We're talking UN-obtainium? Not mere Obtainium?
I'd have to say the BIMOTA HB1 frame kit! Well - since we're talking on a SOHC forum that is. Ha-ha. In all truth, if I had my druthers it would be the HB2/HB3 that turns my crank good & properly! Pretty much anything from the Bimota catalogue. Maybe some of you don't think of a frame as a performance part? I'd bet those frames would turn your bike around a corner a heck of a lot faster. Lighter weight, better geometry.
Probably the coolest thing they made was the extended finned sump that wrapped up around the front of the cases. Pretty cool stuff.
So far the coolest performance parts I've FOUND and had in hand, would have to be NOS Super-Akront rims - the 3.50x16" in the early days was not only the one & only way to get a proper fat arsed rear tire on the bike, but they reduced the rolling inertia by way of the smaller diameter - and they've gotta be the lightest rim I've ever held in my hands. The 3.00x16" shouldered Borrani is pretty cool, but I've held 'em in hand one to the other and the (half inch narrower) Borrani felt at least 50% heavier maybe even 75% or more. Meanwhile the 48-hole D.I.D. rim from a KZ1000CSR rear wheel, in 3.00x16" - felt about four times heavier than either. It was a heck of a lot thicker, presumably to keep the thing from cracking between the spoke holes and the valve stem. Ridiculous design, to have not only 48 spokes in a diameter where 36 would've been preferable to 40, but then to put the valve in-line with the spokes - the wall between valves and spoke holes was something like 3/8" or less. So to suit this, they made an alloy rim which was probably heavier than a STEEL rim of the same specs. I dunno whether that was a special rim made only for those two models of KZ - the 1000cc & 650cc "CSR" series - but you don't really see many D.I.D. rims on the aftermarket, do you? I guess it was un-dimpled though (HAD TO be, otherwise dimples would've overlapped!) so one would have to guess the rim might have been in their catalogue intended for variable spoke counts.
Either way, it gives some perspective on alloy rims - as Steven Morrissey said "Some girls are bigger than others. Some girls mothers are bigger than other girls' mothers". Oooh, I say!
Some other stuff I like a lot are the early Hurst Airheart calipers for their rear disc conversions. Cycle-X makes those kits again, albeit with different calipers - the calipers appear on eBay often enough, in different sizes too so one could play around.
But I've got to wonder - if you're gonna make an insert-type rear disc conversion in TODAY'S age, I should think it's far more desirable to make 'em for the SMALLER drum hubs! Instead of building with the heavy arsed 190mm rear drum, why not convert a smaller lighter drum like the CB500/CB550 item at least? Or better yet, even smaller still?
I'm really into the DOHC stuff and so I lust after the early RCB models and their early prototype COMSTAR rims - these were unique and you can get a good look these days on of all places FACEBOOK - there's a team rebuilding a '76 RCB I think the name was Caillou (?) like the little bald cartoon kid? Caillou Bedier? AWESOME close-up pics like full on speculum and magnifying glass type of bike-porn. Which is a crude way of saying "you really get a GOOD look at her parts"....
Check out their site either way, 'cause they're searching for some true Unobtainium parts of their own, and if you've got any mystery NOS stuff or used even, stuff you only know the serial-numbers for, you should find out whether you're holding onto the "missing link" needed to complete their 1976 RCB restoration! What BETTER cause???
Those awesome early (WIIIIDE rear rim) Comstars have a rather small rear hub, which somebody ought to be replicating from Billet, now that folks are rebuilding Comstar rims. Interesting to note that the early Comstars from RCB aren't assembled with single-use bolts, don't have "DO NOT DISASSEMBLE" stamped on 'em, etc. So yeah, it really gets my mind spinning in circles about how to build the best possible pair of Comstars, whether or not an Akront "NERVI" rim from PVM Magnesium or "TECHNOMAGNESIO" composite wheels would bolt up to the Comstar's "spokes" - so as to get that full 3.50"x18" or greater width, without hunting down an original CB1100R rear Boomerang rim - which has the heavy big rear hub anyway!
