Found this on YouTube. A number of bits of video from what I presume is a US television programme. Lee Hartung collected bikes, cars and all sorts of other stuff, and after his death his collection was taken out of his shed to see what he had. First part of the series is:
Follow the links at the side for the following videos. I've only looked at a few, and there's loads of interesting and rare bikes. Oh, the long winter nights will fly past!
Friday, 28 October 2011
Friday bike
Here's a rare one for you - a Motobécane 350 2 stroke triple.
I'd only ever seen a few Motobécane mopeds in the UK, and I don't believe they sold anything bigger here. I once saw a heavily laden, French registered 125 twin in Glasgow about 30 years ago, and when looking on the Web for details of that bike I found the 350.
Obviously heavily influenced by the Kawasaki triples of the day, French manufacturer Motobécane build their triple to compete with Japanese bikes, but as only 779 were built, it wasn't a success.
There's a website (French language) about the bike with lots of photos, including some of a race version.
Motobécane also built a bike to compete in an event from Côte d'Ivoire (West Africa) to Côte d'Azur (South of France):
They also experimented with fuel injection (see website), and their design shows just how hard it was in the pre-digital era. They also showed a 500 triple that I didn't make it to production.
The company finally went bust in 1981, was bought by Yamaha, and relaunched as MBK in 1984.
No doubt there's still a few on the road, so with a bit of luck I might see one at next years Coupes Moto Legende
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Amazing journey
Came across this website about Yarets Vladimir Alekseevich, a rider from Belarus who's travelled around the world for the last 11 years, initially on a Jawa 350, then on a BMW 650. Yarets
That would be daring enough, but Yarets is also deaf mute, so has difficulty communicating with people he meets.
Even more strangely, I've seen him! Many years ago, (around the start of his trip in 2000) I saw a heavily stickered and well used bike parked (illegally) on the pedestrian area next to Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
I knew it would be foreign registered (no British rider would have parked there), so I went over for a look. I was really surprised to see that it was a Jawa 350, and I didn't recognise the numberplate nor the 'country sticker' - BY - probably derived from Беларусь, how they spell the name of their country. Nearby was the rider, Yarets, so I gave him a polite smile and approving nod and walked on.
So before you complain about going on long trips because it's 'too far', or won't go abroad because 'it's foreign', think of Yarets who spent 11 years travelling, visited 127 countries, and covered 380,000 km, and is deaf and can't speak.
That would be daring enough, but Yarets is also deaf mute, so has difficulty communicating with people he meets.
Even more strangely, I've seen him! Many years ago, (around the start of his trip in 2000) I saw a heavily stickered and well used bike parked (illegally) on the pedestrian area next to Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
I knew it would be foreign registered (no British rider would have parked there), so I went over for a look. I was really surprised to see that it was a Jawa 350, and I didn't recognise the numberplate nor the 'country sticker' - BY - probably derived from Беларусь, how they spell the name of their country. Nearby was the rider, Yarets, so I gave him a polite smile and approving nod and walked on.
So before you complain about going on long trips because it's 'too far', or won't go abroad because 'it's foreign', think of Yarets who spent 11 years travelling, visited 127 countries, and covered 380,000 km, and is deaf and can't speak.
Yarets' Jawa in Cuba.
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Friday, 21 October 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)