FREE Bargain bad boy - Cycle Torque

GuNtrip
Triumphs and, well, bungles
EVEN today, more than
30 years after the event,
I’m still bewildered at my
decision to buy a Honda
CB400F rather than a
Yamaha RD400.
I know why I chose the
one over the other – I’d
swallowed the family
propaganda, ground
down to a nicely blunt,
bludgeoning edge after
decades of not knowing any
better, that two-strokes were
things for scooters, mopeds
and the horrors fashioned
by Eastern Bloc nations to
masquerade as motorcycles.
But even allowing for
that and the fact that a
short series of Suzukis
had temporarily sated my
appetite for strokers I’m
still a bit foxed at having
toed the party line quite so
readily.
But perhaps my decision
had something to do with
romance as well, springing
from a desire to become a
small part of our lot’s great
two-wheeled continuum
that stretched back flat
caps and Halcyon Mk 8s,
to ex-War Department G3
Matchlesses and the delight
of discovering telescopic
forks for the first time.
All of which might go
some way to explain why
such a vast number of
oddities appear in so many
lists of all-time great bikes.
My choice, as you’ll see in
the list below, contain no
such errors of judgement,
no quirks of fancy; the
baker’s dozen bikes listed
A Honda CB77. 305cc, OHC, 28.5HP… and electric start that worked.
each embody most if not all
of the motorcycling virtues
and can claim the credit of
having established more
than a few.
1948 Vincent-HRD
Series C Rapide – the
50-degree engine and more
ingenious design features
than you could dream
of, including a cantilever
rear end, quick-detach
wheels (and reversible
rear), Girdraulic forks. The
genius of the two Phils was
never more apparent.
1956 BSA DBD34 Gold
Star – Along with the
’74-spec Laverda SFC and
the Ducati 916, perhaps
the best-looking bike ever
made and certainly one of
the toughest. A genuine
clubman racer powered
by a raw, men-only 499cc
single that could propel
you to the far side of
110mph (as long as you
could take the vibration).
And that exhaust note,
when the bike had a Goldie
silencer – Ducati owners,
eat your hearts out.
1959 Triumph T120
Bonneville – Yes, children,
there was magic before
Harry Potter, and this was
its finest manifestation.
Sublime looks, sound and
performance from 40 wellnourished
horses. The best
development of Edward
Turner’s famed parallel
twin. Last I heard there
were still half a million
650cc Triumphs in the USA.
1961 Honda CB77 – Big
Red’s early parallel twins
were things of rare beauty (check
the lines, the shape of the tank, the
instrument nacelle), and the 305 had
the performance to see off much
bigger opposition. All this, and an
overhead camshaft! Most 305s went
to the US, where other markets
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 60
tended to get the 250cc CB72. Oh
yes, there was the small matter of
an electric start that worked, as
well. Some manufacturers couldn’t
manage that a dozen years later.
1970 Yamaha R5 – Serious
performance from one of the first
and finest of Yamaha’s big twostrokes
and, like the Honda, a
trim masterpiece that looked a
million bucks parked. The start of a
wonderful dynasty.
1973 Kawasaki Z1 – Big Daddy
arrives. What can you say? This one
really pinned our ears back, and
which had some sand and some jumps. You have
coming hot to remember on the the heels bike was of only the wearing H2, road/
trail tyres but I was pleasantly surprised with
cemented Kawasaki’s place as the
big-performance stuff. The only marque. y in the ointment ‘Let here the is the soft
suspension set-up. I had the front and rear ends
good times roll’ indeed.
taking it easy on the Terra.
1980 Yamaha RD350LC – The first
Good enough?
of the water-pumpers was the pick
new found freedom – because it was a beautiful
of Yamaha’s 350s. The power-valve
model that followed somehow looked
cheap yet still took itself too seriously
by comparison. The hooligan device
of its time, delivering miles of smiles
to the rider’s face – between petrol
pumps, anyhow.
1985 BMW R80 Monolever – Why
didn’t I buy one? Why didn’t I buy
one? Why didn’t I buy one? Why
didn’t I buy one? Why didn’t I buy
one?
1985 Suzuki GSX-R750 – The
modern era began with this little
oil/air-cooled masterpiece, which
boasted a claimed 100 horses and
less weight than most 500s of the
time. The start of some serious
performance and the beginning of the
end for the 240kg luxo-barges that
were then somehow blighting most
manufacturers’ catalogues.
1986 Honda VFR750F – With a
afternoon. I think that’s where a bike like this is
at luscious, home. The more torquey established V-four brands have powerplant,
it
over the Torino Terra, at the moment. But for only
$4,999 solid + ORC handling, (with a full 12 striking month warranty) looks and on
it does give you a cheaper brand new option to
get later out there models and have that some fun. single-sided During my test swingarm
nothing went wrong or broke on the Terra, apart
from the bum the bag Honda zipper, and France I used it as endurance you boys,
expect a bike like this to be ridden.
the You can VFR see more set about a mark this bike for if you sports-tourers
go to
www.torinomotorcycles.com.au.
that 16-year-old still stands. Alex Pickett may A genuine be a learner on the classic. road
but he also rides Cycle Torque’s Triumph Daytona 675 in
the FX Pro Twins class.
1994 Ducati 916 – When the
62 - SEPTEMBER 2010 www.cycletorque.com.au
CYCLE TORQUE TEST – TORINO TERRA 400
how the bike tracked through the sand and how it
coped with me giving it a hard time in the rougher
bottoming out on the guards but to be fair I wasn’t
After I ripped it up in the sand I went for another
20 kilometre ride – I’ve just got my bike Ls and my
Italians get it right, their brilliance is
unsurpassed. The lucky and wellheeled
few are still riding the 916
or its children and are, no doubt, in
heaven. The sound, the performance,
the looks. It was also the start of
Ducati’s reign as a fashion icon. So
not even Ducati at the top of its game
can get everything right.
1998 Yamaha R1 – Yamaha has
started plenty of revolutions in
its time and none has been more
impressive than this, the first of the
21st-century megasportsters. Wild
and a touch scary, it gave the world
its first taste of two-wheeled warp
speed of the racetrack.
2007 Triumph Bonneville – Yes,
the first of the range was released
in 2001, but the 865cc engine was
worth the wait. Tiny, reliable and
sturdy, the new Bonnie is hardly the
cutting-edge performance unit its
predecessor could claim to be, but the
new bike is a timely reminder of how
much fun a motorcycle with a decentdiameter
front wheel, upright riding
position and comfortable seat can be.
– Bob Guntrip
Right: It would be nice to have a tacho
in the instrument pod.
Below left: Handy rack comes
standard.
Below centre: Engine is built by Lifan.
Below right: Rear disc looks like a saw
blade but works fi ne.
DESIGNED FROM THE GROUND UP AS THE MOST INNOVATIVE RETRO 250 CUSTOM
FULL SIZE PRODUCTION CHOPPER EVER CREATED.
More custom FEATURES than any Japper :- Classic “California Old School” slim chopper style - absolute quality
throughout with outstanding attention to every detail - adjustable 21 / 24 inch ride height - Raked front end
with 21”front wheel - wide 16” alloy rear wheel - fuel tank centre mounted ignition switch & speedo / instrument
console panel - “Bates” style headlamp - Alloy custom forward controls - Dual front discs & rear disc with twin
piston calipers - Drag bars with hidden wiring - OHC Vertical Twin cylinder Liquid Cooled, twin carby performance
4 stroke electric start engine - 5 speed, Slash cut exhaust pipes
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