METHINKS some CB400T or XBR500 rims could swap parts around to create the best set of Early/Silver or Boomerang Comstar wheels, respectively. And each of 'em has this tiny little 140mm-ish rear drum - maybe 160mm max. PERFECT! If one could spin out the drum linings and insert a Hurst style rear disc conversion plug, even WITH a solid lump of billet filling up the whole drum, these smaller hubs would make for a much lighter rear wheel. Well, it's either that OR using two front 18" wheels with a bolt-up Cush-Drive.
Interestingly enough, those early Comstars from that '76 RCB also have a bolt-up Cush!
Well - whatever. So far as aftermarket performance parts go, rather than the factory works team bits & pieces, I suppose it's more about the wire-spoked alloy rims. But the works stuff it's STILL about the wheels. Comstars in particular.
There were also some cool alloy tanks for DOHC Super-Sport from the likes of Dresda or Gimbel. THAT was a nice tank.
So far as total Unobtainium goes, I miss the old ribbed front tires! Weren't those awesome?
And I guess the non-reproduction Magnesium original Fontana 250mm 4LS drum has been something to fantasize about over the years.
RAASK/"Jota" bars are pretty cool. But the Bimota Clip-On bars were far more cool & far more rare besides.
I loves me some bubble fairings too - there were some low production number Avon DUST-BIN fairings that I really would love to get my hands on. The ones which had the lower dust-bin and the separate section which fixed to the fork and pivoted over top of it. I believe there was something similar made for the old Beemers, but the AVON version was a pretty universal Dust-Bin fairing, though was mainly only fitted to British twins.
There were also some pretty nice LUGGAGE RACKS - a good luggage rack really makes the classic '70s Superbike, IMHO - I'm hunting around. Aesthetically, I like the unit that came with the C70 Passport Cub-Clone, but it's far too small. The KZ400 Limited Edition, with the factory hard-case luggage, THAT was a very nice rack as well. I like parallel longitudinal chromed tubular bars which fuse together rather than layer over-top of one another. Like the one from the Passport. And the little bungee hook nubs on the bottom of the Passport rack, they were a nice touch as well. With a bit of an up-swoosh at the rear of the rack, maybe even a low back-rest in place, not too big not too small.
If and when I find the correct luggage rack which I have in mind - there were some nice ones made for the Kawa triples which seem promising - I'll actually have the arse end of my "CB900K0 Bol Bomber" altered to suit the luggage rack itself! Barring THAT, if I can afford to at some point (which is to say, not spending all of my $$$ on other Unobtainium parts for my Honda & my Ex-Daughter's "KZ440LOL" well ... I might just commission a one-off luggage rack. "Bespoke" as it were. Welded up in hollow steel tube, flush butt-jointed, brazed or bronze-welded, whatever. And then take it in for a layer of chrome! IMHO this would be well worth the obviously ridiculous expense.
Gotta wonder whether it would be strong enough, but whenever I'm in a plumbing or gas-fitting supplies shop, I look at the sub-1/2" like 3/8" Copper pipes, and their slip-fit T-fittings, and tubing benders etc - I wonder whether one could assemble a structure from that type of stuff, chrome IT with some goopy-thick Chrome (or better yet Nickel finish) and hang one's luggage on THAT???
Probably far better to go with the solid 1/4" or 3/8" bar, heat-bend the corners but using a proper mandrel-bend to get the curves correct, grind the ends for a butt-joint with good contact, and braze-weld the whole mess together - maybe hammer out the ends of a few bars to make a good contact with a flat section, maybe use some type of purpose-built slip-fit end-cap instead? So as to make really solid attachment points - maybe the best arrangement would be the ends of the tubes/bars bent into a tight curl then welded into a hoop, and run bolts through these with big flat washers? But yeah, fabricate all of the bends at home, maybe some low-temp brazing with MAPP-gas & Oxy twin-bottle mini-torch, then have it blasted and chromed.
