A karma point for Noel. I know what he means.
If you want performance, you can buy a modern sportbike. If you want originality, only an original CR750 can do. If it's a replica it's a replica. The CR750 was so one of a kind that if it's not the real McCoy, it really doesn't matter whether it's capable of 89 HP or 150 HP.
If I wanted a replica, it would be for the looks, so I wouldn't really care much about the performance. The more money you put on ot the more expensive it gets to the point of becoming senseless.
Take, for example the Porsche 356. I would have one anytime, but they are scarce and expensive. And its performance cannot be compared to any modern roadster. So I would have no trouble buying a UK-made replica, with a VW beetle engine. I want it for the looks, not for the performance. Any untrained eye would be able to tell it from a real 356, but I wouldn't mind because I was not intending to fool anyone.
Building a Triton sounds like a cool idea. BTW, have you seen the modern Norton built in US? They have all the modern performance with a hint of that classic look. Terry, I recall the McCandless brothers (or at least one of them) is still alive. Would he be able to tell a modern Featherbed frame -with those state-of-the-art welding and tube bending- from an old one?
Also, there is some people rebadging Urals and selling them as classic BMW's. Though the technology is the same, it's not the same bike for obvious reasons.
getting back to the CR750 subject, I could make my own replica anytime if it is just that I want to customize my bike to my liking -like if I make a cafe or a bobber- but there is a point of no return when either the bike style becomes so personal, or the money you spend becomes so high, that nobody else will be willing to pay what you have put on it. You say modern choppers are selling like hotcakes. Somebody spend 70.000 bucks on a chopper adapted to his height, and with a colour scheme of his liking. One year later he becomes bored and sells it for 60.000 grand because "the bike is almost new". So what? What if I have a different height or just a different style? You are asking me to pay 60.000 grand for a bike YOU chose? No thanks, I rather pay 70.000 and choose one myself.
Raul
