18 minutes ago, ktm jeff said:

Rotary engined bikes are rare. Suzuki , Kawasaki and Yamaha are well known , but there was another. No , its not Honda. Take another guess.

DKW , Norton , Van Veen , Puch .? 

1 hour ago, ktm jeff said:

Rotary engined bikes are rare. Suzuki , Kawasaki and Yamaha are well known , but there was another. No , its not Honda. Take another guess.

Bridgestone 350 GTR and possibly 50cc roadracers.  Kreidler had some 50cc rotary race bikes.

 

Maico

 

  1922 Sun 268cc

Puch MC250 had twin 32mm Bing carbs, one in the traditional piston port position and the second carb feeding a rotary valve in the cases. Harry Everts won the 1975 FIM 250 World Championship on one.

 

 

5 hours ago, ballpoint said:

Another monocoque, the Spanish built Ossa 250cc Grand Prix bike.  With a two stroke, rotary valve 250cc engine, it only developed 30hp, but it still came third in the 1969 250cc world championship, despite being up against the might of the Japanese.  This was mainly due to its magnesium monocoque chassis, meaning the bike weighed 20kg less than the Japanese competition, and was overall far more agile.  It won three grands prix in 1969, against the previously unbeatable Yamaha TD2s, and led the championship going into the final race, where it crashed.  It was again leading the championship going into the Isle of Man TT in 1970, but again crashed, killing the factory rider, and Ossa totally withdrew from road racing because of it.  

 

40 hp would be closer to the true output, I think. I owned and raced a 1968 Bultaco TSS, and that single-cylinder twostroke developed just under 40 hp.

Bimota Ringhini 350 stroker late 70's ..

 

2 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Bimota Ringhini 350 stroker late 70's ..

Some background on that one:  https://classic-motorbikes.net/bimota-ringhini-350-twin/

 

Nice little 60's Kriedler 50 ..

 

Honda's featherweight 50 cc RC116 from the mid 60's .. 51 kg dry weight ( some magnesium engine components contributed to that ) with 16 hp at 22,000 revs through a 9 speed gearbox gave this a theoretical 320hp per litre ( though increased number of components will increase frictional losses which downs that figure abit ) and a MEP figure of 16kg/cm² making it one of the most efficient normally aspirated engines ever made and had the bike clocked at 91 mph on the IOM TT .. and all brought to a halt with push bike style caliper brakes clamping on the wheel rim .. the rims were considered consumable components and changed regularly along with the brake blocks .. this set up of pushbike brakes allowed them to save weight over a conventional drum brake which was crucial when you are talking about machines that weigh this little .. if you can save even a kilo then you are to the advantage .. 

 

 

 

M V 300bb from mid 50's with car type distributor on top of the crankcase .. 

Never went into production as far as the records show .. 

 

The 1 % er after reaching old age. 

Custom Yamaha MT-07.

 

1963 Phelon and Moore Panther Model 120 650cc, and a 1964 model.  Many more British manufacturers here:  https://cybermotorcycle.com/euro/britain.htm

 

And other European makes:  https://cybermotorcycle.com/

 

Edited September 21, 20205 yr by Damrongsak

On 9/11/2020 at 2:31 PM, Yellowtail said:

 

I think they had a 350, 400, 500 & 750, but I'm not sure. They all looked surprisingly similar.

 

 

A Honda 500 near me owner is a Farang ,has a coffee shop with a few bikes.

A 550 Honda ,not over poplar ,mate of mine sold his 500 Honda and got a 550 ,said it was a right lemon compared to 500 ,soon sold it 

As for the 350 four only ever saw one that was in Denmark 1974.do not think they were sold in the UK ??

I can vaguely remember riding a 650 four ,but at the time they were all dubbed UJM, Universal Japanese Motorcycles .

A few years after the Honda 750 four was introduced, I went to a motorcycle mechanics school.  Most guys in the class really wanted to work on it while I was more interested in banging apart and reassembling 2-stroke single crankshafts.  Anyway, one day they had the Honda up on a lift.  There was one "kid" there who would "Kick" start it with his hands.  Big kid!  Funny the things one remembers. 

Later, as a Suzuki mechanic, I dealt with routine stuff on multi-cylinder bikes. Always disliked the multiple carbs because they are so hard to get to.  I still have several 2 foot long screwdrivers I had to buy.

I once watched a Suzuki mechanics video and they were talking about adjusting the drive chain tension.  They showed the adjuster, etc. and said "If you have don't have strong hands like the Japanese, you can use a 10 mm wrench."  No kidding.   

10 hours ago, kickstart said:

A Honda 500 near me owner is a Farang ,has a coffee shop with a few bikes.

