The coolest bike I ever saw or owned !

BLIGHTYBRIT/SF

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The coolest bike I ever saw or owned !
The coolest bike I ever saw or owned !
The coolest bike I ever saw or owned !
Not mine but I took these pics at the time, Brands Hatch 1979 transatlantic rave & came accross this , must of been unbelievable amount of cash at the time,super cool bike & guy,Simpson helmet & lewis leathers,pics were published in classic motorcycle mechanics in the summer,who is the guy & where’s the bike now I wonder, the pic of the whole bike is metal flake Z1R ,always considered it the flashiest bike I ever saw in my youth
 
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There appears to be an anomaly between the first and second photos.
The first shows no upsweep of the exhaust for the turbo yet the second does.
Still, I remember a local bloke had one of those turbo'd ones (in the late 70's) - went like the clackers.
Thanks for the memories!
Cheers
Rob
 
No, it's a horizontal exhaust manifold, not a header pipe per se...
 
The bike in the first of the 3 photos is a non turbo. The bike in the second and third photo is turbo charged.
 
Two different bikes there, I also remember the turbo's, and also feel in love with them. When the 900 came out it really changed things a bit, to me they were the coolest looking bike around and with a tuned pipe they sounded awesome.
 
In the late 80s early 90s, I rode a lot (~75ish?) of the Z1's, Z1000's and GPz of all sizes. Also a lot of Police 1000's.

Other than the GPz, I was not much impressed with them. Granted, those bikes were all pretty fast (in a straight line - other than the police bikes, which were four speed pigs) but I much preferred my Commando and Honda V45 which had a hot motor and a Kerker.
 
In the late 80s early 90s, I rode a lot (~75ish?) of the Z1's, Z1000's and GPz of all sizes. Also a lot of Police 1000's.

Other than the GPz, I was not much impressed with them. Granted, those bikes were all pretty fast (in a straight line - other than the police bikes, which were four speed pigs) but I much preferred my Commando and Honda V45 which had a hot motor and a Kerker.

in the 80s the late Jack Gow took a gpz 900 out the crate and won the production class manx grand prix
 
Here you go gortnipper. I was ‘inspired’ by the Bike magazine stickers of the day that read ‘Cars Suck’. I thought my version was a little more provocative.
Them were t’ days...

The coolest bike I ever saw or owned !
The coolest bike I ever saw or owned !
 
I also had my strap line “GPZs SUCK!” on the bottom of the number plate on my T140 too. Kinda provocative, optimistic and rather ironic all at the same time now I think about it !
 
Although I thought GPZs suck and generally stuck my head in the sand and pretended British was best, even I capitulated as the Japanese got their act together in the ‘80s.
This was in the days before speed cameras, and we rode accordingly. Seldom with proper protective gear. It’s astonishing that more of us didn’t die. GREAT fun though...!
That’s my GSXR750 Slingshot which I thought was just awesome, and my mates GPZ750 turbo, actually a very nice bike until a broken chain took the turbo out with it.
I think this is at Long Marston (now rather grandly called ‘Shakespeare County Raceway) in about ‘88 or ‘89...
The coolest bike I ever saw or owned !
 
Hands-down coolest bike i ever saw was a Britten V1000, running parade laps at the Sandia Classic in Albuquerque in 2008, faster than the fastest race bike on the track that weekend. The entire place shook when it fired up and the sounds it made on-track were unbelievable.

It wasn't this one, but one very similar....

The coolest bike I ever saw or owned !
 
Coolest bike I ever owned, hands down, is the original Kenny Dreer / Norton America original monoshock prototype.

Still have it, and will be waking it back up and riding it a lot more now that I live IN some of the best riding country instead of 180 miles from it!

The coolest bike I ever saw or owned !


As shown originally...
The coolest bike I ever saw or owned !


(I didn't want cast wheels)

For What It's Worth - this is THE ONLY monoshock prototype ever built. As is plainly evident, they went with dual shocks. So, THE most unique in that it was the FIRST, and ONLY.
 
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What’s with that bike in the last pic?

Hard to tell, but it looks like an AMC gearbox. But it has the chain on the RHS...
 
What’s with that bike in the last pic?

Hard to tell, but it looks like an AMC gearbox. But it has the chain on the RHS...
It was never a running bike, it was a show bike. Engine & trans were hollow and chain dummied in place somehow.

So, once I got it running with the MkIII engine, it was actually the first time it ever ran!

If you look close, you can see Kenny mounted the shock somewhat under the battery tray (significant welding and modification of frame). There was no oil tank, either (he was still in his OIF phase). I went for a much simpler, cleaner shock mount behind the web plate, and was able to fit an original oil tank by simply pushing in the backside about 1/4" to give the shock a bit of clearance.
 
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