"15 Motorcycles That Will Make You a Man".

[JohnnyRingo]

I'm not being sexist here, that's the title of the article. If a woman thinks one of these suits her, she can go for it. I wouldn't call that woman a "girl" though:

Gustav Skippone:



World War II era bike meets crazy steampunk retro future. Recipe for disaster or success? If Belarus based Yuri Shif is behind it, it’s a recipe for pure excellence. Normally we wouldn’t support anything that comes in “cream", but add enough metal, rubber, and gasoline and even a man’s mind can be changed.

The rest are here:
http://coolmaterial.com/roundup/manly-motorcycles/

[tk2kewl]

1. found this one at the link for Deus Grievous Angel

i like it better than any of the 15

[Doc_Technical]

2. The Kawasaki W650 is the best of the retro motorcycles (IMHO)

It even has a kick starter!

[tk2kewl]

3. been dreaming of a new bike since the hurricane

my 76 bonnie had water over the top of the heads

[JohnnyRingo]

4. I like thumpers.

That is, vertical twins. Tha Japanese ruined the form when they introduced their version that canted the cylinders forward a few degrees to reduce harmonic vibration. Others soon followed suit.

That looks like one bad TT.

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. This one is nice too

... although I suspect my back would prefer a little more spring travel in the seat.

Maybe this is even better.

[JohnnyRingo]

6. I call them "bar dragsters"

Bikes that are only good for a ten mile blast, racing from one tavern to another and looking great parked out front in the neon haze. It's tiresome to see a multicolored flock of cloned Road King baggers at the bars on a Saturday night, as if they planned the trip weeks in advance. If I need a grocery getter, I'll drive my Buick.

At my advanced vintage, I wouldn't consider the rigors of a two hour trip on any bike, but a quick ride out on the town with friends is well suited to a souped up and stripped down Sportster or limey twin. That single lung Yamaha looks up to the task, but I doubt I would like the exhaust report.

I'm not sure what that first one is- it looks like a Norton- but I like it. A lot. That's bad to the marrow.

Good eye.

[lumberjack_jeff]

7. I have a soft spot for the SR500 ever since I saw one wheeling down main street in the early 80's

I agree that the motor in the first one is from a commando, which is badass from the get-go.

[Fumesucker]

8. Nope, it's a Triumph

A Norton Commando has slightly forward leaning cylinders.



And no list of motorcycles that will make you a man is complete without the Gunbus 410.



Or the Vincent Black Shadow, the first naked bike to top 150 mph.

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. Yup, not a Norton

but I'm having a hard time figuring out which triumph engine that is.

The guy on the Vincent holds "real man" status to which few will never achieve.

[Fumesucker]

10. I note that you liked the thumper

I had a Honda FT500 Ascot back in the early 80's, 500cc four valve single street bike.



My favorite old bike though was an RD350, it was a cackling shrieking hot rod with a set of JR chambers, looked almost like this one but with a flat bar instead of clipons, with those triangular profile Dunlops it would lean until your elbows dragged after I ground down the footpegs enough.



As for the Triumph I can't quite tell what model it is either, the difference seems to be the generator drive, I don't recall seeing one just like that, might be a custom part.

You might like to check out my err. current.. ride, it's a motor.. bike.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11282343

[lumberjack_jeff]

11. All very nice.

I'd like to build an e-bike one of these days too, and I think you're on the right track with a recumbent.

Where's the best place to shop for parts?

re: RD350... My brother-in-law used to have a kawasaki H2. What a screamer.

[Fumesucker]

12. Depends a lot on how much money you have, how fast you want to go and your hacking skill level

I didn't want to go all that fast, don't have much money and I'm a hacker so that determined my path to an ebike.

The ebikes on the market at the moment are mostly either cheap Chinese crud that demands a lot of prep and fixing minor issues or high dollar near-works-of-art from the US or Europe. Dealing with Chinese distributors is something of a headache, they're not necessarily ill intentioned but often don't really know what it is they are selling very well (they're ad writers and sales people not engineers) and the language and cultural barriers don't help. Anyone who imports the stuff into the US in bulk and can tell you about it fairly accurately is putting a big markup on the parts. The prime piece of advice I've heard is don't ever ask a Chinese distributor a yes/no question, the answer will always be yes.

With the hub motor bikes (the great majority) unless you spend fairly big money it's hard to get a lot of hill climbing ability, especially in the larger wheeled bikes 24", 26" 29", my bike has a 20" rear wheel so it climbs pretty well with the hub motor but the smaller diameter also leads to lower speeds with the same motor than a larger diameter wheel would, it's changing the effective overall gear ratio.

The site that probably has the best overall reputation is this one.

http://ebikes.ca/

http://ebikes.ca/store/

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. I've been watching the guys making friction drive outrunners

Seems like a good solution. Cheap, good, easy... pick any two. My house is at the bottom of a pretty steep hill, so I need enough power to crest that if the bike is going to be useful.

The expensive bit is the batteries.

[Ganja Ninja]

14. I really love the bikes from Zero Engineering and Falcon.

[JohnnyRingo]

15. That chrome one in particular...

is just gorgeous. I love the spindley boards racer look.

They just don't make them like that anymore.
Oh wait! ... I guess they do.

I'll have to go research the Falcons. Thanx for posting.

[jambo101]

16. Moto Guzzi Daytona

Was a bike i always thought was something i'd like to own,Unfortunately it wasnt for sale in the USA during my biking years.
http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/moto%20guzzi/moto_guzzi_daytona%201000%2092.htm

Honda GB500 was Another bike i really liked but unfortunately i moved to Canada where it was Unavailable.