The Unofficial Motorcycle Thread!

[Ex-Calif]

would have increased their compliance budget on this stuff

Or lawsuit fund whichever is statistically cheaper - LOL...

 

[RedForeman]

What puzzles me is two things. One, the Euro market is their home, with emission standards a decade or more ahead of anything in the USA. Two, I've worked for a German company before. Being inattentive to details, or fudging on engineering, is culturally objectionable to them. It was probably the outsource guy from France or the UK that did it.

 

[DonTom]

Today, I decided to visit the Harley shop here in Odessa, TX. It's only one mile from this RV park and I kept on passing it on the highway--until today, when I decided to walk in. It's a large shop with lots of Harleys. Here are some photos of some of the Harleys at Legacy Harley-Davidson, 12100 West Highway 80E, Odessa, TX 79765. I will post the description and the bike in one message each over the next few posts:

-Don- 79765

 

[DonTom]

 

[DonTom]

Now for the more modern bikes, (from only 95 years ago, i.e. , less than a hundred years):

 

[DonTom]

A couple of old twins (don't know the year) and a closeup of one of the year 1915 bike's heads:

(see above photos also in the last few previous messages):



-Don- 79765

 

[Ex-Calif]

Pretty cool.

I've posted before but anytime I am in shouting distance of Warwick, OK I stop at the Seaba Station motorcycle museum there - it's really cool.

seaba station motorcycle museum - Google Search

 

[Krazeehorse33]

If you guys ever get close to my part of the world (43326) stop in at Brim's and look at Tom's collection. This is just part of it. Last week he sold 2 bikes to Mike Wolf (of Picker's TV show).

 

[RedForeman]

If you guys ever get close to my part of the world (43326) stop in at Brim's and look at Tom's collection. This is just part of it. Last week he sold 2 bikes to Mike Wolf (of Picker's TV show).

Wheels Through Time in Maggie Valley NC and The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham AL are two more worthy vintage motorcycle stops of this nature.

I've been to the former twice. Everything in the place runs, and most times the owner is around starting up some of the antiques for a demonstration. I have not made it to Barber yet, but heard great things from friends who have. More racing oriented exhibits, which might be obvious from the name and location.

 

[Old_Crow]

Wheels Through Time in Maggie Valley NC and The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham AL are two more worthy vintage motorcycle stops of this nature.

I've been to the former twice. Everything in the place runs, and most times the owner is around starting up some of the antiques for a demonstration. I have not made it to Barber yet, but heard great things from friends who have. More racing oriented exhibits, which might be obvious from the name and location.

I watch the YouTube channel called Bikes and Beards. The owner of the channel is good friends with Dale's son, who now runs Wheels Through Time. He's filmed several episodes at the museum, including the latest one where he bought the famous Road Dog motorcycle at an auction. Had it shipped to WTT, where they unboxed it, got it running and actually road the thing. Looked like it was a handful.

 

[RedForeman]

I watch the YouTube channel called Bikes and Beards. The owner of the channel is good friends with Dale's son, who now runs Wheels Through Time. He's filmed several episodes at the museum, including the latest one where he bought the famous Road Dog motorcycle at an auction. Had it shipped to WTT, where they unboxed it, got it running and actually road the thing. Looked like it was a handful.

I'd never heard of Road Dog or the youtube channel. Truly a leap of faith moment to ride that thing. Reminds me of the first ride on my chopper with the hand shift and suicide clutch. You know everything is working, you understand how it works, yet your mind is screaming how sketchy and wrong it seems until you pick your feet up and go. Then it's no big deal LOL.

 

[Old_Crow]

I'd never heard of Road Dog or the youtube channel. Truly a leap of faith moment to ride that thing. Reminds me of the first ride on my chopper with the hand shift and suicide clutch. You know everything is working, you understand how it works, yet your mind is screaming how sketchy and wrong it seems until you pick your feet up and go. Then it's no big deal LOL.


View attachment 168802

My first ride on a chopped bike was a '67 Triumph. Not a foot clutch, but the first time I'd ridden a right shift bike (not to mention 10" over front end, hard tail rear). The first stop sign I came to was a fun experience.
Later on, when I built my Sporty, I had the choice to make it shift on either side. I chose to make it a right shift bike because Lynn's '72 was a right shift. Thought it would avoid confusion.

