Honda-SOHC
SOHC.co.uk Forums => Other Bikes => Topic started by: masonmart on March 27, 2019, 05:53:57 PM
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This is a picture of my Thruxton Velocette that was built in 2014 from all NOS parts from Geoff Dodkin's (the Velo Guru) final stock, one of only two made from those spares. With a genuine 40+bhp and low weight it goes really well and I've improved it by fitting a Nova 5-speed box to get rid of the high first gear and by changing the GP carb for a Mikuni unit which has a tickover. These mods transform it from being a very difficult bike to being a true joy to ride. I get the pleasure to ride it maybe once a week in the good weather season, I don't hold up the traffic but may surprise some drivers with the thunder from the fish tail silencer. For me they are one of the best looking bikes ever made. I love the Honda GB500TT too which is much more civilised but the original is for me the greatest. This will be the last of my bikes to go or it'll be polished, kept in the living room and eventually left to my kids as an investment when I can't ride it any more
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I always liked the Thruxton Velo.
Seemed smaller and neater Than the Goldie.
Saw a nice one at a summer bike meeting (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190327/d9dca24b1059a4552b6d407629f88836.jpg)
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Absolutely stunning, one of my favourite looking bikes.
Cheers
Dennis
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I always thought they were handsome, I had a go on one once, and raced against a couple as they were in the same class as my 500 Triton.
I remember frantic letters in Motorcycle Mechanics help columns from people who’d recently bought one, and were damned if they could start it. There was definitely a knack to it, which had to be explained step by step.
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Simply stunning :)
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Beautiful bike - although never been into Brit bikes but always loved the Thruxton's look
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Starting is interesting. Sometimes I can start it first or second kick and then, if I haven't started it for a while, I have to work on it. It's really how confident you feel. The Mikuni carb isn't really a first kick carb because it doesn't have a tickler to flood the cylinder with gas. If it's wet sumped It's impossible to kick it over but I've stopped that with a valve from Honda
I had a lovely run yesterday and then serviced it for an effective cost of £0 as I already had the 20-50 Classic that I use and there was nothing else that needed touching. Drained the oil into a magnetic tray and, after about 700 miles since the last, it was really clean.
I'm a massive fan of the form and function of the early CB500's too, much more so than the CB750 and the later muscle bikes but everybody has their favourites usually based on what they owned or wanted to own in the day.
To understand why some "Get" classics then read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle mechanics. I think it explains the philosophy well.
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hi dad, i'm looking forward to riding that one day...
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I've read Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's not the easiest of books to read but finally concludes that true quality is at the point where the aesthetic meets function. Some bikes have that- looking-right-and-working-right in abundance. I'm thinking 400four here of course.
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I've read Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's not the easiest of books to read but finally concludes that true quality is at the point where the aesthetic meets function. Some bikes have that- looking-right-and-working-right in abundance. I'm thinking 400four here of course.
I tried to read it when it was first published.
It took about 30 years before I tried again.
I think it illustrates the difference between modern riders/drivers and us slightly older engineers.
It highlights those that regularly check and understand the bike.And those that just insert the key and press a button.
Call the AA if/when anything goes wrong
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The Radio4 play of it was less confusing.
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I've read Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's not the easiest of books to read but finally concludes that true quality is at the point where the aesthetic meets function. Some bikes have that- looking-right-and-working-right in abundance. I'm thinking 400four here of course.
That is a fair comment MTB, form and function and the interaction with the owner for total quality.
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I've read Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's not the easiest of books to read but finally concludes that true quality is at the point where the aesthetic meets function. Some bikes have that- looking-right-and-working-right in abundance. I'm thinking 400four here of course.
I tried to read it when it was first published.
It took about 30 years before I tried again.
I think it illustrates the difference between modern riders/drivers and us slightly older engineers.
It highlights those that regularly check and understand the bike.And those that just insert the key and press a button.
