John Dalton, a Tiger Cub owner on the Isle of Man, sends me the attached pic from 1964 wondering if the Cub (554 UPO?) in the foreground might have survived.
Apart from that, I thought OBM readers might be interested in the photo, which shows a lovely selection of bikes and riders from the day – Triumphs, Nortons and a good few BSAs, as far as I can see.
The pic was taken in late ’64 in Cathcart Street, Greenock, Scotland.
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Apparently at the time the police had a crackdown on wild motorcycle riding around the town after a lot of fatal crashes.
They wanted to gather together as many motorcycle riders as they could and ask them to attend a road safety film on motorcycling.
The Scottish Daily Mirror wanted a photo of this so-called motorcycle wild bunch and sent down a photographer who wanted the photo taken by the no parking sign to add a bit of could-not-care-less attitude from the lads (the police station was just up the road).
The photo was to epitomise the motorcyclists of the day, which it certainly does. It was turned into a poster that was sold worldwide and quite a lot went to Japan.
Happy days for those young lads I’m sure. John Lyons, the fifth young man from the left in the photo, is the only rider identified, anybody recognise others?
Mike Powell
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