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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 17:51:12 GMT
I'm from a motorcycling family so I guess it's in my blood. When I was a kid (late 70s, early 80s), Triumph motorcycles really caught my eye. They just looked such a handsome machine, sounded great and looked like an entry into a world of rockers and cool isolation. I've since owned a 750 Bonneville and it's a love, hate relationship to say the least. Wonderful when they're going, frustrating when broken. Welcome to the world of old bikes. I'm looking to buy a late BSA Lightning or Thunderbolt at the moment, I'm too content with my modern Triumph- I need some pain! My dad used to bring the odd bike home when I was a kid, due to his job as a motor trader. But it was my grandad who got me excited. He used to ride a Norton and he told me some great stories about the Manx Norton and the Isle of Man TT. My Nan used to tell me he always came home with the knees ripped out of his trousers! Used to spend an awful lot of time at Darley Moor with my mate Steve who used to proddy race a 350 LC. I had a pickup so I used to take him and his bike up there and help him prep his bike for scrutineering. Steve, or Rubbers as he was known, ended up in the cemetery in 1990 after coming off his FZR1000EXUP. Very sad. But i've always been a fan of Norton's and that featherbed frame, although Triumph's had superior mills. I came close to getting a Commando on a couple of occasions, but basically bottled it. I also like the Triumph Trident/BSA Rocket 3, but in truth, i'm just not savvy enough with the old spanners to take on one of these old British iron horses. However, i've been very happy with my 996 since I had a punt on that. When the CB750Four and then the Z1 first appeared it must have seemed like something from outer space when you looked at what we were manufacturing at true time. I still find unfathomable how we let our dominance in motorcycle manufacturing just slip away and then allow an entire industry to simply evaporate. Found this old clip of a 350cc production class race - basically 350LC's - possibly the greatest racing class of all time.
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Post by Billybigbollox on Jul 28, 2014 18:14:01 GMT
I used to ride a kwaka KH 250 triple cylinder when I was a teenager. Had several trial bikes too at the time. I haven't been on a bike in about 20 years but sometimes fancy getting myself a scooter to fuck about on.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 18:24:40 GMT
I used to ride a kwaka KH 250 triple cylinder when I was a teenager. Had several trial bikes too at the time. I haven't been on a bike in about 20 years but sometimes fancy getting myself a scooter to fuck about on. My mate had a KH250. It used to sound like someone was shaking a can of nails on tick over, but when he wound it up...a glorious noise (and quite a bit of smoke) came out of those zorsts. Really liked the KH but when 250 & 350LC's came out they were suddenly redundant, along with pretty much every other bike on sale. Kawasaki Stoke had a brand new unregistered one in the shop window for years.
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Post by harryburrows on Jul 28, 2014 18:48:41 GMT
I'm from a motorcycling family so I guess it's in my blood. When I was a kid (late 70s, early 80s), Triumph motorcycles really caught my eye. They just looked such a handsome machine, sounded great and looked like an entry into a world of rockers and cool isolation. I've since owned a 750 Bonneville and it's a love, hate relationship to say the least. Wonderful when they're going, frustrating when broken. Welcome to the world of old bikes. I'm looking to buy a late BSA Lightning or Thunderbolt at the moment, I'm too content with my modern Triumph- I need some pain! My dad used to bring the odd bike home when I was a kid, due to his job as a motor trader. But it was my grandad who got me excited. He used to ride a Norton and he told me some great stories about the Manx Norton and the Isle of Man TT. My Nan used to tell me he always came home with the knees ripped out of his trousers! Used to spend an awful lot of time at Darley Moor with my mate Steve who used to proddy race a 350 LC. I had a pickup so I used to take him and his bike up there and help him prep his bike for scrutineering. Steve, or Rubbers as he was known, ended up in the cemetery in 1990 after coming off his FZR1000EXUP. Very sad. But i've always been a fan of Norton's and that featherbed frame, although Triumph's had superior mills. I came close to getting a Commando on a couple of