Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: funtimefrankie on June 26, 2008, 07:07:52 pm
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Talking about flywheels, I've found that modern car engines seem to stall easier that ones from say 10 years ago, I presume they have lighter flywheels, and the ones I'm thinking about are diesels.
Another point that Triumph motorcycles with twin pots had both pistons at TDC together, (but not firing together)
Off topic, but there you are..........
TOPIC SPLIT FROM "Props Follow On..... " http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=11385.0
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ooooooooooooooooooo you have brought memories back there O0 {-) {-) :D yes, brake hard, tears to the eyes, remember THAT rack on the petrol tank of the Triumph bonis? mmmmmmm Yes you are quite correct, Triumph's did have 2 pistons at top dead centre on the same crank shaft. Werent they supposed to have counteracting webs on the crank shaft - supposedly to balance this out? That is 2 things a Triumph could never cure - vibration (no wonder I have nee teeth left) and ruddy oil leaks.... ::) aye we know this is off topic slightly....but fond memories there.
aye
john e
bluebird
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Triumph vibes... I'm still having them John! Yes, both pistons joined at the hip as it were and going up and down together with a simple crankshaft flywheel mounted between them. As for balance, this was done by weighing the piston/rod assemblies held at 90deg on the crankshaft. The offcentre weight of the flywheel should then be adjusted to something like 65% of the original piston\rod weight. This is not perfect balance but it was a compromise and took into account the power stroke rocking motion created under load. In ignorance, I once perfectly balanced a Triumph flywheel to counter the total out of ballance weight of the pistons and rods and wound up with just about the most vibratory engine you ever witnessed!
Totally off topic... many apologies, couldn't resist chucking this into the pot!
As regards the topic itself, the answer is '42'!! :P
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I agree, but if we can come up with a plausible enough reason to look for the variance in instantaneous speed variantion through the 360o rotation of a 2 and 4 stroke engine, I'm sure we could get a huge grant from someone to do an in depth study....... on a sunny island somewhere! :)
Hehee!... such class - such style.
Seriously though - a nice piece. Written in a way that even this bozo could understand.
And BTW, look at my skin... it's turned green. Green with envy, because you said in another post that you've flown a glider.
Reading this particular thread makes me realise just how clever some of you blokes are.
I can't say I know too much about engines and stuff, but all this talk of flywheels, kinetic energy, TDC, etc, sure makes me chuffed to be British.
Thanks for all that dead interesting info'.
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Although I may have appeared to rubbish the original topic with my flippant ''42' answer, the original question is not totally without some kind of foundation. Someone out there is bound to tell me I'm wrong on this but is it not true that in motorcycle racing circles, a multicylinder high revving machine would be slightly more likely to lose grip whilst accelerating out of a bend than an equivalently fast single cylinder machine running at lower rpm. I was informed this could be true because with a single cylinder machine,there is a dead spot between firing strokes where the rear wheel is effectively off load resulting in its ability to re-grip the road surface in a potential slide situation.
Now I do think that the relevence of this to a model boat prop orientation with its piston is truly stretching the imagination simply because of the rpm figures and as has been pointed out, flywheel inertia. The only time I think you might notice a difference would be with a large slow revving single cylinder steam engine with no flywheel and a one bladed prop which stuck halfway out of the water! Using my calculator and my immensly powerful brain I appear to have come up with 42 again! DOH!! ;)
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"Using my calculator and my immensly powerful brain I appear to have come up with 42 again!"
Okay, okay... I give up. Nobody can deny your immensly powerful brain abilities AND top-notch line in patter. But what's the scene with number 42 all the time? What are you doing there, dude? Sounds fascinating and I bet I'm not the only one dying to know.
Bluebird:
You earwigging?
I remember THAT rack on the petrol tank, man. My uncle had one of those. My old fella had the near same-looking bike, only his didn't have the rack on the tank. I tried kick-starting it once. I was seven, eight. All I remember is holding the throttle wide open, then jumping on the kick-start with both feet, then my head going through the shed roof when she backfired.
What about the Matchless 250? Heard of them oop your neck o' the woods?
