Any Motorcyclists Out There?

[Marvin]

J

I had a Norton 750 but it was a vertical twin.

Not as sharp as yours but a good bike, would love to have one like yours.

marvin

[FatBoy]

Norton are producing bikes again and are based at the Donington Park race circuit in Leicestershire, UK. http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com/

Paul

[cobrakalas427]

I've got 2 Harleys - a '97 Softail Custom and an '01 Electra Glide Ultra...never had a cafe racer but I remember Harley made one around 1977 that was pretty cool!

[marcocsx3121]

I got my first bike in 1967, two years before CSX 3121 arrived. Since then there have been 35 more (between my wife and I). Included were three Norton Commandos, one of which was purchased new in 1969, several 60s Triumphs, five Harley Sportsters, and a bunch of Japanese sport bikes. The current inventory is a Kawi ZX10R, a Honda RC51, and my big, comfy couch, a Kawi ZRX1200. I've done a couple of bike track schools, and have done open track days at Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca (now Mazda Raceway, or something like that) and Assen in Holland.

BTW, I'll be 71 next month; getting old, but not quite growed up.

[Marvin]

Marco
You give me insperation, maybe i won't sell the bike.

marvin 73

[Marvin]

Men just get old, never grow up!

[SP01715]

I have a 97 Harley BadBoy. I bought it new and only have 3500 miles on it. I grew up riding, and raced at a local Pro level in motocross. I love bikes, but never seem to find time to ride. Too many toys I guess, but I don't think I will ever sell it.

[mdross1]

Three Harley Road Kings all custom built, 02 2050cc Evo,06 2540cc TwinCam,05 done except for motor.AlsoWhizzer motorbike and thinking about a V8 powered two wheeler.

[chas427fe]

I got back into motorcycles in 1994. Bought a Dyna Wide Glide which I have put over 70,000 miles. Had a Sportster but got rid of it because I only put 6,000 miles on it in 3 years. Still love riding the Wide Glide.

[wideglidejoe]

Even tho' I read all the posts, I wasn't going to post because I don't own a cafe bike, even tho' I like them. But, everyone is posting with all kinds of bikes, so I'll jump in. Been riding for 44 yrs. Not continously, but have had a bike of some kind most of that time.

Current ride is a '05 HD Wideglide; in 5.5 yrs, I've put 42K on it. At 7K miles, I took it from 88" to 95", 10.5 cr forged CP, big heads, S&S .585 gear drive cams, roller rockers, etc., etc. Best Power Commander numbers were 102 hp and 103 tq. After installing HD Race Tuner and a little dyno time, its 107 hp & 107 tq at the wheel/tire. 35K miles later, its still running strong as ever, and I beat on it hard! Rode it to/from Sturgis twice; once solo, once w/wife, pulling trailer behind bike for all her stuff! Fall '09, we rode to/from Smoky mtns/Gatlinburg/Dragon, etc.; 2,900 miles w/wife and trailer behind bike.

[CobraEd]

My son just bought a Harley CrossBones. 96 ci engine, 6 speed, Screaming Eagle exhaust and stage 1 race tune. A real bad ass retro looking bike. Springer front end, mini ape hangers and "tractor" style seat. An "old school" bad boys bike.

http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US...#/model/flstsb


.

[55312]

Finished this restoration last year. Ground up 1970 Bonneville. Wooed my wife of 34 years on this bike! I've had Norton's, BSA's, 2 Harley's including a 1944 W34, a Jawa peg racer, an AJS (Matchless) and just bought a Yamaha Royal Star a month ago to tour on. This Yamaha is the first Jap anything I've ever owned so we'll see if the hype is real!

It's always a toss up between 2 wheels or 4...........



