Hunter S. Thompson on cafe racers

mattfitz · Aug 3, 2010

wriiten in 1995, Hunter S. Thompson's review of the Ducati 900 SS in the March 1995 Cycle World, is amazing, he talks of his need for speed, love of cafe racers, riding Vincents, of him buying a BSA 650 Lightning new, and of riding a Kawa 750 Triple through Beverly Hills at night with a head full of acid, a great piece of writing for those of us that love motorcycles, especially fast ones...

http://www.knucklebusterinc.com/feature ... torcycles/

-Matt

swooshdave · Aug 3, 2010

Great story. You never knew when Hunter was telling the truth and frankly, you never cared. :mrgreen:

DonOR · Aug 3, 2010

Thanks Matt Though I read that one before, I went through it again-excellent read, and somewhat hair raising... whatta wild one he was. here's a great shot of a much younger HST on that Lightning.

cheers,

Don

mattfitz · Aug 3, 2010

DonOR said:
Thanks Matt Though I read that one before, I went through it again-excellent read, and somewhat hair raising... whatta wild one he was. here's a great shot of a much younger HST on that Lightning.

Don, wow, what a great photo!

DonOR · Aug 3, 2010

swooshdave said:
Great story. You never knew when Hunter was telling the truth and frankly, you never cared. :mrgreen:

yeah, I guess that's the whole gonzo thing... you live the story, then (maybe) embellish it a bit, as you live it. in the end, your brain cells have quit by 80%, and nobody knows anything but the written story. But he did it his way... hehe

Unclviny · Aug 3, 2010

I first read that years ago and since that day my favorite HST quote has been:

"Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube.
That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba…."

Johnny Depp scored BIG points with me for making HST's final wish come true.

Google search these 3 terms:
depp
HST
cannon.

Unclviny

Danno · Aug 4, 2010

DonOR said:
Thanks Matt Though I read that one before, I went through it again-excellent read, and somewhat hair raising... whatta wild one he was. here's a great shot of a much younger HST on that Lightning.

cheers,

Don

That sure looks like a Triumph logo on that BSA.....

swooshdave · Aug 4, 2010

Danno said:
DonOR said:

Thanks Matt Though I read that one before, I went through it again-excellent read, and somewhat hair raising... whatta wild one he was. here's a great shot of a much younger HST on that Lightning.

cheers,

Don

Click to expand...

That sure looks like a Triumph logo on that BSA.....

Good catch.

DonOR · Aug 4, 2010

yep... just wanted to see if y'all were payin attention...

grandpaul · Aug 4, 2010

Since when were Triumph preunits called "Lightnings"?

DonOR · Aug 4, 2010

sorry, my bad. I am a specialist... I know more and more about less and less, hehe

britbike220 · Aug 4, 2010

Every time I read that I laugh until I nearly cry.......

Hobot · Aug 23, 2010

When aimed in the right direction at high speed, though, it has unnatural capabilities. This I unwittingly discovered as I made my approach to a sharp turn across some railroad tracks, saw that I was going way too fast and that my only chance was to veer right and screw it on totally, in a desperate attempt to leapfrog the curve by going airborne.

It was a bold and reckless move, but it was necessary. And it worked: I felt like Evel Knievel as I soared across the tracks with the rain in my eyes and my jaws clamped together in fear. I tried to spit down on the tracks as I passed them, but my mouth was too dry... I landed hard on the edge of the road and lost my grip for a moment as the Ducati began fishtailing crazily into oncoming traffic. For two or three seconds I came face to face with the Sausage Creature...

One of my favorite quotes by Hunter. The Red Sausage Creature is not the red cycle but the blood and guts of pilot and of course animal splatter in my case too.
A Commando can do sideways leaps too but alas tears out shock absorber rubbers.
Once fast enough to leave fear behind, there's a whole 'nother world of trance states to fly through. I like in best on a magic flying carpet myself.

Hunter S. Thompson on cafe racers

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