You've got a 33bhp limit. What would you buy?

Choose the right tool for the job; I stand by my choice. Also, what I
have in mind only needs one shot.

 

Preston Kemp says...

Heh, when I did a trackday at Snetterton there was a TZ250 which belted
around the outside of me round a corner and I thought "little bastard
I'll get him on the straight" only to see a pair of rapidly disappearing
tailpipes when I got there.

 

Flatslides...

 

It's black and it's dangerous, and no-one else has one.

 

Martin Hannet (Joy Division - basically all of Factory Records)
George Martin (The Beatles)
Ian Broudie and Dian Barton (The Fall)
Porl Young (I went to school with him)

 

you don't rate Flood, then?

 

I had to look him up and when I did it was in a U2 context the answer's
no.

 

I was thinking about his earlier work with The Cure.

 

Although I like(d) The Cure I'd not really given any thought to their
production.

The last album of theirs I bought was The Top [1] and Flood doesn't
appear to credited on that or any of the other, previous, releases. So I
still stand by my previous answer and CONDEMN him for his U2 involvement.


[1] I saw them at the Brighton centre that year, 1984 IIRC. I still
have the tour button badges. I wonder if they have any ebay value?

 

involvement.

oh sure, anyone working with U2 deserves some shame. In his defence, he
also did some work with Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins and
Depeche Mode. He was also sound engineer on New Order's fist album.

value?

probably. Though it depends on your definition of "value".[/QUOTE]

 

darsy wrote:

[Flood]

You're not helping his case.

That's the one with the Threshers and twenty Raffles on the cover?

 

err, what?

 

Also did this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000025D7S/

which is superb.

 

It was a Norman Lamont/fisting reference. Made perfect sense to me.

 

Royal Enfield Diesel

http://www.f2motorcycles.ltd.uk/restoration.html

Should be well within the limit at 6.5 bhp and doing about 200 miles to
the gallon would make a significant impact on the revenue taken in duty
into the bargain. Max speed of 45 mph will help everyone else to improve
their fuel economy too.

Might even run it on Biodiesel so there isn't even any income from
fossile fuel either.

Or any from here if the german engine is better.
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_bikes.html

 

Off-road would be different: a small trail-bike/motocrosser with 33bhp
might be quite acceptable. Similarly a 125 on a track. But I just can't
imagine enjoying a 33bhp bike in the real world, outside of town. Not now
I've experienced more than that, anyway.

 

I loved the full-power KDX125 I tested many moons ago, and I doubt if my
old XT600 developed more than 30bhp at the rear wheel, whatever Yamaha
claimed, but in both cases I had other bikes to use. I wouldn't have
wanted either as my "only" bike, though the XT600 might have passed
muster in 90% of real-world use.

 

I've ridden a couple of 33bhp bikes - loan bikes from dealers, restricted
so that they're useable by all their customers.

The GS500 I thought was really quite nasty. Nothing actually wrong with
it: it just felt inadequate in every area.
SV650 was OK, (but I'm not 100% sure that was restricted).
I've also had a Honda trailee: 600ish single. The budget one they
introduced a few years ago; I can't remember what it's called. That
wasn't too bad.

In all cases, though, I was riding them pretty hard to keep up with normal
traffic and they didn't have the sort of instance acceleration I usually
enjoy.

They were also severly hampered by being budget bikes. The quality of the
bikes, and in particular the brakes, were well below par. I suppose if
you knew that 33bhp was all you could have there would be higher-spec
bikes with decent brakes.

You can just about make these smaller bikes bearable but I like a larger
bike, just so that I can be comfortable. Try sticking a 33bhp engine in
something the size of a Tiger! And imagine if you dare a 33bhp Goldwing.

 

FRO,YFC.

100, nominal, but I'd guess somewhere nearer eighty-something, in
truth.

 

Bear says...

Power to weight ratio akin to a restricted moped