Ride, Captain Ride!-How many bikers?

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 6 Dec 2005 7:02 pm

Any of you forumites riding sidecar rigs?

I am going to build up another rig over the winter. Possibly a Champion Legend hooked to my Ace 1100. If any of you are currently driving hacks post a photo please.

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

Michael Breid · Post by **Michael Breid** » 6 Dec 2005 7:22 pm

1959 Cushman Huskey......yeeee haaaawwwwwww!

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 6 Dec 2005 7:42 pm

Michael,

I had a 53 Husky with the springer front end in 63. What a ride!

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 6 Dec 2005 8:59 pm

Hey guys, I'm looking for a Honda CB 750-A. Automatic. Cash. Soon,how 'bout it?
John is helping me find one, but we need some help.

Bobbe

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 10 Dec 2005 1:37 pm

What is wrong with this picture?

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 10 Dec 2005 3:10 pm

Front brake mounted on wrong side of bike as required in the US?

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 10 Dec 2005 4:59 pm

That is a good guess Gene, but I should have mentioned that the bike is new, and all bikes built after mid to late seventies went to left hand shift if I am not mistaken.

I guess it will take a real Triumph aficionado (and there are several on this forum), to crack the code.

BTW I think this machine is one of the more retro looking 60's Brit style bikes out there, they do a great job on them!

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

Steve Spitz · Post by **Steve Spitz** » 10 Dec 2005 4:59 pm

It`s a KAWASAKI !!!!! Do I win something ?

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 10 Dec 2005 5:06 pm

Steve,

Bingo! It is a Kawasaki W650 with 1969 Triumph tank badges. He has probably fooled a few people with that setup.

Great looking bike though!

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 12 Dec 2005 12:16 am

Well it should be obvious it's not a vintage Triumph because there's no oil puddle under it!

I assume the engine has modern counterbalances etc. so it's a LOT smoother than the old Triumphs..I hope?

Great-looking bike. I've always loved the old Triumphs.... but not the Lucas electrics or the vibration.[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 12 December 2005 at 12:19 AM.]

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 12 Dec 2005 7:44 am

Jim,

I remember having to always put newspaper or something under most of the Brit bikes that I owned over the years. I think the worst was my old GoldStar BSA. In cold weather it developed a problem that the mechanics referred to as "wet sumped" and it would pour oil out through a breather in large amounts.

My old Harleys were even worse! Newspaper wouldn't cut it, drain pans front to rear were required. They would leak oil from the engine, tranny, chaincase, you name it!

All bikes that I owned back in those days shook like a dog crapping a log chain! We owe a lot to whoever came up with the counterbalancer.

Lucas electronics, now there is another story! It is nice these days to go for a ride without filling my saddlebags with headlight bulbs, taillight bulbs, Zener diodes, and voltage regulators.

Bobbe Seymour once told me a joke about why the British drink warm beer, it had something to do with Lucas wiring in the refigerators over there.

Ride safe

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 12 Dec 2005 8:09 am

Triump was also one of the last to include starters on their bikes. I bought one of those kickers once, rode it home and never did get it started again.After nearly having a heart attack from exhaustion I took it back and bought a Yamaha (with a starter)!

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www.genejones.com

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 12 Dec 2005 8:27 am

Gene,

Not long ago I came across a website that had some interesting stats about different features that became available on different motorcycles over the years. They listed Indian as the first with electric start and it was back in 1914 I believe!

Indian was also the first to use a twist grip throttle. They listed the british Scott as the first bike to have a foot shift.

Ride safe

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 12 Dec 2005 9:51 am

Harley wasn't very quick to add a starter either. I owned one of the first Harleys with an electric starter...a 1965 Panhead.

I guess Harley didn't trust the reliability of that first starter because the bike also came with a "kick starter" backup. It's a good thing that it did, because the charging system wouldn't keep enough juice in the battery and I still had to kick-start much of the time! I never had a weight problem in those days!

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www.genejones.com

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 12 Dec 2005 11:08 am

Electric start? What will they think of next!

