Ref Kickstart's excellent little write up on the Ariel .. 

A late 50's one and a close up of the lump in a Norton frame ..

 

Anyone I D the bottom bike .? 

It came up in a search but I don't recognise the badge .. though that may be down to my eyes working not as well as they used to so I have not a clue ..

 

Bit of bike porn for you older guys ...

 

 

Rare 350 Douglas flat twin and equally rare dead cool Taurus 500 .. 

 

 

Another Douglas, a 1928 speedway bike ,this was purpose built for speedway ,the long swan neck headstock ,giving a low  C of G ,ideal for speedway, at the time Douglas bikes where the speedway bikes .

But other bike manufactures soon  cottoned on ,and soon the 500cc signal engine took over, Rudge being one of the main  manufactures, 

Looking increasingly distant that now ex World Champ' Marc Márquez will be returning to MotoGP at the start of the new season March '21 after requiring a 3rd operation on the upper arm he snapped in his huge off at the Spanish MotoGP back in July at Jerez .. 

HRC had a private session booked at Jerez for January 2021 as a shakedown test to reintroduce him to the bike but that now his very unlikely with a recovery time being quoted as 6 mths .. wish him all the best though in the fight back to fitness as he'll need it when he wants to test the maximum compressibility of the RCV's front forks under braking .. 

 

I wish Márquez  well with his recovery and hope he comes back to equal or exceed Rossi's number of victories. 

9 hours ago, kickstart said:

Another Douglas, a 1928 speedway bike ,this was purpose built for speedway ,the long swan neck headstock ,giving a low  C of G ,ideal for speedway, at the time Douglas bikes where the speedway bikes .

But other bike manufactures soon  cottoned on ,and soon the 500cc signal engine took over, Rudge being one of the main  manufactures, 

 

Unusual horizontally opposed in-line twin?

Two variations of the same theme from Douglas .. top bike has the north to south cylinder layout and one beneath follows the more conventional across the frame configuration .. 

 

11 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

I wish Márquez  well with his recovery and hope he comes back to equal or exceed Rossi's number of victories. 

 

Not a lot of optimism coming from his camp on this .. the fact he has needed a 3rd operation nearly 6 mths after the crash is not a good omen with a report that he incurred an infection in it prior to the recent surgery .. 

A Rudge speedway bike, this one is a 1930 model ,with a 4 valve head ,looking more like modern speedway bikes did well until 1933 when the  ubiquitous JAP engines  appeared ,to set the patten for the next 30 years.

5 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Two variations of the same theme from Douglas .. top bike has the north to south cylinder layout and one beneath follows the more conventional across the frame configuration .. 

 

 

...and then Douglas...

 

 

 

Some rare 200/250's all late 50's .. 

Velocette Valiant flat twin .. nice colour green .. not sure about the engine cowling though .. 

Peugeot 55 , 2 stroke single .. 

Adler 250 2 stroke twin .. 

 

Looking for a new off-road bike?

 

On 12/13/2020 at 7:46 PM, Justgrazing said:

Some rare 200/250's all late 50's .. 

Velocette Valiant flat twin .. nice colour green .. not sure about the engine cowling though .. 

Peugeot 55 , 2 stroke single .. 

Adler 250 2 stroke twin .. 

 

All of these were great but my favorite is the Green Adler, sweet!

MOTORCYCLES

Moto Guzzi bolsters the 2021 V7 classic roadster with bigger engine

There's a new entry point into the world of Moto Guzzi. The fourth-generation V7 roadster gets a bigger 853-cc V2 motor for 2021, complete with a 25-percent hike in peak power.   Read more

7 hours ago, Randell said:

All of these were great but my favorite is the Green Adler, sweet!

 

Adler are or were one of the oldest German bike manufacturers making also bicycles , typewriters , early mechanical calculators and cars .. one of which was the first car to circumnavigate the globe .. they were also quite successful in a number of motorsports .. during the 30's they were invited as were many German motor manufacturers and engineering firms to bid for military vehicle contracts though not to the depth that some companies became enmeshed the Kfz 13 light armoured car is probably their only notable contribution ..

after WW2 ended a conscious decision was made to make motorcycles only again before finally going under in 1957 .. 

30's Adler Rennlimousine showing the research into aerodynamics that was quite prevalent in Germany during the 30's .. 

One of their cute little sports 1930's cars the Junior .. 

 

 

Honda S800 late 60's micro sport car showcased Honda's engineering ability already coming to the fore in their motorcycles .. 

Dry weight of less than 800 kg 

791cc fitted with 4 carb's letting it buzz out 71 hp at a heady 8000 rpm and making it capable of nearly 100 mph .. and one of the few recent production cars with a roller bearing crankshaft made it almost a bike engine in a car .. made in coupe and convertible versions .. 

