I Always Wanted One to What Is That. . .

Exactly my bugbear !

I‘ll talk about my bike, and RELATED topics with anyone. But those who just see you as someone to talk at, to tell you about their old Bantam or Ford Prefect, or whatever, are tiresome.
Debby had a Kawasaki W650. She said people would come up to her at gas stations and say "I had one just like that when I was younger." No you didn't.
 
I'm a millennial, rebuilt and restored most of my combat 750. We are out there, just few and far between that can shift with our right foot and use hand signals.

I had/have my share of lovely sunset motorcycle troubles. There are greasy finger prints on my helmet for a reason.
 
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Debby had a Kawasaki W650. She said people would come up to her at gas stations and say "I had one just like that when I was younger." No you didn't.
On the other hand, the original W650 model must be 25 years old now? I was younger, 25 years ago... :)
 
The first ones were BSA copy/lookalike with different carbs and no oil leaks, my mate brought one that sat inside the local Honda dealership for 2 years he got it cheap did a few changes on it and it looked like an old British BSA, that was back in the late 70s, it was ridden hard, changed a few hands and each owner flogged the guts out of it, but it kept going, I have a pic of it somewhere I have to dig it out.
Instead of BSA on the timing side case it had Kawasaki, think it was a 69 model and in my life time only came across 3 of then, 1 my mate had and 2 that were damaged in a house fire beyond repair.
 
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The first ones were BSA copy/lookalike with different carbs and no oil leaks, my mate brought one that sat inside the local Honda dealership for 2 years he got it cheap did a few changes on it and it looked like an old British BSA, that was back in the late 70s, it was ridden hard, changed a few hands and each owner flogged the guts out of it, but it kept going, I have a pic of it somewhere I have to did it out.
Instead of BSA on the timing side case it had Kawasaki, think it was a 69 model and in my life time only came across 3 of then, 1 my mate had and 2 that were damaged in a house fire beyond repair.
Kwakersaki . Snowbird says adios to all .
 
I have a 2017 Bonneville T120 with a red and silver paint scheme. Many times I've been asked if it is a 1970. Nobody notices the double disc front end or the radiator !
 
The first ones were BSA copy/lookalike with different carbs and no oil leaks, my mate brought one that sat inside the local Honda dealership for 2 years he got it cheap did a few changes on it and it looked like an old British BSA, that was back in the late 70s, it was ridden hard, changed a few hands and each owner flogged the guts out of it, but it kept going, I have a pic of it somewhere I have to did it out.
Instead of BSA on the timing side case it had Kawasaki, think it was a 69 model and in my life time only came across 3 of then, 1 my mate had and 2 that were damaged in a house fire beyond repair.
Back in the 90s I had a buddy who was a master machinist and first rate practical joker. He took one of the old Kawasaki/BSA A10 look alikes and he "restored" it with mostly A10 tank and trim. He even reapplied the BSA crossed arms to the castings and added Amal carbs. He took it too the Houston British Bike show and passed it off as a prototype until more serious scholar's got wise. They ran him off with many threats.
 
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First sold in 1966
This one. . .

I Always Wanted One to What Is That. . .


1999–2007
 
Even though there were only about 1300 ever built, I've noticed that almost all commenters on YouTube videos, featuring old Brit bikes, owned a Rocket Goldstar in the olden days.
And even though the Rocket Goldstar is just a Super Rocket (28 rwhp!) with a different gearbox, tank and seat, the Rocket Goldstar is capable of incredible top speed and acceleration. The RRT2 gearbox with its crazy high 1st gear is no problem. No need to slip the clutch on takeoff, the massive torque of the Rocket Goldstar takes care of that.
One comnenter claimed that in addition to all of that , his Rocket Goldstar could bimble along thru town at 15-20 mph in top then accelerate like a Rocket ( it's says Rocket on the tank doesn’t it?) when leaving town, all without downshifting from top.
I want a bike like that, if anyone ever makes one. Even the new Ducati V4 falls a bit short of these YouTube Rocket Goldstar performance claims!

Glen
 
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I ride with a local chapter of BMWMOA. Coming out of a breakfast meeting one morning, there was a crowd around one of the bikes. Yep, it was my Commando.
 
I ride with a local chapter of BMWMOA. Coming out of a breakfast meeting one morning, there was a crowd around one of the bikes. Yep, it was my Commando.
I had the same experience. I used to meet a BMWMOA group ride at a local cafe. My old 750 Commando drew it's share of attention.
 
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