Vintage Motorcycle Days 2009

[Mike Cecchini]

[quote="Mike Barone #123"][quote]

"1973 .......... Craig Vetter’s freelance “American hotrodâ€

[Mike Barone #123]

[quote="Mike Cecchini"][quote="Mike Barone #123"][quote]

"1973 .......... Craig Vetter’s freelance “American hotrodâ€

[Mike Cecchini]

[quote="Mike Barone #123"][quote="Mike Cecchini"][quote="Mike Barone #123"][quote]

"1973 .......... Craig Vetter’s freelance “American hotrodâ€

[EMS]

True........ keeping a 70's brit bike on the road for real use makes Ducati's look like BMW's, .

This may just be because English is not my native language...but I do not get this remark Can you explain this in simpler words?

As far as keeping the "brit bike" on the road: I don't own one, but I know for a fact that this particular Hurricane has not required any more maintenance and/or repair in the last five years since I know the owner than my 79 CBX.

[Mike Cecchini]

True........ keeping a 70's brit bike on the road for real use makes Ducati's look like BMW's, .

This may just be because English is not my native language...but I do not get this remark Can you explain this in simpler words?

As far as keeping the "brit bike" on the road: I don't own one, but I know for a fact that this particular Hurricane has not required any more maintenance and/or repair in the last five years since I know the owner than my 79 CBX.

Your English is fine Mike. My words speak for themselves.

For greater clearity, I would not recommend a 70's Brit bikes if they are to be used regularly in daily service as they require what I call "abnormal" amounts of attention to keep them on the road in proper condition.

Now I do understand there are people that will ride a bike what I call 40% 60% condition and think nothing of it......but I like bikes in 100% condition, therefore a real rider (to me) needs to be near bullet-proof in it's design and construction.......and this certainly does not include anything Triumph made in the 70's or 80's.

And while I very much like attending to bikes that I used at track events and occasional street/weekend use...... a bike that I want to ride for thousands and thousands of miles yearly is not one that I want to spend the same ride/work-on-it ratio upon.

[EMS]

I see your point, Mike, but I would have to question your choice of Italian bikes for that purpose....
So, with your Ducati-BMW remark, were you saying that compared to British bikes, a Ducati appears as reliable as a BMW

[Mike Cecchini]

I see your point, Mike, but I would have to question your choice of Italian bikes for that purpose....
So, with your Ducati-BMW remark, were you saying that compared to British bikes, a Ducati appears as reliable as a BMW

In general I agree with you Mike. Italian bikes are not known for their serious long distance abilities we find in the USA, even though Gary Egan has set several records on Ducati sport-touring bikes (ST variants) in recent years........ these records were over a relatively short period of time where almost any well prepared modern bike could have done the same.

Personally I prefer a shaft drive bike for long distances and/or regular daily use as they are virtually trouble free and the bike stays relatively clean and extremely easy to clean to near pristine condition. Chain driven bikes on the other-hand, if the rider wants to keep the rear tire/wheel are in grease free condition, one needs to be very selective on exactly what product is used to lube the chain and even then, the chain area gets extremely dirty and nasty. Many riders consider this perfectly normal and reasonable..... I do not. I like my tires, wheels, chains and sprockets near new clean and am willing to spend the time/trouble in keeping them in this condition. With my garage specifically set-up to make such tasks simple and easy, I can do this to all my bikes with ease in heated & A/C conditions year round as I enjoy satellite & cable TV or music of my choice.

In review and overview.... my comment: "...keeping a 70's Brit bike on the road for real use makes Ducati's look like BMW's" is valid, in that, today's Ducatis compared to a 70's Triumph does, in fact make a Ducati as reliable as a BMW.

As a matter of fact, back in 2003 when I prepared for a 9000 mile "Around the USA" trip with my son I could have used any bike made from 1970 to 2003. What bikes did we choose ? I chose my 1975 R90RS and the son chose a 1984 R100RS.......both very simple, capable and reliable machines that served us well the whole trip without incident.

If I was to do the trip again (which I hope to do in 2011) ..... would I use the same motorcycles ?? Absolutely. Why ?? Because as a hands-on owner/rider, I want to be able to deal with just about any situation that one can when on a long distance trip over an extended period of time.........personally.

With more modern bike that leave very little to the owner/rider to deal with and manufacturers want us to support their dealer networks...... today's owner/riders can only use a cell phone to get a tow to the nearest dealer where specialized work these bikes require can be done.

And frankly....... since my son has been working at California's top BMW shop for the past 4 years....he's seen a rather disturbing change in BMW engineering and standards change considerably from the 70's and 80's machines to modern BMW's, so he (like me) prefers the 70's and 80's airhead designed bikes that are still quite competent, simple and incredibly reliable motorcycles...... unlike the Brit bikes of the same era.