W/NW : Motorcycles

Larry Cloetta said:
Many modern bikes, in a search for ever more marketable performance numbers, have seemed to be more and more MotoGP capable, and less and less street oriented.
This bike has always seemed to me to be one modern bike which is aimed at the actual everyday needs of normal people. A completely modern bike which just updates everything Honda got right about motorcycles decades ago. And it doesn’t look like an insect.
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I find it to be a great motorcycle, but not one that appeals to very many Americans. Honda designed the CB1100 for the Japanese market with no intentions of distributing the motorcycle here in the States. With it's double cradle steel frame incorporating twin rear shocks rolling on 18" wheels, it was designed to provide a true retro riding experience. It does benefit from some truly awesome brakes and fuel injection as found in what was Honda's first all new air-cooled engine in more than twenty years. A mill that was tuned with an emphasis on linear power delivery with an incredibly wide, flat powerband. Despite the fact that it was not an inexpensive motorcycle, nor was it intended to be, it became the best-seller in it's class the first year it went on sale in Japan back in 2010.

After three years Honda finally ended up bringing the CB1100 to North America where reception of the motorcycle was best described as lukewarm. The price tag considered too high and the power output too low in the eyes of most. But for me it was exactly what I was looking for in a motorcycle. Despite it's displacement, it's actually a fairly compact motorcycle. I often think of it more as a 750 than an 1100. It's a quality machine that will last me till the end of my riding days.
 
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Larry Cloetta said:
They were not that common in the States. One of the bike magazines at the time named it the World’s Best 500, and Guzzi didn’t often collect “world’s best” titles. Billy Joel was a Guzzi fan and bought this particular bike for his wife, and an 850 Le Mans, I think, for himself. Long story.
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Apparently Joel fell in love with Moto Guzzi's after owning a V50 Monza when he was young according to an article I read a few years ago. He was on the hunt of a clean example for himself at the time I read that article.

I can still remember the first time I saw a Moto Guzzi as a kid. It belonged to a friend of my dad's and those twin cylinders sticking out at an angle on either side of the bike stuck me as terrifying for some reason. Likely because it was such a far cry from the look of the Honda my father had owned over the years that I had grown accustomed to. I've seen a few of the more recent V7's around town over the past few years. I liked what I saw (and heard).

By the way, your V50 is a beautiful motorcycle. The brilliant red paint suits it well, and I particularly like the proportions of that bike.
 
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Guth said:
Apparently Joel fell in love with Moto Guzzi's after owning a V50 Monza when he was young according to an article I read a few years ago. He was on the hunt of a clean example for himself at the time I read that article.

I can still remember the first time I saw a Moto Guzzi as a kid. It belonged to a friend of my dad's and those twin cylinders sticking out at an angle on either side of the bike stuck me as terrifying for some reason. Likely because it was such a far cry from the look of the Honda my father had owned over the years that I had grown accustomed to. I've seen a few of the more recent V7's around town over the past few years. I liked what I saw (and heard).

By the way, your V50 is a beautiful motorcycle. The brilliant red paint suits it well, and I particularly like the proportions of that bike.
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Thanks. They do have their own distinct and sound, sort of like a BMW twin, but not exactly, and unlike anything else.

FWIW (admittedly not much) Joel bought this bike for his wife, when he was 31, so still pretty young. I still have the original sales slip from Action Motorcycles, NYC. First wife, the one who occasioned "She's Always a Woman" and "Just the Way You Are". Marriage went (way) south very shortly after this, she took half his money and the bike and moved out here for a spell. Bike fell off the sidestand one day, which she apparently found to be beyond the pale, so it went into a storage locker for years with around 3,000 miles on the clock. Friend of mine rescued it and flipped it to me for $500 20-something years ago.
When I tell (men) that it was Billy Joel's wife's bike, images of Christie Brinkley seem to predominate, because the reaction is almost always the same. People either touch the seat, smell the seat, or lick the seat (twice). Maybe I should not have related that part, but it's an interesting and apparently widely shared phenomenon. Or, maybe it's just my friends.
 
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Fujifilm GFX 50R
Fujinon GF 63mm f2.8 R WR lens
Yokohama, Japan - October 2020

All the best,
Mike
 
Mike,

I’m guessing that the movie “Smoke” has been mentioned numerous times over the years here on RFF. However, I couldn’t help but think of Harvey Keitel’s character with his “same time, same place” daily photo mission when I saw these last two shots of yours. Thanks as always for sharing.

...Bill
 
Guth said:
Mike,

I’m guessing that the movie “Smoke” has been mentioned numerous times over the years here on RFF. However, I couldn’t help but think of Harvey Keitel’s character with his “same time, same place” daily photo mission when I saw these last two shots of yours. Thanks as always for sharing.

...Bill
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Thanks, Guth, I love to share.

Sorry to say but I was not familiar with the movie "Smoke". After doing a quick check on the internet I can tell that it's a must see.

All the best,
Mike
 
I rode motorcycles for several years when I was younger. I had a Honda 500T and then a Yamaha SR500. There was a time when I was one of those “Live-To-Ride, Ride-To-Live” kind of guys. All gone now, never going back. But, I still appreciate the beauty of the motorcycle world. Thus, I enjoy photographing people enjoying their motorsports. Having said all that, I don’t recall seeing a bunch of motorcyclists yucking-it-up and smiling while riding. Most were too macho and serious to shuck-and-grin while riding the roads. Then again, what do I know.

All the best,
Mike
 


The Yamaha Nouvo LX 135cc which I used between 2010 and 2016: lightweight, nimble and a very good bike for use in Saigon's manic traffic. I sold it after Honda
introduced a locally made version of its 150cc SHi scooter, which offers a better riding position for tall people. Saigon, June 2010. Nikon FM3A - Nikkor Ais 2.8/28 -
Ifinity Super Uxi 100 ISO.
 
It is hard to say without being out on the bike, but I am guessing that I rarely have a smile on my face when out riding my motorcycle. This is primarily due to the fact that I am squarely focused on the task at hand, doing my best to remain in the moment (or deliberate attentiveness as I sometimes like to call it) at all times. The benefits achieved from riding a motorcycle are not too far removed from those that some others get from meditation. As a result, I’m almost always in a better state of mind after going for a ride than I am before doing so. (This is not unlike fly-fishing or a few other activities that I happen to enjoy.) While I might not be wearing a smile on my face, I am definitely grinning on the inside. I love riding motorcycles and hope to do so until my body is no longer willing to comply.

I really enjoy all of the great motorcycle photos that you post Mike (and cars too). I hope that you’ll keep them coming for as long as you’re able.
 
Sometimes I'm in position, camera ready, waiting for my prey to enter the trap.

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Other times I hear the roar of the beast before I see it, reaction must be swift or the moment is lost.

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Fujifilm X-Pro3 - Fujinon XF 56mm f1.2 R lens
Astia film simulation
Yokohama, Japan - Oct 2020

All the best,
Mike
 
Triumph reminds me: a friend of ours, alas long gone, was in the police and, as he nearer retirement, was given the job of running in their new bikes as he had always been a biker. He said it was like being on holiday he could spend the day driving from London to the coast and along for a while and then back for days on end. He had a uniform modified to remove the badges etc and used it for fishing trips once the job was done and they had told him he could keep it as it was made specially for him...


Regards, David
 
I test rode this lovely thing back in August. Haven't ridden a naked bike in a while so wanted to try it out. Lots of fun.
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Here's what I currently ride (this is on the way to Indianapolis MotoGP from New Jersey in 2013):
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