Thug Posted November 18, 2021 Posted November 18, 2021 49 minutes ago, Andymann said: It's actually such a really interesting story regarding the Velocette Thruxton - I tried loading the pdf document of the full story, but in a nutshell Velocette had a standard 500cc model called the Venom. There was a very good bike racer in Rhodesia called Alan Harris and together with his mechanic Geoff Lacey they built a pretty fast 500 Venom. The Velocette factory racers came out to Rhodesia and SA at the time to compete (with their factory race bikes) and were soundly beaten by Alan and his 500 developed by Geoff. To put this into perspective, it would be like someone in South Africa modifying a road Yamaha R1 and when the Factory Yamaha's came out for WSBK they get beaten by a local riders on a modified R1 road bike. That's the enormity of what Alan and Geoff did. The Velocette factory was so impressed that they flew Alan, Geoff and his bike to the UK, and stripped it to see exactly what they had done here in Africa. And from that, the Velocette 500 Thruxton (an R1-M in comparison) was built. Alan was actually a very successful racer - I can't find too much info but he did race successfully at the Isle of Man TT. Alan Harris sadly died from Cancer a few years ago, but I knew him well and when I built my Velocette Venom into a Café Racer, he advised me on all the right mods to do - Geoff Lacey is still alive living in George but he is moving to a retirement Village, so cannot keep all his spares - our Velocette Club has recently bought all of his spares in in amongst the pile of stuff are some of the original heads he and Alan modified when they were building the racer. Most of them are scrap because they didn't work, but there is one that Geoff said to me would work on my bike - I just need a proper piston and some 100 Octane race fuel! Crazy old man he is..... A great and interesting story. I don't suppose this Alan Harris used to live in the Transkei as I knew an ex-Zimbabwean by that name living in Butterworth?
Hairy Posted November 18, 2021 Posted November 18, 2021 A quick ride out to go get some fresh coffee from the factory / roastery Spotted a big 1200 GS with a side car on the way back ... was interesting to see, and very friendly waving riders RoddieJ, Steven Knoetze (sk27), Andrew_Smith and 2 others 5
New world disorder Posted November 19, 2021 Posted November 19, 2021 Found a project for myself IceCreamMan, Hairy, dirtypot and 2 others 5
Hairy Posted November 19, 2021 Posted November 19, 2021 On 7/31/2021 at 12:31 PM, WaynejG said: https://hdgoldrand.co.za/product/shock-adjustment-spanner/ Life got away from me and I did not place the order for the spanner. Thought I would check with the local HD dealers to see if they had anything in stock yet, got a solid no after calling back a few times. Called the Gold Rand Crew to confirm it will work with my bike, got a solid yes, placed the order and that is that ... and it still had zero shipping costs associated, so a win win! WaynejG and RoddieJ 2
dirtypot Posted November 19, 2021 Posted November 19, 2021 2 hours ago, New world disorder said: Found a project for myself CBR 400?
New world disorder Posted November 19, 2021 Posted November 19, 2021 Its a cbr400 nc29 model ,mid 90s japanese style . Andrew_Smith, IceCreamMan, RoddieJ and 3 others 3 3
Steven Knoetze (sk27) Posted November 22, 2021 Posted November 22, 2021 On 11/19/2021 at 6:41 PM, New world disorder said: Its a cbr400 nc29 model ,mid 90s japanese style . Becoming quite sought after. Had friend looking for a gearbox a good 10yrs ago and it was tough to find one. Spares are a problem with these older bikes, and worse when it is a grey import. Looks fairly neat though from afar.
New world disorder Posted November 22, 2021 Posted November 22, 2021 I cant complain as it has papers and the bike cost less than a entry level mtb fork . Steven Knoetze (sk27), Wannabe, Andrew_Smith and 1 other 4
Andrew_Smith Posted November 22, 2021 Posted November 22, 2021 (edited) 32 minutes ago, New world disorder said: I cant complain as it has papers and the bike cost less than a entry level mtb fork . Not going to lie, since I did some cycling back in my days, I can fully confirm that motorcycling is indeed cheaper. Edited November 22, 2021 by Andrew_Smith Steven Knoetze (sk27), Hairy, BSG and 1 other 3 1
Thug Posted November 22, 2021 Posted November 22, 2021 So I bought myself a Triumph Thruxton 1200 R over the weekend. A "To Thug, from Thug" early birthday & Christmas present. Still need to convince the Mrs to pay for my Shoei helmet. WaynejG, Wannabe, mazambaan and 7 others 10
Hairy Posted November 22, 2021 Posted November 22, 2021 5 minutes ago, Thug said: So I bought myself a Triumph Thruxton 1200 R over the weekend. A "To Thug, from Thug" early birthday & Christmas present. Still need to convince the Mrs to pay for my Shoei helmet. PITCHA's OR IT NEVER HAPPENED RoddieJ 1
Thug Posted November 22, 2021 Posted November 22, 2021 1 minute ago, Hairy said: PITCHA's OR IT NEVER HAPPENED After collection, which should be on Wednesday. Andrew_Smith and Hairy 2
Hairy Posted November 22, 2021 Posted November 22, 2021 28 minutes ago, Thug said: After collection, which should be on Wednesday. Congrats and enjoy! Thug 1
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