THEN this whole thing wouldn't have to be expensive Unobtainium.
Yanno, speaking of some of that DIY sissy-bar type of #$%*e, I guess there's some chopper gear that would be cool to get a hold of. Spool hubs that I wanna use for a shouldered Borrani 16" rim, for PERIMETER brakes like an old Buell type of deal, the Brian Ghezzi Guzzi type of perimeter brakes. So not so much for actual CHOPPER use but still parts that I'd really like to get a hold of, so as to twist 'em around to my OWN purposes. I picture that wheel on a wire-spoke VF, with Interceptor stance but a tube-frame like a Sabre or Magna, with 18" rear and 16" front rims, spool hub & perimeter rotors - the paint scheme & alloy tank in homage to the Czechoslovakian '60s Grand Prix racer, the CZ type 860 - and the SPOOL HUB is just central to this whole idea, as is the Borrani 3.00x16" OR for a rim-set on par with the original Comstar & cast-mag Interceptor rims, a WM3 2.15x16" shouldered Akront. So it would be super-duper light-weight!
Picturing the blue colour of the CZ type 860 frame tubes, I can't help but leap to thinking of yet another bit of total Unobtainium:
The Tony Foale frame kits, but above all else the LEADING-LINK FORK he made. It doesn't have the exact look I'd be after, but I dig the fact that it's not a telescopic fork, so no stiction, should be a lot stiffer, no brake-dive, etc. I realize a lot of modern bike forks have brake dive under control but I'd be really curious to see how those same USD forks PERFORM when fitted to the front end of a 500-600lb classic Superbike! I'm eager to fit up some TRAC anti-dive stuff too.
Speaking of which, the works forks from late '70s early '80s from the NS500 NR500 etc, as well as Freddie Spencer's 1032cc '82 CB750F, were these TRAC anti-dive 41mm forks with 20mm axle, a much simpler fork-brace design semi-integral I guess though it really only entails pointing the fender mount lug holes up and down, so that one can bolt up a simple plate on it's four corners - far better than this complex alloy Telefix affair I've got on the bike right now - the RSC works forks had these external oil lines on 'em but other than that the specs seem a lot like the TRAC fork from the '88 GL1500 Goldwing - which is where I wanna start for a replica.
I guess the CR750's Magnesium 2LS 200mm rear drum was pretty damn cool. As were the RC-181 230mm 4LS drums. ANYTHING related to the RC series just blows my mind. And I loves me some 4LS drum hubs. That's what I wanna do with the GL1500 fork, is use a PC800 "hub" cut out, & drilled for wire spokes, and make new side rotor shrouds so it all looks like a big old 4LS hub. Even if it looks like ass, it would be pretty damn cool 'cause it's the ultimate incarnation of Honda's foray into shrouded "internal" brake rotors. I suppose the CBX550F brake was run inside-out, with the caliper in the middle - and that's pretty cool - the GL1500/PC800 hub COULD in theory be adapted to take CBX550F calipers and new water-jet cut rotors with the mounting lugs on the outside, but that's not really what it was about. Though the way the CBX550F rotors were FLOATED was probably the most ingenious aspect of that brake - the rotors still sat out proud of the hub itself where if the plastic shrouds were removed you'd see 'em from the front, not hidden WITHIN the hub itself - they were double-layered/vented rotors too, like the CB1100R discs I've got on the CB900K0 Bol Bomber at the moment - but other than those "small nuances" I don't think of the CBX550F being all that different in principle from the GL1500 & PC800 front brakes - it's about them being shrouded within a protective housing where the air is channeled where it's wanted, swirled around, forced to slow down for some proscribed "dwell time" - though the real ADVANTAGES of such a system was never really made clear! Ha-ha. More like DIS-advantages!
