Show us your motorcycles!

[Peacoat]

In the photograph below is my 2006 Police Road King. It has excellent low speed handling—assuming the operator has the requisite skills. This picture was taken by one of my students as I was demonstrating tight circles to the left.

 

[sal]

Here’s my ride.

 

[SteveFord]

I had to go into work today so I took Sir Costalot and it felt great to be back out on the road again!
Pic taken at last year's Triumph Rally which, I suspect, will be cancelled this year.

 

[Hagwood]

Time for a new tire, so might as well have some fun with the old one first:

 

[de Stokesay]

It’s too long since this thread saw some love. I’m also experiencing PMS (parked motorcycle syndrome) up here on the Canadian prairies. Six months without being able to ride is way too long.

This is one of my bikes. The luggage in the back is because I was just leaving for a 9 day, 7500 km (~4,500 mile) trip where I would be camping every day. She’s a 2015 Ducati Monster 821, and makes a surprisingly good touring machine. I got her new in late June 2015 and I have put over 45,000kms on her. Her name is Lucrezia, after the Borzia pope’s daughter, as she is my beautiful, red-headed Italian mistress who likes to be ridden hard, fast, and often, but if you don’t pay very close attention to her, she will try to kill you.

Here’s my 1931 Indian 101 Scout. I just got her in June of 2019, but put around 1000 miles on her every summer. She is a riot to ride with her left-hand throttle that has no return spring, her foot clutch and hand gear shift lever, and lack of any signal or brake lights. You just have to be paying attention, but that’s not a bad idea when you’re riding any motorcycle. The cat pan beneath the crankcase is because of a bad oil leak that I have since mostly fixed. She has a total-loss oil system too, and uses straight 50 weight oil. Her name is Josephine, after Josephine Baker.

I bought a new 2019 BMW F850GS Adventure this past August as well, so my new wife (also acquired in August) and I can do some touring together. There’s room for her or luggage on the Ducati, but not both. I don’t have any pictures of this bike though. Oh, and her name is Liesl. A good Bavarian name!

I am also building a 1941 Matchless G3L, a WWII British army bike, as well. The engine is built and the gearbox is together and it is primed snd ready for paint, then I can put the buts together. This has been a project I’ve been working on for almost 20 years, and I’m nearing completion, but it is going to be a bit longer yet before it’s finished, primarily due to time issues.

 

[So33]

It’s too long since this thread saw some love. I’m also experiencing PMS (parked motorcycle syndrome) up here on the Canadian prairies. Six months without being able to ride is way too long.

This is one of my bikes. The luggage in the back is because I was just leaving for a 9 day, 7500 km (~4,500 mile) trip where I would be camping every day. She’s a 2015 Ducati Monster 821, and makes a surprisingly good touring machine. I got her new in late June 2015 and I have put over 45,000kms on her. Her name is Lucrezia, after the Borzia pope’s daughter, as she is my beautiful, red-headed Italian mistress who likes to be ridden hard, fast, and often, but if you don’t pay very close attention to her, she will try to kill you.

View attachment 290684

Here’s my 1931 Indian 101 Scout. I just got her in June of 2019, but put around 1000 miles on her every summer. She is a riot to ride with her left-hand throttle that has no return spring, her foot clutch and hand gear shift lever, and lack of any signal or brake lights. You just have to be paying attention, but that’s not a bad idea when you’re riding any motorcycle. The cat pan beneath the crankcase is because of a bad oil leak that I have since mostly fixed. She has a total-loss oil system too, and uses straight 50 weight oil. Her name is Josephine, after Josephine Baker.

View attachment 290685

View attachment 290686

View attachment 290687

I bought a new 2019 BMW F850GS Adventure this past August as well, so my new wife (also acquired in August) and I can do some touring together. There’s room for her or luggage on the Ducati, but not both. I don’t have any pictures of this bike though. Oh, and her name is Liesl. A good Bavarian name!

I am also building a 1941 Matchless G3L, a WWII British army bike, as well. The engine is built and the gearbox is together and it is primed snd ready for paint, then I can put the buts together. This has been a project I’ve been working on for almost 20 years, and I’m nearing completion, but it is going to be a bit longer yet before it’s finished, primarily due to time issues.

 

[So33]

I love your choice in Indian motorcycles.
I have a 1939 Scout.
Pictures are back further in this thread.
Left side throttle is very difficult thing.
Along with that, right side spark advance throttle, left foot clutch, right foot brake, left hand front brake, right hand 3-speed shift.
Gives you hardly enough time to do your hand signals!

 

[de Stokesay]

Thanks So33, the '39's are great bikes too!

