Favorite Street Bike?

[Hoofhearted]

What was your favorite street bike? This was mine. A Manx on the road.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/4967/img014hy3.jpg[/IMG]

[ÜberDoober]

That is an incredible machine! I've only ever seen bikes like that in books and museums.

I've got nothing to say other than the Japanese crap, the only thing I've ever ridden on the street, pales in comparison. It's an embarrassingly short list at that. :blush:

The short list in order ridden:
1981 GS450 Suzuki
1985 600 Kawasaki Ninja
1979 XS1100S Yamaha
1988 GSX-R 750
1993 GL1500SE Gold Wing
1985 900 Kawasaki Ninja -current bike

Of those, it's a toss up between the GS450 and the Gold Wing? It's all pretty mundane and pedestrian.

Your experience and history with exotic machines in exotic places is envious. Thank you for sharing your photos and stories.

[Hoofhearted]

Thanks for the kind words. It was a great bike. For a race engine it was surprisingly tractable on the road. I was going out to a race meeting when that photo was taken. Ride to the meeting, take the lights off, race, ride home. I felt oh so cool on that machine. It also served as transport for my wife and I for several trips to the Isle of Man for TT week. This is it in two up mode. Ugly seat but it worked.

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/2664/img046op9.jpg[/IMG]

[ÜberDoober]

Another great photo!

She must have been a wonderful woman to put up with riding even 10 miles on that board with that high pipe right there. :ack2:

Are those Akront rims?

[Hoofhearted]

She was and still is a keeper(36 years married this year), Comfort has nothing to do with cool. And no the rims are Borranis

[ÜberDoober]

She was and still is a keeper(36 years married this year)

Congrats on that. I like you more and more all the time! :thumbup1:

Borrani's? Boy, haven't heard that one in a while!

[Hoofhearted]

If you fast forward to today and heres the Norton in it land speed racing incarnation. The Manx is long gone (broke it when you couldn't get parts) but it is alive in another Norton. In its place is a Weslake 500cc speedway engine. Great motor. Almost bulletproof. Last year, I'm proud to say, it set a record at Bonneville and El Mirage dry lake. Not bad for a 47 year old banger.


http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9924/img0096ev6.jpg[/IMG]

[Gary]

Hmmmm...Weslake...Land speed runs...this sounds slightly familiar :cheers2:

[Hoofhearted]

Yeah.... Its always nice to be slightly familiar.

I found this photo of the Norton in its original guise of a Model 50. I know the muffler isn't original. The original fell off on a ride and the truck following ran over it.

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/8735/thimg018dx5.jpg[/IMG]

[kelstr]

wow what a bike hoofster, those pictures are to much , i too have never seen one of those up close .

when i was really little my father had a ducati 125, and a jawa cz 250 and a 750 or 850 comando when we lived in tucson.

i really wanted that comando but he would not let me neer it .

i have a very short list of street bikes also ,

my favorite were actually two bikes i liked very much ,
an RD350 yamaha and a 250 suzuki hustler street bikes .

i road these 2 strokes everywhere , ( the 66 suzuki you had to mix fuel for it )
when young i put an awfull lot of miles on the RD,----.
the Rd was really funny ----and when you kickstarded it just right , ----it would kick back and run backwards, ----it was the damdest thing .
and i got fairly good at riding the thing backwards in 1st gear .

i can not tell you how many 5 dollar bets i won with that dam thing when guys would not believe me that it would run backwards , -------and then when i actually rode the thing backwards ----it freeked em all out :cheers2::angry-004:
that is great you and your wife are still married and together.

on that Manx ---was the tank dented to clear the clip on bar , done Factory, --or was it doen in a tip over ?

god what a machine !!!:cool:

[ÜberDoober]

Hey Kelstr! I thought the same thing but looked up some other pictures and saw it's a factory job. I found a real good pic of the tank the other day but can't find it now. :mad:

Here are some other examples I pulled off the web:
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/Manx-3.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/manx2.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/manx250.jpg

[kelstr]

those are too cool , a bike like that would make me want to ride on the street again.
i can't believe how bitchen those old things are .
that number 22 bike and the green plated one look real nice .

man i want one of those bikes to cruse around on :cheers2:

that tank is ideal made like that to clear the clip on ,

unlike my hodaka that when you crashed you dented both sides in to clear the fork tube .

