Nostalgia

[guzzler]

G'day folk's

I was looking for something the other day and stumbled upon this old Instamatic photo from 1977.

 Sorry about the quality!

 This bloody thing was my second bike after teaching myself to ride on my first,a Suzuki RV75 Van Van ( yep the one with the balloon tyres ).

I swore I'd never take the wee zook off road and remember 60 k's an hour feeling bloody fast.

Yep , sure enough I ended up taking it off-road!

After about a year, my cousin got wind of another rider in the family and dropped round to see what was what.He raced a heavily modified CR125 in local motocross and knew what he was on about,so in due course I was convinced that a CR125 race bike was what I needed for my second bike and he'd help me find one!

Now as mentioned earlier this was 1977 and I was 10 stone wringing wet and all arms and legs but a suitable machine was found.At this stage the early CR was slightly eclipsed by the newer RM zook and YZ Yammie but as a weekend plaything racing amongst mates it was still a weapon!

Twenty horsepower and 80 kilos in weight none the less.Better than many 250 trail bikes of the time.

I clearly remember my first ride, it took a couple of goes as there's nothing below 7500  and then everything from there to 10,500 whereupon the front wheel sits straight up, the back scrambles for traction and kicks out sideways on each gearchange and you just bang thru the gears without the clutch.At full noise in 6th the front's still in the air.

We used to live about 200 metres or so from the beach in those distant days which meant that almost every spare bit of time was spent hammering this wee firecracker up the street n left onto Marine Parade and within a couple o clicks we were at the end of civilization and into bush / beach fire tracks etc and FUN TIME.

Now between home and the wilderness lay Dads mates diary ( to ozzies a milk bar, to people in uk  the corner shop  USA ?? ) which I used to fly past at 65 mph, front wheel in the air and a racket that would've outdone a hundred banshees.

 Lance ( Dads mate ) was a good bloke ex stock car racer, drove a big block Chev Impala and still raced go Karts occasionally.He also kept a couple of Piranhas in a fish tank in the middle of the shop which was fun watching them being fed with chunks of meat if you happened in at feeding time.

Anyways rather than being pissed off about it he thought it was hilarious as when I went past it used to rattle all the cans and bottles on his shelves and cracking him up.

All up I had the CR for a couple of years before getting rid of it.She'd been rebored a few times and I'd broken the frame in two places ( too many big jumps & only 4 inches of travel  ) and I also needed something I could ride on the road ( legally that is ) so she had to go.

But bloody hell there's nothing like a 125 screamer to teach you how to ride eh!

Still brings a smile to me and my ole mates and family still all these years later too.

Anyways thanks for the indulgence that is nostalgia.

Cheers Guzzler

Ps How about you blokes>

As lifelong bike nuts we've all got plenty to reminisce about !

 

 

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[footgoose]

ok, here's one...

1971 separated US Army early May. This was taken late fall same year. My hair used to grow fast. When I got out I bought the fastest thing I could find. A '69 Mach III.

A couple things of note... This was taken at Geist Reservoir outside Indianapolis, when it was owned by the good citizens of Indiana and the water Co. as a resource for water. Then the inevitable... You can't get near the water now unless you walk out someone back door. All private property. All very big $.

My fatigue shirt shows signs of the remnants of the heavy starch we used to have done for the level of "Strac" required for Airborne troops.

A great set of boots that were lost in Jamaica that winter to a Rastafarian with a pistol. All my money was in a secret pocket in the boot. 

Ahhh the memories.

 

I add this beautiful bike to the long list fo stuff I should NeVeR have parted with. Ironic that I traded it after 2 years for a 1960 Austin Healey 100 Six... which I also sold.

 

[guzzler]

Heh he

That's quite a screamer right there too mate !!

Cheers Guzzler

[Chuck]

Quote

1960 Austin Healey 100 Six... which I also sold.

I had a 64, the first year of roll up widows IIRC. Got in a baby way and traded it for a Nash station wagon.

[Nihontochicken]

Unfortunately I don't have a pic of myself with my first motorcycle, but see a stock photo below.  Yeah, a Bridgestone 175 Street Scrambler!  Hahahahaha! I actually did try to ride it off road while accompanying my older brother on a Baja trip.  The ribbed front tire left a little to be desired in the soft sand two tracks.  I used nearly half of my one and only student loan to buy the little rotary valve twin screamer in 1970.  It was followed by tens of other bikes, including for real dirt pounders.  Now down to a 2005 DR650 and 2004 V11 Naked as the riding chapter winds down to a close.  Total of eleven broken bones, but it's been fun (most of the time).  