occasions, but basically bottled it. I also like the Triumph Trident/BSA Rocket 3, but in truth, i'm just not savvy enough with the old spanners to take on one of these old British iron horses. However, i've been very happy with my 996 since I had a punt on that. When the CB750Four and then the Z1 first appeared it must have seemed like something from outer space when you looked at what we were manufacturing at true time. I still find unfathomable how we let our dominance in motorcycle manufacturing just slip away and then allow an entire industry to simply evaporate. Found this old clip of a 350cc production class race - basically 350LC's - possibly the greatest racing class of all time. my mate had a 750 commando in the mid 70s we managed a ton on park lane central london with me as pillion , couldnd be done now . the 750 was a beast , an all round nicer bike than the 850
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yamfan
Academy Starlet
Posts: 231
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Post by yamfan on Jul 28, 2014 18:52:57 GMT
I used to ride a kwaka KH 250 triple cylinder when I was a teenager. Had several trial bikes too at the time. I haven't been on a bike in about 20 years but sometimes fancy getting myself a scooter to fuck about on. My mate had a KH250. It used to sound like someone was shaking a can of nails on tick over, but when he wound it up...a glorious noise (and quite a bit of smoke) came out of those zorsts. Really liked the KH but when 250 & 350LC's came out they were suddenly redundant, along with pretty much every other bike on sale. Kawasaki Stoke had a brand new unregistered one in the shop window for years. My 350LC was tuned to F2 spec by Terry Beckett in Nottingham, TZ750 reed blocks, lightweight pistons and rods, welded crank, race pipes etc etc. it was fast as hell and had an evil powerband. My old man used to borrow it when it was stock, he took it out once after the tuning and got 100 yards up the road before it nearly looped on him (I did warn him not to rev it past 8k. Lol), he rolled back along the street in 5th gear, parked it, threw the keys on the floor muttering that it was stupid, then never rode it again. Terry Beckett worked the same magic on the 500, that thing was awesome, faster than my mates' 1000 and 1100s and with four swarbrick race pipes poking out the back, sounded like a pure GP bike of the time. It's acceleration was absolutely savage for a 1985 bike, I had to climb up over the tank to keep the front end down in 4th gear... Those bikes cost a fortune to maintain and run but were worth every penny!
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Post by santy on Jul 28, 2014 18:57:33 GMT
Nothing even comes close to that bike
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 19:30:10 GMT
I used to ride a kwaka KH 250 triple cylinder when I was a teenager. Had several trial bikes too at the time. I haven't been on a bike in about 20 years but sometimes fancy getting myself a scooter to fuck about on. My mate had a KH250. It used to sound like someone was shaking a can of nails on tick over, but when he wound it up...a glorious noise (and quite a bit of smoke) came out of those zorsts. Really liked the KH but when 250 & 350LC's came out they were suddenly redundant, along with pretty much every other bike on sale. Kawasaki Stoke had a brand new unregistered one in the shop window for years. They did a 2 stroke 750 triple. A completely mental hooligan tool. none survive (I assume) because the engines imploded. I would love one GD
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Post by lawrieleslie on Jul 28, 2014 19:41:02 GMT
My motorbike history:
Honda 90 Step Thru Fell off Honda 90 Step Thru on icy caisson in Devonport Dockyard. End of motorbike history I'm afraid.
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yamfan
Academy Starlet
Posts: 231
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Post by yamfan on Jul 28, 2014 19:41:56 GMT
My mate had a KH250. It used to sound like someone was shaking a can of nails on tick over, but when he wound it up...a glorious noise (and quite a bit of smoke) came out of those zorsts. Really liked the KH but when 250 & 350LC's came out they were suddenly redundant, along with pretty much every other bike on sale. Kawasaki Stoke had a brand new unregistered one in the shop window for years. They did a 2 stroke 750 triple. A completely mental hooligan tool. none survive (I assume) because the engines imploded. I would love one GD They did a 500 too that was reputedly better than the 750. The air cooled two strokes did tend to be fragile though as you say.
