Yet Another New Toy Thread - this one is a bit different!

[Shug]

Wow, that looks great. Not much knowledge of old bikes but I do lobe them.

Are the brake, clutch on the different side with an older bike?

I *think* that Indian will have a hand-change. Two or three speed box controlled by the hand lever on the right of the tank. Front and rear brake controls as per modern bikes, but I think a foot clutch (!) with a spring arrangement meaning an interesting technique required for standing starts. Manual advance as well, I'd imagine. Was like that on pre-war Harleys (was a Mark Hughes rebuilding programme I watched a while ago on Discovery where he rebuilt a pre-war Harley, hence me knowing this!).

PS - it is frigging lovely, too

[tut]

8ft handle bars, searchlight, brass bell, bugle hooter, seat sprung but not rear frame. No sign of a tyre valve, are they solid? Who could not love it.

£15K at auction but not as good condition as yours.

tut

[ChrisG]

All correct Shug

Wow, that looks great. Not much knowledge of old bikes but I do lobe them.

Are the brake, clutch on the different side with an older bike?

I *think* that Indian will have a hand-change. Two or three speed box controlled by the hand lever on the right of the tank. Front and rear brake controls as per modern bikes, but I think a foot clutch (!) with a spring arrangement meaning an interesting technique required for standing starts. Manual advance as well, I'd imagine. Was like that on pre-war Harleys (was a Mark Hughes rebuilding programme I watched a while ago on Discovery where he rebuilt a pre-war Harley, hence me knowing this!).

PS - it is frigging lovely, too

[ChrisG]

Quick update on this one. After a fair bit of reading up on how to start and run the bike I gave it a go today (neither my Dad or I have tried to start it since buying it). Long story short, after checking all the levels and giving the battery a quick charge with an Optimate, I gave it a prime and it started at the very first attempt

I've got till Spring time to get left foot clutch programmed in to my head. Left grip ignition advance/retart is another story all together

Quick video here - http://youtu.be/0VHq-m8_MVs

[tut]

Brilliant.........

tut

[kerryxeg]

I don't know anything about bikes, but yours does look fantastic.

I saw the Fastest Indian film several years ago and was left wondering how an old guy who lives in a shed ends up putting a bike together and going out to Bonneville. So I ordered and read a book about Burt Munro, which tells a much longer and even more interesting story.

He was given a shot of a motorbike as a kid by a neighbouring farmer, as a quicker alternative than taking a horse. From that point on all he was interested in was bikes, which led him to become a sales rep for a bike company. He did beach races all the time in New Zealand and was always tinkering with ideas to make his bike go faster. His father was a farmer so I guess he had some intuitive engineering skills. For most of his years he lead a normalish life, with a family on a farm, but travelling to sell bikes and to do his beach racing. Eventually he became more obsessed with flat out speed rather than the beach racing which included turns. There was a straight line event in New Zealand which probably just encouraged him further. This led him to Bonneville and he went back many times (probably starting a lot younger than shown in the film). Almost all of the film was based on real events, however they occurred over numerous trips not just one. He did end up living in a garage, I think following a separation from his wife. He bought a plot in a new estate development. You could build your own house but it had to follow certain guidelines. Burt (who sounded just like the character portrayed in the film) didn't like the restrictions and argued that he should be able to build the house the way he wanted. In the end he built a garage instead, which did not have any restrictions and moved in. I can't find my copy of the book, but I'm sure a quick amazon search would dig it up - it's a great read and the whole story is even better than the film. I have to say - Anthony Hopkins captured the character of Burt perfectly.

[LotusLee]

Nice, that thing has style. I once started a bike at a trial just like you did in the video, got a right slagging off for that Probably safer having the bars to the left incase it kicks-back on you

[flyingscot68]

Quick video here - http://youtu.be/0VHq-m8_MVs

That is fantastic.
Need to try and catch up with you on it come spring time


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