Fascinating films Colin! If you read the service manuals they give the torque wrench settings for all the nuts - in the factory, not a torque wrench in sight - a 'torque wrench' was a forearm and elbow!Interesting that the cylinders were honed to within a tenth of a thou - quite a tribute to the craftsmanship. I was a bit surprised how the brazed the frames in a hearth rather than in a jig, then 'trued' the frame afterwards. I'd have thought they'd set the frame up in a jig, accurately lined up, and braze it with as blowtorch. I dare say that they're all TiG welded by robots these days!
I had a Triumph '21' 350CC twin from 1962-64 on which we went to France and Switzerland. Just a touring bike - nothing special but it would purr along all day and we loved it. We came back from Reims in France to Nottingham via the Channel Ferry in a day. It rained the whole day and all we had for protection was Pakamacs! Couldn't afford leathers. It's great that John Bloor - a millionaire builder, resurrected the Triumph name and has a full order book.
As to BMW, I think they've completely lost the plot where bikes are concerned and ought to chuck in the towel. There is a saying that 'form should follow function' but the styling of the current BMW bikes to my eyes looks just ludicrous - lots of silly bits of redundant trim that look odd, and don't have any function. Really, they should be laughed off the face of the planet. The only people that buy BMWs are old buffers with high disposable incomes - they're not the sort of people who buy bikes that look like they're from a low budget sci-fi movie, unless they have more money than sense.
Calling a 798CC bike a '650' seems a bit bizarre - I can only assume that BMW is trying to capitalise on its heritage. We know what a 650 looked like and it sure as heck doesn't look like the present offering. I guess it's a bit like Fiat calling their 'super-mini' a '500' when the engine is more than twice that size. Harking back to the days of the original 500 - nicknamed by Italians the 'topolino' - 'little mouse' but at least the latest 500 has a passing resemblance to the original one.
When we were at Rufforth, people weren't eying up the latest bikes - they were looking at the 'boxers' (so called because the pistons in horizontally-opposed twin engine punch back and forth rather like a boxer). I'd always hung my nose over one, and an 800RT was a retirement present to myself back in 1994 after having been off motorbikes for 30 years. I kept it for 14 years and had lots of fun on it. It had to go because I spent more time cleaning and tinkering with it than riding it - that's the problem with retirement - you just don't have enough free time! Also, I decided that I was too young to die, and too old to have an accident. (I opened a zipped pocket in my leathers just after I bought the bike and found a card which Jennnifer had tucked in, listing 'Next of kin'. It didn't inspire confidence!)
The first pic was taken when I bought it in Sept 1994, the second was 12 years later, in 2006, still in showroom condidtion. (By then, I'd fitted a top box and taller windscreen).
Rambled and dribbled Yokie.
I had a Triumph '21' 350CC twin from 1962-64 on which we went to France and Switzerland. Just a touring bike - nothing special but it would purr along all day and we loved it. We came back from Reims in France to Nottingham via the Channel Ferry in a day. It rained the whole day and all we had for protection was Pakamacs! Couldn't afford leathers. It's great that John Bloor - a millionaire builder, resurrected the Triumph name and has a full order book.
As to BMW, I think they've completely lost the plot where bikes are concerned and ought to chuck in the towel. There is a saying that 'form should follow function' but the styling of the current BMW bikes to my eyes looks just ludicrous - lots of silly bits of redundant trim that look odd, and don't have any function. Really, they should be laughed off the face of the planet. The only people that buy BMWs are old buffers with high disposable incomes - they're not the sort of people who buy bikes that look like they're from a low budget sci-fi movie, unless they have more money than sense.
Calling a 798CC bike a '650' seems a bit bizarre - I can only assume that BMW is trying to capitalise on its heritage. We know what a 650 looked like and it sure as heck doesn't look like the present offering. I guess it's a bit like Fiat calling their 'super-mini' a '500' when the engine is more than twice that size. Harking back to the days of the original 500 - nicknamed by Italians the 'topolino' - 'little mouse' but at least the latest 500 has a passing resemblance to the original one.
When we were at Rufforth, people weren't eying up the latest bikes - they were looking at the 'boxers' (so called because the pistons in horizontally-opposed twin engine punch back and forth rather like a boxer). I'd always hung my nose over one, and an 800RT was a retirement present to myself back in 1994 after having been off motorbikes for 30 years. I kept it for 14 years and had lots of fun on it. It had to go because I spent more time cleaning and tinkering with it than riding it - that's the problem with retirement - you just don't have enough free time! Also, I decided that I was too young to die, and too old to have an accident. (I opened a zipped pocket in my leathers just after I bought the bike and found a card which Jennnifer had tucked in, listing 'Next of kin'. It didn't inspire confidence!)
The first pic was taken when I bought it in Sept 1994, the second was 12 years later, in 2006, still in showroom condidtion. (By then, I'd fitted a top box and taller windscreen).
Rambled and dribbled Yokie.
Regards, David.
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