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Post by Billybigbollox on Jul 28, 2014 19:50:20 GMT
They did a 2 stroke 750 triple. A completely mental hooligan tool. none survive (I assume) because the engines imploded. I would love one GD They did a 500 too that was reputedly better than the 750. The air cooled two strokes did tend to be fragile though as you say. I know I blew my fucker up. Had to have new rings and it never fired properly after that. I swapped it for a yammy XT 250 which was a lot slower but much more reliable.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 3:52:29 GMT
My mate had a KH250. It used to sound like someone was shaking a can of nails on tick over, but when he wound it up...a glorious noise (and quite a bit of smoke) came out of those zorsts. Really liked the KH but when 250 & 350LC's came out they were suddenly redundant, along with pretty much every other bike on sale. Kawasaki Stoke had a brand new unregistered one in the shop window for years. My 350LC was tuned to F2 spec by Terry Beckett in Nottingham, TZ750 reed blocks, lightweight pistons and rods, welded crank, race pipes etc etc. it was fast as hell and had an evil powerband. My old man used to borrow it when it was stock, he took it out once after the tuning and got 100 yards up the road before it nearly looped on him (I did warn him not to rev it past 8k. Lol), he rolled back along the street in 5th gear, parked it, threw the keys on the floor muttering that it was stupid, then never rode it again. Terry Beckett worked the same magic on the 500, that thing was awesome, faster than my mates' 1000 and 1100s and with four swarbrick race pipes poking out the back, sounded like a pure GP bike of the time. It's acceleration was absolutely savage for a 1985 bike, I had to climb up over the tank to keep the front end down in 4th gear... Those bikes cost a fortune to maintain and run but were worth every penny! Yes, Terry Beckett was the legendary engineering company for tuning LC's but my mate Pung, who used to drag race bikes swore by an engineering company called Fairon. Fairon also did a 370cc conversion for 250's. But in truth, there's only so much you can squeeze out of those motors whilst keeping them reliable. I'm pretty sure that on any proddy starting grid back in those days it was 50% Terry Beckett and 50% Stan Stephens. Brilliant racing. Inevitably one of my mates had an RGV500, together with the RD500LC, what truly insane bikes they were for the day. Another great bike, vastly underrated and almost forgotten next to the absolute legend of the LC and the YPVS is the quite brilliant TZR250. I rode one back from South Wales once, an absolute stonking bike that felt so assured, it demanded to have his neck wrung.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 4:00:18 GMT
My mate had a KH250. It used to sound like someone was shaking a can of nails on tick over, but when he wound it up...a glorious noise (and quite a bit of smoke) came out of those zorsts. Really liked the KH but when 250 & 350LC's came out they were suddenly redundant, along with pretty much every other bike on sale. Kawasaki Stoke had a brand new unregistered one in the shop window for years. They did a 2 stroke 750 triple. A completely mental hooligan tool. none survive (I assume) because the engines imploded. I would love one GD The H2 Mach IV 750cc triple was known as the Widowmaker, for good reason. Possibly the most dangerous 2-stroke ever made.... The middle pots used to overheat and seize due to crappy thermal characteristics (and air cooling). Not many survive.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 4:12:47 GMT
Always fancied an 1150GS - the one with the beak. I used to lust over the old Honda Africa Twin as well.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 4:20:13 GMT
My motorbike history: Honda 90 Step Thru Fell off Honda 90 Step Thru on icy caisson in Devonport Dockyard. End of motorbike history I'm afraid. Some clown in a pickup forced me off the road in Samui back in 2012, cracked 8 ribs, broke my collarbone and fractured my skull. Nearly lost my spleen and was in intensive care for 10 days. It still hurts when I laugh.... And yes, this is my CAT scan. I look like one of those Egyptian mummy's that Mumf goes after. I must be the first bloke to pose totally naked on the Oatcake! Calm yourselves ladies.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 4:40:30 GMT
Kawasaki AR50 Suzuki TS50ER Suzuki GT125 Suzuki GT250X7 Honda CBX550 Maico 500 Yamaha RD350LC Yamaha RD500LC Yamaha FZR1000 EXUP Suzuki GSF1200N Bandit Kawasaki KX250 Honda CR500 Supermoto What with them, kids and Stoke, no wonder I'm skint... You'll appreciate this Yamfan. My mate Brian in Matlock Bath, 1981, popping a wheelie on his RD250LC. Notice the white stove enamelled Stan Stephens expansion pipes. Sadly he was another good mate who lost his life on his GSX750R in 1987. Very much missed to this day. Here's a brilliant example of just how astonishingly good those RD350LC's really were. Watch some bloke on an LC giving another guy on a Ducati 748 absolute hell on a track day. The LC is twenty years older than the Ducati and well under half the capacity. The 748 is a brilliant modern sports bike as well. Those bikes really were something special.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 7:21:07 GMT
