I have owned and/or ridden motorcycle from the US, Italy, England, and Austria. I was never into Japanese motorcycles and always turned away from them. The one bike I always wanted to add was a boxer-engined BMW, but I let time slip away from me. I don't know if I'll ever get one now. ... View more

Nope... Gilera was first with that type motorcycle engine. There were other 4 cylinder engines in various configurations also, but Honda copied Gilera directly. ... View more

Lucas refrigerators were perfect for keeping beer warm. ... View more

And you would always either ride alone or at the back of the pack. Even the most efficient oil mixing will never eliminate the smoke that trails the bike. My Dad rode a Zuke T500 for years and I was his passenger. I can still remember the T500 lifting the front wheel in any gear when it was gunned, even flying down the freeway. When our rides got a lot longer, he changed out to a Honda 4 cylinder 4 stroke (chopper). When I started riding my own I rode a European 2 stroke and would always end up being waved back by other riders, especially in hilly terrain. My best friend and riding partner rode a Zuke GT750. We both changed to 4stroke engines as we matured; him on a Sportster and me on English & American twins. Did we have fun; hell yeah! I wish I still had any of the bikes today. I especially want an Kawasaki H2 750 engine to build into a custom street racer. ... View more

Two points to make about this: 1) Slavery was rampant in those days and the prior 4000 years, and covered most every race of people on every continent. Thank god we live in a world that has gotten wiser. 2) Not all colonists were slave owners. ... View more

My hats off to Larry Wilson. I sure appreciated the fact that he used a junk car to start. I'm one of those that cringe when someone cuts up a good condition original car. I've always owned vintage vehicles and always resisted the temptation to modify them in any way that involved cutting. I only changed what could be bolted on and later put back. ... View more

I can imagine I’ll piss off some people here, but other than a few notables, their collector status is temporary. It’s a fad and the result of people following blindly. In some cases, their value will be overestimated and folks will spend way too much money on something that will be worthless once the fad is done. Most Japanese motorcycles were made in abundance, and there are always many more of them out there, much like the Japanese import cars that followed. There are very few noteworthy Japanese collectibles cars, and it will always be that way. They were always around as cheap transportation that got thrown away when used up. What am I missing? Please prove me wrong. I sincerely want to know what I’m not seeing.  ... View more

@Murat,  "It is so sad young americans today have no idea"... Quite the opposite, we should be proud that young Americans haven't had to deal with foolishness such as that. On the other hand, what most young Americans experience in today's world is all too shameful. Us, from the older generations would be ill-equipped to deal with their world. ... View more

I guess it depends on the stock points. I owned and rode several British bikes, and the factory Lucas dual-point ignition was horrible. I was always kind of a purist with most vehicles, but when finally upgraded to an electronic ignition, I chose one without a black box (uses stock advancer). It was an incredible difference. The engine ticked over fairly evenly, and revved smoothly and higher than achieved with the best points tune. I kept the stock points plate ready to run in my toolbag.  The electronic unit did fail once during a poker run and I had the bike back in the chase in 10mins. The repaired unit is back in and still there after 25 years.  BTW- My mid-70’s Harley still runs points.  ... View more

I have been against the whole autonomous thing for a long time. I was studying the subject not long ago and the one reality of autonomous vehicles is the end of a lifestyle for me or others like me. Every model of autonomous driving cannot make room for motorcycles. It was written somewhere (don’t ask me to remember) that motorcycles would be legislated off the road before autonomous cars come to fruition.  I don’t know how much truth there is to this scenario, but the thought of it scares me. I’ve already been crippled by a negligent driver and today’s laws state the driver is not responsible. We can barely get states to pass laws protecting motorcyclist, bicyclists, and pedestrians from road users. Now imagine if the big money was behind keeping themselves out of liability with autonomous cars. I see no future for future non-car travelers.  ... View more

I’ve been riding motorcycles all my life and never heard of S100. I may try it. Thanks. ... View more

For cleaning any metal assembly, I would certainly avoid citrus cleaners. They are water based and the citrus is an acid. It will get under bolts, screws, & nuts, or any other hidey place. I’m a retired toolmaker building injection molding dies and the PM shop use to use citrus cleaners, and after a tool sits awhile, they were finding rust. I suggested a move to WD-40 to clean with and the problem went away. ... View more

