Beautiful racing motorcyles
#1
Posted 08 September 2010 - 19:35
#4
Posted 08 September 2010 - 20:21
I have to agree with you Russell, if not THE best. No I am not in any way biased.
Running it close has to be the Linto
How on earth do you submit pictures??? Grrrrrrrrrr
Don´t forget the Matchless G45 !
#5
Posted 08 September 2010 - 20:23
I have to agree with you Russell, if not THE best. No I am not in any way biased.
Running it close has to be the Linto
How on earth do you submit pictures??? Grrrrrrrrrr
Don´t forget the Matchless G45
#6
Posted 08 September 2010 - 20:43
I have to agree with you Russell, if not THE best. No I am not in any way biased.
Running it close has to be the Linto
How on earth do you submit pictures??? Grrrrrrrrrr
Paul, once scanned and named the image will be on your desktop or equivalent. You then need to go to a picture hosting site such as Photobucket or Imagehost (both straightforward and require no registration) and simply find the scanned image from among the stuff on your desktop or wherever you saved it via the browse function( this info transfers automatically), hit the download button and you're almost sorted. Once the image appears on the hosting site, simply copy the img code, come back on here and whack it on wherever you want it. Best to do a preview post before hitting the submit button.
Edited by Russell Burrows, 08 September 2010 - 20:46.
#8
Posted 08 September 2010 - 22:07
Thanks Russell, looks a bit complicated for an old git like me but I will try.
How on earth could I forget my favourite, the G45?? No wonder my last boss said she was going to put me in a home!
http://www.flickr.co...57610659676908/
#9
Posted 08 September 2010 - 22:10
Thanks Russell, looks a bit complicated for an old git like me but I will try.
How on earth could I forget my favourite, the G45?? No wonder my last boss said she was going to put me in a home!
http://www.flickr.co...57610659676908/
Damn!! That didn’t work. Said it was too complicated.
#11
Posted 09 September 2010 - 06:17
Too right Russ - Manx Nortons are ugly, but 7Rs are pretty, I always thought.
Somehow the G50 doesn't quite have the same effect . . . . . . .
Manxes are ugly ?? Oh my dear, tell me the next shed where I can find such a chucked away nastiness....
#12
Posted 09 September 2010 - 09:03
#13
Posted 09 September 2010 - 10:08
Not all of them were good to look at, but surely this was one of the most beautiful of all.
'Handsome is as handsome does' Russell! Surely there was never a better illustration of this expression than a racing bike? How could anyone say a Manx Norton was ugly? All racing bikes are beautiful to me, some are just better than others at some aspect of their performance.
For instance, the 7R was pretty-pretty alright, but I remember the front wheel pawing the air in a fast S bend, the frame cracking around the rear engine mount, the bottom frame rails scraping the ground. Sure, it went round a single bumpy bend like Hilberry very well and it was a softer ride than a Manx but for absolute, rock-steady handling, the Manx was unbeatable. No bike I have ever ridden surpassed them - and yes, I've ridden the RG and the 750 Yamaha.
Having said that, the Velo Mk VIII is pretty, so is the Velocette 'Roarer'. I know it's personal preference and everyone will have their favourite, but I love things like the ugly-pretty (or pretty ugly) pre-war AJS blown four, even odd looking things like the 500 120-degree twin Guzzis, Meier's sleek 1939 BMW, they were all built with one thing in mind: fitness for purpose - and that makes them all beautiful.
It's a lovely thread, Russ.
#14
Posted 09 September 2010 - 10:28
'Handsome is as handsome does' Russell! Surely there was never a better illustration of this expression than a racing bike? How could anyone say a Manx Norton was ugly? All racing bikes are beautiful to me, some are just better than others at some aspect of their performance.
For instance, the 7R was pretty-pretty alright, but I remember the front wheel pawing the air in a fast S bend, the frame cracking around the rear engine mount, the bottom frame rails scraping the ground. Sure, it went round a single bumpy bend like Hilberry very well and it was a softer ride than a Manx but for absolute, rock-steady handling, the Manx was unbeatable. No bike I have ever ridden surpassed them - and yes, I've ridden the RG and the 750 Yamaha.
Having said that, the Velo Mk VIII is pretty, so is the Velocette 'Roarer'. I know it's personal preference and everyone will have their favourite, but I love things like the ugly-pretty (or pretty ugly) pre-war AJS blown four, even odd looking things like the 500 120-degree twin Guzzis, Meier's sleek 1939 BMW, they were all built with one thing in mind: fitness for purpose - and that makes them all beautiful.