Tim

[TButtrick]

Originally Posted by FatBoy

TButtrick,
I think you may be in for a surprise if you think a Vincent is going to be significantly cheaper than a Cobra. Originals are now commanding big prices, due in no small part to a plentiful supply of high quality spare parts through the owners club and other sources.
I'm not overly keen on the U.S. Vincent recreation. Apart from the engine, everything else is very conventional, but if you want something new that is more in keeping with the originals, have a look at Patrick Godet's creations.

Paul

Yup. I was thinking more in the lines of a modifying a XS650 twin to get a similar look on the cheap. Something like this...

[poseur]

I still enjoy jumping on my '85 Yamaha RZ350 2-stroke... the yellow and black Kenny Roberts Signature Edition, helped by aftermarket expansion chambers and re-jetted. This little beast has always been more bike than I am a rider, but makes it so easy to wait on the other side of the mountain while your buddies finally show up, to ask..."How can that thing just be a 350"?

To me, this bike is the essence of a 'cafe racer'...and I loved my previous RD350 and RD400 2-strokes...no starters, no timing chains, no valves to adjust...what's not to like? For a tune-up, just hold it wide open for about 15seconds in a lower gear! Love my 2-strokes!!

[SP01715]

Originally Posted by poseur

I still enjoy jumping on my '85 Yamaha RZ350 2-stroke... the yellow and black Kenny Roberts Signature Edition, helped by aftermarket expansion chambers and re-jetted. This little beast has always been more bike than I am a rider, but makes it so easy to wait on the other side of the mountain while your buddies finally show up, to ask..."How can that thing just be a 350"?

To me, this bike is the essence of a 'cafe racer'...and I loved my previous RD350 and RD400 2-strokes...no starters, no timing chains, no valves to adjust...what's not to like? For a tune-up, just hold it wide open for about 15seconds in a lower gear! Love my 2-strokes!!

I had both an RD350 and 400 back in high school. they were great bikes. Gotta love the sound of a two stroke twin revving.

[SunDude]

This is my 1977 Triumph Tiger 750. I really need to get 'er back out there on the road...

[decooney]

The Triumph pics here made me want to dig up a few photos of bikes from the past two years. The first was a minimalist Triumph Street Tracker experiment project build that was actually inspired from building Cobras, which led me into SuperMoto, then right back into Dirt bikes. Wish I could find a copy of my former Fat Boy Custom; that thing was so friggin' cool.

Motorcycles, collecting, and trying different bikes can be very addictive. Hopefully this will inspire a few others to come out of the woodwork and post their creations and rides hiding in the garage. Any other DIRT riders out there?

[decooney]

And for some, like Cobras and other hand built cars, motorcycles can be functional art too. Wonder if anyone here is so into bikes they can pick out what this mystery photo is and who built it; I know of at least one other Cobraphile custom builder who can

[Excaliber]

Plenty of sticky mud to deal with on Oahu. Some of the meanest and most unforgiving trails are found in Hawaii. One mistake and you could easily end up down a steep cliff, bottom of a canyon or in the ocean! I've had to walk out and come back in with ropes and a come-alongs to retrieve my bike. It can turn ugly in a heart beat.

I'm getting to old for this...

[decooney]

Originally Posted by Excaliber

Plenty of sticky mud to deal with on Oahu. Some of the meanest and most unforgiving trails are found in Hawaii.

Hey E, I have a good online buddy name HawaiiDirtRider. He rides Beta's in the mud there too. He sends videos from over there. Sticky mud is right!!! If you still ride now in the states, go try some of the crazy high desert Nevada mountain canyons and single track high ridge stuff in NorCal/Sierra Nevada range. If you ever get a chance go check out some of the vertical stuff at Carnegie OHV. Its worth the trip at least once. Talk about super steep uphill, oh my gosh, they hold world championship hill climbs there. It gives an adrenaline rush just sitting at the bottom looking up to the top. Ugh.

Found this photo that somehow does not even remotely do it justice or show what its like there... Imagine this at the BOTTOM, then going 30x as far up, and it gets steeper the further you go up; just unreal scary sh$%^