My 350LC was tuned to F2 spec by Terry Beckett in Nottingham, TZ750 reed blocks, lightweight pistons and rods, welded crank, race pipes etc etc. it was fast as hell and had an evil powerband. My old man used to borrow it when it was stock, he took it out once after the tuning and got 100 yards up the road before it nearly looped on him (I did warn him not to rev it past 8k. Lol), he rolled back along the street in 5th gear, parked it, threw the keys on the floor muttering that it was stupid, then never rode it again. Terry Beckett worked the same magic on the 500, that thing was awesome, faster than my mates' 1000 and 1100s and with four swarbrick race pipes poking out the back, sounded like a pure GP bike of the time. It's acceleration was absolutely savage for a 1985 bike, I had to climb up over the tank to keep the front end down in 4th gear... Those bikes cost a fortune to maintain and run but were worth every penny! Yes, Terry Beckett was the legendary engineering company for tuning LC's but my mate Pung, who used to drag race bikes swore by an engineering company called Fairon. Fairon also did a 370cc conversion for 250's. But in truth, there's only so much you can squeeze out of those motors whilst keeping them reliable. I'm pretty sure that on any proddy starting grid back in those days it was 50% Terry Beckett and 50% Stan Stephens. Brilliant racing. Inevitably one of my mates had an RGV500, together with the RD500LC, what truly insane bikes they were for the day. Another great bike, vastly underrated and almost forgotten next to the absolute legend of the LC and the YPVS is the quite brilliant TZR250. I rode one back from South Wales once, an absolute stonking bike that felt so assured, it demanded to have his neck wrung. **************, Used to have a red and white TZR250. Great fun. Bearing in mind I am 6 ft 2 it looked like a kids toy when I sat on it. Used to scream the tits off it. It spent more time on its back wheel than both the front and back. Once rode it down to the Bull Dog bash because I could ;-) Red lined it on the M6 . You should have seen the smoke behind me :-) GD
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 7:28:58 GMT
An absolute flying machine, felt like it had a much lower centre of gravity compared to the LC. I used to ride an RGV250 (the early Gamma, not the fully faired beast) at the time but the TZR was better in every department. There used to be a Japanese reversed engine version of the TZR too i.e. carbs at the front, or is that an urban myth? Had a couple of horrendous tank slappers on the RGV as well at well over a ton. Terrifying.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 7:45:28 GMT
The early GSXR750 (1985 pre-Slingshot) was the bike I used to dream about. The early ones were oil cooled, such a radical looking beast too.
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Post by elsidibe on Jul 29, 2014 8:15:43 GMT
Always fancied an 1150GS - the one with the beak. I used to lust over the old Honda Africa Twin as well. I think the 1150 GS Adventure is a wonderful bike but I just feel that - although the first series was good at the time - Ewan and Charley made them slightly old hat. This was not helped for me by the army of thousands that trailed them around and looked after them. Probably just me being an adventure inverse snob though to be fair. I've done many miles on R100 GSPDs and they always have a lovely mechanical solidity that I find lacking in newer more electronically managed bikes - like an old Swiss watch. Africa Twins are great. I've a lot of time for them, particularly the early ones.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 8:30:18 GMT
Always fancied an 1150GS - the one with the beak. I used to lust over the old Honda Africa Twin as well. I think the 1150 GS Adventure is a wonderful bike but I just feel that - although the first series was good at the time - Ewan and Charley made them slightly old hat. This was not helped for me by the army of thousands that trailed them around and looked after them. Probably just me being an adventure inverse snob though to be fair. I've done many miles on R100 GSPDs and they always have a lovely mechanical solidity that I find lacking in newer more electronically managed bikes - like an old Swiss watch. Africa Twins are great. I've a lot of time for them, particularly the early ones. Ewan and Charlie wanted KTM's and were blown out! Came down to the idiots at KTM marketing or they new something about the reliability of the Adventure. I suspect the latter. The BMW is tried, tested. Here's The Africa Twin and the legendary BMW R80 in Paris-Dakar mode.
