MOTORCYCLES PAST AND PRESENT

[stuhan]

5 minutes ago, gazmo16 said:

Bet you enjoyed doing your own valve adjustment too on that CBX. A friend of mine had the later fully fairing model ( D1 I think we called it in UK) which just added to the fun as most bits had to come off to even see the top for the engine. Taking engines like those to a shop was out of the question with the "by the hour" rates they charged. I can see by the fact it's in your garage that prices were probably the same if not more in your neck of the woods.  Having said that there is something very satisfying about working on your bike and knowing it inside out, something few people appreciate anymore.

The joy of looking after your own wheels was a very personal thing for me,being a mechanic was a bonus yes,and unfortunately some were not able to do that, thats where  i came in [at a cost granted]. Some of my bikes were in my bedroom  stripped and rebuilt.

[gazmo16]

 

8 hours ago, Kenneth said:

I wonder if Buell still makes bikes? They were marketed in North America by Harley Davidson. But after a few years, i haven't seen any on the road.

Sadly Ken they were too advanced for their time and Harley bought them out then squashed them as it didn't fit with their sales image. You can pick them up in the UK for around $4K - $8 in good condition and they are becoming a bit of a future investment 

[stuhan]

This photo from Guernsey is of my much loved and missed Moto-Guzzi Nevada 750cc i rescued from a garden,its was in a sad state,unwanted and neglected, the owner just wanted rid of it. I payed 400 pnd for it. A couple of weeks T.L.C put it back on the road,nothing major was really wrong with it, the front calipers had locked up,,cleaned the fuel tank and carbs, new plugs, oil & filter, battery, rear tyre and she was purring happily again with that wonderful guzzi noise. Funny thing,i never had much to do with Guzzi's so when i first got in the saddle it nearly dismounted me from the inertia of the v.twin cylinders when i blipped the throttle much to everyone's amusement, felt a right prat.

[stuhan]

I am glad i started this new topic, it seems to have gained an interest and brought back fond memories for people including me.i have a real passion for motorcycles like everyone here, going by your comments, stories and photo's. Motorcycles are and probably were a great part of your lives, good times and bad times [ i have had my share of broken bones from motorcycle accidents, lost good friends along the way] but i will never lose my passion for them. So try to keep the topic going adding now and again,exchanging comments ect ect,i am saving all your photo's for my collection and will continue posting stuff.

Cheers

Stuart

[gazmo16]

Thank you for starting the topic Stuart, you are right it has made me smile and scratch my head many times already looking at this thread. 

As for your Guzzi I'm sorry to say it was a bit of a Marmite bike wasn't it  I loved the LeMans style earlier on but I'm not sure I could with the Nervada but fair play it was a real barn find and a steal at that price so what's not to love I guess 

[gazmo16]

I'm currently trying to talk my American friend into buying a new Lifan 250 V twin from a local shop for 100K baht. He says it's to much when he converted it into dollars but what does he want for just over $3k out here and it looks and rides like a real cruiser with a decent top end but still very affordable to me. There is no pleasing some people it seems. 

[Jannot]

I am nearly 67 and have loved and ridden many motorcyces over the years,, had a BSA Bantam  aged about eight but it leaked oil and drank fuel. My father bought two xpolice bikes at sale, both triumph,, a 500 and a 650,,they had single seats and blackout headlights,, they were awasome to ride but not a patch on my first Road legal bike,, 16yr old I got a retired Honda CB250 production race bike... Provisional licence you could drive any motorcycle up to max of 250cc.  It.was  just over 3yrs old and super fast, super reliable and I have loved Honda motorcycles ever since. I have a 200cc  Honda Phantom which is fine for what I need here in Thailand.

[stuhan]

34 minutes ago, gazmo16 said:

Thank you for starting the topic Stuart, you are right it has made me smile and scratch my head many times already looking at this thread. 

As for your Guzzi I'm sorry to say it was a bit of a Marmite bike wasn't it  I loved the LeMans style earlier on but I'm not sure I could with the Nervada but fair play it was a real barn find and a steal at that price so what's not to love I guess 

I agree with you,the Nevada was a bit of a lump,but it was a good touring bike,very comfortable,not a fast bike but reliable enough,i toured around the west coast of scotland and it never gave me any problems,i just loved riding it,i felt safe on it,tank wasn't big enough my only complaint.My father had an early g.p.o guzzi post office bike,would be worth a bob or two now,a bantam the same,a triumph sidecar outfit i nearly fell through the bottom once,a old matchless and off subject an isetta bubble car.

[vlad]

7 hours ago, stuhan said:

Kawasaki made some great 2 strokes, Yamaha's L/C 350 was a flyer,after 6000 revs it took off'.For early 4 strokes 1970's Honda'S CBX 1000 did it for me,a beast of a machine.Remember i took a cocky apprentice out for a test run on one,nearly shxt himself almost in tears, but had a small weak set of forks and lethal for tank slapping,many a hairy moment.

In my younger day's i had a GT250 Suzuki   Yamaha RD250  A Honda CB250 and the only bike that nearly killed me I was coming down Dunmail Raise in the lake district between Keswick and grasmere at about 100mph the chain decided to snap but luckily for me it flew off the rear sprocket if it jammed between the front or rear sprocket Its doubtful I would be here today scary travelling down the side of a fell free wheeling lol. Who remembers a bike that was FAF but had the nick name of the Flying kettle.

[stuhan]

Can't wait for things to return to some sort of norm,i will then start buying  old pre 90's motorcycles in Thailand,there's a lot of them going cheap, mostly jap bikes everywhere some restored, some in a bad state, so i can strip down and restore again as a hobby looking forward to it.