EITHER WAY, I think of the GL1500/PC800 front brake as a direct development of Honda's "internal disc" system, where they'd given up on the problematic stuff that caused huge maintenance problems yet hung onto the general idea - and as such I see the whole brake package as a unique bit of Honda history. Yeah, it's pretty commonplace junk-yard stuff, so it doesn't fit the bill as true "Unobtainium" per se, however I figure if it's laced up to a wire-spoke rim and set up to look like a proper "Faux-Leading-Shoe" drum hub, well THAT would be proper Unobtainium and at the same time a chunk of legitimate '80s Honda history!
Okay so it's a little crazy.
The main thing would be to combine it with the Tony Foale style leading-link fork, so that instead of calling my bike an '82 CB900F Bol D'Or homage to the '65 CB450K0 Black Bomber, aka "CB900K0 Bol Bomber" (pronounced BOWL as in BOWL BOMBER as in a great big TURD - get it now?) I'd finally be able to call the bike a "CB902" - homage to the '59 CB92 Benly Super-Sport, the 125cc twin. GORGEOUS little Honda. I wish they'd all stayed with that same unique aesthetic......
I suppose there's some reproduction RCB fiberglass these days - does THAT count? I love the JAPAUTO fairings with the Theatre-Mask faces. The "happy" one far more so than the SAD one - which as it happens was the SOHC 999cc model. Methinks it's happy because it's got that second cam-shaft! As though it were a dog and somebody tossed it a bone! The sad one was spinning along chasing cars, and somebody tossed it a cam-shaft - which it gulped down through it's enormous MAW, and then when it gulped down and got stuck side-to-side across it's throat like a chicken-bone, just below the neck pivot in the collar-bone area, then slipped down and landed at the top of the rib-cage and rested under the valve cover and began to work it's magic - THEN the Japauto put on it's goofy big GRIN!
Well it's nice to imagine it happening that way. Seems so much more painful to disassemble the poor beast. Vivisection in a way.....
But yeah, I really dig those RCB fairings, and the tail cowl as well. Nice stuff.
I'm a huge fan of my WOLF EXHAUST right here - they made one for the SOHC as well, didn't they? It's a true piece of Honda-Canadiana - as a Canuck I can't help but love it, as the CBC has conditioned me to see it that way. It's a pretty hot pipe though, with smooth round bends. Lovely.
As for the other Canadiana, the Ontario Motor Tech or OMT stuff, is supposed to be the absolute tits. I'd love to have one of their tarted-up CB900 motors - it's as though they pre-empted the CB1100R even - though of course Japauto had already done that, as 1000cc's was where these motors sat even before they went into series production. I gather there were initially 750cc RCB's for the "Formula 750" series of the mid-'70s. And then some interim displacement between that and 999cc's of which I know little if at all. But yeah the "open-class" Endurance Racing allowed up to 1000cc's so the 750 HAD TO expand to keep up.
There were some early NISSIN twin-pot calipers which had "NISSIN" printed into the casting in Bas-relief, rather than "HONDA" like the later production parts - they're a part of those 41mm TRAC forks from the RSC works team bikes, but I still think of 'em as a unique bit of Unobtainium in and of themselves. Not so much a performance part per se, if only because they were copied in series production.
Of course if THAT'S the standard, when you think about it all SORTS of stuff was reproduced a year or two down the line, like Morris and Lester mag wheels being reproduced by ENKEI for Kawasaki & Yamaha, respectively. What was the name of the BMW snowflake rims? The odd-ball sizes from their earlier aftermarket days were pretty cool - like 16" rear wheels which I've seen on Harley chops. Would make a cool Beemer mod when you think about it - IMHO two 16" rims front and rear, for a semi-bobberized Beemer but otherwise looking factory original. Yeah THAT would be a good non-chop use for 'em. Can't recall the name ...
Let's not forget the SIDE-CAR stuff though, hey? Them crazy big Magnesium side-car rear wheels that took an Automotive radial tire, with the fins that stuck out in an axial direction. I don't recall the name, but those must've been some very low production volume as well. If one were building a racing hack, THAT would be a number one Unobtainium component!
-S.