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yamfan
Academy Starlet
Posts: 231
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Post by yamfan on Jul 29, 2014 8:57:06 GMT
My 350LC was tuned to F2 spec by Terry Beckett in Nottingham, TZ750 reed blocks, lightweight pistons and rods, welded crank, race pipes etc etc. it was fast as hell and had an evil powerband. My old man used to borrow it when it was stock, he took it out once after the tuning and got 100 yards up the road before it nearly looped on him (I did warn him not to rev it past 8k. Lol), he rolled back along the street in 5th gear, parked it, threw the keys on the floor muttering that it was stupid, then never rode it again. Terry Beckett worked the same magic on the 500, that thing was awesome, faster than my mates' 1000 and 1100s and with four swarbrick race pipes poking out the back, sounded like a pure GP bike of the time. It's acceleration was absolutely savage for a 1985 bike, I had to climb up over the tank to keep the front end down in 4th gear... Those bikes cost a fortune to maintain and run but were worth every penny! Yes, Terry Beckett was the legendary engineering company for tuning LC's but my mate Pung, who used to drag race bikes swore by an engineering company called Fairon. Fairon also did a 370cc conversion for 250's. But in truth, there's only so much you can squeeze out of those motors whilst keeping them reliable. I'm pretty sure that on any proddy starting grid back in those days it was 50% Terry Beckett and 50% Stan Stephens. Brilliant racing. Inevitably one of my mates had an RGV500, together with the RD500LC, what truly insane bikes they were for the day. Another great bike, vastly underrated and almost forgotten next to the absolute legend of the LC and the YPVS is the quite brilliant TZR250. I rode one back from South Wales once, an absolute stonking bike that felt so assured, it demanded to have his neck wrung. Stan Stephens got hold of the contract to sell the Fairon big bore kits, my mate had one. I rang him for a kit and mentioned I'd got Terry Beckett stuff on at the moment, then he spent days pestering me for a straight swap and even cash my way. I called Terry who asked me to "please never let that man get hold of the parts I've worked on", at that I bought the kit from Stan Stephens in cash and gave it a go as I had to take the top end off the motor due to rattly small end bearings any road. I ran them in and they were a bit more torquey due to the increase in cc but could not hold a candle to the Terry Beckett worked standard bores. Something I always suspected anyway as my LC was faster than my mates with the Fairon 370 stuff on. Terry Beckett was like someone's grandad working out of portakabin offices behind his house on Carlton Hill, really nice bloke who was meticulous to detail and always on time. He had an assistant towards the end called Bob Farnham, who took over when Terry retired. Bob eventually linked up with Stan Stephens, so Stan got his stuff in the end. Lol The trick to reliability was evenly matched pistons and rods and welded crank where it was pressed together, as they tended to twist when revved harder than stock, plus ditching the autolube pump and premixing with top quality two stroke oil. My motor had the knackers thrashed off it for 2/12 years in a high state of tune and only ever needed small end bearings and rings once in a while. A mate of mine had a TZR250, nice little bike that handled well, Yamaha should've produced a 500! I'd have bought one. Lol
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 9:10:22 GMT