And what about the Indin? (like they used to use on the Wall of Death). Was that a nice-sounding engine or was that a nice-sounding engine?
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I think it comes from The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy; viz the answer to The Question of Life, the Universe and Everything.
(The question being what is 9 times 6?)
Come back, Douglas Adams - your towel is getting lonely............
FLJ
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42? Its the universal answer to everything, remember hitch hikers guide to the galaxy?
Ian
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Hitch Hiker Guide - funniest series of book I've ever read. {-)
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I think it comes from The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy; viz the answer to The Question of Life, the Universe and Everything.
(The question being what is 9 times 6?)
Come back, Douglas Adams - your towel is getting lonely............
FLJ
Sorry FLJ, either wrong question or wrong answer. ;)
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Ahh, all showing your ages here! Yes indeed, Hitch Hikers guide to the Galaxy series and 42 was deemed to be the answer to everything! I simply used it as a 'Gawd Knows.. I dunno' response!! {-)
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Since you chaps were reminiscing about Triumph Bonnevilles, I thought I would ad a pic of a beautifully restored version I saw at the Friday 13th bike gathering at Port Dover a couple of weeks ago.
oldiron
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No rack on the tank, this is a pic of my old girl but not a Bonne but
a Thunderbird with rack, rack not overly clear but it is there........
Roy
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Hitch Hiker Guide - funniest series of book I've ever read. {-)
Anybody fancy building a boat with an infinite probability drive? ;D {-)
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come up with the design dougal99, someone will build it!
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Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and baseball cap.
From the mid sixties making Tritons, thru to the Bonneville, all changing hands for a few quid or a quickie swap. Gave them up late seventies and only very recently the urge came back (categorised by my insurance as a 'Born Again Biker').
So this is what I am plodding about on now, 1500cc, flat six. With more carriers than I care to count.
As you get older, comfort takes over, this is like riding an air conditioned armchair.
John
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Aah, the bikes I have known and often loved -
1. Royal Enfield Prince, 150cc Bantam look-alike, broke the return spring on the kickstart so took it off and used to bump start it. All went well until one day I ran alongside , hopped on side-saddle, failed to start and locked the wheels and I gracefully? fell over to the 'wrong' side and flat on my back. Wouldn't have been so bad but it was early afternoon on Cleethorpes promenade with "millions" of people watching :embarrassed: :embarrassed: :embarrassed: Most uncool!
2. Matchless G3LS, 350 single, sounded like the Indian 500 single. You could almost 'see' the piston going up and down at tickover. Had a permanent bruise on the inside of my right thigh from the badly designed oil filler cap. Should have had a feed from the oil tank to the primary chaincase as there was NO way to cure the leaks from the rubber seal and the ally 'jubilee' clip. If you laid flat along the tank (and had a long straight road) you could get it up to 95mph!
3. (Mod era) NSU Prima scooter, 150cc with FOOT change gears. Beware of wet manhole covers on roundabouts ;) ::) ::)
4. Ariel Leader, 250cc 2 stroke twin, recognised from behind by the twin spirals of smoke from the exhausts, totally enclosed engine which had a deafening metallic ring from the vibration, leading link front forks which went UP when you braked. A bike years ahead of its time.
5. AJS 600 twin, bought as it had been converted into a 'chopper'. The first weekend, took my mate on the back for a spin down the main Grimsby/Cleethorpes road. Was puzzled by the whining noise until the bike 'threw' us both off! Discovered that the rear tyre had been sliced in two by a 2" bolt the previous owner had used to secure the back number plate on with! :o
Best of all - the one that got away - Ariel Square 4, 1000cc, immaculate, he wanted £18 for it and I only had £15 so he wouldn't sell! If I knew then..... I would have robbed a bank!!!
General observations -
we had X ply tyres with a flat tread across one third of the diameter. Even a wet white line could make you wobble!
we had steering dampers on the front forks to stop you breaking your thumbs with a 'tank slapper'!
we had jeans and a Belstaff jacket (overtrousers if you were 'wimpy') and a skid lid made of f/g and cork (optional)!
we had drum brakes and drove (raced) with other traffic, all of which had a 30 mph stopping distance of 2 miles!
