Motorbikes

You look slower than a Goldwing.

Don’t know. I see what you mean, though. BMW have never been shy to lay cylinders down on their sides, though.

Is it your bike?
How many cylinders ?

Not my bike. It’s a transverse inline 6. It’s a far more capable bike than the Goldwing in every aspect. More power and torque, and a lighter weight. Inline 6 engines are naturally balanced, and will be smoother that a boxer 6. The amount of rotating mass around the longitudinal axis of the bike is also less, as the crankshaft and gearbox are all transverse, leading to less torque-lean (not sure if that is noticeable on the heavy and under-powered Goldwing, though). It takes luggage and a rear seat with back-rest, just like a Goldwing. Hondas are well-made bikes, but honestly, the Goldwing is a relic.

You’re starting to make them sound appealing.

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A boxer 6 has more character, though (and a four more), but anything with more than 2 is boring really :wink:

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I would have loved to own the 750SFC, and the Ducati 750SS Desmo was also rather desireable!

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potato, potato, potato, potato…

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Belongs to a friend of mine who asked for help with the photography. The photograph was used on a cover of a dirt bikes magazine . A prototype Honda which was raced a few times and was supposed to be destroyed after that since the various makers kept secret all their new developments. Instead, the bike was stored for fifty years in a warehouse in Japan. My friend (who also used to race in early days) bought it in an auction, had it shipped to the US and took over two years to fully restore it.

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Turnip

This is as similar as I can find to the 1957 M100 Panther I owned for 20 years from 1987, I had photos but no idea where they are now, mine had lost its primary case but someone had made a guard that ran along the top run of the primary chain to get it through the MOT (or maybe just to catch the oil). It changed how I enjoyed bikes as I found more pleasure in riding the Panther than in most of the faster bikes I’d had.

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Had all kinds, many brands, types,one and two up. As far as comfortable two up sporty tourers go this is hard to beat.

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We have the same tastes! :slight_smile:

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My last 3 bikes:

BMW F800ST (stock photo, but identical to my bike)

The BMW was quite a nice bike to ride, but as a twin it had just too many vibrations for it to be completely comfortable on a long ride.

Honda VFR 800 (my bike fully loaded on a tour of the Scottish highlands and islands)

The VFR 800 was a fantastic all rounder and most of my touring (nothing too adventurous) was done on this bike.

and my current and favourite of all of my bikes:

Honda VFR 1200 DCT (stock photo, but identical to my bike)

The VFR 1200 is very often criticized for being too heavy and for having a small petrol (gas) tank for touring. I have the Mk II (post 2013) which has a slightly larger tank, but it’s still not huge. However, the bike has more than enough torque and power, handles amazingly well for its weight, and the paddle shift gear changes of the DCT model are astonishingly fast and smooth. I thought I would hate them, but those feelings disappeared as soon as I first rode the bike.

Before the Jota, all I owned were older BSAs. I started my biking on a plunger framed 1953 A10 with a Watsonian sports chair, bought for £10 from a good friend. After passing my test on it I bought a 1963 A65 Star Twin, and spent 6 months stripping, rebuilding and restoring the Gold Flash combination which I then foolishly sold for £350!

I never really got on with the A65, so that soon went to be replaced by a Rocket 3, on which I almost killed myself when discovering the brakes were no match for the performance! Having written off the BSA, I used the insurance payout as the deposit on the Jota, which signified the end of my British bike era! Unfortunately my photos from the 70s have gone missing, so I can’t post any of the BSAs.

The only other bike I would have really liked to own was a Rocket Gold Star. The friend from whom I bought my A10 has owned one for 40 years, and it’s a beauty - fully restored, original RRT2 box, full café racer spec., no doubt it will eventually find its way into a museum. Interestingly enough he was a Ducati owner for many years (750GT, followed by 900SS Desmo). Perhaps there was something in the BSA DNA that connected with the Italian marques (another BSA owner friend ended up with a Guzzi Le Mans).

I am slower than a Goldwing…

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Now that’s a nice example of a good old style bike.
Shame about the squatting position of the photographer,(reflected in the tank)

An A10 (not mine) got me into bikes. My first was an exquisitely anaemic Honda CJ250T, then a CB400F on which a friend nearly killed himself. Moving East I got myself a £50 MZ250 - the model before the fat all-horizontal fins heads. It took me all round Europe with regular regulator changes and some top end work not aided by the Haynes manual getting the barrel torque settings wrong.

Following those heady days, including the loan of a Ducati 750SS which totally wowed me while catching me out on the occasional left turn at junctions, I bought my first new bike: a Meriden Bonneville 750 which was the first bike I really fell in love with and also took me all over Europe with just a small oil pump problem (common fault) just once.

That was followed (with bracket for the SF750 loan) by a series of Harleys - Sportster 1200 in bright orange with more Live to Ride tat in kg than the bike weighted itself (almost), a twin cam Low Rider, then two Road Kings on which I did over 80K miles, a Heritage Softail and then the new type Heritage which handles better than any of its predecessors and has smart locking panniers that are brilliant at letting water in and keeping it in…

If I ever get a garage again and waaaay too drunk, I’ll be on eBay getting another Bonnie, and a750SS and a SF750…

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Some more old pics…

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I still can’t find my BSA photos, but these are very similar to the ones I owned.

image image image

I feel quite nostalgic, but quite sad when it hits me that I’d have difficulty even starting these babies!

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WOW … what iconic bikes :sunglasses: