For the motorcycling sailors

[Seven Spades]

My father had a Sunbeam rod driven motorbike and sidecar. One day when I was 5 he did a u-turn in Twickenham High Street and I leant against the door... the door flung open and I rolled out like tumbleweed. I have never been the same since.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

But it isn't as nicely accesssorized!

 

[Alicatt]

Not quite a Clifford Vaughs creation and I doubt Wyatt would have made such a huge impression on a BSA with a sissy bar.

Certainly he wouldn't!
That cissy bar went on to my Suzuki GT380, my girlfriend of the time used to fall asleep on the back of the bike, she would lock herself into the cissy bar and fall asleep, first time I noticed it, it scared the devil out of me rode that bike for about 120k miles before selling it, the one after that was a Suzuki Katana 650, which on the first evening I rode it I got offered almost double what I paid for it, so I rode it for a year or so and still got what the guy offered me, great bike.
Now a days I try not to think about them, knowing how my wife feels about bikes it does me no favours pining for one again, I'm glad that she has finally seen that she actually likes going out on boats and so I can focus on that, and that we can both do that together.



My father on his Jap engined 350cc Cotton, Ranoch Moor/Glen Coe during WW2

 

[ronsurf]

Certainly he wouldn't!
That cissy bar went on to my Suzuki GT380, my girlfriend of the time used to fall asleep on the back of the bike, she would lock herself into the cissy bar and fall asleep, first time I noticed it, it scared the devil out of me rode that bike for about 120k miles before selling it, the one after that was a Suzuki Katana 650, which on the first evening I rode it I got offered almost double what I paid for it, so I rode it for a year or so and still got what the guy offered me, great bike.
Now a days I try not to think about them, knowing how my wife feels about bikes it does me no favours pining for one again, I'm glad that she has finally seen that she actually likes going out on boats and so I can focus on that, and that we can both do that together.

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The GT380 was a stroker? A work colleague has just bought one of those. I won;t tell you what he paid for it, it will make your eyes water.

I've had a gf fall asleep on my back before, on my Honda 400/4. I took it as a complement that my riding was so safe...

I also had a gf who was a yoga teacher who, while a pillion decided mid corner that being upright was the right thing to do, and the bike straightened up and headed for the hedge.

 

[Alicatt]

The GT380 was a stroker? A work colleague has just bought one of those. I won;t tell you what he paid for it, it will make your eyes water.

I've had a gf fall asleep on my back before, on my Honda 400/4. I took it as a complement that my riding was so safe...

I also had a gf who was a yoga teacher who, while a pillion decided mid corner that being upright was the right thing to do, and the bike straightened up and headed for the hedge.

Yes the GT380 is a 3 cylinder 2stroke, nominally the same spec engine as the GT250 of the same age but with an extra cylinder, but the 380 has a milder tune than the 250. Once I had sorted out the HT ignition and properly sealed it I had no problems with the bike. The most difficult thing on the bike is getting the timing set properly as the points are driven by a spur gear off the crank and run backwards, the backlash in the gears is enough to open and close the points - and that was when the bike was new never mind 5 years and 100k miles later.

The 400/4 was a very smooth bike indeed a couple of friends had them, another friend had an RD350 at the time too, but it was not as nice a bike to ride as the 380, the 380 had a smooth power delivery with virtually no powerband where the RD350 once you hit 4000rpm it was like throwing a switch and all the power came in with a bang.

Hope your friend likes the 380, it can be a very reliable bike and quite robust, with the milder tuning it was not so susceptible to holing the pistons as the GT250, never had it happen to mine in the 120k I rode it for. The engine really is silky smooth and almost no vibration from it, the frame and rear suspension are not so good, damping is a bit soft and compensating it with a higher spring loading helps but does not cure it, the frame flexes and can be disconcerting cornering hard on the bike, the original exhausts limit the lean angle and it is very easy to scrape them, I had a time with a 3 into 1 expansion chamber, gave more lean angle but reduced ground clearance by about 25mm, never gave any real boost to performance so I went back to the original 3 into 4.