Its amazing any of us are still alive to tell the tale O0
I'm glad I haven't been tempted by these modern back-breakers, no time to see the scenery.
Maybe one day.... a nice plodding Ural twin (with side car to stop me falling off) {-) {-) {-)
Danny
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Even then you'd probably hit something Danny. O0
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But only if I was AIMING for you Dicky :kiss:
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If only swmbo would let me have one now :'( :'(
In my early days of youth and when I had hair or at least more of it, English bikes were the rage in Oz. They may have leaked oil everywhere but at least they did not fade in the sun as per the Jap bikes.
Had many a collection of bikes over the years ( usually about 8 in the stable) but my favourites were:-
Triumph 1948, 500cc Speed Twin,
Triumph 1974, 750cc Bonneville - hated the Amal carbs and
Norton Dunstall 1972, 850cc Roadster - stepped off this one at 90mph along the Great Ocean Road, Victoria. Slab of VB tinnies suffered badly.
Martin Down Under
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Cut my teeth and a lot of other bits of me on a frannie barnet and a james cadet on the local fields with some mates. 1st bike was the immortal bsa bantam on road, passed test on it and got a b31 with side car.Being clever took sidecar off and used to regularly fall off trying to get up the kirb at home.Its when i first learnt to dance like a red indian due to kick backs mum thought it funny dad had other words for me.Had daytona for a while then discovered honda with its electric start and chrome everything also found castrol r40 could be entertainnig in a mates ariel arrow full seat and tank with bubble fairing and expansion chambers a beaut.Finnished with ajs 500 still got manual somewhere.Would like another as i reach my dotage but wife said fat boys only go squidge at my age not a bit like flubber. Ah well memories of tts and dragon rallies and good mates you lose track of stay though.
A tear in my eye now cos the dog not only just got my last rolo its got the whole bloody packet so much for reminiscing
Bye 4 now Botchit
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I am still doing it, I bought it as a complete wreck, the engine came in a bucket and 50% had to be thrown away.
The bike was originally a T100c but I put it together as a standard road going machine. It's been on the road for ten years now, does not leave oil on the driveway and has been a reliable beast. Itonly comes out in fine weather but this year I have put it off the road as I have been concentrating on my old Austin. I miss it when the sun comes out and will probably get back on it next year. One fellow at the MOT test centre said "Why do you blokes bother with these old things when there are much better bikes out there for you to ride around on!" My reply was " If I couldn't ride around on this bike, I wouldn't bother riding a bike at all as my enjoyment comes from the riding experience this machine gives and I never tire of listening to the exhast note" I also meet a lot of interesting people who want to stop and chat about their motorcycle days gone by.
The great thing about these old machines is the complete experience of ownership, it's not just about buying a bike for transport because if that was the case, there are millions of better machines out there to be had.
I have posted the pic on another thread a while back but here it is is again. It's a bit low res so don't enlarge it too much.
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" My reply was " If I couldn't ride around on this bike, I wouldn't bother riding a bike at all as my enjoyment comes from the riding experience this machine gives and I never tire of listening to the exhaust note" I also meet a lot of interesting people who want to stop and chat about their motorcycle days gone by.
The great thing about these old machines is the complete experience of ownership, it's not just about buying a bike for transport because if that was the case, there are millions of better machines out there to be had.
Sheerline - How True O0 It's the pure enjoyment of re-building and riding a classic. I miss my Triumphs and Norton, these too were rebuilt from complete wrecks. I remember many a time, myself with friends would stop somewhere for a smoke or whatever and people would come over for a chat and see the beauty of days gone past.
It's this reason I no longer ride - just cannot find a classic that's affordable...
Martin still dreamin
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I think it comes from The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy; viz the answer to The Question of Life, the Universe and Everything.
(The question being what is 9 times 6?)
Come back, Douglas Adams - your towel is getting lonely............
