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Ayup Bazzer,

This was the 175cc single cylinder in a maroon colour, the problem I had with it was the HT lead was a devil for coming adrift from the HT coil, if you remember the HT lead went through the flywheel casing and was held in place by a spring that pushed the lead onto the coil, knowing what I know now I should have fitted a new spring and the problem would have been solved, but there you go when you're young and all that

Rog

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This was on Facebook.   What happens to old Mods.

I remember seeing Bolt at R.O.T in 1961, was it him or some other biker who had barbed wire wrapped around his jacket? His outfit was known as Bolt's Coffin. Another guy called Johnny Dench had a com

No,no,no,no,no, oh ok then. Many years ago on a Nottingham Forest trip to Lyon . Lots of beer, then lots of Cotes Du Rhone, then a "bumpy" taxi ride to the ground shook me up so I fell into the arms

In the 60's, my mate had a TV175 which we both put a lot of effort into tarting up, Union Jack seat, backrest, wing mirrors you know the stuff. Problem is while we considered ourselves essentially mods, a lot of our mates were rockers, particularly my mate Sparrer, remember him, and all the Radford Rockers, Fitzy, Jew and all that lot.

One day, in a moment of madness, we went to Matlock Bath.

We parked up in the Pavilion and shoved the Lambo in the middle of all the Nortons, which we wandered around admiring. It wasn't long before we were apprehended by the owners who couldn't believe our cheek, but we got away with it, we were treated to rides on Vincents and God knows what else while they were given the chance of trying out a Lambo. It was a great day, and when we left, one bloke said that he was concerned that a mob was coming down from Derby and they would probably get nasty, so we were given a full escort back to Ambergate, it was like something out of Easy Rider, two nutters on a TV175 surrounded by Nortons, Vinos, Triumphs, weaving patterns all over the A6, bloody magic, how could you ever want to fall out with those blokes, a day to remember.

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My vote for 1960,s and probably Best Looking Bike Ever goes to the HONDA CB750

Nah, best looking bike of the '60's is (was) the Kawasaki KZ650:

kz650b177ad.jpg

I know it's the best looking because I own one! It is almost original (has wrong mirrors) but that will be corrected soon. Ride it as often as possible and love every minute!

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re the Z650 yes they had a reputation but it's only got 2 exhaust pipes! and surely according to the internet (and fact I worked at kawasaki importers) it didn't come out till 1976? their top bike when I worked for them was the the 750 triple 2 stroke ( 0- Casualty Ward at QMC in 6 seconds) Re the 350 Panther, did it have Dowty pump up front forks? the one I had did and rigid back end, brilliant at going round the futurist island but woe betide you if it was a bumpy one

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Ayup Ashley,

That reminds me also of one of my old bikes, the Kawasaki 250 triple, I think it was the H2, a mate from Rolls Royce made some stainless expansion chambers for it, boy did it sound good and it put all the power around the 6000rpm band, as you say 0- QMC in about 6 seconds nice machine though

Rog

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We had loads of bikes in the late 60s early 70s when we used to go to the carlton hotel and forum disco and later to the cavo pub disco. We had a BSA super rocket, thruxton vello, 2 750 hondas, but our favourite was a 1966 Dresda Triumph(cafe racer ) with a metal flake bronze coloured tank and seat and mudguards to match with Thruxton pipes,wish we still had it now!

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Re the triple Quacks The H2 was the 750, the H1 the 500, the 250 was the S1 (later KH250) the 350 the S3 (KH350) we prepared 2 S1's for IOM TT Production, I used to ride one to and from work to run it in Alex George rode one in the race, a local guy the other, general opinion was they were not fast enough, as it was one broke down the the other crashed (not serious) I think however both riders killed in later years races, at time I had a CB72 Honda with brealey smith tank seat, fairing and 2 into 4 exhaust! didn't go down well parked outside showroom, re the 2 into 4, can't recall if one was a "dummy" when the 296 Honda 6 cyl came out one wag at white hart bought 3 of these "silencers" and sawed one in half so he had 3 pipes each side! wish I could get this picture uploader thing to work! last time I'm buying a pc made in botswana!

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Yep, the KZ650 didn't appear until the late 70's - sorry, but I had to brag! ;) Yes, it has four-into-two exhausts. They are becoming fairly valuable here - especially with petrol prices going up and they look a whole lot better than the current crop of "me too" Harley look-alikes! I could easily sell mine for $3000 - not bad considering I paid $400 for it!

There was a very nice looking H1 (500 triple) for sale here a couple of days ago - $3450 - which is probably a fair price. They are VERY collectible motorcycles - and good for mosquito control too!

