Tony, my own road racer has an 850 commando motor. I've never owned a Ducati because I think they can be very nasty and expensive. But I believe they are the only real motorcycle left in production. I like S1 Buells, and KTM and Aprilia 1000s too. They are never going to blitz a superbike or a two stroke, but when you ride them you can feel the hairs growing on your chest. The pity about the 880 JAP and Lindsay Urquardts Anzanis is that a frame with suspension never existed for them. And if you fit them into a featherbed, they are really ugly and the weight distribution is wrong.
A triumph engine in a featherbed is bad enough. Have a ride on an original featherbed manx with 19 inch wheels sometime. I rode Bendell's (Motec) after he crashed it at Winton in 1973, and I found out why the A graders loved them so much. The worst featherbed bike I've seen was the one that Jolley stuffed the 880 JAP into years ago, and I wouldn't be too rapt in the one Lindsay built with the Anzani engine in it either. They'd be a real b@stard to ride. What I'd really like to race would be a Mk2 Seeley frame with a four valve Jawa engine on alcohol with a six speed CR box, and lots of titanium. That is what the manx concept might have become if two strokes and four cylinder bikes had never happened. Your own two valve Jawa engined featherbed is probably as good as it gets in historic bikes until you buy the Paton !
880 JAP Sidecar
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Posted - 06 Mar 2012 : 05:07:08 AM
