Interesting motorcycles, not XS650

[Adamc]

Glad you liked that one @Raymond
Ariel Bikes are part of the ARIEL Motor company: https://www.arielmotor.co.uk/ariel-vehicles
Some really mad performance orientated vehicles
Ads.

 

[Raymond]

Glad you liked that one @Raymond

Yes, @Adamc Ariel make some impressive vehicles - I had a look over an Ariel Atom car at Carter Bar earlier this year, totally bonkers. Owner had a front number plate smaller than a box of matches.

But I wouldn't actually want something like that. Make sense?

 

[Mailman]

View attachment 231217

I always liked the Laverda story. The company’s roots go back to 1873, when they began to design and sell agricultural engines. After WW2 the Italian economy was in shambles and in need of basic transportation. So, much like Soichiro Honda did in Japan, the grandson of the company’s founder ( Francesco Laverda ) designed a very basic 75cc , inexpensive motorcycle. To promote sales, they began entering races and did very well against other established brands such as Moto Guzzi. Over the next two decades they kept improving and expanding their line up to include off road bikes.

But their real breakthrough bike was their 750 Twin introduced in 1969, it was an extremely tough and durable motor and they began entering it in 24 hour endurance races and the were winning.

The Laverda brand peaked in 1976 with the three cylinder, 90 HP Jota,

By the 1980’s Laverda was struggling to compete with the more technologically advanced and less expensive Japanese brands and by 1985 the factory closed its doors.
The brand was later bought out and resurrected, but that’s a whole nother story.

 

[Adamc]

I always liked the Laverda story. The company’s roots go back to 1873, when they began to design and sell agricultural engines. After WW2 the Italian economy was in shambles and in need of basic transportation. So, much like Soichiro Honda did in Japan, the grandson of the company’s founder ( Francesco Laverda ) designed a very basic 75cc , inexpensive motorcycle. To promote sales, they began entering races and did very well against other established brands such as Moto Guzzi. Over the next two decades they kept improving and expanding their line up to include off road bikes.

But their real breakthrough bike was their 750 Twin introduced in 1969, it was an extremely tough and durable motor and they began entering it in 24 hour endurance races and the were winning.
View attachment 231228View attachment 231230

The Laverda brand peaked in 1976 with the three cylinder, 90 HP Jota,
View attachment 231231

By the 1980’s Laverda was struggling to compete with the more technologically advanced and less expensive Japanese brands and by 1985 the factory closed its doors.
The brand was later bought out and resurrected, but that’s a whole nother story.

Great background info Bob. I loved these bikes as a young un, but there were stories and legends about them to frighten the newbie biker. A ‘Man’ bike for sure. Today, not so scary, but way too pricey for me.

 

[Kevin Werner]

IIRC correctly, didn't Porsche design the V-Rod engine for H-D? What they put it in must've been down to the marketing & design depts.

The V Rod came on the heels of the VR 1000 road racing effort and I foolishly hoped they might actually introduce a sport bike.

 

[drgonzo]

That's the engine Eric Buell should have gotten.

 

[Martin]

View attachment 213061I have never been a "Harley" guy but an old flathead might be fun. There is babes and bikes. There is "Let's see the XSs". That is all good Many of our "Taste in Bikes" stems from previous marques. Is it OK to share interesting older bikes?

i have wanted a harley like this. I had 2 Sportsters, an 883 (UGH) and a Sport 1200 which was almost a Buell. I also had 2 Buell XB9s and they were nice but i would like something like yours but with a front brake even if it was a drum

 

[Kevin Werner]

 

[Kevin Werner]

 

[Adamc]

Probably the first modern era super-bike...

(Its parked in a triumphant space!)

 

[Adamc]

 

[Adamc]

 

[RC4MAN]

IIRC correctly, didn't Porsche design the V-Rod engine for H-D? What they put it in must've been down to the marketing & design depts.

As Kevin mentioned above the V-Rod was developed from the VR1000 Superbike, which never won a race and the race program was scuttled after two years.
Porsche did however do some tuning, HD has had them under contract for tweaking, mostly combustion chamber and head flow shape design work since the EVO program starting with the Big Twin heads but the basic V-Rod engine design was an inhouse effort.
As for Eric Buell, he didn't want the V-Rod engine, felt it was a lump, bare engine weighs 205 lbs. The Helicon Rotax 1125 and later 1190 engine was a much better product. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buell_1125R

 

[Adamc]

Two lovely singles:

 

[Kevin Werner]

As Kevin mentioned above the V-Rod was developed from the VR1000 Superbike, which never won a race and the race program was scuttled after two years.
Porsche did however do some tuning, HD has had them under contract for tweaking, mostly combustion chamber and head flow shape design work since the EVO program starting with the Big Twin heads but the basic V-Rod engine design was an inhouse effort.
As for Eric Buell, he didn't want the V-Rod engine, felt it was a lump, bare engine weighs 205 lbs. The Helicon Rotax 1125 and later 1190 engine was a much better product. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buell_1125R

If I recall correctly, the first Buells were sporty motors with lightened flywheels, cam, etc developing a true 75 ish hp.