 

13 hours ago, Randell said:

MOTORCYCLES

Moto Guzzi bolsters the 2021 V7 classic roadster with bigger engine

 

There's a new entry point into the world of Moto Guzzi. The fourth-generation V7 roadster gets a bigger 853-cc V2 motor for 2021, complete with a 25-percent hike in peak power.   Read more

 

A few weeks ago, I wandered into a bike shop I'd never seen before and there on display was a MG V7 ii Racer exactly like the picture.. I haven't fallen in love with a bike in a showroom so quickly for years, maybe decades. It was GORGEOUS!! Most modern bikes just don't 'do it' for me.

 

Long, low. It felt so good when I sat on it - everything just slotted into place. Lovely engine not hidden behind acres of plastic. Skinny(ish) tyres. Just beautiful. Having ridden, but not owned, many Guzzis in the past, knew it'd feel good on the road. 

 

If I'd had 400,000฿ in my pocket at that moment, they'd have made a sale with no effort at all. But I'd probably have regretted that decision later because I just have no need for a lovely bike like that these days. It'd be wasted on the roads I ride or long, straight highways. Would be good to perv over though ... 

A somewhat forgotten manufacturer, Francis Barnett.  They built bikes from 1919, were taken over by AMC in 1947 and continued till 1966.

 

Amongst other models, they built a range of cruisers from the 30's to the 60's:

1939 250cc twin Cruiser - as ridden by the cop in the TV series "Heartbeat".  One of the first bikes to ever feature an engine fairing (however so weird looking) and aerodynamic mudguards, bringing thoughts of 1970's flared trousers to mind.

 

A more conventional looking 1938 Snipe

 

They were also highly important in the beginning and development of trail and trials bikes, arguably the grand-daddy of all current bikes of these types.  Here, a Falcon Trials from 1953, though their involvement goes back far further than this:

 

The name lives on in a new company called Francis-Barnett Coventry, formed in 2015, producing a range of classic and e-bikes, including the 124cc Merlin.  Nice little bike that:

On 12/3/2020 at 2:03 PM, Justgrazing said:

Anyone I D the bottom bike .? 

It came up in a search but I don't recognise the badge .. though that may be down to my eyes working not as well as they used to so I have not a clue ..

 

A short lived Spanish manufacturer - Construcciones Ferrusola S.A. or Cofersa for short.  The company was founded in 1953 and went bust in 1962.  The bike is a Cofersa 200 JM, fitted with a Hispano Villiers engine and introduced in 1957. 

 

Here's one in a rather sorry state:

 

And another model, a 1954 Two Stroke:

Been a while since we've had some planes, but I happened upon this on youtube and thought I'd share it.  Three Avro planes, 12 Rolls Royce engines - 8 Merlins and 4 Olympus (and it's not the Merlins that are smoking). What's really amazing is they had the same designer - Roy Chadwick, who was sadly killed in a test flight of another model before the Vulcan ever flew, and were only 11 years apart - the Lancaster first flying in 1941 and the Vulcan in 1952.  

Avro Vulcan Bomber & Double Avro Lancaster Bombers - The Three Sisters - YouTube

 

 

 

18 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Honda S800 late 60's micro sport car ...

I traded an old Montessa motorcycle for an S600 coupe circa 1972.  I never licensed it, as it had some problem with the engine smoking.  I did drive it for a few miles.  Cute little thing. The shift lever was about 14 cm tall.

@ballpoint  A co-worker back in the early 1990's was a former RAF pilot who had flown a Vulcan bomber.

17 hours ago, ballpoint said:

Rolls Royce engines - 8 Merlins

 

Excellent vid' of the Vulcan and Lanc's B P .. have a Bentley blower replica fitted with a Merlin complete with personalised plate in return .. 

Another behemoth that put the Merlin in 4 wheels was John Dodd's " Beast " from the late 70's early 80's though contrary to legend it is the Meteor version shorn of the supercharger and some of the other ancillaries required on the aviation Merlin .. this Meteor lump was put in main battle tanks of the day and even in this level of tune without the charger still put out 850 hp and it is said made Beast the most powerful road legal car in the U K at the time .. 

J D was an auto transmission specialist who was approached by the owner of the rolling chassis of Beast complete with engine about trying to find a gearbox capable of transmit the huge amount of torque put out by it , a modified G M autobox was suggested as no manual transmissions capable of handling the power were available aside from truck gearboxes .. J D then acquired it and had a " body " layed up in fibreglass for it to complete the project .. though looker it is not by an stretch of the imagination or squinting of one's mince pies .. Beast hit the headlines 40 yrs ago when R R themselves took Doddy to court over the unauthorized use of the Roller grille , Spirit of Ecstasy emblem that disappears inside the rad' and some Rolls Royce badging .. He even drove it to London parking outside the High Court .. in the event he lost the case though managed to keep Beast after it is said his counsel told him shortly before the judgement not to turn up in the car anymore or it would be seized if it went against him .. 

