W/NW : Motorcycles

[VictorM.]

Yamaha RD350 on the Cabot Trail in August, 1973


Leica IIIf, Nikkor 50/2, Kodachrome

 

[FrankS]

Beautiful, Victor!

 

[VictorM.]

Thanks Frank! One of the first scans from my new V500.

 

[FrankS]

That 2 stroke 350 could not have been a very relaxing ride. 3000kms on it could bring on a nervous breakdown, no?

 

[swoop]

 

[Benjamin]

Great bike, great pictures. Oddly, there are three Bonnevilles here in this small town of 6500. Plus one of those look-alike Kawasaki clones.

You mean a W650 I think.

 

[ilia]

 

[robbeiflex]

Old MBK (with pedals 🙂) in Morocco, November 2009
Zorki 4k, Jupiter-8 50mm, Ilford HP5+

 

[MV72]

Port Louis (Mauritius)

 

[tonyj]

..... the occasional oddities of teutonic design.

..... the occasional oddities of teutonic design.

How do you like your red Beemer? I had a '95 R1100RA (abs brakes) and never got used to it. I found the ergonomics to be very odd (horn location, footpegs too high, etc), at least to someone who is more used to Hondas. Don't know if it's just me....

The bike handled beautifully, but I ended up selling it and just keeping my '66 SuperHawk.

I have had a love affair with beemers for the last fifty or so years.

Admittedly and as with the Leica cameras, teutonic engineering designs can be a just little quaint at times.

Nothing wrong with Hondas, but once you get over the initial 'strangeness' of the BMW the bikes are generally as good and as well made as it gets.

The red R1100R , by the way, is a joy to ride and as taken me all over Western Canada and the US, .... and with no issues.

At least you didn't have to kick start your 1100 Vince, as I do with some older beemers. Now there was (is) some real weird teutonic engineering.

But like Leicas, beemers, especially the older ones, tend to be keepers. 😉

 

[tedwhite]

In 1965 a friend (George Freeman Bailey from Green Mt. NC) got drafted and left his 500cc Velocette Thruxton with me until he returned from 'nam. I was going to grad school in SF at the time, so naturally I took it on the infamous "Sunday Morning Ride," which started at the Sausalito heliport and ended at Point Reyes (no cops in those days, so it was essentially an unsanctioned roadrace). Only one problem: I absolutely could not get it started on cold mornings (kick start only). Probably because I only weighed 135 at the time. Fortunately, I lived on a hill and could bump-start it.

The bike was fast, had gobs of torque, and handled like a true road-racer. God bless vintage British bikes.

 

[FrankS]

76 R90/6

81 R100/7

keepers

 

[larmarv916]

So...here is what is the most exciting Bike I have ridden several years. I got to do so when doing a story about 6 months after shooting these photos for my story on the arrival of the first "american" delivery. To a dealer new me in southern Calif. I did a second story on the rebirth of Guzzi and also tested a Norge 1100 in Italy. The great thing was being able to take my son with me to Guzzi.

 

[Cron]

 

[Vince Lupo]

...........

That bike looks very unloved 🙁

Great shot!

 

[Simon D.]

 

[Vince Lupo]

Men just don't seem to stand around looking at motorcycles anymore in their cardigans and smoking pipes...

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Harley...

Todd

 

[xwhatsit]

A couple more of the CB250RS; it goes well down gravel roads despite the clip-ons. I didn't take the pics myself (obviously), they were taken on an evil digital.

For the record, sometimes I wear cardigans and stand around looking at my bikes. I don't smoke a pipe though.

 

[JeremyLangford]