Tohatsu racer.

'56 Tohatsu 125 and a '54 DKW RT125 .. spot the difference .. 

 

Looks like the Tohatsu is a hardtail and just a sprung seat. compared with the DKW it was copied from / To me the DKW looks to be a far better bike all round. But I will be the first to admit All I really know is wood and hammers.   555

Where is the carburetor on the Tohatsu?

14 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Where is the carburetor on the Tohatsu?

Looks like it's detached from the barrel .. look just behind the kickstart ..

32 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

Looks like it's detached from the barrel .. look just behind the kickstart ..

So that's not an injector pump....

 

A 1971 AJS Stormer scrambler ,with a Starmaker engine ,which was basically made by Villiers, used with a fair bit of success at the time  

6 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

'56 Tohatsu 125 and a '54 DKW RT125 .. spot the difference .. 

 

Or the humble BSA D1 Bantam ,also a copy of the DKW RT125 , a spoils of war. 

This one I would say  is missing the front forks gaters .

Harley's take on the DKW .. 

 

Another Z1 I hear you say .. but take a closer look and it's a 6 cyl 1350 cc courtesy of Master modifier Al Millyard .. as you might expect it looks just like a factory made job .. 

 

2 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Another Z1 I hear you say .. but take a closer look and it's a 6 cyl 1350 cc courtesy of Master modifier Al Millyard .. as you might expect it looks just like a factory made job .. 

 

 

... and you can follow the complete construction of this engine, and lots more, on his YouTube channel -

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj4hbNBjmdvXONmcxcLSNhg 

 

Great stuff.  

4 hours ago, MartinL said:

 

... and you can follow the complete construction of this engine, and lots more, on his YouTube channel -

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj4hbNBjmdvXONmcxcLSNhg 

 

Great stuff.  

I stumbled on his videos ,as you said great stuff ,built literally in a garden shed. 

And his V12 Kawasaki .. not a big fan of these me , too gross and heavy but you can only admire how he's managed to get two complete engines in and still make it look like it came out of a showroom .. 

 

Hoolies late 80's fave the TDR250 .. barrel of laughs if a bit buzzy at high speed .. imagine what one is like then with an RD500 engine shoehorned in .. 

 

The master again ,this one is 2 cylinders from a Pratt and Witney 9 cylinder Wasp Radial engine , all 5 litres of it .

Late 50's Triumph's dinky 200 2 stroke twin .. never went into production as far as I'm aware .. 

 

Rare 1920's Motosacoche 750 OHC twin .. Swiss watch making brought to motorcycling .. 

 

Motosacoche (engine in a bag).  Interesting:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motosacoche

 

Love them or hate them there's no denying the CBR900 was a game changer as far as sports bikes went and rendered the GSXR11's and ZXR9's and just about everything else on the street obsolete overnight setting the bar for everyone to follow in a bike the size of a 600 with the power of an 1100 .. everyone I know who owned one of these either got banned riding it or sold it before it killed them as the warp speed these could achieve in the blink of eye eclipsed what you were used to in a street bike for the day .. 

 

Londoner Dave Simmonds .. privateer motorcycle racer who did it for the love not the glory .. lived out of the back of the van , fettled his own machines that he had to beg , steal and borrow to ride and was one of the first riders in G B to race Tohatsu bikes in the early 60's in the 50 and 125cc classes including the IOM and winning a National championship on the 125 .. also flitted with Honda's and Kriedlers before blagging a 125 twin off Kawasaki that was uncompetitive hitherto but a change in the rules banning the multi cylinder bikes from Yamaha , Suzuki and Honda that then seen them withdraw from that class left the field a bit more even and Dave took it to and stormed the 1969 World Championships winning 8 out of 12 and runner up in two others and giving Kawasaki their first World Championship in the process .. Kawa' were impressed and gave him more semi works support including the mental air-cooled 500 on which he finished 4th in the W C in his 2nd year up against the works M V's including winning the Spanish G P on it .. 

Came 7th in the 1972 500 championships before dying in a camp site fire accident in France same year aged 33 .. 

Dave on the 500 Kawa ..

Tohatsu 125 similar to the one he rode to National championship victory .. 

On his 125 Kawasaki at the IOM .. 