Call the AA if/when anything goes wrong
Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
John, that was a very key thing, the difference between those for whom everything was the bike and those for whom it was the journey and the bike just a means. As you say, it is what in some ways separates an elder breed from a modern breed. Nothing at all against the modern and yet I know now many younger riders who really get the classic thing. My son's friend uses his old man's Triton as his best bike
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I read it about the time my Suzuki GT500 took me from Toronto across Canada and the Northern US States to the Rockies and back in the Summer of 1976.
I think I got to page 10........then I used it to help light my campfires thereafter !
What I did 'learn' from it though....is that we are all different..........LOL.
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For the Velocette, it's great to have the bike you want and be able to ride out on it just when you feel like it. I like seeing all the different bikes out at meets etc and be able to talk to the owners to find out more about them. A very nice bike.
On the book, I thought ultimately it was asking the question of should people be trained to pass the exams set for the subject ( purely theoretical) or trained to do the job in a practical way that would enable the trainee to complete the tasks in real life situation.
The purely academic versus the vocational, or some mix of the two, using the motorcycle, and running it correctly, as metaphor.
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I found the book a bit like Moby Dick, working on two levels, the story and the philosophy. You can skip one and just do the other if you can't be bothered with it.
To continue with the threadjack I enjoyed Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon. Going out of reach of the AA on any Brit bike is a brave thing to do. Of course when you break down (again!) somewhere in Africa, a blacksmith's shop is far more useful for fixing a Triumph than a Honda.
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Sorry, l didn't mean it to be a discussion of the book only that the love of classic bikes is explained in the philosophy of the book. The book is the story of a man who tries to define what quality is and why we have it. He explains his arguments in various situations in his life and the quality of writing and how it is judged is a key aspect. The applicability to bikes is where he discusses Classic and Romantic philosophy. People who tend to like classic bikes are very much Classicists who find quality in the bike and the relationship they have with it whereas romanticists like the wind in the hair and the journey on the bike and would prefer not to touch it.
What we see as classic is of course our own thing but my own feeling is Thruxton, Manx, Bonnie, Honda 4 and that the classic era ended circa 1980 with naked bikes. I don't think any faired bike is of the classic era although some will be investment grade (RC30/45). I personally don't like anything pre '60 especially with rigid frames as performance is still meaningful and from the mid 60's bikes tended to perform well. Most would probably disagree but I think the classic era maybe ended with the CB750 as this ushered in the very heavy muscle bikes with disc brakes that were less easy to do your own maintenance on.
Yes, breakdowns are a worry but the key is not to cane them. With modern oil though they'll do great mileage.
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I read it about the time my Suzuki GT500 took me from Toronto across Canada and the Northern US States to the Rockies and back in the Summer of 1976.
I think I got to page 10........then I used it to help light my campfires thereafter !
What I did 'learn' from it though....is that we are all different..........LOL.
And that paper makes good kindling.
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In loving classics and preferring to be a book reader not a book burner, I'm obviously not a real biker. I've read the book several times now and enjoyed it and learned more from it each time in terms of quality and mental illness.
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I don't think I would knowingly pick up a book with the word zen in the title. Maybe Prisoner of Zenda. ;)
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Not even the Yorkshire version?
Zen and the art of fettling t'bike
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I might have a quick scan through it. :) But more than likely not. I think the nearest a Yorkshireman might get is to mull it over for a bit. ;D
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Wouldn't that be "zen and t'art of maintaining t'motorycle " :)
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A bit of Yorkshire zen, An wi mek reyt films. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Jdnb2Gz3c
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I don't think I would knowingly pick up a book with the word zen in the title. Maybe Prisoner of Zenda. ;)
The book title was a play on the classic book Zen in the art of Archery, another discussion of philosophy and psychology. I haven't read it but I believe it's very good. Sorry for being a bit serious but I really enjoyed Zen and the art and the bike Pirsig rode on his journey was a Honda CB77 which is one of my favourite bikes.
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A bit of Yorkshire zen, An wi mek reyt films. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Jdnb2Gz3c
Amazing :)