OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics Custom Bike ...

This might be interesting to ride
Ian

It would be a bit of a slug using the old Sludgey Grey Holden motor, have to give them credit for effort though

What good is all that low end pulling power on a motor bike??

For riding twisty roads - bags of bottom end torque makes the ride a lot more fun. It's the main reason I love my current ride [Moto Guzzi California 1100i].

Sidecar outfits are another experience again, particularly on dirt roads - and I speak as one who rode one, as my only bike for ~8 years.
I've seen Russian Ural outfits with 1600cc Volkswagen engines in them, but the one that took the cake was a unit I only saw in photos, as it was built and owned by a bloke in WA.

That was the 'Toadmobile', based on a Honda Goldwing frame and a Datsun diff and transmission IIRC, hooked up to a Leyland 4.4L alloy V8!


Found a pic of that Ural/VW;

G'day all
I totally agree with Gadge on this.

Yes, the first machine is a 'show pony'.
But Gadge describes the desirability of bottom end torque for bikers.

My dream bike would be a Moto Guzzi Californian.
It is a Harley that had a high-school education ...

Cheers
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Jack

Yep, that low end grunt really comes into its own when exiting low speed corners.

Like on a 'Tour de Tas' I went on, back in 2008. The recipe was 5 blokes, 5 bikes [my Guzzi and an 850T4, a Suzuki GSX1100, a Triumph 900 Sprint, and a BMW R1200S] and ferry bookings 10 days apart. No advance accommodation bookings, except for teeing up to camp the first night at Boat Harbour, at the house of a mate of one of us.

It was a pearler of a trip, and I noticed that in the really tight twisties, like the roads out of Strahan and Queenstown, I was enjoying the ride a lot more than the sports bike riders!

To the point where, when a local asked one of us about his bike, the R1200S, Harps just told him 'it's a 25 year old's bike, with a 50 year old rider'!

The TdT Guzzi contingent at Devonport; my Cali on left, Tommy's 850T4 on right, with Tommy wearing the Akubra.

Hi Gadge, a few years ago I fitted a sidecar to an Eldorado for a mate of mine, what a cracker of a machine it was it looked so classic, but the brakes were near non existant and it was very slow on the road but it cruised well with the Enfields at about 80kph. It was a long slow trip to Broken Hill

G'day Norm,

My outfit was/is a SOHC Honda 750 Four, with a DJP chair. It hasn't been in rego for years, but still takes up room in my garage. I picked it up cheap back in 1986, because the owner had no clue how to set up the chair alignment - but I had a few chair pilot mates, who could point me in the right direction.

The brakes on that weren't all that flash either; the standard K2 750/4 drum rear and single stainless steel disc front setup. Did the job, though.

Might get around to putting it back on the road on club permit some day, but it would need a fair bit of time, and some coin, put into it. I even have a leading link front end sitting there too...

The outfit in its heyday [pic taken by a mate with my camera, so composition isn't the greatest];

I just paid the reg on my DOHC Honda the other day, only rode it once in the last 12 months, no time because of all these mowers

G'day Gadge and Norm
Well, the bicycle in the background (in similar colours) is a nice touch.
And Fidel Castro in the sidecar is a nice touch too.

Here is a photo of Syd Bowditch (of Scott Bonnar Fame) on a Scott:


Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94854784@N06/

Cheers
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Jack

'Fidel Castro' That bloke is actually named Ned Cooper!
Ahh, the Scott 'Flying Squirrel' - an early one, too, going by the acetylene lighting and fuel tank position.
A 600cc water cooled 2-stroke twin, they were known for the 'marvellous yowling sound' of their exhaust note.

[video][/video]

Brilliant Gadge !!!
The video was excellent.

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Jack

p.s. Mum's the word on 'Ned Cooper'.
Brilliant disguise.

I actually know a bloke down my way who owns a Scott Flying Squirrel, and I've seen it.

A real character; owns 'classier' bikes, but his everywhere ride is an ancient and extremely ratty looking Matchless 500.
A pic pinched from www.austouring.com;



I saw it win a 'rat bike' award in 1982; that pic is from 2006...