[Hoofhearted]

The tanks came in "dented" or "undented". I'm trying to remember but I think the factory tanks were undented. There were and still are many maker of Manx tanks. The tank that I have fitted to the Norton now is a close replica from a company in Northern Ireland and is undented.

I have to admit I loved that motor. And I felt oh so cool on it. After its terminal break I went through a number of motors and I really love the Weslake motor. Its lack of finning (It is a speedway motor designed to run on alcohol) makes it look a bit small in the frame. But I run it on gas(VP C12) and last Sept. it clocked 129.817 at El Mirage dry lake so you won't hear any complaints from me! I used to have a Bultaco trials bike that would do the same fire up backwards trick. The first time it did it I wasn't expecting it and when i dumped the clutch it wasn't pretty! A soprano singing trials rider is not something you want to see (or hear).

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2193/img0083co2.jpg[/IMG]

[ÜberDoober]

I have a very short list of street bikes also ,

my favorite were actually two bikes i liked very much ,
an RD350 yamaha and a 250 suzuki hustler street bikes .

i road these 2 strokes everywhere , ( the 66 suzuki you had to mix fuel for it )
when young i put an awfull lot of miles on the RD,----.
the Rd was really funny ----and when you kickstarded it just right , ----it would kick back and run backwards, ----it was the damdest thing .
and i got fairly good at riding the thing backwards in 1st gear .
...

I didn't know you had those two stroke street bikes? (kelstr and I are buds IRL) I've always wanted to try one. I remember when the RZ350's came out and they were so cool and I wanted one.

I had a school friend with a Bultaco Sherpa-T trials bike and he could start and ride it backwards. I had it happen to me once. I was going up a steep bank and stalled it and as I rolled backwards, it started and I crashed.

[Hoofhearted]

I wasn't ANY good at riding my 'Taco backwards. Starting it backwards wasn't a problem but riding it backwards was another story! I wouldn't have won any bets! Thats a "fer sure".

[gonickygo]

Hmmmm...Weslake...Land speed runs...this sounds slightly familiar :cheers2:

c'mon Gary... the avatar man, the avatar.... ;)

[Gary]

I go to so many forums that I don't even see avatars any more. :cheers2:

[kelstr]

I didn't know you had those two stroke street bikes? (kelstr and I are buds IRL) I've always wanted to try one. I remember when the RZ350's came out and they were so cool and I wanted one.

I had a school friend with a Bultaco Sherpa-T trials bike and he could start and ride it backwards. I had it happen to me once. I was going up a steep bank and stalled it and as I rolled backwards, it started and I crashed.
those backwards crashes happened to me often on the RD.

yes my first room mate Lyle Futch had the 150 and the 360 Honda Dream.
and he was not a motorcyclist so i ended up riding the them all over the place ( so they really were not mine )

and the Rd 350 was Lindy's Brother's bike in Tucson.
Kelly --Lindy's Brother bought the RD new in 73 and imeadiatly got hurt the first week he had it :eek:---and through it in the back yard.

Lindy took it and brought it to Phoenix so he could ride with me while i had my left side kick and rt side shift 66 Suzuki 250 Hustler.

then Lindy bought the RD 400 when they came out in 75 and i got the RD 350 for $70 bucks.

so ---it was a long story .
But i really loved that little RD 350 :cool:

[ÜberDoober]

Funny, ya know a guy for a few shy of 25 years and I'm am still learning stuff I didn't know. More than likely, in that length of time, you prolly did tell me and I just forgot it all.

