10-09-2012, 04:39 PM
Hi,
Many thanks for the information and link David.
I looked at the details of this Rocket 3 bike a while ago and believe top speed is electronically limited to something like 160mph. At this speed it will drink a drop of fuel. I could be persuaded to throw my leg over one of these beauties and give it a blast. I saw a guy on one during our recent trip to Skipton.
I used to love winding a big bike to the end of its throttle cable but could only do this if the bike was fitted with a decent fairing; at over 80mph I used to get terrific neck ache if fully exposed to the wind and a bumble bee at speed hitting the helmet visor comes as a surprise.
I'll never forget the sound of a big British single on full chat and an all time favourite of mine just has to be the BSA DBD34 with RRT2 gearbox. This bike is simply gorgeous and would reach 70mph in first gear; not having a tick over jet in the carb the engine had to be constantly "blipped" in order to keep it alive. In the sixties I rode many bikes sporting clip on handlebars; swept back exhausts; rear set foot rests and fork gaiters in fact I once owned a Triton; Norton slimline featherbed frame fitted with a Triumph T110 tuned engine; this had the clip ons together with big 5 gallon alloy tank.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSA_Gold_Star
When I was courting Bron in 1975 I owned a BSA Lightning 650cc and Bron has done the ton (100mph) a number of times riding pillion on this bike. Unfortunately I considered the Lightning to be a poor bike and hardly a superior bike to old fashioned but excellent Golden Flash 650cc.
I wouldn't consider buying another bike to use as I would consider it too unsafe given the amount of traffic on the roads these days. I've had my biking fun and enjoyed it to the maximum but I'll leave well alone now having lived through it and survived. I wouldn't mind fully restoring something like a Norton ES2 or BSA Golden Flash though but not to ride it on a regular basis once restored. When I played around with bikes spares were cheap and plentiful as were the bikes (Norton ES2 for £5). I once answered an ad in a local paper as I wanted a sidecar and a child/adult sidecar at £5 sounded just right. I handed over the fiver and the sidecar came attached to a Matchless 500cc bike which hadn't been mentioned in the ad; I wonder what these two bikes would cost these days?
My biking days were some of the happiest times of my life and I lived on the bikes in all kinds of weather. In the sixties one of my chums who was married to my cousin had a two roomed basement under his house and we used one of the rooms as our base and communal workshop. Tony who had married my cousin owned an Ariel VB 600cc single; Arthur owned a 250cc Panther; Ken owned a BSA Golden Flash (Ken met a gruesome end many years ago being dragged into a mill carding machine) and at the time I owned the ES2; we all rebuilt our bikes from scratch and used to run them flat out on the local canal tow-path which used to be deserted. I occasionally walk the tow-path and it always brings back the happy memories from so long ago.
Kind regards, Col.
Many thanks for the information and link David.
I looked at the details of this Rocket 3 bike a while ago and believe top speed is electronically limited to something like 160mph. At this speed it will drink a drop of fuel. I could be persuaded to throw my leg over one of these beauties and give it a blast. I saw a guy on one during our recent trip to Skipton.
I used to love winding a big bike to the end of its throttle cable but could only do this if the bike was fitted with a decent fairing; at over 80mph I used to get terrific neck ache if fully exposed to the wind and a bumble bee at speed hitting the helmet visor comes as a surprise.
I'll never forget the sound of a big British single on full chat and an all time favourite of mine just has to be the BSA DBD34 with RRT2 gearbox. This bike is simply gorgeous and would reach 70mph in first gear; not having a tick over jet in the carb the engine had to be constantly "blipped" in order to keep it alive. In the sixties I rode many bikes sporting clip on handlebars; swept back exhausts; rear set foot rests and fork gaiters in fact I once owned a Triton; Norton slimline featherbed frame fitted with a Triumph T110 tuned engine; this had the clip ons together with big 5 gallon alloy tank.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSA_Gold_Star
When I was courting Bron in 1975 I owned a BSA Lightning 650cc and Bron has done the ton (100mph) a number of times riding pillion on this bike. Unfortunately I considered the Lightning to be a poor bike and hardly a superior bike to old fashioned but excellent Golden Flash 650cc.
I wouldn't consider buying another bike to use as I would consider it too unsafe given the amount of traffic on the roads these days. I've had my biking fun and enjoyed it to the maximum but I'll leave well alone now having lived through it and survived. I wouldn't mind fully restoring something like a Norton ES2 or BSA Golden Flash though but not to ride it on a regular basis once restored. When I played around with bikes spares were cheap and plentiful as were the bikes (Norton ES2 for £5). I once answered an ad in a local paper as I wanted a sidecar and a child/adult sidecar at £5 sounded just right. I handed over the fiver and the sidecar came attached to a Matchless 500cc bike which hadn't been mentioned in the ad; I wonder what these two bikes would cost these days?
My biking days were some of the happiest times of my life and I lived on the bikes in all kinds of weather. In the sixties one of my chums who was married to my cousin had a two roomed basement under his house and we used one of the rooms as our base and communal workshop. Tony who had married my cousin owned an Ariel VB 600cc single; Arthur owned a 250cc Panther; Ken owned a BSA Golden Flash (Ken met a gruesome end many years ago being dragged into a mill carding machine) and at the time I owned the ES2; we all rebuilt our bikes from scratch and used to run them flat out on the local canal tow-path which used to be deserted. I occasionally walk the tow-path and it always brings back the happy memories from so long ago.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
