FAST BIKES, V8 CARS AND SLOW BOATS??

of course!

Cheers

[EagleSailTwo]

Originally Posted by Bob Norson

of course!

Cheers

Kidding of course!

Hey look... those bloody sand dunes are a menace, you can't see over them and if left unattended they get over grown with weeds.

and if boats don't like having the jet ski's using them for a slalom course they shouldn't line up so tidy. They ask for it!

And futher, any kid that grows to adulthood with all their limbs and skin just hasn't been raised right. Some parents actualy have to be TOLD this.. horrible.. 6 year old with a three wheeler? better late than never I guess.

Just in case there is any seriousness intended in this at all... I remember when I would go riding on Palomar moutain there would always be one guy that had the loudest bike and I assumed, the smallest willy.. if you know what I mean. He would usualy be a very mediorce rider and a hazard to be around. Without doubt he was always the one that the non-riders who were having a week end drive with the family, would remember.....

If we thought there was any use at all a couple of us would approach that guy and try to educate... "it's not how fast you go but how much class you show." And some of them would grow up and become good riders. Nature and the laws of physics took care of the rest.

"You've gotta be smarter than your tools."

goes for boats too.

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by Bob Norson

"You've gotta be smarter than your tools."

That's a keeper.

[Gator81]

It's always amazing to me, the connections between men (or women!) and their machines. Classic machines, including many boats, are wonderful conversation starters. People that you'd never imagine striking up a talk with, will wander over to where you're getting your boat ready to sail and either start asking questions or telling stories. And it's my policy to listen to the stories and answer the questions, every last one!

And I've found that people who gravitate toward sailboats also tend to gravitate toward older machines of the wheeled variety. I think that's because sail power is often felt to be a throwback to an earlier time, a connection to history through man's oldest transportation device.

Me, I'm into old Corvettes (currently maintaining a 1981 4-speed coupe), old motorcycles (the best was a 1967 Triumph 500 Daytona that I restored), and various old sports cars (had a 1969 Austin-Healey Sprite). And yes, I have a boat, (although I hesitate to name it in the company of all the fine and beautiful vessels on this forum!), a 1978 Hobie 16.

The common thread through every one of those, for me, is that each one was someone else's castoff, a basket of troubles, that I took and rebuilt into a fully functional, reliable, fun form of transport! That Triumph motorcycle was the worst - the only vehicle I ever bought that required 3 trips to take home! A true "basket case", it was literally a frame with two wheels, and all the other parts in a series of baskets. The Hobie sailboat was almost as bad, requiring nearly an entire tube of grease to coax a bad wheel bearing to make the whole trip back to my shop without losing a trailer wheel.

Here's a link to the 'Vette info, sorry I don't have any postable pics of the others.

http://www.rogerscorvette.com/free/morris.htm

At this point, my two "toys" are the 'Vette and the Hobie, and they are both (not coincidentally!) painted the same shade of bright yellow. I enjoy the curvy mountain roads of Utah in the 'Vette, and I truly love a good breeze on a smooth lake in that Hobie. It's funny really, but sailing that boat, one hand on the tiller bar and the other holding the mainsheet, feels so much like driving the Vette, one hand on the wheel, the other on the shifter of the 4-speed! Sure, anybody can have a faster car (idiots in slammed Hondas are forever trying to get me to race) and lots of people have faster boats (or boats that they sail faster because they're braver than me!), but I don't care. I built the car and the boat. (Fiberglass is fiberglass, you know!), and I know every little thing that's wrong with both of them, and I know both are dead solid reliable, each one over 25 years old. I never get tired of taking either one for a run, either!

That was really nice Gator81 another perspective supporting the basic idea.

We just sold our old boat. she was deffinately a basket case when we got her. see www.thecoastalpassage.com/rust.html if you are brave!
Currently have 18 hobie as bext best thing.

One of my favourite roads is that litle thing that follows the colorado river between Moab and Cisco.. rather a ghost town when I last saw.

Nice vette! I am looking for a pair of L98 heads from a vette 86 on.. just in case you know something. need for a Ed Hale stroker in our 65 malibu SS.

Cheers

[Quijote]

Hi all,
This is a fascinating thread. I just happened upon it. I guess that I am one of you. My two-wheeled phase was extensive as well. It started with a few months on a motor scooter. That was quickly replaced with:
Triumph Thunderbird
Triumph T100
BSA Road Rocket
BSA Super Road Rocket
Triumph Bonneville
Norton 88
Yamaha 250
Triumph Bonneville
Ducati 250
and then there were two MG TDs
and an Austin Healey 1000MM

I dabbled in road racing and spent some time at Willow Springs. Was part of the pit crew for a Norton Manx and got the worst sunburn of my life flagging on turn 2 there.

Then I started having kids.....

Then I got boats...

It is interesting that most of you were not Harley people. I don't know what that means. I used to casually know some of the original Hells Angels - Rialto-Fontana branch. They were Harley people, but lately Harley people are more likely to be lawyers.

Fun thread....
Richard Black
S/V Saeta
Sceptre 41 (finally out cruising)

"..worst sunburn of my life flagging on turn 2 " It would get so hot out there.. and the bloody wind! OOOOOOOUUHH turn two... huge banked right hand sweeper as it makes uphill to super tight left hand # 3.. I liked it though, it was turn 8-9 that scared **** outa me.