Damn dead brain cells anyway! :o

Doesn't that woman you live with have some exotica in the garage? A couple two-stroke somethings, as I recall? Let's pull one out and make it run! :D For that matter, any time she'd like to get her R1 back on the road, I'd be happy to ride it and keep the battery charged up for her at no cost whatsoever. (well okay, maybe tires!)

We could make it a DooberVille project and post pictures of the resurection! Viva the RG500 or whatever you said it was? :)

Now back on topic, sorry for the little excursion there...

Hoofer, all pretty in pink with your fancy badge, once again, another great pic! Is this relatively recent and was it taken where you live and is that your shop? If it is, I'm gonna pull your leg a little bit and start another thread about it. :tongue_smilie:

[Hoofhearted]

Not my shop. This is my overcrowded, too small, full of junk that I can't bring myself to throw away garage. I'm a packrat. I can't help it. Its genetic. My Dad was one too.

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/7918/img0088qr0.jpg[/IMG]

[kelstr]

Not my shop. This is my overcrowded, too small, full of junk that I can't bring myself to throw away garage. I'm a packrat. I can't help it. Its genetic. My Dad was one too.

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/7918/img0088qr0.jpg[/IMG]
don't feel bad hoof----my shop is just as packed with stuff----i am a pack rat also , ----and so in uberdoober, she is a worse pack rat than i am :eek:

that salt flat bike on the floor looks really cool----that would be one wild ride !

i also like the wire feeder sitting on top of the stick ot tig power supply ,
looks just like my shop ------i guess we are all just pack rats :eek:

[kelstr]

Funny, ya know a guy for a few shy of 25 years and I'm am still learning stuff I didn't know. More than likely, in that length of time, you prolly did tell me and I just forgot it all.

Damn dead brain cells anyway! :o

Doesn't that woman you live with have some exotica in the garage? A couple two-stroke somethings, as I recall? Let's pull one out and make it run! :D For that matter, any time she'd like to get her R1 back on the road, I'd be happy to ride it and keep the battery charged up for her at no cost whatsoever. (well okay, maybe tires!)

We could make it a DooberVille project and post pictures of the resurection! Viva the RG500 or whatever you said it was? :)

Now back on topic, sorry for the little excursion there...

Hoofer, all pretty in pink with your fancy badge, once again, another great pic! Is this relatively recent and was it taken where you live and is that your shop? If it is, I'm gonna pull your leg a little bit and start another thread about it. :tongue_smilie:
that 82 RZ 350 yamaha she has was Tommy Doll's bike that Tommy and Tim Bergstrom raced for all those years.
i got the bike down off the wall and got it all back together and running--( i had to go through the motor, carbs and replace the ignition , seal the tank and replace some rubber stuff )---but the dam thing turned out great, ----i really liked riding it around alittle ,

( ofcourse it was still in race trim with slicks , number plates and all on it )

but then she tells her ex husband Will -----and then Will and his new 22 year old wife ---( god she was hot and ready for action :angry-004::eek::D )
comes over ---and she gives them the bike right out from under me ---------she stills feels sorry for him , and the way the whole ugly love triangle thing went down ---------i guess i had that comming , and probabbly more ------( carma is a bitch :ack2: )


but yes she stills has a very rare RZ 500 , and a RGV 500 gamma suzuki.

they are both in a million peices and i am really mad that she gave the RZ 350 away that i just finnished ----

so it will be awhile before i get motavated again and do another one .

i really want that Gamma ---this thing is all there !!

i keep the R1 all ready to go all the time ------i just started it this weekend .

i will ride it around acoupple times a month for fun ,

i just do not enjoy riding around with this stupid traffic we have here in town anymore :eek:

[ÜberDoober]

and so is uberdoober, she is a worse pack rat than i am :eek:

Yeah so!:p Anybody want a rear wheel for an '87 (I think?) FZ-750? I have no idea why I have it? It's red.

that salt flat bike on the floor looks really cool----that would be one wild ride !


