Some questions for motorcyclists (Call em bikers if you want). Touring or Cruising?

[RichardR]

Bultaco and Can-Am. Back in the 70's, a Can-Am was a bike I rally wanted but we couldnt afford. They were sold locally by our Kasal Dealer (Remember Kasals, Mopeds and small motorcycles?)

Hahhaaa yup I remember Mopeds that's for sure, our neighbors complained about me riding loud motorcycles around the neighborhood, so my parents bought me one of those gawd awful Moped things for "residential use" & I seriously hated that thing, especially when I had fun motorcycles I could had been riding instead, neighbors be damned!

Anyway I wasn't a spoiled brat or rich-kid or anything, my Mom & Dad was just really into riding motorcycles, I literally grew up sitting in front of either him or her, clutching the tank of the motorcycle holding on for dear life as we rode around town or we were ripping down some muddy trails, I was too little to sit behind them on the seat, so they stuck me up in front of which ever bike I wanted to ride on, my Mom's or my Dads.

On my 7th birthday I was finally big enough to learn how to ride, so they got me a little Kawasaki 90cc as my BD present, my mom had to show me how to ride it because my dad couldn't fit on it with me, I have some great memories of/on/from that little Kawasaki.

I remember riding that little bike so hard, trying to keep up with mom & dad's much faster bikes zipping down the trails & how they'd sling so much mud back on me I literally was covered head to toe, jeesh those were some really good times!

[Guest TankerHC]

Picked this up at the 127 Garage Sale yesterday. Took it home, got it cranked in about 5 minutes. Paid nearly nothing for it. Good compression, little transmission is tight, 3 speed, 1 down, 2 up, everything plastics, so the only rust is some on the back rim and the exhaust cover and the baffle. Needs a throttle cable, cleaned up, (Guy said it sat in his friends garage for 20 years, just wanted to get rid of it), might throw a piston-ring kit in it just for S&G, figured for cheap a good little short project. Everythings in near perfect condition. Not a tear in the seat, even the crossbar pad is in really good shape.

 

49cc, one thing, thats a loud little motor. Kind of like one of the small YZ's or RM's from back then.

 

Edited August 3, 2013 by TankerHC

[RichardR]

Cool little project Tanker, keep us posted on your progress.

[peejman]

Nice find!

[tnguy]

Sweet deal. But why bother with a ring kit if you have good compression. That's just asking for hassles.

[Guest TankerHC]

I haven't ridden or worked on a small two stroke since 79. When i was on dirt a ring job was a regular thing. I think it was like twelve bucks for a set of cast iron rings, average. This littlebike is almost 15 years newer but has been sitting for 20 years. Thinking to do it as a precaution. No need? It does have really surprising compression for a tiny motor. Breakin on a two stroke back then was to get it on the dirt and run wide open. I don't believe that occurred on this, thinking for that reason and sitting might could use a set of rings. Tell me what you think, might save me a few bucks.

[RichardR]

Welp the days of 40 hrs of run-time = ring change is long over man, thankfully modern ceramics & alloys have increased longevity of pistons/rings/sleeves a great deal, there really is no hard/fast rule anymore so I wouldn't bother with it until you actually notice some compression loss.

I still have to rebuild my two-stroke nitromethane RC engines occasionally, so if you just want an engine to tinker with I can send you one of mine when it needs rebuilt LOL.

[Guest Mad4rcn]

1100 Honda ACE,love it !

[Fear]

I faced a similar dilemma several years ago. I grew up with my mom a biker and getting dragged to rallies a lot as a kid. I rode for years until I went to college and then met my wife. I spent many years unable to afford a bike (mainly because my taste was euro, brit and domestic bikes and they were priced way out of range back then). When prices came down and my income raised, I tried to piece together a triumph, but ended up buying a Harley instead (new). 

 

It was a Dyna and my wife refused to have anything to do with it. I started planning time off around rallies and bike swap meets and she would tag-along following in the car. She started seeing all the petite young girls on radical bad-ass bikes and started to become curious. She started riding on the back and eventually started riding mine when I bought an older version.

 

The new'06 Dyna was fast, smooth, had massive torque and great brakes. I hated that. I ended up getting a '96 Dyna because it was what I thought a Harley should be; loud, less plastic, easier to strip-down, more options for modifications, skinny rear tire, etc. Just a more raw kind of bike.

 

I don't look down on the asian-brand bikes. The owners usually are more devoted to riding bikes than Harley-owners today. Most Harleys you see are modified in ways that make them less practical for riding and only appealing to people who don't know crap about motorcycles. Fat tires corner like crap, forward controls make it harder to feel the bikes center of gravity, lowering a bike until it about scrapes the ground makes speed bumps a nightmare kills the lean-angle and also hurts the the feel for the center of gravity and most of the wacky spike and fake injector air cleaners hurt flow over a simple open element. These bikes rarely get over 1000 miles on them and the owners keep ample pictures on them on their cell phones to impress their buddies but wont ride them because of fear of getting them dirty or scratched.

 

But the Harley stereotypes are unfounded these days. The jokes of yesterday's technology at tomorrow's prices is wrong. The '06 Dyna has rubber mounted engine and trans, super-smooth ride, 4-piston calipers front and rear, fuel injection, tubeless radial tires, self-canceling turn signals, fuel gauge and so-on. Some dirtbag that was dating a chick at work that had a "show-bike" Harley referred to "HD" standing for the "Hundred-Dollars" he spent every time he started it up. I've put nearly 40,000 miles on my '96 and only non-maintenance  (non-oil, tires, etc) I had to replace was fork seals, alternator stator and a cam and cam bearing. Most cop bikes are Harleys and cops aren't gentle with anything they use, but the bikes hold-up.

 

Just something to think about.