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Catman,
I might be interested in a Japanese twin along the classic Brit lines also. I loved the heck out of the 50's and 60's British bikes except for their reliability issues. Things like Lucas electrics, Zener diodes and Amal carbs have left a bad taste in my mouth. The Japanese have always been fantastic at improving ideas of others. A fairly lightweight (425 lbs would be great) twin with decent power and brakes would be a lot of fun.
GL2
I couldn't agree more. I remember that the old Bonnevilles were listed at 363 pounds. It's too bad that the recent bikes have gotten so heavy.
The most enjoyable bike I've ever had overall was a 1980 Suzuki GS450S twin. It would do 13.6 quarters (quicker than any of the old 650 twins) and 105 mph, but it was so light that it was a blast to go out on curvy back roads on. Great fun!
I couldn't agree more. I remember that the old Bonnevilles were listed at 363 pounds. It's too bad that the recent bikes have gotten so heavy.
The most enjoyable bike I've ever had overall was a 1980 Suzuki GS450S twin. It would do 13.6 quarters (quicker than any of the old 650 twins) and 105 mph, but it was so light that it was a blast to go out on curvy back roads on. Great fun!
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Catman,
Do you remember the Suzuki X6 Hustler 250cc? I doubt if they weighed much over 300 pounds. I never owned one but I had friends that did and they were impressive.
GL2
Strange you should ask. The Suzuki X6 was my first bike! It weighed right at 300 pounds. It was a great bike.
I had a friend who owned a Ducati 350 Desmo. It weighed 272 pounds dry! It was the most amazing light bike I ever rode.
KoobleKar: I can't argue with that being a lovely bike. I especially like the painted fenders! And that exquisite colour...I remember it well. Of course, I had to spell 'colour' the British way out of respect!
(But if you're a thousand miles from home, the importance of reliability can hardly be overestimated.)
My uncle had a BSA, it was only a couple years old and left in my dad's garage. This was back in 1968 or so. Voyd pushed it more miles than he rode it.
The last I seen that bike it was in my uncle's brothers house taken apart back in 1995 or so. That uncle is a old pack rat, anything anyone throws away he hordes. Pintos, broken down VW's, old rusted f250s, tvs.
I owned a 65 BSA 650 and the new bike does look allot like it. The exhaust pipes curve like the BSA...beautiful bikes and for sure easy to ride compared to the rice rockets
I had one of those, a 1975 XS650B. It was a great bike, and very pretty too, with its black-and-gold paint scheme. It was buzzy over about 70 mph, but tolerable (at least in those days!).
KoobleKar: That's the BSA tank badge I was thinking of!
I had a 1973 Bonneville and a friend with the Yamaha version.. I liked his bike better.
There was a good-natured rivalry back in the day between Triumph and BSA riders.
I still have an old T-Shirt from the 60's that says: "I'd Rather Push A Triumph Than Ride a BSA".
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