Motorcycles and musicians

[MCK]

I quit riding due to having kids after the Triumph was stolen...

So sad isn't it? I spent a whole summer restoring a 71 Bonneville on a college kids budget and really loved the outcome only to have it stolen from me after 3 months. I still turn around and look to see if its my taken bike each time I hear that unmistakable British twin thump coming down the street...

Good post by one of KF's siblings. I'm glad to see some positive interaction here. Makes me want to ask...

Any leads to a KF modded bike somewhere out there? Can't afford one of his sonic masterpieces but having one of his bikes could make a good conversation starter too!

[jborders5]

I'm partial to Ducati, but have a few others in the garage.

[img664]http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7174/dsc1822u.jpg[/img]

[img664]http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/40/dsc1978s.jpg[/img]

[MCK]

jborders5, I love your taste in bikes. Is that a tricked out Monster at the top or is it how they come from the factory these days? Gorgeous.

[jborders5]

jborders5, I love your taste in bikes. Is that a tricked out Monster at the top or is it how they come from the factory these days? Gorgeous.

Thanks. The Monster is a 2009 1100S. This is what it looked like in stock form:
[img:640:360]http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/2945 ... r1100s.jpg[/img]

[MCK]

Cool. I've always loved the Monster line ever since it was introduced in early 90s.

For some reason I'm getting the following error and can't see the image posted above.

You don't have permission to access /sites/default/files/images/Ducati_Monster1100S_10.preview.jpg on this server.

[skyboltone]

MCK: Are you signed in?

JBorders5: I like the little guy with the laced up wheels better but no way I can do that riding position any more. Head up body down arms out. Five miles max, then I'm hitch hiking back home with my head in a sling.

[MCK]

Now the photo works. Not sure what the problem was yesterday. NICE!!!

[jborders5]

JBorders5: I like the little guy with the laced up wheels better but no way I can do that riding position any more. Head up body down arms out. Five miles max, then I'm hitch hiking back home with my head in a sling.

Me too... It's by far my favorite bike, but has the most uncomfortable riding position and the suspension is crap. It's more torture rack than motorcycle.

[Ken Moon]

My first bike was a Kawasaki 90 - I was 13 years old:

[IMG:940:948]http://i514.photobucket.com/albums/t346 ... stbike.jpg[/img]

That lasted about 2 months off road before a bunch of parts fell off

I moved "up" to a Hodaka Ace 100 and started racing motocross at 14 - I got good enough to get a factory ride from a German company nobody ever heard of, Zundapp, but their MC125 got over 20hp out of 125cc, and I was flying past all the Bultacos, Maicos and Huskys (no decent Japanese motocross bikes at that time):

[img::]http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/ ... 5_1972.jpg[/img]

Had several street bikes, including the awesome Kawasaki Mach III, but I quit riding after a pretty serious accident in Orlando back in '81.

[CaseyJones]

So sad isn't it? I spent a whole summer restoring a 71 Bonneville on a college kids budget and really loved the outcome only to have it stolen from me after 3 months. I still turn around and look to see if its my taken bike each time I hear that unmistakable British twin thump coming down the street...

You miss it? The '71 is The Worst Bonnie Ever. I would have thought that Triumph learned their lesson in '60 with the original duplex frame... the one that snapped the tubes off right at the frame head. The geometry was all wrong, fork rake was as steep as a GSXR which works on a GSXR but was all wrong in 1960. Like the 1960 (and '61... and '62...) the '71 makes a wonderful parts donor for the earlier bikes, for instance if you blow up a late '60s Bonnie the '71 motor bolts right in. Of course you're only original once which means if you let the sludge trap load up with crud... and all the rest of it... you end up with a '71 motor in your nice '60s Bonnie. Non-numbers match, at least you can still ride it...

Workin' on a numbers match '66 right now. Pics? It's in seven buckets and a shopping cart... People think I ride a Wal-Mart 'cuz that's what it sez on th' cart...

Them fancy Eye-talian bikes: I'd smash that exhaust pipe flat on a rock the first time out. If you can't ride it in the desert WHY BOTHER?!

Dunlop doesn't make 17" K180s...

[skyboltone]

Dunlop doesn't make 17" K180s...

Bahhhh. K81. The ONLY tire for that bike. Do they still make it?

[CaseyJones]

Dunlop doesn't make 17" K180s...

Bahhhh. K81. The ONLY tire for that bike. Do they still make it?

In theory the "correct" tire is an original Made in England K70. Yeah, they still make them in Japan. The Triumph "Daytonas" that won Daytona in '66 and '67 were on shaved K70s. They're a pretty good universal tread. I like the (defunct) Pirelli MT53s better on dirt especially with a hand cut sipe job.

