Motorcycle Challenged - (help please)

[oggbashan]

And I was riding Ariels and BSAs before he was born and borrowing more exotic machinery from friends.

Three borrowed machines stand out:

A Vincent Black Shadow

A Brough Superior SS100

A Scott racing two-stroke from 1936.

Og

 

[kendo1]

A mate of mine had a Vincent. Very clean and original. I always thought the engine looked small considering the cc.

 

[ElizabethWest]

You wanna go to little Sturgis? Fair warning........ You might be asked to do things like show strangers your boobies

Wouldn't be the first time...

 

[Wildcard Ky]

Wouldn't be the first time...

Oh yeah? I'll have to make a mental note of that.......................

 

[Belegon]

Not as old as some.

I was riding my AJS when you were still in primary school. Then on to a Norton Dominator and a Triumph Thunderbird. Good old British oil-leakers. I wonder why they all folded? (Insert emoticon here)

oggbashan: And I was riding Ariels and BSAs before he was born and borrowing more exotic machinery from friends.


...which reminds me to remember that we all think we reinvented the wheel when we actually pinched it from a book our fathers or older brothers left out...

 

[The_old_man]

This is the bike my father rode. I liked something smaller, like an Indian Scout.

 

[oggbashan]

My father was reprimanded in 1922, when he was a telegram boy, for riding his Post Office motorcycle up the steps of St Paul's Cathedral to deliver a telegram to the Dean.

Og

 

[R. Richard]

And I was riding Ariels and BSAs before he was born and borrowing more exotic machinery from friends.

Three borrowed machines stand out:

A Vincent Black Shadow

A Brough Superior SS100

A Scott racing two-stroke from 1936.

Og

I have ridden a few Vincents. I loved the power and the acceleration; I hated the handling. The frame seemed to twist badly in any sort of hard corner.

 

[Wildcard Ky]

Here's what I ride. This isn't a picture of my exact bike, but it's a picture of the make/model. Mine is the same color as this.

V65 magna

It's an awesome bike. It was considered the first true factory muscle bike ever made. It went 0-60 mph in 2.2 seconds, and was the first production bike to ever do a 10 second 1/4 mile. When it first came out, one writer described it as Hondas 600 pound sledgehammer.

All of that power comes from a shaft driven 1100 cc engine. It's a very quiet bike, but the lack of noise belies the power behind it.

 

[Rhys]

'Italian motorcycles' covers too many types.

What make of Italian motorcycle? Laverda, Moto-Guzzi?

Og

Anything... actually I'm in a quandry on where to start.

 

[Alex De Kok]

Gotta join in on this, as the ageing one-time owner of a 1954 Triumph Tiger 100! Scatterer of tappet-covers the length of the A1. Most spectacular moment - when the stud in the end of the crankshaft which locked the primary drive sprocket fell out! Into the chain case! At about 70mph! A chunk of alloy primary drive chain casing four or so inches across was punched out as the stud was whipped round by the chain to the narrow point above the clutch. It went behind my leg, and in front of my brother's. He was riding pillion. I think it would have amputated, had it hit one of us. The chain didn't snap, but there were four or five links which were just side plates and rivets. The rollers had disintegrated. I rode it home, luckily it was only about a mile from home when it happened.

Other major memory of that bike - Visiting the Isle of Man TT in 1961. The other guys made me ride at the back of the group, as 'the frame flexes so much it's scaring us'!

Alex

 

[Scrofulus Scriv]

I built choppers for a living while I was in college and I've been to Sturgis twice that I can remember--and a few times I was too stoned to be sure about.

Did you just want general info or something specific

 

[Despina]

My father was reprimanded in 1922, when he was a telegram boy, for riding his Post Office motorcycle up the steps of St Paul's Cathedral to deliver a telegram to the Dean.

Og

That's awesome!

 

[elbiscayne]

some things to keep in mind

from personal experience: a biker going to/from sturgis is usually loaded down with camping gear; unless he stays with friends or in a hotel; so there won't be room for you on the bike. A possible exception to this would be if he was riding a full dresser (which in my opinion is like putting wheels on a condo). I think most guys would look at the girl, look at the their gear, look at the girl, look at their gear, and leave the girl in their dust. Rest stops on the interstate is not a real good setting...if I'm going to stop, it will be for beer or gas; not to stretch. After a long ride a biker is not very clean...bugs, road kill, sun and wind have had their way with him, so don't describe him a a bronzed greek god. A biker is not easily impressed beyond what a man can do with own two hands, or by the power of nature. A biker does not appreciate high maintenance in machines or people.

I hope this is of some help.

 

[McKenna]

If anyone is interested to find out how the biker story turned out, it just posted:



Thursday's Child
(Dance of Days Ch. 4)



Thanks again for all your help with background and research!