It (almost) feels like 1968 again!

FastEddieB

FastEddieB

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Fast Eddie B
At 73, my formative years were back in the 1960’s. I had 2 friends with Triumphs and one with a BSA. I leaned more towards the Teutonic elegance of the BMW’s of the era, and my first new bike was a ‘66 BMW R50.

I’ve never owned a British bike, but they always stirred something in me. In fact, I held onto a BSA catalog all these years. In part:

52927750799_57963de615_z.jpg


52927750829_a79637f06c_z.jpg


Anyway, the only British brand still extant in its mostly original form is Royal Enfield, albeit now manufactured in India. Long story short, I found a lightly used 2022 Royal Enfield Continental 650 GT with under 1,400 miles online at a dealer in Cocoa, FL, drove down with a trailer Tuesday and picked it up Wednesday morning.

52924718679_495f55992d_z.jpg


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It’s a blast to ride, and the build quality if anything seems better than the British ones back in the day. Nods to technological progress are fuel injection, electronic ignition, ABS and disc brakes. Most everything else is very much like the 1960’s. And the price on these bikes new is quite attractive - in the vicinity of $6,200 before shipping, setup, tax, tags and title.

Here’s a video of the factory in India. The skill showed in hand pinstriping is quite impressive.

 
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Thanks!

Here’s a cute little video which attempts to explain the appeal of these bikes.


I was close to half way through before I could place where it was filmed.
 
FastEddieB said:
At 73, my formative years were back in the 1960’s. I had 2 friends with Triumphs and one with a BSA. I leaned more towards the Teutonic elegance of the BMW’s of the era, and my first new bike was a ‘66 BMW R50.

I’ve never owned a British bike, but they always stirred something in me. In fact, I held onto a BSA catalog all these years. In part:

52927750799_57963de615_z.jpg


52927750829_a79637f06c_z.jpg


Anyway, the only British brand still extant in its mostly original form is Royal Enfield, albeit now manufactured in India. Long story short, I found a lightly used 2022 Royal Enfield Continental 650 GT with under 1,400 miles online at a dealer in Cocoa, FL, drove down with a trailer Tuesday and picked it up Wednesday morning.

52924718679_495f55992d_z.jpg


52914999070_7c937c21f0_z.jpg


It’s a blast to ride, and the build quality if anything seems better than the British ones back in the day. Nods to technological progress are fuel injection, electronic ignition, ABS and disc brakes. Most everything else is very much like the 1960’s. And the price on these bikes new is quite attractive - in the vicinity of $6,200 before shipping, setup, tax, tags and title.

Here’s a video of the factory in India. The skill showed in hand pinstriping is quite impressive.

Click to expand...
Very nice- looks like a lot of fun. The script in the video suggests the factory is in southern India.
 
I thought long and hard about buying an Enfield twin when they first came out. I elected to buy a Guzzi instead, but I’d still like one of these. I have my Triumph T140 which I will never part with however, so I can scratch the itch of vintage British motorcycling whenever I feel the need.

I hope you enjoy the Enfield and post an update on it once you get some miles in.
 
Have fun and enjoy! Nice ride you got there. I'd say be careful but you already know that.

I'm still enjoying my VTX 1800 from the makers of Honda. Maybe not the coolest bike in the world but they seldom break ...

upload_2023-5-27_15-1-24.jpeg
 
mondtster said:
I hope you enjoy the Enfield and post an update on it once you get some miles in.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will. If all goes well I’ll be trailering the bike up with a friend to Buchanan, VA Thursday for a Blue Ridge Parkway Rally. Plan is to ride the Parkway home Saturday. Should get in plenty of seat time on that ride!
 
FastEddieB said:
At 73, my formative years were back in the 1960’s. I had 2 friends with Triumphs and one with a BSA. I leaned more towards the Teutonic elegance of the BMW’s of the era, and my first new bike was a ‘66 BMW R50.

I’ve never owned a British bike, but they always stirred something in me. In fact, I held onto a BSA catalog all these years. In part:

52927750799_57963de615_z.jpg


52927750829_a79637f06c_z.jpg


Anyway, the only British brand still extant in its mostly original form is Royal Enfield, albeit now manufactured in India. Long story short, I found a lightly used 2022 Royal Enfield Continental 650 GT with under 1,400 miles online at a dealer in Cocoa, FL, drove down with a trailer Tuesday and picked it up Wednesday morning.