Double post ... View more

For my ‘60 Corvette, the factory imperfect ribbed aluminum covers are a must.  I’m not a fan of jewelry under the hood. An exposed engine is the exception. Even back in the day, I’ve always gone for the sleeper look, so the less showy the better (painted aluminum manifolds included). I tended to have rats before that became a “thing”. I liked understated; factory performance covers or plain die cast covers, not ribbed. Even fabricated covers at times. Rigid aluminum covers do a much better job at sealing things up. The older covers made in any fashion are usually thicker material. The stamped steel and aluminum covers nowadays are thin as all heck and have no place on a street engine.  ... View more

I disagree to a point about the use of an add-on gyroscope for an experienced rider. My leg was removed traumatically above the knee in a hit and run. With a prosthesis on, I can ride long distances easily. But situations where stopping is required is a trick. I can use both legs to keep the bike straight up, but I cannot stop my prosthesis from bending at the knee if the bike happens to bear left even just a little. I rode a beautiful Can-Am touring trike many miles around the Country, but it didn’t give me the same sensation as being on two wheels. I couldn’t lean. So I started riding a Twin Cam Softail. I cried at times on my first ride going from upstate Arkansas to South Louisiana because the joy was overwhelming. There are different gadgets to help a bike stay up while stopped, but most will trip the bike at times. I own several American & British motorcycles. A small gyroscope sounds like a great device for me. There are so many lifelong riders with high skill levels in the world with varying degrees of mobility. They shouldn’t have to stop just because of it.  ... View more

I've ridden English bikes for many years. I still have a few; '73 Norton Commando Combat, '67 Matchless Hybrid (read Norton), and a '65 Triumph 650 bitsa bobber. I have found that most issues with the bike are improper maintenance or people trying to turn them into the Harley they can't afford. My Commando still has the original stock wiring harness. I took it off the bike and laid it out on a white sheet (for notemaking) and cleaned and tightened every connection I found. I also upgraded the ignition to an early Boyer unit that uses the stock advance weights and put a dual lead single coil (Harley) on it since the aluminum cans will leak at the slightest provocation. I've ridden that bike all over the Western States with no worries. I was offered the Hybrid by someone because they saw me riding my Norton, which looked well-ridden (not a garage queen). They had trouble with the ignition timing and there were no more bike shops to work on it. He said it would get hot after just a few miles down the road. I knew immediately that late timing keeps heat in the head and the problem was either to adjust the point or advance the timing. It turns out there are zero timing marks on the engine. I adjusted the points to factory settings then advanced the timing by feel and sound. Most engines will take as much advance as you can give them until you cant kick it over (backfire through the carb) or you hear the pinging. I rode it for several miles before taking it down for a quasi restoration. Lastly, the Triumph was bought because I regretted selling my original one. This one was updated with electronic ignition and charging systems, plus a Mikuni carb. I could tell it was owned by a Harley rider for several reasons, among them because the Sportster forks with 1" bars, and because the charging was changed to negative ground. Many folks get confused about the electrical flow. I prefer the positive ground because you don't get corrosion on the battery terminals. I don't ride often now because I'm crippled. I haven't given up hope of riding full time again, but after ten years of a silent shop, my wife is pressuring me to part with my collection. ... View more

Most rebuildable vehicles are worth rebuilding. I had a cousin with an 80’s GMC pickup. He was a well traveled musician and majored in business in college. He put several hundred thousands of miles on that truck. Maintenance was handled religiously. After about 10 years, he crunched the numbers and concluded it made more sense to restore the truck back to new rather than buy a new one. He had me r&r the engine and trans to be rebuilt with a few upgrades for reliability and efficiency. He had the truck repainted. He restored the interior to look like new. Basically he had a “new” 10yo truck. He was very happy with it and continued to pile on the miles. If he hadn’t passed away in a crash (from lack of sleep), I’m sure he would still be driving the same truck.  ... View more

The glamour cars are long gone now. If Pontiac was still around, the cars would be cookie-cutter cars for GM, just like the rest of the brand. Even Ford and Chrysler have the same basic style as the rest of the world, for the most part. There are no cars made today that I can think of that have the style of 50’s & 60’s cars.  ... View more