[stuhan]

6 minutes ago, vlad said:

In my younger day's i had a GT250 Suzuki   Yamaha RD250  A Honda CB250 and the only bike that nearly killed me I was coming down Dunmail Raise in the lake district between Keswick and grasmere at about 100mph the chain decided to snap but luckily for me it flew off the rear sprocket if it jammed between the front or rear sprocket Its doubtful I would be here today scary travelling down the side of a fell free wheeling lol. Who remembers a bike that was FAF but had the nick name of the Flying kettle.

Suzuki GT750 water cooled triple 2 stroke  [ kettle] 

[stuhan]

9 minutes ago, vlad said:

In my younger day's i had a GT250 Suzuki   Yamaha RD250  A Honda CB250 and the only bike that nearly killed me I was coming down Dunmail Raise in the lake district between Keswick and grasmere at about 100mph the chain decided to snap but luckily for me it flew off the rear sprocket if it jammed between the front or rear sprocket Its doubtful I would be here today scary travelling down the side of a fell free wheeling lol. Who remembers a bike that was FAF but had the nick name of the Flying kettle.

Good bikes GT 250 Ram Air.RD 250 very popular everyone wanted one,CB 250 Honda a bit of a snail compared to the others and they rattled.

[vlad]

4 minutes ago, stuhan said:

Suzuki GT750 water cooled triple 2 stroke  [ kettle] 

In 1 Stuhan. The KH Kawasaki 250 Tpiple also had a reputation for Seizing. 

[vlad]

4 minutes ago, stuhan said:

Good bikes GT 250 Ram Air.RD 250 very popular everyone wanted one,CB 250 Honda a bit of a snail compared to the others and they rattled.

Beautiful looker though Stuhan with Triple angled pipe. not fast but looked after go on and on and reliable.   

[thaifarmer]

9 hours ago, gazmo16 said:

XS650SE wasn't that the US styled one which was amongst the early factory Cruiser styled bikes in the UK. I remember them coming in back/silver and a sort of Brownish red. As Stuhan said they were a hell of a lot different to the Kettle and much more reliable than the short lived XS500 

Yes, Although I got mine in the Netherlands, it was US-chopper styled. I believe there was a 250 and a 400 model of it as well. And indeed, very reliable. Especially the 650.

[stuhan]

25 minutes ago, thaifarmer said:

Yes, Although I got mine in the Netherlands, it was US-chopper styled. I believe there was a 250 and a 400 model of it as well. And indeed, very reliable. Especially the 650.

XS 650's were in my opinion one of the greatest most reliable bikes of their time, many others too ,i really liked them, wish i had one now.

[Stonker]

On 7/30/2021 at 3:31 PM, stuhan said:

Yamaha RD400 circa 1981 2 stroke twin

That brings back memories.

Two of us had RD 400s in Hong Kong back in '82/'83, which we used to ride from Shek Kong to Yuen Long / Kam Tin down Route Twisk  -   narrow, steep, and constant hair-pin bends.

Serious adrenalin boosters!

[Tanuki]

Have always seemed to like 'tinkering' with bikes.. always modifying them. My Suzuki GS1000s had a 16" front wheel instead of the standard 19".  My GSX1100 (GS1150) had lots of Yamaha parts fitted, Then in Thailand my little Honda Sonic has had a revamp.

[King Cotton]

I'm a Yam fan, too, going back to my first one, a FZR1000, popularly known as the Fazer, bought new from Bradford Motorcycles (managed by Alan Tuke, I recall) around 1990; then downsized to a 600 Thundercat that I'd read so many good reports about and all of which were merited.

For a 600, its performance and handling were awesome and, after I'd had the paint customized in Cadbury Boost style and taking it over to the I-o-M for TT race-week (1997), I was pretty chuffed when Niall MacKenzie and his race team chum, Chris Walker, took such a shine to my 'special' that they sat astride it whilst I got a few treasured pics.

In 2000 I totally spoiled myself by buying - from Brad M/C's again - an R1. Oh, boy, what a machine that was, on the Settle to Hawes road that I lived on, especially an evening spin when the radar bobbies weren't around. I sold - or as good as gave - it to my biker son before emigrating . . . the lucky lad!

[stuhan]

Great comments and photo's thanks [saved].Swapping & fitting other parts was fun, i did the same. My dead Aermacchi frame was kitted out with a Suzuki ram air 250 motor, it went well but the frame flexed  a little due to the design of the frame, had no supporting tube from the engine up to the  yoke . I also fitted a ram air 250 front end onto my triumph 3TA as the original was terrible and brakes no good having a disc made a heck of a difference, i dropped it on a regular basis in the glasgow snows winter time, no damage done. Forgot to  mention earlier, i also had a Tiger cub and a KH250 in pieces in my bedroom [16-17yrs old] at the time, sadly they never saw the road.

[stuhan]

A few others.

Edited August 1, 2021 by stuhan
ADD MORE INFO

[gazmo16]

Some great bike photos Stuhan, I was hoping for a close up of the 750 Norton Commando I spied in the background. As a young teenager I used to go down to the dealers and look at one in the window and daydream.

All your photos makes me wish I have downloaded more of mine onto my phone from the originals in the drawer back in the UK. 

Keep them coming mate 

[thaifarmer]

Stuhan, what is that red beauty, first picture of your last post?

[vlad]

A mate of mine Stuhan lot's of years ago Raced his Suzuki GT500 cc at race tracks. He was a clever lad for improving speed and performance. He had a brainwave of cutting Squares out of the side of the pistons saying it would lighten them resulting in quicker up n down firing inside the Barrel due to the pistons being lighter lol. It worked both pistons detatched from there Con-Rods and destroyed the Engine.

Edited August 1, 2021 by vlad

[stuhan]

1 hour ago, thaifarmer said:

Stuhan, what is that red beauty, first picture of your last post?

It's a 1954 Allstate Puch 175 SV