Thumper bikes and bigger stuff...

GTLabs

GTLabs

New Member
#1
#1
I'm curious what bigger bikes you guys are into. I didn't do a search to find out, and figured it would be a good off the cuff thread to start :p.

My new minibike hobby has gotten me more into choppers and bobbers. I'd love to do a bobber Suzuki Savage. I'm rather smitten by single cylinder bikes. They are a completely unique sound, but I don't want a dirt bike or dual purpose bike. I blame my clone :eek:ut:.
 
minibikedude

minibikedude

Active Member
#2
#2
I had a Suzuki DR650 enduro.sold it last year. It was a torque monster. It did not care if there was one or two people on it it pulled just as hard either way. There was an artical in Cycle World with someone building chopper style bike out of old enduros a few years back. I also have my 1986 Honda Magna V4 700cc. I love this bike, It will beat a lot bikes out there with more displacement. Motorcycles are suppose to have four cylinders. My thoughts anyways my dad always had 1972 Honda CB500 when is was growing up,I wish he had kept that bike.
 
65ShelbyClone

65ShelbyClone

Well-Known Member
#4
#4
I have a '95 Honda XR600 dirtbike with a built engine. Not a road bike, but it's fairly quick and fun to ride.

My old man has a '65 Honda CL72 Scrambler(250cc twin, offroad), a '68 CB77 Superhawk(305cc twin, on-road), and the parts to piece together a CL77 Scrambler(305cc, offroad). I'm trying to get the CL77 parts from him. regardless of who ends up with it, it's destined to be a '60s style street tracker. :thumbsup: It would be really cool to get a bunch of original Yoshimura parts, but they're apparently made of gold and I am not.

I also still have a CBR600 F4i engine collecting dust. Still not sure what to do with it...
 
65ShelbyClone

65ShelbyClone

Well-Known Member
#6
#6
I'll vouch for that. The '83-84 XL600 had the highest factory power rating of all the 600 singles from 1983-2001. They are also lighter than later models. My dad has an '84 that runs pretty hard for only having a high compression piston and Supertrapp muffler. A big benefit on those early 600s was the dual carb/dual intake port head. It flows better out of the box than a single carb head like my bike has.
 
Oldsalt

Oldsalt

Well-Known Member
#7
#7
I have an ersatz '55 Royal Enfield. See pics. These 500 cc thumpers were built in England until '55 then the tooling, machinery and rights to manufacture were sold to India. They wanted a good, simple bike for their military. They've been making them eversince. This is my '06 which was only $3800 new. In my youth I owned a 500cc BSA Gold Star and this was as close as I was going to get without paying 9 or 10 grand for an original Goldielocks. I made a new air cleaner, moved the battery under a new cover. Moved the pegs back 2-1/2" and rebent the kick start. Also made the stainless steel megaphone exhaust. This thing is loud and thumps very nicely. It's '40s engineering so it's not fast but is dead reliable and a riot to run through the twisties. My plans are to make an aluminum tank and rear sets and clip-ons to turn it into a retro cafe racer.
 
Jay Wrix

Jay Wrix

New Member
#8
#8
Thats a really good looking Bike, A guy at work had one, and I thought it was original and he explained it to me, I wouldnt mind getting one
 
Strigoi

Strigoi

#9
#9
i've worked at a Harley dealership for 8 years and don't really like them.

i've had an '82 YZ250 and an '82 YZ90 (that thing was a monster). i don't trust other people enough to ride on the street. i've done it plenty of times on friends bikes and hate it.

yesterday my GM told me that i need to get my motorcycle license. i told him i don't need one for mini bikes. :lol:

i'm thinking about telling him i'll get it if work pays for the MSF course for me.

they might even trust me with breaking in demo bikes then which would be kind of neat. :eek:ut:
 
x-90 rider

x-90 rider

#10
#10
I have had my fair share of bikes but I think that I get more enjoyment out of the minis. They fit easily in the house for storage or restoration and I can load them in the truck by myself. As far as anything bigger, we have a 2006 Ultra with a lot of convenience and comfort items on it. We travel about 10,000 miles a year on the bike to shows and events. Sometimes we take one of the X-90s along or we may take the cargo trailer when we need more storage space. :thumbsup:



 
deezildennis

deezildennis

Active Member
#11
#11
My bikes..
1972 yamaha lt2 100cc


1982 xl500r


2008 Lifan lf150gy-3 :thefinger:


2004 Hooper Imports Pitbull Lifan. :thefinger:


1978 Kawazaki KZ200


2008 Triumph Bonneville t-100
 
Tom S.

Tom S.

#14
#14
deezildennis said:
My bikes...
Click to expand...
That's a good looking collection. :thumbsup: I don't have photos of all of them, but my current list besides the Lil Indian goes like this:

1972 Ducati 450 RT
1978 Honda Express
1982 Honda CB 125S
1986 Yamaha SRX6
2002 Suzuki DRZ400
2006 KTM 450 EXC
2007 Ducati 1000GT
2009 Yamaha XT250
 
Tom S.

Tom S.

#15
#15
Oops. Maxed out on thumbnails.

Here's the Ducati 450 at a race at the fairgrounds near my home about 20 years ago, and one of the Suzuki at Death Valley, Calif., last weekend.
 
GTLabs

GTLabs

New Member
#16
#16
Deezil, what can you tell me about that KZ200. That's a neat looking thumperbike and I was looking for a classic styled single cylinder bike to do my bobber work to. That chassis just might work really well for what I have in mind.
 
deezildennis

deezildennis

Active Member
#17
#17
HMMM

Its a Odd ball. They only had them in the states for 2 years I think.

They were around in Indonesia until 1984 I think though. They have some sort of weirdo cult following there. :thumbsup:
They are called a "Binter Merzy" there.

It doesn't have a bunch of power but even after sitting since the late 80's mine ran ok at 70 mph with just fresh gas. Its small.

It has pretty good acceleration in stock form. I haven't messed with mine other than tires and sprockets/chain and a wax job.

Heres a video on Youtube of a kid Named Micah beating on his kz200. And of course me giving him trouble about hammering on it.
YouTube - Micah on his KZ200
 
Oldsalt

Oldsalt

Well-Known Member
#18
#18
Older ride

This is one of my older bikes. A 41 Knucklehead put together from various pieces. First picture shows it during a trial assembly. Note the lower side of the oil tank is bolted on. The horseshoe oil tank was hand made with a false bottom so an electric starter could be installed under it and still look relatively stock. The 6 volt generator was swapped for a 12 volt unit. You won't see many Knuckleheads, with original tin pan primary, that have an electric starter. The other picture was taken in the Kings Canyon National Park last fall.
 
Last edited:
Jay Wrix

Jay Wrix

New Member
#20
#20
Hey deezildennis

I had a buddy that bought one of those 2004 Lifans,

IT had some goofey decal on the side, and wasn't titled pitbull, but its identical
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top