Topic: Customizing SOHC/4 Bikes

[Geeto67]

I've got nothing against "Crotch Rockets" (except the name, perhaps) or the fella's who ride them, I like speed and power, so why wouldn't I like modern machinery?

But I really hate the dicks who "customise" our ol' bikes to be "Busa beaters", those guys should be banned from going near our kinda bikes! Don't get me wrong, professional looking Cafe's and CR replica's are great, but some of the stuff I've seen on the web and in magazines is just butchery.

Now why didn't you just shoot that kid offa yer bike? Isn't that in the constitution? Just Jokes, Cheers, Terry.

Dude, how do you turn a cb750 into a busa beater? No offense but there is a big gap between 58hp and 160hp and no amount of mods is going to make a street legal cb750 even come close to that. I would figure you had a problem with the hack job chopper guys with cb750s more than streetfighters. Afterall cb750s are the original sport bike, and streetfightering is a natural progression.

As for young guys unappreciatin' the old cb750s...I am 27, I currently own a 75 cb750K, a 76 cb750F, a 78 cb750F, a 79 cb750F, a 74 cb550F chopper, a 71 T500, and four kawasaki tirples. Oh and a 65 honda dream. In brooklyn the hipsters are going crazy for 70's jap bikes, grabbing up all they can and building period cafe racers. If left to you old'uns these bikes would never get used except for sundays, I use mine everyday.  Last time I checked it was the young guys keeping a lot of these of 70's relics alive for no other reason than they are cool, if you see a cb750 parked in front of a cafe in brooklyn on a weeknight, chances are it's owner is under 35 and it's his only means of transportation.

a stock bike is art
a cafe racer is art
a streetfighter is art
and a rat bike is art
the only one that isn't art is the cb750 in pieces in the garage laying unfinished, but then the owner is in the process of creating art.

enough with the these guys shoudl do this and shouldn;t do that..just .be happy it is one more cb750 not in a junkyard.

and no it isn't in the constitution to shoot the kid off your bike unless you drag him back in the house first. 

[Terry in Australia]

I've got nothing against "Crotch Rockets" (except the name, perhaps) or the fella's who ride them, I like speed and power, so why wouldn't I like modern machinery?

But I really hate the dicks who "customise" our ol' bikes to be "Busa beaters", those guys should be banned from going near our kinda bikes! Don't get me wrong, professional looking Cafe's and CR replica's are great, but some of the stuff I've seen on the web and in magazines is just butchery.

Now why didn't you just shoot that kid offa yer bike? Isn't that in the constitution? Just Jokes, Cheers, Terry.

Dude, how do you turn a cb750 into a busa beater? No offense but there is a big gap between 58hp and 160hp and no amount of mods is going to make a street legal cb750 even come close to that. I would figure you had a problem with the hack job chopper guys with cb750s more than streetfighters. Afterall cb750s are the original sport bike, and streetfightering is a natural progression.

As for young guys unappreciatin' the old cb750s...I am 27, I currently own a 75 cb750K, a 76 cb750F, a 78 cb750F, a 79 cb750F, a 74 cb550F chopper, a 71 T500, and four kawasaki tirples. Oh and a 65 honda dream. In brooklyn the hipsters are going crazy for 70's jap bikes, grabbing up all they can and building period cafe racers. If left to you old'uns these bikes would never get used except for sundays, I use mine everyday.  Last time I checked it was the young guys keeping a lot of these of 70's relics alive for no other reason than they are cool, if you see a cb750 parked in front of a cafe in brooklyn on a weeknight, chances are it's owner is under 35 and it's his only means of transportation.

a stock bike is art
a cafe racer is art
a streetfighter is art
and a rat bike is art
the only one that isn't art is the cb750 in pieces in the garage laying unfinished, but then the owner is in the process of creating art.

enough with the these guys shoudl do this and shouldn;t do that..just .be happy it is one more cb750 not in a junkyard.

and no it isn't in the constitution to shoot the kid off your bike unless you drag him back in the house first. 

