury/Hendon, I think, evidenced by the gasworks and the end of the M1 motorway. The 'other' bike is a Triumph Cub and the scooter appears to be a Guzzi Galliati (sp?) or a Bianchi of some description. Numberplates are 'A' reg making both bikes 1963. I had an 'A' registered Ariel VB600 (actually it was a 1958 model) which was one of only two bikes I ever regret selling.

I lived in Kingsbury in the late Seventies - some places never change.

[Edit] Come to think of it, most likely Hendon because that's where the road transport school was based.

L plates do indicate a learner, both in UK and OZ, and there are generally restrictions on displacement, horsepower, pillion, speed limits, and even times of the day they can be ridden. They're the ones being ridden like experienced heroes. Gotta get your bruises somehow. Next come P plates. We know that surely means professional.

Yes the Learners were restricted to 250cc and the cub if not the S was a blistering 10hp!

Two Wheels Better wrote:L plates do indicate a learner, both in UK and OZ, and there are generally restrictions on displacement, horsepower, pillion, speed limits, and even times of the day they can be ridden. They're the ones being ridden like experienced heroes. Gotta get your bruises somehow. Next come P plates. We know that surely means professional.

I like the way they cover the headlight with the L plate...that's a safe thing to do! Also, note the absence of any road markings at the junctions. Thankfully, we now have lines everywhere to try and bring some discipline to the road. 

In the UK, after passing your test and ditching the L plates, it is entirely optional whether you want to tell everyone that you are an inexperienced driver by wearing a P Plate. Most don't. I don't think I have ever seen them on a bike. I made my daughter put P plates on her car for 3 months after passing her test - they didn't seem to make any difference to the way others drove though (tailgating etc.).

Born Again Eccentric wrote:In the UK GB

FTFY Paul  Different rules over here; you are required to put up R (Restricted) plates for twelve months after you pass your test and there's lots of things you can't do, like exceed 45mph and use motorways. Mine lasted three months until I felt comfortable with the car. Additionally, the insurance companies treat you as being a reasonable risk while on R-plates and a poor risk as soon as they expire i.e. your insurance premium doubles!!!! There's no crossover between motorcycles and cars, so my 40+ years experience on the road counted for nothing and for insurance purposes I was treated like a snotty-nosed 17-year old. There's next-to-no insurance competition over here and we know it. Last year everyone's insurance premiums increased by 80% because the underwriters felt like it. The excuse given is usually 'civil unrest', even though that has effectively been a lie for the last twenty years.

And in the South of Ireland, its "N" plates (for Novice), after the L plates. For two years I think.  
They are the ones to give a wide berth, as they now think since they've passed a test, they know it all.

I don't think they have as many restrictions as the P platers in Oz (both my nieces are Australian - I had to remove the P plates from the car when I was driving it - here it is common to see both an L plate and a N plate on the car, when the parents are driving it).

And in OZ it's a ticket for any driver of that vehicle with a full licence who has not removed either the L for Learner or P for Provisional plate from said vehicle after the kiddies have driven or ridden it.

That's the theory across the UK too, but I've never heard of anyone getting prosecuted for it.

I stand as witness to the law prosecuting coz they can.

Here in the wild west on North America, the authorities don't seem to care much at all if you know how to ride a motorcycle.  It's all about business $$$. Learner or Novice plates? ha!  If you've got enough guile to talk someone into financing your Hayabusa, or some other big bore rocket, you're "good to go", as they say. 
I have a vivid memory of being at a dealership some years back when the purchaser of a new bike wrecked it while trying to pull out of the parking lot.  I often wonder if that guy lived long enough to run in the machine. I hope he wasn't married with kids.

Back in about 1977, I was 17, already riding my R75/7. I pulled into a southern New Hampshire Suzuki dealership and got the keys to a new GS1000 for a 'test ride'. I ripped down a back country road at 130mph, skinny tyres and tiny single disc brake up the front. Man, was I stooopid. I'd been riding on the road for a year, but on bikes for several more years prior. Hey, wisdom is not the prerogative of youth.