It's a lovely thread, Russ.
Well said Terry. To me a Manx is a beautiful thing as well as an extremely effective racer (excuse for a pic):
I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but fundamentally a well engineered machine such as a well prepared racing bike tend to be pretty good looking.
Now for a racing bike that pushes the beauty in the eye of the beholder theory:
Ben
#15
Posted 09 September 2010 - 10:55
.....or this for that matter
Edited by Hasselhoff, 09 September 2010 - 11:22.
#16
Posted 09 September 2010 - 13:29
Hass, being an old git I'd rather hoped we'd stick to unfaired bikes, since it's the engineering purity I like to see, not just a few hundred quid's worth of carbon with pretty paint - you could have a hideous road bike hidden under there! Mind you, take the fairing off that YZ and you might have a point. We know how effective it was on-track in the hands of Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey, among others.I still can't see much wrong with the look of this......
.....or this for that matter
#17
Posted 09 September 2010 - 17:56
'Handsome is as handsome does' Russell! Surely there was never a better illustration of this expression than a racing bike? How could anyone say a Manx Norton was ugly? All racing bikes are beautiful to me, some are just better than others at some aspect of their performance.
For instance, the 7R was pretty-pretty alright, but I remember the front wheel pawing the air in a fast S bend, the frame cracking around the rear engine mount, the bottom frame rails scraping the ground. Sure, it went round a single bumpy bend like Hilberry very well and it was a softer ride than a Manx but for absolute, rock-steady handling, the Manx was unbeatable. No bike I have ever ridden surpassed them - and yes, I've ridden the RG and the 750 Yamaha.
Having said that, the Velo Mk VIII is pretty, so is the Velocette 'Roarer'. I know it's personal preference and everyone will have their favourite, but I love things like the ugly-pretty (or pretty ugly) pre-war AJS blown four, even odd looking things like the 500 120-degree twin Guzzis, Meier's sleek 1939 BMW, they were all built with one thing in mind: fitness for purpose - and that makes them all beautiful.
It's a lovely thread, Russ.
Good stuff, Terry. Never ridden a Manx (I too think they look great) but I did once own a 7R which always behaved itself, but then I was going a lot slower than you. As they say, wish I had it now.
#18
Posted 09 September 2010 - 19:36
Sorry Russell,its a 2 stroke thingy
HW
#19
Posted 10 September 2010 - 00:49
Pretty it aint,but beautiful it is!
Sorry Russell,its a 2 stroke thingy
HW
Built for one thing and one thing only....you're right, absolutely beautiful.
#21
Posted 10 September 2010 - 10:56
#22
Posted 10 September 2010 - 13:16
At first glance, I thought this was Santiago Herrero's Ossa but then thought the motor looked a bit like a Maico., so you'll have to tell us what it is.Pretty it aint,but beautiful it is!
Sorry Russell,its a 2 stroke thingy
HW
#23
Posted 10 September 2010 - 13:44
At first glance, I thought this was Santiago Herrero's Ossa but then thought the motor looked a bit like a Maico., so you'll have to tell us what it is.
I'm not sure if it's thee bike but definitely an Ossa, Terry.
Edited by Russell Burrows, 10 September 2010 - 13:46.
#24
Posted 10 September 2010 - 14:30
Yes David, I'm with you. Unlike the Ossa not really a proper racer, but pretty impressive. Looks like the rider sits nice and low...kinda in it, rather than on it. I never saw these in action, bet lots of you did though. And I wonder if anyone out there has ever ridden something similar ?
I think Steve Bateman has ridden something fairly close Russell You are right, it's not really a race bike and I can't think of any Jap race bikes that were not faired and the early ones... A Gilera maybe? Red of course
#25
Posted 10 September 2010 - 14:38
I'm not sure if it's thee bike but definitely an Ossa, Terry.
Yes, that's Santi's bike, Russ, I think it was a one-off built for him. A great rider he was, too.
I remember an Ossa creating a bit of a fuss at the TT in about 1968. Trevor Burgess was riding a 125 rotary disc bike which I had built and he was offered a ride on a 250 Ossa road bike for the Production TT. The moment I saw the size of the expansion chamber I knew it was no road engine, it was 125mm in diameter (I just happened to have some calipers on me....) and of course, Trevor ran away with the race. No attempt at any sort of silencer on it and there were considerable mutterings about it afterwards.