J D relocated to Spain to continue as an auto trans specialist along with Beast now minus everything R R wanted removed where it would be occasionally wheeled out for exhibitions , show's , etc , though with a fuel consumption said to be 2 mpg at best it's not a long distance tourer .. 

Whether it now still exists or runs I know not but if anyone here knows ?

 

See one of these out and about ( though that is very rare given how few of them are around ) and you would be forgiven for thinking it was it's humbler stablemate the VFR800 .. only a closer inspection revealing the twin tail pipes in place of the VeeF's conventional can up the side job and the iridium screen shading the instrument panel hints that it's not the 800 but the pinnacle of H's 15 year oval piston project the 750 NR , confirmed when you hear it start up for these make a sound like no other  .. 

Simple brief , attain the volumetric capacity of a V8 within a V4 configuration .. Apart from Mazda's almost religious devotion to the rotary engine Honda were probably the only motor manufacturer who would persist in trying to overcome some of the obstacles that threw up and to achieve their goal created an engine that required dozens of patents to be the registered during its dev' .. ultimately it could be said they achieved their goal but only to a degree with an output of 127 hp which was matched by their own far more conventional CBR 900 Fireblade within months ..

 

Only 200 were ever made available for sale in the early 90's at a hefty £38,000 and considering that Iridium screen alone cost near £1500 to replace you can understand H made very little out of them .. but probably like the CBX1000 and the original CB750 the 750 NR was more a statement of Honda's engineering prowess and imagination ..

 

1942 Harley XA.  740cc flathead.  Only 1,000 produced.

 

On 12/17/2020 at 8:22 AM, Justgrazing said:

 

Excellent vid' of the Vulcan and Lanc's B P .. have a Bentley blower replica fitted with a Merlin complete with personalised plate in return .. 

Another behemoth that put the Merlin in 4 wheels was John Dodd's " Beast " from the late 70's early 80's though contrary to legend it is the Meteor version shorn of the supercharger and some of the other ancillaries required on the aviation Merlin .. this Meteor lump was put in main battle tanks of the day and even in this level of tune without the charger still put out 850 hp and it is said made Beast the most powerful road legal car in the U K at the time .. 

J D was an auto transmission specialist who was approached by the owner of the rolling chassis of Beast complete with engine about trying to find a gearbox capable of transmit the huge amount of torque put out by it , a modified G M autobox was suggested as no manual transmissions capable of handling the power were available aside from truck gearboxes .. J D then acquired it and had a " body " layed up in fibreglass for it to complete the project .. though looker it is not by an stretch of the imagination or squinting of one's mince pies .. Beast hit the headlines 40 yrs ago when R R themselves took Doddy to court over the unauthorized use of the Roller grille , Spirit of Ecstasy emblem that disappears inside the rad' and some Rolls Royce badging .. He even drove it to London parking outside the High Court .. in the event he lost the case though managed to keep Beast after it is said his counsel told him shortly before the judgement not to turn up in the car anymore or it would be seized if it went against him .. 

J D relocated to Spain to continue as an auto trans specialist along with Beast now minus everything R R wanted removed where it would be occasionally wheeled out for exhibitions , show's , etc , though with a fuel consumption said to be 2 mpg at best it's not a long distance tourer .. 

Whether it now still exists or runs I know not but if anyone here knows ?

 

John was required to attend court twice. On the second occasion , he arrived on a white horse ! He didnt get off scot free , but was allowed to keep the car , minus the RR insignia. He is not spoken too well of at the RR/Bentley club. The car still exists , but its in a poor state. The Honda NR developed closer to 110 BHP , but had a smooth power/torque curve. It never really worked , and was nicknamed the Never Ready.

Anyone remember these?  The Yamaha GTS1000 was released in 1993 and had two radical features:

1. The hub-centre steering, which meant the front forks could be discarded - which is generally seen as a good thing as it removes all the issues with having front shocks angled to the forces acting on them, as well as the changes in steering geometry with load and shock travel associated with all conventionally forked bikes.

2. The "Omega Chassis Concept" whereby the engine acts as a stressed member between the front and rear swing arms, with the frame wrapping around it in a similar shape to the Greek letter Omega.  This allows for a smaller, lower and lighter frame.

 

Unfortunately, it also featured a fuel injected detuned version of the five-valve 1001cc inline-four from the FZR1000, producing only 100hp, and looks that one motorcycle journalist described as "like a late FJ1200 left outside in the sun to melt".  Though I don't really think it looks that bad to tell the truth.  The public must have agreed with the journalist though, as they failed to sell too many, and stopped production in 1998.  Apparently, only three are still registered in the UK, so a true rarity.