Yes, Terry Beckett was the legendary engineering company for tuning LC's but my mate Pung, who used to drag race bikes swore by an engineering company called Fairon. Fairon also did a 370cc conversion for 250's. But in truth, there's only so much you can squeeze out of those motors whilst keeping them reliable. I'm pretty sure that on any proddy starting grid back in those days it was 50% Terry Beckett and 50% Stan Stephens. Brilliant racing. Inevitably one of my mates had an RGV500, together with the RD500LC, what truly insane bikes they were for the day. Another great bike, vastly underrated and almost forgotten next to the absolute legend of the LC and the YPVS is the quite brilliant TZR250. I rode one back from South Wales once, an absolute stonking bike that felt so assured, it demanded to have his neck wrung. Stan Stephens got hold of the contract to sell the Fairon big bore kits, my mate had one. I rang him for a kit and mentioned I'd got Terry Beckett stuff on at the moment, then he spent days pestering me for a straight swap and even cash my way. I called Terry who asked me to "please never let that man get hold of the parts I've worked on", at that I bought the kit from Stan Stephens in cash and gave it a go as I had to take the top end off the motor due to rattly small end bearings any road. I ran them in and they were a bit more torquey due to the increase in cc but could not hold a candle to the Terry Beckett worked standard bores. Something I always suspected anyway as my LC was faster than my mates with the Fairon 370 stuff on. Terry Beckett was like someone's grandad working out of portakabin offices behind his house on Carlton Hill, really nice bloke who was meticulous to detail and always on time. He had an assistant towards the end called Bob Farnham, who took over when Terry retired. Bob eventually linked up with Stan Stephens, so Stan got his stuff in the end. Lol The trick to reliability was evenly matched pistons and rods and welded crank where it was pressed together, as they tended to twist when revved harder than stock, plus ditching the autolube pump and premixing with top quality two stroke oil. My motor had the knackers thrashed off it for 2/12 years in a high state of tune and only ever needed small end bearings and rings once in a while. A mate of mine had a TZR250, nice little bike that handled well, Yamaha should've produced a 500! I'd have bought one. Lol I liked my tuning mate. Had a Lotus Sunbeam that was Skip Brown tuned. It must be 25 years since i've discussed Terry Beckett, Stan S or Fairon with anyone that knows what they're talking about - and look at the emotion. Even my RD50 had heavy tuning, matched transfer ports etc. done by the guy who ran a business next to Foley's Motorcycles in Fenton (Engineering Services). I can remember every detail. Boysens (remove the limiters), RD200 down pipe, enlarged piston window, no gasket on the cylinder head - just Hermatite, NGK leads and a cool plug. My RD had a bell mouth that was bigger than the Mikuni brotsker it was bolted to, re-jetted etc. With a clean (we used to shove caustic soda down it) Micron expansion pipe it would do 60-65 mph on a good day (a damp day) on the flat, and I once hit 72 mph down Tean bank once, but that was mainly down to a 15 tooth sprocket on the front and a 38 on the back. I loved my 'ped.
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yamfan
Academy Starlet
Posts: 231
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Post by yamfan on Jul 29, 2014 9:11:56 GMT
Kawasaki AR50 Suzuki TS50ER Suzuki GT125 Suzuki GT250X7 Honda CBX550 Maico 500 Yamaha RD350LC Yamaha RD500LC Yamaha FZR1000 EXUP Suzuki GSF1200N Bandit Kawasaki KX250 Honda CR500 Supermoto What with them, kids and Stoke, no wonder I'm skint... You'll appreciate this Yamfan. My mate Brian in Matlock Bath, 1981, popping a wheelie on his RD250LC. Notice the white stove enamelled Stan Stephens expansion pipes. Sadly he was another good mate who lost his life on his GSX750R in 1987. Very much missed to this day. Here's a brilliant example of just how astonishingly good those RD350LC's really were. Watch some bloke on an LC giving another guy on a Ducati 748 absolute hell on a track day. The LC is twenty years older than the Ducati and well under half the capacity. The 748 is a brilliant modern sports bike as well. Those bikes really were something special. Matlock Bath was the place to go on Sundays wasn't it? Cadwell Park is ace and well suited to lightweight bikes, used to love racing there myself.
