For the motorcycle peeps

“It looks like the next push in styling is bringing back "art deco" and "retro".

I just bought the Black cherry/Raven Stratoliner this past year and now at the international cycle show, Victory cycles unveiled this.....

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/19january07_victory2008vision.htm

And here's mine. It really turns heads and is a joy to ride. (47 mpg too) .....


http://www.starmotorcycles.com/star/products/modelgallery/480/1/1/gallery.aspx

http://www.starmotorcycles.com/star/products/modelhome/480/1/home.aspx

I know there's people here that ride. I thought you'd find this interesting.
last edited: 1/20/07 8:15:47 AM”

“That's a whole lotta motorcycle!

Maybe this will be the year that I get back on a bike.”

“Maybe this, oldtimer.”

“This was my favorite.
I had a 1978 version.......60 MPG and a red line speed of 125 MPH.
Hang on, sucker!

http://www2.yamaha-motor.fr/actu/IMG/jpg/ym50_doc-13-xs650.jpg
last edited: 1/20/07 12:27:59 PM”

“sweet!

I've always been a fan of Yamaha.”

“Lorax, them sure are some purty bikes!”

“I bet those Victory's have some purty big price tags too!

They are known for good quality, I looked at a few when I upgraded this summer.”

“My best buddy had one of these and it red-lined at 140+ MPH.



”

“My buddy has one of those in boxes stored in his garage. One day he'll get it together, but it won't be easy as time goes by.”

“I believe that Duc 750 was under 400 pounds.

With a low center of gravity it handled like a dream as it positively roared at high speeds.”

“You're a bike man, what do you think of the new styling of these bikes? It's a love/hate thing with them. The looks of mine had to grow on me, but now I love having something so different.
last edited: 1/21/07 10:19:31 AM”

“The 750's are classics. I love the lines.

I raced Ducati's years ago ...did rather well till the Bultacos came out. Later I got a Ducati 450 "scrambler" and raced it for a bit. It was a little to heavy, but depending on the track, it could often smoke the two strokes. It was like having an automatic, 2nd and 3rd gears were all you needed.

I still have the 450 Desmodromic. 11,000 RPM single. I'm going to set it up as a café racer, it's original heritage.

There are only 2 bikes, that I know of, that you can pull up along side a Hells Angle and get an admiring nod from...a Buell and a Ducati.
last edited: 1/21/07 10:33:03 AM”

“I still love the naked light heavyweight bikes.

I don't find those new style bikes objectionable, but I wouldn't want one.
They are probably a lot of fun to ride.

A few months ago my kid and I happened to be talking about bikes when we heard one in the street that made us both stop and say.........."I think a golden-winged ship is passing my way........"(ha ha!!)
The bike in question circled and parked a few doors up.
It was a new Triumph Thruxton..........naked bike.
The sound of the vertical twin engine is what caught our attention.
The evenly measured staccato of fuel/air explosions is like nothing else and is immediately recognizable especially at idle.

If I had the dough, this is what I would buy.
”

“The 2006 Stratoliner S does have clean lines, I like the look.

I remember seeing the Star line for the first time. I thought there was finally a bike that could out Harley the Harley's, I was surprised to learn they were made by Yamaha.

Nice ride.”

“With a set of nice, "sticky" AVON natural rubber tyres......Oh, those mountain roads!!”

“All these pics you guys have posted feature some really classy rides. Beautiful bikes, all of them.”

“Something about two cylinders and clean lines.

Fairings are for sissys ;-)
last edited: 1/21/07 10:56:01 AM”

“Is that a new Norton?

Vertical twins rock!”

“Highway 101, Olympic Peninsula, July, 1980.

There were two of us on Yamaha XS 650's and we did the entire peninsula before heading south along the coast.
In those days the log trucks still carried REAL old growth timber, sometimes only two GIANT logs per load.
Hwy 101 has virtually no passing zones from Olympia all the way around.
We would pass those dudes usually on a left curve when visibility allowed.
We had a series of left(free) hand signals and pumping the fist up and down was, "GO-GO-GO!!!"
I would then drop from fifth gear into third and crouch down and red-line 3rd and 4th, hitting 5th as I passed the cab of the truck and topping out at about 95-100+ MPH.
Sitting up and dropping my inside knee as I leaned into the next turn was like having an air brake and my speed would drop to about 50-60 with a little help from the front and rear brakes.
Sometimes both of us could make the pass together and sometimes not.
The sounds of those twin-twins rippin' and roarin' is something I'll never forget!
Together we were a 1300cc four cylinder.

R.I.P. Mike.......1955 to 2006
(I miss you)”

“Not sure actually, this is supposed to be the new Norton 952 Commando...



You can read about it here

They were hoping for 4000 bikes in 2007. When I try and pull up the official Norton page I get a error code.”

“WOW!!

Twin Muscle...”

“Exposed frame, flat headlight, forward mounted speedo and tach, exposed chain and rear shocks and no intention of hiding the master cylinder reservoirs. I like the look.
It's a bike built for sheer pleasure, not to please the masses.”

“I would like to see someone build new XS650s.....but that's just me.”

“Damn mARKo, we have lived very similar lives. I understand your loss.