 

[RC4MAN]

Buell's initial HD efforts utilized Sportster based engines in various levels of modification. Cams, Fuel injection, cooling fans for the heads etc. among other tricks. Produced in 900 and 1200 cc variants the 900 was actually an XR 750 based short stroke crank with 1200 pistons rather than a bored 883. The last hurrah prior to contracting Rotax for the Helicon was a heavily modified Sporty based engine at 1340 cc for what amounted to Battle of the Twins road racing effort, highly carved and lightened crank shaft, 3 machines were fielded at Daytona and all 3 went out with clutch failures due to overload during downshifting. The sporty based clutches had no slipper release options. Up until failure they were running strong.
Eric Buell was a pretty remarkable forward thinking guy who managed to polish a turd till it shined. What he did with a platform that was initially offer to the public as the "K" model unit construction 45 cu/in flat head twin, later upped in displacement to 883 cc when OHV were added in 57-58 was amazing.

 

[Adamc]

ROTARY ENGINE SPLENDOR: CRIGHTON CR700W MOTORCYCLE

I am a big fan of rotary engine designs; Wankel (stop laughing at the back!); and the derivatives are all spectacular in one way or another.
They are generally small than other combustion engines; and produce a lot of power for their specific size.
Used in Airplanes, Helicopters, Drones, cars and motorbikes etc......

In my youth I coveted an NSU RO80. A car that could pull away in fourth gear with ease.
And full of advanced technology for the day.

Mazda took the rotary product even further with the COSMO Sports car
A very desirable and nicely designed vehicle.

Even Mercedes had a bash at using Rotary units in its concept development cars:

I have personally owned and enjoyed both Mazda RX 7 & RX 8 vehicles:

Both quick and well balanced cars; and very reliable in my ownership.

But where is the bike I here you ask?

The CRIGHTON CR700W has now stolen my rotary heart.
Both for its looks and technological engineering.
God this thing ROCKS!

You can read more here: https://www.crightonmotorcycles.com/
And more about rotary engine products here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine

 

[46th Georgia]

ROTARY ENGINE SPLENDOR: CRIGHTON CR700W MOTORCYCLE
View attachment 231366 View attachment 231367

I am a big fan of rotary engine designs; Wankel (stop laughing at the back!); and the derivatives are all spectacular in one way or another.
They are generally small than other combustion engines; and produce a lot of power for their specific size.
Used in Airplanes, Helicopters, Drones, cars and motorbikes etc......

In my youth I coveted an NSU RO80. A car that could pull away in fourth gear with ease.
And full of advanced technology for the day.
View attachment 231365

Mazda took the rotary product even further with the COSMO Sports car
A very desirable and nicely designed vehicle.
View attachment 231368
Even Mercedes had a bash at using Rotary units in its concept development cars:
View attachment 231369
I have personally owned and enjoyed both Mazda RX 7 & RX 8 vehicles:
View attachment 231370
View attachment 231371
Both quick and well balanced cars; and very reliable in my ownership.

But where is the bike I here you ask?

The CRIGHTON CR700W has now stolen my rotary heart.
Both for its looks and technological engineering.
God this thing ROCKS!

You can read more here: https://www.crightonmotorcycles.com/
And more about rotary engine products here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine

View attachment 231372
View attachment 231373
View attachment 231374
View attachment 231375
View attachment 231376

Had a '79 RX-7. Wonderful car. 2 complaints. 1.) Below average fuel mileage 2.) less torque than my electric toothbrush. Much like the 125 Yamaha enduro of my youth, you had to wind it up to make any power. Having said that, it was still a lot of fun.

 

[kshansen]

Had a '79 RX-7. Wonderful car. 2 complaints. 1.) Below average fuel mileage 2.) less torque than my electric toothbrush. Much like the 125 Yamaha enduro of my youth, you had to wind it up to make any power. Having said that, it was still a lot of fun.

The only experience I had with a Wankel was while driving home from a job at a gravel bed. Right at an intersection in a small town this car was broke down. Being I had a truck full of tools for working on heavy equipment I stopped and asked if there was something I could help with.

Guy had the hood open and I think it was his owners manual out. He said something about an ignition problem. While I more or less blocked traffic he proceeded to pull spark plugs off the distributer cap and reconnect them from the coils and spark plugs. He said he had had this problem before and "This will work to get me home!"

To my surprise he reached in and turned the key and it started! He got in and drove off!

 

[Adamc]

Had a '79 RX-7. Wonderful car. 2 complaints. 1.) Below average fuel mileage 2.) less torque than my electric toothbrush. Much like the 125 Yamaha enduro of my youth, you had to wind it up to make any power. Having said that, it was still a lot of fun.

Yep @46th Georgia, it’s a sport car; they liked to be revved to the red line, and you don’t buy one for fuel economy. Horses for courses.