Best bike for everyday road riding 1969-1984 ;o)

No need for that Clem, believe me the Husky would see off TOG, as well as the Jota...well, if it had any clocks!
 
Vince said:
The local mag would do stories about building Superbikes for the Oz series, HCR radiators $20k etc etc. Eye-watering money.
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I've built a couple of RC30 engines. They always looked to me as though the buyer was supposed to do the fine finishing details.
Both cranks had badly finished oil holes - sharp edges where they broke out onto the bearing surface. Crank bearing clearances too tight.
I suspect that as homologation specials the factory expected owners to properly race prep them before use.

The one OW01 I've been into was quite a bit better finished - at least in the crank area. The head needed work though.
 
I forget the bloke's name but Performance Bike did a few articles on the bloke who built the Pom Honda bikes. That was the first time I heard the term Clean Room, his blue printing was impressive stuff
 
rocketonarail said:
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Vince said:
I forget the bloke's name but Performance Bike did a few articles on the bloke who built the Pom Honda bikes. That was the first time I heard the term Clean Room, his blue printing was impressive stuff
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Tony Scott- I think his RC30 race built motor made about 8 hp more than a bog stock one I built and dynoed- expensive stuff horse power. He always used semi synthetic oil never fully..never knew why?
 
I’ve always admired the RC30 but never have had the opportunity to ride one. However, one of my all time best bikes, and one I wish I still owned is the OW01 I bought off Tony Jefferies in 1993.
 
rocketonarail said:
...... Which brings us onto a story related by a certain Roger Slater himself , if I recall correctly .......

Roger was about to fly out on one of his visits to the Breganze factory , and he wanted to clear up some query or detail regarding the twin`s camshaft .......
Although he was heading to the factory , he decided to take a camshaft with him anyway ..... so removed the one from Slaters press / road test SF2 ........

When he arrived at the factory , he placed the camshaft down on a table in front of Massimo Laverda , and Luciano Zen ..... mentioning that he had removed it from his SF2 press demonstrator ......

Massimo and Luciano Zen both looked down at the camshaft , stared at it for a few seconds , then both looked up , and said together , in perfect unison ........ " SFC cam ? ... " .......

...... " Yes , yes , I know , but don`t worry about that .......... The thing is ............... " ................
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That's an odd one, because AFAIC an SFC cam with a stock SF exhaust system will produce less power than it would with a stock cam. My SF1 motor was specced to SFC (5/C cam, SFC crank, hi-comp, 7mm valve stems, ported etc) and I fitted a twin-muffler setup to get it through rego - it felt like a sad 450 Honda - no top end rush whatsoever. A 4/S cam from a 1970 S (I think) is the closest I can see in cam timing (no idea about lift) to an SFC cam for a bike that runs a twin-muffler system. But they had small valves, carbs and ports among other diffs to the later twins
 
Andy J said:
I’ve always admired the RC30 but never have had the opportunity to ride one. However, one of my all time best bikes, and one I wish I still owned is the OW01 I bought off Tony Jefferies in 1993.
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I do like the KYB OW01 USD front end fitted to the SFQ. Haven't really looked into getting the best out of yet either.
 
It was my intent to discuss FAST 4 Stroke bikes from 1969 to 1984 (Breganzie Era Competition); however, it looks like you Puppies are getting into later models like the Honda RC30. By 1990 I was married and my wife was popping kids. Unfortunately she did not like me riding and told me to park my bike when the Honda RC30 arrived on the scene:
 
nick7 said:
And exactly what use is 200hp on the street? Go directly to gaol, do no not pass go, do not collect £200...😂 74hp in 140kg in a supermoto is simply unbeatable...seat as hard as rock, mind😁 Do you think those GS riders use the 140hp now available...when you think my Honda SP1 makes just 130 and its hard to use that anywhere...
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Its the torque that usually comes with it that is very useful for dispatching queues of traffic with ease.
 
Laverda SF said:
It was my intent to discuss FAST 4 Stroke bikes from 1969 to 1984 (Breganzie Era Competition); however, it looks like you Puppies are getting into later models like the Honda RC30. By 1990 I was married and my wife was popping kids. Unfortunately she did not like me riding and told me to park my bike when the Honda RC30 arrived on the scene:
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Unfortunately Ron, that's this forum for you! :ROFLMAO:
I would add though, although there were undoubtedly many improvements to bikes between 69 and 84, it's bikes in the 15 years post 84 where they started to make bigger leaps in specs and performance and probably why the 'puppies' are getting more excited about them.
 
rocketonarail said:
One thing about the RC30 and it`s contemporary , the OW01 Yamaha .......... The Yamaha was a fair few thousand quid more to buy than the Honda , here in the UK anyway , something like £12 grand as opposed to £9 grand , I think , or something like that .......

The thing with homologation specials is that you really needed the factory race kit to release their full potential ........... the OW01 you wheeled out of the showroom would only make a fairly mundane 115-120 bhp or so .......... Fit the YEC race kit ..... ( all the usual engine bits , plus a radiator big enough to heat the Royal Albert Hall ... ) .... and that would bump it up to 145-150 bhp ....... Similar deal with the Honda ......

......... Although the Honda was cheaper than the Yamaha , the race kit cost more , whereas the Yamaha`s race kit cost less ............... so if you wanted maximum " go " , then the price for both bikes ended up pretty much the same ......


Then there is also the thing regarding " press bikes " ...... if you like to read magazine articles relating to which ( or which not ) may be the fastest bike .......