FLJ
Sorry FLJ, either wrong question or wrong answer. ;)
Arthur was using a non-standard scrabble set to determine the question to the answer for the question of life,the universe and everything, and was was thus doomed to get the wrong answer. Or prove that our concept of maths has had us barking up the wrong tree, which could also explain a lot.
My beast was a Panther 100S with a Busmar D/A to help stop it falling over. 600 all in one pot, a half compression lever so that if you got the timing wrong you were a bit less likely to end up standing on top of the petrol tank, and to bring you to a sudden stop if when you forgot to reset it. The broken steering damper was not an advantage, but assisted muscle growth in the upper arms. I recall that while I had it the Stones had a hit that had a line "I wish someone would come along and run into it and wreck it".
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I've got a a few bikes that my Old Man, with a little help from me when I was a youngster, restored.
couple of BSA Bantams
BSA gold flash (or maybe a gold star - gold something anywho )
Couple of nortons that I can't remember what they are - although one is a works racing bike.
Vellocette Viper
Vellocette Thruxton ( actually one of the old works racing machines that was used in 3 day trails )
Everything re-built and then disassembled and hung on the garage wall or in the garage roof wrapped up in diesil soaked rags ( yeah.. i know.. i know .. big fire risk :( )
It was going to be his pension, but unfortunately the Big C got him first.
Currently trying to work out what to do with them. Not really much demand for them that I can see,
My mum used to *hate* them - he used to come home with a trailer containing a load of bits and a big lump of rust. Which meant that Ma used to loose the bath tub for a few days while the bath was filled with disiel and me and him set to on the initial clean and de-rusting. My arm used to ache for days afterwards, and I'd get bad headaches from the fumes. Once a handle bar got dropped into the bath ( by him thank god ) and rust filled disel went slopping out of the bath and onto my Ma's new floor. Who knew that rusty desil could stain Lino?
Steve
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Martin13, I reckon you need to speak to 'ripslider'! All those bikes hung up waiting to be screwed back together... the very thought of it has got me twitching as I can't resist a challenge. SWMBO would frown heavily if she thought I was remotely interested as we are about to rip the house apart and I already have a load of projects waiting in the wings. :(
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Currently trying to work out what to do with them. Not really much demand for them that I can see,
Probably worth nothing at all, I'll take 'em off your hands for a fiver.............. O0 O0 O0
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£5.50 and I will collect!
Ian
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ok, sicksquid!
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ok, sicksquid!
No reply... doesn't sound like he can afford to pay that much to have them removed......
I'll take away for freeeeee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! {-)
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Martin13, I reckon you need to speak to 'ripslider'! All those bikes hung up waiting to be screwed back together... the very thought of it has got me twitching as I can't resist a challenge. SWMBO would frown heavily if she thought I was remotely interested as we are about to rip the house apart and I already have a load of projects waiting in the wings. :(
Steve,
I think we need to have a serious chat (once more) Need to find out costs of container from UK to OZ.....P.S you can keep the goat O0
Martin doon under
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Guys.
While I tank you for yourvery generous offers, and I must say it is nice to see that fellow Mayhemers will throw themselves into the breach like this for a chap, I do not wish to put you to any inconvinience. For example, I know that Mrs Martin13 would say bad words about me if I sent Martin13 one of the bikes, even though he has been SO good as to let me keep my own goat. I do not wish this to happen - I would only be making your respective wifes cross, and I wouldn't want that on my consoince - esepcially when you have been so generous in your offers!!
Don't worry about me. I'll just struggle on and leave them as they are for a few more years. You never know, I might one day get an offer for TEN whole pounds for one of them!
Actually, and more seriously, I am going to put one of them back together. I need something to toddle about on as car is getting a mite expensive. If I can find some decent rubber to shod it's wheels in, then I'll get one of the bantems out.
Steve
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Nice one RS, enjoy! O0
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Guys.
While I tank you for yourvery generous offers, and I must say it is nice to see that fellow Mayhemers will throw themselves into the breach like this for a chap, I do not wish to put you to any inconvinience. For example, I know that Mrs Martin13 would say bad words about me if I sent Martin13 one of the bikes, even though he has been SO good as to let me keep my own goat. I do not wish this to happen - I would only be making your respective wifes cross, and I wouldn't want that on my consoince - esepcially when you have been so generous in your offers!!