 

 

[guzzler]

Hey Footgoose & Chuck.

You guy's seen the prices the big Healey's are fetching these day's??

My mate used to own a Bug Eye Sprite 1600 which his Father in Law encouraged him to buy a few years ago.

He had an immaculate 3 litre which was worth over 100K here in Oz at the time!

And this was some time ago!

Yep bloody hindsight is always 20/20 vision eh.

Cheers Guzzler

[Chuck]

I'd rather not know, Guzzler. I also had a 57 Pontiac convertible that for some reason is pretty valuable. Most of us probably would like the use of a time machine occasionally.

[Tomchri]

Just saying, regret is a word I never use , I'l have another IPA.

Cheers tom.

[KINDOY2]

1 hour ago, Chuck said:

I'd rather not know, Guzzler. I also had a 57 Pontiac convertible that for some reason is pretty valuable. Most of us probably would like the use of a time machine occasionally.

My uncle had a powder blue 4 door 57 pontiac when I was a kid in the early 60's, It looked like a big boat family car but that thing could fly!, It had a 346 v8, with Factory Tri Power and a 3 speed Dual Hydromatic transmission..My Cousin would drag race guys in their Hopped up Chevy's with 4 speeds from a rolling start and blow their doors off..very cool car...I liked it because it was a real sleeper.

[Lucky Phil]

Too much nostalgia with regards to vehicles. Problem is the markets so distorted these days esp the US market now the middle class has all but evaporated. The market seems to be driven not by wealthy people as it used to be with the sacrificing middle classes in with a chance but by the, not just wealthy, but the obscenely wealthy setting the bar. 

I view old vehicles as something "of their time" and ignore the silly money they attract these days. A modern motorcycle or car is such a superior piece of engineering why would you spend silly money buying what is by todays standards a piece of shit. Seriously? Why would you spend a $100,000 or more on a "Green frame"  Ducati from 72 when for less money you could buy yourself a Modern Classic Ducati like a Panagale Superleggera that will eventually appreciate just as much in the future and is a million times better piece of motorcycle engineering to start with. Same with cars pretty much, which over here the self managed superannuation have driven the price of frankly horrible old 4 door V8 sedans from the 70's through the roof. Senseless.

  

[docc]

Is it still nostalgia if your first bike is on the lift with the motor at a mate's for a rebuild?

Or is this just glassy-eyed?

[Lucky Phil]

1 hour ago, docc said:

Is it still nostalgia if your first bike is on the lift with the motor at a mate's for a rebuild?

No docc it's not. That's just another possible catastrophe:) Nostalgia...a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past. I sometimes like the period but try and separate that from the "engineering" The engineering is "of it's time" and locked there forever. Hard to get too sentimental over the mechanical abominatios from the past I've had to engineer my way around at times. I see old bikes getting around these days and they get my attention and I like the fact that people still restore and fettle them, just glad it's not me is all.

Ciao  

[docc]

Heh, well, so I thought. Maybe the old thumper will become my sons' nostalgia.

All my "nostalgia" goes back to 60s to early 70s "muscle cars."  Dear God, their brakes and suspension were awful. My brother (briefly owned) an Austin-Healey 3000/MkIII that set the motorhead hooks in me forever. Back in those days, I thought the motorcycle guys were complete nutters and crazies. (Hey, now I "resemble" that remark! )

Living in Bavaria as wee lad, I grew up thinking the BMW opposed-twin would be the ultimate. Then, one evening while in college, a friend started up his white, pin-striped loop-frame Guzzi; maybe an Ambassador, IDK. My other nutter-crazy motorcycle buddy was there - he could ride a wheelie on his Kawi triple clear to the ferrkin' moon, but it was a loud-crazed-violent affair. 

In the apartment complex parking lot, the fellow lofted the Ambo like a dance with an Angel. It was so elegant and effortless!

There is the matter of taking the bait, but I swallowed the hook.  

[guzzler]

Doc

Your GB500 is a beauty mate.

As Phil's saying your Honda is a superior bike than a old 50's English 500 thumper.

Probably not as sophisticated as a modern  KTM / Husky  big single, but I reckon Honda got the GB500TT model just right!

Cheers Guzzler

Ha ha maybe modern nostalgia ? 

[docc]

6 minutes ago, guzzler said:

Your GB500 is a beauty mate.

Ha ha maybe modern nostalgia ? 

There's an "oxymoron" right there!