G'Day Mate, well firstly, you can't make a CB750 a "Busa Beater", but that doesn't stop a lot of young "Artists" from trying, unfortunately in most cases they get their aspirations mixed up with their capabilities, and another old classic bites the dust. The problem with young "hipsters" going crazy for 70's stuff is that for them it's a short-lived fashion, whereas for people like me and a lot of the other guys on this site, it's a lifelong passion, and I am at times repulsed by the ugly and dangerous "mods" that are done by these well meaning, but inept, "Artists". If they don't manage to completely remove themselves from the gene pool, they quickly move on to another fashion, leaving a trail of disaster in their wake.

Be happy that they're not in a junk yard? Where do you think most of them end up after being "modified" by young "Artists"? 

"Street fighters" were created in Britain when you were just a toddler by guys of my generation (just like Cafe Racers and Choppers were created by my fathers' generation, so what's your generation's motorcycle legacy gonna be, do you think?) who'd crashed their jap sports bikes and couldn't afford the ridiculous price of replacement plastic fairings etc. Back then, they'd fit higher bars for comfort and easier wheelies, and the bikes would generally be painted matt black. Over the years they've evolved into very professional looking machines, to the point where Triumph and a few other companies are building their own versions of "Street Fighters".

As far as using your bike everyday goes, I'm envious, my 800 country miles per week commute would be a lot more fun on my bikes, but I'm required to drive a company car to and from work, (and I've already hit six large Kangaroos in my car, so I'm not too distraught) so sadly I only get to ride my bikes on the weekends now. I did commute daily in to the city on my bikes up until age forty though, (I don't own a car either) so I'm  sure that I've earned whatever credibility goes with that inference. 

"Art" is in the eye of the beholder I know, but you only need to look at the "Hideous EBay Friday" posts to see that the quality of the work is in direct proportion to the maturity, and capability of the "Artist". This of course is just my opinion, and opinions are like #$%*s, everyone's got one! Cheers, Terry.

[Cvillechopper]

As one of the younger riders on this site, I must say that I've been equally offended and impressed by young and old alike.  True, mostly I agree with the more experienced generation as I've been told that I'm a 50yr old in a 28 yr old body.  I don't think I could agree more with Terry's use of quotes around "artists" for the most part.  I've seen guys riding some amazing machines that couldn't change their oil if their parents credit card depended on it.  Then again, I'm building my first chopper and have had my share of folks worried for my safety and sanity.  I can't imagine most folks seeing what I see when I walk into my basement and smell the mildew on the walls mixed with a faint hint of gas fumes and carb cleaner (despite my exhaust fan working 24/7).  I don't see some "cool" bike that the chicks will dig or my friends will envy.  I don't see some trophy to hide behind glass so everyone can drool when they look at it.  What I see, and I imagine several others do when they look at their own projects, is a beautiful machine (all be it non-conventional in form) that has my blood, sweat, and tears in every weld.  A machine that will be with me as long as physically possible and through many an adventure.

As for me, those "artists", I wish they would take up cross-stitch, gardening, or something else that wouldn't limit the quantity of amazing machines available for restoration and enjoyment by the appreciative folks like those on this site.  For those with a true vision, yet lack of ability, I wish luck, advice from the experienced riders of the world, and a good helmet.  For those others.  The ones that know exactly what they are doing.  The ones that have either had someone to show them how to work on these machines correctly or made enough mistakes to have learned the way to do it right, I wish they would remember what it was like to have their first machine in front of them in need of repair / improvement and not knowing exactly where to go next.  The mixed feelings of confusion the first time you try to diagnose an electrical problem with the pride in knowing that you are doing it yourself, no matter how many parts need to be replaced along the way.  There's more to the project than the motorcycle. 

Robert Pirsig made a great point along these lines;"You look at where you're going and where you are and it never makes sense, but when you look back at where you've been and a pattern seems to emerge.  And if you project forward from that pattern, then sometimes you can come up with something."

OK, so maybe that quote doesn't quite fit, but I love it and had to include.  Enough rambling.  I love these machines and probably always will so I'm just glad that there are this many folks passionate enough about them to spend the time sharing here.

James