Steve
Make Mrs Martin Cross ??? It was HER idea to keep her wonderful loving hubby happy - what a woman - does that mean you accept a tenner??
Martin A Born Again Biker :D :D :D
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Maybe.
Are you allowed proper motorbikes down in Oz? I thought culture hadn't permeated that far down the globe yet???
;D ;D ;D ;D
I actually hadn't thought about them for a while. I might go and have a dig around and see what sort of prices they're getting at the moment.
I can't see something like a batem getting much more than a few hundred quid - there are so many about that the old man used to take them off people for free just so they had some garage space, but there might be a value in some of the rarer ones.
I'm not sure what to do for the best - I can't decide whether they will keep getting more valuable, or if their value will fall as all the old riders who have treasured memories of them stop riding.
The other issue is that if I can buy a brand new BSA Bantem for £750 on the road, and a brand new BSA Goldflash for less than £2000, why would anyone want an old 1950's original?
Steve
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The other issue is that if I can buy a brand new BSA Bantem for £750 on the road, and a brand new BSA Goldflash for less than £2000, why would anyone want an old 1950's original?
Because it IS an original, and might have a bit of history.
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True.
But I can get a shipment of BSA Bantems straight out of the factory - using the original jigs and plans - delivered to the UK in less than 2 weeks - all the plans and jigs are now in India - you can't move in Mumbai ( bombay ) without seeing "classic" bikes which are brand new.
So is history worth that much?
These aren't copies - they are just as "original" as the bikes I have in the garage - even made with the same drop presses and welding casements. I know all of BSA's jigs etc went over in two large shipments quite a while ago. I also know that about 80% of the contents of one of the norton factories also ended up in a boat - they even took the braising forges!
On my last trip to India I had a quick ride on a Vellocette Vemon - which had been brought from the show room about 2 week before hand. Crazy.
So while I can see someone buying my Thruxton - as it has photo's and a load of history - that specific bike won quite a few races - the Bantem I can get shipped from Mumbai is just as original as the one I have. I personally wouldn't pay more for it.
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Maybe.
Are you allowed proper motorbikes down in Oz? I thought culture hadn't permeated that far down the globe yet???
;D ;D ;D ;D
The other issue is that if I can buy a brand new BSA Bantam for £750 on the road, and a brand new BSA Goldflash for less than £2000, why would anyone want an old 1950's original?
Steve
Ahhh,, Young Steven, your age is showing me lad. :(
Any old biker would gladly take an old beast than what is produced today. A Bantam built in India is not the Bantam of yesteryear. I would bend over backwards to get hold of an old Bonnie or Norton. Even the New Bonnie's have JAP in them whilst there counterparts were pure thoroughbreds.
You would be surprised by the popularity of old English motorcycles here in Oz. About 20 years ago, I used to frequently ride on the All British Motorcycle Rallies - about 3000 plus bikers would ride to some far off destination (and get horribly drunk) and the riders came from all over Oz.
The bikes may not be worth a lot in the UK, but here where their is a shortage...................$$$$$$$$$$$ ::) ::) ::)
How about posting some pic's - all I can afford now is to DROOL over them and reminisce about the good ol' days...and that includes the rest of you old bikers......please post more pic's..........pleeeeese :) :) :)
Martin doon under
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Not sure I've got any to be honest - they're in the garage of my parents old house - which is the other side of the country.
I'll have a dig about and see what I have. I possibly have some "Work in progress" pics in the photo albumn, but fairly sure I don't have any of the finished articles.
I'll have a dig about when Mrs Steve comes home as I can't find the photo albumns at the moment, which means that they have been "tided" somewhere. :-\ :-\ :-\
However, if I DO find some, there will contain pictures of me when I was about 13-14, so no sarcy comments please.....
