More bikes for you to hate.

hobot said:
I come across Honda choppers here and ride with them to interesting shops and such. They sound good and gutteral but for some reason built so low to the they foul pipes or frame to lean much in towns.

More bikes for you to hate.

I used to own something similar to that but it was ratted in matt black.

Webby
 
acotrel said:
I would like to own this :

It would be interesting to know if it handles or steers, or goes, any better than stock ?
Or is just a cosmetic makeover....
 
The Rennsport BMWs raced in the fifties obviously handled OK. Duke won against Manxs with one. Later model BMWs had the camshaft beneath the crank.
 
acotrel said:
The Rennsport BMWs raced in the fifties obviously handled OK. Duke won against Manxs with one. Later model BMWs had the camshaft beneath the crank.

The best rider in the World beat slower bikes on BMW.

Not sure what that proves.
 
I've gotten to compare about all brands through various model years and types of bikes plus their racer like-track day adaptations to tell ya the BMW's are in the big twin league of torque response leaving turns so dam hard to keep up with or catch up, until the lean fouling limits them. My Peel could best the 750's vintage BMW's but not the BMW 900's if track modified or the newer 1200's d/t being out powered in the opens and leaving turns, ie: ones they could lean far enough for at 90 mph+. Go to track days or vintage races to see BWM not that exciting on two tires but sure hold their own in the side cars.
 
Production race finishes in the points by Helmut Dahn at the isle of Man TT races. But that cafe racer looks awful
 
acotrel said:
The Rennsport BMWs raced in the fifties obviously handled OK. Duke won against Manxs with one. Later model BMWs had the camshaft beneath the crank.

Rennsport BMs had ohc and sodium cooled exhaust valves = more developed than a manx.
So didn't have camshafts above OR below the crank...
You could pay a lot of money for that level of performance.
http://silodrome.com/bmw-rennsport-rs54/
Look at that rev counter....
Very tall gearing to get the speed too - unobtanium for road bikes ?

Assuming the road bikes were similar could require a large leap of faith ?
I had a 1000cc BM for a while - long plush suspension, very pleasant tourer.
And capable of being ridden at a fair clip. But a racer it wasn't.
If you backed off in a fast corner, it could go anywhere - not a nice habit...
Like most BM road bikes, had a low 1st and 2nd gear (gives the clutch a better chance).
Means that even 250cc trail bikes blitz you off the line - and take a fair bit of catching !

Article on Rennsport BMs, prior to Geoff Duke, mentions that while they did well in sidecar events,
few riders, except Walter Zeller, had mastered them in solo events.
Prewar, the supercharged Rennsports had had several goes at the IoM.
Several crashes and the death of one rider had preceded Georg Meiers' win in the 39 TT.
(Oops, Jock West came 2nd, ~2 minutes behind).
 
Okay, just to put one back on Soul Kitchen, and I love your choppers mate, I converted my Hi Rider back to a Roadster, so there!

Just kidding, I like your Shovel, I have one aswell. It's good to have a few different old bikes, essentially the all do the same thing, transport one or two persons along the road or track, but they do it in totally different ways/styles. When I get sick of the Shovels mack truck gear change, i revert to the Commando, or maybe when I get my Honda XL350 going, that will provide another ride experience?

Cheers Richard
 
Rohan, I only know of three Rennsport BMWs still in existence. What is important about the position of the camshaft in a pushrod BMW is the ground clearance when building a café racer. If the cylinder head hits the deck, you are down. Whatever the Rennsport BMWs had in them in the fifties, they were not supercharged, and had the transverse motors. Not the easiest thing to ride fast. Years ago I rode an R69S, great bike however I would never try to use it as a street racer. If I wanted to beat Manx Nortons with something substantially different, I wouldn't choose a BMW. A friend of mine races three BMWs of different eras in historic racing, just changing the gearing to suit different circuits is like pulling teeth the Russian way.
 
We get Alot of HD through our little village and they all sound like a hammer on a pile of steel fence posts on their annoying shifting character. Here's some scope on ughly for some pecking order perspective.

More bikes for you to hate.


More bikes for you to hate.


More bikes for you to hate.


More bikes for you to hate.


SK, my chopper will definitely have some wood framing involved.
More bikes for you to hate.


and some bones as I collect them
More bikes for you to hate.


More bikes for you to hate.


More bikes for you to hate.



Hm, maybe not knitting but wicker would work for me
More bikes for you to hate.
 
Bernhard said:
Saving gasoline was goal of Royal Enfield Dreamliner;

Boeing nicked the name

A minor point, but since Enfields didn't actually sell any of those dreamliners, they couldn't claim ownership of the name ??
 
acotrel said:
What is important about the position of the camshaft in a pushrod BMW is the ground clearance when building a café racer. If the cylinder head hits the deck, you are down. .

Having owned a few BMs over the years, you don't have to tell me that. On stock bikes even.
Although the later ones have the cylinders up high and well off the deck, its still a shock when you see sparks from the crash bars grinding away.
Makes you realise how far over bikes will go...

I seem to recall one magazine test of a new Interstate Commando - where the pipes are quite low and not well tucked in, like the roadstar has - and they returned it with the kink in the exhaust pipes almost worn through, both sides. !! Although they showed a pic of it, they barely commented about the lack of ground clearance. !

Some of these big cruisers these days will scrape all sorts of bits, just going at normal speeds through roundabouts.
I've always wondered what happens when they really need to lean it over to make a corner... ??
 
A good Cdo and lean to foul the standard low headers or mufflers on good surfaces, [minus the stands of course] but that's not saying much compared to new sports bikes or a lifted Cdo. What happens to the cruisers that tip over into turns to run into running board or crash bar fouling is they either don't turn sharp enough to make the turn or they pogo off the fouling to suddenly sharpen the turn so much their rear tire leads the way while on their sides.
 
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