This is one beautiful motorcycle

[Cholo]

I have dozens of pics of beautiful bikes in my PC. They're mostly Harleys, Triumphs and Nortons. This one just jumped out at me. I did a Google search to see if there were more pics of this bike from different angles. Yup!

I think the older Triumphs were some of the most beautiful motorcycles ever made!

https://www.bikeexif.com/mooneyes-m...is,hooked up to a stretched Mooneyes hardtail.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

In my eyes the simplicity is the beauty....nice bike for sure.

 

[Cholo]

Oh, it's so clean! Love mechanical brakes on old bikes! Look at that rods to actuate the rear brake. Also, check out the custom oil tank. The paint scheme is amazing, as well.

 

[Kevin]

Wow. I clicked on the link. It's not a very big motorcycle at all. That last picture, it's so thin.

It is a nice looking bike, but would it be a smooth riding motorcycle? I don't ride, so I don't know. It doesn't look very heavy. How would this bike ride on those thin tires?

But yeah, it does look like the person who built it put a lot of thought into everything.

 

[GasGuzzler]

Looks cool but would beat you to death.

 

[sfhogman]

Magnificent!
Pure rolling sculpture.

 

[Cholo]

It's what you'd call a bar hopping bike, not for long rides. People used to air down the rear tire to make them just a tiny bit less punishing LOL I couldn't imagine riding it over 50 miles in a day, and that's with several stops.

Normally I don't look at the 650 Trophy models because of the single carb. It's perfect on this build because it allows you to see thru the bike better than if it were a Bonneville with 2 carbs.

PS: For those who don't know that's called a hardtail bike; it has no rear shocks.

 

[gunzo]

Both Triumph & BSA had some models in the 60's that had great lines & were sleek & slim in stock form. Chop one out just a bit, clean it up & it's the definition of sleek & slim.
Such a minimalistic approach that's just so neat.

Yeah on the mechanical brakes Cholo, a plus on a chop jub. Big disc just cover up a lot of eye candy, & ruin lines by using overly large calipers or positioning them in a poor location.

 

[bobski]

my butt hurts looking at it.
but not this one.......

 

[chm270]

Back in about 1970, I worked with a guy who had a BSA 441 Victor. Very cool yellow bike!

 

[mr.deerstalker]

I love the early Norton Commandos...

 

[Joey]

Go back a few more years.

 

[Joey]

And the song.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

PS: For those who don't know that's called a hardtail bike; it has no rear shocks.

. . . or any articulation whatsoever, thus the sprung seat. ;)

 

[eveled]

Back in about 1970, I worked with a guy who had a BSA 441 Victor. Very cool yellow bike!

I have a red one my Dad bought used around 1974. The off road one had an aluminum tank. Mine has a red and white fiberglass tank it’s called a Shooting Star.

 

[protoolman]

That one has nice proportions and clean lines love the tank handlebars etc.

 

[gunzo]

I'd ride tis a couple hundred miles on a Saturday with no ill effects. Ky had a helmet law & Ohio didn't so we would ride to Oh. take off our helmets & let the wind blow though the hair we had then. 3 or 4 pub stops might have helped me forget the hardtail, but I was in my 30's then & resilience was a different word for me then. Never gave it much thought, but did soon graduate to a ride with good brakes & suspension.

 

[WanderLust]

Hey Cholo, we need to get together and hit the Barber car/bike museum down towards Birmingham. Have you ever been to that? I think they have about 700 bikes, most on display but some being restored.

 

[Cholo]

I've been to the The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum 2x, the last time in Oct. '22. My friend of 50 years in the orange shirt passed away 2 years later. The last bike pic was one of my favorites. It's the tiny orange/yellow 500 Triumph hardtail.

I believe they have about 1,000 bikes on display and hundreds more down below. They let me down there once to take a pic of a '72 650 Yamaha just like my late friend had back in the day.

Here's a link to the trip report. Those were good days!

Thread 'Motorcycles, Good Friends, Great Weather and a Ford Flathead'

Oct 12, 2022

Last Thursday a friend rode his bike down from Green Bay and early Friday morning another friend met us at my place. It was chilly, but the forecast was for perfect riding weather for the next 3 days. Our destination was The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, AL for the annual Barber Vintage Festival.

https://www.barbermuseum.org/
We rode up Lookout Mtn. in GA for the ride south along the scenic Lookout Mtn. Parkway. Lookout Mtn. is the southernmost mountain in the Appalachians and we rode it until it ran out in Gadsden, AL. We checked into the hotel in...

• Cholo
• Replies: 15
• Forum: The Lounge

• 
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[Wyandot Jim]

This is the Triumph that most of us teens in the 50s would kill for.
The Tiger Cub that some of the rich kids had.
We rode Harley 125,165,125 Hummers, Cushman Eagles, Mustang, NSU, Whizzer, Moped, Nortons. and some I don't remember, but the Triumph was King.
As far as hard tail well they all were and we didn't know any better. They also had bad tires, brakes and lights but we lived. The Harley 74 had big seat with springs and buddy springs.