The land lord at the local pub has just brought a Bonnie for about £300. Not in the best condition - probably about 80% - maybe less if the front forks can't be re-jigged striaght - the metal may well have gone brittle ( always the biggest issue with restorations ). You can still find plenty of these sort of things if you know where to look ( farmers seem to have a few of them and getting hold of the records of old motorbike clubs and doing a bit of tracking down on former members is always a winner - 1930's stuff is a LOT rarer though) . Getting something in 98% condition is a bit more expensive, and if it has a history then a bit more still, but still not a lot in the grand scheme of things.
Would Mrs Martin13 let you have one if the price was right?
Mrs Steve very against the idea of me riding again to be honest. I've tried to explain that you don't hoon classics about like you do modern Jap bikes, but she's not convinced.
Steve
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However, if I DO find some, there will contain pictures of me when I was about 13-14, so no sarcy comments please.....
The land lord at the local pub has just brought a Bonnie for about £300. Not in the best condition - probably about 80% -
Would Mrs Martin13 let you have one if the price was right?
Steve
After having peered over my shoulder whilst looking at an APS Models Catalogue, she now believes a Motorbike would be a lot cheaper...
As the saying goes...if the price is right - anything is possible
Martin
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Just for the sake of interest. A new 750 Jap content Bonnie costs about $14,000 or in UK terms - 6,700GBP
I prefer the 300GBP special
Martin
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Martin13,
Mate if you want to drool over older bike pics I
can send you several hundred taken from various
rides all in Aussie, but from you a bit down south of you.... O0
Roy
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British bikes, most of them have a history of one sort or another attached to them and mine has a rather loose Aussie and international connection. If any of you are interested here is the story of my Triumph 500 T100c.
Back in the 80s I restored a 98cc Brockhouse Corgi, the road-going civvy version of the Paratroopers motorcycle. After owning and running it for a couple of years I had the urge for a Triumph twin, an urge which had been with me since I saw one as a lad. I heard of a basket case up for grabs locally and decided to do a swap. On inspection, the bike had its original frame and engine numbers but was in a horrific state and bereft of its engine, this item consisted of two crankcase halves and a bucket of junk!
On inspection of the paperwork, the bike had originated in Edinburgh and was a street scrambler version with the twin exhaust pipes up one side. The whole machine from front to back was totally clapped out and any chromework had long since gone and been painted matt black. It had bald tyres, a chain you could wrap around your neck edgwise and a swingarm which was a sloppier fit than a sausage in the Dartford tunnel!
I could just picture the previous owner in my minds eye and if you are old enough you will remember him.. long dirty hair, black worn out motorcycle jacket with dangley leather strips which hung from the arms, dirty jeans and winkle picker shoes. I imagined him to have a roll- up stuck out the side of his mouth and pictured him without crash helmet, giving this oily, dirty old smoking heap a fistload of throttle as he roared up Princess Street with his hair flailing and a big grin on his face! Well, that was the vibes the bike gave me anyway.
I rebuilt the whole machine from front to back, took me a year, a load of money and everything was replaced barr the frame and the main engine components.. all the moving oily bits were scrap and some of the stuff in the bucket didn't even belong to a Triumph!
Thinking I was smarter than the Triumh designers, I balanced the engine thinking I was going to improve on the ubiquitous vibes but ended up with an engine which shook from front to back instead of up and down, needless to say, it failed dramatically six months later whilst warming the bike up in the garage when a flywheel retaining bolt sheared and smashed the guts of the engine.... good job I wasn't riding it at the time!
I scoured the bike mags for another engine and found one in Madrid in Spain. I couldn't go to Spain for an engine, that would be ridiculous and there was no way I was bunging off a load of hard earned to some bloke in a foriegn country for something I couldn't even verify existed. I phoned the chap up, he said he used to live in Australia, had bought a frame with and engine (reputedly ok) to build a racer, never got round to it and finally moved to Spain,where it now resided.
I had a potential customer in Madrid who, six months earlier had rather embarassingly for him, had to cancel an order for an Akula as he was strapped for cash This chap was so very apologetic at the time and struck me as being a very straightforward sort of person as I had had a few conversations with him. So six months down the road, I phoned him up and he agreed to check out the bike engine for me. I eventually paid a sum of money (not to be sneezed at) into his bank account and he paid the seller and collected my engine and frame assembly, this he took home and placed on his balcony of his flat in Madrid! His SWMBO was not overkeen as they were a bit pushed for room at the best of times.