Three of us use to ride the Coast Hwy to Big Sur. I had a new Kawasaki 500 triple, the second one sold in CA. One partner had a rebuilt Vincent Black Shadow and my other bud a very modified Triumph 500.

We would try and double the speed limit signs. When it said slow to 40, we would try and double it. We were young fools, passing around curves, ignoring the obvious danders. I remember hitting one banked bridge, I've seen it in several movies, at 120 mph....my shocks bottomed out from the g forces and I couldn't lift my head off the gas tank. Several turns later my buddy on the Triumph and I pulled over to wait for our friend to pull up. He never did. He hit a truck head on passing around a blind curve.

Damn we were stupid.”

“Holy crap!

One of my pals had a Kawasaki H-1 500 and I took it out for a spin in the neighborhood one day...........without bothering to put on a helmet.
I nailed the throttle in second gear and it hit the power band. Ha ha, you remember how that was! The bike wheelied on me and I nearly nailed a parked car before regaining control.”

“The guy that bought the 1st 500 was asked it he wanted some instruction. He was warned the bike was a handful. He declined, started it up, let the clutch out, hit the gas and wheelied into a brick wall across the street.

The sales guy looked at me and said, "well, how about you". I had years of racing behind me, but after seeing the idiot across the street, I listened to his instructions. His main comment was, NEVER grab a hand full of throttle on this mother, unless you know exactly what your doing. I learned later that you could grab a handful at 60+ mph and stand the front end straight up.

One of the biggest problems with that motor, aside from the ball joint in the middle of the frame, was EVERYONE wanted to race you. I only lost one race, against a very modified Triumph 750.
last edited: 1/21/07 12:05:22 PM”

“I have old ex-military friend who had/(has?) an old Norton Commando with the cafe racer fairing body and windshield. I think it was a 750cc or maybe an 850cc. This was back in the early 70s and that bike looked radical back then.”

“That Norton is the first bike I've seen in a very long time that I want to own.

Well, OK ,perhaps one of these...


Buell Ulysses

It's a fire road bike!
last edited: 1/21/07 12:27:11 PM”

“Only his was the classic black with gold lettering.

”

“Dat's just too crazy lookin'!

The Buell, that is.

I would settle for the Thruxton.......and its "only" $8,000.
last edited: 1/21/07 12:36:50 PM”

“That Buell looks like a bike Mad Max would ride. Dirt roads huh?”

“Yea, it is a tad radical.

Yep, dirt roads, kinda sorta. 100+ hp fire roader. Right down to skid plates and head light and hand guards. I like the upright riding style. I'm too old for anything that approaches a sport bike stance, my back wouldn't take it. I can see it being perfect for the thousands of miles if dirt roads in Northern CA. You can ride east to west up here and not get on pavement once.

That Norton is a true classic!”

“Another radical "dirt bike"


last edited: 1/21/07 1:14:30 PM”

“I had a Yamaha XT-600 for 15 years. It only needed service once. It was great for fire roads and inproved trails, yet heavy enough to go over highways. I loved that bike.

I was always an enduro type of guy. Love those thumpers.”

“Nice bikes!

(I still love my sporty though)”

“I just bought this in Sept. Planning on tearing down to clean paint and give a little TLC over the winter. It's an 84 Sabre 700 V4.

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2714137200051226211cPkHFI”

“That looks like a nice project.”

“The new Buells have the fuel in the Frame and the oil reservior is the trailing arm. I have one of the older tube frame Buells (Cyclone) and It produces a sh$t eatin' grin every time I ride it. They no longer make the old tubies and mine has never been modified and shows 3k on the Odo.



Like this one:”

“You crazy man!”

“Now this be some crazy shee-yat

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kyvyD2h-Nn8”

“Yeah MarkO, Its basically sitting on a fire breathing 1200 sporty motor with wheels.”

“I think that's fake, Lorax.”

“It could very well be. It was fast though. The wheelie lasted to @ 130 mph according to the speedo. I find it hard to believe someone would travel at that rate blind until the front wheel came down. The nose really dove when he let off the throttle, but I don't believe the speed supposedly attained.

It does kind of give you the rush of a powerful bike, though.

Here's another one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2yjQB_gZaQ&NR
last edited: 1/23/07 3:56:14 PM”

“ummm...that video doesn't quite depict being a good advocate for bikers.
=:0”

“Is that REAL leather?”

““ummm...that video doesn't quite depict being a good advocate for bikers.
=:0”

Never said I agreed with thier riding style, and no, it doesn't do motorcyclists any justice when people pull those stunts.

It's that you just have to admit that two wheeled power is a rush”

“I took the ABATE 3-day weekend safety course this past weekend. There were 24 of us in the class. It was quite enlightening and I learned a lot. I was especially flattered though when the instructor asked me to consider becoming an instructor for them. He knew that I had only ridden a dirt bike as a young girl and for about 80 miles previous to the class in the past month on a full-size, but according to him I have natural talent. (No, he was not hitting on me) VBG Honestly, I think it's more related to all my years of horseback riding. I found that the head/body position and balance used in swerving, weaving and turning were very similar to proper horseback riding postures. Apparently I have good balance, too. My favorite exercise was doing the tight figure eight in the tiny box.

My plan is to get a couple thousand miles under my belt and then go back and take the experienced rider course. Then I'll decide whether to take him up on his invitation or not.”