Skorpion handlebars

A common complaint some Skorpion owners have is that they would like the handlebars to be slightly higher. On the later bikes with tubular handlebars it's just a case of swapping the 'bars, but the earlier bikes with clipons cause a few more problems.
Some riders have drilled the top yoke to take tubular 'bar mounts, some have reversed the clip on 'mounts' and fitted higher 'bars with the centre cut out.

mr combo fitted tubular bars using Raask Handlebar Raisers.

However, the best modification I've seen was that done for Pat Brennan in Ireland.

The 'bars have been cut, welded and rechromed so well that you'd think that they were original. A very neat setup I'm sure you'll agree. I'll post more details once I've checked some of the details with Pat.

Friday bike

This week's bike is another 70s rarity that I've never actually seen.

NVT Rambler

Norton Villiers Triumph had an arrangement with Yamaha at the time, which led to XJ900 instruments and cycle parts being used on the Norton Rotary, NVT developing the Yamaha HL500 off roader, and the supply of Yamaha DT 125/175 engines for the Tracker. It was a fairly straightforward trail bike of the time with monoshock frame, typical styling, but unusually for a the period a disc brake. A small number were built, then for some reason the name was changed to the BSA Tracker.

This one turned up on the DoneDeal site in Ireland.

Again a small number were built, and if I remember correctly, some went to Africa as part of a Riders for Health type initiative, where health workers travel round rural areas on motorbikes.
It probably wasn't a bad bike, but it was in a very competitive area of the market against similar bikes from all the Japanese manufacturers (including Yamaha).
Found a couple of articles on the Web by owners of Rambers: here and here.

Just so good

This is just so good on so many levels. A company called Motopodd built a sidecar outfit to allow a wheelchair user to be taken out for runs.

Not only has this transformed a young man's life and let him take part in something previously impossible, but it also shows a healthy 'can do' attitude so lacking in current society. Rather than say 'you can't do that', the builders have taken up the challenge and said 'how CAN we do this?'
Good to see there's still innovative thinking going on, and isn't the quality of the engineering superb?
Lots of nice outfits at the start of the video to keep mr. combo happy, I particularly like the old green one that looks like the front of a boat!

Aren't Motorcyclists Wonderful People - part 3

It's not just women drivers that motorcyclists rescue.

You have to watch this a couple of times before you work out what happened. Pause at 0:04 and you'll see a small kitten on the barrier that the stopped rider is rescuing. No idea how it got there, but it must have been terrified.

Aren't Motorcyclists Wonderful People - Part 2

Found this piece of video on YouTube of a couple of motorcyclists doing their 'good deed for the day'.

Leaving aside the obvious comedy stereotypes like she's blonde and she's driving a Lexus, it's worth noticing that other people drive past without stopping, and how big the drop behind the car is. If she'd rolled a bit further back, it would have needed a crane driver to rescue her rather than some riders.
Also, the rider filming it is on a 'Zero S' electric bike. I'd never heard of this before, but a quick Google brought up their website.

Certainly an interesting looking bike, but I'm still not convinced by electric bikes. I know they're getting better, but the limited range and VERY high purchase price doesn't make them a really viable purchase (yet).
Still, it's good to know that there are nice people out there and many of them ride bikes.

Dry Duffel Bag

Here's something that I've bought in the past, and is well worth the money.

44 litres 'Dry Duffel Bag' from Aldi. Basically a bag of reasonably thick PVC type material, with welded seams, and a roll top with snap connector. No better or worse than the 'brand name' examples sold in bike shops, but at £7.99 (in the UK), a bit cheaper. Handy for packing you luggage and strapping onto your bike. Reasonably well made and completely waterproof.
Available from  Sunday 1st April. link

Friday bike

Looking forward to our trip to the Coupes Moto Legende in Dijon, (only two months to go!), I thought I'd feature the Dijon based manufacturer Terrot.

Founded in Germany in 1862 as a machinery manufacturer, they opened a factory in Dijon in 1887, which started building bicycles in 1890, and like so many bicycle manufacturers, they moved into motorcycles in 1902.

By 1929 they had built 100,000 motorbikes, and when the Great Depression came along they diversified on to motorised bicycles.

By the 50s they started building scooter and concentrating on smaller bikes, and were bought by Peugeot in 1958, and the factory closed in 1961.

 1904

 1927

 1952

 1955

In France there's a Terrot Club so hopefully they'll have some at the Coupes Moto Legende, and I'll get to see a brand of motorcycle that I've never seen before. Don't worry - there will be plenty of photos!