The Tiger Cub

 

[GRAMPS 51]

I always thought the 650 Bonneville's were great looking bikes and fun to ride I owned lots of different bikes mostly Harleys back in 1970 we had a neighbor who flew commercial jets all over the world so he picked up a 650 Bonneville in England that you couldn't buy in this country some sort of performance model for a friend of mine and he still has it i bug him from time to time to sell it to me but he wont we are both 74 years old now and sold my last bike 2 years ago so its just as well i would more than likely kill myself on it anyway
Gramps

 

[Watertender]

I knew 2 people who had Ariel Square Four motorcycles. One was in perfect condition and ridden in parades and on nice afternoons.
The other was behind a slaughterhouse with a ragged tarp over it.
The one in perfect condition was still that way when the original owner died in 2018 and as far as I know the other one is still rusting away in a pile of manure.

 

[Track14]

I knew 2 people who had Ariel Square Four motorcycles. One was in perfect condition and ridden in parades and on nice afternoons.
The other was behind a slaughterhouse with a ragged tarp over it.
The one in perfect condition was still that way when the original owner died in 2018 and as far as I know the other one is still rusting away in a pile of manure.

My brother had two Aerial Square 4s , one was the supercharged version. Nice bikes. My other brother had a Norton Commando with the Dunstall kit. I preferred the Japanese bikes because they rode so smoothly, 200 miles on a hard tail Harley convinced me of that. My neighbor rode a BSA Goldstar set up for flat track racing, taking a quick turn through the orange groves on that was a real thrill feeling all that torque. The bikes today are bloated, although there is a manufacturer making nice clones, not exact but close, copies of the older bikes and they are light and very easy to maintain.

 

[gunzo]

Was riding my 650 Bonneville around town one day when a guy pulled up beside me at a red light. He was riding a new 750 Honda, about 1974. He asked me if I wanted to run 'em & I said sure, figuring I didn't have a chance. We headed outside of town & lined up, to take off when he nodded.
I might have got him at the start a bit, but when I shifted to second the Honda was in my rearview mirror. For years I figured the guy was just a poor rider, but eventually got the internet. Found out the Trumpet weighed about 375 & the the big Jap bike weighed 500. That explained a lot. Big motor in a light package is always good.

The first time I ever saw a 22-250 rifle cartridge I saw that. Asked the owner what it was for. Groundhogs mostly, it's fast & shoots flat. I understood immediately. The case being the motor propelling such a small, lite package,. I knew I wanted one.

 

[oliver507]

BSAs, Nortons, and Triumphs of the 1960’s 70’s and early 80’s use to be my thing. I had 2 Laverdas and road raced one. Probably had 7-8 motorcycles when I worked at a Yamaha dealership in the late 70’s through the early 80’s the trade-ins were great!

 

[Richard76]

my 2014 FatBob

 

[bobski]

saw this triton at a rest stop 20 years ago and almost fainted with envy.

 

[Trooper Joe]

This is a 1969 XLCH Sportster. It is the last year of the magneto ignition (no battery).

My wife and I used to travel on Sportsters.

 

[Watertender]

I don't ride anymore since my son was killed by a texting driver hitting him head on on his motorcycle.
The bike I liked best but had the most problems with was a Royal Enfield Bullet 500. It had a solo saddle and engine guards with panniers and a pedestrian slicer on the front fender.
I took it to the dealer for the initial oil change and adjustments and they screwed up the timing and it cooked the engine.
I had to "discuss" them taking it back but we came to an agreement. We both took a bath on it but it was a fair settlement.

I bought a Yamaha V-Star 650 which was a good reliable bike but then my son got hit and was in a coma for 10 months so I took a loss on selling it back to the dealer.

 

[Joey]

I don't ride anymore since my son was killed by a texting driver hitting him head on on his motorcycle.
The bike I liked best but had the most problems with was a Royal Enfield Bullet 500. It had a solo saddle and engine guards with panniers and a pedestrian slicer on the front fender.
I took it to the dealer for the initial oil change and adjustments and they screwed up the timing and it cooked the engine.
I had to "discuss" them taking it back but we came to an agreement. We both took a bath on it but it was a fair settlement.

I bought a Yamaha V-Star 650 which was a good reliable bike but then my son got hit and was in a coma for 10 months so I took a loss on selling it back to the dealer.

I am so sorry for your loss. In my opinion, texting while driving should have the same penalties as DUI. People don't realize a car doing 60 mph covers 440 ft in 5 seconds. Half that or 220 ft at 30 mph. Too much can happen in that short period of time.