most beautiful bike ever??
most beautiful bike ever??
I have a friend over from the States who as just had this built
He collected it Sat and I have to say it is one of the most beautiful bikes I’ve ever seen. Yesterday was its first outing so we went out for a ride over to the café at Sherburn (where it drew a big crowd) and then for blast around York to run it in etc prior to him taking it to the TT and ultimately back to New York.
Most beautiful bike ever ? OK that’s probably overstating things a bit but it certainly is a pretty thing, it’s a little like motorcycling jewellery the more you look at it the more details you see, the pics really don’t do it justice, so exactly what is it you ask?
Well it’s a GP2 frame and swing arm (as in full on Moto 2 GP race chassis !!), tuned RD500 engine (around 105BHP), top spec Brembo brakes and full race Ohlins kit, carbon body work, fancy GP spec levers rear sets etc all impressive stuff but for me it’s the handmade/ one off parts like the alloy fuel tank and all the individually machined from billet brackets etc that really make this bike special. 105 ponies may not sound like a lot these days but bear in mind it weighs less them 140kgs so it’s quite a rapid little thing and it’s corner speed on those sticky supercorsas is incredible. And it was fantastic while it lasted!!!
Unfortunately our little run out ended with the Yamaha on the back of an AA truck when almost inevitably it overheated and seized up (the joys of tuned 2 strokes), at least it broke down in front of a nice country pub on a A19 so we could enjoy a nice pint while waiting for the AA.
The AA man seemed quite surprised when he ask for the mileage and was told it had only managed 61 miles !!. So it’s back to the engine builders to see what the damage is, they will hopefully have it up and running again for the TT but I think regrettably it’s likely to spend as much time on the back of yellow trucks as on the road.
He collected it Sat and I have to say it is one of the most beautiful bikes I’ve ever seen. Yesterday was its first outing so we went out for a ride over to the café at Sherburn (where it drew a big crowd) and then for blast around York to run it in etc prior to him taking it to the TT and ultimately back to New York.
Most beautiful bike ever ? OK that’s probably overstating things a bit but it certainly is a pretty thing, it’s a little like motorcycling jewellery the more you look at it the more details you see, the pics really don’t do it justice, so exactly what is it you ask?
Well it’s a GP2 frame and swing arm (as in full on Moto 2 GP race chassis !!), tuned RD500 engine (around 105BHP), top spec Brembo brakes and full race Ohlins kit, carbon body work, fancy GP spec levers rear sets etc all impressive stuff but for me it’s the handmade/ one off parts like the alloy fuel tank and all the individually machined from billet brackets etc that really make this bike special. 105 ponies may not sound like a lot these days but bear in mind it weighs less them 140kgs so it’s quite a rapid little thing and it’s corner speed on those sticky supercorsas is incredible. And it was fantastic while it lasted!!!
Unfortunately our little run out ended with the Yamaha on the back of an AA truck when almost inevitably it overheated and seized up (the joys of tuned 2 strokes), at least it broke down in front of a nice country pub on a A19 so we could enjoy a nice pint while waiting for the AA.
The AA man seemed quite surprised when he ask for the mileage and was told it had only managed 61 miles !!. So it’s back to the engine builders to see what the damage is, they will hopefully have it up and running again for the TT but I think regrettably it’s likely to spend as much time on the back of yellow trucks as on the road.
I've now gone all European and bought a KTM Superduke GT and Aprilia RSV1000R ,
Storm is now gone . .
Storm is now gone . .
Re: most beautiful bike ever??
sounds like bike porn to me, would love to have that in my garage............... can he get it fixed in time to join us this weekend?
shame about the story ending on a truck
shame about the story ending on a truck
AMcQ
- firestorm_al
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Re: most beautiful bike ever??
The RSV-R behind it is pretty attractive as well!
Re: most beautiful bike ever??
he's flying back to New York tomorrow and then coming back again for the bike before going on to the TT, he'd only come over for a few days to collect the bike and run it in before it's first proper outing which was to be the TT, now it depends on what the engine builder finds when it gets stripped, it the cranks need sending away it probably won't make it to the IslandAMCQ46 wrote:sounds like bike porn to me, would love to have that in my garage............... can he get it fixed in time to join us this weekend?
shame about the story ending on a truck
I've now gone all European and bought a KTM Superduke GT and Aprilia RSV1000R ,
Storm is now gone . .
Storm is now gone . .
Re: most beautiful bike ever??
yeah it didn't breakdown we were supposed to be meeting another pal on a TL 1000R but that wouldn't start on Sunday morning which left just me on the APE and James on the Yam which also failed, the RSV was faultless so much for poor Italian build qualityfirestorm_al wrote:The RSV-R behind it is pretty attractive as well!
I've now gone all European and bought a KTM Superduke GT and Aprilia RSV1000R ,
Storm is now gone . .
Storm is now gone . .
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- Joined: Thu Jun 27, 2013 4:38 am
Re: most beautiful bike ever??
It looks nice, though viewing it in Photobucket on a phone is so annoying... And like you said, can't begin to pickup the details.
Was the jetting not checked before it was ran? No plug chops done?
James
Was the jetting not checked before it was ran? No plug chops done?
James
Re: most beautiful bike ever??
not sure mate, the owner is pretty hot with 2 strokes so I'd assume I'd done everything to ensure it was Ok and it had been run on the dyno by the engine builders so presumably they were happy with it, until it stripped it impossible to tell what as gone wrong could be a simple fix or not, that's 2 strokes for you, great when they are working but very fickle things also especially tuned ones and don't forget it's a 30 yr engine even if it as been rebuilt.thedeatons wrote:It looks nice, though viewing it in Photobucket on a phone is so annoying... And like you said, can't begin to pickup the details.
Was the jetting not checked before it was ran? No plug chops done?
James
I've now gone all European and bought a KTM Superduke GT and Aprilia RSV1000R ,
Storm is now gone . .
Storm is now gone . .
Re: most beautiful bike ever??
good looking Storm
I've now gone all European and bought a KTM Superduke GT and Aprilia RSV1000R ,
Storm is now gone . .
Storm is now gone . .
Re: most beautiful bike ever??
i love 2 strokes and that 500 has me touching myself,, very nice
the older i get,the faster i was
- vtrjock
- Posts: 299
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Re: most beautiful bike ever??
Nigel Kimber's bike has always been my favourite....beautiful. 500 Elsie heaven.
Re: most beautiful bike ever??
lovely and very similar to the one that went pop on Sun, there's something special about big 2 strokes not in the least bit practical or reliable but special non the lessvtrjock wrote:Nigel Kimber's bike has always been my favourite....beautiful. 500 Elsie heaven.
I've now gone all European and bought a KTM Superduke GT and Aprilia RSV1000R ,
Storm is now gone . .
Storm is now gone . .
Re: most beautiful bike ever??
Is that the same RD500 that are famous for high siding racers or was that the RG's. Nice bike that.
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