Motorcycle ( almost ) perfection

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Highspeed
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Motorcycle ( almost ) perfection

Post by Highspeed »

I'm no fan of Tojo's minions but they do build some nice bikes...

This zipperhead Shovel is the most righteous chopper I have seen in a long time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nLmgn-JBv8

I would swap the low bars for apehangers and lose the suicide clutch\shift but apart from that it's perfect...
Someone should tell those American Chopper morons that 'less is more'
All my life I been in the dog house
I guess that just where I belong
That just the way the dice roll
Do my dog house song
rightisright
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Re: Motorcycle ( almost ) perfection

Post by rightisright »

Nice. Very clean.
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First Shirt
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Re: Motorcycle ( almost ) perfection

Post by First Shirt »

Okay, now I'm confused. The Brit ex-pat likes a chopper, and me, the 'Murrican, wants a Triumph Bonneville.

Does that make any sense to anyone?
But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
Lindy Cooper Wisdom
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Highspeed
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Re: Motorcycle ( almost ) perfection

Post by Highspeed »

Wanting a Bonnie makes sense to me...
They aren't very fast though and require constant maintenance.

Check this out - a documentary about some British bikers who got salt fever - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnJNQIXMYv0 - my kind of people.

[spoiler]The Bonneville only ran 90mph rather than their target of 124mph - my Triton ( a Bonnie engine in a Norton frame ) did that regularly, but I was lucky enough to be able to buy a shitload of factory race parts before the 'classic bike as an investment' vultures inflated the prices of that stuff to stupid levels. But even so, I reckon I could have got their bike to do 124mph with about a weeks work and a cost of $1000. They would have got about 15mph extra just by fitting a fairing and losing those wide handlebars[/spoiler]
All my life I been in the dog house
I guess that just where I belong
That just the way the dice roll
Do my dog house song
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First Shirt
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Re: Motorcycle ( almost ) perfection

Post by First Shirt »

Had a chance, years ago (1971, maybe?) to take a friend's Norton Commando from Birmingham to Nashville, 213 miles of non-interstate highway, along U.S. 31. Made the 213 miles in 2 hours, 38 minutes, despite going through several towns and cities (with stoplights, and city traffic).

Most fun I've ever had with my clothes on!

At this point, given my age and advanced state of decrepitude, going fast on a motorcycle is probably contra-indicated.
But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
Lindy Cooper Wisdom
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PawPaw
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Re: Motorcycle ( almost ) perfection

Post by PawPaw »

I prefer dressers, the Goldwing, or the ST 1300, or the BMW R1200 RT. Even considered a Harley Ultra Classic.

But then, I'm an Iron Butt rider, so I appreciate a bike with long legs.

MY favorite was probably the Honda Pacific Coast, but they've been out of production since 1998.
Dennis Dezendorf
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Highspeed
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Re: Motorcycle ( almost ) perfection

Post by Highspeed »

The Commando is a lousy design that somehow manages to be better than the sum of it's parts.

Think of it like this - you are Mr Norton in the late 60's and have the best handling chassis in the world and an engine which started life as a 500 and when stretched out to a 750 shakes like a pneumatic road drill and blows up all the time.
What do you do ?
If you are Mr Norton you junk the great chassis and keep the shitty vibrating engine, rubber mounting it in the frame to try and disguise the fact that it wants to shake itself to pieces. Then you bore it out for another 100cc and fit an electric starter which doesn't work.

It's still a nice bike. I first met a Commando when a random guy turned up at my house on a Mk3 850 and asked me how the fuck it was possible to start the thing. He had to bump start it by rolling down a hill. Apparently I was the 'go-to' guy for being able to kick badly designed large capacity motorcycles into life ( I owned a Shovelhead Harley chop at the time )

I did like the Commando :- Mr " I can't start my bike " - AKA 'Splat' became a good mate. We always shared bikes in those days so I rode the Commando a lot. It handled OK and the engine was good. Not as fast as my Harley but then I had spent a lot of money on the motor.

Splat's Commando features in one of the best moments of my life. Me, him and another mate had gone to a biker gathering where a big fight happened. We were all wasted on mushrooms dope and booze expecting to stay the night, but some non-biker assholes turned up and commenced to fighting us. They lost really badly, I think they had mistaken us for hippies. One of the 'citizens' was in a bad way afterwards and we thought he was dead.
So the plan directly afterwards was to get the fuck out of Dodge, despite being wasted.
It was a beautiful summer night about 3am, me and Splat and another mate on a 500 Triumph just hauled ass home. I was at the back because I had the fastest bike. Which makes sense if you think about it.
It was magical, light mist, cool breeze, mild hallucinations and us trucking on at about 90mph in a wall of open piped noise, running for home. Being at the back of the pack I got the benefit of the sounds.
If I live to be a hundred years old I'll never forget that ride...

I don't know what happened with the citizen who got fucked up. He wasn't actually dead or we would have heard about it.
Fuck him anyway :D
All my life I been in the dog house
I guess that just where I belong
That just the way the dice roll
Do my dog house song
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First Shirt
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Re: Motorcycle ( almost ) perfection

Post by First Shirt »

During my mad dash to Nashville, I got stopped by a motorcycle cop. I saw him as I was going past, and as soon as he fired up lights, I pulled over. After a little bit of discussion, he opined that it was a good thing I'd pulled over when I did. I asked why, and he said "I don't think I could have caught you on that Harley."

He let me off with a warning, and said that if they had to pick me up with a stick and a spoon in his jurisdiction, he was gonna be really pissed.

All in all, one of the better traffic stops I've been involved in.
But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
Lindy Cooper Wisdom
Rusty Ray
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Re: Motorcycle ( almost ) perfection

Post by Rusty Ray »

My best ride:

After a great weekend in a real shitkicker village in Somerset, a mate and I raced back to London early on a hot Sunday morning. We were two-up (ladies on the back) and we were the only thing on the road. Mate was on this Triumph Speed Triple, me on my '96 Bandit 600T. The route back (A303) was a great mix of Motorway, winding country lanes interspersed with dual carriage way.

Best part was blatting past Stonehenge in the early morning.

Miss ma Bandit...Cheers- Rusty
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Highspeed
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Re: Motorcycle ( almost ) perfection

Post by Highspeed »

I'm not a huge fan of Jap bikes in general, but those Bandits are pretty good value and a nice handling machine.

First Shirt :- bike cops in the UK used to ride Commando's and retained them long after they were obsolete - there was one in our area who was notorious for pulling alongside unsuspecting bikers and challenging them to a race. It took on urban legend status after a while, but the core facts are true enough because it happened to someone I knew. The cop won the race :lol:
All my life I been in the dog house
I guess that just where I belong
That just the way the dice roll
Do my dog house song
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