 

A M is known for enlarging bike engines but here's one where he's taken some away .. Kawa 500 twin .. looking at the size of the barrels and heads it uses the two outside ones off a 750 .. again looks like it came from the factory like that .. 

His tribute also to Honda's screaming 6 cyl racers of the 60's .. 

 

 

19 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Late 50's Triumph's dinky 200 2 stroke twin .. never went into production as far as I'm aware .. 

 

Another Triumph prototype,the TS81 at the time 1981,BMW had just released they R100RT, boxer a uprated version of their  other twins ,and it sold, Triumph looked at and thought we could do that, they  put on  some upgrades  main one a Westlake developed  8 valve head  on the twin engine ,a way to increase performance without major,  re expensive, work below the barrels.

It was shown at Earls Court show ,Triumph needed 50 buyers to make it viable for a production run ,but with big problems at the factory ,at the time it never got past the prototype stage .like a lot of Triumph prototype's at the time .

Looking at that gear change and where it is ,it looks like down change to go up a gear .like some AMC boxes.  

 

Mobylette 3 cyl moped .. wacky or what .. 

Motobecane 500 triple .. some were also badged Motoconfort .. it was brave to take on the likes of Kawasaki and Suzuki who made 2 stroke triples also but to do it when their model line up's were coming to the end of the road and wouldn't be replaced and then try abit of one upmanship by adding fuel injection was even braver .. needless to say they were not a huge seller .. those that remain are worth alot now along with the smaller 350 .. 

 

 

1919 Whiting V4 from Oz .. 

 

Another "what might have been" from Triumph.  The tidy looking Bandit 350, the last project started by Edward Turner before his retirement. A BSA variant, called the Fury, was also planned.

 

12 prototypes were built in 1971, but, despite a US magazine giving them a good review, concluding that Triumph would 'sell all they can crank out in the next 12 months', the project was ended after troubles at the factory.  800 production frames, and numerous components, were produced and all failed the company's internal QC process due to poor workmanship.  Only 5 working models survive.

 

Poor workmanship?  Might be time for that photo again:

Better known for their Veetwins here's a quite beautiful Kohler Escoffier 350 single .. 

 

5 hours ago, ballpoint said:

Another "what might have been" from Triumph.  The tidy looking Bandit 350, the last project started by Edward Turner before his retirement. A BSA variant, called the Fury, was also planned

Is this top bike part of the same project .? It has what looks like a more sloped forward engine and the general lines look cleaner almost like it's a different model again .. Good looking bike what ever it is .. 

 

One beneath is sporting a Triumph badge but ain't no Triumph I recognise or is it someone make believing .. any ideas .?

 

36 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

Is this top bike part of the same project .? It has what looks like a more sloped forward engine and the general lines look cleaner almost like it's a different model again .. Good looking bike what ever it is .. 

 

One beneath is sporting a Triumph badge but ain't no Triumph I recognise or is it someone make believing .. any ideas .?

 

 

German Triumph (TWN)  http://www.autogallery.org.ru/mtriumph.htm  

Possibly a Triumph Boss circa 1954.  https://cybermotorcycle.com/euro/brands/triumph-twn.htm 

Triumph - TWN Motorcycles  Manufactured in Germany 1903-1957

Triumph TWN History

A native of Germany, Siegfried Bettmann founded the Triumph factory in Coventry in 1886 where he built bicycles. A decade later he built another Triumph factory in his home town of Nurnberg. The English factory built its first motorcycles in 1902 with the German plant following in 1903.

 

16 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

German Triumph (TWN)  http://www.autogallery.org.ru/mtriumph.htm  

Possibly a Triumph Boss circa 1954.  https://cybermotorcycle.com/euro/brands/triumph-twn.htm 

Triumph - TWN Motorcycles  Manufactured in Germany 1903-1957

Triumph TWN History

A native of Germany, Siegfried Bettmann founded the Triumph factory in Coventry in 1886 where he built bicycles. A decade later he built another Triumph factory in his home town of Nurnberg. The English factory built its first motorcycles in 1902 with the German plant following in 1903.

 

Well done.  I was wondering about that oval tank badge with the trailing T cross piece logo.  A 350cc two stroke twin, built from 1953 - 1957