Quite like the Ducatis but just can’t fit on them. Saw an MH900e a few years back, the bike you could only order online from Jan 2000. Guy pulled in to my local servo while I was filling the Landy. Stunning bike and super sound.
Quite like the Ducatis but just can’t fit on them. Saw an MH900e a few years back, the bike you could only order online from Jan 2000. Guy pulled in to my local servo while I was filling the Landy. Stunning bike and super sound.
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My new project since i finally got my ATC200 running properly, I brought a ATC70 . These trikes are addictive !!
Brings back memories. Had a 500 twin at uni and my engineer flatmate used to design and make expansion chambers from scratch. The ones he was doing for the Titan had only reached the stage where the megas were done and I couldn't resist whacking them on and having a ride. Talk about LOUD. As for performance, the power band was super narrow but when she came on song, it'd lift the front wheel with no persuasion. Anyone who has every owned a Titan knows this is impossible normally as the very long wheelbase made wheelies very difficult. Anyway, the noise level pissed off a few people down the street and Mr Copper made a little visit..
got a new ride for a while...
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Lives beside
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A bit of a difference in power? (And weight!)
But nice!
Indeed. But surprisingly the economy on the Honda is about the same as the Yamaha when it had a windscreen as well. Already looking at trying it without the screen (4 bolts and its off...) and looking at adding a back rest for the driver...(My brothers Indian had one and it was rather comfy...)
I have three bikes and my wife is starting to wonder about me....A Virago (since 91) a Valkyrie and a Katana....She asked me if there was something I needed to tell her and pointed out ...
Virago = Female warrior / strong woman
Valkyire = Odins handmaidens / warriors
Katana = Sword type that each of the above would be quite happy using.....
I am starting to wonder now myself...
The 2006 600cc one . Not the original one with the pop up unfortunately.....Loads of fun to ride. GSX600F similar to the Honda CBR600 aero.
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Nice, @muzza.
Gotta wonder why they need that sign in Apiti, though? The whole place is a museum...? :D
A pic of me on my Rossi rep R6 at Ruapuna, around 2014. Brought it new in Sydney in '05 and was my daily till '12 when I shipped it back to NZ with the furniture etc.
At the time we were living in a flat with the my sister in law who worked next door to me (about 20km to work from home) she had to be at work by 9am so had to leave before 8am in her car to get there on time, but on the bike I could leave at 8:10am to arrive for my 8:30am start. Made sure I waved every time I passed her in traffic :thumbsup:
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Traded it in for this sexy bum 2006 Aprilia Tuono, but thinking after 20 years of sportbikes I'm looking for something a bit different - like to do a bit of (very) light off roading@timattalon how did you rate you RE Himalayan? still got it?
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@Ben-tard I sold it and ended up buying a Valkyrie..... I miss the Himalayan and would consider another one. If you want to travel on adventure tracks etc the something like the Himalayan is great as long as you stay within its limitations (mainly low power and not fast....but will go anywhere...) If your adventure is more open road with gravel roads and less bush track, the the likes of the KLR / KLE 650s, or V Stroms etc could be worth a look. It all depends on what you are after in an 'adventure' trip....
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Absolutely superb to ride................
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KTM 525 So much fun in the dirt...............
I wrecked myself a few years-back on a 750 pop-up, I think I've still got a spare 'pop-up light' in the shed ...Riding slow these days 81 XV1000 x2 and 73 TX650. The cheap reg is a big plus
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@rewa Did someone say XV1000? Mine is an 85
I did have the 1100 that looked much like yours, great bike. My 81 XVs look very different though, chain-drive and roadster configuration, sit-on, rather than sit-down-in, and mono-shock. So not a cruiser. (Google TR1 XV1000) One day I will post pics, when I figure out how.
I am familiar with the TR1 model. There was a guy here in Chch that approached me for mine not long after I move to chch (early 2000s) as he was converting them into trikes. Shaft drive goes straight into a diff from and old car and away he went....I still have mine. Not allowed to sell it as I managed to get it into the wedding photos.....apparently thats a thing....And that was in 1994.....
Well done !.. I think the early 1000's had a bit more power than the later 1100's. Your bike is much rarer than the older 750's. By the time children start 'costing', yours will be cheap-reg ($58-yr) another good reason to keep it.