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yamfan
Academy Starlet
Posts: 231
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Post by yamfan on Jul 29, 2014 9:15:57 GMT
My motorbike history: Honda 90 Step Thru Fell off Honda 90 Step Thru on icy caisson in Devonport Dockyard. End of motorbike history I'm afraid. Some clown in a pickup forced me off the road in Samui back in 2012, cracked 8 ribs, broke my collarbone and fractured my skull. Nearly lost my spleen and was in intensive care for 10 days. It still hurts when I laugh.... And yes, this is my CAT scan. I look like one of those Egyptian mummy's. I haven't got any copies of my scans or x rays but my lower spine looks like a medieval meccano kit:)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 9:22:10 GMT
You'll appreciate this Yamfan. My mate Brian in Matlock Bath, 1981, popping a wheelie on his RD250LC. Notice the white stove enamelled Stan Stephens expansion pipes. Sadly he was another good mate who lost his life on his GSX750R in 1987. Very much missed to this day. Here's a brilliant example of just how astonishingly good those RD350LC's really were. Watch some bloke on an LC giving another guy on a Ducati 748 absolute hell on a track day. The LC is twenty years older than the Ducati and well under half the capacity. The 748 is a brilliant modern sports bike as well. Those bikes really were something special. Matlock Bath was the place to go on Sundays wasn't it? Cadwell Park is ace and well suited to lightweight bikes, used to love racing there myself. There was no Google back then. If you wanted to look at bikes and understand them, you had to get involved. Just walking down the pavement and looking at the bikes parked up at Matlock was an education back then.
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Post by Billybigbollox on Jul 29, 2014 9:51:27 GMT
My motorbike history: Honda 90 Step Thru Fell off Honda 90 Step Thru on icy caisson in Devonport Dockyard. End of motorbike history I'm afraid. Some clown in a pickup forced me off the road in Samui back in 2012, cracked 8 ribs, broke my collarbone and fractured my skull. Nearly lost my spleen and was in intensive care for 10 days. It still hurts when I laugh.... And yes, this is my CAT scan. I look like one of those Egyptian mummy's that Mumf goes after. Nasty that **************. Although I'd be more worried that your skeleton looks a bit rusty.
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yamfan
Academy Starlet
Posts: 231
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Post by yamfan on Jul 29, 2014 10:00:27 GMT
Matlock Bath was the place to go on Sundays wasn't it? Cadwell Park is ace and well suited to lightweight bikes, used to love racing there myself. There was no Google back then. If you wanted to look at bikes and understand them, you had to get involved. Just walking down the pavement and looking at the bikes parked up at Matlock was an education back then. Too true, in truth it was the ride there and back rather than being there though for most. How do I post a pic using an ipad? There's nowt in the support section
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 10:01:00 GMT
Some clown in a pickup forced me off the road in Samui back in 2012, cracked 8 ribs, broke my collarbone and fractured my skull. Nearly lost my spleen and was in intensive care for 10 days. It still hurts when I laugh.... And yes, this is my CAT scan. I look like one of those Egyptian mummy's that Mumf goes after. Nasty that **************. Although I'd be more worried that your skeleton looks a bit rusty. Yes quite right, I am a bit rusty and I suppose I could do with a bit of a clean up on some of my crank covers. A bit of new oil on the joints would feel good too.
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Post by elsidibe on Jul 29, 2014 11:14:42 GMT
I think the 1150 GS Adventure is a wonderful bike but I just feel that - although the first series was good at the time - Ewan and Charley made them slightly old hat. This was not helped for me by the army of thousands that trailed them around and looked after them. Probably just me being an adventure inverse snob though to be fair. I've done many miles on R100 GSPDs and they always have a lovely mechanical solidity that I find lacking in newer more electronically managed bikes - like an old Swiss watch. Africa Twins are great. I've a lot of time for them, particularly the early ones. Ewan and Charlie wanted KTM's and were blown out! Came down to the idiots at KTM marketing or they new something about the reliability of the Adventure. I suspect the latter. The BMW is tried, tested. Here's The Africa Twin and the legendary BMW R80 in Paris-Dakar mode. A fair point on the KTM thing. Those 950 Adventures are particularly wonderful. I haven't done it yet but if/when I ride from the UK to Australia, it would actually probably be on a Honda Innova 125i - rugged, hugely amusing bikes, more anonymous and universal parts availability. Also far more appealingly daft. Fabulous bikes the Dakar machines. 80s Dakar rallies were the dog's bollocks - some good vids knocking about of them on YouTube.
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yamfan
Academy Starlet
Posts: 231
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Post by yamfan on Jul 29, 2014 11:59:46 GMT
I'll try anyway... My favourite bike!
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