The Motorcycle thread

[Michael Moore]

I'm signed up for two days with the California Superbike School at the Sears Point racetrack in mid March. I'm wanting to start roadracing again (I'm in the process of designing a new chassis to build for one of my Motobi 250s) and I think that starting out with some drilling in good habits will be useful. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to riding my 1976 Bultaco Sherpa T in some vintage observed trials and I just got a box with a fresh crankshaft/cylinder for a BSA B50MX back from a specialist shop.

Every now and then I add some more material to the .5GB of stuff on my website which is pretty well known among a certain circle of moto/gearheads.

Ed, Ian Drysdale's quite a guy. He's on one of the listserves I started in the mid 1990s and I've had him make a custom second gear pair for one of my vintage trials bike projects.

cheers,
Michael

 

[Grep]

Similar, but not mine:

Sam,

I used to have that same bike!

I was also in college, also starving, and I thought it was the perfect balance between good looks and practicality. I put about 30k miles on it, after which it was stolen.

Many years later I bought a Ducati - a 900SS. Wow, that was an awesome bike.

Cheers.

 

[ERD50]

... I always thought it would be fun to be ale to ride the trails if I could do it more quietly. Without pedaling. I'd like to be able to see some of the wildlife and just not have the bike roaring in my ears all the time.

So I've been watching this bike ZERO X Electric Motorcycle || ZERO MOTORCYCLES for a couple years. It looks like the perfect bike for me. It's got plenty of power, and uses a cool running lithium-ion battery with no toxic metals and no emissions.

That does seem pretty cool. I'm with you, I used to love riding the trails when I was a kid on the farm, but I would never go on the street with one. It was actually practical, we could run the bike out to the tractor on the other side if the farm with tools, food/drink, or swap drivers, and the bike could easily go 30mph or more through the dirt roads (and have fun), the pickup truck was torture at 10 mph. Quiet would be nice. Low end torque from electric motors is exactly what you need in a trail bike.

They could do that for snowmobiles too. Considering the noise pollution, and the fact that these small engines pollute many times what car engines do, it seems a good fit. Of course, that is "no emissions" at the point of use, there are still emissions from generating the electricity.

But sorry, I have no added info, just found it interesting.


-ERD50

 

[samclem]

Sam,
I used to have that same bike!

You, me, ls99--Honda must have cranked out a bunch of these bikes! It was just about a perfect fit for my purposes at the time. Nimble, reliable, cheap on gas, and even with two aboard it had plenty of acceleration for safe freeway riding.

 

[ls99]

You, me, ls99--Honda must have cranked out a bunch of these bikes! It was just about a perfect fit for my purposes at the time. Nimble, reliable, cheap on gas, and even with two aboard it had plenty of acceleration for safe freeway riding.

I still have mine.

When it warm enough and I drag it out of the shed will take pic. Now that I finally upgraded from a $5.- Salvation Army special camera to a Canon SD1100, maybe able to take a pic that is not horrid.

 

[bbbamI]

Saturday we went to a roadhouse in TX...close to the OK border. Had a great time....

The 1st pic is me and a really BIG ride...
The 2nd pic..bikes of course...
The 3rd pic...bikes, bikers and their cell phones....

 

[HFWR]

Saturday we went to a roadhouse in TX...

A little place called Hamburger Dan's?

YouTube - Buck Owens - Truck Drivin' Man

 

[bbbamI]

A little place called Hamburger Dan's?

Well, pretty close.

However, I remember Doobie Brothers music playing while I was there....

 

[Rustic23]

OK! Now for my hog!

I can get it up to 40 downhill!!!

 

[cantlogin]

Rustics Ruckus is über cool!

 

[NW-Bound]

Rustic, I wouldn't mind having a little ruckus like yours, but the missus frowns at me having already too many toys. I would take it out on a trail, but suspect its frame would not be strong enough.

Here is a picture of its big brother, the Big Ruckus.

I also have been drooling over this little Honda Motra. Sadly, it was never imported into the US. Now, THAT'S A TRAIL BIKE.

 

[Rustic23]

I wouldn't mind having a Big Ruckus. However, they seem hard to find and as far as I know they don't make them anymore.

