1955 Moto Guzzi V8 and 1970 Harley Streamliner

[kawasakirob]

OK, So Motorcyclist and Cycle World have been coming out with these absolutely awesome stories which celebrate the magazines 100th anniversary. The stories featured in their are gold to a newcomer like me who knows veryy little about the VINTAGE vintage bikes as well as the roots in our sport. Two of the recent articles had me laughing so hard out of pure craziness and just hardcoreness that I had to share. Some other stories that were covered are the early beginnings of the Big 4 oems, MV, Guzzi, Brough, Vincent, Matchless, Harley, Indian, Triumph, Norton etc etc. The stories behind these companies as well as the men riding the machines are incredibly fascinating (to me) and out right hardcore. The racing in some of these companys (including Harley and Indian) was so cutthroat that it seams like the racing of today is childs play. It could be the fact that the Japanese OEMs are the ones who came out on top (obviously ) out of all the hard fought battles that went on in the 50's, 60's and 70's. One of the two stories that really made me laugh (literally) while I was reading them, sitting down on a chair or before I went to bed was the Moto Guzzi V8. First off, I looked at the picture, then read the first 2 paragraphs. Someone actually went 178mph on this thing. WTF? That made me laugh so hard I had to leave the magazine there then come back to it. HARDCORE. When I go 178mph, its on modern technology, with awesome tires and suspension, and it is still exhilerating, so when I think of someone doing this on a bike in 1955, just by looking at it, their balls must've clanked when they walked. Some other interesting stuff is

-178mph top speed
- Despite having a 10bhp advantage, the bike was rarely competitive
- The entire fairing is Hand manipulated Magnesium.

Heres a photo and a sound clip of the bike. The sound clip makes me laugh
1. Because the bike sounds ferrocious, and 2. the Italians chanting in aticipation.



And the youtube vid....priceless
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBdaBMmk6w8

The second bike is the 1970 Harley Streamliner. I find Harley a fascinating company. The story in a nutshell, The japanese and European OEM's were outright kicking Harley's ass at racing back then, and Harley felt the need to claim some more racing cred. Harley summoned its engineers and team to build a top speed bike to race at Bonneville. They built this bike in ONLY 3 weeks. They brough along two engines. An 83ci and an 86ci modded nitro methane guzzling "monster' named Godzilla. The first past on the 83ci went 170, the 86ci Godzilla broke the record by 10mph for a top speed of 265. Incredible.

[stubbicatt]

In 2002 at Vintage Motorcycle races in Pueblo one of the owners of the 3 known Moto Guzzi 8's in existence ran it at that track. I recorded it warming up, and some of the action of it actually circulating around the track. Each of those exhaust pipes were like the diameter of my little finger.

The Vincents and classic brit iron was so reminiscent of my youth, when the Japanese were only beginning to kick the asses of everyone. I remember my old BSAs, Nortons, etc.

I guess I must be vintage.

[kawasakirob]

I also noticed the size of the exhaust. Is their only two? It sounds so sweet. That must have been a pretty great sight to see it lapping around the track. What classic bikes have you owned? My uncle is a restorer back in Michigan and I remember attending AHRMA races with him back when I was younger. It's funny, never really appreciated vintage until recently. Respected it, but never really appreciated it. Do you still have those bikes?

[dirkterrell]

I also noticed the size of the exhaust. Is their only two? It sounds so sweet.

A buddy of mine has a Moto Guzzi 850 LeMans (a twin) and that thing has one of the best exhaust notes I've ever heard. It sounds like a snarling, pissed off tiger.