Looking at Bikes

[lina]

After a 650CC Triumph years ago...750 Kaw...HD 1350 LowRider Custom..I finally found my fav bike to ride. Bought this 1200 Sporty new after retirement and rode it throughout my 60s and still today at 71. Many 600 mile round trips of fun right with the big boys. It still looks new just like this pic.... View attachment 144206

Love the wheels...

 

[lina]

Pretty happy with my new Triumph bobber. 1200 cc, but handles like a smaller bike.

 

[red devil]

View attachment 144223 Pretty happy with my new Triumph bobber. 1200 cc, but handles like a smaller bike.

The Bonneville 1200 does as well, tried it a month ago, they got the feeling right

 

[ton312]

Well since everybody is rubbing it in I'll just post some pics of my now totally neglected pile of bolts (900 cc ironhead Frankenstein)...built it in 2001 in my loft in the West Loop. Morris Magneto, S&S carb...was much more capable than the frame and chassis would allow. I had a honda shadow as well at the time, had two motorcycles in my living space (it was awesome) ...took me 1.5 years to finish. Rode it almost daily until about 2010, Kid came came along and now I'm scared...

 

[Winston Carter]

Well one thing i have learned is when you ask bike owners what would be a first good bike... well boy like poking a hornets nest! Heck some folks will look across from them and will declare you never being up to owning a harley ever!

But for myself... i think i need to dip my toe a bit... see where this takes me. I hope to buy a used dependable bike to learn on... and learn what i do or dont like... not take such a big depreciation hit.

When i have more info i can buy exactly what i want new.

One cool thing about the sportsters.. i think its the type of bike you can still keep if you decide to go to a bigger touring bike. If im patient... i probably can score a great deal.

But maybe i will just beat up on an old honda... but that sure doesnt excite me!

I grew up riding dirt bikes and smaller street bikes so when I was 18 got my first hog. It was a big step up and back then it was only kick start. About every 3 kicks they kick back. Even good engineer boots only lasted about a year before the shank was tore up.

 

[mygar]

Well since everybody is rubbing it in I'll just post some pics of my now totally neglected pile of bolts (900 cc ironhead Frankenstein)...built it in 2001 in my loft in the West Loop. Morris Magneto, S&S carb...was much more capable than the frame and chassis would allow. I had a honda shadow as well at the time, had two motorcycles in my living space (it was awesome) ...took me 1.5 years to finish. Rode it almost daily until about 2010, Kid came came along and now I'm scared...

Wow now thats a chopper. I would dare say that probably would not be a good starter bike

 

[rolf s]

Well since everybody is rubbing it in I'll just post some pics of my now totally neglected pile of bolts (900 cc ironhead Frankenstein)...built it in 2001 in my loft in the West Loop. Morris Magneto, S&S carb...was much more capable than the frame and chassis would allow. I had a honda shadow as well at the time, had two motorcycles in my living space (it was awesome) ...took me 1.5 years to finish. Rode it almost daily until about 2010, Kid came came along and now I'm scared...

JUst hop back on the horse so to speak. Its a cool bike, but maby a little hardcore

 

[Edward]

The longer the snout, the harder they handle. THat's why Hopper's bike in Easy Rider was much less extreme than Fonda's - Fonda had experience as he rode a chopper himself, if memory serves.

View attachment 144223 Pretty happy with my new Triumph bobber. 1200 cc, but handles like a smaller bike.

Lovely - first of these I've seen in the wild. More bike than I'll ever need (or want to insure at UK prices!), BUT if the silly-big lottery win came in, I'd still be first in the queue! Clever move by Triumph to get into this style as a production bike. The next zeitgeist they need to jump on - though by this point it's more of a bandwagon, really - is the smaller bike. A reissued TigerCub would go down a storm in today's European / UK market, imo.

Well since everybody is rubbing it in I'll just post some pics of my now totally neglected pile of bolts (900 cc ironhead Frankenstein)...built it in 2001 in my loft in the West Loop. Morris Magneto, S&S carb...was much more capable than the frame and chassis would allow. I had a honda shadow as well at the time, had two motorcycles in my living space (it was awesome) ...took me 1.5 years to finish. Rode it almost daily until about 2010, Kid came came along and now I'm scared...

