Show Me Your Ride!

[laotou]

Laotou:
Are those old Dneprs (K-750, M72), or are they CJ750s?
Freakin' sweet either way...

Andrew,
The green bike is a very early Chang Jiang 750, so I guess you could say it is a little of both. you can read more about this bke Here. Thats me at the table in the back ground. I have seen a lot of China from the side car of that bike!

The gray solo is a former Peoples Liberation Army bike. The frame is anyway, the rest of it is PLA NOS parts. Its a brand new old bike Right now its somwhere between LA and Denver on its way home.
And I thought the Kilt Jones was bad!

[Dreadbelly]

My first street legal bike was a Honda CBR 600. I learned to ride on a bike where you had to reach down and shift gears with a screwdriver jammed in to the place where the foot peg was.

I am aware of the triples only through reputation and Hunter S. Thompson, but that isn't to say I haven't rode some scary beasts at times. My last motorcycle was a Kawasaki by name and engine only. It wasn't street legal, and was basically a stripped down and naked Ninja. Nitro injector. Anything not needed was chopped off for speed. Most of the faring and the body was gone too. It would do zero to 60 in about 3 seconds. I actually rode cross country once or twice on this very beast, going from Washington state to South Carolina, and did it once in less than 3 days. It had lights, but I could yank them off if I had to. This bike died tragically. Somebody plowed through a red light doing about 60 miles per hour. And broad sided me. Haven't had the money or the means to buy another bike since. And my gimpy leg, I don't know if I could hold a bike up any more. I did have a purple Honda motorscooter for a while. Also had a Jawa 125, and while you may laugh, it was a SWEET ride. Comfortable seat, nice bars, and it rode smooth as silk. Hardly any vibration. I have a body made for cafe racers. I am short and squat and can hunker over the gas tank with out a lot of pain or discomfort, like a lot of tall guys seem to have.

I walk with a cane for a reason.

I'd love to get a sidecar ride. Like a Ural. With three wheel drive.

Of course, my heart still pines for a Ducati. Or a Vincent Black Shadow. HST said it was better to be shot out of a cannon than be squeezed out of a tube.

[Andrew Green]

Vincent Black Shadow...
is there any bike more coveted among the collector crowd? Beatiful piece of work.
If you want a sidecar rig with 2WD (rear and sidecar wheel driven)... don't get a Ural, as I have read (from people who own, ride and love Ruskie iron) that they aren't streetable in that fashion... more or less tries to shoot you in a straight line...differential is locked. The Dneprs on the other hand that DO have 2WD option (largely in military models like MB650, or the civilian MT16) have a limited slip style diff that will transfer to the slipping wheel when needed, good for about any weather, and even some interesting off road situations. I THINK that you can engage/disengage it at will too. Plus the bikes were semi-automatic clutch after the MT9, which is interesting.
However, if you just want a sidecar rig, a Ural is the more reliable of them in the modern sense.

I could talk bikes until the sun goes down.

I've been hit riding once, it wasn't very serious, and I am glad for that. It was still quite hair raising. I can't imagine what it would be like to get plowed by someone. I think I would kill the car driver if I was able to get up.

[ccga3359]

Vincent Black Shadow...
is there any bike more coveted among the collector crowd?

Yes, the Vincent Black Lightning.

[bunchdescendant]

Yes, the Vincent Black Lightning.

How about SoCal's very own Crocker? I've only seen 1 in all my years. They were/are fearsome machines!

BTW, I had a Mach IV kawi- Tony Nicosia (sp?) of Hot Bike Engineering fame built it up so much (130 hp+ and 8000 r's+) that I scared myself on a regular basis. I wish I had that rocket back....

Ray

[Dreadbelly]

Vincent Black Shadow...
is there any bike more coveted among the collector crowd? Beatiful piece of work.
If you want a sidecar rig with 2WD (rear and sidecar wheel driven)... don't get a Ural, as I have read (from people who own, ride and love Ruskie iron) that they aren't streetable in that fashion... more or less tries to shoot you in a straight line...differential is locked. The Dneprs on the other hand that DO have 2WD option (largely in military models like MB650, or the civilian MT16) have a limited slip style diff that will transfer to the slipping wheel when needed, good for about any weather, and even some interesting off road situations. I THINK that you can engage/disengage it at will too. Plus the bikes were semi-automatic clutch after the MT9, which is interesting.
However, if you just want a sidecar rig, a Ural is the more reliable of them in the modern sense.

I could talk bikes until the sun goes down.

I've been hit riding once, it wasn't very serious, and I am glad for that. It was still quite hair raising. I can't imagine what it would be like to get plowed by someone. I think I would kill the car driver if I was able to get up.

The Urals go from one wheel to two wheel drive only when needed, like in the snow, ice, and off road. The older Urals from a few years ago were bad about the 2 wheel drive problems, the newer ones, with bigger and better engines, and many improvements, are considerably better.

But you are right. You shouldn't go down a paved road with 2wd engaged.

I really love Urals. They look nice, and actually have proper front forks for a sidecar rig. That, and the military models still have the machine gun mounts as well as a heavier sidecar made out of solid steel.

[Andrew Green]

I have actually never heard of that one.
Was it the Shadow's predecessor?

[ccga3359]

I have actually never heard of that one.
Was it the Shadow's predecessor?

Stripped down Shadow, very rare. Race ready, 125mph in 1948.

[AL-58]

Stripped down Shadow, very rare. Race ready, 125mph in 1948.

Rollie Free. Someone played him in Worlds Fastest Indian as a minor part also (little bit of Trivia).

I've seen a few Vincents, mostly Rapides, some Black Shadows and Black Princes also. The one bike thats had me drooling when I seen it though was an Ariel Square Four fitted with a Steib bullet sidecar, it was just gorgeous and still very useable.

Al

[Dreadbelly]

I was in the California redwoods, in those lovely S curves, somewhere around the pacific coast highway. I had the bike open. I don't know how fast for sure.

I hit a leaf or some gravel. I don't know what happened, but I laid the bike down at or near triple digit speed.

Leathers and helmets save lives! And skin!