Dunlop still makes K81s. They're great for something like a Trident that runs 19" wheels on both ends. But...

The K180 is a real DOT legal dirt track tire. It's better for turning left instead of right although not quite as funky as the current issue Maxxis 17" dirt track tires. Hot knife it, hand groove it, hand sipe it... you can get away with some pretty crazy stuff on cold, wet or dirty surfaces.

Race compound Avons are lotsa fun on the street, too...

[skyboltone]

Dunlop doesn't make 17" K180s...

Bahhhh. K81. The ONLY tire for that bike. Do they still make it?

In theory the "correct" tire is an original Made in England K70. Yeah, they still make them in Japan. The Triumph "Daytonas" that won Daytona in '66 and '67 were on shaved K70s. They're a pretty good universal tread. I like the (defunct) Pirelli MT53s better on dirt especially with a hand cut sipe job.

Dunlop still makes K81s. They're great for something like a Trident that runs 19" wheels on both ends. But...

The K180 is a real DOT legal dirt track tire. It's better for turning left instead of right although not quite as funky as the current issue Maxxis 17" dirt track tires. Hot knife it, hand groove it, hand sipe it... you can get away with some pretty crazy stuff on cold, wet or dirty surfaces.

Race compound Avons are lotsa fun on the street, too...

I ran K81s on the RD-350 and a Triumph 500 Daytona. What I liked about them was the triangular cross section and the way that you "dropped" into a turn. And they were so soft that they stuck like glue in the rain. I really don't know jack about tires for the Road King. You see Metzler's around, some Avons, but I've always kinda been a Dunlop guy. The K81 would NOT be the correct cross section for that bike.

[MCK]

So sad isn't it? I spent a whole summer restoring a 71 Bonneville on a college kids budget and really loved the outcome only to have it stolen from me after 3 months. I still turn around and look to see if its my taken bike each time I hear that unmistakable British twin thump coming down the street...

You miss it? The '71 is The Worst Bonnie Ever.

I was a poor college kid who managed to get his hands on a piece of junk which eventually came back to life and took me places... What do you think? Of course it was rough compared to other bikes to come afterwards but still in my aging memory it is one that was the best of experiences...

Would love to see photos of your restoration once done. Sounds like you're working on a winner.

[CaseyJones]

I ran K81s on the RD-350 and a Triumph 500 Daytona. What I liked about them was the triangular cross section and the way that you "dropped" into a turn. And they were so soft that they stuck like glue in the rain. I really don't know jack about tires for the Road King. You see Metzler's around, some Avons, but I've always kinda been a Dunlop guy. The K81 would NOT be the correct cross section for that bike.

I have a couple K81s kickin' around. That's soft?! The race compound Avon Venoms smear towards the shoulders. They don't last very long. It's an awful lot of fun to toss some old crock into a corner so hard that parts drag.

I'd forget about the 140mm tread width on the Road King. Harley used 5" wide tires since... what? The Civil War? My picks:

Continental K112 on the back. It's chunky enough you won't land on yer arse parkin' on the grass (you might have to ride a ways to find grass ), it's got some big fat ribs and a rain groove up the middle.

Dunlop F11 front. It's a Dunlop rip of the old Beck tread from the '50s.

Duro makes their HF906 60/40 knobby in 130-90-16. It's noteworthy because it's the only 16" dual sport tire I can think of.

It's cheeeep!!

So sad isn't it? I spent a whole summer restoring a 71 Bonneville on a college kids budget and really loved the outcome only to have it stolen from me after 3 months. I still turn around and look to see if its my taken bike each time I hear that unmistakable British twin thump coming down the street...

You miss it? The '71 is The Worst Bonnie Ever.

I was a poor college kid who managed to get his hands on a piece of junk which eventually came back to life and took me places... What do you think? Of course it was rough compared to other bikes to come afterwards but still in my aging memory it is one that was the best of experiences....

You're gonna cry...

A buddy of mine stopped by Friday. He was braggin' about a '71 Bonnie he just scored for $300. It runs!

Lotsa guys "need" money for a beer and a baggie in this economy...

I'd say if you want to get back into it track down any number of Triumph 500s. Or you could just pick up a GS500. Gets the job done, never breaks...

Would love to see photos of your restoration once done. Sounds like you're working on a winner.

It's probably not going to be a "restoration" per se, for instance I'm going to run a '69-'70 front brake because it's better, bigger tank from a Trophy... stuff like that. On the other hand it's not gonna be some hack job that's 50% iaftermarket parts.

It's going to be interesting. The guy I got it from is pretty good at taking things apart. If he thought ahead he would have realized that he sucks at putting things back together. The good news is that it's like a 5000 piece puzzle with only a couple dozen parts missing...