I hate gasoline powered unicycles with a kick start, some things just need to be automatic.

jim milewski · Post by **jim milewski** » 12 Dec 2005 2:38 pm

John, ya, the Brits were well known for oil leaks, vibration, and questionable electrics. I had a Bonnie that sent so much oil out the breather I had to route it to the oil tank and vent the tank. Yamabond #2 is an excellent gasket compound, best I've found. What I liked about the Triumphs was at least I could fix most problems, even those on the side of the road and get home

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 12 Dec 2005 5:57 pm

Jim M.,

You were one of the Triumph aficionados I was referring to in an earlier post, did you see the picture of the Tri-Kaw?

Funny, the Kaw W-650 looks more like a Triumph than the Triumphs!

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 12 Dec 2005 6:09 pm

I sure do love and deeply respect my Triumph Trophy III, but then,
what do I know, I'm just a steel guitar guy.

BMW, Triumph,

don't know whats in my future,

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 12 Dec 2005 8:19 pm

Bobbe,

You wouldn't have liked the original Triumphs, they had the Day set-up on the pedals! LMAO!

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 13 Dec 2005 11:35 am

Had a Cushman Eagle many years ago before I went in the Army. When I got out I got a small Honda for a little while before getting one of those Kawasaki 500s with three cylinders and a lot of power. The engine was a two stroke and smoked like hell. I had a VW bug at the time that got better gas mileage than the bike! My current ride is a Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Cruiser which looks like a Harley but then again a lot of 'em do nowadays, don't they? It's got the windshield, saddlebags, etc. but it's too dang cold to ride these days. Man I wish I was back in Southern California!...JH in Va.

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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 13 Dec 2005 2:39 pm

Jerry,

My first Cushman looked just like this. It was a 1953.

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

[This message was edited by John Drury on 13 December 2005 at 02:40 PM.]

Jerry Roller · Post by **Jerry Roller** » 13 Dec 2005 2:56 pm

I guess I best report in. When I was 9 years old there was a Whizzer motor bike at my house, not sure who it belonged to. When I was 12 I got my first Cushman scooter, at age 13 I had a 40's Harley 125 with the rubber band front suspension. At 14 I got a very nice 53 Harley 125 which looked like new. I loved that one and would like to have it now in the condition it was in. After I started driving a car at age 16 I traded the 125 off and never had a motorcycle again until 3 months ago I bought a '02 Yamaha V Star. My son who used to ride motorcycles got bit by the bug when he rode mine on a cruise one day and he now has an '02 Yamaha Road Star. We have had a ball riding together. He is a fine 6 string player so we also get to play music together on Friday and Sunday nights.
Jerry

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 13 Dec 2005 3:59 pm

Jerry,

Something like this?

These bikes are actually German DKW copies, after the "Big One" Harley Davidson, and BSA were given the DKW factory to split up. The bike became the H-D Hummer over here and the BSA Bantam in England.

That tank shape is used on H-D's to this day, but credit should go to the Krauts for the design. I had a 1957 Hummer, it was the 165cc version and had a telescopic front end a 6V electrical system. It was a fun bike!

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

[This message was edited by John Drury on 13 December 2005 at 04:19 PM.]

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 13 Dec 2005 4:49 pm

Well I'll be darned, if you hadn't told me I'd have thought that was a Sportster tank. The first Sportster!

So this is where my Sportster descended from...

Any idea what year that bike is? Sure is perfect, no doubt a total piece-by-piece every nut and bolt restoration, the only way to do it.[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 13 December 2005 at 04:52 PM.]

Jerry Roller · Post by **Jerry Roller** » 13 Dec 2005 5:09 pm

Wow John, that is it exactly. It was a 125cc and there were large rubber bands up it the top of the sissor type suspension. I am sure it was a 194- something because the '53 had a telescopic front suspension. Man, that photo brings back a lot of memories. I would love to have one just like that now. I think they went to a 165 cc around 1955 and had an optional highrise handlebar. Thanks for the photo.
Jerry