Your favourite motorbike ever? The RBT perpetual motorcycle thread.

My Laverda three-cylinder 750 and then the one litre were sturdy, fast, reliable bikes of the highest quality, every detail carefully considered and attended to by obsessives, overflowing in tactile and kinesthetic pleasures at standstill and on the move (very quickly indeed). They made British crap look like what it was, even in the electrics, where the British bikes were a joke, and the Laverda was, surprisingly, faultless; even the starter worked every time, regardless of how cold and stiff the engine was. Pricey, of course, but not all that much more than a fragile Ducati when you just needed to eyeball them side by side to see the Laverda would outlast the Ducati by several factors. And once you got into the BMW options list, the Laverda was not only much faster, it was cheaper if you closed your eyes and squinted a bit.

The thing about a Harley-Davidson is that it might be a piece of **** when it comes to roadholding and handling and ergonomics and just about everything else that defines a quality bike, a sort of a sick joke against Japanese or German bikes (and some Italian bikes, like my Laverda), but it least it runs when you want it to run which you can't say for British or most Italian motorbikes. The Harley sells because the people who want it do want it, not because they don't know any better, but because they're more interested in the image than in the engineering.

Andre Jute

I had 5, always reliable smooth running...super.


http://goo.gl/n5Qb9k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z4deVlmnQc

On Wednesday, June 25, 2014 4:31:21 PM UTC-7, Andre Jute wrote:

My Laverda three-cylinder 750 and then the one litre were sturdy, fast, reliable bikes of the highest quality, every detail carefully considered and attended to by obsessives,


I like that in a machine.

... overflowing in tactile and kinesthetic pleasures at standstill and on the move (very quickly indeed). They made British crap look like what it was,


Hey!

Okay, different attributes weigh differently in different
applications. My application was dirt flat track racing -
in particular TT courses (of which there were many in the
US Pacific NW when I was racing), and there the Triumph /
Norton / BSA _kicked ass_, with the best powerband
characteristics for TT courses, which are typically ~short
(i.e. not more than ~half-mile) ~ovals with at least one
right-hand turn for some twisty action - making a broader
powerband very desirable. In particular, the Triumph
Bonneville dominated (probably in part because its popularity
meant availability and experience). There were a number of
*master* engine builders in the region that could make the
Bonneville really shine (my babysitter's husband being one
of them).

Though not built by one of the Pac NW guys (AFAIK), but surely
influenced by them, here's the representative paradigm:

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/asp/...ike.asp?id=107

even in the electrics, where the British bikes were a joke, and the Laverda was, surprisingly, faultless; even the starter worked every time, regardless of how cold and stiff the engine was. Pricey, of course, but not all that much more than a fragile Ducati when you just needed to eyeball them side by side to see the Laverda would outlast the Ducati by several factors. And once you got into the BMW options list, the Laverda was not only much faster, it was cheaper if you closed your eyes and squinted a bit.


Boy, the Laverda looks similar to the British twins. I'll take
your word for its superiority for your application.



The thing about a Harley-Davidson is that it might be a piece of **** when it comes to roadholding and handling and ergonomics and just about everything else that defines a quality bike, a sort of a sick joke against Japanese or German bikes (and some Italian bikes, like my Laverda), but it least it runs when you want it to run which you can't say for British or most Italian motorbikes. The Harley sells because the people who want it do want it, not because they don't know any better, but because they're more interested in the image than in the engineering.


Hogs are what they are, and it's mostly image by now. They suck
performance-wise, IMO - except for the XR750, popularized by e.g.
Evel Kneivel, their true fame is total domination of the mile and
half-mile dirt ovals of the AMA Grand National racing series -
producing copious power skimming and sliding across the dirt
while leaned way over - bike (and rider) going close to 100 mph.

A note about those big oval dirt tracks which were the mainstay
of the Grand National series: The British bikes could not be
made to produce the raw horsepower to compete with the XR750's,
and the Yamaha's powerband was too narrow and the engine too
fragile when pumped up to produce competitive peak horsepower.
So in an effort to compete, Yamaha put a freaking 4-cylinder
2-stroke 750cc _road racing_ engine in a dirt track frame,
set their rider on it and sent him out on the dirt oval, where
he conquered the Hogs and purportedly said something to the
effect that "they don't pay me enough to ride that thing".

.... Oh, yeah - there it is:

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/dontpaymeenuff.htm

The AMA banned the bike almost immediately anyway, and the
Hogs resumed their domination.

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/asp/...assjan_600.jpg

http://cyrilhuzeblog.com/wp-content/.../TomFritz1.jpg

Rob Muzzy was there at the Indy Mile when Roberts debuted
the TZ750 flattracker, and told us about it back at the
shop when he got home. Just hearing the story was one of
the more memorably awesome experiences of the period for
me.

So anyway, my personal favorite is the Triumph Bonneville
in Trackmaster frame (no lights, brakes optional, wheelies
allowed :-)

Dan wrote: "...brakes optional"

!!! You'll set Krygo off again.

Andre Jute

http://goo.gl/ukXN6k

On Thursday, June 26, 2014 8:30:43 AM UTC-4, wrote:
http://goo.gl/ukXN6k

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvdG1qNEX30

On Thursday, June 26, 2014 6:27:52 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Thursday, June 26, 2014 8:30:43 AM UTC-4, wrote:

http://goo.gl/ukXN6k



HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvdG1qNEX30

OO OO OO OO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRbiphwTkqw

000 000 000 0000000000


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRbiphwTkqw


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2blVgg5NxQ

Not my fave or anything like that, but...

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152235820611973&set=pcb.101522358 31941973&type=1&theater