52924718679_495f55992d_z.jpg


52914999070_7c937c21f0_z.jpg


It’s a blast to ride, and the build quality if anything seems better than the British ones back in the day. Nods to technological progress are fuel injection, electronic ignition, ABS and disc brakes. Most everything else is very much like the 1960’s. And the price on these bikes new is quite attractive - in the vicinity of $6,200 before shipping, setup, tax, tags and title.

Here’s a video of the factory in India. The skill showed in hand pinstriping is quite impressive.

Click to expand...
I had a 1973 Triumph Daytona T100. It vibrated your hands numb. Leaked oil like sieve. Parts fell off. And the electrics were Lucas, nuff said. But gawd I loved that scooter. It had soul.
 
luvflyin said:
I had a 1973 Triumph Daytona T100. It vibrated your hands numb. Leaked oil like sieve. Parts fell off. And the electrics were Lucas, nuff said. But gawd I loved that scooter. It had soul.
Click to expand...
My high-school buddy had a BSA 441. Single cylinder, so it vibrated something awful. We rode it to high school. BSAs were caller "Beezers" by the local guys then.

Everyone coveted the Honda 750. That was a huge bike in those days, surpassed only (I think) by the Harley 74 (1200 CC).

Another friend had a Honda 150. It was a nice bike, real quiet and smooth. Haven't seen one in 40 years.
 
Dan Thomas said:
My high-school buddy had a BSA 441. Single cylinder, so it vibrated something awful. We rode it to high school. BSAs were caller "Beezers" by the local guys then.

Everyone coveted the Honda 750. That was a huge bike in those days, surpassed only (I think) by the Harley 74 (1200 CC).

Another friend had a Honda 150. It was a nice bike, really quiet and smooth. Haven't seen one in 40 years.
Click to expand...

Started off working in a Honda shop and remembered when the Honda 750 - 4 was introduced. They were selling at least one of these a week. It was also about the same time they introduced the motocross bikes... which sold like hotcakes.

A guy that I worked with, stuck with it and currently has a dealership. When Triumph made their re-introduction a few years back he picked up the franchise. Once they got them on the floor, he told me the only questions asked were what color can I get it in and how soon can I get it - the price was not even an issue.

For the Honda 150, was this a street bike? I seem to remember a Honda CB175, CB125, and a CB100 - all were sewing machines. And the CB350, a sweet ride, and a sewing machine.
 
luvflyin said:
I had a 1973 Triumph Daytona T100. It vibrated your hands numb. Leaked oil like sieve. Parts fell off. And the electrics were Lucas, nuff said. But gawd I loved that scooter. It had soul.
Click to expand...




smoke.jpg
 
FastEddieB said:
It’s a blast to ride, and the build quality if anything seems better than the British ones back in the day. Nods to technological progress are fuel injection, electronic ignition, ABS and disc brakes. Most everything else is very much like the 1960’s. And the price on these bikes new is quite attractive - in the vicinity of $6,200 before shipping, setup, tax, tags and title.

Here’s a video of the factory in India. The skill showed in hand pinstriping is quite impressive.

Click to expand...

Congratulations I hope this brings you many hours of enjoyment... Looks to be a worthy ride..
 
Our forefathers fought the brits, fought the indians, and now you want to combine the two with your hard earned American dollars??????
 
In the 70's I rode Yamaha 2 stroke twins, RD 350 and 400's, but always coveted the Norton 850 Commando.

Never did get one. Can't believe the prices they go for now.
 
Ventucky Red said:
Started off working in a Honda shop and remembered when the Honda 750 - 4 was introduced. They were selling at least one of these a week.

For the Honda 150, was this a street bike? I seem to remember a Honda CB175, CB125, and a CB100 - all were sewing machines. And the CB350, a sweet ride, and a sewing machine.
Click to expand...

First bike I owned was a Honda CB750. I thought that was a large bike (at the time it was). Over the years I've owned several bikes of various sizes.

As noted earlier I have an 1800 now. Last bike was an 800 and it just didn't feel like it had enough twist in the grip for me. No, I'm not a speed-a- hollic but I do want a bike that can get out of it's own way.

I learned to street ride on a friends Honda 175 and in the neighborhood it was ok. Out amongst the traffic these days I need the ability to stop and go quickly ...
 
My first bike was a Honda 90. "Bikey 90" is what we called it. Plastic rain guards, etc. Then several years later I got a Honda CL-175. A good bike. Except that it lacked acceleration with 2 aboard, so we got hit by an idiot running a stop sign. I got it fixed and rode it until we graduated from college. My wife hasn't been on a motorcycle since we got hit. I've been on one a couple times since college. BTW, we graduated in 1975.
 