I thought the left hand throttle would be the hardest thing to master, but it only took me about 5 miles to get comfortable with it. The rocker lever foot clutch was trickier, but only because there isn't a lot of fine muscle control in your heel, and the spark advance/retard usually stays fully advanced except for starting. On the '31's, the brakes are in the conventional position - rear brake right foot pedal, and front brake, right hand lever. I didn't know they went to a left hand lever for the front brake in the late thirties.

As different as it is, I go back and forth between this bike and my modern ones without thinking about it now, but that could be because I ride the Indian several times a week and my regular bikes every day. I am also a motorcycle instructor so ride 20-some different demo bikes every week as well. I think that the main reason I don't get confused on the Indian though, is that the seating position is so different from my new bikes. As soon as I sit on it I automatically shift into left hand throttle, foot clutch, hand change mode. You are definitely busy when riding these ancient bikes though, fun as they are. There's a lot to do when you're on them.

This Indian is interesting too, in that it is too old to have a recirculating oil system, it's total loss, so you need to be absolutely diligent about making sure you have an adequate oil quantity feeding into the crankcase. Too much and you foul your plugs, too little and you seize the engine. Mine either leaks out or burns off a quart of oil every 150 miles or so, as that's the way it was designed in the 1920s. I like to point this fact out to environmentalists.

 

[bluesforchallah]

The kid brought home his first bike - a '73 Norton Commando 850. We're doing a frame-off restoration.

My not so vintage Speed Twin:

Wife's XL1200c:

 

[SteveFord]

I had a 73 Roadster when I was 18 years old.
That thing got me in more trouble but it sure is a fun motorcycle.
Keep us posted on the restoration, please.

 

[bluesforchallah]

I had a 73 Roadster when I was 18 years old.
That thing got me in more trouble but it sure is a fun motorcycle.
Keep us posted on the restoration, please.

I'm kind of torn...the sooner we complete the project, the sooner I get to ride it. On the other side of the coin...the longer I take the longer I keep my son out of trouble.

He starts his Freshman year of college out of state this fall, I've told him it may not be done until after he's graduated college.

 

[SteveFord]

The Snortin' Norton does have that exhaust note which kind of makes you want to see how far the throttle twists back so I can appreciate your position.
That one looks to be all there, too. Aside from the bars and the crunched stuff on the back it looks really clean.
Your son certainly looks ready to give it a rip!

 

[bluesforchallah]

The Snortin' Norton does have that exhaust note which kind of makes you want to see how far the throttle twists back so I can appreciate your position.
That one looks to be all there, too. Aside from the bars and the crunched stuff on the back it looks really clean.
Your son certainly looks ready to give it a rip!

It is all there with the exception of the left side battery cover - I hear that's fairly common and somewhat hard to find replacement steal covers - though you can find fiberglass replacements from India. Aside from the hillbilly exhaust flange fix - previous abuser took a shortcut and cut thru the fins of the cylinder head and cobbled together some anchor bolts to hold the exhaust headers on - the bike is in great shape and can easily put into being a runner. A friend of mine had an extra 850 cylinder head and sold it to me for the cost of machining he already had into it - though I'm still planning on having the exhaust ports resleeved to prevent them from stripping in the future - again, another common issue.

This was the cylinder head when we picked the bike up. Some people shouldn't be allowed to own tools.

 

[SteveFord]

Oh, boy, that's really bad.
Mine came with these little locking washers with a forked (?) tab that went into the fins and a tab that went around the flange. They'd sit there, rattling away.
I never lost a sidecover but I did have the front master cylinder cap vibrate nearly all the way off.
Headers breaking a few inches south of the crossover, THAT was the issue along with the oil tank rubber mounts breaking in two. Harley has some robust rubber mounts that look like they'd work for the oil tank.
I was just a kid so wasn't a mechanic AT ALL when I had mine, I barely knew anything so Commandos were a really poor choice for me.

 

[dh66]

I put my covid check to good use.

 

[lina]

2020 Moto Guzzi, with some modifications:

 

[WineGuy]

2003 Triumph Bonneville T100 custom Cafe Racer.

 

[bluesforchallah]

2003 Triumph Bonneville T100 custom Cafe Racer. View attachment 352549

I love those Red/White/Blue colors! My '08 T100 started out with a Black/White tuxedo color scheme, which was the color I really wanted at the time, but then with the purchase of an earlier tank, I switched it to Cardinal Red which I liked even more.

I sold the T100 and bought a new '14 Scrambler:

Though when the Speed Twins were announced, I had to get one - so I traded my Scrambler for the Speed Twin.

 

[GHT]

Here's a conundrum. This machine has an aircraft engine, so would you wear a biker leather or an A2?

 

[WineGuy]

2022 Bonneville T120 Black "Goldline" special Edition