A 550 Honda ,not over poplar ,mate of mine sold his 500 Honda and got a 550 ,said it was a right lemon compared to 500 ,soon sold it 

As for the 350 four only ever saw one that was in Denmark 1974.do not think they were sold in the UK ??

I can vaguely remember riding a 650 four ,but at the time they were all dubbed UJM, Universal Japanese Motorcycles .

 

My 750 looked pretty much like the orange one, I think the seat was pleated and mine was pretty rough. Already ten years old when I got it. I'm thinking the exhaust was a little different too.

 

Not many of the 350s around, only ever say a couple in the US. 

Suzy TR750 from the good 'ole days of the 70's that used to do battle with the KR's and TZ's in clouds of blue smoke and deadly highsides as Bazza Sheene found out when his nipped up on the Daytona banking at 175 mph in '75 .. 

These were as fast as two strokes got at the time capable of 190 mph + on the longer straight high speed tracks .. 

 

On 9/21/2020 at 1:07 PM, Damrongsak said:

1963 Phelon and Moore Panther Model 120 650cc, and a 1964 model.  Many more British manufacturers here:  https://cybermotorcycle.com/euro/britain.htm

 

And other European makes:  https://cybermotorcycle.com/

 

Another nice late 20's Panther 500 ..

And some intricate Panther tank art ..

 

Nice, but isn't the cat on the tank a leopard? 

38 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Nice, but isn't the cat on the tank a leopard? 

Oh, well spotted!

Chopped off the fender today, coming along nicely:

 

 

Edited September 25, 20205 yr by revgreen

M V's 6 cylinder 350 and 500 from late 50's .. nearly 10 yrs before Honda's 6 banger appeared .. though the M V's were never competitive and dropped to concentrate on the 3 and 4 cyl bikes ..

The 350/6 was demonstrated at the TT about 10 yrs ago by Agostini himself .. 

 

Another  6 banger ,from a more modern times Kawasaki Z1300  engine putting out 120bhp ,but it had its problems weighing in at 297k g dry weight ,a big bike dubbed car with outdoors in America ,the Z1300 biggest market.

Released in 1978 ,sold to Jo public in 1979 ,it had its problem sump capacity having to be increased for the 1980 model, from four and a half litres, to six litres due to crank issues, with some original owners finding oil starvation at the crank causing massive, sometimes catastrophic failures, Re very expensive.

And those rear shocks looked if they come from my Wave, they were beefed up to gas shocks in 1981.

On 9/25/2020 at 2:36 AM, Justgrazing said:

Another nice late 20's Panther 500 ..

And some intricate Panther tank art ..

 

 

On 9/25/2020 at 2:36 AM, Justgrazing said:

Another nice late 20's Panther 500 ..

And some intricate Panther tank art ..

 

How about a flat tracking Panther 

8 minutes ago, kickstart said:

 

How about a flat tracking Panther 

Or where the Panther was often found pulling a side-car ,with the fly wheel weighing 30 lbs,it could probably drive up a mountain.

At the time an innovative design  ,the sloping engine, acted as stress member for the frame ,Vincent had the same design.?.

Looking at this one, well deserving the show's red ribbon. 

2 hours ago, kickstart said:

Another  6 banger ,from a more modern times Kawasaki Z1300  engine putting out 120bhp ,but it had its problems weighing in at 297k g dry weight

that was always it's problem .. too heavy and with looks only it's mother could love .. immensely powerful at the time but just too much of a tank .. 

dude I worked with back in the 80's had one with a 6/1 exhaust with no silencer innards at all , just a straight mortar tube .. you could hear it 1/2 mile away in the mornings .. especially if he was late ..

CBX 1000 .. Still the best 6 cyl production motorcycle ever made .. 

 

Edited September 29, 20205 yr by Justgrazing
Sp

Allen Millyard creations. 

Doubled up Z1300 engines:

 

500 HP Dodge Viper V10:

Suzy 750 cooled out a bit .. 

 

That other 6 banger from the 70's 

Benelli's Sei .. A rockstar of a motorcycle with quite possibly the most OTT exhaust system ever fitted to a bike .. love 'em these .. 

 

What Brembo are to brakes and Ohlins are to suspension then Marchesini are to rims .. founded late 80's by Roberto M they became THE rim manufacturers to the racing motorcycle fraternity with magnesium alloy , forged aluminium and carbon fibre Marchesini rims becoming a by-word for quality and used by just about every racing manufacturer down the years .. Sad then to read that founder Roberto Marchesini passed away earlier this week after a short illness aged 68 .. 

A true legend within the sport and a nice bloke to boot .. will be sorely missed ..