#26
Posted 10 September 2010 - 15:48
Its the same one as on the little video I took last year.It now belongs to Jaime Alguasari (dad of the F1 driver) ex works Derbi pilot,and gaffer of Solo Moto magazine in Spain.It sits in his office normally.There is a watercooled version in a museum not far from the new Aragon GP circuit.It was still under development when Santi was killed,so never reached the level of the aircooled version.I'm not sure if it's thee bike but definitely an Ossa, Terry.
HW
#27
Posted 10 September 2010 - 16:51
Yes, that's Santi's bike, Russ, I think it was a one-off built for him. A great rider he was, too.
I remember an Ossa creating a bit of a fuss at the TT in about 1968. Trevor Burgess was riding a 125 rotary disc bike which I had built and he was offered a ride on a 250 Ossa road bike for the Production TT. The moment I saw the size of the expansion chamber I knew it was no road engine, it was 125mm in diameter (I just happened to have some calipers on me....) and of course, Trevor ran away with the race. No attempt at any sort of silencer on it and there were considerable mutterings about it afterwards.
Yes Terry, I think I recall that. Can't remember how they got away with it though. I think too that around the same time the Bultaco Metrella was used with a bloody great expansion chamber ?
Edited by Russell Burrows, 10 September 2010 - 16:54.
#28
Posted 10 September 2010 - 16:52
Its the same one as on the little video I took last year.It now belongs to Jaime Alguasari (dad of the F1 driver) ex works Derbi pilot,and gaffer of Solo Moto magazine in Spain.It sits in his office normally.There is a watercooled version in a museum not far from the new Aragon GP circuit.It was still under development when Santi was killed,so never reached the level of the aircooled version.
HW
Thanks for the info Herr, thought I recognised the vid from somewhere.
#29
Posted 10 September 2010 - 16:54
Yes, that's Santi's bike, Russ, I think it was a one-off built for him. A great rider he was, too.
I remember an Ossa creating a bit of a fuss at the TT in about 1968. Trevor Burgess was riding a 125 rotary disc bike which I had built and he was offered a ride on a 250 Ossa road bike for the Production TT. The moment I saw the size of the expansion chamber I knew it was no road engine, it was 125mm in diameter (I just happened to have some calipers on me....) and of course, Trevor ran away with the race. No attempt at any sort of silencer on it and there were considerable mutterings about it afterwards.
Not much difference to the 'proddy' Bultacos of winner W.A. Smith and runner-up Tommy Robb a year before then, they obviously learnt their lesson. Was there any reason why the welded joints of the Ossa monocoque were so ... let's say remarkable ?
Edited by Rennmax, 10 September 2010 - 16:55.
#30
Posted 10 September 2010 - 16:57
Yes Renn, a megaphone was available for the Mach 1 Ducati, don't think that would have been allowed though.Not much difference to the 'proddy' Bultacos of winner W.A. Smith and runner-up Tommy Robb a year before then, they obviously learnt their lesson. Was there any reason why the welded joints of the Ossa monocoque were so ... let's say remarkable ?
#31
Posted 10 September 2010 - 18:45
The frame was made from magnesium alloy sheet,but as that b......d Franco had put the 'mockers' on Spain dealing with the civilised world,it was impossible to source there.Not to be put off,Snr. Giro boss of Ossa,whose original trade was making photographic and cinema equipment,had a plan.He had some good contacts in the States,and managed to get a couple of sheets sent to France.Into the back of an estate car,then into Spain.Easy (ish).I dont suppose there was great experience of fabricating this stuff in Spain at that time,so that may account for the 'agricultural' look of it.As I said,not pretty,but boy did it work.Not much difference to the 'proddy' Bultacos of winner W.A. Smith and runner-up Tommy Robb a year before then, they obviously learnt their lesson. Was there any reason why the welded joints of the Ossa monocoque were so ... let's say remarkable ?
HW
#32
Posted 10 September 2010 - 18:50
Yes Russell I remember Tommy Robb and Bill Smith on the Bultacos in the 250 Production race TT Most were astounded that they iwere allowed to use racing expansion chambers within the regulationsYes Terry, I think I recall that. Can't remember how they got away with it though. I think too that around the same time the Bultaco Metrella was used with a bloody great expansion chamber ?
