Some bikes by Russian designer Mikhail Smolyanov, inspired by 1920's racing cars.  Not really my cup of hot beverage, but it can't be denied that they are stunning.  And, the curves, the curves!

 

 

 

 

 

1954 MV Augusta 175cc CSS Squalo

2 hours ago, ballpoint said:

1954 MV Augusta 175cc CSS Squalo

What a stunning bike! OHC engine, technically far ahead of the British industry at the time.

4 hours ago, ballpoint said:

1954 MV Augusta 175cc CSS Squalo

I wondered about one of the responses to the post.  Squalo = shark in Italian, but when I typed it into Google translate to double check, and let it auto detect the language, it came up with Latin, where it means squalor.  So, it'll either bite you or drive you to abject misery, depending on where you went to school.  

7 hours ago, ballpoint said:

Some bikes by Russian designer Mikhail Smolyanov, 

Far too decadent and bourgeois for comrades bp .. 

You were after a bike with a gun abit earlier ? How's about a Ural combo' with fitted machine gun .. 

And for Guzz' the agricultural version .. 

 

Just to show those fancydan Italians we could do OHC engines also .. The Norton and Triumph are late 20's the Ariel not sure .. 

1 hour ago, Justgrazing said:

Just to show those fancydan Italians we could do OHC engines also .. The Norton and Triumph are late 20's the Ariel not sure .. 

 

Looks like a 1931 4F.31

 

11 hours ago, ballpoint said:

1954 MV Augusta 175cc CSS Squalo



I'll see your 175 squalor and raise you my 250

 

1 hour ago, thaiguzzi said:

I'll see your 175 squalor and raise you my 250

 

Hahahaha squalor .. That MV is stunning .. good call .. 

On 3/19/2019 at 9:35 AM, thaiguzzi said:

LOL.

Bet he's a Brexiteer...

 

Note the R/H chain drive.......

 

Beautiful prim' case rework on that .. Is that R/H drive chain a pop' conversion an' is it easily done .?

Here's another Triumph but with mummified 'zorst pipes ..

 

German Diamant & Ardie an' a Russian TMZ all from the 30's ..

And a bit of Diamant tank art ..

 

11 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

I'll see your 175 squalor and raise you my 250

 

250? How squalid.  Here's a '74 500 Four:

10 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Here's another Triumph but with mummified 'zorst pipes ..

We owned and built a lot of Triumphs like that in the 80's & 90's.

Nice, simple, clean, good fun bikes.

People who have not ridden a short wheelbase rigid frame, will not understand how good they can handle on smooth tarmac.

Fantastically well.

Until it gets really bumpy...

 

Edit. that bike pictured might not look it, but is surprisingly stock ish.

Weld on hardtail, throw all the unnecessary crap away,  and job's a good 'un basically.

 

10 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Beautiful prim' case rework on that .. Is that R/H drive chain a pop' conversion an' is it easily done .?

Primary case is stock.

I think just the g/box sprkt behind it has been converted to a crossover link and drive on the other side to clear the fat tyre and be a bit different.

No, not easily done.

Japanese built bike by a famous Jap custom shop.

Note the lovely oil tank behind the primary.

And those fork legs may be off a 90's trials bike.

17 hours ago, ballpoint said:

Looks like a 1931 4F.31

Those early OHC 500cc Square Fours were a disaster waiting to happen.

God does have off days like everybody else.

TBH i don't think even think the last OHV 1000cc models or whatever they were, were the most solid bikes you could own, especially in hot weather, long highways etc.

ie California...

As we're having a bit of an MV fest' here's the late 50's 500/6 .. 

 

I've put one of these up before a long time back but these really are some good pic's of one .. 

750S MV .. You could but 3 Honda 750's for what one of these would set you back , back in the day but check out the quality of it , the paint , the general " rightness " of the lines and the front brake are all top notch .. And no slouch if you had the dough to buy one .. Top class bike that ..

 

Cool old Zundapp 800 flat 4 and 20's Be-eM but fitted with a modern engine .. 

 

Raunchy bike porn.  The owner ("Rat Bike Milo") had driven it 615,000 miles ... as of June, 2011.  I saw it at a big bike meet a few years back.  He had driven from the State of Oregon to Washington, DC. (about 2,600 miles each way.)  

 

 

More MV'ness .. 

Ago having a go at the TT ..

Someone else giving a 500 a caning ..

1949 GP125 .. One of the earliest MV's .. 

350 Electronica twin .. 

 

Back to the 'modern' world.  The recently revealed Thruxton TFC.  Only 750 to be built.

 

 

^ Why don't they make 865 ?

A Royal Enfield 350, with a gnarley exhaust and a cool carved clutch cover.  Modded by Kathmandu based RS Moto.  Which makes it more Himalayan than the Himalayan.

 

 

13 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

^ Why don't they make 865 ?

Its a 106hp 1,200 twin, not an 865.  I don't know why they chose 750 though.

 

Another old name revived, an Arial Ace R.  Powered by a 200hp Honda VFR1200 motor, with 105 lb-ft of torque.  Should be quite a mover.

Big engines .? You gotta go some to out big this .. 

Lycoming 36 cyl , 77 litre liquid cooled aero lump .. 9 banks of four churning out it is said 5000 hp on take off .. 6 of them ( yes 6 ) were to have powered the abandoned B36 " Peacemaker " bomber end of WW2 .. 

 

 

Back to the 'modern' world.  The recently revealed Thruxton TFC.  Only 750 to be built.
 

 

There will be one in the Ubon showroom later this year, I am reliably informed. Love to see the (new) Rocket too!!


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6 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Big engines .? You gotta go some to out big this .. 

Lycoming 36 cyl , 77 litre liquid cooled aero lump .. 9 banks of four churning out it is said 5000 hp on take off .. 6 of them ( yes 6 ) were to have powered the abandoned B36 " Peacemaker " bomber end of WW2 .. 

 

 

Apparently this is the largest mass produced piston engine. Although I suspect the writer of that article may not have been aware of these?

 

 

Or even this one.

 

37 minutes ago, DILLIGAD said:

There will be one in the Ubon showroom later this year, I am reliably informed. Love to see the (new) Rocket too!!


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According to the Triumph Thailand website, THB890,000 is the asking price for one with no further accessories fitted.  They don't say how many Thailand is being allocated though - the US is getting 200, and Canada 20 being all I can find, so I don't imagine Thailand will get too many.  I might make a trip to one of the Bangkok dealers and see if there's still one unaccounted for.

 

The Rocket TFC will be "launched" on May 1st, and no release date for buying one has been given - you can't even pre-order one on their UK site yet, and no expected price is given.   It would be nice to have the matching set...  Damn you, Triumph.  I've finally done a major sell off and whittled my bikes down to just two - a Rocket and a 955i Tiger, and now you do this to me.  

 

They also haven't announced when they will start developing the mainstream one using the same engine.

 

Going from modern builds of old bike names, to a modern rebuild of an old bike.  A 1953 Thunderbird.

Two stroke, Turbocharged, 14 Cylinder, 107,390 HP

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wärtsilä-Sulzer_RTA96-C