Had a bunch of Jap 750/4s in years past - some quick ones in their day amongst them eg FZ750, GSX 750 etc. But the one I'd have again tomorrow was a 1976 Honda CB750F. Nothing like the speed of the others - nor the handling - but like the old Yammies above it was a marvellous open road cruiser. Real delight to climb on for a 200-300 mile ride - and get off at the end still feeling pretty comfortable. An example:
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Some great old cruisers around - the old Yamaha 1000 V twins and CX650 above included. Would like to try that Indian... what is reliability like on them? I know they have more hp than Harley equivalent models.
'98 KX250. Had a few of these in my younger years -'96 & '97. Tidy bike imported from the US. Need to get the correct lime green rear mudguard, otherwise I'm pretty happy with it. Nice to have Renthal bars and the original pipe. I made the carbon fibre frame & rear caliper guards.
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This is the quickest of the 750/4s I had from 30 years back. A race bred Yamaha FZ750 - made 1986. Beautiful machine, superb handling, and revved freely with its 5 valve per cylinder motor. About 106hp which was alot then. Alot in just 200kgs.. Only problem was 1.5 hours was all your arse could handle on it - very firm uncompromising ride. Not a tourer. Awesome machine but:
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And this shows just how fast these road bikes were in the day. Here the 86 FZ750 with Italian legend Giacomo Agostini on board races against the top Ferrari Testarossa of the day. Also on the track is the reigning 500cc champion Yzr500 Yamaha. Little FZ750 blows the Ferrari.. :)
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x563wqe
For the non-computer savvy people like me - put cursor over the link above, then click on sound and expand. Mmmm.. But ... would still rather have the Honda CB750F. I've no doubt today's sports tourers have much smoother, more powerful motors, better boxes, brakes and suspension, but many of those old late 60s/70s/80s machines gave a great ride.
Agreed re the Honda....and this is the 'But'....You should almost never meet your hero as they can almost never live up to expectations....Nice ride, yup, drums front and rear to slow you down (notice I did not use the term stop....?)
All kidding aside, there are some fantastic bikes out there. I always lusted after a Bimota Tuatara but after seeing one in the flesh here in chch I know I could not 'live' with one. IA bit like a supermodel.... And on a side note- that Tuatara was powered by the 90s FZR 1000 exup motor albeit with the carbs and exup removed and EFI fitted....
rode over on my 2008 Triumph (top left) to see this 1972 bonneville 650 . . I am now the proud owner, can't wait to get it home and put some miles on this classic machine.
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Had an 87 fzr 1000 myself . 5 valve head but before exup, which was a good thing which meant I could modify carbs and pipes, ign etc to my hearts content..... and also swapped out wheels for 17 inchers both ends for fitment of race rubber and all the suspension mods...
And I don't think there would have been to much shame in the kwaka gpz thing... They were after all considered the king of the heap at the time.
Oh I do miss my Bonnies....
Nice machine that 72 . They are a bit of an oddball if I remember correctly as that version of the frame is only used in the first year or so of production and was changed for all the remaining versions , because it made some jobs on the engine virtually impossible to do without removing the engine which could be easily done on pre oil in frame models and the subsequent 2nd version of the oil in frame frame (if I remember correctly...it may only be the 750's)
its a funny one when your trying to research a bike like the oil in frame Triumphs on the forums . . people have their favourites and likes and dislikes, i gave up thinking i would get the truth, its all opinion . . time will tell.
here is the main reason i started looking at 650 Triumphs with a 4 speed box . . i just love this machine, your going to understand or not.
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well I am a fan of pretty much all of the classic trumpys and have owned many over the years of varying capacities and models , from the 500's through to a couple of tridents .
The only thing I would think twice about if I were to buy another is I wouldn't get one unless it has a splayed head (carbs pointing out rather than directly rear and parallel to each other ) for the simple reason you cannot change carbs for different versions such as mikuni as there is not enough room between carbs for them to fit . That is generally only an issue with the later model classics though . Had exactly this issue with my harris bonny which ran Amal 1.5 carbs in parallel but the carbs were buggered and no longer available . Could not fit any other carb model due to head not being splayed .
So I phoned the amal company twice a week for six months and finally convinced them to make me a brand new set of carbs !! I think they were sick of the calls and just wanted me out of their lives....lol . But they turned up as promised .....
