another one of my shovelhead. 16 over girder, aftermarket wishbone frame that's being molded, and currently working on making the king and queen seat pan out of Kydex, and modifying a paughco panhead tin primary to fit. Modeling it somewhat after my dad's bike he had in the late 70s.
Old school drag racer/artist guy with a Waayyy off topic project. This is gonna be my retirement touring bike...Italian. At least it's a V twin
Here’s what I bought last November, It’s low and not very quick but faster than I am. I’ve removed the bags and put the stock seat back on. It was November so I got a smoking hot deal on a low mileage bike that looks new.
paid $1,600. 1998 bmw 1100. Just putt-Putt around on it. runs okay and definitely faster than I need. Not really the bike of my dreams.
I had a very Ned Ludd thought over my customary Wednesday afternoon downtown coffee: designing a longbike from first principles. Though how that is not a Gurney Alligator I'm not yet sure. On a sportbike we have the rider in what I today heard described as a "shrimp position" over the engine/gearbox. The idea is clearly to have the heaviest part of the bike as close as possible to the rider's CG, which is likely to be a point a short distance in front of and below their belly button. The combined CG of these two masses are likely to be within the fuel tank, so that the balance doesn't change much with the fuel level. A centre of gravity is by definition the point about which a body may be rotated in any way without changing its equilibrium, so in theory we could rotate this engine-tank-rider body so the rider is behind rather than over the engine, and still have the same weight distribution, inertial polarity, etc. as before. Now, one look at the aforementioned "shrimp position" tells us it wouldn't be as simple as that. Nor would the riding position advocated by the late L. J. K. Setright: body at 60°, arms at 60°, thighs at 45°, and calves horizontal. For a start I never bent as easily as tall, gangly Setright did. We'd definitely have to make adjustments to the riding position. Still, I reckon carbs-in-your-crotch is a good starting point. I had the idea of something along the lines of a Vespa's rear suspension principle, rear wheel, drive train, engine, etc. combined in a sort of lattice girder which pivots about a point close to the assembly's CG. The longer the girder, the less the effect of rotational inertia on suspension movement. We'd want that pivot as close as possible to the point on the zero-squat line closest to the rider's CG. There are advantages to a long wheelbase, notably as regards longitudinal weight transfer. The flipside of polar moment of inertia is polar moment of traction: the ideal would be to combine as little as possible of the former with as much as possible of the latter. Unfortunately wheels and tyres aren't weightless. Still, all of this points to a Hossack front end, not least due to the option of quickening geometry in the steering, which could bring back the responsiveness of a much shorter chassis. I'm not ready to start drawing stuff on this. In fact I shouldn't be wasting time daydreaming about this at all ...
This was my ride in the '80s. Yamaha 850 Special with red flake in the black paint. 3 cylinder bike with lots of torque, shaft drive.
I took this pic just as some other lady was telling me how much she preferred my bike to the huge Honda....very loudly... and within easy earshot of the Hondas owner. It's not easy cringing and feeling flattered at the same time.
A old heap I have sitting around. 1970 Honda 450. Story is it was built to this condition in 1977. I bought for $400 as a non runner with a clean title at a auction a few years back. Never worked on it. Figured it would be a quick flip. Zero interest locally. Had it for sale numerous times for $400 and no sale. Next step is part it out and scrap what doesn't sell.
I am a devoted Harley guy, with almost 60 years on them. I notice that with the Japanese bikes you sit on them whereas the Harley, you wrap yourself around them. With the Harley, the engine matches your heartbeat (that's my opinion), the Japanese bikes sound like an air conditioner (once again, my opinion). One cannot deny though that the Japanese bikes are ungodly quick. They are very smooth also. Denver's Choppers had made a number of the Honda and Kawasaki bikes into very attractive customs that were well received. Either way, ride what you like.
The Jalopy Journal