That's not a salt flat bike, it's a toboggan! :rolleyes:

[Hoofhearted]

Funny, There was a guy at El Mirage last year with a Gamma. Didn't get a chance to talk to him. Maybe he will be here this year. Another friend in Ireland has a RZ500 Yamaha. I got a brief ride on it years ago. Can't say I fell in love. He is in the process of doing a full resto and its driving him nuts. Guess parts are a bit on the scarce side.

[kelstr]

yes, Hoof----the RZ 350 was a better handeling bike by far,----the RZ 500 is heavy and in stock form its quite slow .

the Gamma is really a nice little normal bike , --and can be made way fast very easily .

i would really like to get the Gamma done up and going because its all still stock and street legle and i could licens it very easily here in AZ.

it would be so cool to really port and tune it up , make some straight stingerd chambers for it , ----mix some Bean oil in the race fuel and run around town and add abit of correct smelling polution to this stinky dumb town !!!! :cheers2:

and really freak everybody out with the good old 2 stroke flair :eek:

[kelstr]

Yeah so!:p Anybody want a rear wheel for an '87 (I think?) FZ-750? I have no idea why I have it? It's red :rolleyes:

if i remember i think we got that wheel on a theift recovery bike we bought from somebody we knew , ---and we were turning an FZ 750 into an FZR 750. ( the FZR was brand new, then stole and ran into a ditch and the ft end was all bent up and the body work all busted up and the insurance totaled the bike )

i believe that red wheel belonged to that bike 87 FZR 750 .

its so strange how we ended up with all the strange parts and peices we have :confused:

[Hoofhearted]

Yeah, I found the short (about 7 miles) on the 500 to be "cumbersome". It didn't have the acceleration I was expecting and its handling was so so. Paul had a 350 that was a nice ride. But he sold it to get the 500. He just had to have a 500. He took it apart to do a resto and he has had a lot of fun finding parts. I guess they are a bit on the scarce side.

[ÜberDoober]

So, what is the story on the red toboggon with an outrigger thingy?

I see some fiberglass fixin's and the back half of it looks freshly painted? Does it have a motor in it or are there pedals obscured by the front cowl? :)

(we're already 10 miles off topic so what the heck)

[Hoofhearted]

Since when did a topic ever stay on topic? The "red toboggan with the out rigger thingy" is a sidecar I'm building for land speed racing. Its a 110" wheel base laydown. There is an engine in it. It a pushrod Weslake like the Norton but is a later short rod motor. I've had it in the Norton and it ran 125 so with less drag I'm hoping for 130+. I was hoping to have it ready for this weekend but its not. So maybe next month. The fiberglass at the back is the fairing for the Norton. Like I said don't start a thread on my pig sty.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6181/img0708fl1.jpg[/IMG]

[ÜberDoober]

Now that is cool! You may keep your special "Most Interesting" tag forever, at this rate! :)

We are going to expect full photo documentation and essay on your trip to the lake this weekend. Good Luck, have fun! I see a :Chevy_anim: pickem up truck in your driveway too. Good man!

[Hoofhearted]

I'm planning on taking a lot of photos. Dave Anderson, a friend from North Carolina, is flying in to ride the Norton this weekend. He's a former Bonneville record holder and the owner of a stunning '55 BSA Gold Star. So there will be plenty of photos taken. Heres a taste of El Mirage. I took this last year. I was snapping away and just aimed it a t Scott's bike. I din't realise until I downloaded it how good it is. The bike in the foreground is Scott Baxter's '47 BSA 350. My Norton and Jim Kitchen's hammered '28 A. The chebby in the driveway is a Suberban with a 454 in it. Its been on the driveway a while as I can't afford the gas for it. I'm driving a '64 Fairlane 500 with a dinky 289. Way better mileage.

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/5133/img0181uv0.jpg[/IMG]

[Gary]

Yeah, I found the short (about 7 miles) on the 500 to be "cumbersome". It didn't have the acceleration I was expecting and its handling was so so. Paul had a 350 that was a nice ride. But he sold it to get the 500. He just had to have a 500. He took it apart to do a resto and he has had a lot of fun finding parts. I guess they are a bit on the scarce side.