FastEddie, have fun. Be safe.
My first bike was a mid-60s Honda 305 scrambler.
My second bike was a mid-60s Triumph 500 scrambler. I think it was a Trophy because it was a two-cylinder with a single carb. Rear-ended a stopped station wagon at about 40 mph in it. Long story for another time. I eventually repaired the bike, sold it an bought a Triumph Trident 750. That bugger was so quick it scared the
Scheisse out of me, and I sold it a month later.
So ended my motorcycling era.
https://magazine.cycleworld.com/article/1968/10/1/triumph-trident-750
 
Ventucky Red said:
And the CB350, a sweet ride, and a sewing machine.
Click to expand...

I had a Honda CB350F....was that a sewing machine too.?? When I got it the exhaust had rotted off so I put open pipes on it. Man, that thing was loud. I remember taking it on a approximately 100 mile trip once and it took hours for my hands to stop vibrating... :lol:

I didn't know what I had, I shoulda kept it. The guy I sold it to took the lights off and used it as a dirt bike.
 
Most beautiful motorcycle ever built was the 1965 Triumph Bonneville T120. Just saying.:yesnod:
 
Congrats, Eddie! These bikes are popular, I see more and more RE’s around !
 
Enjoy your new bike, young man. I’m 4 years older than you and still remember my first and only motorcycle. It was Honda’s smallest model, no longer made. I bought it after Army basic training and it terrified my mother. I sold it after just a few years. Even back in the 1970s, traffic in L.A. was so heavy that riding it was not a pleasure; it was mostly an exercise in avoiding being run into.
 
Lon33 said:
Enjoy your new bike, young man. I’m 4 years older than you and still remember my first and only motorcycle. It was Honda’s smallest model, no longer made. I bought it after Army basic training and it terrified my mother. I sold it after just a few years. Even back in the 1970s, traffic in L.A. was so heavy that riding it was not a pleasure; it was mostly an exercise in avoiding being run into.
Click to expand...
Honda 55?
 
Lon33 said:
Enjoy your new bike, young man. I’m 4 years older than you and still remember my first and only motorcycle. It was Honda’s smallest model, no longer made. I bought it after Army basic training and it terrified my mother. I sold it after just a few years. Even back in the 1970s, traffic in L.A. was so heavy that riding it was not a pleasure; it was mostly an exercise in avoiding being run into.
Click to expand...
Musta been the 50. As I recall, those were not Freeway legal.
 
I know that this response should be in the classifieds but given the thread content, My wife has her Triumph T100 for sale...if anybody is interested.
 
Dan Thomas said:
Honda 55?
Click to expand...
[Musta been the 50. As I recall, those were not Freeway legal.]

Mine was a Honda 150. It was freeway legal (as I recall), but not freeway rideable. When it got up to any speed at all, it transmitted every little bump or groove in the street right up to my spine. It was like riding a bucking bronco.
 
When I was a kid, this is what my friends and I all longed for:

upload_2023-5-28_18-14-44.png


What most of us had (except for that rich kid a few streets over) was something like this:

upload_2023-5-28_18-16-34.png
 
In my early teen years I worked part time at a "Fix-It" shop. The owner had an old Cushman scooter (mid 40's) but no one was ever allowed to ride it. But we could dream ...
 
Dan Thomas said:
Ha. When I was your age, this is what we kids had:

View attachment 117615

But we did drool over that Honda minibike in the dealer's window. A friend has one to this day.
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Yeah, I had a spider bike when I was a kid. First a single-speed Murray, then later a 3-speed (don't recall the make). Bought a 10-speed in junior high, then got the minibike a year or so later.
 
We used playing cards to make out bikes rumble. Balloons worked too but didn't last long. The rich kids all had these:

 
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Yup. The days when kids played outside, all day in the summer, and long after dark, too, in the fall. Now parents hover over them even if they're just in the yard. In the little rural town I live in now, though, some kids ride their bikes everywhere, but I know that many others are indoors fooling with the computer. Just like I am right now.
 
Half Fast said:
When I was a kid, this is what my friends and I all longed for:

View attachment 117613


What most of us had (except for that rich kid a few streets over) was something like this:

View attachment 117614
Click to expand...


When I was ten a friend gave me one of these...

images


I was barely heavy enough to stand of the starter pedal to start it.

I road it for a couple years before it started using more oil than gasoline.

Maybe I will have it running again by the end of this year.

Brian
 
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