Motorcycle Enthusiasts

spammerz85

New member
Amazon.com: Two Wheels Through Terror: Diary of a South American Motorcycle Odyssey (9781884313493): Glen Heggstad: Books: Reviews, Prices & more

I read this book this week. Loved it. And the author is a judo guy. The book is not going to win any literary award, and it has some slow moments, but overall it was a fascinating story about South America. And he is a pretty good writer; often I could taste and smell the scenes he was describing.
 
God I miss her

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Ride an 2005 Triumph Sprint ST1050. For me the perfect sports tourer.
Would love a Honda SP2 in Castrol race colours, though.
BTW: Mitch - were or are you a member of Visordown or The Rev Counter?
 

JustBelieve

New member
SAMA-UK - Fantastic bike, I love Triumphs and had 2 955 Sprint ST's.

This is a picture of me and my 1st Sprint ST


This is a photo me with my second Sprint ST


This is my current bike 'Flo' my Honda Blackbird
 

XxLeannexX

New member
Ok.....before you start tuning-up on me, know that I am very proud of my bike, though it is not the crotch-rocket some of you folks ride. Yes, I still need to kick-start the little beast, and yes, it has been known to kick-back and "bite me" once in a while. I can also reliably report that being a 1974 Triumph 750 Bonne, I daresay its probably older than some of the people posting. I wanted to post a couple of pics but I'm afraid I don't seem to be able to get the hang of it (help?).

This is the second such bike I had, having had exactly the same year and make before I had this one. A very old story.... Got it as a mess.....cleaned it up and straightened it out....promptly sold it b/c I thought I got it out of my system and then.....you guessed it....bought another one.

Its not that I have not had other bikes. Had a '73 Harley for a short time (can't say I know what all the excitements about. Was a real chintzy POS, Hope they've done better since then!) I also had a BMW 1000RS which I loved....if only for the electric start. Just got tired of leaning on my wrists hour after hour. If I had my druthers I would get another BMW 1000 but make it an RT instead of an RS.

Since we are talking about Chicagoland, I'm afraid that cycling on a regular or daily basis just isn't in the cards. I had thought about adding a sidecar, but the damn thing would cost more than the price of the bike was!! Nice thing about my old Twin is that I can do all of the work on it myself. It gets a bit tricky since the year I have was a kind of "transitional model" meaning it was literally put together from disparate parts from a range of industry sources. Further "original parts" (can I actually use that term with this beast?) are becoming rare---and damn expensive. I priced a new tank---used but "new" to me---and was told a tank in good condition would run up to and over $500USD. At those sort of prices there are no "motocycle boneyards". I may start nosing around NORMAN HYDE, or some such, as there is no thought of ever trying to restore this machine to original condition. Its basically stock but also has a fairing. I might even add a box or pair of bags.

No real point. Just a couple of cents into the discussion.

Best Wishes,

Bruce
 
Man I missed this, pics Bruce, pics! Use the Manage Attachments button below when you click Add Reply, or host the pic on imageshack then click the picture button here and paste the URL. PM me if you have any problems.

I love the old style bikes, and a cafe racer is in some ways the best looking bike out there. A kickstart is the real deal, I like them, but the compression on the bikes I generally ride would make them impractical. My 600 single generally started well when I had it though.

Here's a one of my favourite cafe racer pics :
 

SteveBrodyHead

New member
I once owned a 750 Bonneville jubilee 1977 US "1 of a 1000". I only sold it because I got made redundant from my job. I was a prospect in a bike club (now defunct) where you had to ride a big Brit, US or European bike to become a member when I got it. I could only afford it because I went straight from school into a job in oil.
 

manseph

New member
I rode an old 650 chop for a few years kind of like this one (this is not my bike or me but it was similar). I loved it even though I referred to it as the suicide machine. Mine was rattle can red and had a king and queen seat with sissy bar. It was a hard tail and I once rode it from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Jacksonville, Florida (631 mile/ 1,015 km) miles straight through with stops only for gas (where we grabbed a bite to eat and pissed). We rode all through the night (there were 8 of us) running about 80 or 85 mph (134 to 136 km) all night long, we got to Florida as the sun was coming up.

I miss those days.
 
OK....no smart comments....its not like I'm real good at this.

I posted the pics under the "coming events" section on my website.

http://www.midwesthapkido.com/coming.htm

Note to our friends in the UK: Sorry about the snow.......

Hope this works.

Best Wishes,

Bruce
 

xolailaxo

New member
That bike is seriously clean Bruce! I can't say I'm a fan of the fairing, but kudos for looking after a beatiful, classic machine so well

Mitch
 

tutis000

New member
Its actually going to get a little "cleaner".

Over the Summer my neighbor put me onto a process I can do in the garage using electrolysis to remove paint, primer, dirt, grease....just about anything.... and take the piece down to the metal. As you can guess the side covers are not original "1974". My plan is to take the sidecovers and the tank down to the metal and have it custom painted. I'm looking at a black enamel or lacquer.

PS: I blow hot and cold on the fairing. I like the shelter in crappy weather, but I agree that its not much for looks.

Best Wishes,

Bruce
 

HaleyS

Member
Enthusiast here!! Currently riding an 07 ninja 650. I plan on upgrading to a new ducati 1198 =]. Or a Harley V rod muscle, I can't decide.
 

JirehG

Member
1198 has an engine like hell unleashed but a suspension set up that as standard doesn't want to turn and makes a vice out of the virtue of stability.

I'd have one (if I didn't have the RC8) but I'd want to put in some serious time on setting it up to make it ride right. I hated the sandard one rode.

Mitch
 
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