That's odd, at least on the power side. My brother owned a '85 RZ500. It felt light to me but I was riding a GS1100 at the time so that probably explains the weight aspect, but I was very surprised by it's power. I wonder if possibly your friends had a bit of internal wear? The bike had no problem running with my 1100 and had considerably more top speed, probably because it was more aerodynamic than a brick.

Your friend didn't have the Japanese RZV dog with the nice aluminum frame, did he? My brother's was Canadian steel framed model.

[Hoofhearted]

Yup, Nice aluminum frame. I didn't know they came with a steel frame. Never saw one. I always assumed they were all aluminum. His was worn when I rode it and you could feel it. I used the word cumbersome as I hopped off my Norton and jumped on the Yam. which could go a ways to explaining it. I just didn't feel comfortable on it. Might just be me. I bought an SRX in '87 and I moved the footrests back 3", dropped the bars below the top triple tree and felt very comfortable. Stiffer front springs and heavier fork oil and it was a great ride. Do you have any photos of the steel framed Yamaha? Would love to see one.

[Gary]

I don't have photos myself - the aluminum frame was the Japanese domestic model, everyone else got the steel frame, and for reason (legal I assume) the Japanese model was much less powerful than the ones sold everywhere else. The steel frame was just a tubular steel frame like most bikes had, the aluminum was trick and you needed chambers at least serious jetting if not different carbs - I am taking a stab here but the difference in bhp was something like 67 vs. 86.

OK, wait a minute here - memory is kicking in - they may have all been aluminum. The non-Japanese bikes had square tube frames but the Japanese model had a Delta-box. This is the type my brother had:

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/1985-yamaha-rz500-4.jpg

I swiped this:

But the rarest, and trickest version - the RZV500R - was reserved exclusively for the Japanese home market. The RZV500 bristles with special pieces not found on the garden-variety RZ/RD-LC. Most notable is the beautiful, hand-welded aluminum frame, which is not only lighter than the RZ's steel unit, but also noticeably stiffer.

from this site: http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/yamaha/the-grand-prix-fantasy-17083.html?page=2

[Hoofhearted]

Thats Paul's Yam alright. I'm still trying to remember exactly why I didn't care for it. I also didn't care for its looks. To me it looked bulky. And I hated the fairing. It looked sawn off. From behind it had a sort of exoic look with all the pipes. I'll have to give him a call and see what how he's getting on with it. I never even saw a photo of one with a delta box frame. Sounds like it might be better looking. Being a single fan I know when I saw the SRX I knew I had to have one. I'm sorry I sold it.

[Gary]

I loved that bike, but then I loved that GS1100 too so maybe I have a fondness for pigs :ack2:

I've only ridden few bikes I didn't like, but liked some more than others. Rode a Virago once, remember those? What a pos...

[Cornbread Red]

I got a '77 RD400 that was less than 6 months old from a guy who had just crashed it and was giving up 'sickles" forever. I gave 800 bucks for it and the only damage was a dime-sized scuff on the tank and a broken mirror.

I loved that bike, and just couldn't leave it alone. By the time the next happy owner got it, it had..

TZ 750 jugs and pistons
Special watercooled heads, using a Lockhart oil cooler for a radiator
Rearsets
Expansion chambers made by Dave's Kart and Cycle
Custom fairing by Don Vesco (A one-off he did himself)
48mm square-slide Lectrons and custom reeds
Koni's in back, "Cherries" in front, with the then oh-so-cool razor thin fiberglass fender..

That thing howled up mountains like a devil. I used to meet other Cafe guys back then early mornings at the entrance to South Mountain Park in Phoenix. We would race up a twisty road to the top where the TV Towers were. My little RD would out-accelerate everything and anything else that showed up. Coming out of the gravel-strewn hairpins skittering..sliding sideways, and finally hooking up the rear tire, all the while with that screaming two-stroke howl.