I don't take little Ruckus off road, well off golf course, but it is a hoot to ride to the mail box 2 miles away, and you can't beat the 100 mpg. I have had it less than a year and put 2,000 miles on it and never left the sub-division!

 

[bbbamI]

I've never actually owned a Ruckus, but I've raised one or two.

 

[Martha]

I wouldn't mind having a Big Ruckus. However, they seem hard to find and as far as I know they don't make them anymore.

I don't take little Ruckus off road, well off golf course, but it is a hoot to ride to the mail box 2 miles away, and you can't beat the 100 mpg. I have had it less than a year and put 2,000 miles on it and never left the sub-division!

I really wanted a Big Ruckus, but they did quit making them. A few where here and about but the prices were way above book.

 

[samclem]

The Ruckus looks fun. Similar little scooters were the preferred vehicles in Seoul when I was there--a great way to get around on base, and (for the daring) for short trips into town.

But, this is where I guess I diverge from the herd. If I were thinking about buying a Ruckus to use for short trips, I'd probably end up buying something like this restored Honda Mini Trail 70.

​

Less expensive, a lot of fun, and a genuine conversation piece. And, I'd get to tinker with it constantly to keep her on the road.
​

 

[NW-Bound]

Ah! Finally, another CT-70 enthusiast. Here's my post on another thread about this fun little bike.

How about something like this, a classic CT70 for trail riding? I know, I know. Some of you will sneer at this. But it is a lot more fun than many will admit to.
...
Here's the link to Stanley's site (a CT70 enthusiast)

Stanley Buck With His 1970 Ct70 Mini Trail 70

Over the last Xmas, I saw a CT-70 in the local craigslist and snatched it up for $650. Had been watching for it a long time. The only things it needs immediately are new tires, and it will be ready for the trail. I do not have a picture of it handy, but it's a 1979 in good shape. In that year, the color is non-metallic yellow, with solid (non-folding) handle bars.

People used to carry this bike in the back of their RV, and I will do the same someday (need to get an RV next )

The CT-70 and the ST-70 (European version) are still popular in Europe, where there are fan clubs all over. See this rally in Tenerife. I so want to take my little bike there to join them.
YouTube - Honda70 club Tenerife

 

[Dranoel]

My wife and I took the MSF course six years ago and highly recommend it. We're off to South Dakota and Kansas this week for a two-wheeled vacation. Here's our Suzukis...

 

[Martha]

Ah! Finally, another CT-70 enthusiast. Here's my post on another thread about this fun little bike.


Over the last Xmas, I saw a CT-70 in the local craigslist and snatched it up for $650.

CT 70s sure have a cult following. I bought one in the early 90s, an 1980 version that someone kept on their sail boat for town excursions. Hardly used. I bought it for $400. About 8, 10 years later I sold it for $800. I learned that people use them for racing and the buyer souped it up for that purpose. I do regret selling that bike. But I regret selling almost all my bikes.

 

[frayne]

A little video I made a couple of weeks ago on my FJR !

YouTube - Wed Scooter Ride June 3, 2009 0001

 

[cantlogin]

Nice video frayne. I've seen enough other camera on bike videos to know that they don't always turn out that well. Nice and smooth with no wind noise. Easy to watch. You did a good job with the music track too but I was straining to hear the engine instead. From what I could hear, it was pretty obvious that your bike was barely awake. It sounded like you were holding about 80% of everything in reserve. I never road an FJR but I am aware of their reputation for astounding power

 

[frayne]

Thanks, and you are correct about holding back on the FJR.

 

[cantlogin]

I meant to say rode not road. I'm so embarrassed.

 

[bbbamI]

Yeah...smooth video frayne. DH is still struggling with the camcorder trying to get the "jitters" out of it.

 

[charls]

Live to Ride/Ride to Live

You've discovered a great way to fight aging. I staring riding out riding a 600cc Honda Shadow 3 years ago and moved up to HD Heritage Softail a year later. It's been the greatest retirement venture I've found yet. Enjoying life more than ever. Live to Ride, Love to Ride.
Ride Safe, Walt!

 

[bbbamI]

Biker buddies met up in OK today to plan a trip to CO. There will be about 100 bikers going on the CO trip. DH is the one on the left.

What a motley crew!