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You was robbed! only joking, Very Nice, a Twenty One judging by the colour? and c/w with pedestrian slicer! there was one thus in Granby Motors (ex Joslyns) Radford Rd just before they shut. The Speed Twin was maroon and these 2 models were unit construction long before the 650's I think the T110 also had bathtub? and the first bonneville had the old nacelle unit if I remember correctly? incidently do you know why the 21 was so called?

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I reckon the best looking bike of the 60's has to be the BSA Goldstar, after its been treated to clip on bars, fibre glass racing tank and matching seat. Fabulous machine!

I preferred the 350 to the 500 mainly because it seemed to have a far more distinct sound, obviously down to it being a single pot engine.

I wasnt old enough to have one when they were popular in the 60's but 2 mates had one of each engine size, Pete Butler who lived at the decorating and hardware shop on the corner of Northgate and Mount st, and Paul Holland, who lived up a terrace off Egypt rd, (im sure Asley remembers one of them at least?)

Anyway, id often give Pete a shilling or two bob for a ride to Bulwell and back, where he sometimes slightly exceeded the speed limit along Vernon rd!

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far as I am aware goldies DBD34 500 and DBD 32 350 at least came with clip ons? not sure as out of my league cashwise till mid 70's, classy looking but headlamp stuck a bit far out? plus poor mpc (miles to the clutch!) had to slip such such are RRT2 gearbox or rather gearing meant slipping clutch up to about 25mph (would do 60+ in first) I fitted mine with Bigger g/box sprocket I think from B33 which made it a lot better, yes remember both those 2 guys Pete Butler last time I saw him still had his, remember the other Butlers from lower down Northgate? them and Hollands (been trying to remember name of terrace where they lived, where that bonfire rubbish went up?) were chard street gangs enemies in the bonfire wars!

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That is a 5TA Speed Twin - which was what mine was - mine had the mudguard and body fairing removed and replaced with polished aluminium mudguards. As far as I can figure out, it was the only Triumph unit twin that used a distributor rather than a twin points/coils system for ignition.

triumph_1959_5ta_speedtwin_500cc_b.jpg

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Ashley, it was Casey Court where the other Hollands lived. I was at Northgate with Keith Holland, and remember feeling sick having had to hold his hand in some PE thing, cos it stunk of 2nd hand chocolate!

I dont recall the other Butlers though.....?

I recall Pete saying about how he had to slip the clutch up till about 25mph, but what a fab sounding engine, and the smell of Castrol R!!!!

PS, was in Matlock the other day and there was a Triton parked up.

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got the butlers and hollands mixed up! did you know john and pat stokes(twins) lived on potters terrace, best mates with john at claremont prim, still saw him after he went to ellis, even when he worked radford pit have idea he joined navy, saw his sister on a bus when about 19 reckon there was a spark there but I was courting (fool!) my ex walked past your house every day, bet you knew her! Speed Twin's sister the 350 Twenty one also had distributor thus ( called the 21 as that was size (350cc) in cubic inches, some of the early pre unit big twins has a distributor mounted horizontal behind cylinders in place of magneto, one of my sprung hub 650's had, by the way how do you get pics on? when I try it aways says too big!

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  • 1 month later...

Dunstonshow.jpg

One for Pete C (still riding a Vespa.)

I can remember them buzzing around Clifton, festooned with mirrors and aerials with tiger tails hanging from them, used to think they were a bunch of wally's but looking back they took a lot of pride in the machines in much the same way as the rockers with their motor bikes

Rog

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Thanks for the scooter pics Plantfit...we did take pride in our scoots..still do...had to watch out for the thieving sods who'd nick your racks and mirrors...I have owned and ridden motorbikes but still prefer my vespa...speed isn't everything.

pete c....still riding a vespa

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I dunno about the speed not being everything. My mate has a 'Super' Scooter that does over a ton!!! 500cc I think he said

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There were a couple od makes back in the sixties that did over a ton, in 'standard' mode,,,, I think one was a Triumph 250 and there was another. I used to drive my mate about on one,,,,, for some reason he didn't like driving it,,,,,, had the obligatory tank antenna & fox tail.

Didn't the Lambo's 200 & GT's do a ton as well ?

As you say pete,,,, speed ain't everything,,,,,, but it sure do help at times,,,,, I also came down from a 650 Thunderbird (sprung hub & chair) Tiger 110,,,, BSA Gold Star,,,, & the Racing Itom etc,,,,, before settling on a LD150 !

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But the thing about being a mod was you wanted everyone to see you so speed wasn't that important...yes some of the modern scoots can hit a ton but I prefer me little vespa..I had a Honda CBR 600 but enjoy riding my scooter more had so many near misses on the bike with dozy car drivers pulling out on me..but each to their own.

pete c....still riding a vespa and lovin it!

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