Amazingly, I never once dropped that bike. It led a charmed life and 20K+ on it's odo while in my care. That's one I really miss.

Chip

[ÜberDoober]

Expansion chambers made by Dave's Kart and Cycle


Possibly lovingly crafted and meticulously welded by local legendary pipe builder, Byron Boaz? (or maybe Danny Coyle who worked and raced for Daves?)

(Grew up down the street from Jacob's Bultaco and Hargraves Suzuki) :)

[kelstr]

Possibly lovingly crafted and meticulously welded by local legendary pipe builder, Byron Boaz? (or maybe Danny Coyle who worked and raced for Daves?)

(Grew up down the street from Jacob's Bultaco and Hargraves Suzuki) :)
oh yes ---the old Byron Boaz------ill almost bet he was the one to build those RD pipes !

funny story , i was building a Flat Track CRF 450 motor for a guy , ---and when i got through with the motor ----he cam over to pick it up and he had old Byron with him -------( i had not seen him in 35 years )
Byron had built several pipes for this 450 motor and they were going to test and jet at the old 1/8th flat track at speedworld that night .

[kelstr]

I got a '77 RD400 that was less than 6 months old from a guy who had just crashed it and was giving up 'sickles" forever. I gave 800 bucks for it and the only damage was a dime-sized scuff on the tank and a broken mirror.

I loved that bike, and just couldn't leave it alone. By the time the next happy owner got it, it had..

TZ 750 jugs and pistons
Special watercooled heads, using a Lockhart oil cooler for a radiator
Rearsets
Expansion chambers made by Dave's Kart and Cycle
Custom fairing by Don Vesco (A one-off he did himself)
48mm square-slide Lectrons and custom reeds
Koni's in back, "Cherries" in front, with the then oh-so-cool razor thin fiberglass fender..

That thing howled up mountains like a devil. I used to meet other Cafe guys back then early mornings at the entrance to South Mountain Park in Phoenix. We would race up a twisty road to the top where the TV Towers were. My little RD would out-accelerate everything and anything else that showed up. Coming out of the gravel-strewn hairpins skittering..sliding sideways, and finally hooking up the rear tire, all the while with that screaming two-stroke howl.

Amazingly, I never once dropped that bike. It led a charmed life and 20K+ on it's odo while in my care. That's one I really miss.

Chip
man that RD of yours must have screamed !!!
mine was almost all stock ------( Lee Noblits gave me some chambers for it , ---they were bent all to hell and i fixed them ----and i got some 40mm lectrons with a bunch of needles )
and even so that dam thing would acelerate by anything in the mountains going up mount lemon rd in tucson .

i did seize it twice ( you needed to run race fuel or at least 100LL AVE )
to keep it from detonating when racing it when jetted correctly ,

the thing was so fun ------i just loved killing those 750 honda guys , --they never stood a chance !!:cool:

[Cornbread Red]

Yep. I had Mr. Boaz make pipes for both the RD and a '75 Hardly-Davidson/AMF Bowlingball/Aermacchi 2-stroke 175 Enduro that I turned into a Cafe Racer.(whew!)

I bought a bike from Daves Kart & Cycle. The first "real" flattracker I had, which was a Yamaha MX 100 with a Noguchi motor. I raced that in the 125 class at Manzy and the State Fair shorttrack for years, and put lap after lap on it out at Pinnacle Peak/Cave Creek road, my favorite desert riding area. The ersatz practice track is now the Veteran's Cemetary.

Chip

[xtxn]

This was a Canadian model that was used for racing in WERA in 1985. It was very fast and would foul plugs often when ridden in town. One you got out to the countryside I would open it up and she would great. I beat the new FJ1100 in a race with it on the street.

[xtxn]

I just looked through all of my old photo's and I do not have a good picture my RZ350:( I have a few of it and me in action down at Roebling Road Raceway, but no good ones of it in street ware...