BSA-Triumph were well known for passing " press bikes " through their Competitions Department , before handing them over to journalists ......

KAA 848N would quite happily post top speeds in the 125 mph bracket when tested by the magazines , but that was at least 15 mph more than you or I could expect from the T160 Trident sitting in the window of your local dealership ........
............. ( My T160 was reluctant to better a miserable 100 mph when sitting upright .............. Ir was an export version , although I fitted it with the large 5 gallon " home" tank and low bars ..... I now believe some of these were fitted with low compression pistons , in order to cope with newly introduced unleaded fuel in the USA ............ identified by a " L " stamped on the front engine mounting lug ............. Didn`t know this at the time , so never looked that closely ... ) ......

Suzuki`s RG500 square four two stroke race -rep also took a detour through Suzuki GB`s race workshop on it`s way to the magazines , as well , apparently , when being tested for the first time .......


...... Which brings us onto a story related by a certain Roger Slater himself , if I recall correctly .......

Roger was about to fly out on one of his visits to the Breganze factory , and he wanted to clear up some query or detail regarding the twin`s camshaft .......
Although he was heading to the factory , he decided to take a camshaft with him anyway ..... so removed the one from Slaters press / road test SF2 ........

When he arrived at the factory , he placed the camshaft down on a table in front of Massimo Laverda , and Luciano Zen ..... mentioning that he had removed it from his SF2 press demonstrator ......

Massimo and Luciano Zen both looked down at the camshaft , stared at it for a few seconds , then both looked up , and said together , in perfect unison ........ " SFC cam ? ... " .......

...... " Yes , yes , I know , but don`t worry about that .......... The thing is ............... " ................
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My OW01 didn’t have all the really fancy race kit still fitted when I acquired it, but it did have the race ECU. It only made between 105-110 hp at the rear wheel. Probably why I was doing laps almost 20mph slower than Fogarty’s lap record. However, I was carrying passengers...😉
 

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Andy J said:
My OW01 didn’t have all the really fancy race kit still fitted when I acquired it, but it did have the race ECU. It only made between 105-110 hp at the rear wheel. Probably why I was doing laps almost 20mph slower than Fogarty’s lap record. However, I was carrying passengers...😉
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We had an ex Foggy OW-01 in the workshop - had the quickest action throttle I have ever seen, must have been on or off. That had loads of trick bits and it got broken up when the motor blew.The OW was quite unloved at the time
 
piranha-bro2 said:
That's an odd one, because AFAIC an SFC cam with a stock SF exhaust system will produce less power than it would with a stock cam. My SF1 motor was specced to SFC (5/C cam, SFC crank, hi-comp, 7mm valve stems, ported etc) and I fitted a twin-muffler setup to get it through rego - it felt like a sad 450 Honda - no top end rush whatsoever. A 4/S cam from a 1970 S (I think) is the closest I can see in cam timing (no idea about lift) to an SFC cam for a bike that runs a twin-muffler system. But they had small valves, carbs and ports among other diffs to the later twins
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It is only a story , related by Roger S himself ..... maybe to be taken with a pinch or two of salt .......... I said SF2 , but could easily have been an earlier twin , with less restrictive exhaust , maybe .........
 
rocketonarail said:
It is only a story , related by Roger S himself ..... maybe to be taken with a pinch or two of salt .......... I said SF2 , but could easily have been an earlier twin , with less restrictive exhaust , maybe .........
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All good - nice tale in any case :) I don't reckon it's the restriction so much as the whole factory 2/1 shape and reverse cone that made them work so well with the 5/C and 6/C cams. I took mine out once (5/C cam etc) with the reverse cone removed out of interest. Made an insane amount of noise but went nowhere. It was bloody awful, no bottom end, top end pull, no kick at 5k.

When I baffled the 2/1 I made sure the inner perf had some taper on it and the end cone was still functioning, if somewhat reduced in effectiveness.
 
Andy J said:
Unfortunately Ron, that's this forum for you! :ROFLMAO:
I would add though, although there were undoubtedly many improvements to bikes between 69 and 84, it's bikes in the 15 years post 84 where they started to make bigger leaps in specs and performance and probably why the 'puppies' are getting more excited about them.
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Andy: What gets me all these reviews on bikes we love are either in Cities or on the Track and NOT where I love to ride a Bike through the Winding Hills of the Cambrian Shield in Day or Night through Rain or Shine going a 1000 miles to nowhere and back in 24 hours before I had to report back to work ;o(

A 69 to 84 Breganzie was vary capable of doing it - Can't say a KZ900 could do that year after year for over a decade plus a few decades more !
 
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Laverda SF said:
Andy: What gets me all these reviews on bikes we love are either in Cities or on the Track and NOT where I love to ride a Bike through the Winding Hills of the Cambrian Shield in Day or Night through Rain or Shine going a 1000 miles to nowhere and back in 24 hours before I had to report back to work ;o(

A 69 to 84 Breganzie was vary capable of doing it - Can't say a KZ900 could do that year after year for over a decade plus a few decades more !
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You make a good point Ron, but perhaps you need to rename the thread, best bike for everyday road riding 1969-1984. 😉
 
Andy J said:
You make a good point Ron, but perhaps you need to rename the thread, best bike for everyday road riding 1969-1984. 😉
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See now that just turned a proper analytical thread based on facts, into a giant shite pile of various comments and favourites. Everyone has a comment, a favourite, nobody gives a shite.
 
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