18-04-2011, 11:16 AM
Very interested to read about that Barton Bike Night, I must try to participate in one this season ! Will most likely plod up on my Velo Viper !
Interesting comments on the Harley thing, I've been there and done that etc. Was actually well below the normal age of introduction to Harleys and will admit to falling for the hype, well, to some extent anyway. Started with the ubiquitous 883 Sportster, slow, heavy, vibratory and of vague handling ! Moved on to an Electraglide Sport, a contradiction in terms if ever there was one ! Again, slow, VERY heavy, but actually better handling than the Sportster ! However, the quality was woeful, and I had several bad problems with it. The dealer was a waste of space so I ended up rectifying the 'as delivered' problems myself. To resolve the lack of power I installed a cam, carb, exhausts and modified ignition. These mods woke it up enough to make it ok on long trips but I was still underwhelmed with the lack of torque which I had expected to be impressed with. Did some fairly serious miles on it though, including several Euro trips, one of which was to visit a girl friend in Paris. She was actually very impressed and greatly enjoyed being wafted around that wonderful city for a week or so.
Parisian cafe owners loved it, for whenever it was parked outside a place it would attract attention and custom. It's that hype and image thing again.
Wasn't sad to see it go though, to be honest I'd rather have my MZ TS250 Supa 5 ! Not glamorous maybe but more honest and of good design.
The majority of modern machines leave me cold. I just walk straight past all the Jap stuff excepting a few notable examples, like the Yamaha MT-01, I really like that. If I were to own a modern it would be either Italian or BMW or possibly KTM.
My total passion is Ducati though, in particular the bevel twins and singles. Have been completely besotted with them since first seeing them as a new motorcyclist in the late seventies. I'm fortunate to own several examples the pride of which is my 1975 750 Sport. Just one of the most evocative looking bikes ever to turn a wheel.
Looking forward to some good biking miles this year.
Interesting comments on the Harley thing, I've been there and done that etc. Was actually well below the normal age of introduction to Harleys and will admit to falling for the hype, well, to some extent anyway. Started with the ubiquitous 883 Sportster, slow, heavy, vibratory and of vague handling ! Moved on to an Electraglide Sport, a contradiction in terms if ever there was one ! Again, slow, VERY heavy, but actually better handling than the Sportster ! However, the quality was woeful, and I had several bad problems with it. The dealer was a waste of space so I ended up rectifying the 'as delivered' problems myself. To resolve the lack of power I installed a cam, carb, exhausts and modified ignition. These mods woke it up enough to make it ok on long trips but I was still underwhelmed with the lack of torque which I had expected to be impressed with. Did some fairly serious miles on it though, including several Euro trips, one of which was to visit a girl friend in Paris. She was actually very impressed and greatly enjoyed being wafted around that wonderful city for a week or so.
Parisian cafe owners loved it, for whenever it was parked outside a place it would attract attention and custom. It's that hype and image thing again.
Wasn't sad to see it go though, to be honest I'd rather have my MZ TS250 Supa 5 ! Not glamorous maybe but more honest and of good design.
The majority of modern machines leave me cold. I just walk straight past all the Jap stuff excepting a few notable examples, like the Yamaha MT-01, I really like that. If I were to own a modern it would be either Italian or BMW or possibly KTM.
My total passion is Ducati though, in particular the bevel twins and singles. Have been completely besotted with them since first seeing them as a new motorcyclist in the late seventies. I'm fortunate to own several examples the pride of which is my 1975 750 Sport. Just one of the most evocative looking bikes ever to turn a wheel.
Looking forward to some good biking miles this year.