He eventually arranged for a friend to stick it in the back of a van and bring it over to England on her next trip here. It ended up in the backyard of a bed and breafast hotel in Warwickshire and I drove down from Norfolk next day, met the lady driver, who spoke little English and offered to pay her for the delivery... she would not accept any money! When we got it all home, I phoned up a florist and arranged for a shipload of flowers to be sent to her and apparently, according to the Landlady, the woman was in floods of tears as she had never had flowers bought for her before!
On stripping the donor engine, it was found to be in superb condition but I decided to replace the barrels and pistons as they had a few scores. My engine was rebuilt from the donor engine, put back in the bike and has been running for the past eight years without any problems. At the end of the day I have to say it was worth the original swap as this bike has hauled me and SWMBO's bums all over Norfolk and we have loved it!
As footnote to the story, I phoned up the wife of my 'customer' in Madrid and found out when his birthday was. Months later and came the day, he woke up to find a large wooden box standing at the end of the bed... he finally had his submarine!
Thanks Pablo....wherever you are now! O0
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. A new 750 Jap content Bonnie
????
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Sheerline,
What a great story and a very generous man although I think you may have been talking about me in paragraph 2, be it a long time ago.
Thanks CBR900 on the offer - did you ever ride on the British Bike Rallies ???
As much as I would like a bike I'm finding it increasingly difficult now. My ex- employer has a Honda 750 Shadow of which he loans to me whenever I wish. I can only ride for about 30 km's before I have to stop for a break as my fingers start to tingle and then go numb from vibration - probably eliminates most bikes on the road these days (at least the ones worth having)
and Pocket Rockets are out - never did like em.
So as Dicky has pointed out, forget about the bikes and get back to modelling.
Martin doon under :) :)
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You can cheat a bit though Martin.
There are a couple of firms in the UK that will re-engineer various bits of a classic so that it is actually usable.
My dad had a set of front forks done on an old Indian. He found it a massive pain to ride - literally - so he sent the forks away and they came back looking exatly the same - from the outside they were identical - but there was a more modern shock system with vibro damping inside of them. They offered the same service on the rear as well - but I seem to remember that you were talking about big money for that - something like half the cost of the bike.
You can get the same done with the brakes as well - same casings but better enginnered gubbins inside - although I never saw this in action.
I have to say though that the biggest issue I ever had with Pop's classics was the tires. I learned to ride on a modern bike, and when I went on his classics I had no confidence what so ever in the tires.
I had a fairly knackered a-10 that he lent me to get around town on at University for a while but got it shod in a modern "pocket rocket" set of rubber. Looks stupid but I felt a lot safer on it, especially in winter. You can get classic style tires with decent treads and much more modern compounds now. Look pretty close to the original, but it does mean that it's much safer to go out on a drizzly day - heavy classic bikes and slippy as hell man-hole covers do not make for much fun :(
Steve
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Steve,
I know there are things that can be done but most bikes vibrate (except for a BMW that I fancy). The handling capabilities of bikes do not concern me as once raced Motorcross/Supercross, a time in off-road buggies and even competitive Trials. I can pretty well ride anything except a horse without problems.
It's just all too expensive..priorities change as life changes - I think I have just moved over to the slow lane. I have re-built more bikes than you can imagine which resulted in an empty bank account for many a year, mind you, I had a lot of fun in the meantime..
Just before I got married, I had a deposit for a BMW 1200 Independent Cruiser. The bike shop let me have the bike for a full day of test riding and rode about 350Kim's along the Great Ocean Road hear in Victoria (lots of bends). The bike handles superbly with no vibration at all - only ever stopped for a smoke and admire the scenery. The drawback - bike cost $27,000. So what did I do - I used the deposit to purchase an Engagement ring.
Whenever I stop and look at a bike now, Mrs Martin tells me that I made the better choice - she's right O0
Martin without 2 wheels Doon under