Flat_Eric

Brilliant! I must admit I was thinking Dave Myers when I saw the photo too!!

Amberale

That Monster is awesome! One of my favourite bikes ever. Huge fun to ride too.

Norvin

Having ridden in Central/East London for many years I always had huge respect for the despatch riders. Still a few around and usually a good marker to help spot the best routes through traffic.

A pretty messy non-fault crash in London left me with a leg/ankle of the construction the Terminator might envy. We left London shortly after and not sure I could ride there again. I still ride regularly but it was certainly an eye-opener to how fragile the human body can be versus a car.

I woke up in the trauma ward at about 10:30am and will never forget the radiologist telling me I was the 9th biker he was x-raying that day… before 11am!!

        Hardly Ableson - the best way to use scrap pig iron to turn petrol into horrendous noise without any of that annoying horsepower stuff.

        Trikes - all the disadvantages of cars, none of the advantages of bikes.

        ;)

          Harsh but not entirely unfounded 😂

          But what trikes lack on practicality, they’re a crowd magnet and they do allow people to have the bike feeling who may otherwise be unable. One of the Fazer 1000 club guys was an ex Navy diver and he had to give up the 1000 for a trike.

          -Mac

          We don’t need any of that pesky horsepower stuff, it would only make cornering even more difficult!

            -Mac

            One of the worst bikes I ever had was an oil in frame T140 Triumph Bonneville. It was the American version. I got it cheap as it was going on one cylinder once it warmed up (it was a faulty £6 magnet in the Boyer Bransdon ignition unit.). I got it as it was a bike that I had lusted after in my youth. Small tank with no range, gearing for acceleration but under-geared for cruising speeds, uncomfortable riding position due to the wide handlebars etc. I thought of everything that would be needed to make it into a decent bike, then it struck me that I was imagining the British market version of the same bike. It was made for the American market; blasting up the high street but not for going anywhere, made for ‘show, not go’. I think of Harleys in the same light, made for ‘look at me’ but not very practical. I know that there are some well ridden extensively toured Harleys out there but other bikes do it better. When I sold the T140 I told the guy that bought it that it was the worst bike that I had ever owned (I’ll never make a salesman), he said “I know, but it’s an itch that I have to scratch”.

                I’m a lifelong Harley fan but I’m under no illusion they’re not overpriced, under-performing bikes compared to what else is out there. But to me they look bloody cool and let’s be honest the reason we all ride bikes is some ratio of going fast and/or looking cool.

                I also really enjoy their unchanged simplicity (like the E61 machines!), the service manual for one of mine covers 40 years of the same model 😂. To think a lot of the Knucklehead engines still on the road are nearly 100 years old as well and going strong.

                There’s a great scene in the documentary 6Over where a guy had ridden across America on a rigid-frame Knucklehead and a guy at a petrol station in California mocked him for his ‘bar-hopper’, and asked where he’d ridden from. When he said ‘New York’ the guy was quite surprised.

                I think their horrendous reliability in the AMF years and shows like Sons of Anarchy give them an awful name and reputation. Like @Amberale said, there’s a lot of attitudes out there that don’t exactly give them a great image.

                I’ve got a few friends who rode Harleys to Sardinia. Did London to the ferry in Genoa (850 miles) in one day on bikes of varying ages. Petrol cans strapped to the back etc.. It’s a labour of love but doing that kind of mileage on 60 year old Shovelheads and Panheads in rigid frames takes a fair bit of dedication!

                Not comfortable or even remotely practical, but if I want comfortable and practical I’ll go in the car!

                I’m not just a Harley guy though, I also share this one which I went halves on with my Dad. He gets it in Summer, I use it Winter when the Harleys are a liability to ride.

                It’s a really great combination of classic looks and modern functionality. Loads of fun to ride.

                I can see myself on a T120 and I think the Mrs will appreciate the comfort over the Street Triple!

                  Hotmetal

                  I think my other half would happily vouch for the comfort of the standard seat… it’s incredibly comfortable

                    Having ridden quite a few different bikes (quite a few years ago) A friend of mine who got into Harleys in later life

                    brought his Harley over and insisted I take it for a run (trying to get me interested in bikes again)

                    I succumbed to his ‘pestering’ and took it for a spin.

                    I can honestly say it was a very disappointing experience. From it’s excessive weight and it’s insistence on heavy understeering at any deviation from straight plus it’s heavy flat bark from the exhaust.

                    Mrs Elc said it sounded nice and throaty after the whining small bikes. It did not blow my frock up😞

                    Hotmetal

                    Really comfortable, the Scrambler is even better but you will miss the power of the Street so don’t sell it.

                      I like the Scrambler but even the guy in the dealership said “if you are trading the Street for the Scrambler for the benefit of the pillion, a hot exhaust on her inner thigh is gonna be an issue sooner or later”.