JInkies - looks like you'd need a week's notice to corner that! Impressive stuff. I'm sure that enginecalone would make a nice feature (glass top, lovely coffee table.... ).

 

[ton312]

Actually turns weren't as bad as you'd think. It actually cornered pretty well. The full stop 90 degree turns weren't fun. I'd always wait for the green light. Wasn't terribly easy to get up to speed out of a 90 and in this town, the cabbies and angry city drivers just don't play. If I ever build anything again it'll be a slammed CB750 Cafe racer with rear set pegs and clubmans. And brakes on both sets of wheels!

 

[Winston Carter]

I have ridden plenty of hard tail frames with 10 over tubes and springer front ends, no front brake. Looking back they were death traps. It's a young man's bike. They are uncomfortable, ride hard, steer terrible. The only good thing about them other than looks is the low center of gravity.

 

[ton312]

Agreed. Rigid frames will cripple you given enough time. The handling on a long bike is somewhat blown out of proportion though. Lake shore drive is curvy and I could carve it without noticing the length.

 

[Winston Carter]

Agreed. Rigid frames will cripple you given enough time. The handling on a long bike is somewhat blown out of proportion though. Lake shore drive is curvy and I could carve it without noticing the length.

Like I said the low center of gravity is great. It makes an 500-600 lb. bike feel much lighter. That's the only good thing besides picking up chicks.

 

[Winston Carter]

The name explains everything. "Chopper" You chop up a perfectly fine engineered MC and make a death trap.

 

[lina]

Lovely - first of these I've seen in the wild. More bike than I'll ever need (or want to insure at UK prices!), BUT if the silly-big lottery win came in, I'd still be first in the queue! Clever move by Triumph to get into this style as a production bike. The next zeitgeist they need to jump on - though by this point it's more of a bandwagon, really - is the smaller bike. A reissued TigerCub would go down a storm in today's European / UK market, imo.

Yeah, I actually prefer the Bonnevilles before they all went to 1200, which is more than I really need. Not that it isn't nice to wind it out once in a while with power to spare, but I'd be happy to lose some weight off the bike and go with an 865cc.

 

[Winston Carter]

Yeah, I actually prefer the Bonnevilles before they all went to 1200, which is more than I really need. Not that it isn't nice to wind it out once in a while with power to spare, but I'd be happy to lose some weight off the bike and go with an 865cc.

I will agree. The Bonneville 750 will make a fine first bike. They handle good, have a big enough motor for touring, and they are comfortable. I ruined a 72 Bonneville by putting it in a hard tail with 10 over tubes. Vibrated like crazy. It was a good handling bike before.

 

[lina]

Also, Moto Guzzi is making some nice 750s, which I think would make a fine first bike. I was going to post here a picture of the V7 racer that I had until recently, but the file is too big. Very fun to ride, and you’ll get a lot of comments..

 

[ton312]

Vibrated like crazy

Your rake and trail wasn't right. My bike doesn't vibrate like that at all. If you don't get the rake and trail equation right you will end up with poor handling...that sounds like a chopper with improper neck and fork geometry...or raked triple trees, which are also a bad idea imho...

 

[Winston Carter]

Your rake and trail wasn't right. My bike doesn't vibrate like that at all. If you don't get the rake and trail equation right you will end up with poor handling...that sounds like a chopper with improper neck and fork geometry...or raked triple trees, which are also a bad idea imho...

The vibration wasn't coming from front end it was coming from motor The hard tail frame was after market made for Triumph. It wasn't a weld on. I rubber mounted motor but it still vibrated. Like I said it was a dream before I chopped it.

 

[ton312]

To me this is a very nice rake/trail set up and is stock from Honda. This one having all the plastic BS pulled off and given an eye candy treatment by Cyril Huze:

 

[Colin G]

Well since everybody is rubbing it in I'll just post some pics of my now totally neglected pile of bolts (900 cc ironhead Frankenstein)...built it in 2001 in my loft in the West Loop. Morris Magneto, S&S carb...was much more capable than the frame and chassis would allow. I had a honda shadow as well at the time, had two motorcycles in my living space (it was awesome) ...took me 1.5 years to finish. Rode it almost daily until about 2010, Kid came came along and now I'm scared...

I like old Iron heads.

Here is my ride. A 1975 Norton Commando I rebuilt and customized.