Great bikes there.. Late 60s was when motorcycling changed dramatically - with the advent of all the new japper models. The Honda CB750K was one of those bikes that changed the course of motorcycling history with its in line four cylinder motor, 67hp, 5 speed box, great comfort, up to 125mph performance, disc on the front, quite good handling etc - and all at a reasonable price. Other important bikes there too - the Yamaha YDS3 and YDS5 250s, Suzuki T20 and T250R - little burners that would match many triumphs/beezers. Then of course the Kwakas - the Mach 111 500 triple - that was a bloody shock to ride for the first time with its wicked powerband back then. The Mach IV 750 triple, and of course the Z1 900. Amazing machines - quite revolutionary. Owned some of these and rode mate's models back in the day, and I remember that first Mach 111 was one hairy machine ... And terrible on fuel :)
The Brits could not compete with the power of the new 2 and 4 stroke Jap multis, but still produced some fine machines - the Bonnies etc maintained a roadbike styling which the Japs tried to copy with bikes like the Yamaha XS650, TX650 etc - not too successfully at times. I remember a lady friend had a BSA Lightning - nice to ride. So was she. And perhaps the quickest of the Brit 650s then was the BSA Spitfire. But that had reliability issues and never really caught on - don't hear of them much now. It was always interesting to hear a Triumph Trident or BSA Rocket 3 go down the road back then - usually with a bikie sitting on it! That's a bike I'd like to have ridden but never did so. After a time they didn't really compete with the Jap multis etc - esp the 70s Kwakas - Z1, Z1000, Z1100 etc. Kawasaki took motorcycling another real leap there.
What was the Trident like - about 58hp I see - so it would have pulled well. Here's example of 6 speed T250R Hustler I had back around 72 - quick little thing:
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Depending what you like in a two stroke the 98 was a good engine too, very aggressive compared to other year models I had an 05' 250f back in the day and after rebuilding it several times and eventually it completely grenading itself I searched for some time and managed to find a good 98 2t engine and modified the frame etc for it to fit, was a great bike once the shitty four-stroke was binned!
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The cb750 certainly was the beginning of the end for the British bike industry . My cb750 was quicker than my triumphs but never were as nimble ....
It's a shame it was bad management as much as anything else that finally rung the death knell .
I have done lots of research over the years and some of what was being developed behind closed doors would have given the Japs a good run for their money but were killed off by the beancounters and management .
I love modern bikes too but always had a classic trumpy parked right beside them . There's just something about a classic bike that just can't be engineered into the modern offerings , such as character or even a soul of sorts . They all seem to have their own personality , whereas modern offerings are just so good and clean and reliable - and soulless .
Well in my humble opinion anyway...
Yes agreed..
The period 1965 -75 brought huge transformation to the bike world. From about 65 we saw the emergence of the high performance little 2 strokes like the Yamaha YDS5 and Suzuki T20 - both 250 twins. I remember reading an article back then roadtesting the new 1971 Suzuki T250R Hustler alongside the Norton Dominator 88 or 99 (500 or 600cc) of the time, and the reviewers were shocked to find the little Suzi blew it away. Sign of changing times. Even the big heavy Suzuki GT750 waterjacket triple was hugely innovative with liquid cooling emerging in mainstream bikes. This development has featured in hell of a lot of makes/machines since. The 70s Suzi T500 Titan 2 stroke twin was simpler, not highly tuned at about 45hp, but it was quite a durable old girl. Mate had one in the mid 70s with umpteen thousand miles on the clock and you could hear the worn pistons hundreds of yards away when it started up. Ring-ding-ding-ding ... But he liked it. :O_O:
One bike make that has to appear in any conversation of 60s-70s bikes is Norton. They made/raced machines for a long time - the Manxman etc - and by the 60s-70s had the big heavy Norton Atlas 750 cruiser, and the leaner, more performance oriented commandos plus others. Some good bikes there - like the SS Commando. Norton acquired their featherbed frames from some designer, used them in their race bikes, then adapted that technology to their later commandos. These 650/750 Commandos were often rated the best handling of the Brits, and the 750 twins good certainly move. Not comparable with emerging jap multis in the 70s but.
Looking back, I think that of all the classic 60s-70s Brit bikes I'd also choose a Bonneville. Especially that teardrop tank model. Don't know what years it was. Of all the Brits the Bonnie best defined the style for cool roadbikes for a generation - and to a fair extent it actually still does. If some modern 'naked', unfaring-ed road bike looks at all like a Bonneville - that's a big plus. Icon of its time, the Bonnie nailed cool..
Must jump on a new Triumph one day... Would be great to see one without an oil pool underneath it.. :)