There didn't seem to be that much high performance Harley down south but I noticed when I raced up north there were some impressive bikes.

OK.. I'll take the risk of listing the machines
1. 50cc honda step through (62)
2. 250 YDS2 yamaha(64)
3. 500 T500 suzuki (70)
4. 750 honda k1 (71)
5. 1100 honda cb1100f (82)
6. 750 honda intercepter (83)
7. 600 Kawasaki Ninja (black and red converted to track only)
8. 600 " " (white and red)
9. 750 FZ yamaha
10. 500 ex 500 kawasaki
11. TZ 125 yamaha closed circuit only production GP bike.(still have)
12. DT 125 yamaha.. dual purpose 79 model. bought used in show room cond. last year of 2 stroke in US without cat conv.
13. 600 honda cbr 87 model
14. 600 honda cbr 90 model
15. 750 BMW k75s (still have)
16. 50cc YSR yamaha pocket bike.. jus for fun.
17. 650 honda NX
18. 600 honda cbr 93 model (still have)
19 600 honda cbr 94 model
bought a couple for Kay as well. Got a hold of Boonie Knott's old RD 400 for her but the power band was a menace, then got her a 250 ninja that I wound up stealing most days!

I had sponsorship from dunlop which was a real good thing. we rode every day we could and I commuted on roads that were brilliant.

I still maintain that the real connection is the feeling of getting the most performance possible out of the boat, the bike, or the old muscle car. 6kts can feel like a hundred mph if it's on the right boat

OK, don't say I didn't warn you.
Rupp mini bike
Honda C200 (predecessor to the CT 90)
Yamaha RD 350
Suzuki 400
Honda CL 360
Honda 175
Garelli 250
Hodaka 100
Vespa 90 small frame with 125 engine
3 sears Vespa Copies
Honda 50 Step through
BSA Lightning
Honda CT 90
2-441 Victors
Ariel Square 4
Truimph TT500
Pre-Unit Triumph
Simplex (Motor Bicycle, I forget the year)
Harley WR
70 Sportster
73 Sportster
72 FLH
53 Panhead
51 ULH
36 VL
70 G Model Trike
Ducati 250
36 VL
78 FX
87 FLHTC
73 XLCH Sportster
490 Maco
91 FLH
BMW K75
79 FLH Classic
91 FX
Those are the ones I can remember right now. I won't even start on the cars

[Alan Wheeler]

or boats ;-) :-)

Yes.. getting the most out of it.. I agree. But there has been so many other good perspectives brought up on this thread as well. They all make sense when I read them too. I'm coming to a better understanding of my own motivation reading everyone elses... very good.

I was digging through a few old photos to put on a page fer the fun of it and wouldn't you know the first one I looked at in the bike photo stack has my first sailboat in the background.

If you want... www.thecoastalpassage.com/bikesnboats.html

I did this for my daugther Kirsten who is in the US army in Ansback germany . she drove to the GP in Brno a couple weeks ago to watch the italian kids play. Rossi and Capirossi etc... She grew up on the back of a fast bike. Now works on helicopters. Feeling very nostalgic today.

Scott.. very interesting list there mate.. a bloody shame we can't sit down with a case of beer and talk cam shafts and pistons and rigs and sails and....
cheers

[Talbot]

Link between motorbikes and cruising :-

[Gator81]

Bob, this thread is a real hoot! I've known a few bike nuts in my time (owned 4 myself, which I thought was a lot until I saw some of these lists!) but never any that could hold a candle to you guys!

About those L98 heads - do you ever visit the Corvette Forum? It's a pretty good outfit, with pretty good folks. Here's a link to the C4 parts for sale section:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/foru...sprune=-1&f=55

Another thing about bikes/cars/boats that seems to strike a chord with me: Some of them are designed and built to be worked on and rebuilt over and over, virtually forever; some are not. I like the ones that are.

For example, the thing I always liked about British bikes and cars from the 50's and 60's is how virtually every piece was made to be rebuilt as needed. On my old Austin-Healey, even the shock absorbers were rebuildable - you just took them apart, replaced the seals (leather!) and refilled with clean hydraulic fluid. There's something, some kind of cultural thing that I think grew out of WWII with the Brits, where the post-war generation felt like everything had to be used and re-used over and over, nothing wasted, nothing thrown away if it might one day be used for something.

The Japanese bikes I had were from the 70's and 80's. The older ones were better to work on, I thought, though not as truly high-tech or high-performance as the newer ones (and the chrome on the old Jap bikes was pathetic!) I've never owned or turned a wrench on a H-D, but I suspect they (at least the older ones) are more meant to be rebuilt than most modern machinery.

And that's what appeals to me about a lot of boats. Learn to work with wood, fiberglass and epoxy, figure out what "osmosis" is, pay homage to the Gods of Stainless Steel, and just keep fixin' what breaks!

Bob, We'll get there. Oz is definitely on the list.
Talbot, Just what every cruiser needs for the lazerette.
Gator, Couldn't agree more. I have no use for throw aways. Always made my own parts wherever possible. Bikes or boats.