                      My Street is not worth more than book price, but I can enjoy the awesomeness of its performance, the sweet looks and still park it without worrying. (It’s s a cool design but not the latest must-have). If I had the money for a 1200 twin I would keep the Street anyway. OK so insurance etc for 2 bikes is a factor but to be honest it’s worth more to me to keep it than it would be to a dealer and I agree I would regret letting it go. It would be one of those iconic and fun bikes I would regret selling for sure. In any case I’m only window shopping. I think in years to come, the Mk 1 Street Triple R will be like the RD350LC. Future classic. I can hear people in 15 years time saying “what, you had an original R and let it go when it was at the bottom of the depreciation curve?” Not that mine is a pampered low mileage example. It gets used plenty (well, before corona anyway). Most of my bikes have had between 30-60,000 miles put on them by me, I like to keep stuff I buy, until I’ve properly had my moneys worth 🤣🤣

                      Bit like my coffee setup really.

                      Weirdest bike I ever rode (not owned, just a loaner while the Fazer was in for some work) was an MT-01. I coined the phrase “Yamaharley” for it, 1700 V-twin rigidly mounted in a large modern frame, with a cartoonishly large headlamp and equally ridiculous exhausts. It was big. Not particularly tall, but it had presence. It ticked over at 1500RPM and ran out of breath at 4000 so despite having more torque than a supertanker you had to short shift constantly. Considering I was used to the 4IL 1000 engine of the Fazer, which would do 80mph in first gear if you lacked the mechanical sympathy, I mean, you could ride the Fazer in 2nd from standstill to 100mph if ever your clutch went, so having to “burp-burp-burp” everywhere on the MT-01 took a bit of getting used to. It wasn’t without its merit but I can see why it never caught on.

                      My mate had one and loved it, but it was too impractical for me. It sounded great, looked pretty boss in a unique kind of way, it was in a class of one. Horrendous in slippery wet urban conditions, the torque came in individual lumps and threatened to chuck you on your side on wet mini roundabouts. On the motorway though it was like riding a giant vibrator, or a road drill. Or doing a big towels wash and sitting on the washing machine during the spin cycle. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination but it’s fair to say Woody Allen might have come up with a name for it in advance! 🤣

                      Norvin

                      Hey, Norvin, I’m not sure how Mr Zuccerburg does it but this popped into my feed this morning.
                      Not the only bike but very purty.

                      Norvin CR1140 by Stile Italiana.

                          @Hotmetal

                          That MT sounds very Harley like. Without traction control too (I don’t think any HD models have it) they’re basically just a handful of wheelspin.

                          Amberale

                          Looks like a Vincati, which I’ve always thought was the best looking Vincent hybrid (not that there is anything wrong with the standard bike). I saw two Australian Vincatis on the Isle of Man and they looked just right. It spurred me to look for an old air cooled Ducati to convert using my Norvin engine. I even went to somewhere near Manchester to look at one, it turned out to be an 850 or something, and I really wanted a 750 sport or 900ss.

                          Friends used to call my Norvin a real hooligan bike, they used to complain about the noise from the megaphone and wouldn’t ride behind me on runs. It started off as a cafe racer but it was too uncomfortable to ride, it gradually lost the clip-ons, rear sets, thin seat etc. but the wideline frame, 5 gallon tank and high centre of gravity couldn’t easily be changed. It got to the stage where I had three Vincents in the Garage, I would use the Rapide for touring and A roads, the Comet (single cylinder, lighter and shorter wheelbase) for blasting round the local Welsh back roads and never really rode the Norvin, so I sold it.

                            Amberale

                            Damn that is a beauteous bike! I’m normally ‘against’ upside-down forks on old style bikes because it’s not true to the period but I think I could forgive them in that instance. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a bike and really got excited.

                            Wow the nanny filter is strong on here! Before anyone thinks I was being coarse, the 4-letter word was not procreation related, merely that place where water stops and beavers live!! 🤣

                            That bike is actually for sale (in Italy, POA)

                            https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1423821

                            —

                            —

                              I got my license and the R9T last April. So pleased I went for it and looking forward to the light nights again for blasts after work.

                              There are too many bikes to try though! Already wanting a second!

                              Cheers

                              Ross

                                Goodfella

                                Too many bikes indeed. Speaking from experience, trying to find the perfect bike is an expensive, endless journey.

                                The perfect bike is having multiple bikes. A fast one, a comfortable one, one with luggage, one for two-up, and an off-road one.

                                Or a Pikes Peak Multistrada if you’ve got £26k.

                                The dealers don’t make it easy these days either, I remember when you’d ask to try a bike and the salesperson would hand you the keys and ask you to be back before closing. These days you’re lucky to get half an hour!