Let’s talk motorcycles.

carl said:
Sell all that BMW and Harley stuff and get the baby duc back on the road!
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I plan on it. Have a couple of projects to finish up first. Mainly the garage to do this work in. I got the Ducati from the mother of a 19 year old boy that had it and died suddenly from health issues. I want to restore it and pay homage to him somehow.
 
beezee said:
Hodakas. Two Road Toads, a Combat Wombat, a Super Combat, an Ace 100, and a ton of parts.
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Very cool collection of odd-ball vintage bikes. Right up my alley. ;) When I was a young teenager I really wanted a Hodaka Super Rat, which was still in current production back then.
 
My parents never let me have a motorcycle - probably explains why I'm still alive. Fortunately, my best friend had no such restriction. When we were about 12, we started turning up broken motor scooters and got them running. The best one was a Zundapp Bella. It drove well on the streets we dared to take it without it being registered and us being unlicensed. Later on, we got into Harley Davidson Servi-cars. Those were the 3 wheelers with the big box on back. They were powered by a 45 ci flathead. We decided to make a fast one and found a 55 ci motor, bigger carb, and taller gearing. I was sitting on top of the box holding on for dear life when we managed to hit 110 mph on the Sprain Brook Parkway in NY circa 1966. It became very clear that the rear spoke wheels were far from being true at that speed as they wobbled like they were going to fall off. After I went off to college, my friend made a few more Servi-cars. One had a 74 ci motor from a Duo Glide, and another one used a VW drivetrain. When he grew up, he ended up running a motorcycle dealership.
 
Wow, what an amalgam of bikes. I wish I could see and hear that Honda CBX in person. Must sound heavenly.

I've always wanted a Harley.....only if it's given to me for free. I can't justify paying 15-20k for 1960s tech; no offense to any of you guys.
 
When I see lanciahf tomorrow I will have to sit him down and talk him out of his bad Ducati attitude. My 85 860 GT was perhaps the worst Ducati ever made but I still love the brand.

The CBX was astounding and the only street bike I never dropped. There was no way a scrawny 135 pound guy was going to get a 600 pound bike back up on it's wheels!
 
Oddly enough, very true. In fact, until recently they were still not worth much as a classic. Now they are taking off in value.

Just before I got it (I was a single well paid federal employee), I seriously considered getting a Moto Guzzi Lemans but knew I could never commute to work on a bike with low clip-on bars. They were both about the same price, $4K.
 
carl said:
Oddly enough, very true. In fact, until recently they were still not worth much as a classic. Now they are taking off in value.

Just before I got it (I was a single well paid federal employee), I seriously considered getting a Moto Guzzi Lemans but knew I could never commute to work on a bike with low clip-on bars. They were both about the same price, $4K.
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You have to be a Moto Guzzi person. They are a different type.
 
The CBX is a muscle bike. I wouldn't mind having one but I would have to get rid of something or a few before that.
 
I actually liked my Ducati, I was fed up/tired of pushing it or towing it places. I still look at Facebook marketplace for a replacement, “can’t be all bad”

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Riding 2014 CTX1300 , like the X19 it is different
 

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My only motorcycle story: I am about 13, my buddy's family owns property on a huge lake in mid Missouri. They find an obviously stolen Honda dumped in their section of the woods. After clearing it with the local authorities, they bring it home and get it running. The dad says "Jim, you should learn to ride a motorcycle." To which I told him it was too big and I was afraid it would fall on me when I inevitably fell off. He insisted I try and gets me up on the bike, gets it running and begins walking me along the street. Then he lets go telling me to hit the gas. I did, and drove it into his Cadillac which he had parked on the curb. :)

Not sure what size of bike it was, but I couldn't touch the ground while sitting in the seat. The dad took the blame fortunately, since he insisted over my objections. That was my first and last time on a motorcycle.
 
I bought a Peugeot Looxor 150 scooter brand new in 2003:
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I put over 12k miles on it early on. I would go ride an hour to meet up with friends and go on a group ride for a couple hours then ride an hour home. I became a parent 8 years ago and it’s frowned upon in North America to take a baby on a 2 wheeled vehicle, so I have not ridden it much.

I wrote for Scooter World Magazine as the road test contributor for a few years and co-authored The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Motor Scooters.

I also was given the 2002 Royal Enfield Bullet with sidecar that my parents (both motorcyclists since before I was born) bought to ride with their St. Bernard. I need to get it running again: I think I’ll have some riding buddies when I do.
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I was in my local bike shop last week to get a tool for non bike use and of course looked at the new bikes on display. They all look like insects with pretty terrible styling.....but then I'm locked into 1970s - 80s styling. To me the Royal Enfields look "normal".
 
Bryce-o-rama said:
I bought a Peugeot Looxor 150 scooter brand new in 2003:
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I put over 12k miles on it early on. I would go ride an hour to meet up with friends and go on a group ride for a couple hours then ride an hour home. I became a parent 8 years ago and it’s frowned upon in North America to take a baby on a 2 wheeled vehicle, so I have not ridden it much.

I wrote for Scooter World Magazine as the road test contributor for a few years and co-authored The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Motor Scooters.

I also was given the 2002 Royal Enfield Bullet with sidecar that my parents (both motorcyclists since before I was born) bought to ride with their St. Bernard. I need to get it running again: I think I’ll have some riding buddies when I do.
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I’ve also wanted a Honda Ruckus to mess around with, maybe use it to travel 5 miles to work. I’ve seen some cool things done with those little bikes.

There’s a subreddit called “whatswrongwithyourdog.” That second picture is gold. Pupper looks like he’s having fun.
 
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