 

[RedForeman]

My first ride on a chopped bike was a '67 Triumph. Not a foot clutch, but the first time I'd ridden a right shift bike (not to mention 10" over front end, hard tail rear). The first stop sign I came to was a fun experience.
Later on, when I built my Sporty, I had the choice to make it shift on either side. I chose to make it a right shift bike because Lynn's '72 was a right shift. Thought it would avoid confusion.

I had a '72 HD/AMF/Aermacchi 350SS with the right side shift and left side kickstart. If you weren't used to it, a panic stop could get you hurt LOL. Rode that one about a year before the parts bike I got with it ran out of spare clutch plates.

That was about the same time a '76 KX400 2-stroke landed in my possession, along with even more better opportunities to hurt myself. I don't remember what ever became of either of those bikes. Sort of that "bad decisions == good times" part of my life. Details are a bit foggy LOL.

 

[xrated]

Wheels Through Time in Maggie Valley NC and The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham AL are two more worthy vintage motorcycle stops of this nature.

I've been to the former twice. Everything in the place runs, and most times the owner is around starting up some of the antiques for a demonstration. I have not made it to Barber yet, but heard great things from friends who have. More racing oriented exhibits, which might be obvious from the name and location.

If and or when, you ever get anywhere around Birmingham/Leeds, Alabama, a visit to the Barber Motorsports Park is in order.....you will thank me later. The original museum, built around 2003 was in the neighborhood of 5 stories and 275,000 sq. ft. Back around 2015 or 2016, they did an expansion and is still 5 stories/levels, but now it is well over 600,000 sq. ft. There are normally around 1200 motorcycles, with some race cars too, on display at any given time. They also have a 5000 sq. ft. total restoration area in the basement. There is every brand ever made, and everything from the oldest motorcycle in the world to some of the most modern ones. It is simply a place to behold, and so clean that you could eat from the floor.

The property is approx. 800 acres total, and the racetrack facility, which is world class in and of itself, sits in the middle of the property. It's like someone dropped a racetrack in the middle of one of the most beautiful parks you've ever seen in your life.....statues, ornamental sculptures, literally 100s of thousands of flowers/shrubs/trees. I used to work for a company that does motorcycle track days and one of our venues was BMP....several times a year. The road course is 2.8 miles around it with lots of elevation changes, blind corner entries, technical sections, and a couple of straightaways.....both a beautiful track and a challenging one. Over the course of the years going there and riding and working as an Instructor/Coach, I've put over 10,000 miles on that one track.....on my race bike. I'm retired from doing that now, but I have many, many beautiful memories from BMP.

 

[jymbee]

I know squat about such things but a friend of mine just posted a bike he put up for sale on FB and thought it sounded like an interesting machine:

 

[Krazeehorse33]

 

[DonTom]

"Love is that feeling you get when you like something as much as your motorcycle."
- Hunter S. Thompson

 

[DonTom]

I would call this a very interesting BMW R75/5.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[RedForeman]

I would call this a very interesting BMW R75/5.

-Don- Reno, NV

I'd rather have it without the fake engine parts that look like 8-bit video game graphics. The appeal of these old bikes is the mechanical nature of them. If you're gonna use electric power, just do it without the fluff.

Makes me wonder if it has a speaker in it to make vroom-vroom noises like I saw on an EV Dodge Challenger concept video? LOL.

 

[DonTom]

I'd rather have it without the fake engine parts that look like 8-bit video game graphics. The appeal of these old bikes is the mechanical nature of them. If you're gonna use electric power, just do it without the fluff.

Makes me wonder if it has a speaker in it to make vroom-vroom noises like I saw on an EV Dodge Challenger concept video? LOL.

Yeah, I agree. It looks interesting to me, but not very BMW R75/5. Most of the BMW stuff has been removed and changed to modern stuff. What R75/5 has dual disc front brakes, etc?

But BMWs never had much of a vroom-vroom sound, so quiet would be fine.

Not much range with a 10 KWH battery. While it says it has a 150 km (93 mile) range, I would expect 7 miles per KWH which means a 70-mile range with average mixed riding use in the real world. About half that in EV cars, around 3.5 miles per KWH. And only has level one charging, takes way too long to charge to be practical for a road trip at the 1.8 KW charge rate.

Not something I would want, for other than looking at and showing off. For riding electric, I would prefer my Energica Experia or my Zero DSR/X for an electric for many reasons.


-Don- Reno, NV