#33
Posted 10 September 2010 - 18:58
Yes Russell I remember Tommy Robb and Bill Smith on the Bultacos in the 250 Production race TT Most were astounded that they iwere allowed to use racing expansion chambers within the regulations
I wonder if they argued the racing kit was somehow standard? Anyway Arthur, what's your favourite Guzzi?
#34
Posted 10 September 2010 - 19:05
Wasn't there a half arsed excuse that that the expansion box was a factory option?I wonder if they argued the racing kit was somehow standard? Anyway Arthur, what's your favourite Guzzi?
HW
#37
Posted 10 September 2010 - 22:21
What are the gold bits (cam chain cover, crankcases etc) actually made of? they make the bike look really trick, a bit like when gold fork sliders and other bits started appearing on modern GP bikes.
#38
Posted 10 September 2010 - 23:22
Just going back to the 7R and one question i've never got around to asking, pardon my ignorance here but being born in 1960 they had all but gone from the scene when I got involved.
What are the gold bits (cam chain cover, crankcases etc) actually made of? they make the bike look really trick, a bit like when gold fork sliders and other bits started appearing on modern GP bikes.
The parts you mention is made of magnesium, the gold paint is for proteckting the metal from the atmosphere.
Magnesium has a limited life, so lifetime is prolonged with the parts sealed with a paint.
Thats why replica part is made from light alloy.
#39
Posted 11 September 2010 - 00:05
So the 7R certainly was cutting edge technology in its time then!!
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#40
Posted 11 September 2010 - 00:28
Thanks, I had wondered if it was magnesium but assumed it would have been far too expensive to use in that quantity on a customer machine in those days.
So the 7R certainly was cutting edge technology in its time then!!
Yes, and all for less than £500 a go. No box of spares though, cos you didn't need them.
#41
Posted 11 September 2010 - 10:12
#42
Posted 11 September 2010 - 10:56
Used to seeing them with red cloth tape on the bars, of course...drool, drool....
#43
Posted 11 September 2010 - 12:00
Got that right, Renn. Not to mention sandcast, hand built and tailor made. And yes, the sound....
Used to seeing them with red cloth tape on the bars, of course...drool, drool....
Just a couple of days ago at the MGP
and on the 350
Wonder how his fastest lap of 109.089 mph is comparable to Ago's 108.38 mph clinched 43 years ago....remarkable performances anyway !!
Edited by Rennmax, 11 September 2010 - 12:11.
#44
Posted 11 September 2010 - 12:30
Good looking, perfect amalgam of power and handling and best sound
Yes Renn, who didn't fantasise about riding one But.... is it me, or is this example somehow taller or something? Dosen't seem to have Cerinai forks and perhaps the seat and tank are undersized? Anyway, I agree with you; in the collective memory of those of us who were around in the sixties /early seventies, this must feature as one of the best ever.
#45
Posted 11 September 2010 - 12:33
Just a couple of days ago at the MGP
and on the 350
Wonder how his fastest lap of 109.089 mph is comparable to Ago's 108.38 mph clinched 43 years ago....remarkable performances anyway !!
Cracking clips there Renn
I've always been a stinkwheel afficianado, but the sound of the MV's was always something special, always made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. (Am I a werewolf?)
As Glenn rightly said, drool...drool
#46
Posted 11 September 2010 - 22:17
Re the lap times : of course you can't compare them with road improvements and shortening of corners, but the 109 mph lap is still mighty impressive : I think Farquhar went round last year on the Paton at just on 110 as well, savage stuff !
#47
Posted 11 September 2010 - 22:46
Mostly.Well said Terry. To me a Manx is a beautiful thing as well as an extremely effective racer (excuse for a pic):
I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but fundamentally a well engineered machine such as a well prepared racing bike tend to be pretty good looking.
#49
Posted 12 September 2010 - 10:31
I'M KIDDING ! But actually, even though it's a shed, it's still got ok rubber, wheels look good, decent front brake....probably still a flyer...
Edited by GD66, 12 September 2010 - 10:33.
#50
Posted 12 September 2010 - 10:49
I thought it may have been a pic from "Ray Petty : The Drinking Years"...
I'M KIDDING ! But actually, even though it's a shed, it's still got ok rubber, wheels look good, decent front brake....probably still a flyer...
Makes the Ryan Norton's look prestine , Glenn