J
JJZ
Guest
Hi,
Just joined this forum after buying a KLR 650. I started riding in the 70s (so, nou kan julle raai hoe oud ek is !) having bought an air-cooled 2-cylinder 350 Suzuki. What a nice bike ! Traded that in on a GT 750 in 1974 at Racing Motors in Jhb. Owner was ex-racer Jannie Stander. To the younger generation, that was a water cooled (quite uncommon on motorcycles in those days) 3-cylinder 2-stroke Suzuki. Massive torque ! Coming back from Kyalami in 1978, one of our indigenous bretheren crossed the road with a bicycle, in the half dark, motherless, right in front of me. I only stopped falling/skidding from that incident recently
In 1979 I bought a GS 1000 Suzuki, which I sold in 1984. Regarded as the ultimate superbike at the time
Since then I have been waiting patiently for my mid-life crises to surface, which, thankfully happened recently. And now I have a bike again ! And enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed biking in my early years.
Some observations : In my young days, manufacturers were proud of the appearances of their bikes, particularly the engines. It seems that engines nowadays are no longer works of art, as the manufacturers hide them behind fairings and other bits of plastic You wanna see the engine ? Buy naked ! Jeez, we would've been locked up for saying that in public ;D
I feel for the poor pillion riders on modern sports bikes ! The seat is the size of a teaspoon, and the foot-pegs are 6 inches below the base of said seat. Initially I thought the passengers were smiling because they were having fun. Then I put on me glasses, and saw they were grimacing :mwink:
Does the American "Cycle" magazine still exist ? Is Ed Hertfelder still around ? Mmmm........those were the days !
Just joined this forum after buying a KLR 650. I started riding in the 70s (so, nou kan julle raai hoe oud ek is !) having bought an air-cooled 2-cylinder 350 Suzuki. What a nice bike ! Traded that in on a GT 750 in 1974 at Racing Motors in Jhb. Owner was ex-racer Jannie Stander. To the younger generation, that was a water cooled (quite uncommon on motorcycles in those days) 3-cylinder 2-stroke Suzuki. Massive torque ! Coming back from Kyalami in 1978, one of our indigenous bretheren crossed the road with a bicycle, in the half dark, motherless, right in front of me. I only stopped falling/skidding from that incident recently
In 1979 I bought a GS 1000 Suzuki, which I sold in 1984. Regarded as the ultimate superbike at the time
Since then I have been waiting patiently for my mid-life crises to surface, which, thankfully happened recently. And now I have a bike again ! And enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed biking in my early years.
Some observations : In my young days, manufacturers were proud of the appearances of their bikes, particularly the engines. It seems that engines nowadays are no longer works of art, as the manufacturers hide them behind fairings and other bits of plastic
You wanna see the engine ? Buy naked ! Jeez, we would've been locked up for saying that in public ;DI feel for the poor pillion riders on modern sports bikes ! The seat is the size of a teaspoon, and the foot-pegs are 6 inches below the base of said seat. Initially I thought the passengers were smiling because they were having fun. Then I put on me glasses, and saw they were grimacing :mwink:
Does the American "Cycle" magazine still exist ? Is Ed Hertfelder still around ? Mmmm........those were the days !
